And Allegro Presto's done.
Finally I'm ahead of my old WIP and it feels good to finally do something fresh.
Allegro Presto is a level of slippery slopes, and therefore, a lot of explanation on how they act is needed. First, here's a basic speed chart, courtesy 0x202FA68. One full pixel equals 256 subpixels.
Normal walking/jumping/helicoptering speed: 512
Crawling Speed: 224
Max Speed while walking on straight or upwards slipperies: 510
Max Speed while walking down a 22.5° slippery: 1790
Max Speed while walking down a 45° slippery: 2046
Max Speed while being blasted by a trumpet: 1790
Speed in either direction after hitting a wall (if you were faster than that to begin with): 768
On slipperies, you're subject to acceleration. You can also decelerate if your current speed is higher than the speed your slippery should give you. You have a lot more friction on the ground than in the air, allowing you to turn around faster. In general, the longer you hold the opposite direction button uninterrupted, the more you decelerate.
If you jump while you're on a slippery surface, your speed decrements to a certain amount, depending on how fast you were to begin with, and stays there until you land. For example, if your original speed was anything from 911 - 927, it will decrement to 911. If it was anything from 928 - 942, it will decrement to 928, and so on.
Additionally, you can use your fist in the opposite direction to give yourself a boost, regardless of speed. This can be either a quick boost, or you can charge your fist for a large boost. You see a couple applications for this throughout the level, which I'll explain in the stage comments.
Lastly, while you can reach speeds higher than that, the
GBA version caps your speed to 5px/frame, or 1280 subpixels/frame. So a lot of what I just pointed out is kind of pointless. However, it makes TASing a lot easier, as I don't have to worry about my exact speed as long as it remains above 1280 subpixels/frame, and it gives me room to play around.
It also means that speeds higher than that act as fuel. With no further source of acceleration, I will keep maximum speed significantly longer if I have 2500 speed than if I have only 1300. On the other hand, if I need to lose speed quickly, I have to keep my speed as low as possible while staying over (or as close as possible to) 1280.
- The PSX and DOS versions will be significantly harder to optimize because they remove this cap-
The speed cap also makes it impossible to get all cages in Allegro Presto on the first runthrough. A PSX or DOS TAS can do so!
Lastly, two more tricks related to slipperies:
1.You can give yourself a massive, massive vertical boost if you approach a slanted slippery from below the right way. Your positioning for this needs to be very precise, you get even more height by holding the jump button once you're in mid-air.
2.You can jump through some 45° upward slipperies at max speed. This only works on some slipperies - my guess is that it only works on those slipperies you're intended to go through from below too.
I'm not sure whether or not these tricks apply to the PSX and DOS versions, it will certainly have to be investigated.
On to the Stage comments:
AP-1:
- This stage is fairly straightforward. I only need to approach the turns carefully. On the first one, instead of slowly turning around, I jump against the wall and hit the slippery as early as possible. Because I'm also moving left as I land on the slippery, I'm instantly moving at maximum speed.
- For some reason, you land on the ground faster after hanging if you use your fist.
AP-2:
- This is the reason the level took so many days to do, as every jump on the trumpets had to be carefully optimized.
- I start by using my charged up fist to reach the first trumpet as quick as possible.
- I could potentially reach the first upper platform using a vertical boost, but my velocity prevents me from actually holding on to it.
- The jump over the wrong notes is harder than in the PSX and DOS versions due to your capped speed. Through optimal positioning, I was able to land on the ledge without having to hang from it - but it still kills my speed. The rest of the level is fairly straightforward trumpet boosting.
AP-3:
- I jump through the slippery approaching the first photograph to save a few frames. This causes an interesting side glitch: The game thinks Rayman was standing on solid ground. Therefore, he has no acceleration, but he still keeps his speed. This means that, holding Left, he moves at -224 subpixels/frame, whereas holding right, he moves at whatever speed he had beforehand. (Which in my case was over 1600)
You can preserve this state only by jumping on the edges of slippery platforms (the positioning needs to be relatively precise, but it's easy, as you can precisely control where you land now) and immediately jumping off. I use this to instantly go far quicker than I am supposed to.
- The rest of the level is applying standard tricks. After jumping through the diagonal slippery, I slow down slightly to land on the platform. The new tricks save a lot of time in this level.
AP-4:
- I instantly give myself a quick boost using the fist. By jumping immediately after using it for one frame, my speed reaches 767 subpixels instantly. There's a damage-based shortcut (the only one in the entire level) near the beginning which I use.
- After the fall, you're stuck in a tricky situation, as you have no speed and have to make it up an upwards slope, including having to crouch. This is the fastest I have managed.
- The rest of the level goes by easy. I use a charged fist to give myself enough "fuel" to make it through the entire section at full speed.
- The moving notes have a terrible hitbox, it is fairly easy to go through them.
- Mr.Sax' behaviour is fixed. As he takes too long, I simply take damage and walk through him.
AP-B:
- You don't lose any speed when using the helecopter. L+R works just the same.
- It is possible to die in the level by getting beneath the camera scroll. You do this by hanging onto and letting yourself go from several ledges downwards (4 should do the trick) without letting the camera catch up. This is possible elsewhere too. Unfortunately, no major glitching is possible that way, no unlocking the running power early or anything cool like that.
With that in mind, yeah, that level was quite a handful. Next up is Swamps of Forgetfulness, which should go by easier, but it contains more plumboosting. Hooray. It will also be the first level I'll finish on the first go. Double hooray!
Wip: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/464860313/Rayman%20Advance%20%28U%29%20%5B%21%5D.vbm
