Altered Space is an isometric platformer similar to Solstice for the NES where you play as Humphrey, a brave astronaut. The goal is simply to escape the spaceship without running out of air, which is lost over time or if you get hit. There are items that can be used to stun enemies as well, but aren't seen in this run due to the time it takes to open the item menu.
Game objectives
- Emulator used: BizHawk 1.11.4
- Finish the game as fast as possible
- Uses in warps/level skips.
- Takes damage to save time.
- Exploits glitches and programmer errors.
This run attempts to Finish the game as fast as possible. The game is very large and maze-like, but this run uses what I believe to be the fastest route. There aren't many glitches to speak of except possibly with the physics of the items and blocks.
Level 1:
Starts off by skipping the air tank, and stun gun, as well as the rest of the items in the game. The ghost looking alien you see has to be avoided entirely, and leads to the more awkward maneuvers in the game. The floating spikes you see will kill you instantly, but have a hitbox of one square, so it's easy to avoid. You'll also see an alien with a block on his head that you can stand on, but is also dodged for the sake of time. The rest of the level is pretty straightforward, ending on a warp block.
Level 3:
This is what I believe to be the longest level. Probably the hardest part being the screen with the two ghost aliens. In one room, you'll see two robots with flashing lights on their head, they actually can hurt you without killing you, and do take some health/air off in this run. The rest of the level is also pretty simple. The level ends on another level skip.
Level 5:
This level is certainly the most visually unique, but is also very short. The path is pretty straightforward, with the most unique thing being an bouncing ball alien that will sit on your head and make it impossible to jump, but has no impact here. At the end is another warp.
Level 6:
The previous warp takes you to a room here with another warp. Easy.
Level 7:
This level has some bouncing robots, which can take health, but can land on you and be carried off a ledge. Another new thing here is a floating block which can be pushed different directions and can be jumped on afterwards. The last room has an enemy that takes some health off the hero.
Level 8:
This is the hardest level easily. Some new things to watch out for are blocks that disappear when stepped on (which you have to hold the jump button down to bounce off of), and blocks that are invisible until you jump on them, which can lead to painful trial and error, especially without savestates. The Second hardest room is the one with the air tank, which is usually finished by jumping on an invisible block and landing perfectly between spikes, and jumping onto another invisible block, but is instead finished here by moving the airtank and jumping off of it. The next room is even worse, having to make several precise jumps to a block, taking the block, and using it to reach the end. I assume they were ahead of their time in requiring the use of Tool-Assistance.
The ending:
This run stops after the last door. The ending plays, and will will be left on a player initial input.
Possible improvements:
It may be possible to find better optimizations, especially at the room on Level 3 with the 2 ghost aliens.
Suggested screenshot: 11163
ars4326: Hi, ventuz. Indeed, this one is uncannily similar to Solstice! Nice routing and movement optimization, overall :)
Accepting for publication to the Vault!
