- Emulator used: BizHawk 1.11.4
- Aims for fastest in-game time
- Heavy luck manipulation
- Heavy glitch abuse
- Takes damage to save time
- Uses SRAM and a code to unlock the hardest difficulty (Extreme, Normal Round)
Encode with commentary:
Bloopers and miscellanea (recommended for viewing after watching the run):
Suggested screenshot: frame 144,561
To run a multidisc bundler for Integral, either create a custom .m3u playlist or use the following xml code (huge thanks to Spikestuff for this one):
<BizHawk-XMLGame System="PSX" Name="SNAKE">
<LoadAssets>
<Asset FileName="[your file path goes here]\Metal Gear Solid - Integral (J) (Disc 1) [SLPM-86247].cue" />
<Asset FileName="[your file path goes here]\Metal Gear Solid - Integral (J) (Disc 2) [SLPM-86248].cue" />
</LoadAssets>
</BizHawk-XMLGame>
NOTE: While the difference in input file length between this TAS and my 2013 publication is 2:49.99, the actual gameplay improvement is significantly larger. Due to differences between the PSXjin and PSX-BizHawk cores, loading times are closer to the console (i.e. longer) on BizHawk. This affects the timing on everything from loading screens between rooms, to how long cutscenes load, to how long it takes to call someone via CODEC. If this run had had loading times comparable to the previous run, it would have been under an hour.
Intro
Metal Gear Solid: Integral is the 1999 rerelease of the seminal stealth classic Metal Gear Solid. It was originally released exclusively in Japan for the PlayStation, although a PC port was released internationally in 2000.
Solid Snake, the master of infiltration and stealth, decides to sneak into Shadow Moses Island by walking through walls, blowing himself up, deliberately getting rid of his own weaponry and falling down insane heights without taking damage, saving the day (but not the girl) in just over an hour.
I've been wanting to make this run for years. For one reason or another, PSXjin had serious trouble running the Integral version of Metal Gear Solid, even with the proper Japanese BIOS, so while my initial plan had been to immediately start working on my any% improvement after finishing VR Missions in late 2013, I instead had to wait until July of 2015, when BizHawk officially gained PlayStation support. Once that happened, I had the totally-not-crazy idea to work on both any% and all-bosses simultaneously, and of course stream the whole thing live since that process had worked out quite well with my VR Missions project. Unfortunately, BizHawk's PSX core had to undergo another serious overhaul later that year, forcing me to start all over in January of 2016, but thankfully this came with the benefit of finding several new time saves.
I initially had also wanted to release both runs at the same time, but recent real-life issues prevented this from happening. Rest assured that the all-bosses run is being worked on as we speak and should be submitted soon.
Version Differences
The most immediately obvious change to Integral is that the game uses English voice acting and Japanese subtitles despite being a Japan-only release. As a result, a few minor easter eggs (such as Psycho Mantis referencing you playing the Japanese-only Policenauts and Tokimeki Memorial, as well as a hidden message from Hideo Kojima if you have data from Policenauts and Snatcher), are not in this version since dialog for those was not recorded in English.
Aside from the above, there are a number of changes and additions to the game between the original and Integral. A huge amount of extra content was added, including the actual difficulty modes from the PAL and NTSC versions (and a brand new Very Easy difficulty), support for the PocketStation, new hidden codec frequencies, a first-person mode, a new assault rifle for Snake, new alternate costumes for Meryl and Gray Fox, and an "Alternate Round" with new guard layouts for the various difficulty levels (which I plan to TAS at some point in the future). It also included a third disc of 300 VR Missions, which would later be released separately in North America and Europe. I already did a TAS of those.
However, the most important speedrunning change is the ability to skip Liquid's monologue after the fight against Metal Gear REX (though part of that is cancelled out by longer credits) as well as better Dual Analog controls that allow for much more precise movement.
About the Run
This category acquires the BIGBOSS rank (Extreme difficulty, 4 or fewer alerts, < 25 kills, 0 or 1 rations, under 3 hours) and uses a variety of large-skip glitches to skip a significant amount of Disc 1.
Rather than drop a novel in the submission text, I have included a detailed level-by-level breakdown in the movie's subtitle comments. That being said, in addition to the many small optimizations, the most important improvements are as follows:
- Use of analog controls, allowing for much more precise movement
- Better resource management
- Better menuing by, when faster, unequipping for two frames before selecting a new weapon or item, resulting in less time spent scrolling through menus
- Taking an additional alert at the Helipad rather than waiting for the spotlight, which leaves me with 4 alerts, which is still enough for the BIGBOSS rank.
- A new setup for the Weapons Glitch that allows me to keep moving almost the entire time
- Blowing up the crane at the start of Disc 2, which adds two kills (since I can't afford the alert) but saves a significant amount of time since I don't need to wait for it to move
- Being able to skip Liquid Snake's endgame monologue (exclusive to Integral)
- Different setup for the stunlock during the final boss
Known Improvements
- After the run was completed, magnum66 found a new route to pick up the Nikita missile in the Hanger B2 Armoury (where I reacquired the sniper rifle) rather than the Nuke Building B1 Offices, saving about 4 seconds.
- The catwalk filled with camera guns leading up to Metal Gear REX (when backtracking north to south) is a logistical nightmare for lag management. When I was finishing my all-bosses TAS, I found an optimal path for managing lag that didn't require having to dodge out of the way of (most of) the cameras. This would only save less than a second.
Special Thanks
I could not have made this run without the incredible effort of zeromus, adelikat and everyone at Team BizHawk who worked on the PSX core. You guys did an incredible job. More special thanks to everyone in the Metal Gear Solid Runners discord, my viewers on my Twitch channel, and everyone at TASvideos.
Fog: Great run! I enjoyed watching this from beginning to end, and the commentary really helped to explain what was going on. Accepting as an improvement to the current non-Integral publication!
Oh, and...uh, Go Raptors!
