Disney’s 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue is a 3D action-platform game based on the live-action movie.
Game objectives
- Emulator used: BizHawk 2.3.0
- BIOS: SCPH-7001.bin
- Heavy glitch abuse
- Uses death to save time
- Takes damage to save time
- Forgoes major skip glitch
- Genre: Platforming, Action
Introduction
102 Dalmatians speedrunning history began at the end of 2013. There were only two runs available online at that time, so the exploration of the game had only just begun. For the next 3 years, the run of the All Levels category was based on movement optimization with the use of a single OoB trick.
Then 2016 came, when SephJul found a method of clipping OoB using objects such as a puppy crate or enemy. This was a massive discovery as we realized how many places it could be applied. The search for more skips continued, finding more and more as time went on. Today, as we are reaching the limits of usable objects for this method of clipping, we are getting more creative with our ideas, leading to interesting optimizations and speed boosts.
It is worth noting that this is the third revision of the All Levels TAS. This shaved off 6157 frames from the previous TAS, for a total of 8033 frames faster than the first. We didn’t submit the previous runs because we were still thinking of potential tricks and better optimization. We have high standards and wanted to push the game to the limits.
This run includes 5 years of cumulative game knowledge from our small community, and we’re proud to show the result of our hard work. This TAS was started on September 15th, 2018 and finished after 10 months on July 16th, 2019.
About the game
In order to beat the game, you need to complete 20 levels in their intended order, and defeat Cruella De Vil. The goal of the run is to find the shortest path to the ‘102’ portal at the end of 16 levels and defeat cruella in each of her 4 boss fights. Any kind of collectibles such as bones and puppy crates are ignored in the ‘All Levels’ category.
There are two playable characters in the main game: Domino (by default) and Oddball. In terms of properties, neither puppy has an advantage over the other. However, switching characters saves time on level 10 and 19 (see Stage-by-stage comments for more details).
Basic Movement
The fastest basic way of moving in the game is a sequence of rolling followed by a jump. The puppy rolls for a limited amount of time and jumping maintains this speed to travel slightly further. Due to the flaws in the game’s mechanics, we can gain extra speed primarily from sloped surfaces, and also from moving objects and enemies (see Notable Tricks for more details).
Getting Out of Bounds (OoB)
If you go OoB and let go of the controls, the puppy will fall towards the bottom of the level and eventually respawn at the starting point. This can easily be prevented by continuously holding the jump button. Doing that allows the puppy to gradually stop falling and begin to float upwards again, staying OoB. To intentionally fall down again, we simply need to roll. This is very convenient, as it’s easy to navigate in any direction.
However, if you go underneath a floor, you will instantly be sent back up to it. If you go over part of the level, gravity will affect you normally again and you will start to fall. In some cases, there are invisible walls of infinite height OoB and we have to find a way to navigate around or over parts of a level, without going underneath until we want to intentionally clip back up.
Notable Tricks
- Slope Boosts: Usually simple to do, but important for optimization as we can increase speed significantly in many places. We can simply land on a sloped surface and have our vertical falling speed converted to horizontal speed. The downwards speed is more important than the height of the incline. Some slopes are too steep, and are slippery. We can gain speed by sliding down the slope, and maintain the speed from the bottom with a roll.
- Crate/Enemy Clips: The most common way to get out of bounds. We take advantage of the hitbox around an object which tries to push the puppy away. We can use this when certain objects are close enough to a wall. Certain crates are in a usable position for this trick, while enemies can sometimes be manipulated to move their position. To do this trick, we position the puppy between the object and the wall. If we pivot in place without actually moving, the object’s hitbox attempts to push us away, which puts us partially into the wall. We complete the turn as certain angles increase the chances of clipping. At this point, we just need to jump to be pushed the rest of the way out.
- Levitation Boost: A rare trick, but useful for getting a huge speed boost. When you pin yourself in between an enemy and a slippery slope, with the enemy keeping you from touching the ground, it makes the game think you are constantly sliding down the slope, gaining speed.
00 – Main Menu
There is a reason we refer to this run as ‘All Levels’ and not ‘Any%’. At the very beginning of the game, there is a major skip called the ‘Menu Warp’. It allows access to level 17 from the start menu. The skip is possible due to the 6 gameplay demos programmed into the game, which appear in a certain order after 33 seconds of player inactivity. When the demo fades out to go back to the start menu, we can buffer a pause. Selecting ‘Exit Level’ in the pause menu takes us to the level select menu with all levels unlocked up to that point in the game. By forgoing this skip, we are forced to play through every level in the game in order, but it makes for a much more fulfilling and entertaining run.
01 – Regent’s Park
Normally, you would need to go down the fountains to get to the end of the level, but there is a skip available. A rock near the beginning of the level has a gate in it, which leads right to end. This shortcut is locked until you enter it from the other side. Instead, we clip inside the edge of the rock over top of the gate and trigger the loading zone early.
02 – Toy Store
In the first room, jumping up the slippery surface of the railing increases our speed. In the space room, it is possible to get a horizontal boost, which flings the puppy straight to the elevator. The last storage room has the very first enemy clip. We’re now in a unique position to use our falling speed out of bounds to do a slope boost when clipped back in.
03 – Piccadilly
There are a few ways to go OoB on this level, but none of them save time. It’s fastest to go through the level normally, and at the end of it, get a speed boost by sliding off the inclined surface of a car’s trunk.
04 – Big Ben
By jumping over the fence in the first room, we skip the entire machinery section. Instead of waiting for the pendulum cycle in the second room, we use the helicopter clip, moving it into position with certain movements and a bark attack. In the next room, we make a tight cycle onto the piston and talk to Yvonne the bat since it doesn’t lose time. In the 4th room, we skip going all the way up the tallest room by performing another helicopter clip, followed by a bouncing bag clip. The last room has another helicopter clip, which gets us to the upper floor.
05 – Cruella I
The first boss fight of the game. The goal of it is to hit Cruella 5 times with the pineapple catapults. As soon as the puppy is able to move, we hit the bell to stun Cruella earlier than normal. Instead of flying around the stage, she now stays at the same spot for the rest of the fight. It’s important to not hit the bell before she turns, as a glitch will happen that causes Cruella to lose height until it’s impossible to hit her. We have just enough time to go out of bounds for fun.
06 – Royal Museum
This is the first of two levels that require completing 5 tasks in their intended order before reaching the end. We need to help Fluffy return all the museum artifacts to their correct places. Once a task is completed, we have to come back to Fluffy to get the next task. The ‘102’ portal spawns only after we are done with all tasks.
- Dinosaur room: After getting the Roman coin, the conveniently placed explosive cars let us clip OoB, fall, and respawn near Fluffy, which is faster than going back normally
- Rome room: Once we have the scarab, we can jump down onto a slope for more speed.
- Medieval room: After the bone is collected, we use a puppy crate that is placed at a perfect distance from the wall to clip OoB and respawn near Fluffy by intentionally falling too low.
- Egypt room: Here we do the first of 2 levitation boosts in the run. It provides the possibility to take a major shortcut and get to the crown within just a few seconds. The puppy moves so fast, that it is able to bounce off the wall and jump on top of the pyramid, maintaining the speed.
- And finally, the Food Court: A damage boost from a piece of toast is possible here, which allows us to reach the donut instead of going around to the other side.
07 – The Underground
Immediately, we jump onto the railing before doing a slope boost, since the extra height will add more speed. This makes it possible to reach the train while it’s moving and maintain a speed boost all the way to the crate. The crate clip allows a slow section of the level with unavoidable cutscene triggers to be skipped. Once we get OoB, we roll to the end of the level and beat it.
08 – Carnival
This level has so many fun things to do, but none of it is required.
09 – Lumber Mill
Normally, we would need to get to the crane and use it to be able to beat the level. Instead, we do two enemy clips in a row, and then straightforward rolling to the end.
10 – Cruella II
The second boss fight and the shortest level of the game. The objective of the fight is to hit Cruella 4 times with the use of watermelons. Cruella’s movement is RNG-based, but it is possible to manipulate it.
There are two tricks we do here: the first one is the double watermelon hit. It is important to perform it in the middle of the fight. If you do the first two hits normally and then do the double hit, the game softlocks.
The second one is switching to Oddball before hitting Cruella for the third time. The dialogue is faster for Oddball, so this unskippable cutscene is about 2 seconds shorter.
11 – Countryside
We get near the entrance to the cave, go around Waddlesworth and slide off the mountain surface to get a speed boost. There is another standard slope boost at the end.
12 – Barnyard
This is the second and last level which can only be finished by completing 5 tasks in order. This time, we need to take care of the barnyard and help Priscilla the pig.
- The first task is to free Priscilla from thirst by turning the handle in the barn.
- The second task is to fix the windmill by removing the broken bar. The hitbox of the bar is large and we do not have to hit it directly.
- During the third task we need to get the hens back into the coop. At the beginning of the task we intentionally get hit by the tractor and then clip on top of the barn with it. Once OoB, we roll towards a certain part of the roof and get a massive speed boost. On the way to the coop, we destroy the robotic rooster, which we would not normally be able to do. Interestingly, that skips the 3 rooster cutscenes which appear after each hen gets inside. At the end of the task we purposely get hit and lose a life to respawn at the starting point.
- The fourth task is to clean out the grain silo. The copy of the silo with functional buttons is actually located out of bounds. It would take a long time to get to the silo and return to Priscilla, so we came up with a better route: just like before, we get on the roof of the barn and get a speed boost. We stay out of bounds and float towards the interior of the silo and activate the switches from the outside. We let go of the jump button before the last handle, so by the end of the cutscene we are already placed back to the starting point.
- And finally, the last task is to get a key to the tractor in the barn and demolish the outhouse. Clipping on top of the barn for the third time helps to get to the tractor quickly.
13 – Ice Festival
One of the biggest skips in the run is in this level. By following a certain path, we can manipulate the penguin to a position where we can use it for a clip. The ending is immediately on the other side of the wall.
14 – Ancient Castle
Before entering the castle, we do the alligator clip, which skips the cutscene of the moat door lowering. In the castle basement, there is a pillar without collision, so we can jump through the wall and roll straight to the end.
15 – Cruella III
Here, we need to knock out blocks in the wall, lowering it enough to hit Cruella 3 times. We purposely stop for a moment to manipulate her movement patterns, so we can hit her immediately at the end without waiting.
16 – Spooky Forest
This forest is spooky, so we want to escape it as fast as possible. At the beginning of the level there is a hidden passage, which leads to multiple parts of the forest. We take the shortcut that leads closest to the end of the level. Then, we get a small boost from the tree and move towards the last levitation boost of the run. With the solder and the sloped wall, we get a lot of speed and maintain it to the portal.
17 – Hedge Maze
It’s fairly easy to find the way through the maze, but we take an alternate path. Since there is a conveniently placed monkey at the very start of the level, we clip with it and navigate to the end in the void.
18 – De Vil Manor
We turn around immediately and stand in a specific spot on the floor to manipulate a nearby toaster enemy. We purposely get knocked back and then walk to an area next to the wall. This sequence of movements moves the toaster to a precise location, and makes it so we partially clip into the floor when we take damage. We can then get hit a second time to clip out and continue to the end.
19 – Toy Factory
Right at the start, an enemy clip is possible. We then do a small boost from this slope to optimize the movement, which is important to make a tight cycle. The next room is where a huge, confusing skip happens. We can take advantage of the moving parts attempting to hurt the puppy, and gain a lot of speed. There are also parts moving up and down, to conveniently give us a boost in height as well. We take the combination of horizontal and vertical speed to make it up to a box as it goes into the ceiling, and this is where things get weird.
When the box goes into the ceiling, it comes out on the other side of the room, and continues to do so in a loop. Although it’s normally impossible to be on top of these boxes, if your character is within a close proximity of it, you will also be teleported to its new location.
If we position the puppy at the right distance, angle, and height near the box while it changes position, we will be teleported but still in the air. Because we don’t touch the box, the distance we are teleported in one frame actually becomes our new speed.
Moving almost an entire room’s length for one frame is a HUGE amount of speed, so it was difficult flying to the end without clipping back in bounds. After a lot of trial and error with very precise angles and timing, we finally made it work. Switching puppies helped get a good angle, but it also looks extra cool!
20 – Cruella IV
Here is the final level of the game where we need to defeat Cruella once and for all. It has three phases: rotating cubes, pop-up robots, and flying electric orbs. The last two phases have RNG manipulation, which is based on the puppy’s position and the direction the super-glue cannon points. We now use a recently discovered trick, which is a time save on the second phase where you destroy the last robot with a precisely-timed bark. Barking at every robot is possible, but slower.
Special Thanks
This TAS would not be possible without the massive support and impact of the whole 102 Dalmatians speedrunning community.
Thank you!
Suggested screenshot frame: 45470
Memory: So I'm not sure what I was expecting when I claimed this submission but it wasn't the movie that I ended up watching. The various movement tricks are incredibly fun, especially the ones where you just build up tons of speed. The out of bounds adds some nice variety as well. I was laughing for almost the entire TAS, and that's kind of a rarity for me.
Optimization mostly appears really good. Honestly my only complaints are minor and relate to aesthetics.
Sometimes in the movie, you push up against stairs that you're jumping up in sequence and usually it's cleaner to climb each step without pushing against the wall. However it seems that you don't do that for the last in a set of stairs, which is ultimately the one that really matters when it comes to speed typically. There could be some optimization reason I'm not aware of which is why you're pushing up against the stairs but if you have the option, it looks cleaner to not touch the stairs until you land.
The other thing is that there are some moments of downtime that I feel you could have made better use of. Some of the setups to get out of bounds are slow which is understandable given they are reliant on enemy movement, but I'm not sure if standing completely still where you were attempting to clip is really necessary. I wonder if you couldn't spend that time playing around. Same with the shooting segments of the final boss.
Again, I felt the movie was extremely good and these complaints are minor and likely don't impact the overall time of the TAS. However, since I felt the movie was so good, I want to give advice to make it even better if possible.
This movie was submitted without a branch label. It corresponds to the all levels category of the RTA community. However, the category corresponding to fastest completion abuses a demo glitch that merely abuses the demo to skip to one of the later levels. I think there is a ton of variety in the goal choice used for this submission so I think it is acceptable separate of a demo glitch branch. Since said demo glitch would be useless in a 100% branch, I think it makes sense for this submission to go without a label.
Of minor note is that there is this weird bar above and below the gameplay that flickers a bit. There is a similar effect that happens on console, but it does not appear as jarring so it might be a sort of emulation issue. This is not worth rejection but might be worth reporting to the mednafen devs if it hasn't been already.
Accepting to Moons.
