I guess there's a glitch in Klobber Karnage that prevents the use of v1.1 for the 102% run,
something related with a spining barrel, that's really sad.
Okay, I'll stop whining about those new glitches, I can't use them on my run anyway.
Here, the run is done and now there's just the submission text to worry about.
I'm thinking to reuse the existing text, if it's okay for the creator of the text.
Here's a possible submission text:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - 102% TAS by Comicalflop, Dooty & NxCy.
We proudly present to you, the new and improved, Donkey Kong Country 2 102%.
This is our combined effort to obsolete the old 102% TAS. While that run may be good for its time, it contains some mistakes, and does not utilize the current standard of tricks/glitches. These two combined added up to a lot of time to save, and we set about doing just that.
Overall, we saved 2952 frames or 49 seconds and 12 frames. The new length is 296501 frames, 1:22:22, and the in-game timer of the game is now 1 hour 6 minutes.
Even more new tactics/glitches were discovered prior to and during the making of this run. In fact, many of the tricks that we discovered are applicable to the any% TAS, making an improvement to that movie possible. (Next project? nah, we're sick to death with Donkey Kong Countr... we mean, you never know...)
Even though we tried to create a very high level of technical precision (in some areas even being faster than the any% counterpart) we willingly allowed some time/entertainment tradeoffs. Most specifically, we kept the previous run’s attitude towards killing as many enemies as possible. We know for a fact that shooting eggs, spitting webs, etc. causes a decrease in speed. But, we felt that killing as many enemies as possible still remains a good goal for the 102% run, especially since it’s twice as long, and needs to center on doing more impressive things to entertain the audience. Also, the decrease in speed is not noticeable to the naked eye at all. For instance, when Squawks is going at max speed, killing 4 enemies resulted in a loss of 1 frame.
Stereo sound was once again selected for superior sound quality.
!! The Emulator Settings:
* Snes9x 1.43 v17 svn123
* Use WIP1 Timing (Yes)
* Allow Left+Right/Up+Down (Yes)
* Volume Envelope Height Reading (No)
* Fake Mute desync workaround (Yes)
* Sync samples with sound CPU (Yes)
* Clean FastROM setting (Yes)
!! The Game Objectives:
* Aims for fastest time
* Contains Speed/Entertainment Tradeoffs
* Manipulates luck
* Uses Warps
* Takes damage to save time
* Abuses programming errors in the game
* 102% completion
* Uses a game restart sequence
!! New Tricks and Glitches:
This time around, we incorporated tricks found in the current any% TAS, and we also found a large number of new tricks on our own.
! The Bonus Coin:
The Bonus Coin has some very, very interesting properties. After you touch the coin, there is a 1 frame window where you can perform some actions, just after the game unfreezes. Inside this window, one of the buttons you can press (if you have both kongs) is A, to team up. But if you're already in a team up formation, pressing the A Button will dismount the other kong, allowing you to keep control of the game, it's useful if the exit of the said bonus is far from you and you can suicide inside that bonus, otherwise it's useless as you get stuck after that.
There is a 1 frame opportunity to collect the coin, and press Start, then Select, while still collecting the bonus/DK coin. This is used to save time with some new routes.
! Let Go of Direction When Rolling Into Doors:
When rolling into a door, you’ll get caught and your speed will become 384, as you enter the door. The left and right buttons are what activates this animation; by not holding either left or right, you can move into the doorway, and enter it faster. This is done when rolling, as the animals, etc. it's used in all doors now.
! Camera Scroll:
Pressing the opposite direction you're facing, forces the camera to scroll in that direction. We used it a few more times, to kill or avoid some enemies and to collect one DK coin.
! Tires:
For some reason, in Jungle Jinx, if you shoot out of a barrel and land on one of the tires, the camera will scroll to the right very fast. Throw the other kong on a tire also have some wierd results, you can bounce very high or make the other kong land very far.
! Palettes Get Screwed Up:
We found even more ways to get some of the colors of objects to turn out wrong. See how many you can spot!
! Controlling the Karts:
The Karts move slow when going up hill; by starting to jump at the base of the hill, and keep jumping as soon as you land, you can make it up the hill faster. Unfortunately, in Rickety Race if you jump you'll lose speed.
! Big Jump Via Damage:
If you have both kongs and take damage, the other kong will jump higher by just holding the B button. But, if you do some other things first it will jump really high: thrownig the kong upwards then taking damage before the other kong lands, or throwing it to a blast barrel then taking damage makes the other kong jump higher, but by entering a swimable water, switching the kongs and then taking damage, makes you go incredibly high!
! Jump Delay:
If you jump for two frames, you can still team up and jump at the same time. It's used to enter some bonus stages, to finish some stages or to go up a little faster in some other places.
There are various other tricks that are used, but these are the major ones.
!! Level by Level:
! Pirate Panic:
Biggest change really was in the way we started the game; by playing in hard mode, we started with both kongs allowing us to use the barrel above us saving some frames right at the start of the stage. 19 frames faster.
! Mainbrace Mayhem:
Hard mode saved some frames here too, also, the jump delay saved some time to enter a bonus or set up a team up. 83 frames faster.
! Gangplank Galley:
When entering the last bonus, it's faster to bump off of the first two Krushas and then kill the third one with a chest. 56 frames faster.
! Lockjaw's Locker:
The route change we mentioned in the previous run was implemented here, the strategy to collect the DK coin was also improved. 417 frames faster.
! Topsail Trouble:
Another change that saved some time, Dixie was used to do the bonus and to collect the DK coin. 37 frames faster.
! Kreepy Krow:
20 frames were spent to manipulate the eggs (inside Funky's house), but we started the fight with Dixie this time, so, no switch needed. 81 frames faster.
! Hothead Hop:
Slightly improved bonus stages. 21 frames faster.
! Kannon's Klaim:
A similar strategy as in Lockjaw's Locker to collect the DK coin was used here, also changed is the way we reach the warp barrel, thanks to was0x for posting a link to a video demonstrating this trick. 265 frames faster.
! Jungle Jinx:
The bonus was improved with the jump delay trick. It can be completed faster with Dixie, but using Diddy here to finish the stage, avoids one character switch in Lava Lagoon, wich is pretty good. 80 frames faster.
! Lava Lagoon:
Starting as Diddy saved quite some time here. It's possible to duck underwater near the third Clapper, but the time spent to kill or avoid the croc, makes it a little slower, so, it's not used in this run. 127 frames faster.
! Redhot Ride:
The glitch were a team up takes twice as long if you're on top of the baloon was avoided. The way Rambi charges was slightly changed in the first bonus and in the second bonus Diddy returns to Dixie, so, the coin trick can be performed here too. 80 frames faster.
! Squawk's Shaft:
Almost nothing new here, a jump delay trick was used to save some time. 34 frames faster.
! Kleaver's Kiln:
Inside the fight itself 9 frames were saved, but this time we enter in the first possible frame with a pretty good luck, so, some time was saved on the map also. 9 frames faster.
! Barrel Bayou:
We followed the any% route, but made a few changes as we must also do the bonuses. We spent a lot of time in spawning the neeks to make the colors of the very last one be completely wrong, so we can have an excuse for some frames lost to grab the cannonball needed to enter the first bonus. 224 frames faster.
! Glimmer's Galleon:
Underwater Dixie can perform as fast as Diddy, so, doing this stage as her didn't slowed us down. We can also exit the stage as Diddy with a target switch trick, wich will save some time in the next stage. 4 frames faster.
! Krockhead Klamber:
Start the stage as Diddy proved to be beneficial here. Since we're playing in hard mode, there's no way to sacrifice Dixie near the DK coin to pass those bees, as we need her to enter the bonus stage. 54 frames faster.
! Rattle Battle:
Another stage with almost nothing new, and again the jump delay was the only time saver. 75 frames faster.
! Black Ice Battle:
Another stage with... hey, we already said that, nothing new, the jump delay thing and blah, blah, blah. 10 frames faster.
! Slime Climb:
Another stage with... just kidding, there's lots of new things here. Remember that huge jump on the any% run? it's also used here, but on a different place, you may also remember the bump off of the Krushas in Gangplank Galley, it saved some frames to enter the first bonus, and a camera scroll trick was used to avoid the last two crocs before the second bonus. 329 frames faster.
! Bramble Blast:
Start playing as Dixie is not desired in a great number of stages, but here it's a good thing to have her in front, with her helicoptery hair she can skip the first barrel, wich saved some frames. The through-ceiling trick was slightly changed, we don't need to worry about sacrificing the other kong anymore, so we can let Diddy land on the brambles to avoid some barrels and dragonflies. 122 frames faster.
! Kudgel's Kontest:
We redid this boss battle, but it's a pretty boring fight no matter what you do to make it interesting, so, the old fight was hex-edited here as in the any% run, just the end of the battle is different. 1 frame faster.
! Hornet's Hole:
Utilized almost the same tricks as in the current run, but get in the first bonus without Squitter saved some frames, (something we wish have worked on Pirate Panic with Rambi...) We also avoided to step on the honey at all costs as it slows you down considerably. 96 frames faster.
! Target Terror:
Nothing much new besides being the first slower stage of the new run, looks like collect all KONG letters was not a good idea after all... We know it's a lame excuse, but you can say it's a speed entertainment tradeoff. 3 frames slower.
! Bramble Scramble:
The route was already pretty solid in the current run, but since we don't have to break two DK barrels, it's faster. The bonus was also slighltly changed to save even more time. 142 frames faster.
! Rickety Race:
We first thought that the jump up hills trick could save some time here, but we were wrong. Again the jump delay trick was the only time saver. 81 frames faster.
! Mudhole Marsh:
Something really wierd happened on the first bonus of Barrel Bayou, useless there, but useful here; after the coin was collected, we tried to do a coin trick by dismounting a team up, but it failed as we couldn't exit the bonus after that, but here we can suicide to exit the bonus saving some frames. It was also here that a camera scroll trick saved some time to collect the DK coin. 171 frames faster.
! Klobber Karnage:
Oh, oh... a big, and we mean a big time lost here. We're forced to use Dixie almost in the entire stage, as only Diddy can enter the bonus stage and we need to sacrifice one of the kongs to minimize the loss. 314 frames slower.
! Rambi Rumble:
Ah, hard mode, we almost gave up the idea to use it in the previous stage, but then it saved some time here and we gave up the idea to gave up the idea of use it (?). 32 frames faster.
! King Zing Sting:
A big dillemma on this boss fight: avoid lag to save time or make the fight entertaining? A mix of the two was then used. 7 frames faster.
! Ghostly Grove:
We'd love to be proven wrong, but this seems to be the last stage where the pseud failed bonus can save time. 41 frames faster.
! Haunted Hall:
The any% run was combined to save some time here. Unfortunately the glitch in Arne’s any% movie, where the last ghost failed to appear, is impossible to reproduce in the 102% run, you must pass above the last bonus to set up this glitch. 60 frames faster.
! Gusty Glade:
The jump delay trick saved some time on the goal target, but a change in the second bonus saved even more. 118 frames faster.
! Parrot Chute Panic:
Not using Squawks in the first bonus saved some time inside and outside it, as we don't need to pass the no animal sign with him. 61 frames faster.
! Web Woods:
It's impossible to kill 100% of the enemies without wasting time, and sometimes killing just one more enemy creates lots of lag, so, some of them were just avoided and not killed, less lag = more frames saved. 108 frames faster.
! Kreepy Krow:
16 frames were spent to manipulate the barrel setup, but this time we got perfect luck! 22 frames faster.
! Arctic Abyss:
Guess what? Yes, almost nothing new here, but as we need Dixie to hover above the red bees in Animal Antics, we finished this stage as her. 2 frames faster.
! Animal Antics:
The reason is unknown, but the last web that Squitter must spawn to reach the Squawk's barrel took much longer to be available. We also must do a target switch here to control Diddy in the next stage, so, it's another slower stage. 13 frames slower.
! Windy Well:
Those slower stages are becomming a little constant, isn't it? Well, this is the price we have to pay for choosing hard mode, there's no DK barrel to kill one of the yellow bees. 21 frames slower.
! Castle Crush:
Another slower stage, but not as slow as we first thought it would be. The jump delay trick was very useful here, and we think it's the most important of the new tricks. As Rambi we avoided to jump on any enemy, as it stops the floor for two frames, we used his charge or his lunge instead. Also, there's no lag when playing as Rambi, and it helped to minimize the loss. 10 frames slower.
! Clapper's Cavern:
We tried very hard, but the golden Krusha could not be replicated in this run without wasting time, so, only the golden Clapper this time, sorry about that. The rest is the same as in the current run. The jump delay trick didn't save or wastes time to reach the hooks, but it sure looks cooler. 13 frames faster.
! Chain Link Chamber:
Utilized the current route, but the team throwing in bonus #1 was faster with the jump delay trick. 18 frames faster.
! Toxic Tower:
Rattly is still a ninja, and this time we found a way to reach his barrel even faster, also the new any% route was used to save some frames.
As Squawks we changed the route a little. We can't sacrifice again on one of the red bees, but oddly enough it saved some frames!
Nothing new as Squitter, sadly, but pay ettention to the goal target. 36 frames faster.
! Stronghold Showdown:
It's not a joke, we saved time here too. 1 frame faster.
! Screech's Sprint:
Followed the current route, but again the jump delay trick saved some frames to reach the bonus, as did the lack of a DK barrel to break. 76 frames faster.
! K. Rool Duel:
Like in the any% run, Diddy was used to do this fight. 4 frames faster.
! Fiery Furnace:
We started as Diddy this time, so, some frames saved right at the start of the stage. We also sacrificed him to do a big jump via damage, so, Dixie can hover on the last stretch towards the end, thus, avoiding a switch inside the bonus. 181 frames faster.
! Krocodile Kore:
The first draw in our run, and looks like it will be the last one, as this is the final battle. 0 frames faster/slower.
!! Possible Improvements:
The use of hard mode slowed down some stages, but it saved time on many others, so, if you want to improve this movie, your best bet is to use normal mode.
Enjoy!
