Emulator: PSXjin v2.0.1
Aim: Beat the game as fast as possible.
Note: I'm not sure what version of the game was used here since my copy doesn't contain that information.
This is the first submission of a Tomb Raider game, a series that hardly needs any introduction. Chronicles is the 5th game in the TR series and the last of the "classics". The game story starts a few days after the final events of TR4 with a few gentlemen discussing some of Lara's past adventures. The game progresses through 4 separate stories taking Lara to Rome, Russia, Ireland and VCI headquarters.
While the TR games may seem straightforward to the general player, this movie makes use of ALOT of shortcuts and tricks saving massive time. Some of the glitches are obvious but others might not even look like a glitch to someone not familiar to the game. I'll explain all tricks used below.
Flare-Wall Glitch: Dropping a flare near a wall then picking it up with Lara's back to the wall will cause Lara to embed in the wall(if flare was close enough to the wall). If there's an area where you can stand above this, Lara will vertically zip up.
Corner Bug: By entering a corner at 45 degrees, lara can zip up to above platforms, similar to the flare-wall glitch. There are many variations of this, and it's even possible while swimming!(as seen in Trajan's Market)
Flare Cancel: When landing after a high jump, Lara usually does a stumble animation. If however you start to throw a flare in mid-air, Lara will skip that animation and be able to start doing stuff immediately.
Move during cutscenes: Some cutscenes will allow Lara to do a single move as cutscene starts(Streets of Rome for example) and in some others, Lara can move freely during entire cutscene. This can cause some wierdness, especially in "Escape with the Iris" during elevator cutscenes.
Ledge bug: Super super super useful in Ireland levels. Lara can grab some ledges which is supposed to be impossible making huge level skips possible. Almost entire Gallows Tree and Old Mill is skipped.
Rapid fire in lasersight: If in Lasersight, the revolver can fire at an amazing rate, even faster than an UZI making it the most effective weapon in the game. However, it's only useful for Rome levels and there isn't alot of ammo around.
Pistols rapid fire: If in lasersight with revolver, press start, choose pistols(simply press x, nothing will happen but the game still registers the choice), if you now unpause, the game will choose pistols while still in lasersight mode! If you now try to shoot, pistols will go haywire and rapid fire like an UZI. Very useful for Rome levels.
Aim cancel: Not sure what to call this but if for example firing the shotgun at an enemy, turning Lara so she looses her aim and then regaining it, makes her fire at a faster rate. Useful for statue fights.
Extended sprint: You don't need to hold the sprint button while sprinting, only pressing it at selective frames will make the sprint meter drop at a much much slower rate making it possible to sprint for very long distances. Unfortunately not possible while turning.
Old Mill glitch: I'm not sure what it's called but in old mill level you can run straight through a corner entering the Mill and saving some massive time.
Corner Skip: TR games is built on blocks, and some blocks are triggers. A trigger might cause a cutscene or some other event. These aren't supposed to be possible to bypass but by taking a shortcut through a corner, you can. This is used in The Labyrinth and Red Alert!. The Red Alert! glitch allows you to escape the room with the grappling gun without the doors closing on you, saving a minute or so, found by me :)
There are probably some other minor glitches as well.
NOTE: A glitch known as ALT can be used on PC version to get even faster times. This however isn't possible on PSX so if you are wondering why some official world records are faster, it's because it's on a diffrent system.
Overall i'm very happy with this run. It was difficult at first to master this game with such a huge number of glitches to learn but when i did, progress was pretty fast. It's been a fun ride and we'll see if i ever decide to do any more TR.
Special Thanks: Tombrunner.net community - For everything pretty much, they've come up with all strategies and tricks and also gave me alot of feedback on my work. Without them, there wouldn't be a run.
Everyone else who's commented on or supported my work.
PSXjin - For not giving me a single desynch in a 1h 20min video and overall being a superb emulator.

DarkKobold: Good work, Wyster. I enjoyed the glitches. The screenshot really needs to be from when you fly before the Russian sub. Good viewer feedback, accepting.

GabCM: I'm going to work on it.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3143: Wyster's PSX Tomb Raider Chronicles in 1:19:35.63
GabCM
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Encoding
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As a real-time speedrunner of Tomb Raider, I know how hard some tricks in this TAS are, and that they are almost impossible to execute in a normal speedrun (like the super extended sprints he did, the way he threw the flares in the right place while running, the roll corner bugs he executed). ALT not being possible on PSX was a shame though (I tested it myself), because the run could've been superbly faster (though if it did work, the run would be really boring to watch). Even though ALT didn't work, his run is faster than the one with it, which makes this TAS a lot more interesting to watch. Anyway, if you like Tomb Raider, this run will be one of the best things you've ever watched. All we can expect now is a TAS of the other classics. :)
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Whoa! This is finished?! Wow, look forward to watching the full encode.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
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About the encode, you'll see something tomorrow. I'm going to start the process tonight.
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Having followed the progress of the run and being a TASer of Tomb Raider as well, I know the level of commitment and work that Wyster put into this run. These games can be very frustrating at times. So, voting yes, for great technical quality and entertainment. Real shame about ALT, though.
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NitroGenesis
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I never really played any tomb raider, so if someone could tell me what the ALT glitch was that'd be awesome.. I'm watching the run right now.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
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ALT allows you to trigger "trigger squares" from far away(not too far though). You do this by embedding in a wall then looking at the square with lasersight or binoculars. This means you can trigger cutscenes or end a level without being anywhere near that point. For example Trajan's market can be completed in 45 seconds by triggering the end of level square early.
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Loved all the glitching! Yes vote.
NitroGenesis
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Wyster wrote:
ALT allows you to trigger "trigger squares" from far away(not too far though). You do this by embedding in a wall then looking at the square with lasersight or binoculars. This means you can trigger cutscenes or end a level without being anywhere near that point. For example Trajan's market can be completed in 45 seconds by triggering the end of level square early.
Thanks! Yes vote as well, it was entertaining and fast-paced. Thanks antd for the you tube link as well. :)
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
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I wasn't overly entertained... Though Tomb Raider never really entertained me so it doesn't count, but extremely well made TAS with some insane tricks and nice glitches. Yes vote.
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No animals were hurt in the making of this run. (Except for that one lion. He totally deserved it.) I think that should be added to the movie description... :P (Having played this game, seeing a TAS of it brought memories.)
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Jungon
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That trick with the wall reminds me of Megaman ... being thrown somewhere else after entering the wall ... this shows that video games aren't really evolving in the collision detection methods =P Although I liked the TASing, the speedrun, and the idea of Tomb Raider itself, I got bored at some parts, and maybe that's the reason I voted Meh ... but the video will be accepted anyway, right? Most fans would deny it but TR is about watching Lara's butt moving.. and people say butt cult is a brazilians thing... I swear I'm not judging! >D
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
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Jungon wrote:
That trick with the wall reminds me of Megaman ... being thrown somewhere else after entering the wall
The "corner bug" is pretty famous in the Tomb Raider series, as it has been there for at least Tomb Raiders 2, 3, 4 and 5. For example in TR3 you could use the corner bug (pretty easily even) to get to the roof of the Croft mansion (which is normally completely inaccessible) or to get outside the fence surrounding the mansion (again, normally completely inaccessible). In this case I don't know if it's the same "corner bug" or a related bug, though, as sometimes it seems to be done in places which are not outer corners.
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Since most things in TR can be done real-time anyway I wasn't sure how well TASing would work, but seeing all the perfect set-ups and positioning works much better than I thought it might (and shows plenty of stuff that's near-impossible real-time). Too bad TR5 and TR4 (if someone TASes it) have so many unskippable cut-scenes, but there's not really anything that can be done about that. So I would give it "yes" if I could.
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Although I never really TRC all that much, it was fun to watch this run. Definite yes vote...
Post subject: Movie published
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1802] PSX Tomb Raider Chronicles by Wyster in 1:19:35.63
Mitjitsu
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Congratulations on getting the first Tomb Raider run published. Any plans on doing TR's 1-3?
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3 is already being worked on by Bahamete(http://tombrunner.createforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=925). Personally i think i'm gonna go with 4 for now. If i ever finish that, we'll see about 1-2(but i'm guessing they will already be done by then :P).
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Mitjitsu wrote:
Congratulations on getting the first Tomb Raider run published. Any plans on doing TR's 1-3?
Wyster wrote:
Personally i think i'm gonna go with 4 for now. If i ever finish that, we'll see about 1-2(but i'm guessing they will already be done by then :P).
Unfortunately, Tomb Raider 1 and 2 do not work in PSX re-recording emulators currently. :( Unless it's just my versions. Oh, I said it on Tomb Runner anyway, but congrats on getting this published Wyster.
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TR2 would be the most interesting TAS, but it would also be the hardest to do due to the hordes of enemies that need to be dealt with.
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TR3 would be the most interesting to me because of nostalgia reasons. (It was one of the very first PC games I bought.)