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.
