(Arcade) Karnov
Karnov is an unforgiving arcade platformer that has unusual item mechanics and enemy selections. The game is very challenging to the novice player due to item placement and usages being fairly obscure.
Version is Karnov (US, rev 6).
Some Mechanics
- Karnov moves at 1 pixel per frame unless he has a powerup like the Shoes, the Diving Helmet, or is walking on the slope in scene 4.
- Karnov freezes on the ground for two frames to fire while on the ground, but in the air there is no freezing.
- Karnov takes two frames to jump. Jump height has no speed or height variation based on button inputs. Items or bugs are the only real way to modify the height.
- You can ONLY switch items by left and right button presses. Thankfully the first frame of a jump is a great place to modify the currently selected item without losing time.
- Karnov dies in one hit and can take damage for a time even after killing a boss.
- Enemies tend to have long thin hitboxes, but Karnov has a big fat hitbox.
- Items carry over to the next life as long as you do not lose a continue.
Items
Items appear in a couple different ways.
- The first is that they are active and visible on the map and moving over them acquires them.
- There is a hidden trigger in the map that will cause a specific item to fall down a short distance away and be able to be picked up when it hits the ground.
- A Hidden trigger that activates an item to spawn like above but it is random. The item that appears is tied to the timer and its item code. Below in additional Notes I list the item codes. Basically it is Timer mod 10 for what item these random hidden triggers will spawn. This is useful in manipulating the drop to get a specific item.
Shoes
Shoes give double speed and extra jump height and are not effective in water. Look below for the Double Jump Height Glitch. Shoes are the singular most important item in the game. You can actively use one and then get another one to use later.
Bombs
Terrible slow short range weapon, but can be used to create shortcuts. There is a bombable tower wall in stage 6, as well as a bombable wall in the final stage that is used to get to the last boss more quickly.
Ladder
Ladders can be used on any ground surface not in water. Ladders can be retrieved by going up and then down again. Used in the tas to get extra Shoes. Ladders can be stacked.
Boomerang
Powerful reusable weapon that shoots out in front then loops up and around back towards you. Catching it again allows you to re-use it. This weapon kills all enemies in one to two hits. Most enemies and bosses die in one hit, but this can potentially hit twice. Does 16 damage compared to the basic 1 damage pellet. Downside is that you cannot use any other item or attack while it is in use.
Fireball
Very useful item that gives 30 powerful fireball shots. It has no additional attack patterns other than straight forward.
Wings
This allows Karnov to fly at slow speed around the stages. However there are only three spots in the game that this can be used. The top end path of Scene 2, the top path of Scene 4, and the top of the tower of Scene 6. Not used since Shoes are faster and there are no items that would make up for the lost time.
Mask
This would be used in certain areas where there are groups of hidden items. This route did not allow for a Mask use even though it was close in Scene 4.
Trolley
Only available to be used on the tracks in Scene 5, but Shoes are faster to use.
Bugs
Double Jump Height
Using the Shoes after jumping will add on additional time to the jump that would normally have been for the higher jump time while using the Shoes. So you get the normal jump time plus the jump time for the Shoes at the 2x speed of using the Shoes. Extremely useful.
Fast Fall L+R
While in the air L+R will cause Karnov to fall rapidly. This does not remove the remaining time to jump so this can be used multiple times and still get some jump left.
Route
Scene 1
This level is one of the easiest and forgiving stages in Karnov. They offer multiple Shoes and have many random triggers for drops. I activate a hidden trigger to get the first Shoes possible which lasts to the very end. In this level you can also see two glitches used in almost every level, the L+R bug that causes fast fall, and using the Shoes immediately after jumping to get double the jump height after use. A bomb is not necessary until the final level to bust open a shortcut. Ladders however get quite a bit of use throughout the run. Picking up a second Shoes for the next level as well is a pattern repeated as much as possible since the Shoes double your speed. At the end of the level it is often necessary to dodge the shots from the boss or enemies for a short time since you are vulnerable and liable to die even after beating the boss.
Scene 2
Right near the start I activate a hidden trigger to get a Shoes. This stage has two paths you can choose from but the upper path ends up being the fastest. The bottom path has this arena with bats that locks you in until you kill them all and that wastes time. To take the upper path here I build a tower by breaking pieces of these large tower like enemies. At the end of the stage the Shoes runs out, but using the Shoes would prevent its use in the following level.
Scene 3
This stage caused me a lot of grief due to some of the pathing and enemy placements. However finding and using the double jump height glitch with the Shoes allows Karnov to jump onto the log and gives me some room to work in the following section. I jump again on the last pixel possible to just make the Diving Helmet pickup. After that is an odd portion where I need to use a Ladder to get the Shoes and while ascending hit a hidden trigger at a specific time so it turns into a Boomerang. Over the next area the path forks with a hidden underground path and an upper path. The upper path has a Shoes and Fireball pickup that can be gotten quickly with the double jump height bug. Without that bug the bottom path is faster. The Boomerang pickup can be retrieved again if you catch it after using it so I activate it before picking up a hidden Boomerang.
There is a T-Rex and they have high health alongside some very punishing mechanics where they will punish you for hitting them by retaliating with a semi-homing fireball each time you hit them. The Boomerang is by far the best weapon to kill them. However, the real boss is Ghidra right behind the T-Rex and if they are allowed to get off shots near you it is mostly impossible to recover due to the shots exploding like shrapnel. However, Boomerangs are also the best option for all bosses and Ghidra is no exception. This is one of the only stages where the falling map piece is picked up without walking needed after the pause while it is falling.
Note that there is a potentially very annoying audio glitch that occurs if you have the "multiple floating ball" enemy follow you alive to the final section and still be alive when the round ends. It has this thrumming / grinding audio sounds that will continue throughout the entire game if it occurs. Also an odd thing I noticed is that I think the enemy is bugged in this level since it did not seem able to harm Karnov, but it can in Stage 8.
Scene 4
Using the jump height bug with the Shoes allows quick procurement of an additional pair of Shoes and another Fireball. Notice that using a Fireball right before getting another pickup still gives 30 shots, but we can then use the new pickup on a different level. The volcano section is a little tricky since it requires waiting and only tends to go off when you get near. After that the path forks in three directions, up, middle, and down. The upper portion requires Wings but those are only walking speed and the items up there do not justify the time loss. The middle path might have been faster if there was a faster way to get a Mask, but it ends up being slightly slower than the down path. The down path has a section that allows use for a Trolley which it is too slow to get, and in addition using the Shoes and simply running down the sloping path doubles the speed of the Shoes even for 4 pixels per frame which makes beating the down path even more difficult. The boss is a scorpion woman that becomes vulnerable when on the ground and Fireballs finish her quickly.
Scene 5
The main route here is to make sure to keep up speed and slowdown management. The seaweed for whatever reason have these shots that actually are destroy-able and I think those are what cause 99% of the slowdown on the level. Timing the level, I was able to shave off nearly five whole seconds on this already short stage by removing the slowdown. The Diving Helmet is like the Shoes and it gives you 2x speed in water. The Shoes are not usable in the water and its effect is not either. Halfway I take the upper path to get another Shoes and another Diving Helmet. This path avoids the down path which while offering several potentially excellent items and a random hidden item there is a lot of lag. Note that jumping up is faster than using a Ladder even with the Shoes. The bosses at the end are two T-Rexes and without the Boomerang this is almost a showstopper in casual play due to how aggressive their counter homing hits alongside the birds diving at you from above.
Scene 6
This scene playing normally is insane without the right items. The main problem is there is this tower you need to climb, but at each step the boss of stage 1 appears and will start bouncing after you the entire stage. By the time you reach the top of the tower you have around 6 or 7 bosses bouncing after you. The two intended ways to deal with this is to get one of the three hidden Wing items or get a Bomb and use it to bomb the bottom of the tower which avoids climbing it. Alternatively you could use Shoes and climb for your life, and then use a Wing at the top to then fly right and down. Note that that location is only one of three spots in the game you can use the Wing. Here I use the double height jump bug and bypass several levels of the tower, climb to the top and then jump right.
After landing I bypass some enemies and use a Ladder to pick up Shoes for the next level. Then there is another tricky part with these stationary bomb type Owls. The trick here is to try and get past them quickly which was easier said than done. Going this route allows us to hit a hidden trigger to get a Fireball item used to great effect in the following level. After that there are two scorpion women bosses which go down quickly enough.
Scene 7
The pyramid stage really benefits from having the Fireballs right from the start since there are long streams of bandits and multiple towers. The pyramid has three entrances, the bottom and middle both have a door, and the top has an entrance you can fall down through but all lead to the same place. The Pharoah's room has a Ghidra you need to kill that triggers a piece of the floor to open up. Interestingly you can use a ladder and go up on a ledge and have a mummy appear that I guess is the Pharoah. Would be nice to know if there is some benefit for that to happen though. For the hole that appears here I use the unusual characteristic of the L+R fall bug to fall fast, but where the jump according to the game is still happening so after I let go of L+R the rest of the jump happens. This residual jump is enough to bypass the T-Rex below. There are some steps afterward with some boulder traps and there is just enough of the Shoes left to get past the last trap instead of having to wait. Then use a couple Fireballs to the face of the boss Ghidra and the scene is done. This scene is pretty notable for being nearly barren as far as items go with only some normal shot powerups and a Fireball item right at the boss.
Scene 8
Strange scene that feels unfinished with no elevation variation and treemen enemies sometimes falling from the sky. Slowdown management is important on this stage so keeping the sprite count low even if it loses some time ends up being faster. Getting the Shoes, Ladder, and the Boomerang are really the only requirements for this stage. The Shoes get used as soon as possible, the Ladder gets used in the Scene 9, and the Boomerang is used on this scene's boss.
Scene 9
Final Scene is long so here I get the Shoes right above then take a death. Upon restart I keep all the items in addition to the new Shoes. Using the double jump height bug I get the other Shoes. The Shoes are used later in the scene, and that extra speed ends up being about a second and half faster overall. There are some floating demons at the start which are manipulated or killed to get out of the way to get to the ladder quickly. On the second floor moving right immediately is faster even though there are two of the scene one bosses. While it is possible to skip one of them by jumping once you exit the ladder it is a bit slower. After escaping up the ladder there is an obstacle course of the stone men. Liberal use of the L+R fast fall and Fireballs clears a path. After clearing the next gap jumping up is faster than using the ladder here. There is a shortcut wall which opens with a Bomb and it saves a significant amount of time. Using the jump height bug again with the Shoes a ladder is skipped. At the end of the walkway there is a hidden entrance into the final boss once you touch the ground right before the area next to where the hidden door opens. Once you enter halfway into the area all powerups and effects are removed. Wait a bit for the first attack to finish and then point blank use the pellet attacks and he is finished. Want to finish on the closest to the last possible input right before he dies. No sniping and waiting for things to end.
Note: The final boss can be hit with the Boomerang early if you jump up and use it at the right spot, but far from insuring a fast kill it instead underflows the boss health. Thankfully for the casual player this is not a fatal mistake since once he teleports his health goes back to the normal 10 instead of near 250 health. What I mean by underflow is that his health will dip below 0 and then start counting down from the new value. So the boomerang does 16 health from his 10, and instead of ending up dead, he is instead alive with 250 health. Although the boomerang can hit multiple times it is not enough to bring him to 0 and unknown whether that would even "properly" kill him at that point. So we have to wait for him to teleport and take him down the normal way.
Note: There is a clip glitch possible here right outside the hidden door if you use L+R right on the vertical ledge right before the door. This clips you through the floor, but is detrimental. I think this only works due to the slight slowdown caused by the Hidden Door trigger? I did not find this able to be used anywhere else.
Special Thanks
Dipswitch Settings
Left these as the default values.
- Initial Time = 1/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
- Use Real-Time = False
- Bonus Life = 50 'K'
- Cabinet = Upright
- Coin A = 1 Coin/1 Credit
- Coin B = 1 Coin/1 Credit
- Demo Sounds = On
- Difficulty = Normal
- Flip Screen = Off
- Lives = 3
- Timer Speed = Normal
- Unused = Off
Additional Notes
Item data structure. Starts at 0x60400
0x0400 = 0x80 is visible, 0xC0 is hidden
0x0401 = value of item.
0x0402 to 0x0403 = X pos
0x0404 to 0x0405 = Y pos
And it repeats for as many items are on screen. Write script to make boxes for these. And have a text display the name of the item over it.
Item values.
0= K point towards 1up
1 = Shoes
2 = bomb
3 = ladder
4=boomerang
5=fireball
6=wings
7=helmet
8=mask
9=trolley
0x0A = the orb attack powerup
Recommended Screenshots
- 6342 - with the t rex and ghidra
- 20441 - last level with dangerous enemies
Everything seems good to me.
Accepting.
