I will leave this post to log the progress in the
v2.1.1 hack and edit it with any new times (and new WIPs).
Level Time Units improved
Green Hill 1 0:16:34 73
Green Hill 2 0:15:15 39
Green Hill 3 0:28:25 58
Marble 1 0:13:23 86
Marble 2 0:14:19 75
Marble 3 0:27:08 46
Spring Yard 1 0:18:41 65
Spring Yard 2 0:15:38 387
Spring Yard 3 0:38:49 541
Labyrinth 1 0:24:39 133
Labyrinth 2 0:24:08 117
Labyrinth 3 0:27:08 213
Star Light 1 0:17:19 48
Star Light 2 0:10:11 146
Star Light 3 0:29:27 77
Scrap Brain 1 0:21:22 202
Scrap Brain 2 0:19:13 140
Scrap Brain 3 0:08:45 501
Final 0:12:58 95
Units improved = compared with times in the first post.
I am only 2 frames behind Knuckes in GHZ3 now (edit: no longer true, see below); if I can optimize the first two hits to Robotnik enough, it might even be possible to beat Knuckles in this level...
I have managed to replicate the cave zip in MZ1, but the moving sprite is in a very inconvenient position when I get to it; in the end, I have to wait longer to get in the cave, and lose the time I gained until this point (and then some). Given that some optimizations in speed management and flight led to a huge improvement, I don't think the cave zip will be worthwhile in this level. Now if I can knock off another six frames... I think I can knock off a few in GHZ3, I was just dying to try MZ1.
WIP up to Marble 1 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Added MZ2 time. I managed to reduce time by another 9 frames, leaving me still 10 frames behind Knuckles.
WIP up to Marble 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Managed to reduce boss fight in GHZ3 by 4 frames, beating the Knuckles time by 2 frames.
WIP up to Marble 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Differences in flight made MZ3 slightly faster (2 frames). The enforced screen boundaries for flight prevented me from going top-side in SY1 and resulted in a loss of 77 frames; but those same boundaries were abused in SY1 and SY2, reducing the loss to 11 frames in SY1 and leading to the huge improvements in SY2.
WIP up to Spring Yard 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: S3&K enforced screen boundaries prevent me from flying above that wall at the beginning, so I have to go around it. The S3&K enforced screen boundaries, however, allow me to fly over the rest of the entire level at nearly full spindash speed, avoiding lots of vertical motion and jumps. The lack of invincibility at the boss makes the battle slightly longer. Overall, there is a
drastic drop in time. Even Knuckles is left behind by 155 frames... I think that the same abuse can be used with benefits in SY1, but haven't tested it yet.
WIP up to Spring Yard 3 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: More abuse of S3&K enforced screen boundaries lead to massive improvements in the first two Spring Yard zones (improved 73 frames in SY1, 143 in SY2). Optimizations in Spring Yard 3 (and in the boss fight) lead to an improvement of 43 frames. It is too bad that this can't be used as effectively in Green Hill and Marble zones...
WIP up to Spring Yard 3 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Before going into Labyrinth zone, I tried optimizing Spring Yard 3 a bit more, and managed to squeeze a full second (50 frames from a better stage before going over the screen and from being at a higher speed while at it, and 10 frames from the boss fight). This also takes the SY3 boss fight shorter by 2 frames than the one I did earlier with invincibility.
WIP up to Spring Yard 3 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: I did some slight optimizations that reduced 1-3 frames in most stages. I also have done Labyrinth 1. While it is almost 2 seconds faster than the time in the old ROM, it is still almost 2 seconds slower than Knuckles... I am really stumped for improvements in this level; almost anything else I tried resulted in a slow down -- especially removing that bit of swimming at about the first switch.
WIP up to Labyrinth 1 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Labyrinth 2 done. I actually managed to duplicate the Knuckles trick, but it led to no gains over my initial run in the other ROM. On the other hand, improvements in the Sonic trick were enough to reduce the time by 66 frames.
WIP up to Labyrinth 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: 18-frame improvement in Labyrinth 1.
WIP up to Labyrinth 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Labyrinth 3 is up. An improvement on Knuckles' shortcut, enabled by swimming, allows me to cut stage time by 51 frames. Optimizations overall (including Upthorn's suggestion, as well as entering the shortcut more accurately) enable me to shave another 118 frames. The result: 32 frames faster than Knuckles. Woot!
WIP up to Labyrinth 3 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Star Light 1 and 2 done. I managed to gain a few frames in SL1 by improving the beginning (I am now touching the bridge 4 frames before Knuckles, and may be able to remove one or two more), while killing the badnik at the end by rolling (instead of jump, break, spin dash) plus slope abuse + flight at the end account for the rest. SL2 was mostly improved thanks to the enforced screen boundary abuse, as well as using flight during slope abuse to keep a little bit more speed.
WIP up to Star Light 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Star Light 3 done too. Vastly improved boss fight and better speed management lead to a 56 frame improvement over previous version. At this stage, the only zone that is not sub-30 seconds is Spring Yard 3; in all likelihood, the Scrap Brain and Final zones will also be sub-30.
WIP up to Star Light 3 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Scrap Brain 1 and 2 are up. Smarter use of flight, less braking for spin dash when it is slower lead to the huge improvements listed. SB1 is now faster than the Knuckles version by 22 frames. I did try to duplicate the Sonic piston trick in SB1, but it was slower than the route used.
WIP up to Scrap Brain 2 Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Game completed. In SB3, the use of spin dash and flight inside the wall make it faster than the Sonic version by almost 2 seconds. The final boss battle is more "artsy"; I got the timer to stop earlier than the previous run, so it is shorter by almost a full second.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Improved MZ2 by cutting an unnecessary jump. The moving platform is in a really inconvenient position, so I overcharge the spindash to wait for it; letting go even a frame early means I hit the terrain and stop. In the end, this gives an 11 frame improvement, leaving me 4 frames ahead of Knuckles. In the end, Knuckles was faster in Green Hill 2 (because there is an extra wall in TiS1 preventing Tails from going in the shortcut) and Labyrinth 1, because Knuckles' glide is a huge help versus water drag.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Added in improvements by Upthorn to Spring Yard 2 & 3; thanks to those, all levels now are done in less than 40 seconds. I also did a minor (4-frame) improvement in his improvement in SY2.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Added in Upthorn's improvement to Labyrinth 2 and my improvements to Green Hill 2. Also, I refined Spring Yard 3, improving it further by 17 frames.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Improved speed management in SY2 and SL2, improving the former by 2 frames and the latter by 16 frames. Improvements in the beginning of SY3 reduced its time by a further 18 frames.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Better flight management, slightly improved in-wall input and braking slightly earlier lead to an 11-frame improvement in SB3; turning back even one frame earlier makes the moving platform vanish completely, while delaying flight (and the boost) makes either no difference in time (1 frame) or causes Tails to fall to the sloped ground with loss of many frames. Improved FZ based on Upthorn's suggestions, and the timer now stops 45 frames earlier. This is a single frame slower than Knuckles; I have made many attempts to lower it by another frame to at least match Knuckles' time, with no success at all...
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Better speed management in Star Light 2 yield a further 22-frame improvement.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Better speed management and terrain abuse lead to improvements in Marble 1 (29 frames), Marble 3 (17 frames), Star Light 1 (5 frames) and Scrap Brain 1 (15 frames).
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Better speed management allowed me to reduce Scrap Brain 2 by 2 frames. The improvement would be a lot more were it not for that saw, which forces me to give up most of the frames I gained up until it (and taking damage there is a lot slower).
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Better speed management and subpixel optimizations allowed me to improve GHZ1 (5 frames), MZ2 (9 frames), LZ2 (19 frames) and LZ3 (44 frames).
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Better speed management and subpixel optimizations allowed me to improve GHZ3 (5 frames), MZ1 (12 frames) and SLZ3 (21 frames).
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Improved SYZ1 by 3 frames and LZ1 by 1 frame.
Full game WIP Edit: Obsolete.
Edit: Letting go of the final spindash a little earlier lead to an 8-frame improvement in SYZ3.
Full game WIP
