Memory addresses
The game has 9 object slots, used for enemies, obstacles and all projectiles, and for many of the addresses treats the player as an 'object 0'.
Objects
| Address(es) | Length | Data type | Description |
|---|
| $00B7-$00BF, $00AD-$00B5 | 1 Byte | Unsigned | Object X (256 pixels, pixel) |
| $00CB-$00D3, $00C1-$00C9 | 1 Byte | Unsigned | Object Y (256 pixels, pixel) |
| $037D-$0385 | 1 Byte | Unsigned | Object HP |
Player
| Address(es) | Length | Data type | Description |
|---|
| $00B6, $00AC, $0467 | 1 Byte | Unsigned | Player X (256 pixels, pixel, subpixel) |
| $00CA, $00C0 | 1 Byte | Unsigned | Player Y (256 pixels, pixel) |
| $0086 | 2 Bytes | Signed | Player X Speed (subpixels) |
| $0088 | 2 Bytes | Signed | Player Y Speed (subpixels) |
| $0496 | 1 Byte | Unsigned | Player HP |
Gameplay
Basics
Levels
Throughout the game, the player puts on different disguises, and gains corresponding abilities. There are five different levels:
- Warehouse, with no disguise
- Central park, with a mask of Paul
- Carnival, with a mask of Skip
- Chinatown, with a mask of Smiley
- Construction site, with a mask of Durant
In theory, the player takes pictures of their target to create the mask, but this makes the countdown at the end of each level longer, so it is avoided.
Physics
The game uses a precise 256-subpixel movement system. When on the ground, the player accelerates by 30 subpixels each frame, and when midair, by 5 subpixels each frame.
There are two main kinds of floors in the game, based on their speed cap:
- 'Fast' floors, on which the speed is capped at 3 pixels per frame;
- 'Slow' floors, on which the speed is capped at 2 pixels per frame.
There is no speed cap in midair. In the warehouse levels, there are also occasionally tightropes, where speed is capped at 1 pixel per frame.
Most of the floors in the earlier levels are fast floors, with the exception of the wooden structures in the central park levels. However, in Chinatown and the construction site, most of the floors are slow floors.
Attacks
In the warehouse, central park and Chinatown levels, the player has a basic melee attack. It is slow, and can only be performed on the ground, and stops the player in their place.
In the carnival and construction site levels, the player has a basic projectile attack. It can again only be performed on the ground, and knocks the player back in the direction opposite to the projectile. Projectiles travel at 2 pixels per frame.
In all levels except the carnival, pressing A and B on the same frame does a short jump attack. This has the benefit of maintaining speed, and can also be chained to pass through many enemies without stopping.
Another use is for spacing: since the player speed is not capped when midair, it is faster to jump when possible. The jump attack is much lower than a usual jump, allowing it to be used when there is not room for a full jump.
Tricks and glitches
Misdirected knockback
In levels where the player has projectiles to shoot, the knockback is applied to the enemy in the direction the player is facing at the time the projectile makes contact with the enemy. This allows the player to control which direction the enemy is knocked back.
Despawning objects
This is not yet fully understood, but it seems like when an object spawns on the same frame another object despawns, it gains some of the properties of the despawning object. The only known use for this is for the third stage in the Warehouse level, where the balloon at the end turns into a potion at the same time as the despawning balloon would have.
Climbing inside walls
When near a wall, the game does not snap the player to a fixed X position, so they may end up climbing a small distance inside the wall. However, the maximum distance inside the wall is not optimal, as the player will bump into the top of the wall as they jump over it, which decreases their speed significantly more than it otherwise would.
Boss level endings
The vast majority of levels with bosses have their ending triggered by the player reaching a certain endzone position, regardless of whether the boss is actually dead. This allows the level to be completed without the boss being killed once the boss has been knocked back sufficiently far. For some reason, this doesn't seem to work on Smiley.
Instead, Smiley can be killed more quickly by knocking him off the other edge of the final platform.