The glitch of the wall which can be destroyed.
Link to video
Can this be used?
This is incredible. Do you know how this is done? What emulator version was used to do this?
I do not know details, either.
But, seemingly, a judgment will be out of order, if a way is returned after changing into the state of being visible the wall which breaks somehow.
Joined: 4/21/2004
Posts: 3517
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
That glitch has some serious potential. If someone is willing to take a shot at a new run, I am willing to give advice on possible walls to break to save time.
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
Cooljay wrote:
Mayor Haggar and Cody are such nice people for the community. Metro City's hospitals reached an all time new record of incoming patients due to their great efforts :P
Alright, after some research, here is what I figured out about the new glitch. The explanations will mainly be applied in relation to the linked video and the possible breach through the wall in 1-3, but fundamentally, the glitch appears to be possible with any breakable wall. It's entirely caused by scrolling the camera the right way, but other factors (e.g. enemy placement, position of staircases nearby, may factor into it)
What actually happens is that the breakable blocks are glitched to destroy the tiles around them when hit. I suspect that internally, the game accidentally swaps the breakable block objects out for "draw a name vertical row of tiles" or "create a set of stairs" object when the glitch is performed.
The basic procedure is as follows:
1.Spawn the breakable blocks and approach them.
2.Turn back and go to the threshhold area in which the vertical row with the blocks is drawn in the screen. (1 screen away). Turn around and go to the blocks again once you hit the threshold. The area in which need to do this is very small. If you turned around too early or too late, the blocks will behave normal:
3.If everything went right, the blocks are glitched now. Possible effects are the tile destroying, but also the blocks being uninteractable with and the whip producing "hit sparks" even when the blocks are already destroyed.
Whether or not actually works often comes down to luck. How the blocks become glitched is essentially random and depends on what you did during step 1 and 2. I suspect there's also an element of time to it, rather than just pure scrolling.
During my testing, there's several repeating 'patterns' I've come across, suggesting there is some regularity in the glitch. Unfortunately, none of these would provide enough room to allow me to go through the wall in 1-3. If you try to crawl in, the game kills you, and taking damage always forces you to the left side. I've been able to cause multiple blocks to build stairs before, but in the wrong direction. So two adjacent blocks would need to be set up to eat through the wall for this glitch to save time:
The glitchy behaviour can theoretically be induced in any set of breakable blocks in the game where you have enough room to scroll the camera. I wonder what other applications it might have. Other unusual level objects, like crumbling blocks or the big boulders hiding the secret area in 3-1 might be glitched as well.
Lastly, all this was tested on Snes9x 1.43. I will make a video demonstration on a more accurate emulator.
Update:
(What a tease...)
While I managed to create a larger hole, Simon still can't fit through it, though now, it might be possible to boost through using a damage boost. Unfortunately, I was not able to set it up in such a way I'd have a horsehead ready to get me through yet. If it turns out it's still impossible even with a larger hole and the horse head damage boost you, I will be less than thrilled.
Another thing, the exact pattern you get from destroying blocks appears to be related to what enemies are on screen and may be related to internal enemy slots or something. Killing certain enemies can manipulate the glitched wall, even after it has already been set up. For that purpose, I pulled the three green things from earlier in the room while testing, there needs to be a faster way for this to be practical in a TAS.
Update 2Link to video
Video Demonstration. Made on Bizhawk 1.5.1, showcasing that it's independent of emulation accuracy.
Input file: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/9803222163026098
Additionally, the glitch appears to have been fixed in the U version of the game.
Link to video
This has to be some kind of cruel joke.
So yeah, unless someone can find a way to restore the level objects when crossing the wall, this lead is dead.
(Input File, made on BizHawk 1.7.3)
He tried -- the loading trigger at the top of the stairs isn't there, so you just fall off when you get to the top.
That is correct.
The game will only load the objects for each side of the room if you came down from the right set of stairs. Since the exit trigger is not placed there, I'm stuck.
Link to video
Faster way to initiate the zip on block 4. Should save about 8 seconds from my calculations.
It's done by madly jumping up and down so that the camera doesn't get to scroll up. As SCV4 follows the old adage of "not on screen, not there", you can simply let the rising platforms carry you into the ceiling. Once the ceiling scrolls in screen, you're in the wall, and free to zip around.
It appears Block 4-2 is the only level in the game where the camera works like this, anywhere else, the camera will catch up with you before you can do anything funky.
I'm not sure whether there is a consistent set up for real time speedruns, there's a good chance you may die if your timing or positioning isn't right.
Input File, Bizhawk 1.8.1.
I'm not sure whether there is a consistent set up for real time speedruns, there's a good chance you may die if your timing or positioning isn't right.
This is definitely an incredible find, and if it can be executed real time reasonably, this is a LOT safer looking then the current skip where a secondary bat and mistimed weapon can ruin a run.
Thanks for the awesome find!
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Just another random gamer
----
<OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Hey Scrimpeh. That new 4-4 zip is sick haha. I will download Bizhawk and your input file and see if there's anything I can do for RTA. I'm sure the other players will do the same, as this is quite a big timesaver. Though I think if those 3 last ledge jumps have to be perfect, then it's not going to be possible to incorporate into RTA. Otherwise I'm confident we can make it part of the run. Thank you for all your findings, and all the time you guys have put into this game.
Hey Scrimpeh. That new 4-4 zip is sick haha. I will download Bizhawk and your input file and see if there's anything I can do for RTA. I'm sure the other players will do the same, as this is quite a big timesaver. Though I think if those 3 last ledge jumps have to be perfect, then it's not going to be possible to incorporate into RTA. Otherwise I'm confident we can make it part of the run. Thank you for all your findings, and all the time you guys have put into this game.
Hey there.
I really do hope it's possible to pull this zip off in real time, but it requires hitting the jump button nearly immediately after you land for about 8 or 9 times in a row, the last couple where you can't even see Simon. This probably requires either a turbo controller or the fastest button mashing known to man.
If it helps, you can stand as far up as here and still have enough room upwards to make it into the ceiling, but that's still several nearly frame-perfect jumps that need to be made.
Best of luck with your attempts. If you want, I can make a quick Snes9x movie of the same trick as well.
I'm able to make 4 jumps (starting from where your screen capture is) maybe 40% of the time. I'm currently stuck at the jump after that. I can't time that jump correctly and I always hit the ceiling. Really all I can see to make this possible in RTA is mashing the rest of the jumps, or somehow developing a visual cue for every single jump. You'd know this for sure, but it seems like it's a 2 or 3 frame window to jump and avoid screen scrolling.
Your screen capture helps a lot. I thought you had to include the jump onto that ledge Simon is standing on. That should make the first two or three jumps pretty easy. Sadly I don't have much/any knowledge of TASing and never used Bizhawk until yesterday, so maybe a snes9x movie will help better.
I'll keep on trying. If this becomes possible in RTA, I'll be lowering my final goal to sub32. Though this goal is another 7 seconds less than sub32:15 w/o this new zip, I'm going to be so close to sub32 that I need to just do it.
Edit: You know what, while I'm here in a TAS forum, I'm just going to make a (what I assume will be continuous >_>) laundry list of things I just don't understand about this game. Things I can't figure out just from continuous playing, or even switching to emulator and experimenting with the lack of experience I have. Feel free to check any of it out, or ignore it all, doesn't matter lol. This will help me remember all of these issues as well:
- Medusa's hitbox (For Low% p. much)
- Hitbox of the 2nd Vipers attack (the purple flames)
- The hitboxes of the Vipers. Now, I've seen a picture of the hitboxes. What I don't understand is why attacks sometimes will hit the Vipers, and sometimes it won't. Like they're invincible. It seems rather fixed, because I've been developing a strategy for Low% in which I know what attacks will damage them, and which will not.
- In 4-1 first room, after the first set of stairs Simon has to walk down, there is a sword skeleton that rushes you. Sometimes he stops at the end of the ledge and swings his sword. But he can also immediately jump at you, thus this is an automatic reset unless you don't mind losing 5 seconds. In Low%, if I stand just correctly so the skele spawns just out of the right side of the screen, he'll jump 95% of the time. I thought Simon's position could have to do with the skele's actions, but rarely he will stop at the edge and attack. Obviously this doesn't matter for low%, but it's a really, really stupid run-ender in any% and I just can't figure it out.
- How to avoid lag in the rotating room (4-2). I'm fine with this in RTA, I just haven't looked into what exactly causes lag in this room. I've noticed the ole stand-there-limp-whipping at the Medusa heads seems to cause lag. This issue is just out of curiosity.
- I can always discuss issues with the zip seperately, as this will probably always have a hanging issue.
- Stage 6-1, at the end of the first room, there are two axe armors. The first one I try to get rid of before the axe he throws shows up on-screen. I've noticed when this axe shows up on-screen, the axe the 2nd axe armor throws will go right through him, resulting in it hitting me on my way up the stairs. Luckily I am hit on the stairs so I'm not sent backward onto the ground. Less than 5 instances have I seen the above statement be false (1st axe shows on-screen, 2nd one is still caught by 2nd armor). So I can't be sure what causes that 2nd axe to go through the armor. I've never seen an instance where I don't see the 1st axe appear, and the 2nd axe going through the armor + hitting me.
- Stage 7 boss. I have no idea what's up with Grakul regenerating health at his last few bars of HP, but this is a serious problem in both Low% and Any%. My strategy for Any% seems to get this result more often than I'd like.
- Stage 8 first room. We have to do certain actions depending on if we can jump onto the very first spike platform, or if we have to walk under it. Since this is 100% consistent in RTA, it's not a problem. But I still have no undertstanding why it's the first spike platform that determines getting the rest of the spike platforms in that room in our favor. Seethis
- Last room in Stage 8. There's two acid drops before the RNG bridge. Sometimes if I grab the invincibility potion and continue, I get dboosted by the 1st acid drop. Thus, I can't boost of the 2nd one like I'm supposed to, since I'm still invincible. No idea why this can happen, my jump isn't mistimed or anything.
- Stage 9. Not executing the animation of the gold platforms disintegrating. This animation causes a lot of lag. I assume you have to do frame perfect jumps to avoid the animation.
- Stage A. Best way of avoiding lag in the 2nd room. I feel like this room may, in the long future, be one of the biggest improvements in RTA due to the severe lag we can't figure out how to reduce and still be fast (if possible).
- Stage B. Finding the best strategy to avoid lag during the walk on the bridge.
I'm able to make 4 jumps (starting from where your screen capture is) maybe 40% of the time. I'm currently stuck at the jump after that. I can't time that jump correctly and I always hit the ceiling. Really all I can see to make this possible in RTA is mashing the rest of the jumps, or somehow developing a visual cue for every single jump. You'd know this for sure, but it seems like it's a 2 or 3 frame window to jump and avoid screen scrolling.
Your screen capture helps a lot. I thought you had to include the jump onto that ledge Simon is standing on. That should make the first two or three jumps pretty easy. Sadly I don't have much/any knowledge of TASing and never used Bizhawk until yesterday, so maybe a snes9x movie will help better.
I'll keep on trying. If this becomes possible in RTA, I'll be lowering my final goal to sub32. Though this goal is another 7 seconds less than sub32:15 w/o this new zip, I'm going to be so close to sub32 that I need to just do it.
Here's the snes9x versions.
Snes9x 1.43Snes9x 1.51
Bizhawk is fairly slow, which is why it might be more convenient to test this glitch out on Snes9x. Just be warned that Snes9x 1.43 is pretty inaccurate, especially in regards to lag emulation, so the timing for the jumps will probably not be the same.
It's also pretty tricky actually making the game zip Simon to the other side of the level rather than just killing him. There's some pretty screwy behaviour to this, and both collision detection and camera scrolling can get rather screwy if you push the game to its edges. I'm trying to get a better understanding of what actually happens within the game there.
I'll edit this post at the end of the day and fill in any further improvements etc. Thank you for the snes9x files. I think 1.51 works with 1.53 so I should be fine. Otherwise I'll download the other.
Edit: 1.43 gives me "File is wrong version" when opening in snes9x 1.43, and 1.53 is an invalid link
Edit 2: WTF, I ZIPPED! Unfortunately this wasn't in my favor, and it happened super early (after the 3rd jump when you're at the top). First time I've gotten the 3rd jump. I couldn't react immediately because I wasn't expected to start zipping already, so I just zipped left and died. Hopefully I can do this again and try to input Left and see what happens. Like I said the zip happened early so idk if anything will even work.
Edit 3: No success, but I've had some pretty interesing results. No input display since I'm trying on console, but I'll upload a video of the interesting attempts tomorrow.
Edit 4: I believe I did it, but my input at the end was incorrect so I died at the wall spikes. I came up with a visual cue of when to start doing the jumps. I figured this would help eliminate at least one off-screen jump, and it's a lot easier for me to jump onto the vertical platform and jump immediately again, since I waited for it to rise a bit before doing the jumps. I'll upload this success seperately, along with the same result I did with gamesaver in slow motion. So that means I did this twice, once in RTA technically since the 1st success was in slowmo.
Twitch link for now http://www.twitch.tv/joedamillio/c/5089069
Compared to your video, I started hold Right too late at the end. I also didn't press the jump button at all like you do. I don't know if that matters or not. Kind of looks like my height might be a little off too, not sure.
I'll edit this post at the end of the day and fill in any further improvements etc. Thank you for the snes9x files. I think 1.51 works with 1.53 so I should be fine. Otherwise I'll download the other.
Edit: 1.43 gives me "File is wrong version" when opening in snes9x 1.43, and 1.53 is an invalid link
Edit 2: WTF, I ZIPPED! Unfortunately this wasn't in my favor, and it happened super early (after the 3rd jump when you're at the top). First time I've gotten the 3rd jump. I couldn't react immediately because I wasn't expected to start zipping already, so I just zipped left and died. Hopefully I can do this again and try to input Left and see what happens. Like I said the zip happened early so idk if anything will even work.
Whoops, I fixed the link now.
In any case, wonderful! You may need to time your one or two jumps very precisely so you start zipping at the right height. If you jump too many times, Simon actually ends up too far upward and dies.
It is also possible to zip out of bounds if your height is off, which is nifty, but leaves you trapped.
//Edit: I can also tell you what I know about the points you listed.
- The bosses take damage in a really wonky way. arukAdo did all the boss work in the actual TAS, so I'm afraid I can't tell you too much about them. The Viper seems especially bad about this because of how laggy the fight is.
- The skeleton in 4-1, as far as I can tell, jumps if you're standing still and uses his sword when you move towards him.
- Killing Medusa Heads with the limp whip produces a frame of lag each time if more than one is on screen. You should be good when hitting them with your subweapons or the regular whip.
- Stage 8 gave us a lot of trouble when making the TAS. We haven't gotten around to figuring how the spike platforms work. I do want to point out it's an interesting idea to pick up the invincibility potion. Considering how badly the game lags in this area, it might actually save time even in a TAS.
- Yeah, you pretty much have to jump off the gold platforms on the exact frame you land on them, or they disintegrate. Some other objects like the treasure chests in the same stage exhibit similar behaviour.
- The Clock Tower is just absolute hell in lag. Lots of enemies, a highly animated background that scrolls vertically, there's not much I think you can do there to be honest.
- I think the best option is to turn around when there's three to four bats on the screen, whip diagonally backwards and resume holding right the moment you begin whipping. You will lose a couple of frames from turning around, but it should make up for the lag frames you save from the bats. Just be warned, if your whip misses, you're probably going to lag-town.
That's all I can help you with. I hope it's useful to you. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about what happens in Stage 6 or 8 with the invincibility potion. I haven't seen these things occur yet.
...I do want to point out it's an interesting idea to pick up the invincibility potion. Considering how badly the game lags in this area, it might actually save time even in a TAS.
I only pick it up in Low%, and in Any% if I mess up jumping down the stairs before the spike pillars. In RTA, if you can jump on top on the 1st spike platform in the 1st room, you can do different strategies and be able to manage your HP so you can do lagless strategy without grabbing the potion. Idk if this would help for a TAS at all.
- I think the best option is to turn around when there's three to four bats on the screen, whip diagonally backwords and resume holding right the moment you begin whipping. You will lose a couple of frames from turning around, but it should make up for the lag frames you save from the bats. Just be warned, if your whip misses, you're probably going to lag-town.
That's all I can help you with. I hope it's useful to you. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about what happens in Stage 6 or 8 with the invincibility potion. I haven't seen these things occur yet.
I'll take a look into that, thanks. And yeah, you just end up losing more time if you mess up :p. I'll post a video of the Stage 6 issue at somepoint.
Edit: I've gotten the complete zip at least 5 times now on emulator. I've been trying to work in-depth with this glitch today, and so far, I'm in one situation:
I need to know what causes Simon to rise up & die, as opposed to rising & zipping. Maybe his x-position on the screen? I'm not sure. If I can figure this out, then i can work on getting the correct height to zip across.
Edit2: RTA strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeRuZvnNARY
Video is spliced bc I paused before making my last savestate by accident. Next is putting together my video of the trial&errors yesterday.
Is anyone working on a bizhawk TAS of this? I'm really inspired by the ending of this game after watching how powerful the end of the recent new WR is: http://www.twitch.tv/furiouspaul/v/14846720
I looked at the published run, and it looks like most of the improvement there is through SNES9x's terrible lag emulation for this video game. Though there were some damage boosts, etc. I know nothing about the gameplay/mechanics of this game, but I'm excited for any new developments that would inspire runners to look at them, and now this game seems really due for some attention from TASers/Bizhawk.
Is anyone working on a bizhawk TAS of this? I'm really inspired by the ending of this game after watching how powerful the end of the recent new WR is: http://www.twitch.tv/furiouspaul/v/14846720
I looked at the published run, and it looks like most of the improvement there is through SNES9x's terrible lag emulation for this video game. Though there were some damage boosts, etc. I know nothing about the gameplay/mechanics of this game, but I'm excited for any new developments that would inspire runners to look at them, and now this game seems really due for some attention from TASers/Bizhawk.
Funny story is, at the time we made the run, Snes9x 1.43 already was beginning to fall out of favor, but we pushed ahead with it regardless. I kinda regret not using Snes9x 1.51 after the fact.
I know of a number of improvements to the currently published run that need to be implemented, but good luck finishing a run. This game kills WIPs like no other.
(Plus I'm still searching for an improvement to Cardboard and Bablo's part, which is, for all intents and purposes, perfect.)
Minor findings in Stage 9 which should save a bit of time.
Turns out stair blocks aren't actually solid from below, but you need a lot of vertical speed to go through them. This can be done with a ring, as seen here:
Link to videoUser movie #54921728666133109
The positioning for this is very precise, and it only seems to want to go through when it feels like it. I hope this can be made useful in more places somehow.
It's also possible to zip on the treasury boxes by crouching at their edge.
Link to videoUser movie #54921739280567466
This only appears to be useful in this one place, where it saves about 3 - 4 frames. I was hoping it could be used in more places, but the treasure boxes seem to meet the ground in the right way only in this area.
/Edit: I've also noticed it's possible to despawn the white dragon further up the vertical room. This should also be used in an improvement
Nice. I wonder if there are any other objects or platforms in the game that allow such kind of zipping as those treasure boxes. Some half-tile ledges, maybe?
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
It's time for my annual period of feverishly looking over this game trying to find something new again.
Turns out, you can optimize walking down stairs in a number of ways:
1.Walk over the stair entrance by holding Up to walk over the edge and start falling on top of the stairs
2.Continuously jump down the steps. Saves a frame each time it's done.
3.Drop into the screen transition trigger from above.
Saves around 13 frames on this staircase.
Make sure to hold B when grabbing the staircase again so Simon does not walk upwards for a frame first. This is how the second technique can actually save time. Alternatively, throw a subweapon instead to be able to drop again faster. The second technique is also subject to subpixels which might influence the time save somewhat. It's unfortunately pretty rare for stairs to be arranged the right way though, so the total time save is probably quite small.
By making the camera scroll upwards before jumping down, it is possible to get Simon very close to the lower edge of the screen. In theory, if Simon is low enough, this can be used to clip through any floor, although usually Simon will then just fall to his death.
The edges of these floors are actually sloped tiles that are less than 16 pixels tall. This seems to be the secret sauce that allows Simon to clip in.
The specifics are very precise, and it is hard to apply this trick to other areas, in part, because there's only few instances of free 4-way scrolling in the game, but also because it very much depends on the specific geometry of the area, Simon's position, and how exactly the camera behaves.
In this case, we got a new zip, although it's cut short by the spikes ahead. Some more understanding of how OOB movement works might allow Simon to go past the spikes.
I also suspect a damage boost may be used to clip Simon into any flat floor too, not just sloped floors as in this example, since they interrupt his fall, but haven't managed to get it to work yet.
some idiot wrote:
Turns out stair blocks aren't actually solid from below, but you need a lot of vertical speed to go through them. This can be done with a ring, as seen here:
A bit more poking reveals that you need at least -9 Y speed to go through, while Simon usually only gets -8 from rings. I suspect the ceiling is only 8 pixels thick at the staircase, and the ring's position allows Simon to partially clip into the ceiling, allowing him to make it through with just -8. Still no explanation why it's so ungodly precise with regards to subpixels though.
Update: A full zip is possible by using the aforementioned 'clip through the ground + damage boost' method using the lowest bone pillar in the stage.
Welp. See y'all in a few years again.
Well, I wasn't quite done yet...
Link to videoUser movie #638543431070982544
Turns out, you can use the breakable blocks glitch to create a crevice that is small enough for Simon to zip in, with the help of also scrolling some of the tiles offscreen. The damage boost you see to activate the zip is frame-precise.
It's useless here, but maybe there's some more potential in other places. Of course, the specifics will vary a lot depening on the surrounding geometry. Possible further things to look into would be doing the zip without a damage boost, doing the zip without doing any tile unloading, or doing the zip in such a way that you can get Simon below his starting position, so he zips along the floor in the ground, rather than through the elevated tiles. There's definitely more, I'm sure of it.
In doing so, I also managed to unravel a little more about how the breakable block glitch works in general. Get ready for an overly complex writeup:
There's actually 4 separate objects involved, a "spawner" object that manages the state of the entire wall, and which turns into the item when the wall is destroyed, and three separate block objects, one for each tile:
What now happens is that when the camera is more than 224 pixels away, the game begins unloading the objects. The game tries to unload one object on each frame. If an object cannot be unloaded because it is still in range, the game moves on to the next object on the next frame. Using this, it is possible to exit the blocks' loading range on the exact frame the game tries unload a specific block. Using this, it is possible to partially unload pieces of the wall.
If the spawner object gets unloaded, not much of interest happens. The spawner gets reloaded once you enter its spawn range a second time and then creates a duplicate set of blocks over the still existing blocks. This creates the effect that the blocks still produce hit sparks even after they are already destroyed: the second block doesn't realize its corresponding tile was already destroyed and remains active.
Where things get interesting is when the spawner remains intact, but some of its blocks get unloaded. When the lowest block is missing, tile corruption can happen. What I still haven't figured out is why exactly the specific types of corruptions you see happen. There's a few different patterns, and which pattern you get is based on what other objects (excluding candles and some other "static" objects) are currently loaded when the block gets destroyed. This part still comes down to essentially trial and error, but at least the tile corruption itself is easier to set up now.
It's much easier to see what's going on with an object viewer. Object memory starts at 0x440, and each object is 64 bytes in memory. With this, it's easily possible to trigger tile corruption on demand, when previously it was random and incredibly finnicky and inconsistent to perform.
some massive idiot wrote:
Additionally, the glitch appears to have been fixed in the U version of the game.
This is false. So far as I can tell, the glitch works exactly the same on the U and E versions of the game.
What actually happens is that the breakable blocks are glitched to destroy the tiles around them when hit. I suspect that internally, the game accidentally swaps the breakable block objects out for "draw a name vertical row of tiles" or "create a set of stairs" object when the glitch is performed.
The basic procedure is as follows:
1.Spawn the breakable blocks and approach them.
2.Turn back and go to the threshhold area in which the vertical row with the blocks is drawn in the screen. (1 screen away). Turn around and go to the blocks again once you hit the threshold. The area in which need to do this is very small. If you turned around too early or too late, the blocks will behave normal:
3.If everything went right, the blocks are glitched now. Possible effects are the tile destroying, but also the blocks being uninteractable with and the whip producing "hit sparks" even when the blocks are already destroyed.
Whether or not actually works often comes down to luck. How the blocks become glitched is essentially random and depends on what you did during step 1 and 2. I suspect there's also an element of time to it, rather than just pure scrolling.
During my testing, there's several repeating 'patterns' I've come across, suggesting there is some regularity in the glitch. Unfortunately, none of these would provide enough room to allow me to go through the wall in 1-3. If you try to crawl in, the game kills you, and taking damage always forces you to the left side. I've been able to cause multiple blocks to build stairs before, but in the wrong direction. So two adjacent blocks would need to be set up to eat through the wall for this glitch to save time:
The glitchy behaviour can theoretically be induced in any set of breakable blocks in the game where you have enough room to scroll the camera. I wonder what other applications it might have. Other unusual level objects, like crumbling blocks or the big boulders hiding the secret area in 3-1 might be glitched as well.
Lastly, all this was tested on Snes9x 1.43. I will make a video demonstration on a more accurate emulator.
Update:
(What a tease...)
While I managed to create a larger hole, Simon still can't fit through it, though now, it might be possible to boost through using a damage boost. Unfortunately, I was not able to set it up in such a way I'd have a horsehead ready to get me through yet. If it turns out it's still impossible even with a larger hole and the horse head damage boost you, I will be less than thrilled.
Another thing, the exact pattern you get from destroying blocks appears to be related to what enemies are on screen and may be related to internal enemy slots or something. Killing certain enemies can manipulate the glitched wall, even after it has already been set up. For that purpose, I pulled the three green things from earlier in the room while testing, there needs to be a faster way for this to be practical in a TAS.
Update 2
Link to video
Video Demonstration. Made on Bizhawk 1.5.1, showcasing that it's independent of emulation accuracy.
Input file: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/9803222163026098
Additionally, the glitch appears to have been fixed in the U version of the game.
Best of luck with your attempts. If you want, I can make a quick Snes9x movie of the same trick as well.
Turns out, you can optimize walking down stairs in a number of ways:
1.Walk over the stair entrance by holding Up to walk over the edge and start falling on top of the stairs
2.Continuously jump down the steps. Saves a frame each time it's done.
3.Drop into the screen transition trigger from above.
Saves around 13 frames on this staircase.
Make sure to hold B when grabbing the staircase again so Simon does not walk upwards for a frame first. This is how the second technique can actually save time. Alternatively, throw a subweapon instead to be able to drop again faster. The second technique is also subject to subpixels which might influence the time save somewhat. It's unfortunately pretty rare for stairs to be arranged the right way though, so the total time save is probably quite small.
What now happens is that when the camera is more than 224 pixels away, the game begins unloading the objects. The game tries to unload one object on each frame. If an object cannot be unloaded because it is still in range, the game moves on to the next object on the next frame. Using this, it is possible to exit the blocks' loading range on the exact frame the game tries unload a specific block. Using this, it is possible to partially unload pieces of the wall.
If the spawner object gets unloaded, not much of interest happens. The spawner gets reloaded once you enter its spawn range a second time and then creates a duplicate set of blocks over the still existing blocks. This creates the effect that the blocks still produce hit sparks even after they are already destroyed: the second block doesn't realize its corresponding tile was already destroyed and remains active.
Where things get interesting is when the spawner remains intact, but some of its blocks get unloaded. When the lowest block is missing, tile corruption can happen. What I still haven't figured out is why exactly the specific types of corruptions you see happen. There's a few different patterns, and which pattern you get is based on what other objects (excluding candles and some other "static" objects) are currently loaded when the block gets destroyed. This part still comes down to essentially trial and error, but at least the tile corruption itself is easier to set up now.
It's much easier to see what's going on with an object viewer. Object memory starts at 0x440, and each object is 64 bytes in memory. With this, it's easily possible to trigger tile corruption on demand, when previously it was random and incredibly finnicky and inconsistent to perform.
