Gex 64 - Enter the Gecko
by Mukki
Specifics
Due to the desync orgy that is so common in N64 TASes I highly recommend using the exact same settings as I have used.
Then again you must have a degree of luck to get it running.
Like I said before, N64 emulation is really tempermental.
- EMULATOR -- Mupen 64 rerecording 0.5
- ROM -- Gex: Enter the Gecko
- COUNTRY -- USA
- CRC -- 74D7FE89
PLUGINS --
- video: Jabo's Direct3D6 1.5.2
- sound: Jabo's DirectSound 1.6
- input: N-Rage`s Direct-Input8 1.60
- RSP : RSP emulation Plugin
CONTROLLERS --
- : Present
- : Disconnected
- : Disconnected
- : Disconnected
If you can't get this to run then check the thread for youtube links.
There should be enough to vote on. Keep in mind that WIP 1 is slightly slower.
Introduction
Length -- 00:49:55
Frames -- 179862
Rerecords -- 53574
I began this project about 2.5 - 3 months ago. My original intentions were to make a movie worthy of publication for the bare N64 movies section of the site and also to make a movie of a game not considered to be mainstream with the hope of encouraging others to do likewise.
I wanted to make a run of this game as i have played it often since its release and playing it was a great childhood memory. Hence it has been an honourable experience seeing this game pushed to its limits.
When i played this, however, it was the remarkably better PSX version: differences include --
-- PSX version contains better graphics and FMV cinematics.
-- PSX version has more levels but does _NOT_ include the Titanic level as seen in this run.
-- PSX players can skip 6 remotes. N64 players can skip 2.
-- Level design/goals is the same.
Game Synopsis
This game is the story of Gex the gecko, a former secret agent who sprung to fame upon defeating the evil Rez in the original Gex game.
Rez has returned and has taken over the media dimension (television basically) and Gex is the only one that can save the day.
To do so he must travel into different television programmes and retrieve the red remotes so that he can finally defeat Rez.
Tricks/Glitches
I am the only person that i know of to have played this game entirely in a speedrun context and so i had to find out all tricks, glitches and shortcuts myself. Here is some detail of what you will see in the run.
Karate Kick -- Not anything really; it is performed by pressing A+Z and is the fastest mode of travel and can also be used to cross normally impossible gaps.
EXAMPLE -- Evident throughout the run. Used mostly for speed (eg. from the start whilst travelling to Out of Toon: frame 900 to 1200) and also for shortcuts (eg.
Instant Double Jump-- This is a very useful trick. Many ledges can be reached only by a double jump whereby Gex must jump once and hold A in mid-air. This causes him to bend his tail to bounce higher upon landing.
This initial jump can take up a feew seconds and over the course of the run this would all add up.
What I discovered was that if Gex karate kicks into a wall the collision will break this motion (usually at a lower height than a jump) and Gex drops to the ground. This tricks the game into thinking that Gex has already jumped allowing me to activate a double jump instantly. A huge timesaver.
EXAMPLE -- To see this start paying attention around frame 2200 and also 2800.
Floating Enemies Glitch -- If you hit the ninjas in the Chinese levels whilst they spawn they became active in mid-air. This resets the ground flag if Gex jumps on them whilst floating (although he still goes straight through) the resulting jump is much higher.
I demonstrate this in the run, however, in a level i chose to avoid i used this to my advantage.
EXAMPLE -- Used only once for demonstration. Frame 70450.
Menu Skip -- After each level a Save Game, Continue, Password menu comes up. However there is a single frame of input during which start can be pressed to avoid this appearing, the sound can still be heard though. This does not work after a cut-scene (eg. Gate opening, television switching on).
EXAMPLE -- Listen at frame 4150. That's it. This occurs after every level in the same fashion.
I also use a very similar trick when entering a level. When a level is usually entered a goal choice menu comes up followed by a short movie showing the destination. As you can imagine this takes a "long" time. For some reason there is a single blue frame upon entering a level and holding B on the previous frame skips all that.
Points of Interest
At the start of the movie I skip the menus and intros very quickly to jump directly into the game. The first thing I do is go into the options menu and turn off Gex's voices. Normally Gex makes a wisecrack upon entering a TV, a level and then exiting the level, plus many during but those don't waste time. Each time wasting phrase could waste anything up to 4 seconds and so turning them of is well justified i'm sorry to say.
Out of Toon
- In the second remote when killing the Elmer Fudds please note that they have an invincibility period and will only be counted if they explode into colour on-screen.
- In the third I use two shortcuts. One being karate jumping the valley (not a "real" shortcut per ce) and the second is using a double jump on the electricity pylon to skip a large portion of the area.
Smellraiser
I use two main shortcuts here:
- In the room with the bloodcooler and the bookcase I double bounce on the ledge to get over the banister skipping the majority of the room.
- In the library (the 'step into the light' room) I bounce along the bookcase skipping the most of the room.
Geques Costeau
No real shortcuts here but worth noting is that spinning through the water is faster and turning is very slow and so my move to the iceberg in the third remote is optimal (to the best of my knowledge of course).
Frankensteinfeld
A few nice shortcuts here:
- During the second remote I skip a lot of the first room by karate jumping from the pumpkin's ledge (this room usually involves a lengthy wall climbing sequence).
- In the third remote i use one of my favorite shortcuts. This is a double bounce onto the purple acid pit above and letting the damage sequence carry me to my destination before rounding it off with a death-defying leap to the chandelier.
www.dotcom.com
A couple of things to say here:
- In the second remote I skip a good bit on the data bus bridges (they are green and activate when a charged Gex stands on them) by taking a sharp karate kick jump.
- In the very next room I catch the spinning plate which can only be done with 0 frame loss. What i do after may appear to be an obscure way around but it is optimal.
- In the room with the remote Gex usually needs to be charged, however, with use of double jumps and karate kicks I ignore this technicality.
Mao Tse Tongue
- When i get attacked by all the ninjas i quickly demonstrate the floating enemies glitch.
Fine Tooning
- I use a good shortcut at the very start. The nearby ledge was obviously not programmed too well as it seems to pull Gex up when I double jump up there.
- Later on in the level when at the rolling log I bounce on the wall indentation beneath the log. This causes Gex to glitch through it to the top.
- In the second remote is another of my favorite shortcuts. I skip the entire level (more or less). If in the previous level you noticed a frozen boat etc. this was all part of a complex remote which i skip entirely by karate kicking to the dock.
The Umpire Strikes Back
- At the end of the first remote there is an alien and a droid. The droid will either shoot with his gun or leap to the other side of the platform. You will see me take a strange path after killing the alien, this is intentional luck manipulation to stop the droid from jumping.
This Old Cave
- In the first remote at the star i take a very sharp karate kick to the left skipping a large portion of that area. In the final room with the remote i take damage in order to skip the entire room. The damage respose from the lava takes Gex onto the sticky wall. n usual circumstances Gex would have to travel on the sticky wall all around the perimeter.
Gexzilla vs. Mecharez
The most damage can be dealt if Mecharez flies onto a building. This boss fight is entirely Luck Manipulation to make sure he does it after every sequence.
Samurai Night Fever
- In the second remote has my favorite shortcut of all. I use a double jump to get onto the swing, a very difficult maneuvre, skipping almost the entire level.
- In the third remote i take a lot of damage to save time. I like how this looks, it all worked out nicely.
Pain in the Asteroids
- Another of my favorite shortcuts. I take a wild leap of faith and skip most of the level.
- On making my way to Rezopolis i seem to lose the camera for a while.
Rezopolis
- There is some nice damage to save time using the pools of snow (that's what i call it).
- In the John Travolta rooms I luck manipulate the order of the buttons by altering my direction as i enter the room.
Channel Z
- - The final boss. I luck manipulate during Rez's second phase to ensure that a TV is dropped at the soonest possible time. For the third strike i luck manipulate the button to be as close as i could get it allowing me to stop input as soon as possible. That is the only way i could get a sub-50 minute run.
Conclusion
In closing i would like to reflect. Overall I am very well satisfied by this run. The original projected time was 01:15:00, however, as i discovered more and more shortcuts I later moved this to what I thought was a speculative 01:00:00. Never did i expect so make 00:50:00, at least not until after Gexzilla.
As far as improvements go I think that the majority of this run is pretty tight. I plan to look back at this in a few months time to see if i can take any more off. I would be surprised if i could take a minute off this.
Special thanks goes out to all those that viewed my WIPs and commented. Thanks also to FRYDCHICKN of gamefaqs as i have refered to his guide several times over the last couple of months to remind me of a few things. I would also like to thank Nitsuja for the invalid file renamer, I would have lost everything if it weren't for him. I greatly enjoyed making it as it rarely desynced so viewing should be no problem.
Finally, I hope you enjoy the run.
Thanks,
-- Mukki
- Aims for fastest time
- Takes damage to save time
- Uses death to save time
- Manipulates Luck
- Abuses programming errors in the game (not entirely sure if this applies).
Bisqwit: Submission file updated per author's request.
BoltR: Accepting. Seems most of the judges have had trouble watching this one. Gex sure likes to jump.
DeHackEd: N64 games hate me, but this one's okay... so I'll try encoding it.