[jr2]

Playlist (Speedruns by PhozonBlaster)

[BlueFlames]

I watched D2 run at AGDQ 2017 (on their live stream anyway).  It's become quite a speed run.  A few years back, it had just been a matter of perfect play and trichording everywhere.  Now, they're doing craziness like using quad lasers to shoot through locked doors and exploiting the engine's object limit to prevent bots (and the player) from firing weapons.

I'll have to watch this run, when I get a few minutes to spare.

[CP5670]

I love how he deliberately takes damage and times the suicides after getting a key to respawn closer to the keyed door.

[jr2]

I love how he deliberately takes damage and times the suicides after getting a key to respawn closer to the keyed door.

Yeah I thought that was pretty amazing as well. I was watching his shields at the beginning and he seemed to be gaining shields, not losing, then by the key all of a sudden he exploded, and I was like "whoops" but after the second time I figured it out (smart, actually).

Also:  Those poor hostages. 

[BlueFlames]

Also:  Those poor hostages. 

They got their hazard pay, before they were incinerated.  PTMC doesn't have time for condolances!

That runner has a sub-40 run in him.  There's lots of little places where he got hung up on level geometry for a moment or had a corner eat half of a charged Fusion volley, where he could potentially pick up a few seconds.  The trick is getting a run with solid execution and good luck with the location of key-carriers in Level 20.  I find that kind of thing to be an unenviable task, but that's why I watch speed runs, instead of doing them.

There's probably big time gains to be made, if a reliable means of manipulating the AI can be discovered.  In the early levels, when you can't just blast the crap out of them in one shot, the bots have a way of planting themselves in the middle of the optimal/only path through an area, chewing up time.  If they could be more reliably lured out of position, then there's minutes to be saved.

All that said, excellent routing and execution in that run, on the whole.  For a game with lots of levels, few skips, and no ludicrously exploitable bugs (yet), forty minutes is an impressive any% time.

[jr2]

Also:  Those poor hostages. 

They got their hazard pay, before they were incinerated.  PTMC doesn't have time for condolances!

That runner has a sub-40 run in him.  There's lots of little places where he got hung up on level geometry for a moment or had a corner eat half of a charged Fusion volley, where he could potentially pick up a few seconds.  The trick is getting a run with solid execution and good luck with the location of key-carriers in Level 20.  I find that kind of thing to be an unenviable task, but that's why I watch speed runs, instead of doing them.

There's probably big time gains to be made, if a reliable means of manipulating the AI can be discovered.  In the early levels, when you can't just blast the crap out of them in one shot, the bots have a way of planting themselves in the middle of the optimal/only path through an area, chewing up time.  If they could be more reliably lured out of position, then there's minutes to be saved.

All that said, excellent routing and execution in that run, on the whole.  For a game with lots of levels, few skips, and no ludicrously exploitable bugs (yet), forty minutes is an impressive any% time.

Maybe ducking just a little bit out of the way to load up on missiles would pay off, as they make it easier to shred aisle-blockers before you run into them. 

Might be able to go even faster in D2, due to some weapons bouncing off walls (so you can keep tri-chording, maybe?).