howto: challenge mode video guides

[ultramage]

There is a disturbing lack of guides for the limited rotations / time trial / survival challenges. Everyone just does journey mode, and maybe a speedrun or two, but that's it. I eventually managed to figure all the levels out myself, and along the way I started recording videos so other people don't have to go through all that pain. Here's what I have, ask me if you need more. I will do the rest if I ever decide to play the game again.

The recording quality isn't great - due to steam.exe eating 100% cpu while AYIM is running, I could only record at 640x360 or 960x540 (while playing at 30fps, which is awful). I tried to compensate by uploading 4+GB raw lossless video, scaled up 2x to trick youtube into giving me more bitrate. The last few videos were done in the non-steam version, which avoids the cpu issue.

( a copy of this post is now available as a guide )

1-1: First Steps          rotations timetrial
1-2: Rock and Roll        rotations timetrial
1-3: Break them All       rotations timetrial
1-4: The Great Escape     rotations timetrial

2-1: Between the Leaves    rotations   timetrial
2-2: It's a Bug           rotations timetrial
2-3: Return!               rotations   timetrial
2-4: Horny Pet             rotations   timetrial
2-5: Stoned                rotations   timetrial
2-6: Pyromania            rotations timetrial

3-1: Toxic Influence      rotations timetrial
3-2: Transition            rotations    timetrial
3-3: Spin Cycle           rotations timetrial
3-4: Loose Ground          rotations    timetrial
3-5: In a Tight Spot       rotations    timetrial
3-6: The Last Fall        rotations timetrial

4-1: Tabula Rasa           rotations    timetrial
4-2: Elevator              rotations    timetrial
4-3: Labyrinth             rotations    timetrial
4-4: The Chase             rotations  timetrial

Supplementary material:
trick to get a free rotation during respawn
disabling bees in "4-4: The Chase"
"4-3: Labyrinth" flipper maze physics glitch wallhack
"4-4: The Chase" rotating fan physics practice
"4-4: The Chase" rush through latter half

[ultramage]

The trick to get a free rotation during respawn that I just discovered will most likely completely break the difficulty on the limited rotations challenges. So I'll still do the remaining levels the way the author intended.

Compare these two runs to see what impact it can have on a challenge's difficulty:
And Yet It Moves - "3-5: In a Tight Spot" limited rotations gold stamp (1 left)
And Yet It Moves - "3-5: In a Tight Spot" limited rotations gold stamp (9 left, cheating)

[Dragon_V.V]

You are awesome! But why no video of the first levels, the easiest?

[ultramage]

Haha, well, most of these were done as I was going through my remaining challenges. By the time I started recording them, I had already beaten the first chapter. I do remember the time trials being really strict. I'll do them when I get to re-playing the game (or maybe I'll plug the holes with other peoples' solutions).