Walkthrough and Permadeath Speedrun

[Wizardfu]

Here's a walkthrough of the game. Tips and tricks for all the bosses are included. Strategies for beating the game. Explanations of the game's systems. That kind of stuff.

WARNING: Contains spoilers

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1125903637

[Drobodur]

Can you explain, how to start no-sword run? I started two seeds, and on bouth - you can't leave starting area without it (weeds blocking path).
Or do you need special seed to do it?

[Liquid_Vegeta]

You need to be in Permadeath mode.

[RetroNutcase]

I don't quite understand why Swordless requires permadeath. I mean, I understand you can currently only run Swordless if you go Permadeath, I don't understand why that was a design decision I should say.

Assuming this gets run at GDQ at any point, or similar charity speedrun events, the idea is to make the run as marathon safe as possible. Permadeath makes a run very marathon unsafe, which means something like any% swordless wouldn't be doable at these marathons.

[Wizardfu]

There was a problem with noobs wandering off far away from the home area without getting the sword, then getting incredibly frustrated with the game. That's why the thicket blocks were put there in non-permadeath mode so eventually people go into the cave to pick up the sword.

There's a trick to making the game marathon-safe in permadeath mode. If you die in permadeath mode, just ALT+F4 to quit the game immediately on the death screen. As long as you don't hit the Quit button on the death screen, you will still have that save slot intact at the last point where you saved. There is one caveat to using this hidden feature: it automatically saves your game time. So if you die in permadeath, you are guaranteed to have a longer play time but at least you can recover the save and continue the run. This trick is also very helpful for learning routes in permadeath mode.

[RetroNutcase]

Originally posted by Wizard_fu:

There was a problem with noobs wandering off far away from the home area without getting the sword, then getting incredibly frustrated with the game. That's why the thicket blocks were put there in non-permadeath mode so eventually people go into the cave to pick up the sword.

There's a trick to making the game marathon-safe in permadeath mode. If you die in permadeath mode, just ALT+F4 to quit the game immediately on the death screen. As long as you don't hit the Quit button on the death screen, you will still have that save slot intact at the last point where you saved. There is one caveat to using this hidden feature: it automatically saves your game time. So if you die in permadeath, you are guaranteed to have a longer play time but at least you can recover the save and continue the run. This trick is also very helpful for learning routes in permadeath mode.

Interesting workaround. Though if I may suggest a possible alternative?


Tie the Victory Emblem to going Swordless. Once you have it, remove the normal barriers that would require a sword. That way Newbies would have to take the sword on a first run, but once you clear the game, you're assumed to know enough about it that you can attempt it without the sword. And just have Permadeath mode negate the Emblem requirement.

Also, speaking of Speedruns, have you considered something akin to a Speedrun Mode? IE, a mode where cutscenes/dialogue are auto-skipped?

[Vaelzan]

Originally posted by RetroNutcase:

Interesting workaround. Though if I may suggest a possible alternative?


Tie the Victory Emblem to going Swordless. Once you have it, remove the normal barriers that would require a sword. That way Newbies would have to take the sword on a first run, but once you clear the game, you're assumed to know enough about it that you can attempt it without the sword. And just have Permadeath mode negate the Emblem requirement.

Also, speaking of Speedruns, have you considered something akin to a Speedrun Mode? IE, a mode where cutscenes/dialogue are auto-skipped?

This sounds like a good solution - I like permadeath as an option for the roguelike feel but there are a number of situations where you want to run the game fast without permadeath, such as the previously mentioned GDQ marathons (and I would LOVE to see this played at one of the GDQs or similar).

[Liquid_Vegeta]

I third the Victors Emblem solution!

[Drobodur]

Yea, they should be separated, just because they are different challenges (no-sword / no-death). I want to try no-sword, but don't want to restart game every boss.
P.S. I watched this video yesterday, and you say that this meditation triangles should tell player weakneses of bosses..? Cause they tell their names at best now. Can you expain them a little? (exept obvious fire vs ice / ice vs fire)

[Drobodur]

Oh by the way - easy and stylish solution for "noobs" - add a small Jibs dialog, that point's to the cave, on the first screen (like -"Strange %%%% detected in this cave" -What? - Humming, Rob. Humming.), and just make Jibs hover near entrance.
That will make all "noobs" go into the cave, and all guys looking for "non-linearity" in the oposite direction.

[Durchfreud]

Originally posted by Drobodur:

Yea, they should be separated, just because they are different challenges (no-sword / no-death). I want to try no-sword, but don't want to restart game every boss.

You don't have to be in permadeath mode to do swordless playthrough.First, I strongly encourage to experiment and try to find the solution on your own without walkthroughs, guides and suchlike nonsense, but if you really want to know, here it is:

You need to start the adventure with Velle instead of Jib - seed: VELLE.

The cave with the hat is to the north, but it's blocked by thicket.Go east, north instead (starting from the crash site) - here you'll find the thicket to the north and elephant-like creatures walking around; try to block one of them near the thicket (watch out for your courage), so that Velle can shoot in that direction and clear the way; go north,west.

OR:

Go to the first dungeon (east,north,east,south,east,north) and in the very beginning of it you'll find the matter bomb container - it's the "guarded stairs" room; just stay cowardly in the corner and Velle will do the job.Now, equipped with the bombs, you can go and clear the way to the cave with top hat drone.

[Wizardfu]

Originally posted by RetroNutcase:

Interesting workaround. Though if I may suggest a possible alternative?


Tie the Victory Emblem to going Swordless. Once you have it, remove the normal barriers that would require a sword. That way Newbies would have to take the sword on a first run, but once you clear the game, you're assumed to know enough about it that you can attempt it without the sword. And just have Permadeath mode negate the Emblem requirement.

Also, speaking of Speedruns, have you considered something akin to a Speedrun Mode? IE, a mode where cutscenes/dialogue are auto-skipped?

Excellent suggestion. I will implement this very soon so that if you have the victor's emblem the thickets are not there in regular mode.

Regarding a mode where all cutscenes / dialogue are skipped, I think this might become an option in the Input menu. Something like "Skip all dialogue and cutscenes: yes / no."

[Wizardfu]

Originally posted by Durchfreud:

You don't have to be in permadeath mode to do swordless playthrough.First, I strongly encourage to experiment and try to find the solution on your own without walkthroughs, guides and suchlike nonsense, but if you really want to know, here it is:

This is a really cool and creative way to overcome that challenge. Respect.

[Wizardfu]

Originally posted by Drobodur:

Yea, they should be separated, just because they are different challenges (no-sword / no-death). I want to try no-sword, but don't want to restart game every boss.
P.S. I watched this video yesterday, and you say that this meditation triangles should tell player weakneses of bosses..? Cause they tell their names at best now. Can you expain them a little? (exept obvious fire vs ice / ice vs fire)

Sorry, Drobodur. I meant that the meditation triangles sometimes reveal the boss' weakness. For example the one about Radruiel (the Blob Boss) hints about him being weak when separated.

[Wizardfu]

Version 1.0.1 update has the new feature where there are no thickets surrounding the home area in regular mode if you have the Victor's Emblem.