First of all: Thanks to all the guys dedicating their time to maintaining and updating speeddemosarchive (Mikuyama, Breakdown, Flip, Dex, etc.).

I'd also like to thank everyone who is / was working on this game for their support and some tricks I could use in the run.

I've been working on this for two years. I restarted it numerous times due to the discovery of new tricks. When planning the run I was searching for a route that felt "natural": My goal was to get the items necessary to complete the game (Dowsing Rod, Cobweb Duster) and also the skills (Pyrokinesis, Telekinesis, Invisibility) without having to waste time going to the camp store / to Ford's Sanctuary any more often than necessary. What I came up with is the route you can see in the run.

I strongly believe that this game can be completed in under an hour. Numerous new discoveries have been made since I started running the game which should make a sub one hour run possible.

Basic Tricks

Focus jumping
To focus jump, hold the "Target" button and a directonal key and press jump. Faster than walking.

Bunny Hopping

This one is kinda hard to explain, but I'll try: Bunny hopping enables you to jump way further than normal at a higher speed. The bunny hopping is generally started by jumping on a steep / uneven surface and instantly jumping again. Once you managed to get the trick to work you can continue bunny hopping by jumping as soon as Raz hits the ground.

Levitation Acceleration

When levitating, run down a steep surface and jump. Works on a lot of surfaces throughout the game. This technique can also be used as a start off for bunny hopping: While in the air, deactivate the levitation ball and continue to bunny hop.

Invisibility Hit

By pressing punch and invisibility at exactly the same time you stay invisible until you deal damage to an enemy. Does only work in certain places.

"Palm Bomb induced Bunny Hop"

This trick isn't in the run. It can be used to initiate a bunny hop on a flat surface. If you want to see an example of this unnamed trick (I'll let the inventor of the trick figure out the name ;) ) go check out Inexistence's youtube channel.

Camera Acceleration

After completing the run, I was checking out some of the newly discovered tricks. I found out that on certain spots in the game you can gain a good more distance than normal by jumping "towards" the camera. I usually start this trick of by doing a backflip, landing on an uneven surface and instantly jumping again towards the camera. With this trick it is possible to reach the platfrom where Milla is holding her class without the hand trying to pull you under water as often. Not in the run.

Float Climbing

On certain spots in the game you can gain height by float climbing. Performing it is hard to do. The basic steps are:

Pick a suitable spot (I guess it has something to do with the shape / angle of the textures where float climbing is possible)

Levitate
Jump up
Bring your levitation ball above your head
Bring the levitation ball below your feet
Mash Jump
Repeat

This trick isn't used in the run, but I already discovered some neat skips that can be pulled of by using this technique (e.g. skipping three bosses in Edgar's mind).

Height gain by palm bombing

This technique is extremly usefull in Milla's Mind. Doing palm bombs in the bowles lets you gain height pretty fast and therefore helps to skip large portions of the stage. Not in the run.

Various Bugs / Glitches are explained in the comments below. I also have some videos of tricks on my youtube account. You can see the videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/Butt3rsOnSpeed.

Abbrieviations:

Arrowheads: AH
Psi Cards: PC
Psi Upgrades: PU
Scavenger Hunt Items: SHI

 

Segment 1

Tutorial

Nothing special here. Just doing the little tutorial and saving afterwards. Originally I planned to do segments one and two in one piece, but the game continued to screw with the controls so I had to save after the tutorial. The unintended save warp cost me two to three seconds, but it saved a lot of nerve.

 

Segment 2

Kid's Cabins Area, Oleanders Mind

First "real" segment of the run. I focus jump as much as possible and collect the first AHs/PCs/PU. I use a bunnyhop to get from the platform at the top of the tree onto the other side to collect some more items. Afterwards I enter Oleander's mind.

 

Segment 3

Oleander's Mind Part 1

Pretty straight forward segment. Lots of focus jumping and collecting some figments on the way.

There have been some neat discoveries since I ran the first part of the game: You can use bunny hopping to speed up right from the very beginning of the obstacle course and skip the first little figment cutscene. If you want to see how it's done, check out Inexistence's youtube channel.

 

Segment 4

Oleander's mind Part 2

God, how I hate the whole punching thing at the beginning of the segment. Punch punchy punch punch... -.-

Only flaw in this part is one missed target right at the beginning, but that doesn't bother me at all as long as I don't have to hear "Punch Raz, punch!" again for a loooooong time.

Possible improvement: Use bunnyhop to get onto the grid above the rail at the end of the segment.

 

Segment 5

Oleander's Mind Part 3, Campgrounds Main, GPC and Wilderness

I found out about the skip right at the beginning in a long attempt - fail session and was totally psyched when I finally got it to work. Saves about 10 - 20 seconds.

After leaving Oleander's Mind I grind on the handrail and perform a bunny hop that catapults me to the two girls guarding the bridge.

On my way to GPC and Wilderness I collect some AHs/PCs/PU.

 

Segment 6

GPC and Wilderness, Sasha's Lab

Again I collect some AHs on the way to the isolation chamber. Inside Sasha's Lab i collect the first SHI and two PCs, then I use the Brain Tumbler to enter the Collective Unconscious.

 

Segment 7

Brain Tumbler Experiment, Ford's Sanctuary, Sasha's Mind

During the Brain Tumbler Experiment I try to get as many figments as possible as they're worth nine points each. I also try some AHs, but miss a few as they pop out in a strange way.
After the first encounter with the monster I talk to Sasha to get a little warp. I take the underground train to Ford's Sanctuary and get the Learners Badge. Then I return to Sasha and enter his mind.

 

Segment 8

Sasha's Mind

I'm very pleased with this segment. Hitting the targets worked out perfectly.

Fight against the Mega Censor: There's a small glitch I use to keep the Censor from hitting me: Before destroying the last target I position him near the edge of the cube. This glitches the game to think that he is hitting the other side of the cube, not the one he is standing on.

 

Segment 9

The collective Unconscious, Brain Tumbler, Campgrounds Main

Pretty straight forward segment, basically consisting of collecting AHs and figments.

 

Segment 10

Campgrounds Main, Lake, Milla's mind

I collect some AHs/PCs/SHI, enter the Reception Area and instantly leave to set the waypoint for the underground train.
I buy the dowsing rod in the camp store and continue getting AHs/PCs/SHI on my way to the lake.

 

Segment 11

Milla's Mind Part 1

Execution in this part is pretty good, although lots of the tricks are obsolete now. Main possible improvement is palm bombing inside the bowles to quickly gain height and skip big parts of the level.

 

Segment 12

Milla's Mind Part 2 - The Race

Not much to say about this one, not much room to save time during the race.

 

Segment 13

Milla's Mind Part 3, Lake Area, Reception Area

Another segment dedicated to collecting AHs/PCs/PU/SHI.

 

Segment 14

Reception Area, GPC and Wilderness

Collecting AHs/PCs/PU/SHIs.

 

Segment 15

GPC and Wilderness, Campgrounds Main

Visiting Ford Cruller to return the seven scavenger hunt items, collecting some items in the GPC and Wilderness Area and finally going to the camp store to buy the cobweb duster plus six psi cores.

 

Segment 16

Campgrounds Main, Brain Tumbler Experiment

Just collecting some figments, nothing special here.

 

Segment 17

Raz vs. the Brain Tank Part 1, Lake

My least favourite boss fight in the game. Only possibility to speed up the fight is to force the tank to target lock as quickly as possible. Some luck manipulation in phase 2 shaves off some seconds (the brain should ideally be as close as possible to you).

 

Segment 18

Lair of the Lungfish, Lunfishopolis

I use the cliff on the left to reach the bell string on the other side. What follows is another time consuming boss fight that requires some luck manipulation: Three crates filled with nails are needed to trigger the boss to move forward. If the lungfish doesn't blow out three crates it calls for an automatic reset as you would lose way too much time waiting for additional crates. Only mistake in this segment is a missed hit right at the end of the segment, but I think that's bearable.

 

Segment 19

Lungfishopolis, Kochamara's Island

I really like this segment, except for the planes at the end which can be a real pain in the ass. Before I reach the dam I use focus jumps to maintain acceptable speed. As soon as I am on the dam I use a glitch caused by "falling" into water: After the hand tries to pull you under you can run at a much higher speed and jump way further, which saves an enormous amount of time.

 

Segment 20

Kochamara's Island, Boyd's Mind

Kochamara Bug: As soon as Kochamara finishes casting his "hard to avoid area attack" I deactivate the shield. I instantly punch him simultaniously to him kicking me. This prevents Kochamara from taking off a second time and I can continue punching him.

 

Segment 21

Boyd's Mind, Ford Cruller

Collecting some figments and ammunition on the way to the post office. The code necessary to open the door of the post office is always the same, it only changes when you create a new save game. After getting the plunger I use the bacon to return to Ford's Sanctuary to get Pyrokinesis, Telekinesis and Invisbility, then I reenter Boyd's mind.

 

Segment 22

Boyd's Mind

The "boss" fight at the beginning went pretty good, although some seconds could be shaven off by focus jumping back and forth.
Only mentionable thing is the little save warp at the end which saves some second.

 

Segment 23

Boyd's Mind

Silly boss fight at the beginning of the segment. Nothing to say about that... ^^

 

Segment 24

The Den Mother, Gloria's Mind

My first tactic to beat the Den Mother was to throw the explosive cookies using telekinesis, but it turned out that simply hitting her is a lot faster if done correctly.
After the fight I enter Gloria's Mind, get the candle and save warp to the beginning of the stage.

 

Segment 25

Gloria's Mind

I hate Gloria's mind so much. It's just so boring, the worst level in the entire game from my point of view.
Changing the scenery back and forth till I can reach the catwalks, done.

 

Segment 26

The Catwalks

I skip a big portion of this part of the game by jumping around the curtain right at the beginning. Execution here is pretty much flawless. Possible improvement: Jump over the phantom without lighting the candle. I managed to do that once, but it requires an enourmous amount of precision.

 

Segment 27

Fighting the "phantom", Entering Fred's Mind

Again not much to say about this one: Just light the spot lights as quickly as possible, jump down, punch him, repeat.

 

Segment 28 & 29

Fred's Mind

It took me a while to figure out a decent route to get all the items / playing figures to complete this level without wasting to much time. I basically came up with this scheme:

- Get the coin
- Collect snails
- Knock on peons door
- Free the roof of burglers (cobweb to get on the roof instead of taking the "normal" path)
- Knock on carpenters door
- Save Warp
- Get Fred's letter
- Move carpenter to build the first bridge
- Remove salt shaker
- Move snails to the french man
- Deliver Fred's letter
- Move peon
- Move carpenter to build second bridge
- Deliver Coin
- Move second peon
- Get the musket (gaining access to the building by removing cobweb on the side and jumping onto the roof)
- Deliver musket to third peon
- Move third peon
- Remove the needle that is stuck in the door mechanism (just walking into it works, no telekinesis)
- Move french man
- Win the game ;)

Afterwards, I enter Edgar's mind and save.

 

Segment 30, 31 & 32

Edgar's Mind

Running through the streets requires pretty accurate timing. Lots of attempts ended on the horns of the bull.

Instead of buying the painting of the bass / guitar, I use the nail where the picture is supposed to be hung to jump onto the balcony on the left. From there, I'm able to reach the window with the cobweb. Saves a decent amount of time.

Fight against tiger / dragon / eagle :
I found a pretty nice tactic that works for all bosses in Edgar's Mind. Simply put: Telekinesis, Hit, Telekinesis, Hit, etc. without giving them time to recover.

After defeating three of the four bosses I return to Edgar and deliver the cards. Normally all four cards are required to encounter El Odio, but by jumping onto Edgar's head I can gain enough height to reach the point that triggers the fight. I enter the arena to fight El Odio and aquire Confusion without beating the fourth boss.

 

Segment 33

El Odio, Thorney Towers Home for the Disturbed

Finally a (more or less) challenging boss fight: Right at the beginning of the encounter I position the espadas in a way that enables me to throw them successively at the bull.
When encountering the matador, I use confusion grenades to (obviously) confuse him, hit him with an espada and instantly confuse him again. Somehow I only got this little bug to work once per fight.

 

Segment 34

Ascending the tower, nothing too special here. Execution is pretty nice, just two tiny mistakes (deactivating levitation ball, two jumps on the bed).

 

Segment 35

The Lab of Dr. Loboto

This one was a real pain in the ass. Towards the finale the game tends to crash when recording, especially when FMVs are skipped. Also my controller started to cause problems, but as I had planned and recorded the whole run with this particular controller I decided to stick with it till the end.

 

Segment 36

Raz vs. Brain Tank Part 2

Another excruciatingly painfull segment. I had to use the autosave feature, which means that after every attempt that got to Tent City my save game would be overwritten. Also, the game crashed after one or two attempts. Another thing is the frame rate dropping for no particular reason. I have a decent computer, but the framerate dropped as low as 10-15 fps.

The boss fight is only performed averagely, but I had to leave it was the only acceptable attempt that wasn't ended by the game crashing. I had one attempt where I managed to destroy the brain tank about 15 seconds faster than I normally managed to, but the game crashed when I tried to save the game.

 

Segment 37

Tent City Part 1

A nice segment to record except for the annoying infantile version of coach Oleander. I did some "bunny manipulation" (jump in a specific spot to make the bunny run in the direction you want). Many attempts where ended by Oleander getting stuck on the weirdest objects such as hot dogs.
I also found a way to reach the top before Oleander gets killed, but till this day I wasn't able to find a way to get through the door on the top. Nice little bug: If you use clairvoyance on one of the enemies that throw knifes, sometimes it would freeze Oleander's health bar, which gives you more time to find a glitch that helps you get through the door.

 

Segment 38

Tent City Part 2, The Butcher

Right at the beginning of the segment I use invisibility to avoid getting hit by knifes while jumping. I basically skip this entire part by jumping on the roof of a tent, gaining some speed there and jumping to the entrance of the tent where the Butcher is waiting to be butchered.

The Butcher:

I use invisibility to skip some of the animations until he tries to hit me with his hatchet. Then I jump on his shoulder, hit him, repeat.
The butcher's recovery animation can also be skipped by using invisibility, but that triggers a very very strange bug / glitch, so it isn't worth it.

 

Segment 39

The Big Top

Very short segment as a nice glitch enables me to skip 90 % of the asceding. I found out about this glitch when I was practicing the last stages of the run. Lookw also found a nice variation of the glitch, go check out his youtube channel if you'd like to see it. The glitch is triggerd as follows:
- Double-Jump to the middle of the trampoline
- Turn around
- Palm bomb
- Instantly move the camera to look upwards

What happens is that Raz gets stuck in the ceiling. From there you can get right to the top, but it's kinda tricky to pull off. I really can't describe what one has to do to get there, you just have to get a feeling for it (play with camera / movement buttons).

 

Segment 40

Final Boss

I use Invisibilty Hit to be able to throw the first bomb undisturbed and then continue to throw the other two. In the second phase of the fight the only important thing is to position yourself correctly to beat the butcher within two cycles.

Thank you very much for reading the comments and watching the run. ;)