Republic Commando (Normal) - Resumed

[Defender]

Well, I've finally squared away my encoding issues (thanks to ballofsnow, nate, and everyone else on the Tech Support forum), so I'm all set to pick this up again. I'll be playing on Normal difficulty, since that makes the most sense for a first-run of a game. If I don't get too fed up with this, I'd like to go back afterwards and do it on easy. When I was helping Raven out a few months back, we were doing it on Easy, and making the switch to Normal has been a huge change.

But anyway, I've started it, but I won't be posting the files as I go. I'm using Raven's old run times as a benchmark, which is working out, even with the difficulty difference. I'm definitely going to have to increase the number of segments, though.

Just thought I'd let the people that were following the old one know what I've been up to. I'll keep this post updated with my times, and compare them to Raven's times (The segments won't always match up with how he broke the game up)

	My Run	Raven's "Run"	Difference
Segment 1 (thru Destroy Factory)	19:26	20:20	0:54
Segment 2 (entering Core Ship)	17:01	18:42	1:41
Segment 3 (end of Geonosis)	11:49	13:12	1:23
Segment 4 (Up to Sensor Logs)	6:08	6:40	0:32
Segment 5 (Up to Tran Assault)	2:13	3:03	0:50
Segment 6 (Through next room)	1:04	2:16	1:12
Segment 7 (Thru getting 40)	3:13	4:00	0:47
Segment 8 (Thru getting 07)	2:07	3:20	1:13
Segment 9 (Thru getting 62)	2:44	4:12	1:28
Segment 10 (Thru bridge/ambush)	4:23	6:18	1:55
Segment 11 (Thru 1st of 3 consoles)	2:33	3:50	1:17
Segment 12 (Down the Garbage Chute)	1:44	2:50	1:06
Segment 13 (Cleared Trando Hangar)	3:00	3:42	0:42
Segment 14 (Thru next 2 hangars)	4:57	5:36	0:39
Segment 15 (Thru final hangar)	3:39	5:14	1:35
Segment 16 (End of Prosecutor)	3:18	4:36	1:18
=======	=====	========	=======
Cumulative:	89:19	107:51	18:32

I died once near the end of segment two, and while it doesn't kill the run, it really looks out of place, so I'll probably try to redo it.

Cheers!

Edit 29Nov06: I beat my second segment by another 38 seconds, but I died once again. Better Spiderdroid fight, but it's still an ugly mar on an otherwise good segment. I will press on.

Edit 29Nov06: I couldn't stand having a death, even one that hardly affected the speed (since my team was still killing the spiderdroid). So I did it once more. 3 seconds better, and now I'm done with this one. Next segment starts without my team.

Edit 03Dec06: Finally got a segment 3 time I liked. I couple fights could have gone faster, but the only thing that bothered me was the SBD right before the final elevator (and the fact that my team both didn't shoot it, and didn't try to move past it). I'll live with my death near the end, because you're locked in that room for 61 seconds while the slice takes place, so it doesn't matter what happens. The game only gets harder from here on in (except that flashbangs start to be useful), so wish me luck!

Oh, and I put quotes around 'Raven's Run' because it was just a test run of his, not final times. I just want to make that clear.

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Edit 11Apr08: In re-continuing my run, I've decided to cut the length of my segments by about 50%, for an average of 5-6 minutes each. There will be enough little things that need to go right (especially on Kashyyyk), that this will make all videos of higher quality.

Edit 20Apr08: Made another couple short segments. Would have merged 5 and 6 if 6 hadn't been so random and difficult. Took one bar of damage, but was the nicest looking run I recorded.

Edit 21Apr08: Had a good segment 7 but with a 10 second error, so I went back and fixed it. On a good roll now.

Edit 24Apr08: Getting a squadmate means the game thinks I'll use him (ha!), so it throws more enemies at me. I take 2 big hits near the beginning of the segment, but it doesn't slow me down, and I can recover health in the next segment.

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Edit 03Jan09: Progress finally! Very short segment, but that 2:44 took all day. Since I only had 4 bars of health thanks to my previous segment, one shot with a trando shotty kills me and the run, so this baby is basically flawless. A poor 'nade toss towards the end is disappointing, but overall I'm very pleased.

Edit 05Jan09: Segment 10 was relatively painless. Even found a hidden cache of AA rounds that I had never seen before. One more segment until the ever fun hangars!

Edit 07Jan09: Had to stop Segment 11 just before a rocket turret that keeps killing me. Must remember to use all EC and AA ammo in segment 12, as segment 13 gives you more right at the start.

Edit 11Jan09: Correction to the previous edit, the additional ammo starts at segment 14. It's getting harder to beat Raven's times, as he's become faster (and avoiding time-wasters) as his video goes on. Next up, the famous hangar levels.

Edit 15Jan09: First hangar was much easier than I remembered. Handy explosives near the first dispenser takes care of that one quickly. Too bad the area's on a timer. Only time I gained on Raven was in the second hangar, by dropping straight down from the level above. Took 30 seconds to set the 20 second timer, as I spent 10 seconds fighting off the battle droids shooting me in the back.

Edit 18Jan09: Last hangar ended up being pretty easy, and a handy health dispenser kept my team in top shape. Had a teammate slice the terminal, since there is usually a droideka at the far end shooting the slicer. I got the rare opportunity to use the mounted machine gun, since I had the squadmate go heal up. I also get shot by my own sniper for the 1,000,000th time! What do I win? Lastly, if you debark the walker and step off the lift right after blowing up the regulator, the scripted event starts early. You can then get back on and blow stuff up to your heart's content, and you'll be ejected when the lift goes down.

Edit2 18Jan09: Finished up Prosecutor. The path to the bridge has a TON of enemies that continually spawn, but if you're fast enough you can prevent any SBDs or Droidekas from spawning beyond the door. That path also features 8 turrets that can't be shut down or switched to your side, and I opted to kill them with EC grenades (rather than shooting each one). This means backtracking for a few seconds to get more grenades, but I still think it to be faster (since you're killing SBDs with the grenades anyway). Also, no chance of running past them on Normal difficulty, and even on Easy, you need to bring your squad with you.

[mytot]

Great!! Really looking forward to some vids.
Good luck!

[Raven75]

Good to hear you're picking this one up again. Good luck! In case you forgot (or anyone else want to have a sneak peek at what they can expect), here's the link to my old testrun files.

[spaque]

It's a very good game..If someone do a run I will watch it !!

Good Luck...

[Raven75]

Smashing my times like Fat Boy Slim sitting on a fly... Not to mention on a harder difficulty setting! Keep at it!

[Defender]

Haha, thanks.

Just don't hope for this to be finished as fast as some other runs that are done on the site. I really have very little time to work on this, but nevertheless, I'm plugging away. I've already encoded the parts of the run I've completed, and I know I'll finish this, it's just a matter of time (especially as the levels get harder and harder, but hey, at least I've already done Kashyyyk {even if it was on easy}). I will, though, keep everyone updated as I proceed.

Cheers!

[Defender]

Aaaand I'm back.

Ever since my hiatus, I've continued to follow SDA, but I just didn't have the determination (or free time) to continue my speed run. However, I've recently started reading the RC novels, which has put me in a Star Wars kick, and I now plan on finishing the speed run.

I spent a few hours today and yesterday running through two loading screens worth of gameplay. I recorded a time of 6:08 going from Interdictor start until the load screen after hacking the codes (where Sev gets captured). There's so many little things that I discover while planning that don't get noticed in the final run. Things like preventing enemies from spawning, running just past ambushes, etc... It's a lot of excitement for me, but I fear it won't be as meaningful to viewers. I'm okay with that, though, because there should be enough other interesting stuff.

I've got a bevy of other games I also want to play (Katamari, The Bigs, Team Fortress 2, Oblivion), but right now I'm most interested in furthering my progress here. I have updated the first post with new times, and will continue to compare to Raven's ancient trial videos (not really runs, but at least something to benchmark mine against).

Cheers.

[tekknej]

There's so many little things that I discover while planning that don't get noticed in the final run. Things like preventing enemies from spawning, running just past ambushes, etc... It's a lot of excitement for me, but I fear it won't be as meaningful to viewers. I'm okay with that, though, because there should be enough other interesting stuff.

All the best with running. I was thinking to replay RC, and now its even more compelling, so i could enjoy your run better )

and all those little things you found, make a commentary on them (start making notes right now! =) ), i very much enjoy reading such stuff... also an audio commentary is a fine way to go =)

[mcbroiler]

Good luck!  I'd love to watch this.

[Defender]

Updated the OP with two more segments. I don't think I should have too many more super short segments in the future, but I'd rather pull off tricks correctly than limit my number of segments. Getting back fixer in the next segment, which will be nice.

I'll see if I can make the final version one of those "appended to one file" deals.

[ZeroEXE]

This is a game I've been looking forward to seeing a speed-run for since it came out. The times look great so far, so good stuff.

[tekknej]

go with the tricks! screw long segments )

[Defender]

Segment 9 done.

In the future, I'm going to try to keep a balance between "impressive speed" and "not retrying a 3 minute segment 100 times". Segment 9 erred towards the former (though it may only be impressive if you're familiar with the game). In any case, Arcadian's run on easy has prodded me into action.

Oh, and I'm going to make a bonus "death reel" that highlights some aggravating run-ending moments. Probably won't be too impressive, but I have a ton of auxiliary storage, so I'll hang on to the raw footage and see what I can come up with when this is all said and done.

[Raven75]

Good to see you're back on this little jewel - and obliterating my old times still! Best of luck

[Defender]

Just a heads up for everyone that I've finished the second (of three) acts of the game. I'm feeling good about my times, even though there's a lot of segments. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

I don't have Raven's test run to compare to anymore, since he only went through the first two acts. However, while he made those videos, I made my own times for Kashyyyk on Easy, to give him some times to compare against if he ever got that far. I will use those as a baseline, though I don't expect I'll come close or beat ANY of these times since I'm now on Normal. My total time for beating the act on Easy was 67:38.

Since Geonosis was ~48min and Prosecutor was ~41, I'm going to shoot for <60min. Though I'll be happy if I get <70.