To start, I'd like to thank Archanfel for his incredible support & participation. He found most of the new shortcuts/improvements you'll see here and he really is the one who made this fast time possible. I'm not the author of this run, we both are. Once again, thank you for everything!
I also thank Exo who made these notes legible by correcting them! Sorry to have bothered you with that.

I saw some verifiers suggested that a better segmentation of my last run could improve the final result. Initially I didn't like segmented speedruns (especially in short games) because in my opinion it weakens the demonstration of skill but after all if I had to make a segmented speedrun I wanted to do it right. So after a conversation with Archanfel, he suggested doing the run in 6 segments and with all the new shortcuts/improvement that got added to the run I think it's a good compromise.

I'll try to be more accurate with these notes so I'm going to describe almost every screen. First, some general terminology/explanations:

Running-Jump: Jumping while running makes Lester go a lot faster which is why this is the preferred way of moving around in a speedrun. It’s also used to get past enemies.
Charged Shot: Charging your laser shoots a bigger shot which can break shields and some walls.
Rapid-Fire: Pressing down, then ctrl, then right (or left) to continuously shoot.

Segment 1:

Underwater: Nothing to say, I just press "up" and the action button (ctrl) to swim faster.

Screen 1-2-3: The position of the slugs is determined by the time I take to reach their screen. If I don’t waste any time their spawn behavior is exactly the same each time so to have the same spawn every time I hold right and ctrl during the whole animation of Lester leaving the water and I continuously press the jump button. At the moment Lester is able to move he'll begin his running-jump and I'll pass screen 2 and 3 without touching any of the slugs.

Screen 4-3-2-1: The cutscene in Screen 4 stops Lester in the middle of his jump but I keep the momentum by simply changing directions during the scene Because of that I'm able to pass screen 3 as I did before. At screen 2, I have to make some normal steps to continue my running-jump without getting killed by the slugs. Nothing to say about screen 1 and the rope-screen.

Screen 1-2-3: After the landing I take one normal step before restarting the running-jump so I can pass screen 2 without dying. In screen 3 I have to make one tiny normal step (almost invisible in the video) before restarting a running-jump to pass the 3rd slug.

Cutscene

Prison 1-2-3: After breaking the cage I quickly press left and then immediately start run-jumping in the other direction. I NEED to jump over the gun because otherwise Lester gets stuck in it and refuses to move on. Nothing to say about Prison 2 and 3. I just continue the running-jump ignoring the guard AND the friend.

Prison 4: Yes, it's still possible to pass through the door in the 15th anniversary edition... But only without the gun. The trick is simple: I spam the down button and Lester clips into the doorafter which I press right and go to the next screen. Fortunely, the game saves at the checkpoint "KNTC" even without the friend and the gun.

Segment 2:

Prison: Now that I recovered my gun and my friend, I go directly to the closed door without cutting the power which would be an unnecessary detour (because cutting the power is for weaklings =p). Instead of simply releasing the charged shot to break the door (try releasing the ctrl button) I press left to start running which causes Lester to shoot the charged shot. This tiny difference is really important for areas where every lost frame can kill you. Then I use two running-jumps, use the teleporter, take a few normal steps to avoid using the teleporter again and I enter in the next screen with the running-jump. Just one detail in the next screen: I stand over the vent because if I'm anywhere else the friend does some additional steps in the room and wastes time. Also sometimes the friend takes more time to appear on the screen which seems to be random.

Vent: Nothing new here. I wait for the 8th steam-sound before starting to roll (I start just BEFORE the sound). If I do it correctly I can get through the rest of the area without stopping.

Segment 3:

Broken Bridge: Loading the game at this point loads the gun too... Well, good for me. Nothing interesting to mention until the cave section. I simply move on (using running-jumps, obviously), kill the guard and jump to the ledge before entering the cave.

Cave 1-2-3: The jump in Cave 2 asks a good timing. In cave 3 the trick is to jump just on the verge of the rock. As Lester’s falling animation is not starting in cave 3 the game thinks he's still on the ground so he is teleported to it in cave 4.

Cave 4-5-6: After jumping over the stalagmites I continue to do running-jump to progress to the next screen and pass screen 5 without stopping. I reach cave 6 in the middle of the jump. When the jump is finished I take a few normal steps. After that I turn around for some more small steps and then I continue the running-jump in the right direction passing safely through the rocks. I got this strategy from the TAS however I stop the running-jump just before the end of the screen because most of the time the tentacle kills me if I don't.

Cave 7-8-9-10-11: In Cave 7 I ignore the tentacles (but I don't jump under them because they would kill me) and I start a running-jump just before the claw on the ground. I extend it until the next screen and it naturally avoids the two other claws. Cave 8 is the most difficult platforming stage for me because I haven't, unlike everywhere else in the game, found any tricks to help me lining up my running-jumps. Shooting the two last tentacles is not necessary, it saved a lot of time in the old version of the game (because poor Lester was incredibly slow) but not in this one. Lester often misses his first shot in this screen so I shoot several times just to be sure that the first tentacle gets hit. In cave 9 I do one normal step before starting the running-jump to avoid the hole and the claw at the same time. I extend the movement up to screen 11 where I break the wall. When I return I stop the running-jump just before the end of Cave 10 and pick it up again when I'm in Cave 9. There it allows me to jump over the claw and the pit once again. I only shoot the first tentacle because if I hit my running-jump over the claws the tentacles won’t get me. Cave 7, nothing special, I simply have to jump over the last claw early or the last tentacle eats me.

Cave 6-5-4-3: Nothing to say about cave 6 and 5. Cave 4, the tentacle-thing eats the tiny flying monster first before targeting Lester so I can pass them without getting killed. Cave 3, if I jump correctly Lester turns around to face the rock which is useful.

Nothing to say from the water part up to the dam, 2nd floor.

City: I go back to the 1st floor because the game automatically transports me to the 2nd floor as it always did in all versions. On the stairs Lester does a landing animation as if he was falling sometimes. It seems to be completely random. To avoid that, I jump from the top of the stairs. At the chandelier screen, I shoot the chandelier to make the friend appear at the 2nd floor and it attracts the guard that I kill quickly, staying on the stairs (because he doesn't shoot as long as I am not at his height). Nothing to mention on the next screen. "Falling-gun" screen, I release the jump button when I pass under the teleporter (to avoid getting teleported). "Surrounded" screen, I start a running-jump just before the first pillar to run-jump past the guard. The game saves the progress at the swimming-pool screen so I quit the game before the guard kills me. When I use the new code (BBRX) both of the guards are gone.

Segment 4:

A short segment but REALLY necessary. I skip the water part (because cutting the power is for weaklings). At the orb-guard screen, I use the best strategy that I know of (used in TAS). Actually, even if it requires a good timing, it's probably the simplest. I start my running-jump at the middle of the platform on the previous screen. If my position is correct I jump 3 times then I stop and prepare a shield with the gun (if I'm too close the guard stops the bomb-creating and shoots me). I get up before releasing the shield so it springs closer to the guard. The bomb he sends towards me doesn’t do a thing because it doesn't hurt when it's not a ball yet. Finally I make a quick step and shoot.

After that, I simply use running-jumps until the dead-end. I stop Lester under the hole in the ceiling and I wait for my friend, killing guards with rapid-fire to pass the time.

Segment 5:

The hardest segment for me. It requests an incredible precision at almost every moment.

Palace 1-2-3-4: Not much to say here. I go quickly behind the shield to kill the guard faster. It's important to destroy the bones because the friend waits for that before he starts following you. Palace 4, I make this famous graphic-glitch. It's fun and I don’t waste time by doing it.

Palace 5-6-7-8: I make some steps to pass the gun behind the enemy's shield then I use the rapid-fire to be sure they won’t survive. After that I start a running-jump from here to palace 7. Even if it's alsmost invisible in the video I release the running-jump for a split second in palace 7 because most of the time Lester just ignores the stairs and doesn't climb them if I don't. Palace 8 and his damn bomb-guard. It's important to have half of the legs out of the screen to do this strategy. If I'm too high the bombs kill me and if I'm too low the guard just ignores me and stops sending bombs. I also have to say I need luck here because the guard can shoot some normal lasers when he doesn't see any shields, but creating the shield before breaking the door wastes time so I have to hope that the guard doesn't shoot in between the door breaking and the shield being created. After 4 bombs I go back to the previous screen and jump in the hole.

Lions Pit: I already told you: cutting the power is for weaklings =D So, now I need to avoid the lasers which are only there when you don't cut the light. I noticed that it only shoots when Lester is in its range OR when he does specific movements, like a half-turn. So I approach the laser as close as possible then turn around to makes it shoot and finally jump over the next laser, taking advantage of the "slow" firing rate. Even Levers are for the weak so I go down in the lions pit and after 3 jumps and some normal steps I duck to prepare a shield at the edge of the screen. When I get up it makes Lester pass to the next screen. Then I quickly release the shield, use a charged laser to break theirs and kill the first guard. The other guard doesn’t attack me, he's a kind of decoration. After that, I run for my life, alternating between normal running and running-jumps to not be murdered by the charged lasers. In the Snes version it was very easy (because of how slow the game ran) to jump two times between every charged laser. I first thought it was impossible in this version but I eventually did it.

Colosseum: I hold the action button down all the time so Lester spams the use command permanently. After that I just go down, left, up, right, down and right again.

Segment 6:

Harem: This is another strategy that I took from the TAS (in fact I think I improved it =D). It requires incredibly good timing at the beginning (and maybe some luck I'm not sure). At first, I have to make the tiniest step I ever made in the run, then I do 4 running-jumps after which I run normally. If I did it correctly the guard moves on behind his 2nd shield but I jump past him before he shoots me. I run until I pass the 1st shield then I start a running-jumps and don't stop until the ground crumbles under my feet.

Last fight: After the animation and once I reach the two levers (yes it's for the weak but I took a kick right in the face so I am one) I'm waiting for the villain's 2nd step to activate the trap and kill him! Then I simply hold left until Lester uses the last teleporter and goes back to Another Earth.

 

First off I'm going to thank some people, and as per usual it'll be Archanfel and Exo!
Archanfel supported me during the whole project, he encouraged me every day during 3 months and he found some final tricks which helped me a lot in this crazy venture! I hope that every speedrunner had a team mate as clever and loyal as he was. And Exo of course for having the patience to correct these notes. Hopefully it'll be the last time =p

The goal was to do the run using all the shortcuts and tricks Archanfel and me found since my first speedrun and of course to do it all in one segment. The main difficulty was obviously to get Archanfel's "Water Skip" and to survive until the end. I took less risks in the 2nd part of the game, considering how lucky I was to pass the damn laser pit, but I'll explain that in detail in the notes.

Some numbers for fun. I began the attempts at 07.03.2012 and I finished it at 10.14.2012. During this period I reached the laser pit 408 times. In 9 of these attempts I got past the pit alive and I finished the game safely the 7th time. Unfortunately I made some mistakes during the run so I decided that I had to re-do it. 168 tries later I finally got a satisfying run !

Most of the inputs are exactly the same as in my segmented speedrun so in my notes I will take a different approach to describe the speedrun. Take it as a complement.

Arrival: As soon as Lester gets out of the water, the important thing is to start the running-jumps as early as possible and without any normal steps in between jumps (if I do, I'll walk on a slug). To be sure of my timing I watch the beast in the background. If it appears at the 2nd screen, it means I missed my start. For the part after the rope swinging I found an easier input (that I missed here but I'll describe it anyway): If I start the running-jump correctly, I can maintain it until the end of section instead of doing some additional normal steps to synchronize Lester with the slugs position.

Prison: I really don't understand why the guard acts like that when I break his shield but it's pretty funny. Besides that it allows me to time the friend's movement: the minimum time he needs to open the door matches with the guard sixth shot. Once the door is open I can make the friend run to the elevator if I reach the next screen right as he does. I was wrong in the segmented speedrun notes when I said that "sometimes the friend takes more time to appear on the (last) screen (of the prison) which seems to be random". It actually depends on my performance in the previous screen. If the friend isn't on screen when I use the teleporter he won't see me so he'll walk to the next screen instead of running there. In the same way he'll stop running if he gets too close to Lester. So basically I can't be too fast or too slow, I have to be synchronized very precisely with him.

Vent: Nothing to add about this part.

Broken bridge: This section has a trick that I didn't describe before: It's possible to get the charged shot faster if you try to move (left or right) just before the "white ball" charge-animation appears. I do that a lot of times in the run but I talk about that here because there's a strange detail at the cavern entrance. If I use this trick to break the wall its hitbox actually continues to exist longer than when I break it normally which makes me lose time. There are definitely a lot of physical laws that I don't understand in this world...

Cavern: ... As for another exemple the claws hitbox. At 3:23 I actually walk on it but it doesn't kill me. In some of misses attempts, I sometimes even walked in the VERY MIDDLE of some claws without dying, and some other times I barely touched the edge of their teeth before being instantly and cruelly eaten. Anyway... I also optimized my input at 3.37 compared with the segmented speedrun. too bad I missed my first shoot.

City: I SO hate the guard at 4:36. Because he is at a certain distance, Lester misses him a lot of the time so he sometimes kills me when I move forward too fast. That's why I shoot many times. Nothing different compared to the segmented speedrun here.

Palace: At 5:35 I make a little mistake here. The last jump wasn't necessary, it's better to go out of the background with normal steps so that Lester is closer to the edge of the screen. At 5:49 I have to thank Archanfel (no, really ?) for this new method, much better and safer than my old way which wasn't as consistent. Luckily for me the bomb-guard didn't start his attack with lasers, which is a possibility in a single segment run. At 6:08 I perform a set of actions which I have to explain. I feel more comfortable doing the shield trick with Lester's slide. The problem is that using the running-jump cancels this effect until I stop running. The best compromise I found was to start a running-jump, then run normally and briefly stop to "reactivate" the slide. I didn't try to jump two times in between each enemy shot at 6:17 because it's a lot too risky for a single segment run. Nothing more to comment on until the last part of the game.

Harem: I didn't try to use the same input as in my segmented speedrun because it is very random. The way I kill the four guards here is the best compromise between speed and safety. After that there are no more difficult sections.

To finish I want to say two things: Firstly, I dedicate this speedrun to Mr. Chahi, a really talented person with a lot of humbleness who had a great influence on my life. The other thing is a message from Archanfel that I find pretty appropriate because he is actually russian:

"In Soviet Russia, Speedunner beats Tool-Assisted Speedrun!"

My goal for this run was to finish the game with 1 death in under 18:30. This goal was easy to complete, but it didn't have the reviews I would have liked. So my new goal became no deaths in under 18 minutes... and happily I completed this goal... by a lot. This is my first speedrun and therefor my first commentary, so please send me any feedback on the run or commentary. Send using the Private message here at SDA or commentin the Out of This World forum here at SDA older or at GameFAQS...

Now, for in game tricks:
Section 1 (The Intro)
This section is very simple, I walk off the edges of the screen to use the screen change as a way to syncronize my jumps.

Section 2 (The Jail to the "vents")
There is a door right away you can jump through... I did so quite easily. There is another trick where you can jump into the wall, come back, and your buddy will spawn faster. This would have left the bounds and I didn't do that particular trick

Section 3 (The Vents and the Pit)
I use the sound of the vents, on the third 'poof' (because of audio lag) I hold left and successfully exit the vents. Section 4 is too short to have any real signifigance.

Section 4 (The entire caves section)
This area is quite hellish to run, due to how precise your jumps must be. However, which much practice I memorized the places needed to jump.

Section 5 (Infiltration)
This area is quite fun, after some combat zones I take a short swim and engages the dreaded GREEN MAN... I wasn't able to do the super jump available in the TSA, however I think you'll find my solution quite entertaining

Section 6 (Hasty Exit)
From the moment you drop into the tunnel and make it to the ship you run for your life. I use a game error to complete the last room without getting hit. The next sections I do near flawlessly. I didn't go as fast as I would have liked in the coleseum, but it's only a few frames of loss.

Section 7 (Finale)
This section is so hard that I turned the password to get here into an obsenity... I use the gun trick to keep from getting shot in the second room. After that its a clean run until the ending

Well, I hope you all enjoy watching this run as much as I enjoyed running it.

~Lokarin