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Released in March, 2008 by Matt Thorson, FLaiL is a surprisingly difficult platforming game with some very impressive art assets and a hugely addictive 'throw yourself in a direction midair' mechanic that will test your dexterity and skill like very few games ever did.

 

Note: Runs are timed using the score, because it counts down like a timer.

Individual-levels run in score 247540:
Stage # Score Date Player
Level 1-1 1280 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-2 1280 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-3 1270 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-4 1290 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-5 1260 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-6 1240 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-7 1260 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-8 1260 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-9 1290 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 1-10 1260 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-1 2020 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-2 1990 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-3 1990 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-4 1980 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-5 2010 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-6 1960 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-7 2050 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-8 1970 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-9 1990 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 2-10 2030 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-1 2530 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-2 2460 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-3 2410 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-4 2540 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-5 2720 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-6 2580 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-7 2590 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-8 2560 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-9 2460 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 3-10 2520 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-1 2880 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-2 3080 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-3 2930 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-4 2950 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-5 2860 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-6 2940 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-7 2940 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-8 2950 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-9 2930 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 4-10 2930 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-1 3240 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-2 3260 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-3 3570 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-4 3840 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-5 3570 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-6 3340 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-7 3280 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-8 3300 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-9 3350 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 5-10 3430 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-1 3790 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-2 3680 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-3 3660 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-4 3680 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-5 3770 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-6 3720 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-7 3820 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-8 3760 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-9 3670 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 6-10 3800 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-1 4200 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-2 4180 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-3 4240 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-4 4220 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-5 4240 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-6 4100 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-7 4040 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-8 4350 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-9 4100 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 7-10 4090 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-1 4820 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-2 4620 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-3 4530 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-4 4470 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-5 4860 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-6 4580 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-7 4680 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-8 4650 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-9 4920 2013-10-22 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan
Level 8-10 4680 2013-05-09 Charles 'Arcanod' Nannan

Author's comments:

Welcome, traveller!

The 100% category for FLaiL has been defined as follows: maximum score per level (as many points items as possible), which is – as one of the verifiers said – the only reasonable way to run the game. The real, bloody way. If you want to give the game a try before watching the run (and I advise you to do so, at least to get an idea of how "slippery" the controls are), you can download it freely on his official website: http://www.mattmakesgames.com. If you like wall jumps in games in general, I promise you will not like them anymore!

This new submission is a global and vast improvement. The execution is much tighter than before and includes many new strategies. The five last levels (8-6 to 8-10) are now recorded smoothly at 60 FPS instead of 30, like all the others. Everything is not "perfect", but I played each level multiple times until getting what I could call, based on my own standards, a near-perfect result. All is about paths optimization and reduction of delays.

Big thanks to Cagar. He pointed out that I hadn't use the fly power where, like in 2-9, it can be activated and immediately aborted to save time, and convinced me to play the game once more. He also gave me better strategies for levels 3-5, 4-3, 5-3, 6-6, 8-1, 8-2. Then I looked at this leaderboard: http://timetrial.dabomstew.com/index.php and improved some levels after seeing the score of other players. Levels concerned: 4-7, 5-9, 5-10, 7-1, 8-6, 8-8. Once you know that a better route exists for a given level, it's only a matter of time before you figure it out.

Terms I use in these comments:
* Double tap: the action of pressing the jump key twice as fast as possible. It's hard to have a delay below 7-8 frames.
* Quick tap: holding down the fly key for the shortest possible duration. Used for jumps with minimal height, to abort flights and to reverse moving direction. It's hard to go below 4 frames.

Important:
The speedrun is recorded at 60 FPS, so 1 frame = ~0,017 seconds.
In the game, the score/timer is decreased by 10 every 10 frames (~0,167 seconds).
The game doesn't keep track of this degree of precision, but I do. To keep it clear and simple, I simply add a value to the fourth digit of my scores (listed below) which replaces the regular zero. One point means one frame. Thus, considering a visible score of 4000, a value of 4009 will be much better than 4000 or 4001. In other words, with this notation, scores are ten times more accurate.

1-1: 1286 / 1-2: 1286 / 1-3: 1273 / 1-4: 1290 / 1-5: 1266
1-6: 1245 / 1-7: 1260 / 1-8: 1266 / 1-9: 1296 / 1-X: 1266
In-game score for zone 1: 12690

2-1: 2024 / 2-2: 1995 / 2-3: 1994 / 2-4: 1982 / 2-5: 2014
2-6: 1961 / 2-7: 2055 / 2-8: 1970 / 2-9: 1993 / 2-X: 2031
In-game score for zone 2: 19990

3-1: 2530 / 3-2: 2460 / 3-3: 2415 / 3-4: 2546 / 3-5: 2722
3-6: 2585 / 3-7: 2596 / 3-8: 2561 / 3-9: 2464 / 3-X: 2524
In-game score for zone 3: 25370

4-1: 2882 / 4-2: 3083 / 4-3: 2936 / 4-4: 2958 / 4-5: 2862
4-6: 2947 / 4-7: 2940 / 4-8: 2955 / 4-9: 2931 / 4-X: 2930
In-game score for zone 4: 29390

5-1: 3247 / 5-2: 3263 / 5-3: 3572 / 5-4: 3840 / 5-5: 3570
5-6: 3348 / 5-7: 3285 / 5-8: 3301 / 5-9: 3354 / 5-X: 3430
In-game score for zone 5: 34180

6-1: 3797 / 6-2: 3681 / 6-3: 3662 / 6-4: 3680 / 6-5: 3778
6-6: 3720 / 6-7: 3826 / 6-8: 3761 / 6-9: 3673 / 6-X: 3801
In-game score for zone 6: 37350

7-1: 4202 / 7-2: 4183 / 7-3: 4246 / 7-4: 4222 / 7-5: 4247
7-6: 4100 / 7-7: 4042 / 7-8: 4350 / 7-9: 4103 / 7-X: 4096
In-game score for zone 7: 41760

8-1: 4822 / 8-2: 4629 / 8-3: 4538 / 8-4: 4473 / 8-5: 4866
8-6: 4585 / 8-7: 4680 / 8-8: 4657 / 8-9: 4920 / 8-X: 4681
In-game score for zone 8: 46810

In-game total score: 247540

__________

Level-specific comments (not very interesting, I fear):

1-2: oh Lord, look at those chasms! I almost died!
1-5: oh Lord, look at those spikes! I almost died again!
1-7: so it was actually possible to get 1260. One must manage a double tap and a quick tap at once. There is a margin of error of ~3 frames. Extremely hard, at least with a standard mechanical keyboard (if you are curious about it, I'm using a Logitech Internet Navigator Y-BE22, which is by the way a really poor product with severe ghosting issues).
2-7: very hard to not touch the second block and maintain the speed.
3-1: this is probably a perfect time. If not, I guess no more than 1 frame can be hunted down here.
3-8: time gained by aborting the boost. It is even possible to do a horizontal flight and grasp the edge of the platform where the springs are (I was only able to do it once, though).
3-10: the very start of the level is extremely hard to manage, but mandatory to get 2520+.
4-7: with enough velocity, it's possible to not stick to the edge of a platform.
4-9: one of the levels which makes me want to break my keyboard with a warhammer because of its terrible internal memory.
4-10: wall jumps! A pain to do fast, when two of the arrow keys lead to certain death...
5-2: note that it's impossible to jump while crouched.
5-4: perfect accuracy is obviously required here... I'm proud of this one and wonder if the author has made the shortcut possible deliberately (I assume he has).
5-5: a pleasure to watch and a very technical level, although once you get the automatisms, it becomes pretty easy like most of the others.
7-5: it's possible to "skip" the second to last corner. Another time, perhaps!
8-8: yes, I lost some time on the white platform...
8-9: clever, right? Probably the best time-saver of the whole run.
8-10: 4660 is easy, 4670 is hard, 4680 requires a perfect execution. Passing through the small gap at the top right corner is impossible.
__________

Thanks for watching the run, I hope you enjoyed it!
All is now well optimized; there won't be another wave of improvements. Perhaps a 10 points improvement here and there, because there will always be a few frames to hunt down in levels involving a double tap, a quick tap or wall jumps.
If you want to leave me your impressions or ask for any question, feel free to send me a PM or contact me at arcanod (at) gmx . com.

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