Alex 'Znernicus' Thieke

Portal 2 Single Segment Speedrun

Comments:

Before I begin talking about the run, I have some people to thank:

Bananasaurus Rex, his challenge timer videos helped me learn the tricks in this game

Demonstrate/Transgenic86, for his route videos on youtube

Z1mb0bw4y, for introducing me to SpeedRunsLive and Twitch TV, and helping me learn more shortcuts

Other notable Portal 2 Speedrunners:

ZeroCool and JesusTF2 (single segment)

Xebaz , Colfra, Z1mb0bw4y, Gocnak, and S (coop speedruns)

Pocky, Nuclear, Jyjey, and Spyrunite (segmented runs)

And anyone who contributed to finding Portal 2 routes/tricks/glitches (sorry I don't know everyone's name)

 

Now, onto the run:

When I first got Portal 2 I never expected to speedrun it. I originally had the game on XBOX 360 and just enjoyed playing it normally. It wasn't until the challenge timer mode came out and I started hearing about people like Bananasaurus Rex that I became interested in seeing how fast I could get through the chambers. I actually learned how to bunnyhop on console and tried to get good challenge mode times before I even had the game for PC.

Oddly enough, the reason I bought Portal 2 for PC was actually to make custom chambers with Hammer, a developer tool that used to be the only way to make your own chambers before the new DLC came out. However during this time I also went and tried to improve many of my challenge mode times for individual chambers. I found out that I could bunnyhop and aim much faster on PC, and I thought I should try to see how long it would take me to beat the whole game.

This run is the result of playing/practicing this game a lot during the spring and summer of 2012. I believe this time is improvable by about 90-120 seconds but for that to happen, nearly every single chamber would have to go perfectly.

Some tricks/glitches that are used in the run:

Bunnyhopping - Faster movement by jumping and weaving

Airstrafing - Similar to bunnyhopping, but it gives you extra movement in the air.

Portal Standing - Standing in a portal on the wall

Reportaling - Shooting a portal on a wall as you pass through a portal of the same color gives you a boost of speed as you exit the other portal.

Crouch Flying - A glitch with the excursion funnel that lets you fly around the level.

Object Bumping - In some cases, when a portal is next to something an object can be pushed through a door, window, etc.

Portal Bumping - Placing a portal next to another portal can bump it to the side, even if there is a wall between them.

Laser Switch Glitch - By switching a laser from one receiver to another, for a moment the game thinks both are activated and will open the exit if you are pushing up against it.

Crouch Boosting - Crouching while walking forward on propulsion gel then un-crouching gives a burst of speed.

I also time my elevator entrances so that the screen fades out as soon as the quote ends.

Comments by chamber:

Wakeup /Intro - Nothing too complicated here. Only thing of note is that I wait to pass through the doors at a specific time to skip a line of the announcer's speech. It was later pointed out to me that this first chamber was actually done nearly flawlessly in this run.

Three Buttons - Just some bunnyhopping to reach the buttons as fast as possible.

Portal Gun - This chamber has a dialogue skip that I discovered. By passing through the broken window at a specific time, the announcer's next line is interrupted by Wheatley's line, and then the end level quote from the announcer cuts off Wheatley. Saves about 8 seconds I think.

Smooth Jazz - In the second room, I use an object bump to push a cube into the next room. This causes the exit door to open because the game thinks you trapped yourself.

Cube Momentum - I use portal standing to reach the upper platform, then catch the cube through a portal on the wall.

Future Starter - Just like the last chamber, I use a portal stand and cube grab through a portal. In the second room, I bunnyhop across a gap to get to the button faster.

Wheatley Drop - I use the "Wheatley Skip". Basically I jump across the ceiling to get into the second room. I let Wheatley roll through the portal on the floor and then portal to the next room, taking him with me.

Glados' Room - Nothing but bunny hopping here.

Incinerator - I take care to skip the long speech Glados normally says and skip to the shorter one at the end.

Laser Intro - I tried to fling to the exit early but failed. I had to use a backup method.

Laser Stairs - Nothing too special here.

Dual Lasers - I use the laser switch glitch to open the exit without using the cube.

Laser Over Goo - Nothing special here.

Aerial Faith Plate Intro - I use the camera on the button to trigger the end level speech early, then go back for the cube.

Advanced Aerial Faith Plates - First I airstrafe to reach the platform early. Then I have the garbage hit the button to open the exit door.

Pit Flings - I use a reportal to gain height and shoot to the surface above the pit. Then I reportal again to get extra speed to reach the exit. I missed it once, so this could be improved.

Fizzler Intro - Shortest chamber in the game!  I get on the panels sticking out of the wall and then shoot through the hole to set up the laser.

Ceiling Catapult - The first major mistake of the run: I missed the last fling 4 times.

Ricochet - Portal stand to reach the top, jump off the cube in midair, dodge the big blue panel, then hit the cube against the faith plate on the wall to launch me up to the exit. Fun chamber.

Bridge Intro - Nothing out of the ordinary I guess.

Bridge the Gap - I wait for the debris to move out of the way so that I have room to bunnyhop through the door before it closes on me. It's a 5 second wait for a 50 second skip, so it's worth it.

Turret Intro - Quick portal placements and a bit of bunnyhopping are all I need to get past the turrets.

Laser Relays - Pretty simple chamber

Turret Blocker - I use a reportal to boost myself to the platform and get the cube.

Laser vs. Turret - Had some trouble putting the cube on the button

Pull the Rug - Nothing to note here

The Surprise - I grab the cube out of the air instead of using the light bridge

Laser Chaining - A bunnyhop lets me reach the first cube early, then once I line up the lasers I airstrafe to the exit.

Triple Laser - I had some trouble getting over the laser and kept shooting the other portal before I went through. The laser switch glitch at the end went well though.

Jailbreak - I accidentally missed the trigger that turns off the lights, and had to go back for it. Then I use another trick to activate the light bridge early.

Escape - Just bunnyhopping here

Turret Factory - At the start I jump on Wheatley's rail to skip the flashlight scene.

Turret Sabotage - I got lucky that the first turret to arrive was defective. It's random which type of turret comes along. I also use a portal bump to get into the control room early.

Neurotoxin Sabotage - This is actually the fastest this chamber can possibly be done. The moving panels with the lasers that cut the tubes are always in the same position, so it can't be done any faster at all.

Tube Ride - SHINY CUBE!!

Core Room - Here is the largest skip in the game. By jumping on top of the elevator as it rises, I trigger the next sequence from the outside and can then jump down and get to the next map early. This saves about 2 and a half minutes.

The Fall - TALKING POTATO!!

Underground - There are 2 long portal shots that I use to get to the big vault door faster. The second one is much more precise.

Cave Johnson - Another skip here, that entirely skips meeting the man himself Cave Johnson! I'm not sure why it lets you simply pass through the elevator from the underside.

Repulsion Intro - I shoot above the fizzler where there is a little hole… lazy map designers. In the second test chamber there is a way to skip the first cube, but I find it too risky and it only saves a little bit of time anyway.

Bomb Flings - Another mistake here, I missed the shot to get the gel blob to go through the portal.

Crazy Box - A fitting name, as this chamber has multiple crazy skips. First, I get on top of a loudspeaker and shoot to a precise location across the map. Then, I carefully crouch around the corner to shoot a portal up top. In the last room, I use a glitch to get inside the cage and grab the cube without using any repulsion gel. Then I place it on the corner of the button so I can portal near it and get it to fall off, raising the elevator.

Transition - There is a weird portal placement you can get through a wall of glass. I'm not entirely sure why this works, but it auto-places the portal there if you shoot on the other side. Then I use a double fling to skip picking up Glados.

Speed Ramp - There is a 1 pixel wide gap I can shoot through to place a portal right across from the exit.

Speed Flings - This trick can be very inconsistent and deadly sometimes, but luckily it worked in this run. I use crouch boosting to make sure I have enough speed, then spam jump on the blue ramp. If done correctly, this gives me an unusually large boost in the air. I angle myself slightly to the right so I get wedged in between the elevator tube and the back wall, then I fall onto the platform. I go back to trigger the speech before entering the elevator.

Conversion Intro - This chamber is very long, and contains the biggest mistake of the run. First I do a nice jump to get on the upper staircase early. Once I reach the test chamber above, I use the conversion gel to set up a neat fling that will launch me up to the top. Unfortunately I messed it up 3 times. Every other part of the chamber went well though.

Three Gels - Another long chamber, with another mistake. I hit a railing which made me lose all my forward momentum, and I had to go back and redo that jump. Later on I use a neat trick that I call the "tube bounce". You'll see what I mean.

Wheatley's Test - For many runs, this is the defining moment of how good it will turn out. I need to throw a frankenturret from the exit door to the button and leave the room early, skipping about 50 seconds of dialogue. It is not an easy trick and there is no backup method to get around it. Every failed throw just adds to the time. It only took me 2 tries here, which is very acceptable.

Funnel Intro - No glitches here, just smart use of the funnel. One minor mistake here.

Ceiling Button - I missed a portal shot that could've gotten me up to the button platform sooner, but again it's a minor mistake.

Wall Button - The crouch flying glitch makes its first appearance! I fly over to get the cube and head back to the exit. There is also a nice throw to put the cube up in the funnel.

Polarity - More crouch flying to reach the exit

Funnel Catch - I missed out on a small timesaver here, but it can be risky sometimes and I didn't feel like I had the speed after landing to go for the jump.

Stop the Box - My final big mistake in the run - the cube fell off the button and I didn't have enough time to fix it and escape the turret's line of sight. Second time around I was more careful about putting that box where it needed to be.

Laser Catapult - Another example of the crouch flying glitch

Laser Platform - After moving the platform into place, I use portal standing to reach the button. I also was able to pre-line up the cube while the platform was moving along, so the laser was already aimed perfectly.

Propulsion Catch - More crouch flying

Repulsion Polarity - Even more crouch flying

Finale 1 - Nothing special here

Finale 2 - This is probably the most nerve wracking part of the run. There are two tricks back to back, both of which are deadly if failed and the second one costs over a minute time loss. The first is crouch flying over a bottomless pit. Next, I need to bunnyhop along a railing (also over a bottomless pit) past a bunch of turrets before they focus their fire on me. Fortunately, both tricks went well

Finale 3 - No major tricks here. There is a way to skip using the propulsion gel but it's a hard jump to make.

Finale 4 - At last, the boss fight and final chamber! The Space and Fact cores went well, but I could've put the Adventure Core on a bit faster. Also there is a small timesaver that preserves a portal on the floor and lets you reach the stalemate resolution button faster. Unfortunately the consistent method for doing this wasn't found until after I finished this run. Stick around after the last portal shot for the great ending and a bonus song in the credits!

Overall, I am very happy with how this run turned out. Before this, I was hoping to save about 30 seconds off my previous best, and this run beat it by over a minute. I may try to beat this again in the future, if enough new shortcuts are discovered or if someone else beats my time.

Thanks for watching!!! If you have any questions about the run or Portal 2 in general, you can message me on my YouTube account, "AJT112524" (yeah I know this username sucks) or you can see my stream page, www.twitch.tv/znernicus.