Double Spoiler Scene 1-1

Using the new strategy.

Double Spoiler Scene SP-4

Done! It really was just a matter of removing the dash and hoping you survive the amulets from up close.

Double Spoiler Scene SP-8

I stall the fourth photo as well. It's possible to take the fourth photo quickly and get away, but then you'll have a hard time charging fast enough for the next one.

Double Spoiler Scene 1-4

I don't really understand why this is faster... but I'll take it.

Double Spoiler Scene 1-6

You need to be as close as possible to Minoriko for bullets. I hate having bullets appear on my hitbox right when I take a picture

Double Spoiler Scene 4-7

Here's an old replay I forgot to post from earlier, in which I micrododge everything. You really get used to dodging with that slow movement after playing 9-7 for that long.

Double Spoiler Scene 9-5

The C key is not the shot key.

Double Spoiler Scene 9-7

It was hard as shit to improve. It's the first scene in which I reached over 3000 shots taken. The third phase is too hard to dodge up close, so I had to move down a bit. Maybe someone can pass it with superior dodging skills and improve it by .1

Double Spoiler Scene EX-6

strategy: >take first photo vertically as usual >move a tiny bit to dodge the incoming bullets >take second photo horizontally so that more bullets are in your next photo >dance around like an idiot until your camera finishes charging, it's no use trying to dodge that consistently >repeat first three steps until the scene ends improvable? maybe with a faster reaction time

Shoutouts to guwa, BT, Apathy, Ozzy, Zodiac and GamingAwesome1, if it wasn't for the interest shown by the touhou community during the early days the run would never have reached it's current state.
I've been interested in speedrunning for a couple of years now, I always wanted to try completing a good run and submitting it, but never really felt that I had any special proficiency in any of the games I played at the time. When I have no name started this project in May I felt that I had to give it a go, I already liked Double Spoiler and figured I could make something happen here. I was really bad initially, but over time as I learned more about the game's inner workings, I surprised myself in how easy beating some previously impossible scenes had gotten. Unlike with Shoot the Bullet, there were no precedents in speedrunning this game as far as I'm aware. This lead to much back and forth in strategies and overall a very exciting journey. I'm sure that even now there are still plenty of things left undiscovered, and who knows... maybe even sub 43 minutes total will be possible one day!

Double Spoiler Scene 1-2

These scenes have seen a lot of back and forth now, haven't they?

Double Spoiler Scene 2-1

Improved through better bullet cancelling.

Double Spoiler Scene 2-2

Such a bothersome scene.

Double Spoiler Scene 2-3

The 4th photo recharge here is 1% less than it was in the previous run....?

Double Spoiler Scene 2-4

Improved the bullet cancelling.

Double Spoiler Scene 2-5

Making a quick sideways dash before the third photo to catch more bullets.

Double Spoiler Scene 2-6

I deliberately wait a few frames on the third photo to let the red ring cycle start, this ups the charge regain by roughly 8% which translates to a 0.26 second time gain, but of course, the waiting takes time away so it's a bit less tha that.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-1

Good improvement, but that last photo still makes me sad.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-2

This was one of the first scenes I tried speedrunning. Pushing it over a second faster than what I though was a pretty fast time back then feels rather good.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-3

Doing it the ridiculous way by dodging through the barrage before the last photo would normally take huge amounts of luck to pull off, but Kisume doesn't spawn bullets off-screen, and I make use of that.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-4

Tilting the camera slightly to fit more rope in frame.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-5

Freestyling. No through the rainbow goodness, but when the time is this nice and even I don't mind.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-6

I'm not sure what to make of this, looks like there's still room for improvement here.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-7

Speedrunning this scene is odd. I make use of the camera zooming slowdown in an attempt to snap the photo as early as possible.

Double Spoiler Scene 3-8

Getting a great time here depends on how many umbrellas you can catch, I'm not sure if it matters for the first one, since getting more means waiting (possibly getting 2 is faster than 1/0 but I haven't checked). I've gotten 5 in the second photo a couple of times, and in this run I got 6 in the second to last. I'm not sure exactly how the umbrellas work, but it seems like you can manipulate their movements to some degree.

Double Spoiler Scene 4-1

The charge caps in this scene are pretty weird.

Double Spoiler Scene 4-2

I still don't have the pattern of the small bullets all figured out.

Double Spoiler Scene 4-3

Reverting to the old strategy since it obviously has higher bullet canceling potential.

Double Spoiler Scene 4-4

Simply changing the camera alignment here gives you a much better recharge for the last photo.

Double Spoiler Scene 4-5

Using the harder strategy, a very small time gain, as expected. However, I believe that catching the third ring as it spawns for a noticable charge increase in the second photo is possible.

Double Spoiler Scene 4-6

I don't know how to replicate the bullet spawning trick that happened for Seiga, but with some finesse it's possible regardless!

Double Spoiler Scene 5-2

97.xx attained.

Double Spoiler Scene 5-3

Nitpicky as usual.

Double Spoiler Scene 5-4

Catching both anchors in the first shot. Still not at all convinced that my strategy is sound for this scene.

Double Spoiler Scene 5-6

Moving to the right on the second photo to leave more bullets on the screen for the third photo.

Double Spoiler Scene 5-7

How convenient that the laser safespot is perectly aligned with the side of the screen like that.

Double Spoiler Scene 5-8

I didn't expect to survive that.

Double Spoiler Scene 6-1

Third photo is the real bottleneck, staying as close to the boss as possible is important there.

Double Spoiler Scene 6-2

Not backing down before the last photo makes it faster and much more luck reliant.

Double Spoiler Scene 6-3

I'm trying to get into the charge ASAP after the fourth photo.

Double Spoiler Scene 6-4

Opting to wait for the mini Suika's to spawn for the higher recharge. Would be interesting to see which method would be faster in a TAS.

Double Spoiler Scene 6-6

Another old replay.

Double Spoiler Scene 6-8

Sadly, there's no way to snap more than one photo per cycle, so I just tried getting the last photo really early.

Double Spoiler Scene 7-1

Top of the screen strats. With this 87.xx might be achievable.

Double Spoiler Scene 7-2

Just going with horizontal alignment because it seems it gives more recharge more consistently.

Double Spoiler Scene 7-3

Shou has terrible aim sometimes and I make use of that to decimate this scene.

Double Spoiler Scene 7-4

Glad to have my strategy represented by my own run.

Double Spoiler Scene 7-5

Vastly improved the execution from the previous run. This strategy is really risky!

Double Spoiler Scene 7-6

My idea was to let more crystals build up to make more pubbles spawn for more cancels during the later parts of the scene.

Double Spoiler Scene 7-7

I got really easy boss movements but unfortunately didn't snap the photos as fast as I should.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-1

Not sure if occasional stalling is worth the 35% charge refill. But I'm sure this can be pushed further.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-2

97.xx get! I sometimes wish DS had fixed camera angle like in StB.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-3

The charge cooldown after taking a shot is perfect for finding a space where the fairies won't reach you.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-4

I'm very happy with how this turned out, despite not having any serious competition in this scene, I kept revisiting it and making improvements, this is almost 10 seconds faster than a normal clear now. I spent over 2000 shots running this.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-5

Decent improvement, though I played it a bit too much on the safe side. 130.xx might just be possible.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-6

Looks like the faster strategy was more than viable.

Double Spoiler Scene 8-8

This scene is a real puzzle, so many different things to consider. Still one of my favorite scenes, after all this...

Double Spoiler Scene 9-1

I had fun getting 162... After discovering the awesome that is the sideway dash (to tilt the camera diagonally for longer reach) I gained consistency on the fourth photo, which really made running this scene more bearable.

Double Spoiler Scene 9-2

Might still exist room for improvements in the strategy department, otherwise, the second to last photo could be faster if you are closer to Koishi and/or shoot the third earlier.

Double Spoiler Scene 9-3

Very counter-intuitive scene to run. I got rather lucky with Satori's movments this time.

Double Spoiler Scene 9-4

I would probably not have gotten this far if not for guwa's efforts. I went into this expecting it to be extremely optimized and almost impossible to beat, but 9-4 allows for very creative route making, (taking into account such things as having the helix bounce more often it will spawn more bullets->more cancelling->faster time).

Double Spoiler Scene 9-6

Found a new method for the second phase that saved over a second.

Double Spoiler Scene 9-8

Strategy courtesy of guwa.

Double Spoiler Scene 10-1

Finally finished a run with the faster strategy. Almost 2 seconds saved, and I even screwed up on the third photo. Might revisit this later, but man...

Double Spoiler Scene 10-2

It's tricky to get into good spots where the bullets won't push you out of charge here.

Double Spoiler Scene 10-3

Sweet 168.xx

Double Spoiler Scene 10-4

Wow, I can't believe no one bothered improving this until now.

Double Spoiler Scene 10-5

Going for higher charge regain on the first photo, seems like it was faster somehow. Broke charge for survival at one point, so a significantly better time is still possible.

Double Spoiler Scene 10-6

Fishies :3

Double Spoiler Scene 10-7

A blind rush for the last photo, you do what you gotta do.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-1

I found a way to get equally high recharge gain without going as high on the screen as the previous runner, this combined with the resulting increase of recharge from the second photo made for a big improvement. It's really weird how the bullet cancelling works sometimes, just like in 12-2, the bullets seem to be worth way more the moment they spawn.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-2

Going through with a much faster strategy. With a shot count of 2200 this scene is definitely the one which I put most effort into.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-3

I don't think a significantly faster strategy is possible, as the lasers give next to no camera recharge, can still be improved quite a bit by faster photos though.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-4

This strategy is really hard for several reasons.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-5

Great improvement through a faster strategy.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-6

Goal reached. My tactic involved waiting for the first rings to spawn before snapping the third and fifth photo, this is to make uninterrupted charging more viable, but it also a means to acquire more certain camera recharge. It is possible to slip through the rings, but it would be TAS only to have that in the planned route. Also, Suwako's movements can make a pretty big difference to how this scene plays out. I believe faster and better strategies are possible without resorting to ring slippage, though.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-7

Gained slightly higher camera recharge with this route.

Double Spoiler Scene 11-8

This scene is more bark than bite.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-1

One of those puzzle scenes, I would've been very surprised to see this scene go this low when I first started running. Learning about how the bullet cancelling affects charge and time really helped me here.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-2

This strategy isn't too bad, I even got a few back to back clears like this when trying to improve the time.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-3

I'd say 175.xx is realistic with this route as I was a bit slow with the last few photos and you could always shoot the second earlier, even if that means smaller chance of survival.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-4

Staying higher up on the first few waves to get 35% recharge even when Nue fires upwards. This allows to me to ”skip” one wave.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-5

This strategy is tough because the hard part comes right at the end.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-6

Considering the bug that can screw you over and desynch replays, I'm content with this result.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-7

I finally did it! I had some really good early photos, as I was pushed back for the final photo I though I'd lost it, but it seems I had a sizeable lead up until then.

Double Spoiler Scene 12-8

Small alterations and improvement to breach the 255.xx threshold.

Double Spoiler Scene EX-1

I kept thinking about the second photo bottleneck and came back to try finding a solution. Turns out that if you are fast enough (and get favorable boss movements) you can get off the second photo while the bullets from the second amulet are spawning, and get the 35% refill from them (too late and they are worth very little). This is just the first clear with this strategy as it is quite annoying to pull off. Whew.

Double Spoiler Scene EX-2

I don't get full 35% after the third photo, camera orientation/positioning can probably improve that, I guess being faster also helps ;P

Double Spoiler Scene EX-3

Only scene I got while livestreaming, I guess talking is a good distraction if you want fast photos!

Double Spoiler Scene EX-4

I guess this is my last submission to the project then. It's been fun. Looking forward to verification and seeing the run published. Outstanding efforts everybody, cheers!!

Double Spoiler Scene EX-5

This scene is harder than it might look.

Double Spoiler Scene EX-7

Most interesting EX-scene, and one of the most interesting scenes to speedrun in the whole game IMO. This is as far as I am willing to push this scene, but know that if you do things differently in the Reimu-manipulation setting up the fourth shot, you could probably push it to 172.xx. That would involve passing several red rings on top of getting lucky with Reimu's attack position, I am not even remotely consistent at dodging more than one ring at once which is why I don't go for that.

Double Spoiler Scene EX-8

Being more aggressive pays off.

Double Spoiler Scene EX-9

Finally found a way to survive the last phase without breaking the camera charge. Bullets are slower closest to the boss, gee, why did it take so long to realize...

Double Spoiler Scene SP-2

Amazingly good boss movements. I guess this would be on par with 12-3 in terms of luck required to beat.

Double Spoiler Scene SP-6

I was a bit too far away on the last dash. Otherwise it seemed quite good.

Double Spoiler Scene SP-9

Too many close calls for my liking here, I pretty much ignored the bullets and stayed as high as I dared (I lost a few runs to unavoidable lasers sniping me). The ultra strategy for this scene would be to hug the side of the screen and rely on the RNG to deliver Aya from the same side of the screen every time.

Double Spoiler Scene 5-1

Not exactly the great improvement I was expecting. You're still bound to the rhythm of Ichirin's waves, so only the last two photos really matter. Still, this was under thirty attempts, so someone more daring than I may take it further.

This run started with the vague notion of combining my two favorite things as of a year ago; speedrunning and Touhou. Of course, I was a horrible player back then, barely able to clear easy mode, but I stayed with it and improved. Cut to May 2nd, 2012. I finally go ahead with the Double Spoiler IL table idea, posting 2 threads, one here, on SDA and the other, on a Touhou forum called Maidens of the Kaleidoscope (MoTK). Here on SDA, only one person expressed any interest during the initial wave of submissions, while MoTK’s thread reached 100 posts within a week, resulting in all scenes except 11-2 completed. I personally contributed about 20 different scenes, although most of them have since been improved. As I continually kept the table up to date, I learned why the SDA mods hate IL tables, and so I apologize for dumping this 108 IL monstrosity on you (but hey, at least it isn’t Super Meat Boy)

Double Spoiler Scene SP-1

So much button mashing. Probably frame perfect, and I got about a half dozen 18.55's before I got this.

Double Spoiler Scene SP-5

Yes, indeed we are crazy. Take this .01 improvement to my own time for instance, requiring pushing a button then picking it up next frame then pushing it again for exactly a frame.

You people are crazy =P