Jet Set Willy speedrunning videos

[RuffledBricks]

Anyhow, onto stuff that I know definitely will save time in the run, here's a rather pleasing find from @crem's algorithm:
 

Beach rope warp can now do a full 2 seconds worth of time saving. And despite how it looks, it's actually a pretty forgiving strat - seems to have a pretty decent range of timing and positioning that will allow you to pull it off.

Edited May 15, 2021 by RuffledBricks

[jetsetdanny]

Well, referring back to the small discussion in the other thread, I believe *this* alone proves that crem's effort is worth it 🙂 .

[IRF]

3 hours ago, RuffledBricks said:

God, everyone really hates that walk to the Off Licence around here, don't they?

For the route you've mentioned, I'd imagine the difference would probably be quite ineffectual given that you withhold the Off License deathwarp life until later. There might be an argument to be made for doing two deathwarps in the MegaTree and then doing the Off Licence normally, but I'd rather have someone confirm that for sure with maths and science rather than having to try and do it manually to find out.

I don't particularly dislike the walk to the Off Licence - I'm just trying to apply the logic you set out (as to how the game runs faster when you have fewer lives left) to that long walk out and back.

Here's a crude attempt at the maths/science, in broad brush strokes (i.e. ignoring horizontal deviations when moving vertically, and vertical deviations when moving horizontally):

Climbing up the MegaTree involves going up through three rooms (the Tree occupies three levels), each of which entails ascending by 13 character rows, and then back down again.  Whereas walking to the Off Licence involves traversing the bottom of three-and-a-half rooms (the right half of 'At the Foot...', 'Under the MegaTree', 'The Bridge', and 'The Off Licence'), each of which entails passing through 30 character columns, and then back again.

Now, jumping up is a slower process than walking horizontally, because Willy ascends higher than the platform he is about to land on, and then drops down a bit before he can make the next jump.  (N.B. the maths is a bit complicated here - jumping up by two rows is more efficient than a jump which only takes you one row higher).

But on the other hand, when it comes to dropping back down the Tree, falling is quicker than walking horizontally (when falling you descend by half a character row per frame, whereas walking horizontally Willy passes through a quarter of a character column per frame).

So, taking all of that into account, it seems to me that:
- climbing the MegaTree first (kamikazeing once), and then doing the Off Licence journey with one less life;
would have a bigger net time saving than:
- doing the Off Licence journey first (kamikazeing in there), and then climbing the MegaTree with one less life.

?

[RuffledBricks]

I understand all that, but losing one life only speeds things up by ~0.4%, and doing the Off Licence after the MegaTree means slower timings on the Saw at the junction of Foot. I'm just not convinced that it would be enough to balance all that out.

[IRF]

10 minutes ago, RuffledBricks said:

I understand all that, but losing one life only speeds things up by ~0.4%, and doing the Off Licence after the MegaTree means slower timings on the Saw at the junction of Foot. I'm just not convinced that it would be enough to balance all that out.

You may well be right in general to be sceptical about the potential time saving from a 'MegaTree then Off Licence' route.

However, I've just checked, and after walking into Foot of MegaTree from the bottom-right (as if returning back from the Offy), Willy only has to wait for 7 time-frames before he can walk directly behind the saw, and then do a sideways (leftwards) jump over the saw to exit to The Drive.

7 frames is less than the time it takes to collect the Bathroom tap at the start of the game...

[RuffledBricks]

3 minutes ago, IRF said:

You may well be right in general to be sceptical about the potential time saving from a 'MegaTree then Off Licence' route.

However, I've just checked, and after walking into Foot of MegaTree from the bottom-right (as if returning back from the Offy), Willy only has to wait for 7 time-frames before he can walk directly behind the saw, and then do a sideways (leftwards) jump over the saw to exit to The Drive.

7 frames is less than the time it takes to collect the Bathroom tap at the start of the game...

You have to factor in the Saw when coming down from the MegaTree as well though.

[IRF]

38 minutes ago, RuffledBricks said:

You have to factor in the Saw when coming down from the MegaTree as well though.

I'm one step ahead of you there!  If you have ventured out to collect the item in 'Under the MegaTree' on the way down the MegaTree [e.g. to take advantage of the time saving from having kamikazed a life in 'Out on a Limb'] - as per my suggested schedule about ten posts back - then the saw is well out of the way at the point when you jump through the ramp in 'Foot of MegaTree', so in that scenario the saw doesn't cause any delay in proceeding down to floor level and walking out to the right. 🙂

Edited May 16, 2021 by IRF

[RuffledBricks]

I'm still not convinced. And to be honest, I don't think I will be until I see it in action. And I don't have a lot of time for recording a comparison at the moment, especially not for a section of the game that long.

[IRF]

I might have a go at trying to do a recording of that section, for comparison with your run through the equivalent section - although I'm not sure whether my personal degree of aptitude is up to it! 🤔

[RuffledBricks]

So I tried out @IRF's suggestion on stream this evening - I did almost two hours of playing around with different routes for the MegaTree/Off Licence section and, owing to my somewhat rusty playing, I didn't manage to get a full comparison of every single scenario I wanted. I did, however, get a good comparison of the main contention discussed in this thread: whether Off Licence should come before or after the MegaTree in an optimum OL/OOAL deathwarp route.

I timed the route via RTA on 128K Spectrum (Fuse emulator), starting from entering At The Foot Of The MegaTree and ending upon entering The Drive. Both I started with eight lives. The results were as follows:

MegaTree before Off Licence - 3:51

Off Licence before MegaTree - 3:49 (and this was WITHOUT stair clip, just FYI)

There were obviously minor variations here and there in the execution of each room, but nothing that I believe would have affected the final conclusion: Off Licence before MegaTree is, for whatever reason, faster.