Clément Gallet
[TAS] Super Meat Boy any% in 17:01 (OUTDATED)
updated
Rerecording: 39268
Performed on Linux version, using libTAS 1.4.5
Commentated version: youtu.be/FGrKvCvED4I
Uncommentated version: youtu.be/CR2TWI7ZMeM
Rerecord count: 3799
Version with map and inventory
Rerecord count: 5601
TASVideos submission: http://tasvideos.org/7239S.html
Rerecord count: 13081
See TASVideos submission details: http://tasvideos.org/7012S.html
Low VFX version: youtube.com/watch?v=VdgyCSPZst8
Rerecording: 16591
Performed on Linux, using libTAS 1.4.0 github.com/clementgallet/libTAS
Sumitted on TASVideos: http://tasvideos.org/6954S.html
Updated version: youtube.com/watch?v=v-0RUv3tKso
Rerecording: 991
Commentary as subtitles.
Performed on Linux version 1.5.13, using libTAS 1.3.6 (not yet released) github.com/clementgallet/libTAS. Fresh version of the game (no save file).
90% of the work is retro-engineering of the game code assembly to understand the sector layout generation. I used the framework of a save game editor, and implemented the sector layout generation inside it: github.com/clementgallet/ftl-profile-editor
Using this program, 1 billion seeds were searched for the best Sector 1 layout.
Re-record count: 11025
Done on the linux DRM-free version (4.1) using my own-made TAS tools (github.com/clementgallet/libTAS). Commentaries are provided as subtitles.
Huge thanks to the Shovel Knight discord community for their feedback, advice and enthusiasm!
Submitted to TASVideos: http://tasvideos.org/6360S.html
Most of the time saved came from demo dash, a new tech to dash in crouched state to reduce our hitbox, allowing us to pass through some obstacles.
Frame count: 200135 (27:47.79)
Re-record count: 5673 (wrong because of a bug in the software not counting some rrs)
This run was made at a framerate of 120 fps, to benefit from a behavior (programming error ?) that makes cooldowns shorter when the framerate is high. It mainly affects the drill, the glitch gun and the Red Coat damage. A higher fps would save even more time, but benefit is small and the amount of work would become way higher.
This TAS was done on the GNU/Linux version of the game (v 1.3.2.0), using a custom software to bring TAS tools to the game (see github.com/clementgallet/libTAS). The game was running and recorded at the constant framerate of 1000 fps. You can watch a 0.25x slowed-down encode here: youtube.com/watch?v=LdRTTf8mtfs
Individual times are:
Sacred Ground I: 1.151
Sacred Ground II: 1.542
Sacred Ground III: 1.082
Twilight Spire I: 0.770
Twilight Spire II: 0.812
Twilight Spire III: 1.392
Backfire I: 1.307
Backfire II: 1.144
Backfire III: 2.106
Flight I: 1.375
Flight II: 2.618
Flight III: 2.002
Mirage I: 1.180
Mirage II: 1.726
Mirage III: 1.678
Thornwood I: 1.359
Thornwood II: 1.739
Thornwood III: 2.036
Frostfang Keep I: 1.745
Frostfang Keep II: 1.688
Frostfang Keep III: 1.602
King's Court I: 1.761
King's Court II: 1.701
King's Court III: 1.210
Sunken City I: 1.392
Sunken City II: 2.066
Sunken City III: 1.387
Moonstone I: 1.641
Moonstone II: 1.648
Moonstone III: 1.365
TowerForge I: 0.620
TowerForge II: 1.529
TowerForge III: 0.762
Ascension I: 2.305
Ascension II: 2.227
Ascension III: 1.562
The Amaranth I: 1.128
The Amaranth II: 1.900
The Amaranth III: 1.448
Dreadwood I: 1.360
Dreadwood II: 1.534
Dreadwood III: 2.201
Darkfang I: 1.259
Darkfang II: 1.382
Darkfang III: 1.637
Cataclysm I: 1.384
Cataclysm II: 1.602
Cataclysm III: 1.777
This is the highest damage method, dealing 72 damage in 0.4 sec (180 dps)
Shooting with the Axiom Disruptor deals 20 damage every 0.15 sec (133 dps)
Shooting with the main Nova shot deals 30 damage every 0.2 sec (150 dps)
Frame count: 65512 (18:11.870)
Re-record count: 13439
English commentary is provided as subtitles.
Providing a bit of code to myself to help syncing the game: pastebin.com/FvQekmuQ
Common tricks:
- hook jump: Getting horizontal speed with the hook and pressing jump multiple times gives you a very high vertical speed. It is canceled if you hit a wall or if your horizontal speed goes below a certain threshold.
Common tricks:
- speed limits: air speed limit is 10% higher than grounded speed limit, so we want to be in the air as much as possible. However, with the running ability, we can gain speed on the ground, so we must wait to reach the grounded running speed limit before jumping
- double jump: pressing jump twice quickly allows you to jump higher. This is due to coyote time (ability to jump shortly after leaving a platform) still working after you jump from a platform. But in TAS, you can press jump for 7 consecutive frames (using double binding) for an even higher jump (and a weird sound)
- first boss skip: the above trick allows you to escape early from the top temple of guidance and enter Yarrow. Because it is not intended, the teleporters won't allow you to go to the town, unless you trigger an auto-destruction, so we unlock the teleporter of top Yarrow and suicide. Then from that teleporter, we move back and enter Archaea again with enough minerals to buy what we need (the mandatory lamp, one bag and one pickaxe upgrade)
Rerecord count: 9512
Done on v1.36c Linux version using my own-made TAS tools (github.com/clementgallet/libTAS).
Main tricks:
- Landing cancel: Völgarr has a 10-frames landing animation, but by doing a precise slash in the air so that the slash ends just before landing, the slash can be canceled by either a roll, spear or slash, which cancels the landing animation. The most useful application is to cancel to a roll, but if you need to jump again, you can cancel to a slash and then jump when the slash has started. This method does not work for long falls (when the ground is shaking).
Another method to cancel the landing animation is by falling. During the landing animation you can still slowly move forward. If you land very close to an edge, you can move forward and leave the ground, which will cancel the landing animation.
- Double jump cancel: Doing a backward spear cancels the double jump, which is useful to avoid hitting enemies (causing freeze frames) and to slash sooner for the landing cancel
- Downstab chain: The downstab (pressing down or roll in the air) can be stopped by pressing up after damage, and another downstab can be initiated again. This is very efficient for bosses.
- Early rope catch: Approaching a rope from its bottom makes you catch it from much further (see 8:17)
- Boss chest manipulation: I manipulated a bit the randomness of chest drops by doing some movements, as the stage ends after you collect all drops
World 1: Taking or not the Mjölnir resulted in the exact same time, so I decided not to take it
World 2: It was faster to not take the second Mjölnir for the boss, and the one from World 3 is a bit faster to take
World 3: Rolling through the giant enemies was really tricky to do, because I had to throw many spears to delay its attack for enough time so that I can get close to him. I was lucky to barely get past the cycle at the middle of the second screen without waiting
World 4: I had to wait a tiny bit on the fireballs at the second screen. Also, it looks like I don't hit the boss as much as I could, but I needed him to do its charge attack as soon as possible because the falling rock does a lot of damage. Doing an extra attack would delay the charge and thus ending up loosing time.
World 5: I needed the Mjölnir for the second part of this stage, and I assumed this one was faster to take than the one from W4 first screen. I could get past the red bird by knocking him at the right time which temporarily disabled its hitbox. The second screen was governed by fan cycles :( I already had to wait on the first two vertical fans. Near the end I traded by Mjölnir to gave me enough time to take the other Mjölnir and reach the last fan in time. In the end I saved two fan cycles compared to the unassisted speedrun.
World 6: I didn't have time to take the Mjölnir here because I would loose one fan cycle. Thus I saved two fan cycles compared to the unassisted speedrun.
World 7: Hitting the glowing balls at the right spot gives you a good horizontal boost despite the freeze frames. The damage boost to reach a platform was unexpected for me, because loosing your helm makes your animations slower and is generally not interesting, but there was a chest just after, so I saved about 30 frames here.
I didn't throw as much spears as possible during boss fight because I needed him to hit the wall to trigger the falling rock, and each extra hit would delay the boss charge.
Re-record count: 26815
Done on the linux DRM-free version (3.3) using my own-made TAS tools (github.com/clementgallet/libTAS).
The route is very close to the unassisted speedrun route. Stage order is the same, curios and upgrades are identical. The main difference is that I don't take the 4th darkness upgrade because it barely saves time (about 1 sec in Stranded Ship), except if a cycle can be saved during the last boss.
There are very few techniques that are specific to the TAS, mainly:
- hop slash: by slashing on the ground and jumping one or two frames after, you will slash at the beginning of your jump without triggering any dash slash. This is very useful to attack enemies in the air if they are low enough, or to move while slashing. The only inconvenient is that the slash starts after the jump, so you loose 1/2 frames compared to a grounded slash
- fast fall: by pressing jump again during a jump for at least two frames, it will instantly cancel upward velocity and Specter will start to fall. This is very useful to make very short jumps (for starting rails or breaking blocks from jumping) and more generally by having more control in jump trajectories. However, it only works for regular grounded jumps, it does not work on walljumps, dash slashes, fans, green jelly boosts, etc. Also, it does not work underwater.
Huge thanks to the Shovel Knight discord community for their feedback, advices and enthusiasm!


