AKheon | Deadly Premonition (PS3) - the basics of peek break-out @AKheon | Uploaded July 2023 | Updated October 2024, 20 hours ago.
Peek break-out is a fairly intricate glitch tactic with a lot of strange potential. This video takes a look at how it's started and what exactly does it do.
0:00 - There are two main ways to start peek break-out: either a deadline break-out into a binoculars break-out or a Sigourney break-out. This clip shows the former tactic.
To start with, York needs to be using the binoculars when a deadline cutscene activates. This can't be done in every Chapter of the game since not all Chapters have a specific deadline cutscene that plays if you miss the time limit for a mission.
The cutscene will interrupt York's binocular use, returning him to normal gameplay while he is still technically looking at the world through the binoculars. The currently open binoculars menu is a powerful multi-purpose tool that can be used to unload areas at will, among other things... Maybe that will be looked into in more detail in another video. But for now, it's important to know that when you close the binoculars-menu, York will immediately break out of any action he is currently doing.
0:33 - To do the peek breakout itself, you have to interrupt York's peeking action by closing the binoculars menu.
The most immediately obvious effect is that York becomes immune to both gravity and walls. This state ends if you quick travel or use most prompts, though, so its main use is to just have easier access to nearby loading zones.
(The same is true for many other cinematic actions in the game: breaking out of them makes York immune to gravity and walls for a while.)
1:06 - A less obvious effect of peek break-out is that the game stores the window York was using in memory. If York now enters the same building, the location of the window will be used as an entrance. This allows York to enter an area through an unusual location, making f.e. Chapter 12 skip possible (as seen in an earlier video).
1:19 - While indoors, York will be invisible and all in-game time is stopped.
1:46 - Next effect of peek break-out is revealed when exiting: York will finish the buffered peek action in the overworld. He is stuck in place and invisible, peeking underground next to the door that he just came through.
Toggling through peek views moves York between a few different spots in the overworld - he may appear f.e. at the forest path near where York enters Greenvale as well as the Lumber Mill. However, exiting peek always takes you in front of Galaxy of Terror instead.
2:54 - One more lingering effect of peek break-out remains: the next time you enter any indoors area, the map will not load properly, causing York to fall into the void. In this clip I also open the menu while falling, which makes the game crash. I wonder if this always happens if York is too deep out of bounds? For instance, maybe being under the map makes the game try opening a map for a B1 floor that doesn't exist?
(Not on the vid: you can safely observe the unloaded void by peeking instead of entering the building. Even besides that, you can generally get rid of the lingering side effects of peek break-out faster by peeking once or twice instead of trying to enter buildings.)
3:24 - In this clip, I show how peek break-out is started with a Sigourney break-out. It's a more straightforward process, although since Sigourney break-out is followed by a cutscene, York will lose his immunity to walls and gravity immediately and you won't benefit from this extra effect.
4:05 - If you store a peek break-out and enter a different building, one of two things will happen: the more common result is that York will attempt finishing the peek action indoors. This will suddenly warp him back to the window that is stored in the memory, and he will peek through it normally. Sometimes this happens so quick that all you see is two loading screens.
All seems well at first, but quitting this peek mode will crash the game unless you toggle through all the window views at least once. Perhaps the game is confused as to which window York has to be returned to after finishing peeking? At any rate, so far it seems that this crash IS avoidable if you're careful.
(Not on the vid: the less common result is that the area fails to load properly but you don't get warped out of it. This especially seems to happen with 'dungeon' levels like Harry's Mansion in Chapter 18.)
5:01 - Peek break-out can carry over even through 'Continue'. For example, here York starts peeking in the overworld after waking up at the hospital.
5:34 - Sometimes York's full body is visible and he can fully rotate when peeking outdoors. It's pretty uncommon, though.
6:09 - After starting peek break-out, York's stamina starts working differently: it will slowly keep rising without ever decreasing even if York stops to rest, the same as when peeking through a window. If it goes to maximum, even a Stabilizer won't help York.
(Note: effects of peek break-out WILL carry over save & reload and it's possible to make your save unwinnable with it.)
Peek break-out is a fairly intricate glitch tactic with a lot of strange potential. This video takes a look at how it's started and what exactly does it do.
0:00 - There are two main ways to start peek break-out: either a deadline break-out into a binoculars break-out or a Sigourney break-out. This clip shows the former tactic.
To start with, York needs to be using the binoculars when a deadline cutscene activates. This can't be done in every Chapter of the game since not all Chapters have a specific deadline cutscene that plays if you miss the time limit for a mission.
The cutscene will interrupt York's binocular use, returning him to normal gameplay while he is still technically looking at the world through the binoculars. The currently open binoculars menu is a powerful multi-purpose tool that can be used to unload areas at will, among other things... Maybe that will be looked into in more detail in another video. But for now, it's important to know that when you close the binoculars-menu, York will immediately break out of any action he is currently doing.
0:33 - To do the peek breakout itself, you have to interrupt York's peeking action by closing the binoculars menu.
The most immediately obvious effect is that York becomes immune to both gravity and walls. This state ends if you quick travel or use most prompts, though, so its main use is to just have easier access to nearby loading zones.
(The same is true for many other cinematic actions in the game: breaking out of them makes York immune to gravity and walls for a while.)
1:06 - A less obvious effect of peek break-out is that the game stores the window York was using in memory. If York now enters the same building, the location of the window will be used as an entrance. This allows York to enter an area through an unusual location, making f.e. Chapter 12 skip possible (as seen in an earlier video).
1:19 - While indoors, York will be invisible and all in-game time is stopped.
1:46 - Next effect of peek break-out is revealed when exiting: York will finish the buffered peek action in the overworld. He is stuck in place and invisible, peeking underground next to the door that he just came through.
Toggling through peek views moves York between a few different spots in the overworld - he may appear f.e. at the forest path near where York enters Greenvale as well as the Lumber Mill. However, exiting peek always takes you in front of Galaxy of Terror instead.
2:54 - One more lingering effect of peek break-out remains: the next time you enter any indoors area, the map will not load properly, causing York to fall into the void. In this clip I also open the menu while falling, which makes the game crash. I wonder if this always happens if York is too deep out of bounds? For instance, maybe being under the map makes the game try opening a map for a B1 floor that doesn't exist?
(Not on the vid: you can safely observe the unloaded void by peeking instead of entering the building. Even besides that, you can generally get rid of the lingering side effects of peek break-out faster by peeking once or twice instead of trying to enter buildings.)
3:24 - In this clip, I show how peek break-out is started with a Sigourney break-out. It's a more straightforward process, although since Sigourney break-out is followed by a cutscene, York will lose his immunity to walls and gravity immediately and you won't benefit from this extra effect.
4:05 - If you store a peek break-out and enter a different building, one of two things will happen: the more common result is that York will attempt finishing the peek action indoors. This will suddenly warp him back to the window that is stored in the memory, and he will peek through it normally. Sometimes this happens so quick that all you see is two loading screens.
All seems well at first, but quitting this peek mode will crash the game unless you toggle through all the window views at least once. Perhaps the game is confused as to which window York has to be returned to after finishing peeking? At any rate, so far it seems that this crash IS avoidable if you're careful.
(Not on the vid: the less common result is that the area fails to load properly but you don't get warped out of it. This especially seems to happen with 'dungeon' levels like Harry's Mansion in Chapter 18.)
5:01 - Peek break-out can carry over even through 'Continue'. For example, here York starts peeking in the overworld after waking up at the hospital.
5:34 - Sometimes York's full body is visible and he can fully rotate when peeking outdoors. It's pretty uncommon, though.
6:09 - After starting peek break-out, York's stamina starts working differently: it will slowly keep rising without ever decreasing even if York stops to rest, the same as when peeking through a window. If it goes to maximum, even a Stabilizer won't help York.
(Note: effects of peek break-out WILL carry over save & reload and it's possible to make your save unwinnable with it.)
