Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Nine minutes of rambling about a simple shortcut. Hopefully this helps explain it a bit.
Also, sorry about the keyboard being loud - I don't know how to prevent that
Nine minutes of rambling about a simple shortcut. Hopefully this helps explain it a bit.
Also, sorry about the keyboard being loud - I don't know how to prevent that
![[TAS] KD fence clip flap](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/I6CMLQBvIjE/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] KD fence clip flap
If you try this, be sure to save your ghost so it can be shared for proof.
Proof of concept TAS. Have to land exactly on the fence (x = -688) in order to clip through, so very precise.")
![[TAS] Donkey Jungle Park SC 3lap - 14.03](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K1vtBnx6wSs/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Donkey Jungle Park SC 3lap - 14.03
THIS HAS BEEN IMPROVED (13.37): https://youtu.be/01sshZcH6qY
No sub 14, but theres much more time to save it doesnt really matter. Uploading since its a large improvement over the old TAS and I dont know when Ill feel like trying this again. I dont understand what makes you go fast here. Exact time = 14.0314
Previous TAS (14.77 by Fried): https://youtu.be/H-5Mla-pNqg")
![[TAS] 150cc Star Cup test run #2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KmR04DWVdtU/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] 150cc Star Cup test run #2
Shows new strats for all of star cup (except BC, since there is no big improvements there so far).
Will make explanation of the strategies used here soon")
![[TAS] Toads Turnpike SC 3lap - 14.25](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MiPg16NUhNU/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Toads Turnpike SC 3lap - 14.25
THIS HAS BEEN IMPROVED (14.24): https://youtu.be/kecJ-5-wHrY
This strategy has been known for 6 months, no its not going to be done RTA, stop asking Abney about it.
Doesnt use Lakitu, which means it should work on every version of the game. Significantly faster than the other two strategies, which is surprising. Also you can see the sideways bus for a few frames, which is nice.
This track has a lot of interesting strategies to set up the lapskips, so was pretty fun to work on. Might make a video showing/explaining the many ideas for this track if I feel like it.
Previous TAS (15.38): https://youtu.be/8yxi-RoY7Kw")
![[TAS] Royal Raceway SC 3lap - 1:20.06](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OPi0uSRwjjI/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Royal Raceway SC 3lap - 1:20.06
THIS HAS BEEN IMPROVED (1:20.05): https://youtu.be/6SIYb80MRVk
Used old 3lap for first 2.5 laps, and second half of new fast lap TAS for second half of lap 3 (since lakitu places you in same exact spot for both 3lap and flap, can reuse same input for both). Had to redo the bowl cut on lap 1 since that used a shroom in the old TAS, but shrooming at the end saves more time (bowl shroom saves about 0.5, ending shroom about 0.8). Can probably save a few more frames there, but this is good enough for now.
Why didnt I do the new SC on all 3 laps? Read the description of the fast lap TAS to find out: [https://youtu.be/3QAq8ktt8Xg] Summary: After doing the new SC, you cannot warp from pink wall to ramp. The warp from wall to ramp saves ~6 seconds, and the new bounce to stands SC saves ~5 seconds, so it is not worth doing the new SC on laps 1 or 2.
Now you might be thinking: Even though the warp to wall saves more time than the bounce to stands, the warp can only be done twice in a 3lap, while the bounce to stands can be done 3 times. 6x2=12 seconds, and 5x3=15 seconds, so isnt it better to do just bounce to the stands on all 3 laps? Also, the ~5 second timesave is compared to the finish line warp, but on laps 1 and 2 you drive around the long way, so doesnt the new SC actually save ~6 seconds on those laps? The answer to those questions is probably yes, but I didnt think of doing that until I was writing this description. But doing that means I cant just copy the inputs from the fast lap TAS, and my head hurts from all the bouncing so I dont want to do it again so soon. (Ill probably do it next weekend)
[The previous paragraph is wrong, with the current bounce it is only faster to do it once.]
Exact time = 1:20.0643
Previous TAS (1:24.83): https://youtu.be/ByHYdSj48ks")
![[TAS] Choco Mountain SC fast lap - 1.66](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qd9EEjMOmu4/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Choco Mountain SC fast lap - 1.66
THIS HAS BEEN IMPROVED (1.47): https://youtu.be/83rblmp8eGE
Watertank
Decided to slam into the wall a bit and somehow this happened. I still dont really understand this SC but 1.66 seems fast. I do have another idea that has potential to save up to ~0.3, so maybe another improvement soon?
Exact time = 1.6650
Full race: https://youtu.be/SdFpljAR0dE")
![[TAS] Yoshi Valley SC fast lap - 2.91](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qyc0MmZNQHo/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Yoshi Valley SC fast lap - 2.91
Old idea, but finally made it work. Thanks to Weatherton for proving it was possible in 150cc (https://youtu.be/_Gizu_QgJ3c) and showing me that you dont have to jump into the fence to get a large bounce off it. Also thanks to micro500 for helping us understand what was needed with 3D models of the course.
Exact time = 2.9158
Full race + input: https://youtu.be/oiYtURziEXM
With this confirmed possible, 11/16 courses have had at least one new time trials shortcut in under 1 year (August 4, 2020-August 3, 2021). Thats the same number of courses that had shortcuts found in the first 20 years after MK64s release. There are 3 courses which have no time trials shortcuts: Moo Moo Farm, Koopa Troopa Beach, and Banshee Boardwalk. Besides these 3, the only other 2 courses which have not had a new shortcut in the past year are Choco Mountain (which had its new shortcuts, including the Weathertenko, discovered in 2014), and DKs Jungle Parkway (the only course to have its original shortcuts still optimal). Wario Stadium 3lap also hasnt had any new shortcuts since the 90s, but the fast lap there does have a new strategy so I think that counts. Also, while Yoshi Valley fast lap did have a new strategy found in the past year (https://youtu.be/Db4yj5ozTFc), that only saved 2 frames and is arguably not even a new shortcut at all, so its nice to have something here that is undeniably a new shortcut. This one will also save time on the 3lap, which is something the previous discovery on Yoshi Valley didnt do.
So why did this take so long to be performed? In order to complete a lap, you MUST cross from behind the finish line to in front of it in some way (the finish line is an infinite vertical plane that passes through the visible finish line). However, you dont always gain/lose a lap when you cross this, otherwise you could complete laps when passing the finish line halfway around the track. There are a few different conditions that must be met for the finish line to be active, but the important one here is that you must be within 1000 units from the center of the road at the finish line. (You can imagine a sphere with radius 1000 centered on the middle of the road at the finish line, and the finish line is active only if you are in that sphere.) This sphere gets quite close to the far left path of the track (the wall bounced off here), but there is a small gap between the wall and the sphere. This is why the normal 3lap lapskip works - you hit the wall in front of the finish line, then tumble left so you land behind the finish line (which causes you to cross the line forwards as you get placed down, which completes a lap) but since you crossed backwards across the line close to the wall, you are outside of the sphere so the finish line is inactive and you dont lose a lap. This results in a lapskip since the finish line is active when you cross it forwards but not when you cross it backwards. But in the usual 3lap lapskip you must fall all the way to the bottom and get rescued by lakitu before finishing the lap. So if you could cross backwards across the line while outside of the sphere (just like in the 3lap), but then cross the line forwards while still in the air, it would be much faster. Unfortunately, as seen in the 3lap, hitting the wall near the finish line launches you left, so you cannot cross the finish line forwards in the air after hitting the wall. However, slightly right of the place you hit in the 3lap is a part of the wall that knocks you to the right after you hit it, which is the direction you need to cross the finish line midair. The problem is that before hitting the wall you must cross the finish line backwards (outside of the sphere), but the part of the wall that knocks you right is almost entirely in front of the finish line. Luckily there is a tiny part near the top that is both behind the finish line and knocks you right, which is what we need. However, that part of the wall is just barely behind the finish line, so after hitting it you usually cross the finish line forwards before re-entering the 1000-unit sphere, so the finish line is still inactive and you dont complete a lap midair. As you get closer to the top of the wall, the tiny section you must hit gets a little wider, allowing you to hit the wall a bit further behind the finish line, which lets you reactivate the finish line before crossing it. The problem here is that to hit the wall so close to the top, you need a LARGE bounce and high speed to cross the canyon quickly (this is why this SC is slightly easier in 150cc). With ideas from Weatherton on how to get the best speed/height possible and a lot of tiny adjustments, I crossed the finish line midair only 999.9978 units from center of the sphere. If I had been .003 units farther away, the finish line would have been inactive so no lapskip. Unless a consistent way to get more speed is found, this is extremely precise in time trials (worse than KD?) and will not be done RTA.")
![[TAS] Kalimari Desert SC fast lap - 7.33](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TWYMnSX_vfI/mqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Kalimari Desert SC fast lap - 7.33
THIS HAS BEEN IMPROVED (7.28): https://youtu.be/0vjVXdNU37o
Whats a desertenko?
Its a new skip on KD thats slightly
easier than the KD Fence Clip and
can get times of 7xx range for flap!!
Exact time = 7.3387
Full race: https://youtu.be/0_fG1sFUWMs
Input Display: https://youtu.be/tkvnYSgSVQ0
Previous TAS (7.58): https://youtu.be/i2a1gfSznIw")
