IGIPNP | Spelunky Bonus #5: Smuggling the Plasma Cannon into Hell (Long Version) @IGIPNP | Uploaded 10 years ago | Updated 9 hours ago
Here's the full run (from the Steam version, not the XBLA version) in which I show precisely how you can smuggle the Plasma Cannon into the City of Gold and Hell. If you don't want to watch it all, a summary of the steps is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3DF4bzvwn4
Though this is unfortunately not one of my highest scoring runs, it is, IMO, one of my most amazing/lucky. Let me list why:
* The main thing is that I actually pulled off and recorded this long-desired run. I was confident it was possible, in a theoretical sense, but to actually make it a reality, especially after many hours of earlier attempts, is quite satisfying.
* I managed to grab an unlockable character in a run I actually uploaded. These characters don't appear in Daily Challenges, and most of the unlocks I got in both the XBLA and Steam versions of the game were part of fairly mundane runs that I didn't upload.
* Even just finding one slave can be tough, but somehow I managed to turn up five in this run.
* I didn't get killed by a Dark Jungle level (even when not using a torch), and they're awful normally but doubly awful when having to carry and protect a slave.
* I didn't get killed by the angry shopkeeper in the Mothership, which is one of the game's hardest obstacles in the hardest level overall.
* I was able to complete the Mothership without any vertical navigation aid (other than a Cape, which isn't all that helpful in that level really). This is another one of those things that's "possible", but it's quite hard to do in practice when the level is still hard even with the powerful shotgun and jetpack combo.
* Same goes for Hell. It's possible, perhaps even a bit easier to manage than the Mothership, but no jetpack or climbing gloves there still makes for a challenging time. I suppose carving away a good portion of each level with the Cannon helped a lot though.
* I even managed to keep a parachute for the little bonus at the win screen. Didn't plan on it, but yet another victory.
* There were multiple times where I very nearly died, but ultimately didn't. One of the most notable was when the slave Cannon-blasted a yeti near the exit of the second 3-4. I was very surprised that it didn't kill me or him.
* I managed to pull of invigoration, which is challenging normally but very hard when doing this kind of run as you're unlikely to be able to sacrifice all that many corpses.
* Believe it or not, this was my first Adventure Mode run in quite some time. (The little intro cutscene backs up the fact that it's at least the first run upon loading the game at that particular time.) I've been mostly sticking to the Daily Challenges in order to still play the game without being as involved as I used to be in it, which is why I haven't unlocked many characters beyond the initial set I got near the Steam release of the game.
* I very nearly lost Anubis' Sceptre to a crush block (twice) after succeeding at the rest of the steps leading up to that point. In fact, in the heat of the moment, the first time I reacted like it actually happened, but I quickly realized I was wrong and the run was still viable.
* On a related note, Anubis ended up in basically the best place possible. Sometimes Anubis can spawn closer to the beginning of a level, which means lots of danger as you try to get two weapons with massive killing power to the exit without killing the slave or yourself.
* I ran out of ropes (my main method of vertical ascent due to lacking any other aid), but fortuitous crates eventually increased my supply again.
* The music theme randomly chosen for this run was theme B (classic Spelunky music), later transitioning into theme C (custom chosen tracks) after the Mothership. I could not have asked for a better selection. (Also, one random rare track appeared on the first 3-4.)
Other notes:
2:31 - Unlike my usual procedure, I skipped a lot of level summaries because at the time I didn't believe I'd actually get the run, and skipping saved me some time and let me remain in a focused playing mode.
10:20 - This is right around the point where the run transitions from a normal CoG / Hell run into a run specifically meant to smuggle the Cannon. Amazingly enough, two slaves escaped completely without harm, evening nabbing the shopkeeper's shotgun in the process.
11:23 - I couldn't believe an extra slave had the audacity to throw my sticky bomb, but it actually amazingly worked out to my benefit.
18:21 - Very frightening close call.
20:43 - One of the more inexplicable bugs (?) in this game involves duplicate slaves appearing if at least one is still alive when using the Ankh and exiting a level. It actually seems somewhat useful because I'm unsure of whether slaves can regain health, so using the Ankh provides an opportunity to get a fully healed one late in the Ice Caves.
34:34 - It begins...
48:18 - Time for the true reward...
57:39 - A blasted cape saved me from injury here. Crazy.
Here's the full run (from the Steam version, not the XBLA version) in which I show precisely how you can smuggle the Plasma Cannon into the City of Gold and Hell. If you don't want to watch it all, a summary of the steps is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3DF4bzvwn4
Though this is unfortunately not one of my highest scoring runs, it is, IMO, one of my most amazing/lucky. Let me list why:
* The main thing is that I actually pulled off and recorded this long-desired run. I was confident it was possible, in a theoretical sense, but to actually make it a reality, especially after many hours of earlier attempts, is quite satisfying.
* I managed to grab an unlockable character in a run I actually uploaded. These characters don't appear in Daily Challenges, and most of the unlocks I got in both the XBLA and Steam versions of the game were part of fairly mundane runs that I didn't upload.
* Even just finding one slave can be tough, but somehow I managed to turn up five in this run.
* I didn't get killed by a Dark Jungle level (even when not using a torch), and they're awful normally but doubly awful when having to carry and protect a slave.
* I didn't get killed by the angry shopkeeper in the Mothership, which is one of the game's hardest obstacles in the hardest level overall.
* I was able to complete the Mothership without any vertical navigation aid (other than a Cape, which isn't all that helpful in that level really). This is another one of those things that's "possible", but it's quite hard to do in practice when the level is still hard even with the powerful shotgun and jetpack combo.
* Same goes for Hell. It's possible, perhaps even a bit easier to manage than the Mothership, but no jetpack or climbing gloves there still makes for a challenging time. I suppose carving away a good portion of each level with the Cannon helped a lot though.
* I even managed to keep a parachute for the little bonus at the win screen. Didn't plan on it, but yet another victory.
* There were multiple times where I very nearly died, but ultimately didn't. One of the most notable was when the slave Cannon-blasted a yeti near the exit of the second 3-4. I was very surprised that it didn't kill me or him.
* I managed to pull of invigoration, which is challenging normally but very hard when doing this kind of run as you're unlikely to be able to sacrifice all that many corpses.
* Believe it or not, this was my first Adventure Mode run in quite some time. (The little intro cutscene backs up the fact that it's at least the first run upon loading the game at that particular time.) I've been mostly sticking to the Daily Challenges in order to still play the game without being as involved as I used to be in it, which is why I haven't unlocked many characters beyond the initial set I got near the Steam release of the game.
* I very nearly lost Anubis' Sceptre to a crush block (twice) after succeeding at the rest of the steps leading up to that point. In fact, in the heat of the moment, the first time I reacted like it actually happened, but I quickly realized I was wrong and the run was still viable.
* On a related note, Anubis ended up in basically the best place possible. Sometimes Anubis can spawn closer to the beginning of a level, which means lots of danger as you try to get two weapons with massive killing power to the exit without killing the slave or yourself.
* I ran out of ropes (my main method of vertical ascent due to lacking any other aid), but fortuitous crates eventually increased my supply again.
* The music theme randomly chosen for this run was theme B (classic Spelunky music), later transitioning into theme C (custom chosen tracks) after the Mothership. I could not have asked for a better selection. (Also, one random rare track appeared on the first 3-4.)
Other notes:
2:31 - Unlike my usual procedure, I skipped a lot of level summaries because at the time I didn't believe I'd actually get the run, and skipping saved me some time and let me remain in a focused playing mode.
10:20 - This is right around the point where the run transitions from a normal CoG / Hell run into a run specifically meant to smuggle the Cannon. Amazingly enough, two slaves escaped completely without harm, evening nabbing the shopkeeper's shotgun in the process.
11:23 - I couldn't believe an extra slave had the audacity to throw my sticky bomb, but it actually amazingly worked out to my benefit.
18:21 - Very frightening close call.
20:43 - One of the more inexplicable bugs (?) in this game involves duplicate slaves appearing if at least one is still alive when using the Ankh and exiting a level. It actually seems somewhat useful because I'm unsure of whether slaves can regain health, so using the Ankh provides an opportunity to get a fully healed one late in the Ice Caves.
34:34 - It begins...
48:18 - Time for the true reward...
57:39 - A blasted cape saved me from injury here. Crazy.
