Spelunky! is a mix of La-Mulana and NetHack: its levels are generated randomly, making each new playing session unique. This means making a decent speedrun out of it was not only a question of skill, but also an excercise in luck manipulation.
This is an any% speedrun on version 0.99.8 which completes the game in 3:53 by the in-game timer.
Level by level times:
level 01 — 0:11;
level 02 — 0:18 (looted a shop, received Jetpack and Shotgun);
level 03 — 0:07;
level 04 — 0:16;
level 05 — 0:05;
level 06 — 0:14 (dark level);
level 07 — 0:07;
level 08 — 0:08;
level 09 — 0:08;
level 10 — 0:08;
level 11 — 0:13;
level 12 — 0:05;
level 13 — 0:20 (received Scepter);
level 14 — 0:15;
level 15 — 0:07;
final boss — 1:16 (including cutscene).
Possible improvements:
1) getting Compass (would have saved 7–15 seconds depending on the level);
2) not getting a dark level (would have saved 3–4 seconds);
3) getting jetpack in level 1 (would have saved 2–4 seconds);
4) better boss fight (probably about 6–9 seconds);
5) better level layout — I'd rate mine with 4.5 out of 5 (10+ seconds).
In total, practical limit for this game seems to be at around 3:10–3:20.
MINI-FAQ
Q: What is NOT randomized in this game (bugs aside)?
A: Each level has an exit within four tiles from the lowest coordinate. Level 13 contains a mummy which drops Scepter (I pick it up), a homing weapon that kills everything in a single shot.
Q: You seem to know where exactly the exit is located in most cases, how so?
A: If you play the game a lot, you start noticing certain patterns. For instance, exits in all areas except the first have a lot of free space around them, so going over a large body of water close to one of the level walls will likely result in a dead end. Most levels in areas 1, 2, and 4 have several "floors" (usually three or four) which have one to three "wells". The strategy is finding these wells as soon as possible to reach the bottom floor (which is more often than not connected throughout horizontally), and then just go left or right, whichever direction seems better. If you landed near a wall, there is only one direction you can go in.
Q: Do you actually need scepter? It feels like getting it wastes more time than it saves.
A: Partially correct. Scepter doesn't save time per se, but it helps not getting hit, especially in the last boss fight, which very much requires you to be cornered with little to no means of defending yourself from above.
Q: Why no sound?
A: The game lagged from time to time during recording (not noticeable in the .avi because FRAPS didn't drop frames), which has already been an inconvenience. Recording sound made it lag much worse. Sorry.
Q: I have a playback problem.
A: It's encoded using H.264. Get VLC, MPlayer, Perian, or any decent codec pack for your system, and you'll be fine. |
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