A tool-assisted speedrun of I Wanna Be The Boshy, completed in 22: under the main real-time speedrunning category (any%, avg-mode, no WW, Dark Boshy only).
I began this project in June 2019 with an idea to improve already existing TASes (30:37 by xwidghet and 26:45 by MopeyJo). There were platforming timesaves planned throughout the worlds, as well as possibilities to beat bosses faster. Many of these timesaves were already done by a human in real time and found during a long period of RTA speedrunning. I wanted to collect them all into one piece. In the process of making, I found out even more strats that I have never thought were possible (notably Kracko Skip), completed some bosses quicker than I ever thought I would, and all these pushes-to-the-limit appearing one after another truly amazed me.
All this said, I hope you will enjoy the TAS!
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Technical details:
The run is done on the latest version of the game, on Totally Average-mode and it uses a special character Dark Boshy. The run does not utilize “wrong warping“, which is a game-breaking glitch that allows to skip straight into the final boss (for speedruns with WW, see and )
The tool used to make the TAS is Hourglass r77 ().
TAS Timing: 67111 frames (or 22:) starting from game power-on to the end of movie file (slightly before dropping into gradius ship).
RTA Timing: 67531 frames (or 22:) starting from getting control of the character to the cutscene after Solgryn’s death.
Rerecords: 85521
Current RTA World Record is 30:42 by BBF ()
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Submission on TASVideos:
Downloadable encode of the TAS (1272x968, 50 fps):
#Se-jMuokMehuRsVYNVn-tVPNIOlFqZ2agSV5uJCX6w4
TAS movie file:
Live commentary:
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Techniques used:
Moonwalking: by pressing left and right at the same time it is possible to move horizontally 2 pixels a frame (moonwalking) or 1 px/f (slowwalking) as opposed to the usual 3 px/f. It allows to put the character in more precise positions and to clear tighter gaps. Additionaly, the character always faces left while moonwalking, thus it allows walking right while shooting to the left.
Double shot: if you fire a bullet and press/release any movement key at the same frame you will fire two bullets at once. This increases damage on most of the bosses (some of them can only absorb at most one damage a frame) In RTA speedruns the trick is set up by binding down and shoot to the same key.
Every-frame shots. Normally, a perfect mash would fire bullets every other frame, because the shoot key has to be released before pressing again. However, by pressing either a jump key or C on the next frame after pressing shoot key, you will fire an additional bullet on that frame, which leads to shooting every frame. Combined with double shots, these techniques can lead up to 100 dps, allowing to defeat bosses extremely quickly.
Save hovering: in World 11, if you load a save while holding both shoot and jump keys, your save position will move slightly up. It works because the first frame after reload, the character is put into a default position, which in World 11 happens to be right in front of a save. Thus, shooting on this glitch frame will make a save on the next frame. And because jump key is pressed, you will move upwards before new save is created. This trick skips two screens and the Final Tower, saving quite a lot of time.
Speed boosting. If you get stuck in a solid and come out of it from the side while pressing down, you can get a speed boost of 1-3 px/f. The methods of getting stuck are going inside platforms from below, getting pushed into solids by other entities, and getting stuck in edges in boss rooms (like at Ryu).
Character sprite manipulation. Shooting changes the character’s animation and, for some reason, makes him slightly less sensitive to collisions. This turns out to be crucial for Kracko Skip, and is used throughout the run to clear tight spaces. The downside is having shots at seemingly random places.
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Credits to:
- Solgryn for creating Boshy (and BoshyTime for inspiring him)
- MopeyJo and xwidghet for making previous TASes
- BBF, CosmicSense, eelusion, irelandofendor, Kalemandu, MostlyTyste, Stonk, witwix, Yagamoth and others for finding strats and improving speedruns.
- nitsuja and crew for creating Hourglass.
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