So in the same way I have a post somewhere where I confirmed my intentions to speedrun Tomb Raider, here’s my post where I confirm my intentions to not speedrun Tomb Raider on the PS3.

First, I’ll say I had a blast dual streaming with greys_addicts on the PS3 trick finding.

But perhaps, I shouldn’t have continued onward after the dual stream because what transpired in the next 2-3 hours basically solidified my growing dislike of the PS3 version.

First, for backstory, I’ve played Tomb Raider on:

  • the PS3 twice (first two playthroughs in fact)
  • the PC on a PC that isn’t really fit to be a gaming computer (hello macbook air)
  • the PS4
  • the PC on a rig specifically built for gaming

My most recent experiences are all based around the gaming rig, so perhaps I’m spoiled, but I really don’t remember this dramatic of a difference going from the PS4 version to the PC version.

So here’s what’s bugging me about the PS3 version:

loading times are awful

OMG. In many ways, this one is the killer right there for me. I watch Brass Master’s XBox 360 runs and never see the loading times that I do on PS3.

There were also little hiccups along the way where you’d suddenly see the loading icon in the lower right (?) and things would just momentarily pause. Kind of a momentum killer.

Cutscenes are also much slower to skip on the PS3. Things that might be skippable on PC in like 1 or 2 seconds may take upwards of like 10-15 seconds sometimes (though I didn’t officially clock this).

And back to the subject of loading times, I managed to clock one of them and it was nearly 20 seconds. 20 seconds to reload a freaking checkpoint after dying. And speaking of dying….

it’s just not as responsive

So there’s a part where you fall out of a plane and then quickly get your parachute on and have to maneuveur your way through a forest without getting impaled.

I haven’t died in this bit in ages. Smacked into random branches, yes; deaded, no.

But here, on the PS3, I noticed that it wasn’t really responsive to my left/right directions. To my knowledge, Greys got through the section just fine, so maybe it was just me. But there would be something like a second delay (or it felt like that anyway) between my moving to the left and Lara actually deciding to move to the left. In that section, that kind of delay makes it horrible. I died several times before I was finally able to get to Shanty Town.

I don’t remember the forest bit ever being that unresponsive on PC, nor on PS4. So WTF.

dropping frames in big battles

And somewhat along those lines, in the big battle toward the end, I noticed lots of tiny little hiccups. Frankly, as a casual player, I don’t think I would’ve noticed them at all (or at least, I wouldn’t have been bothered by them). But as a speedrunner, every little bit counts, and those tiny little hiccups can be enough to throw you off your rhythm and possibly even cause you to miss shots/tricks.

you have to run on the DS3

A few nights back I attempted to door clip with a DS4 controller on the PS3. I just couldn’t do it.

With the help of Greys, I learned that door clipping was indeed possible on the PS3 (I know of no one actively running the PS3 version that could’ve confirmed this for me earlier). She was using a DS3, so I decided that it might be time for me to try that.

So without too much trouble, I got the deer door clip using the DS3 controller.

And then I spent a decent amount of time switching back and forth between the DS3 and the DS4. I never got the deer door clip with the DS4, but I got decently consistent on the DS3.

Here’s why that sucks. After being spoiled by the DS4, I can’t stand the DS3 for anything of importance. The analog sticks are just way too weedy/wobbly/something like that. Aiming is already difficult enough for me on a controller. The DS3 makes it worse.

the aiming controls are backwards to every other platform

On the PS3, L1 aims and R1 fires. Every other platform has this reversed (L2 for aim; R2 for firing). Frankly, I’m not sure which layout I like better, but there’s no way to reassign the controls if you prefer the other layout.

I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on a copy for PS4 since discovering this, so I can’t speak to whether you can reassign controls there or not. If not, it basically means that if I were ever to run on both of the PS3 and the PS4, I would constantly be having to context switch in trying to remember the correct layout.

On the plus side, the PC can be reassigned, so at least I would have the option of modifying its layout so I can mimic the layout of whatever console I was also running on.

you have to pause buffer

I am definitely not a fan of pause buffering. I already figured I wouldn’t be. It seemed too twitch happy to me. Now that I have actually successfully done the clip with a DS3, I know that I am actually capable of clipping. And deer door ain’t bad.

But oh my. The fire arrow gate. I just couldn’t. Greys had gotten it like 5 or 6 times at the point that I finally folded and decided to do the battle normally.

On a side note, to anyone considering running the PS3 route, it appears that, if you’re going to clip the fire arrows gate, you have to have previously done the tricky jump where instead of taking injured Lara to the helicopter, you take her to the battle right before the gate.

See, after Greys got to the other side of the gate via a door clip, she found most of the map missing. Whereas I just played the battle normally and things loaded just fine on the other side.

It makes me wonder if this specific gate clip is simply not possible on the PS3 due to these loading issues. But my current theory is that going to the helicopter unloads the back half of Shantytown. And of course, doing the battle normally then loads it again. Even if I’m not going to run on PS3, I’m still actually quite interested to figure this one out.

it’s not as easy to stream from the PS3

It’s super easy now for me to stream from the PC. Second to that, it’s pretty easy to fire up a stream direct from the PS4. And the built-in streaming magically takes care of the audio delay that you have to deal with if you stream through most capture cards.

Granted, if I start doing semi-serious runs on PS4, I’m gonna have to go through my capture card anyway (in order to get timer overlays), but at least I have the option to casually stream from the PS4 with ease.

PS4?

So, at this point, I’m still open to speedrunning on the PS4. I’m a little less excited about it after my horrible half run on PS3 (I basically did a speedrun of half of the game after Greys and I finished the dual stream).

It appears to be impossible to door clip on PS4, either due to the DS4 controller, the variable 30-60 FPS framefrate, or both. The good thing about that is then you don’t have frustrating door clips. Instead, you have a whole bunch of unskippable battles. Oy, I’m not sure which is worse.

And of course, no door clips also means no Alex skip. Alex skip scares me. Freaks me right the eff out. Problem is that if you don’t do Alex skip, you have a pretty obnoxious puzzle to solve. And then an unskippable cutscene with Alex. Poor Alex. We really should save the poor guy. If we ever learn how to pause buffer properly.

segmented is my future

I realize that, in some ways, my streaming habits only confirm that I really should just be working on some segmented runs of Tomb Raider. I mean, I practice the same thing again and again; I should at least be getting “credit” by being able to pick the fastest version and apply it to a segmented run.

The biggest issue is I have no idea how. No one else is running TR 2013 segmented, so I have no idea how I’d handle certain things.

For instance, what do I do about loading screens? Do I put them in the video, do I give myself a time penalty, etc. Nor do I know how I’d assemble things. Do I just have Lara magically beam from one location to wherever the checkpoint load location is?

And do I care about continuity in terms of ammunition? For instance, it seems pretty disingenuous to spend most of my segments not picking up ammo and then suddenly find Lara with max munitions for the final battle with the Samurai.

Plus, there’s the semi silly, but totally serious reason: no space on my video editing machine.

arg, speedrunning

In general, I don’t know. I feel somewhat bipolar about Tomb Raider. Some days I swear I’m getting really tired of it (I have never repeated the single player campaign of any game this much) and then I go on to stream several more hours of it anyway.

I also must admit that, even though I keep saying I’m not going for world records, deep down I think I’m seriously bothered by the fact that if I wanted to go for a world record, I couldn’t.

Granted, maybe I’m being too hard on myself. My run the other night was literally my fifth PC speedrun of Tomb Raider, even though I’ve supposedly been running the PC version for over a month. So who knows, maybe if I were doing real runs more often (instead of just practicing individual tricks), maybe I would actually be far closer to WR pace. But instead, at this point, I feel like I’m surrounded by all of these awesome people who are so good at this game. And then there’s little old me. Who’s competent and that’s about it.

Frankly though, I think if I were to actually pour myself into speedrunning this game, the best I could do would be to come within maybe 5-10 minutes of the world record. I mean, I would be pretty thrilled to have those sorts of time without working too hard, but to pour myself into it and still walk away without being anywhere close to WR would kinda kill me.

I kinda feel that for me personally, I need to find ways to enfuse fun into the speedrunning. Like by coming up with “themes” for example. It’s hard to explain, but basically, there needs to be something more compelling than “let’s get a PB” or “let’s go for the WR”. Like here’s a random idea: a Spanish-only commentary run. Or use-a-robot-voice run. Silly things like that.

Basically, for me, I need to find some way to keep things interesting so I can distract myself from the fact that I’m just an okay speedrunner.

Because for real, the reason I started learning the speedrunning route in the first place was never really to speedrun it. It was simply to be able to stream a full playthrough faster. So maybe it’s about time I returned to the roots of that idea.

If I could only figure out what that means.