ac-tas-subs-unabridged.srt

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This TAS uses the rules for the “any%” category, which permits both aborting missions and clipping out-of-bounds.

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In Armored Core, the player does not get a game over screen when they fail a mission. Instead, they simply lose some money for repairing and rearming their Armored Core (AC).

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Win or lose, the game's timeline moves on after a mission. The player can repeatedly fail missions, and still advance the story.

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The player can also choose to abort a mission, effectively failing it immediately. This is the fastest way to finish a mission.

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There are four missions that must be completed, however. The first mission, the final corporation-specific mission, and the two final missions.

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Failing any of these missions will result in a game over.

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Our very first mission is the Ravens’ Test, where we prove we are skilled enough to be part of the group of mercenaries known as Ravens.

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As you may have noticed, the two Storks (enemies) in the test were dispatched by an aerial laser blade strike.

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When used in the air, laser blades get a multiplier to their already-high damage based on position and angle.

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They are difficult to pull off, but the multiplier is commonly 4x-6x. It can be as high as 16x though!

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Our first mission is “Eliminate Squatters.” A group of radical citizens are squatting in some slums to prevent Zam City from redeveloping them.

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Our job is to “resolve” the problem, by any means necessary. I will not be doing that, however.

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Most of this run consists of what you just saw: aborting a mission the instant it starts.

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We'll be skipping the next 32 missions, with a brief interruption for mission 19.

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While we're skipping missions, I'll explain some exploits that will be used in the last three missions.

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The Out-of-Bounds (OoB) exploit is the most important and is used extensively.

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The exploit is possible only while using a specific combination of parts that causes an animation glitch.

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With the correct equipment and while strafing left or right, walking backwards with specific timing will trigger the animation glitch.

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The animation glitch will cause the player's AC to start walking strangely, and pass right through walls and the ground.

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After a few seconds, the walking animation will end and the player will regain control of their AC, free to explore.

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Another exploit that is used in this speedrun is integer under/overflow of the game's coordinates.

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It is usually not possible, but if the player, an enemy, or any kind of entity moves through the absolute limits of the map...

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...that entity will just be "teleported" to the other side of the map. For example, an entity moving through the right limit of the map will appear on the left side.

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The missions that are being selected and skipped are chosen based on two criteria: how fast it can be skipped, and which corporation it gives points to.

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There are two corporations that can get points from missions the player completes: Chrome and Murakumo Millennium.

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After mission 25, the storyline and mission options branch depending on which corporation got more points.

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We want Chrome to win, because the last mission of the Chrome branch can be finished very quickly thanks to an exploit.

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By failing more Murakumo Millennium missions than Chrome missions, we ensure that will happen.

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This commentary will cease for now until mission 19, "Destroy Plus Escapee."

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This is mission 19, where we take a slight detour. There is a hidden generator part on this mission that we must collect before aborting.

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It's located on a platform below the elevator we start on. Blink and you'll miss it!

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At long last we arrive at final corporation-specific mission: Destroy "Justice."

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"Justice" is a giant orbital energy cannon that Chrome wants us to destroy for the sake of humanity, but mostly because Murakumo controls it.

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We are shuttled into space to the business-end of Justice in order to destroy it from within.

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Normally you would need to fight through hoards of enemies and take down powerful forcefields to destroy Justice's power core, deep inside the space station.

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I won't be doing that.

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Remember the under/overflow exploit for this mission: entities "wrap-around" at the edges of the map.

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Did you catch that? I turned to face the side of Justice that is open to space, which is actually the limit of the map.

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Those grenades that I fired into space wrapped around to the other side of the map, conveniently exploding right on top of Justice's power core.

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It's time to buy and put together our final build for the last two missions.

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We'll be heavily exploiting the out-of-bounds glitch for these two missions, so we buy hardware that allows us to do that.

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Light, fast legs (LN-501), a medium core (XCA-00), and heavy arms (AN-3001 or ANKS-1A46J) is the recipe.

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We're sent to investigate possible remnants of the Chrome corporation at a remote underground base.

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In actuality, this is a trap.

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Normally you would have to descend to the bottom of the base before the trap is sprung, then fight your way back to the surface.

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I've got a faster route in mind, however...

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This strange walking animation you see here is the animation glitch responsible for out-of-bounds clipping.

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Landing in this room triggers the trap. Time to fight our way to the surface!

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Well, that's what we're supposed to do at least...

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Time for the final mission! Floating Mines have been dispersed in the Ravens' Nest itself by an unknown enemy.

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The Ravens' Nest is paying us to clear the mines and eliminate the enemy.

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Much like the last mission, however, the mission is a farce, and this is another trap designed to eliminate the player.

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We clip through the door here like this so that we can open it while passing through it.

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The door must be opened to spawn the enemies in this mission.

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We must defeat the second group of these enemies to continue on with the mission.

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In the melee that is about to ensue, the titular floating mines dot the room. I use these extensively to win the fight.

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The second part of this mission has us discover the identity of the adversary trying to kill us.

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It is none other than the top-ranking Raven, Hustler One, who happens to be a super AI that controls the Ravens' Nest.

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At the end of this long, difficult map is Hustler One's CPU. We must destroy it to end its control over the Ravens.

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And time! TAS time: 30.41:92. RTA time: 29.57:85.