GTA:SA Any% (is dead) FAQ

GTA:SA Any% (is dead) FAQ


Contents
1. What is this? / Why is Any% "Dead"?
2. Does this mean Normal/Old/Classic Any% runs are gone?
3. What version of the game are you playing? / Why does the game look weird? / Why the Windows Store version?
4. Why are you showing us your Task Manager?
4.1 What good is Cheat Engine?
5. What's the plan? / How do you do it? / What's the route?
5.1. Why avoid Vending Machines?
5.2. Why buy the further away Safehouse?
5.3. Why use Burglary for Money?
6. Why is this run so hard?
6.1. Getting On Mission 0 using Burglary and a Safehouse
6.2. Starting Vigilante during the 1000 millisecond window between Ryder's first two lines of the cutscene but canceling it within the 500 millisecond window after Vigilante starts
6.3. Canceling Vigilante during the 23 millisecond window to set $CURRENT_TIME_IN_MS2 to the correct value


1. What is this? / Why is Any% "Dead"?

The run is based on a new skip found by Powdinet on 5/10/2019 after 3 years of research starting with the original PC version of the game and Boat School, and (probably) ending here. The skip takes us from Ryder (the second mission of the game) hopefully to End of the Line Part 3 (the final part of the final mission of the game) which as you can imagine is quite the substantial skip. The issue with it however is that it is extremely difficult to pull off.


2. Does this mean Normal/Old/Classic Any% runs are gone?

No. These runs are not lost, not ruined, and will be still be ran as much as they always were. They will simply have their own category along the lines of what No Major Glitches is today. This exact scenario (massive glitch found to skip whole game) has already happened to Vice City (yet alone hundreds of other speedruns) and what happens is that there is an initial rush to the "new" Any% but then everyone goes back to running the "fun" run instead. I'm sure I will do the same... if I ever get the skip...


3. What version of the game are you playing? / Why does the game look weird?

I'm playing the Windows Store version. This is because the skip only works on that version (that we know of). This is because the glitch only works on this type of mission script. Unfortunately this means I have to play one of the worst renditions of the game that was released. The stupid shaders and GUI look like some kind of crappy mod, the frame rate is shit and worst of all the controls are TERRIBLE. It feels like I'm using a Keyboard and Mouse to emulate a Touch Screen which is emulating a PS2 Gamepad, I have to hold Right Click then hold Left Click then release Right Click then release Left Click in order to Aim a gun AND shoot at the same time, and I can't even lean forwards/back on bikes. It's impossible to describe just how awful the controls are unless you've tried it yourself.


4. Why are you showing us your Task Manager?

I'm showing you by open programs in Task Manager because I feel bad for having Cheat Engine installed and having the knowledge to know how use it, so I want to show that I don't have it open and I'm not using it. This (probably) isn't required by the rules and is (probably) fairly easy to fake but I want to do it to make me feel better... and also because I'll probably forget I have it open and do a run with it (I actually did that once! Thankfully chat saw and I stopped)


4.1 What good is Cheat Engine?

Without explaining exactly what Cheat Engine is and how it works (look it up yourself :D) it's VERY useful here because I would allow me to edit the all important $CURRENT_TIME_IN_MS2 variable to guarantee a run. Even just being able to SEE the value of $CURRENT_TIME_IN_MS2 would be a massive advantage because I would know if I hit the correct millisecond window or not and save me having to guess at the end of the run when the game crashes.


5. What's the plan? / How do you do it? / What's the route?

Short Version:
I need to cancel Vigilante between 82070 and 82093 MILLISECONDS after the game starts. Then get money to buy a Safehouse using Burglary. Then I need to get OM0 Burglary using Burglary and a Safehouse. Then using that OM0 Burglary get an OM0 phone call and start the Ryder mission. Then during Ryder I need to use the OM0 phone call to regain control, keep the cutscene going indefinitely by pausing and dupe the mission. Then finally I have to blow up Ryder's car (not a joke), start Vigilante and fall off the bike all at the perfect time to start End of the Line (Part 3). If the game crashes instead then I most likely didn't cancel Vigilante in the 23 millisecond window at the start of the run.

Long Version:
I might write a long version here at some point, for now just read the Reddit post then come back. https://redd.it/ddrsfd
Done? OK good. There are some differences to the route in the Reddit post. Firstly I won't be looking for any drug dealers because I'm always going to get 23 items so that I get infinite sprint for "completing" Burglary. Instead if I get a cop bike early enough I will go pick up the grenades at the start rather than later.
Secondly I won't take the exact route on the Reddit post from Burglary to the Safehouse because I want to save the game (so I can retry) but also because the route in the image goes right past a fucking Vending Machine...
And Thirdly I'm always going to buy an Afro of some kind because I like them and I can left click all of them so it doesn't matter for speed (and I have the money for all of them).


5.1 Why avoid Vending Machines?

After setting the $CURRENT_TIME_IN_MS2 variable to (hopefully) the desired value after canceling Vigilante, I need to avoid updating the value to the actual current time in milliseconds. Lots of things in the game update this value and unfortunately Vending Machines are one of them. This means I have to avoid loading a Vending Machine or I will be unable to preform the skip, thankfully I know where they all are and can navigate around them without too much difficulty.


5.2. Why buy the further away Safehouse?

While the Safehouse in Willow Field would work for getting OM0 AND it is closer to Grove Street, unfortunately there is a Vending Machine too nearby to use safely, so instead I must use the Jefferson Safehouse.


5.3. Why use Burglary for Money?

Because we need the $CURRENT_TIME_IN_MS2 variable to be a specific value we must avoid updating the value throughout the run. This means we must avoid starting any script that updates it. This includes all the usual fast ways to earn money such as: Firefighter, Inside Track and all other sub mission stuff like Taxi. With the exclusion list the fastest way to easily earn money is Burglary, which is convenient as we need to use Burglary to get OM0 anyway. The other commonly suggested way of getting money is by killing drug dealers and while this does work (if we avoid all the Vending Machines) it's slower than doing Burglary unless you get REALLY lucky.


6. Why is this run so hard?

It may sound easy enough since we have everything planned out and know exactly what to do, but a few factors mean this run is extremely difficult and without a consistent setup for things being found or better than humanly possible reaction times a lot of things basically come down to dumb luck.
In order of difficulty here are the main challenges of this run:


6.1. Getting On Mission 0 using Burglary and a Safehouse

Since we're at the start of the game, all the traditional OM0 setups are unavailable so we have to use Burglary and a Safehouse. Other than having to get money (which is just slow not hard) the main difficulty in this is the timings to execute two parts of it. I need to buy a Safehouse then immediately after have a phone call ring, which I can then hold (which delays the Safehouse bought cutscene), then I have to start Burglary at exactly the right time to have the Safehouse be bought while starting Burglary.
The two timings I need to get right are the phone call ringing right after buying the Safehouse, and starting Burglary at the exact right moment. The phone call isn't too hard to get right, I have a decent amount of practice timing them in other runs so I can get that most of the time (but it isn't trivial, and it's harder than in other runs since I cannot pause buffer), the main challenge is instead the Burglary timing. There isn't really much to say about it other than I mash the Burglary start button and just hope I get lucky. If I don't get lucky then I simply load the save (or reset if I didn't make one) and try again. At a rough estimate I'd say 75% of the time I get the phone call (but that is execution based so I'll hopefully get better over time) and 25% of the time I get the Burglary timing (but that's just dumb luck so unlikely to improve).


6.2. Starting Vigilante during the 1000 millisecond window between Ryder's first two lines of the cutscene but canceling it within the 500 millisecond window after Vigilante starts

By pausing the game we can keep Ryder's voice line going for as long as we want, which makes the trick possible to do. Using the OM0 phone call we can regain control of CJ (as long as the phone call doesn't interrupt Ryder's voice line but that's avoidable by canceling it as soon as we exit the barbers), then by going back into the barbers we can regain camera control, then by duping the mission we can regain access to vehicles AND get an easy way of skipping the voice line AND regaining OM0 at the same time. Allan please add details


6.3. Canceling Vigilante during the 23 millisecond window to set $CURRENT_TIME_IN_MS2 to the correct value
Allan please add details