Reaching the bottom fast, in various ways.

(6:41) Level 4 ('The Silent Cartographer') on Heroic. Getting to the bottom of the main shaft is one thing, but doing it in under twenty seconds? That takes a bit more effort! Here are eight fast descents done in a variety of ways, in order of increasing speed. All but one are foot-based, and times (starting when the hog moves) are given to the nearest tenth of a second.

Released December 20th 2024, gameplay recorded December 13th-19th 2024.

00:02 (Standard bail - 58 secs) For openers here's a descent starting with a bail onto the third prong on the left, and taking a standard route thereafter. In regard to the final two drops, actually I didn't take the first one very well, and lost more health than necessary. That last section could've been done a few seconds faster in fact.

01:05 (4th shelf hog-land - 48 secs) This time I'm starting with a hog landing on the fourth shelf, leaving me with a full overshield to exploit. The main exploitation comes in doing a run-off on a level 6 prong, and my time ends up being 10 seconds faster.

01:59 (By hog via the alcove - 40.2 secs) This time I'm using the hog all the way, namely with my alcove method as seen in BCM534. The alcove landing isn't ideal, and my time could've been around 5 seconds faster with a better landing, but I elected not to pursue a faster time. I was happy enough with this one, and liked the amusement of the Marine trying to dive clear of the plasma grenade, and diving off the edge. Fool!

02:43 (After spill to level 7 - 38.5 secs) On this descent attempt I get ejected from the hog and settle on the seventh level, something which has happened only a few times before. That gives me a nice speedy start, and I end up almost 10 seconds faster than the previous foot-based descent.

03:26 (4th shelf hog-land with side-bounce shortcut - 33.8 secs) My previous 4th shelf hog-land descent followed a standard route. But with the side-bounce shortcut seen here I go a lot faster. The shortcut itself saves around 12 seconds, but I also did better on the early work, getting to level 6 about 2 seconds faster than before. So I end up about 14 seconds faster. Nice!

04:06 (Something to know) This little interlude introduces the 'back channel' as I call it, which I realised makes a great shortcut to the bottom on each side. That's what I'll now be using in the final three descents.

05:06 (4th shelf hog-land with back channel shortcut - 27.8 secs) Once again I'm doing a 4th shelf hog-land. Conserving some overshield for the back channel shortcut, I end up with a fairly whizzy 27.8 seconds; about 20 seconds faster than my initial 4th shelf hog-land effort (back at 1:05).

05:37 (Back channel shortcut again - 22.8 secs) This time I'm trying to get the hog to take me lower in the prong stack. After colliding with the 4th-level prong on the right, the hog deposits me on the prong below, still with full overshield. That already helps, but the bigger time-save comes when I drop from the 6th level for my corner bounce. Risky, but happily I survive the landing at the bottom, giving a 5-second improvement over the previous descent.

06:05 (Back channel shortcut again - 18.8 secs) I'm going for the same thing here, and this time I settle on the sixth level. I've lost most of the overshield but I'm right in position for dropping (and I rotated as I fell, to get lined up), so I take the plunge without delay. And as I head down, I know that if I pull this off, it's going to be a great time. By chance, the hog goes down to my destination. As I approach the bottom, I see it and try to drift towards it for possible cushioning. My drifting probably had very little effect (I was closing in so fast), but whatever, I hit it. Maybe it saved me from dying, but I can't be sure.

My time is 18.8 seconds (as best as I could judge), and in view also of the unusual hog reunion, that made a good ending for the movie. That time will be hard to beat I think!

Closing remarks In regard to measuring times (via video inspection), my convention was as follows. The descent starts with the first frame of movement and ends with the frame on which I hit the bottom (as far as can be judged), but then I round to the nearest tenth of a second. Usually the impact frame was apparent from redness, but in a few cases I had to make a judgement as best I could.

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