Difficulty: Normal Runner: Blacksecret Time: 0:31:50 13 Segments one for each level I wanted to see how far this category could be pushed with all the new strategies discovered by the Serious Sam speedrun community over the last few years so I created this run which obsoletes the previous speedrun on Normal difficulty by Ivan 'ImFuryPro' Saponenko in 0:35:33. I will do my best to explain the main details of the run. Hatshepsut (0:00:38) The first thing you want to get is the secret rocket launcher which is why this level is slower on normal than on tourist but unlike tourist difficulty you can damage yourself with explosive weapons allowing for some game breaking rocketjumps. I take a more intended path through the level than the previous run aswell as a boost out of water which increases the boost you get from the rocket allowing me to save 5 seconds in total aswell as grab a medkit in the pool allowing me to skip a health pickup in the next level. Sand Canyon (0:00:33) Every time you finish a level with under 100 health on normal difficulty you gain 50 health at the start of the next one. Since I use an extra rocket jump in the first level I have to climb the mountain with the help of a single rocket which requires precise timing of your rocket shot during the jump. After that I enter out of bounds while the character is in the air which allows me to control my height and fly lower to avoid a teleport trigger. Tomb of Ramses III (0:01:31) Nothing too interesting here other than jumping over a trigger that closes a gate infront of you and a few rocket jumps. Through better movement and health management I manage to save 8 seconds over the previous run while also grabbing extra rockets for the next level. Valley of the Kings (0:01:13) This is the first instance of a high rocket jump which requires a very precise jump timing just after firing the rocket under you. Right after the jump I rise into a teleporter which sends me further into the level and proceed to do the newest strategy in the game which saves around 15 seconds compared to not using the teleporter and flying to the end right from the start. The Werebull is one of the most useful enemies in this speedrun since they can boost you really far when hitting you and in combination with a rocket boost this is enough to climb the hill and fly to the end of the level out of bounds. Oasis (0:00:48) Quite an easy level all I do here is jump into a teleport trigger which sticks through the back side of the secret area behind the waterfall and climb a hill using a rocket jump and dodging invisible teleport triggers to get out of bounds and skip most of the level. Dunes (0:00:42) One of the hardest levels to optimise because of how random the enemies can be, but I think I did a pretty good job. For some reason werebulls do less damage to you while still giving you a full boost if they hit you with the side of their head but this is hard to accomplish and doesnt work consistently, but I only had to save enough hp to do a bull rocketjump over the wall which saves quite a bit of time and to touch the end level trigger through the door with another rocket boost overall saving 25 seconds over the previous run in a relatively short level. Suburbs (0:00:58) Despite having very low hp I do a rocket jump to save time and jump over a trigger that spawns some enemies. Other than that this level consists of just staying alive until the end and carrying over as much health as possible. Sewers (0:01:03) I immediately go for the secret health underwater and after pressing the switch I do a rocket boost out of the water saving a few seconds. After that follows a quick run through the enemies and a rocket boost to pass under a barrier before it closes. In the underwater section I get some really good boosts from the fish allowing me to save 10 seconds over the previous run and finish the level on perfect amount of health. Metropolis (0:07:54) The longest level in the game still without a way to get out of bounds to save minutes of time. However to save a few seconds compared to the older routes I take a quicker path to the main arena of the level and grab the minigun on the way while skipping the secret cannon. The first wave of the arena which consists of kamikazes spawning for around 2 minutes is triggered when you get to the middle of the arena and these 2 minutes are exactly enough to backtrack all the way back to the secret cannon which is used for some of the next waves. Another note about this level and the game in general is that I intentionally dont grab armor because the height of your rocket jump depends on how much hp damage you take so having armor severely reduces your boosts. All in all the rest of the level consists of killing the last group of enemies of a wave as fast as possible since the first groups of waves are all on timers and you can't speed them up. Thanks to a better route and execution I manage to save 27 seconds over the previous run. Alley of the Sphinxes (0:02:20) Quite a simple level which provides just enough healing items to do some rocketjumps over walls and into the end level trigger through the door at the end. I also managed to squeeze in a cheeky bull boost that luckily did almost no damage. Another 26 seconds saved. Karnak (0:07:06) This level starts with a rocket jump into an edge/slope jump which gives just enough height to jump into the window saving a second or two. This is another level with an unskippable arena fight and the only things to note here are that I try to kill the last enemy of a wave as soon as possible and I try to keep between 26 and 65 armor aswell as 200 health for the next level. Luxor (0:01:23) A short level due to a relatively new way to enter out of bounds. The reason I want to start with a specific amount of armor is that I want to enter out of bounds after the 3 rocketjumps with atleast 100 hp allowing me to grab the health supplies that are conveniently lying under the map faster without having to grab the smaller healing items first before grabbing the +100 hp heart. A solid 48 second timesave over the old out of bounds route. The Great Pyramid (0:05:35) Last level in the game with a boss who can refuse to die whenever he wants. Right at the start I use a bouncepad which is designed to return you back inside the arena in combination with rockets for a massive boost and a double rocket jump over the gate of the arena into a trigger that you must hit to spawn the boss. After this follows a rocketjump over a trigger that spawns a large amount of enemies that would be very troublesome. The next section involves reaching the pyramid as fast as possible to trigger a timer for the door to the last arena and to get there quicker I do some rocketboosts and bull+rocket boosts which seems to be the fastest way. And now all that remains is to do enough damage to the boss while jumping through the 4 hoops that trigger a laser which is the only way to kill the boss. This segment was pretty solid resulting in a flat minute timesave over the old run resulting in a 31:50 In Game Time run 3:43 minutes faster than the previous one. Levels - Time Hatshepsut - 0:00:38 Sand Canyon - 0:00:33 Tomb of Ramses - 0:01:31 Valley of the Kings - 0:01:13 Oasis - 0:00:48 Dunes - 0:00:42 Suburbs - 0:00:58 Sewers - 0:01:03 Metropolis - 0:07:54 Alley of the Sphinxes - 0:02:20 Karnak - 0:07:06 Luxor - 0:01:23 The Great Pyramid - 0:05:35 Total - 0:31:50 Thanks to the Serious Sam speedrun community that is still alive and active to this day on the Serious Sam Done Quick Discord server - https://discord.gg/PfHmhHE Feel free to join even if you are not a speedrunner and just want to have a chat. Special thanks to all the runners of the game and the people who find all the crazy optimisations to this very day.