Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero () (pc) [Any %] [Single Segment] [Large-skip glitches] [0:03:43]
Run Information
Completion Date Dec. 4, 2016
State Published
Runner Paul 'The Reverend' Miller
Tag Large-skip glitches
Internal Comments:
Comment State Information Checkpoint None

Estimate is 3:43. There is a new glitch which is documented in the comments.

Links
Verification Thread
Run Comments

[ON THE VERSION]

This is run from the GOG.com version, which sets DOSBox to a fixed 10,000 cycles.

The only change to the DOSBox configuration file is to output to OpenGL instead of Overlay to allow Fraps to record, and a sound setting to emulate the superior Roland MT-32 soundtrack.

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[CREDITS]

Of course, I want to thank SDA for hosting such a great service.  It is always my first place to check for speed runs, and the community is always super friendly and helpful.

c-square over at TASVideos for finding some new tactics in the EGA version that lead to me investigating this version for a similar method.

Timing starts when the sheriff just after the mouse transition to control after the sheriff says "Good Luck" and ends when the hero hits the door transition to escape the Brigand Leader's room.  The room after that is in effect a credits screen where you can investigate all of the development team, but otherwise, serves no gameplay purpose.

Finally, as a minister, I have to give credit to God for giving me a little extra leisure time to practice the series of games I enjoy.

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[A NOTE ABOUT THE CLASS AND POINT ALLOCATIONS]

The Kobold and freeing the Baronet is still required in this version, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.  35 Stealth is required to get the key from the Kobold, which triggers the scene that lets you see Bruno and the Brigand talking to learn the password for the Troll Cave.  Magic is used for the Open spell.  The extra into Strength speeds up when to rock door to the Troll Cave opens up, which happens around 40 Strength.

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[SCENE-BY-SCENE COMMENTARY]

[TOWN AND KOBOLD]
This section is heavy on mouse and keyboard movement controls, and very RNG heavy in the forest.  Pressing the 'Insert' key switches the mouse between the 'Move' icon and whatever icon you were previously using.  'Tab' opens the inventory.  Getting the Open spell from the magic shop is not strictly necessary anymore, but is still faster/safer.  I'll talk about why later.

I head out of town once I have the Open spell, free the bear from the Kobold, and watch the scene between the Brigand and Bruno to learn the password.

[ANTWERP AND MINOTAUR]
Of interest is the fact that you do not need the Open spell if you pick the Thief.  Theorhetically, you could pool almost all of your points at the start into Pick Locks, and open the rock door that way.  Unfortunately, there is a very real risk of dying because of over-exerting yourself.  Open is the safe and still faster way because there is an RNG component involving a small amount of grinding of Stealth to make up for the increased amount of lock picking.

In the Thief 100% run I am working on, Open has been eliminated entirely now and magic is no longer needed because of the upcoming glitch, which skips the Minotaur.

I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it was discovered thanks to the Minotaur skip in the EGA version.  The EGA skip works differently, and involves just running past the Minotaur in a particular way.  But because that skip existed, I came back to this one to see if a comperable way could be found.  You have to manually move out into the open with sneaking, but not too far, and then click on the door and then the fence to attempt to climb over it JUST as the minotaur has noticed you.  You can graphically see something gets screwed up, and the hero heads back in front of the door and is suddenly through it into the next screen.

**What I BELIEVE happens, and this is purely an educated guess, is that the game gets ready to screen transition to the fight with the Minotaur when he notices you, but because you click on the fence and start to climb up instead, the transition gets overwritten by the potential transition to the inside if your climb was successful.  When the transition to the fight with the Minotaur happens, it instead transitions to the inside of the fort.  If this is true, clicking the door might not be necessary, but I haven't been able to get it to work without clicking the door first.  This may have other implications in other parts of the game, also, but I'm not sure how much time any of them would save if any.**

[BRIGAND'S GAUNTLET]
Nothing in the rest of the run has changed, and it just has to be managed quickly.  Throwing a dagger in the Brigand Leader's room unlocks the character which allows for a quick exit to the end-game screen.

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[AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT]

Since Calm is no longer necessary, this run is only going to get better by a newly discovered skip or better handling.  Both are possible.  Skipping the Brigand's Cafeteria would be awesome, but I haven't found a way to make that happen despite many, many attempts.  My suggested time is 3m 43s, and while there is probably a couple seconds to be shaved off with better handling, this route went extremely well.

The biggest change is that this new glitch will make its way into the 100% Thief run and the Marathon Any%.  Even if you do not have Calm when exporting your character from this route, you start QFG2 (both versions) with Calm as if you had acquired it.  It is a little strange, because other spells do not do this.  All of the purchasable spells (Flame, Open and Fetch) are skippable and do not appear in QFG2 if you import, and Detect Magic, Dazzle and Trigger are all skippable but purchasable in QFG2.  Calm appears to the ONLY spell that is an automatic gimme for importing purposes.