Low% All Dungeons

Two days after the discovery of heart skips, MichaelK already had a 3-heart Low% Mirror run completed. He posted his splits on Jun 21, 2019.

The order of dungeons changed slightly from the past version as Misery Mire was moved ahead of Thieves Town, and Skull Woods was delayed until after Thieves Town. Similar to the new Low% NMG, early Mire allows us to collect Cane of Somaria for easier heart deletion.

Palace of Darkness was still an early dungeon, so how was King Helmasaur's heart container deleted? Possibly like this:

On Jun 20, MichaelK and Pinkus had worked out methods to skip the Helma heart without using Somaria. In MichaelK's method, Link places his last two bombs, lamps twice, and then dash buffers twice with the second one on a same-frame contact with the heart. While technically possible, the technique requires extreme precision.

If we had the Master Sword, we could set index and then fire 6 arrows, sword beam, and dash dust. Pinkus found this strat to be free for Low% NMG. However, in LowAD, we don't have the sword until after collecting the hammer.

Could Helma be defeated later, after collecting Somaria? From MichaelK's splits, we can see that the Darkness split is skipped (shown with a -), so maybe that is what happened.

Dungeon order:

Eastern Escape Darkness Desert Hera Agahnim Mire Thieves Skull  Swamp Ice T-Rock G-Tower

Excitement was building around a new Low% NMG. A 3-heart run is what we always needed, according to fsg. To Yuzuhara, it sounded like Low% was truly destroyed.

The next day, stephen opened a new channel in Discord to introduce the topic of how to handle the Low% category.

stephen, who needs a nap. — 06/20/2019 1:01 PM Hello! Low% just got Lower! There is a new way to, without major glitches, complete a Low% run with fewer than 13 hearts! But, what about all the existing runs?

Topics of discussion centered around what qualifies as a Low% run and whether ancilla glitches could be used in NMG.

Those familiar with LowAD were accustomed to debating what constitutes Low%. Would you need to lose your shield in order to minimize your ending equipment? Tojso responded that skipping the shield is what lowered percent, rather than getting it stolen. Losing items is not necessary in Low% categories.

Could ancilla overload turn into a major glitch? greenHam argued that even if we discover that it can be used as a major glitch, this particular application of it can remain minor.

It was also mentioned that the new Low% would require glitches to complete, but Silverless Ganon is already a required glitch in the old Low%.

Deleting hearts seemed to be acceptable as a minor glitch. While the difficulty in completing a full run would increase considerably, it was a fair challenge for Low% runners.

But what if a heart container was collected by accident? This takes us back to the original topic, that is, what to do with the old Low%. stephen posted a poll with two options:

Move current 13-heart runs to a low% legacy category. This allows clean separation.

Add a "Final Heart Container" count to the submission, sort by total hearts first, time second. This makes finishing runs with an accidental heart pickup worth something.

Christos supported option 2. He suggested that runs with more hearts could be ranked below runs with fewer hearts. His concern with starting a legacy category was that if Low% changed again, then another legacy category would need to be created.

But these ideas did not catch on, and in the end, option 1 was more popular.

Low% was announced as a 3-heart run on Jun 21, 2019, and Low% Legacy would split off on its own.

Suddenly, it was possible to skip boss heart containers. Pinkus explained that we could prevent the "received item" ancilla from appearing by having no room for it. In his first demo, the heart deletion involved a Somaria block, Magical Boomerang, boots dust, wall hit, and sword sparkles.

Later, a much easier setup was achieved by placing a Somaria block in the center of the screen and then item dashing into the heart. The four Somaria beams plus the dash dust would leave no slot for the heart to spawn in, so the heart collection is skipped, and and Link's heart count never increments.

The Somaria dash could work anywhere in the Dark World, but what about the Light World? Pinkus found that only bombs, lamp, and bow were needed. He showed that Armos Knights and Lanmolas hearts could be deleted by firing arrows and then spamming lamp. Moldorm's room is different because we cannot press start to switch items. The clever workaround is that Link can place his last two bombs, auto-switching to lamp for lamp spam. Link needs to walk off the ledge and then return upstairs to collect the pendant.

Tojso explained that we can get a consistent heart delete setup by spamming lamp 3 times, firing 6 arrows, and then lamping twice. The lamp spam sets the ancilla search index high enough to get a known value of 4 on the 4th arrow, 3 on the 5th, and 2 on the 6th. A value of 2 is what is needed to prevent the heart from spawning.

Heart deletes would continue to be developed, but we now had initial methods to beat A Link to the Past with just the three hearts that Link starts with.

This was bad timing for MichaelK, who was TASing LowAD.

MichaelK__ (He/Him) — 06/19/2019 11:18 AM realizes he has to redo everything done so far in bootsless low% ad tas :RIPLink~2:

What else can we delete? kan mentioned that you could talk to Link's uncle and remain swordless. fsg found that you could free Link from receiving the Mirror from the Old Man, opening up routing possibilities in LowAD.

In early 2019, Yuzuhara discovered an almost entirely new class of glitches - ancilla glitches. The word ancilla is used for the stuff that Link creates - bombs, dash dust, splashing water, etc. Yuzu posted his discoveries with titles like keepExplosion, hoppingBomb, getintoEG, manipulateBombCoordinates, manipulateBoomerang, doubleSomariaBlock, and weirdSwordbeam. Below are examples dated Feb 9-10, 2019.

Yuzuhara explained that each glitch can be done once after reviving with a fairy or deathhole. But what is the connection between a fairy revive and ancilla? It took the A Link to the Past community a few months to take a closer look.

Pinkus started researching them and shared his findings on Jun 19, 2019. The "magic variable" is 03C4, known as the search index. A fairy revive sets this variable to 6, which allows ancillae normally constrained to slots 0-1 or 0-4 to be placed into slot 5. A bomb, for example, can be manipulated or duplicated if placed in this slot.

Yuzuhara's keepExplosion (a.k.a. Murderbomb, demonstrated above) involves misslotting a bomb and then extending its timer by using a sword beam, sword spin, or hookshot 5 slots under the bomb.

Later that day, Yuzuhara found that using the lamp 3 times can set 03C4 to very high values including 0x10, extending available slots to the point of going out of bounds. Pinkus saw that this could be used in combination with certain values of a nearby array to set up a condition in which the game could write to the wrong places. As a result, he was able to write "bomb stuff" all over the wrong memory.

The possibilities would be explored later, but there was something else found earlier that captured the community's attention:

Pinkus — 06/19/2019 8:47 AM

but uh oh (or maybe not), you can despawn hearts in darkworld after defeating a boss and grab the crystal hope that doesnt change glitched low%? lol

Following the OWEG discussion, fsg posted a new routing idea for LowAD on May 28. Skipping the back of Escape with OWEG would allow us to save its small key for later. This key could be stolen from Hera with a bomb clip, and we could use it to unlock Swamp, collecting the Hookshot early. The route would then avoid the Mire double dip and save "800 years."

MichaelK brought up a consequence in item collection: the route would add the Shield but drop the Lamp. To arm EG, we would need to talk to Link's Uncle for a Save & Quit point, but the Sword and Shield would be picked up as a result. That said, the Lamp would no longer be required because it is normally needed to push the ornamental shelf, which no longer needs to be pushed. Michael spelled out the potential new branches with Tree Warp and OWEG allowed:

Overworld EG, or OWEG, was a question mark for No EG/DG/WW speedruns in 2019.

Why was OWEG a consideration in a "No EG" category? One reason is that it acts quite differently than Underworld EG. Essentially, EG is layer manipulation and typically involves walking freely underneath the upper layer. However, layers in the overworld are less meaningful because walls will block Link regardless of layer. The only way OWEG was known to be helpful was to bypass sprites. Therefore, EG is overpowered in the underworld but mostly harmless in the overworld.

On Apr 30, fsg tested an OWEG route that was only 10-15s slower than the known AD route:

If OWEG were allowed, we could walk past the gold guards on the top of Hyrule Castle, allowing us to escape Escape.

After fsg posted his video, Blank shared a discovery about Lonk (a.k.a. Lunk). Lonk is a glitch that puts Link in a bunny-like state in which the player cannot use A or B but can use Y (the opposite of Super Bunny), and he can take knock-back damage from Agahnim's barrier but not zap damage. Blank showed that Lonk could be used in combination with armed EG to activate OWEG on top of Hyrule Castle.

Another idea was to use the Magic Mirror to skip the back half of Escape. However, the game places technical obstacles in the way of collecting the Mirror. The Old Mountain Man will walk infinitely into space unless Link visits Armos Knights first, and he does not appear at all if Zelda text is following you. Lonk, OWEG, and Early Mirror could be useful, but they were tabled for now.

On May 24, JoshRTA asked if anyone ever tested an alternate route for All Dungeons. Glan responded:

Glan — 05/24/2019 10:54 AM This is pretty :CosmicBrain: but hear me out Go to uncle and oweg escape castle Then eastern I guess Then get mirror Then rescue zelda

This theoretical route would eventually become the main starter for all categories in No EG/DG/WW (later known as Restricted Major Glitches), but it was not timed until Blank re-routed Any% in 2020.

Michael earned a new PB in LowMAD on May 17, 2019, a few days after running Tree Warp LowAD. Michael describes the disasters:

Michael Kunze — 05/17/2019 Helma Death, Arrghus Death, Ganon Death, Screwed up getting the Ice Wrap for like 5 minutes :derp2:

Regardless of the ruling on Tree Warp, MichaelK would run with it.

MichaelK__ (He/Him) — 05/10/2019 2:18 PM i'd say we call this lowwwad and keep the old lowads 👀

It took Michael only two days to route and run Tree Warp Low% AD. On May 12, he posted an RTA viable method of Tree Warp as Bunny Link.

This method takes advantage of the fact that trees never go inactive, so the top tree fills three slots. Bunny Link can then lure the Moblin and Thief to the bottom tree. The only issue is that enemy RNG is not easy to control. Because of that, there is a risk failure, which may take the form of a game crash.

The dungeon order would remain unchanged from LowTAD. The difference is the item collection: Ether is collected with a Tree Warp immediately following Castle Tower. Fighter's Sword/Shield and Tempered Sword are skipped.

After re-climbing the tower, Michael encountered a surprise:

It turns out the route has a bonus boss fight – Agahnim 2 at Agahnim 1. Aga 2 appears because Tree Warp takes place in the Dark World. Since there is no world transition to return Link to the Light World, the Dark World version of the boss awaits at the top of the tower. After the re-fight, Ether drops as the dungeon prize. Unfortunately, Link is "softlocked" because there is no automatic transition out of the dungeon. But thanks to the diagonal walls of the boss arena, we can clip out and then save & quit.

The full item list is:

master sword flippers glove bow hook fire rod ice rod ether lamp hammer somaria mirror

In May 2019, kan posted a brand new glitch in the ALTTP Discord.

The glitch was Tree Warp, an example of Dynamic Sprite Spawn Overflow. Essentially, we can spawn a Wallmaster in a grabbing state to take us back to the last place we entered. This occurs when we load a talking tree, which is three sprites (two eyes and one mouth), when only one sprite slot is available. The explication can be found here: https://spannerisms.github.io/treewarp

Glan recognized that this could be used to reenter Aga Tower in LowAD to collect Ether, thereby removing the second rain state sequence and skipping Fighter's Shield. Additionally, since our Master Sword is not downgraded to Fighter's Sword, we do not need to upgrade to Tempered Sword.

However, since it was called an actual wrong warp, there was a question of whether to allow it in No EG/DG/WW.

MichaelK__ (He/Him) — 04/26/2019  a pig kicking me off his platform prevents a nice sub3 

Michael continued a grind of the LowAD Mirror variants throughout Apr 2019. In Low% Tempered, he achieved a 3:27:57 on Apr 12 and a 3:03:39 on Apr 26. Unfortunately, the VODs were lost to time. 

fsg — 03/14/2019

whatever routes we come up with low% bottle will still be the real lowad the prestige category

Low% Bottle would be my third completed of the three main LowAD variants. In this run, the Magic Bottle is simply used as a replacement for Moon Pearl. Because of that, LowBAD is without a doubt slower than LowPAD and most likely slower than LowMAD. Still, it’s faster than the original LowAD route, thanks to dropping two potion trips and the old Oldmanathon. My run was completed on Apr 13, 2019.

Without the benefit of a TAS or a run to reference, I routed and ran the category mostly on my own. Of course, it is derivative of the original LowAD and incorporates subsequent discoveries, so the hard work was already done for me. 

LowBAD features two Fake Flutes used for Link states. The first one lets us open up Thieves and Mire, where we collect Hookshot and unlock doors to set up Mirrorless Swamp. The second one lets us enter Ice Palace. The last Link state needed is for Ganon, which we get after Agahnim 2, conveniently. 

Citrus clips are used throughout this run, but there were a couple of exceptions: Mire to Hera and DMD were old-school multi-diagonal 1-frame clips. I made a note to fully convert to citrus clipping going forward.

Following in Michael’s footsteps, I completed my first run of Low% Mirror on Apr 2, 2019. This would be my second of the three main LowAD variants.

Just like Michael’s, my run includes getting “Lunked” to progress through Turtle Rock. At the big chest entrance, we can use Mirror Super Bunny and bonk against the wall to perform a rail clip. Entering a pipe transforms Bunny Link into Lonk, and touching an enemy restores Link to normal. This tech saves time versus a dungeon bunny revival.

Before the Lonk glitch gained notoriety, it was variously referred to as Lunk and Lousy Link.

Lowlights of the run include an unfortunate death and an unintended save & quit. The game over occurred in the overworld of Skull Woods. Conveniently, a mirror portal used for mirror clipping remained outside of Mountain Cave, so returning was surprisingly fast. The additional save & quit happened after the Agahnim fight, which requires mirroring first. 

On Mar 30, 2019, fsg streamed a new LOTAD for Low% Pearl. At 1:19:25, fsg’s time was 3 minutes faster than Blank’s for Low% Mirror. Unlike Blank, fsg tested out movement for clean rooms, so the categories would remain difficult to compare. The route itself does not diverge from Chex’s PB.

The run is distinguished by fsg’s well-optimized strats:

A-Tower red spear guards – since the room normally requires a shield, fsg slashes the spear out of the air

G-Tower Gauntlet 4 arrow (a very consistent strat) 

Ice Palace spike trap dash (dependent on frame rule)

The boss fights are well done, including a 2-cycle Lanmo, 1-cycle Arrghus, 1-cycle Vitreous, and 21s Kholdstare.

In the midst of the Bottle/Mirror/Pearl split, I was preparing for an upcoming marathon run for Link to the Cure. I decided to grind Low% Pearl because it appeared to be the fastest (and safest) option.

I started with the sword & shield version on Mar 16 before attempting the Uncle skip route on Mar 17. I achieved the above PB after 20 attempts on Mar 29.

The run features a couple of overworld glitches that I helped contribute:

Flippers Wrap – Ice Palace is accessed using a double right-side screen wrap, developed with Tojso

Catfish DMA – Link can navigate from Pyramid to Turtle Rock by ascending Death Mountain on the way to Catfish, using a combination of lateral and vertical screen wraps

It also includes a water walk route from Moldorm to Zora. In the Moldorm arena, we can arm a water walk to later activate in Zora’s Domain after clipping down from East Death Mountain.

While Low% Pearl saves time in the overworld versus Low% Mirror, clearing Swamp Palace involves the infamous Mirror skip. The setup begins by deleting the Old Man at the Master Sword Pedestal. We then collect Ether and complete Agahnim’s Tower. From the Dark World, we enter Misery Mire and then clip from Hera to Swamp to pick up the Hookshot. At this point in RMG history (No EG/DG/WW), we still needed to enter Mire first to unlock Swamp because we could not yet steal a small key from Escape. Mire of course has a bounty of small keys to steal.

After Hookshot, we S&Q to Pyramid and then use a Skull Woods Houlihan to return to the Light World. The Houlihan is much easier to execute as Link with the use of sword-out hook dashes. Exiting Link’s House, we pull open the dam and S&Q to Old Man Cave (sans Old Man), from which we clip from Hera to Swamp and backtrack to the entrance. Then we can finally reload the dungeon and defeat Arrghus.

After completing Low% Mirror, Michael tackled Low% Tempered on Mar 26 in what would be the first Bootless LowAD run. The epic length is due to incredibly convoluted routing combined with retries and rerouting. Michael improvised: “using Desert to exit Desert” was not in the route.

This run features previously described Low% Tempered routing – Swordless Superbunny hedge maze traversal, unlocking Desert from Thieves, and re-climbing Castle Tower for Ether. 

Additionally, this run’s glitches include:

West moat FAST (funny auto-swim thing) to clip into Escape

Mirror jump to save the Frog

Misplaced mirror portal to enter Ice Palace

On Mar 24, 2019, Blank debuted the first low-optimization tool-assisted demonstration of a LowAD speedrun, clocking in at 1:22:17.

So, Chex has pretty nice run of plowad that's 1:29:xx, this lotad I made of mlowad is 1:22. I'd say the routes could be pretty equal

Blank compared Low% Mirror to Low% Pearl. Which route would be the fastest? We would never know for certain. In the Mirror route, extra time is spent on numerous bunny glitches; in the Pearl route, time is consumed by Oldmanathon and Mirrorless Swamp.

Immediately following the Uncle skip now required in LowAD routes, Michael routed and ran Low% Mirror. 

Michael’s PB on Mar 18, 2019, beat his first run from two days earlier. The run features:

Northwest moat clip with dash-turn buffers to clip into Escape

First and only sword pulled from pedestal before Mothula fight (nice routing with Mirror)

Overworld Mirror Super Bunny for a Link State to open Mire + Thieves

0 HP Swamp entry

Super Bunny bonk into T-Rock pipe maze for Lonk state

A bunny walk to Ganon’s Tower from T-Rock – complete with crystal cutscene!