As promised, a video example of the principle I was discussing last time out. To review, the concept was that Spider-Man 2 is inherently a twitchy, spastic game and chaining multiple high-speed actions tends to see compounding chaos and failure.  Accordingly, skillful play is mostly about taking advantage of the portions you can control well to simplify the approach to the parts you can’t.

Before we finish this series, maybe I’ll come up with a pithy term for that concept.

I usually avoid embeds, but I think that’s probably appropriate for a post like this:

Approaching checkpoint #2: 0:16 – 0:25 – That initial plunge down to street level is lovely, isn’t it?  But we care about what comes after.  If you’ve played Spider-Man 2 at all, you know that you move fastest when swinging.  If you have a long distance to cover, aspire to ABS: always be swinging.

But I approach checkpoint 2 with just two swings, including big, lazy arcs after releasing.  If you look at 0:23 in the video, you can see why.  I want to hit that building at exactly the same altitude as the wallsprint checkpoint.  It’s a short bit of wallsprinting and a very quick release after the checkpoint.  There’s no time to adjust once I’m on the wall, so I make sure my entry trajectory is just right.

Approaching checkpoint #3: 0:24 – 0:31 – Next up is an orbit around a roof antenna.  (I guess they’re antennas?  Random girders sticking straight up from the tops of buildings.)  Just one swing on the approach, fairly straightforward.  Again I manage altitude so that I’m just about level with the checkpoint when I web.  The two things to consider with orbits are the radius of the circle and the entry point.

Why?  Because Spidey is fucking fast.  What you really care about is where you fly off when you release the orbit.  In some games, you could probably accomplish the exit you wanted no matter how you entered.  But here you can’t, at least not consistently.  If you tried to just eye up the right release timing, you’d often fly off in terrible directions.  Instead, I’m going to release the orbit as soon as I hear the sound indicating that it’s complete: after exactly one full spin.  That’s predictable and repeatable.  So my entry point will define my exit.

So how does that apply here?  As I approach the antenna, my eyes are on the next large skyscraper further down the street.  It’s the building I’ll be swinging past at 0:34.  I wrap around the right side of the checkpoint, line up with that building then fire my web just as I’m square with it.  My release actually fires me about 45 degrees off to the left of where I want to go, which is about the norm.

Approaching checkpoint #4: 0:30 – 040 – Well, this is a combination of the elements from the last two approaches.  Two more long, lazy swings.  Rapid swings with minimal airtime between are fast, but they don’t allow adjustment time to line up approaches.  The hit on the swings is worthwhile to create a repeatable experience on the skill elements.

Yes, I just made up the term “skill elements” to cover orbits, loops, walljumps, wallsprints and poleswings.

Entry point for the orbit?  My target for the next checkpoint is that building just to the right with the red sign around the top.  You’ll see that I line myself up with it before I web, and come out of the orbit heading right towards it.  I time this release better than the previous one, and my incoming and outgoing trajectories are almost identical.

You can enjoy the sex appeal of the rest of the challenge without further commentary.

I’m still lacking a clever name for the principle, but I think the lesson comes across.  When you have some space between elements, use it to create a repeatable approach to the tricky bit so you don’t have to make micro adjustments while the control is at its twitchiest.