Sly 2 - Stealing Voices 1x X Press [TAS] [OUTDATED]

Thanks for stopping by! This video is outdated (already)! See the revisited version here:    • Sly 2 - Stealing Voices 0x X Presses [TAS]   This video is about completing the job Stealing Voices in 5 minutes and 37.483 seconds while only jumping once. This is a TAS (Tool-Assisted Speedrun); this was done using tools like slow-motion, frame-advance, and save states. The final video was made by splicing the successful attempts together to create one seamless run. The current, total X Press Count is 64. This IS an improvement; this improves upon the previous 4 X Press strategy (   • Stealing Voices 4x X Presses [OUTDATED]  ), lowering the Total X Press Count from 67 to 64. The improvements take place in the sewer, where all jumps except for the one to the hook are saved. If you’re not familiar with the XBC, watch this video:    • Sly 2 - What is the X Button Challenge?   (As of the upload date, the video contains outdated info, but the basics remain the same) XBC full playlist:    • Sly 2 Band of Thieves X Button Challenge   This revisit started when Sly speedrunner Mapiotho (who has helped me with this challenge before, thank you!) showed me that you can cross from the first wire to the second without jumping, by spamming Stealth Slide from a mid-air grounding, eliminating the first X press from the old strategy. Soon after proving to myself that was possible, I began addressing the other three X presses. I had figured out by then that in Cabin Crimes, Jean Bison could jump into Sly, sending him onto the support beam without jumping, so I figured something similar could be done with the squid arms in this job to save the next X press. I ended up being half-right: the squid arm did help me, but instead of itself boosting Sly, a proxy is made. I had Sly turn to face away from it as he slides toward it. Because wires and ropes only allow movement in two axes (up-down and forward-backward in this perspective), I can fit in-between the squid arm and the imaginary wall keeping Sly on the wire in one moment and not fit in the next (because Sly's hitbox isn't a uniform cube or cylinder). This effectively creates a proxy, an environment where Sly doesn't fit and the game wants to pop him out. This sends Sly upward. Next was the jump to the hook. If this challenge ever gets to a single-digit X press count, this will undoubtedly be one of the ones left. The hook is isolated, significantly above the water, and no proxy exists close/powerful enough to it to skip the jump. So for now it remains. The next jump I also thought would never get skipped, and one that I never expected to save until I reached the very end of making this TAS. In fact, the entire project was labelled as Stealing Voices 2x X Presses up to that point. That's because anything that I had tried in the past wouldn't work; Stealth Slide from a mid-air grounding wasn't fast enough (closest was a ledge grab), and the two guards in the sewer were in the wrong positions for Combat Dodge to dodge toward the ledge, instead dodging along the side of it. I've also tried letting off the hook at height to see if it was enough to paraglide to the other side—didn't work. What did work was a combination of Stealth Slide and turning to face away from the electric generator (inspired by the previous X press save with the squid arm), which nudged Sly JUST enough to let Sly onto the other side after two rapid uses of Stealth Slide. Throughout the run, I tried my best to save time in the most efficient and most entertaining ways possible. This meant abusing Guard Glides to ride up walls and reach planes! In particular, getting the middle pair of keys, getting to the Voice Modulator, and inside the sewer stand out to me as sequences of incredibly satisfying movement. This amounted to over 1 minute and 5 seconds worth of time save from an already pretty good run a year and a half old. You love to see it! Have a question? Ask it in the comments or DM me at mcfighter2000 on Discord. You’ve reached the end. Thanks for reading, and have a blessed day! :D