Speedrunning MediEvil (1998)

This page contains information specific to speedrunning the original MediEvil.

Categories

The leaderboard features 6 different categories to speedrun:

• Any% - Complete the game as fast as possible.
• Any% (No DGS) - Complete the game as fast as possible without skipping the Dragon Gate.
• Any% Glitchless - Complete the game as fast as possible without using any glitches.
• All Chalice (100%) - Complete the game as fast as possible while collecting all chalices.
• Max% - Complete the game as fast as possible while collecting all chalices, all life bottles, and all weapons.
• Arm% - Meme category. Complete the game as fast as possible while only using the Arm as your weapon.

Game version

There are no specific rules that dictate which version of the game you must use. The original MediEvil was released in multiple versions based on the region of release, like NTSC (or NTSC-U) for North America, PAL for Europe and Australia, and NTSC-J for Japan.

Conventionally, speedrunning retro-games happens on NTSC versions of games, and that is what the majority of the community uses. In the case of MediEvil, there are other reasons why the other versions are not the preferred choice.

Platform

Each category includes subcategories based on the platform of choice:

• Console: the original PlayStation 1 console.
• Emulator: the emulator of your choice.

The Any% Glitchless category is the only one which does not have subcategories for the platform. Instead, it has subcategories for the version of the game, NTSC-U, PAL, and NTSC-J.

Emulator

Although there are no rules to use a specific emulator (or emulator over console), the speedrunning community primarily uses ePSXe 2.0.0.

The reasons for this choice are:

• ePSXe runs the game more smoothly than other emulators or console. Runners experience less lag, and can therefore obtain more competitive times.
• The soldier despawn glitch can be performed only on version 2.0.0 of ePSXe or older, according to what is currently known.

Version 2.0.0 is only available for Windows. If you are on Mac or Linux, you will have to use a different version or a different emulator, such as Duckstation or Bizhawk (Linux and Windows only).

Emulator settings

The instructions below assume that you are using ePSXe 2.0.0.

You'll need the US BIOS file for the PS1. The community uses SCPH1001.BIN. Once you have the BIOS file:

1. Place it in the /bios folder in ePSXe.
2. Go to Config > Bios
   1. Select the BIOS file in the /bios folder.
   2. The setting Enable HLE Bios should be disabled.
3. Go to Config > Video > Default settings and select Fastest (or Nice if your computer can handle it).
4. Adjust the window size to your desired size.

All the other settings can be left with their default values. If you are experiencing sound crackling (like the emulator is struggling to run), yet the game plays normally, download IndirectSound and move the dsound.dll and dsound.ini in the main ePSXe folder.

You should now be ready to play the original MediEvil on your PC!

LiveSplit

LiveSplit is the most popular timer used by speedrunners. It is not a requirement to use it on your runs, but it will greatly help the leaderboard mods to confirm and validate your time and run, and it will help you understand how you did in a run, and where you can improve.

The community has created some automated splitters so that you don't have to set up LiveSplit on your own, and manually split at the end of each level. You can find the files and instructions to use them here.

Submitting your run

Congratulations on completing a run! To submit it to the official speedrunning leaderboard:

1. Log in, or register an account on Speedrun.com.
2. Visit the original MediEvil page on the site.
3. Select the category and subcategory for your run.
4. Click on the "Submit run" button and complete the form.
5. Sit back and wait. The moderators will review your run and, if everything is ok with it, it will be approved and your submission will appear on the leaderboard!

Version differences

The three versions of the game, NTSC, PAL, and NTSC-J have some differences that affect speedrunning. The Any% Glitchless is the only category that has subcategories based on the version instead of platform.

PAL

• It runs slower than NTSC.
• In the Pools Of The Ancient Dead level, due to a bug, if you touch the invisible Boat Man cutscene trigger while jumping and then die by drowning, the dialogue will not start until after Dan's body is brought back on land, in the floating status. Only then can you skip the dialogue and reach the level exit. In the NTSC version, this is replaced by Jacoghosting.
• The angel statue in The Graveyard and all levers can be hit with ranged weapons. This is mostly irrelevant, except for The Sleeping Village level, where you can hit the lever by the river while being underwater in a specific spot. Dan will go out-of-bounds and you can then perform a level loop to reach the exit. In the NTSC version, the only lever you can hit with a ranged weapon is the one at the end of The Haunted Ruins level.
• In Zarok's Lair, you can start the Fazgul battle while in the floating status. This is performed similarly to how it's described above for the Pools Of The Ancient Dead, by dashing and jumping outside of the map while starting the dialogue with the Information Gargoyle by the lair's entrance.

You can watch a speedrun of the PAL version in Italian here.

NTSC-J

• Dan's dialogues are unskippable because of subtitles being removed.
• Using the Dragon Armour causes damage to Dan, making it possible to die while using it during cutscenes.
• In the battle against the Fazguls, at the end of the battle, your soldiers will turn into Energy Vials all at once.
• You cannot hit the Guardians of the Graveyard as they come down from their pedestals due to a new cutscene for them coming down.

You can watch a speedrun of the Japanese version by Nazzarenohere.