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Showing posts with label janus special forces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label janus special forces. Show all posts

5/14/24

Water Caverns Keycard Map...

Got Your Bearings, Jimbo!


One of the most disliked GoldenEye 007 levels is the 17th stage, the Water Caverns.

"Open the blast doors!"


Not only is the Caverns a relatively long & dark mission, but the guards are heavily armed (and armored).


Navigating through a set of locked security blast doors is something that usually snags me on every playthrough.

The collectable keycards are rather counter-intuitive.
Whenever you locate a guard with a key, his particular smart card doesn't seem to open the door that's nearby.

A quick reference map for the final portion of the Water Caverns, illustrating the locked doors, and where to find the corresponding keycards.

WATER CAVERNS
Color-coded Keycard Map
(final portion of the level)


The guards with cards have blue hats on their heads.

It's also possible that when a guard is killed, his keycard might fly well away from where his weapon lands. Especially in a big open room, sometimes this can prevent players from locating the card and exiting the level.


Guard in the Radio Room has no idea we're spying on him...



The guard carrying Keycard B is in the big open room with the Radio.




Guard with the blue hat has Keycard C.

Just outside the big Radio Room, is another guard who carries the crucial Keycard C.
Incidentally, that guard is easiest to pick off as you can snipe him from a distance.

The guard inside the room that has Keycard B can also be lured out of the room by shooting at the glass from outside.



 

Unlike the Scientists in the Facility or Silo, these labcoats aren't very keen on leaving their workstations.


Three objectives focus on blowing shit up.
Bottom line: Several computers to be destroyed - WITHOUT allowing the death of more than TWO Scientists in the explosions.




Janus has stockpiled for the Apocalypse, with fuel drums stacked on top of fuel drums...



On 00 Agent (highest difficulty), the player is required to use the radio to contact Jack Wade, which completes an Objective.

Guards in this area will tend to cause an explosion that destroys the radio, so proceed with caution.






"Close the blast doors!"


The AR33 Assault Rifle can actually shoot right through the blast doors.
Use this knowledge to put a few extra bullets into guards, as they won't open fire on you until the door is fully open.



The final stretch...



Save enough ammo with the Assault Rifle to help pick off the two drone guns in the final corridor.
Several Janus Special Forces are waiting for you there.

It's best to work quickly, because if you stick around the blast door area, you'll soon have to deal with infinitely spawning troops with RC-P90s and Shotguns.








4/10/24

Fun Run...

Bond bolts out of the Bunker...

Always found it fun to shave seconds off my best times in Mario Kart...
The levels in GoldenEye 007 also offer a wide variety for potential speedruns.



With the black-clad Janus Special Forces troops, the "Bunker 1" mission is more exciting than Runway.


Inspired to return to the Satellite Control Bunker (aka. Bunker 1, the game's fifth mission) after reading a few thoughts by Wouter Jansen (who set a good number of records for both GoldenEye and Perfect Dark back in the day).

Other missions around the 20-second mark include Runway, Frigate , Bunker 2 and Archives.
(Can barely mix up a vodka martini in that timeframe...)

Wouter Jansen also commented that it's required to take damage in order to set a world record...
It seems absurd at first - But Bond getting "pushed" by enemy bullets saves approximately .25 second (provided the hits send you in the direction you're heading).


His 17-second tear through Bunker 1 (Agent difficulty) in 2003 stood for a decade and a half.
(Others would tie the record... Eventually, Karl Jobst accomplished the feat of 16 seconds in 2018).



Photograph the screen and copy the GoldenEye Key...
For a seasoned veteran, the first Bunker is such a quick mission that it's like a lap around the racetrack.
But it's amazing what you can do to shed even more seconds of your best time.



While I'll never take my speedruns to the extreme, can always pick up a few tips and tricks to up your own game - And to get into the mindset of what it takes to go for the gold.

World Records
GoldenEye 007 - Bunker 1

16 seconds
(fifteen players sharing the record)

https://wrs.the-elite.net/goldeneye/rankings.php
https://wrs.the-elite.net/goldeneye/recordlevel.php?level=5







Not one bullet fired during the mission.
(MI6 is definitely cutting their budget these days)


Spontaneously picked up the controller and beat my previous best time by 2 whole seconds on the first attempt. Although I'm not a speedrunner, could maybe hit 22 seconds, eventually...

(Never thought I'd try to deliberately get shot in the back, but Bond flies down the stairs or hallway much quicker that way...)

My own best time for Bunker 1 on Agent is 25 seconds on the console (29 seconds on the ROM).
Relatively happy with it - But definitely room for improvement, considering the best players can finish the mission in practically half that time...

Will anyone ever hit 15 seconds???



3/19/24

Smile! You're on Caverns Camera...

Messing around with some custom intro camera angles in the Water Caverns mission via the GoldenEye Setup Editor.

The guards (and drone guns) are waiting for James Bond...
X PositionY PositionZ Position
-1210.199219165.945770-387.820190
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
700.210022-55.000000

Comment:
WATER CAVERNS near drone gun, blast door area





X PositionY PositionZ Position
-1005.132874130.937393-444.068024
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
3906.51001025.000000

Comment:
WATER CAVERNS low angle shot, looking up at drone gun with hallway, open blast doors, guards visiable in distance







X PositionY PositionZ Position
-986.806519191.938492-646.065613
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
2680.000000-75.000000

Comment:
WATER CAVERNS higher camera slightly behind drone gun, appears hanging above center frame






X PositionY PositionZ Position
-1114.256714175.943176-385.186005
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
4000.159912-60.000000

Comment: 
WATER CAVERNS, guard relatively close to camera, looking down hallway with open blast doors, five guards visible in shot






X PositionY PositionZ Position
-1051.858032125.940025-502.488647
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
4000.51001040.000000

Comment:
WATER CAVERNS looking down the long hallway with blast doors, guards on either side, overhead drone gun out of frame






X PositionY PositionZ Position
-1044.891846196.938553-602.081848
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
2376.090088-40.000000

Comment:
WATER CAVERNS muzzle of drone gun visible in scene






X PositionY PositionZ Position
162.780502-660.027710236.169067
Lateral RotationVertical Rotation
800.429993-25.000000

Comment:
snap748 WATER CAVERNS looking downward, big open spiral area, first patrolling guard walks towards camera.






Much newer versions of the GoldenEye Setup Editor exist...
http://n64vault.com/wiki:setup-editor-global

Still content to play with one of the original programs (at least for now).



(Edit Setup > Edit Intro Block > 06 Intro Camera)


The game displays one intro camera at random when the level loads.

By default, the Water Caverns level intro has four opening camera angles available - Interestingly enough, the very first camera (at preset E0) is used twice (for entries 00 and 01).

Water Caverns
Default Intro Camera 00

This same camera is simply angled in two opposite directions, accomplishing two different shots. Threw me for a small loop until I realized what was happening.

Water Caverns
Default Intro Camera 01

It's the only instance I know of where the camera is set up like this, although there must be others...

Unsure if this is a "leftover" or something new they were experimenting with. Theoretically, should be able to set up "dual" (possibly even triple?) angle cameras elsewhere.

The Water Caverns is also a fairly large area, for something that wasn't really seen in the GoldenEye movie. One fan suggested the brief scene where Bond places the Remote Mines in the film was the basic inspiration for the Caverns.

(The board also fills itself out nicely with an even 20 missions).





3/17/24

Lobbing a Grenade...


Ken Lobb artfully pulls the pin off a grenade while still clutching an RC-P90.

2/7/24

Player B...

A congregation of familiar faces in Multiplayer


Costume Designer and Character Artist B Jones manages to make more cameos in the GoldenEye 007 video game than anyone else...

She not only is the face of the Helicopter Pilot and Janus Special Forces from Multiplayer, but also plays Terrorist - And technically has a fourth appearance with the 64 Characters Code making an appearance in a tuxedo. This makes a whopping FOUR performances. Bravo!







Chaos in the Caverns...

Just bombin' around in the Water Caverns mission - While Jack Wade is undoubtedly pressing buttons in the car that I specifically told him not to.

Worst case scenario, just gonna tell MI6 that someone stole the car - If I survive long enough to put a bullet in Trevelyan's head, de-brief Natalya, and find someplace that serves martinis...
(Shaken, Stirred - At this point, I really don't give a damn!).


Guard Characters in Multiplayer...

Russian Soldier, Russian Infantry, Russian Commandant, Janus Marine Naval Officer, Civilian (1), Civilian (2), Civilian (3) Civilian (4), Si...