RTA Guide/DDD skip
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DDD Skip is a trick that uses Mario's speed from BLJs to bypass the 1 Star requirement previously needed from 1 Star. It does this by bypassing Dire Dire Docks. The glitch works since Mario's speed is above 378, the speed proportional to the width of the Dire Dire Docks portal. This allows Mario to be on one side of the painting on 1 frame and behind it on the next. This page largely serves as an attempt to translate the information on the Japanese DDD Skip Wiki into English in a concise manner.
SBLJ
Side Backwards Long Jump (SBLJ) is a BLJ where instead of using the stairs to build speed, Mario uses the gap in between 2 stairs to rapidly cancel long jumps and get the BLJ Speed building effect. To start building speed, Mario must get some initial speed from the stairs that are across from the 30 Star door. As of 11/08/2021, there are 2 main methods to somewhat consistently get enough speed to continue to the next stage.
Hat Setup SBLJ
With regular Mario cam, hug the wall parallel to the stair and position Mario's left leg in the stair. Next, C-Down and create an angle where the tip of Mario's hat is aligned with a line on the wall. Try not to have Mario's left leg leave the top stair. When you are ready to do the SBLJ, hold down on the analog stick, quickly long jump, and hold up. Right before Mario hits the stair, hold up left on the analog stick and start pressing A (around 8-10/s). When Mario is exiting, after building enough speed, he should do an extra long jump on the pillar next to the stairs.
Slight Angle SBLJ
With regular Mario cam, hug the wall parallel to the stair and position Mario's left leg in the stair. Next, C-Down and create a slight angle relative to the camera using the analog stick. When you are ready to do the SBLJ, hold down on the analog stick, quickly long jump, and hold up. When Mario is about to hit the stairs and hold up left but slightly more up than left. At this point start mashing the A button (around 8-10/s). When Mario is exiting, after building enough speed, he should do an extra long jump on the pillar next to the stairs.
Clipping the Fence
When attempting the SBLJ there is a big chance to clip the fence next to the stair and lose all speed. There is one main way to avoid this. After Performing the SBLJ, right before Mario leaves the stairs (due to his speed), hold up on the analog stick. Instead of long jumping on the pillar, Mario will travel to the right of the pillar Holding up on the analog stick is usually after 6-9 A presses. While inconsistent, this is the only known way to avoid the fence.
ABLJ
Air Backwards Long Jump (ABLJ) is a type of BLJ in which Mario BLJ's in place while continuing to build up speed. This works since Mario's next intended position is unreachable. Mario builds up speed 1.5x to his current speed. Each frame Mario long jumps late by his speed is reduced by 1/50 his current speed. This is the phase after Mario leaves the stair with more than 70 speed and reaches the position left of the pillar next to the star door. The reason for this phase is to build up the speed (>418 for RTA) from >70 which is required to bypass the Dire Dire Docks Painting.
Mario Twitches
During ABLJ Mario's movement on the left pillar is not random. Mario has 3 Possible directions to "twitch" in. Depending on what stage of ABLJ you are in, these twitches hold different meaning but their speed range, in which they occur, are consistent.
Speed Building Stage
While there is a chance in which you can skip this stage from SBLJ, found in Exceptions, you will most likely not have enough speed to continue onto the Speed Control Stage. In this phase, Mario will always twitch to the left. After he is finished twitching to the left (usually 2-4 times) he will twitch twice to the right. On the second twitch to the right, we have exited the speed-building stage.
Speed Control Stage
At this stage, Mario's speed will need to be controlled to a specific range. A range in which DDD Skip will work (any Third count jump with less than 510 speed but more than 430 after the jump should work). During this phase, we will try to avoid building > 510 speed. At this high of a speed, Mario's speed will reset to 0 and DDD Skip would need to be restarted.
First Count
This stage begins on the first jump after the two right twitches from the Speed Building Stage, this special BLJ is called the "First Count". Every jump after this first count will need to be calculated. The main purpose of the first count is to notify you of the incoming Second Count.
Second Count
On the Jump after the First Count, Also known as the "Second Count", Mario will twitch in one of 3 ways. No Twitch, Right Twitch, and Left Twitch. How "Violently" - The speed at which the twitch is completed - Mario twitches in each direction can tell you more information about his current speed range. The jump after any of the four possible twitches is also known as the "Third Count" and should be the last ABLJ before "exiting" and going towards the star door. Any reference to the word "adjustment" or "adjusting" refers to doing a late frame long jump or pulling down the analog stick in the opposite way of the BLJ, which is always down.
Types of Twitches
No Twitch
In this scenario, Mario can be seen moving directly back or not in any discernable direction. The speed range in which this happens is below 275 speed. There are 2 ways to adjust for this speed.
- Don't Adjust at all and do a late frame Long jump
- Add an extra long jump to the speed control stage by pulling down a medium length and long jumping again to essentially “reset” the speed control stage, getting a second count again, and hoping to get a twitch.
While the latter of the two options is more consistent, most runners opt to use the first option as it is faster.
Violent Right Twitch
The speed range in which this happens is ~305. This is one of the hardest situations to consistently correct for. In this situation, it looks like Mario Violently shakes to the right. This means Mario has very high speed and if there's no adjustment you will Overspeed. There is also a possibility in which Mario twitches right and then left. In this case, Mario's speed is on the lower bound of violent right twitch. You’ll want to instantly pull down on the stick after recognizing this situation and possibly do a late-frame long jump to avoid Overspeed. Using a speed display for this scenario will help you get better at adjusting for this.
Slow Right Twitch
The speed range in which this happens is 275-290. To adjust for this speed you want to pull down for a medium amount of time . This speed reduction is closer to a No Twitch than a Violent Right Twitch.
Left Twitch
The speed range in which this happens is 290-305 Speed. This is the only speed range in which Mario has two different twitches. There is also a possibility that Mario twitches Left and then Right. In this case, Mario's speed is on the lower bound of left twitch. This range is the most consistent of the four possible twitches to adjust for due to its narrow speed range. You will want to adjust a medium to large amount for this speed range. (This is closer to a Violent Right twitch than a No Twitch).
Exit Phase
The most overlooked phase of all is the Exit Phase. This is after the Third Count and once you are confident enough with Mario's speed to set up at the Star Door. You will want to continue holding up on the analog stick until right before you're about to hit the ground. The optimal Exit is one where you hit the ground and instantly go neutral for one frame and hold left on the next frame. (Though it is not this strict). It is fine to hold neutral for a maximum of 5 frames after which, if you hold neutral for longer, you will lose all speed. Conversely, if you do not hold neutral enough, Mario will still end up at the door, but at an incorrect door position for any of the setups (although DDD Skip would still be possible), Or Mario will not have enough speed to do any of the setups. The correct door position is on this specific tile in front of the star door.
DDD Skip
DDD Skip now occurs when Mario is at the correct door position and has enough speed to do a setup (418-478).
Mario's speed
Since the use of a speed display is not allowed in RTA runs, you will need to use visual cues to figure out Mario's speed. The best, and most reliable visual cue, is the shadow that Mario produces on the tile he is standing on. based on how far left, or right, his shadow is on this tile, you can determine a speed range in which Mario is most likely to be in. Below is a list of Mario Door speeds starting at 420 and increasing by 10 until 470.
420 Speed
430 Speed
440 Speed
450 Speed
460 Speed
470 Speed
Setups
For any of the setups, every frame that the stick is held in one direction, mario loses 1.1 speed per frame. But every frame that the stick is held neutral for, mario loses 1.0 speed per frame. It takes 10 frames from the star door to reach the DDD painting (on average).
C-Down C-Right
Speed Range: 418-427
Consistent Range: 418-426
At the door enter Mario cam then c-down (wait for the camera to stop moving), then c-right. This setup allows you to hold straight down.
Straight Down
Speed Range: 425-430
Consistent Range: N/A
At the door hold straight down.
8 Frame
Speed Range 430-440
Consistent Range: 430-435
At the door hold down right, scroll through the text, and pause on the 8th frame of Mario's movement which is usually right behind the last pillar before the DDD Painting. After hold down and unpause.
3 Frame
Speed Range 430-450
Consistent Range: 436-450
At the door hold down right, scroll through the text, and pause on the 3rd frame of Mario's movement which is usually right behind the first pillar before the hallway. After hold down and unpause.
Xiah Setup
Speed Range 455-464
Consistent Range: 456-462
At the door hold a slight down right angle (bias towards the down direction). Scroll through the text, and on the first frame of Mario's movement, pause and go neutral on the stick. This setup allows you to unpause, while holding neutral, and get the skip. It was also recently discovered that this setup also works for the 405-407 speed range on a different tile.
Droz Setup
Speed Range 457-470
Consistent Range: 459-466
At the door press c-down. Scroll through the text and right before Mario starts moving, press c-right.
Exceptions
There is a chance during ABLJ's where Mario will randomly lose speed despite being below the Overspeed threshold. There is currently no known way to prevent this from happening. Though it should be quite rare so if you get this exception consistently, there might be something else wrong with your technique. There is also a chance that Mario will gain enough speed from the SBLJ to skip the speed-building stage completely. You can recognize this by Mario instantly doing the two right twitches that signify exiting the speed-building stage, or by Mario doing one right twitch and a First Count twitch.
Tips
At any point in the ABLJ's you can do late frame long jumps to better see the twitches that happen. You can also pause the game after any twitch to give yourself more time to react.
Resources/Videos
All the setups and door speed positions are in this spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tnNJ6N9yLn-NmSZWdMYkQ7MyTr0n2MpRFsDp4fAzx4Q/edit#gid=0
DDD Skip cheatsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fKmV56gi-DtNGaW71-8ZCMx7zA2hW0AJuup5cAziZk4/edit?usp=drive_link
Helpful ddd skip tutorial videos