Thanks FinMan- that for sure sounds simple enough. I will try it out next time I sit down to really play/stream.
But today I also have something else to talk about and may need to ask for some help, as well.
I started to make the post above last night, and some mostly natural medication was just starting to kick in, so I saved it in notepad to review it again later before posting to make sure it was reasonable and ready to post. I had not played Across in a few days, and I felt like it was time to rip something up- it felt like something big was on the horizon.
I previously watched some Elma Hi-Flyer replays on YouTube/the forums here a few weeks ago to look for some new ideas, and it reminded me of one reason that I stuck to playing Across all of those years ago- after embracing and becoming part of the busted DOS game for so long, despite looking pretty similar at first, the physics are surprisingly different in Elma.
Watching some of those brutal Hi-Flyer Elma replays seems to put it in full display- that bounce off the right wall looks like some dadgum moon bounce gravity shit after being so deep into Across. Watching those replays it seemed pretty clear that there is no way someone is going to get a bounce like that in Across.
But, I was ready to do a mental reset and maybe try to expand my horizon a little bit last night.
I turned on some light music and went to work. Almost immediately, I had a flash and decided "screw it"... might as well try for the brutal style before someone better than me does it and hurts my feelings [considering how much time I recently spent playing this level the old way like a 1999 cave man] :]
I had to erase my mind and embrace some deep inner dyslexia- after thousands of runs going from right to left, it was time to try to turn things around and do the mirror opposite [although the vertex alignment is obviously not truly identical, at all(..?)].
I am sure it was a combination of things, but I think literally my second or third run, I got a relatively decent bounce, but not good enough. Still- I saw what might be possible, and decided, yet again, to save the run. Already created so many local Hi-Flyer replays, I had to create a new naming scheme for these runs.
https://imgur.com/a/gI1eE6i
On something like my tenth try... literally only two minutes later (according to the rec), this happened
.
https://imgur.com/a/5bjRPU5
It was an eye opening experience as I flew up onto the ledge.
Almost too easy- have to wonder- has no one really ever done this before?
Surely someone back in the day, only to realize that it must be "impossible" to get up the next big left hurdle before the genius who invented brutal vault worked his first miracle in the game.
I went downstairs and took a very long break after getting that playable(?) bounce. Had to eat dinner, but I left that replay playing in a loop on my computer as well as in the back of my mind for awhile.
Eventually came back and played the level for fun both ways, on and off.
Got close to ten more potentially workable bounces off of the right wall.
Amazingly, I think getting a bounce of the right wall might actually be easier than the left, considering how quickly and naturally it can be done, but who knows if all my hoyling on the left wall actually helped me with this or not.
But that part only gets me so far.
Time for an admission- I have never successfully done a brutal volt in this game.
According to Abula's history page, the move was first invented/successfully completed in Elma in 2002, but I feel pretty confident the first time I saw it executed in Across was Zweq's 22:0X at Uphill Battle, which is dated in my files from 7/13/03 (whether that was when the rec was driven or downloaded, I do not know).
I hope he won't mind me sharing, since I believe he shared a better run YouTube video earlier in the thread. Can remove if necessary, but I would prefer to see more Zweq replays- not less! In any case, the replay is very impressive. The most impressive part may be that I don't know if that is technically considered a true brutal volt, because he doesn't even do an alovolt or supervolt, but instead the same basic mechanic is performed using nothing but velocity, regular volt and skill.
I remember watching the replay and being pretty baffled. It makes sense, I guess, but the idea and mechanic partially broke my mind. I know it's a very important part of the game now, but I only tried for an hour or two back then and did not have any success at all.
I used to be at somewhat of a disadvantage, because my keyboard/computer would not let me press three arrow keys at the same time, so I would have to use one of the alternate keys which was a little clumsy, but that's also a very poor excuse, since, as previously mentioned, [at least at that level] Zweg didn't need supervolt at all.
Needless to say, I am equally impressed by Labs new record at the same level, as well as impressed by everyone who has successfully accomplished it in other levels and shared replays or YouTube videos of your runs [still have LOTS to follow up on in this thread, but please keep it all coming!].
I have no more supervolt, alovolt, or brutal volt excuses, because my new DOSBox setup/keyboard allows me to press all three arrows at the same time. However, after trying again for a few minutes on Uphill Battle last night, I definitely still suck at it and it's probably going to take me some time.
If someone wants to break another Across level and get a pretty nice record, this one is yours for the taking. Otherwise, I may finally try to make a little time to experiment with some kind of TAS/tools to figure this damn brutal volt thing all the way out [or if someone else can TAS a brutal victory, please do that, also!] :]
Here are eight replays of me bouncing onto the platform from the right wall and one replay of me slowly "jumping" onto the platform from the right wall, all driven last night.
https://mega.nz/file/6eJUER7S#_XxygOXts ... 4e_jPb1T-8
As previously mentioned, all of the new style replays are named 7000000X.REC.
I also threw 125+- replays of me beating Hi Flyer in less than 32 seconds with my previous new style (mostly) into the zip.
Probably boring for most, but I can guarantee watching these replays is/will be more fun and interesting than watching a live stream of me playing this level- these replays are kind of like a highlight reel of nothing but relatively good bounces, I guess :]
Some of the replays may have good bouncing but mediocre/bad endings, or vice versa. By combining the best of both, a very good time should be achievable, but I suspect that (while still fun), this old (...well, new old) style may become somewhat irrelevant relatively soon..
Btw- after watching the right wall bounces from last night again just now, I see one other potential way that I might be able to make something work to finish a run without much of a brutal volt. Looking forward to seeing if anyone else wants to give it a shot, but either way I guess time will tell :]
Thanks for reading such a long post. Think I got everything right without needing to make any edits this time?

Edit: Nope ;]