SMO: Studying Metro route - session #35

# Summary:

SMO: Studying Metro route #35. I decided to do more untimed trials aimed at improving all my individual gameplay skills that I worked on in the last session and continue until I can consistently beat the boss in 2 cycles. Meta: This is my best speedrunning session to date. I think I spent more time in pre-gameplay phase this session than compared to any previous session. I've been enjoying this time more and more. I've noticed that I've been wanting it to last longer (as opposed to wanting to hurry up to the gameplay phase, which is what I think I was doing previously). I wrote all of the previous text and almost all of the below text before picking up the controller to play. Post-gameplay: Created a new metric just for this boss fight called 4-trial cycle average. Improved the metric from 3.75 last session to 2.5 this session. 

# Context:

I've been practicing the boss fight of the SmallAnt SMO Any% speedrunning beginner route, Metro kingdom. I'm still working on consistently beating the boss in 2 cycles. I've also been focussing a lot on my process.

# Goals:

1. Improve learning processes (i.e. improve templates):
1. of creating the blog post.
2. of creating the blog post sections:
1. summary
2. context
3. goals
4. action plan
5. work
6. session analysis
7. next steps
8. footnotes
2. Improve gameplay processes:
1. Do 4 untimed trials aiming to consistently beat the boss in 2 cycles.

# Action Plan:

1. Pre-gameplay phase: 
1. Document as much as I can document prior to gameplay.
2. Review the trial analyses from last session.
3. Keep the following in mind re the Metro boss fight:
1. During the invulnerable phase, wait until the segments turn purple (indicating that it's now stunned), then slowly shoot the snake for 2 successful shots, then speed up shooting.
2. During the projectile phase of the 2nd cycle, shoot 2 to 3 projectiles, move away from the rest, and then start shooting the snake segments.
1. Try to shoot near the head of the snake before the rest. 
4. Analyze and record the pre-gameplay phase.
2. Gameplay phase: 
1. Do 4 untimed trials of the boss fight.
1. After each trial, 
1. record the initial analysis made during gameplay.
1. as I'm writing, also do more analysis of the gameplay (from memory) and record that too.
3. Post-gameplay phase:
1. Do analysis of this session's trial runs, also the older one's documented here, and older ones from memory. Look for trends or systemic problems.

# Work:

Here's the analysis from last session: 

• 24: Took 5 cycles. I had trouble using motion control when the snake segment was at the top of the building -- I switched to direction pad, and also moving back, too late and then still didn't make it to aiming at the snake segment before it started moving again. Also I didn't try to shoot near the head before the rest. Also I overheated because I forgot to wait until the invulnerable snake became stunned before shooting it.
• 25: Took 4 cycles. Had many of the same problems as above.
• 26: Took 3 cycles. Got a "perfect" in the 1st cycle and almost got a "perfect" on the 2nd cycle. I thought I got it done as my shot was approaching the last snake segment and hit it, but somehow it didn't count. I overheated twice during shooting the stunned snake.
• 27: Took 3 cycles. Like last time, got a "perfect" in the 1st cycle and almost got one in the 2nd cycle. And again I was so close to succeeding that I expected my last shot to hit the last snake segment. I didn't overheat at all.

New analysis about the above trials. I got a 3.75 cycle average. (5+4+3+3)/4=3.75

Pre-game play analysis:

• I did significantly better than compared to all previous speedrunning sessions.

Game play analysis: 

• 28: 2 cycle win! No overheating!
• Interesting thing: I noticed that in the 2nd cycle vulnerable snake shooting phase, I was shooting kinda in the middle of where the snake was crossing itself, which resulted in shooting an area where it was harder to miss because there were more than one snake segment in the general area of aim.
• 29: 3 cycle win - there was only one snake segment I missed in the 2nd cycle. No overheating.
• Interesting thing: I noticed for the first time that the projectiles have shadows. That means I can now tell if a projectile is coming at me without looking at it.
• 30: 3 cycle win - there were 2 sections of 2-segments (4 total segments) I missed in the 2nd cycle. No overheating.
• 31: 2 cycle win! I overheated once during the invulnerable phase of 1st cycle.

Post-game play analysis:

• I noticed that I'm shooting lots of projectiles and with more accuracy. So I'm getting better at aiming with motion control. I don't recall using lateral movement or direction pad to assist motion control.
• I noticed 2 new things that could be helpful for improving my gameplay for this boss fight.

# Session analysis:

I've made significant improvements to my learning processes. I spent more time during the pre-gameplay phase in this session than compared to any previous session. I discovered two new gameplay things that could prove helpful later.

I got 2/4 2-cycle wins, the rest 3-cycle. That's an average of 2.5 cycles.

# Next steps: 

Do 4 more untimed trials looking to consistently get 2-cycle wins -- defined as 4 trial cycle average of 2.25. Then do timed trials.