/scbspeedrun

Super Cable Boy Speedrunning Guide

Primary LanguageASL

Super Cable Boy Speedrun Guide

This guide aims to provide you with every strat that's used to speedrun the game Super Cable Boy.

You are welcome to join the Super Cable Boy community on Discord. Don't hesitate to ask questions there if you have any.

You can see the leaderboard and watch our recorded runs on speedrun.com.

Getting started

If you're looking to get started in Super Cable Boy speedrunning (welcome!), here are some thoughts:

  • In the settings menu, you will find that you can enable the timer, skip cutscenes, and turn off screen shaking. It is also advised to turn on simplified graphics, to have a clearer view of what's going on.
  • To get a general idea of how a run goes, the best thing to do is to watch one of our registered records on speedrun.com.
  • As it is often the case in speedrunning in general, practicing the harder levels first is the best way to improve your time when you're starting. If you don't know where to start, practice the safe strats on the Core levels.
  • Your run doesn't need to be perfect! You are expected to die in your runs, so don't worry too much about it, just have fun and enjoy the satisfaction of improving your time as you're getting better and better.

General speedrunning techs

This section contains links to individual pages detailing speedrunning techniques and general knowledge that is not tied to a particular level and that we use throughout the run:

Level-by-level strats collection

In this section, you will find links to individual pages that each describe the different strats that speedrunners use to complete levels.

Quick note about the format

WARNING: The level strat pages contain an animated image for every strat. These files can be quite heavy (up to 70MB), especially on the longer levels. Please be aware that your browser will automatically download these heavy files when you browse the pages.

The format of every page will always follow the same structure:

  • Title of the level
  • Notes about the level (if any)
  • An individual panel for each strat, separated with a horizontal bar, each containing:
    • Name of the strat
    • Approximate time of level completion when the strat is done right (without transitions)
    • Estimated difficulty of the strat, as a 5-star rating, ★☆☆☆☆ being the easiest and ★★★★★ the hardest
    • A collapsible panel (by default only the fastest strat is expanded) containing an animated image of the strat being executed, and optional notes

Note: Click the animated image of a strat to download its original video.

Routes

There are several routes you can use. The Any% Main Levels route is the easiest, so if you don't know where to start, pick that one.

Any% Main Levels

Category Any% Difficulty ★☆☆☆☆ Estimated best time 00:25:42

Go through all of the main levels (excluding AX) and beat The Glitch. Faster and easier than Any% Speedhack.

Any% Speedhack

Category Any% Difficulty ★★☆☆☆ Estimated best time 00:26:33

Get the speedhack and beat The Glitch. Because of the time it takes to activate the speedhack, this route ends up being slower than Any% Main Levels, despite being harder.

All Onigiris Speedhack

Category All Rice Balls Difficulty ★★★★★ Estimated best time 00:49:41

Get the speedhack, collect all onigiris and beat The Glitch.

All strats

The following section presents all of the 629 recorded strats on all 152 levels of the game, regardless of the route. This is provided only as a global reference to get a comprehensive view of what strats are used when determining the optimal routes. The route-specific pages are more adapted for most uses.

Glossary

This section lists the terms used in this guide and that are not obvious. This includes game-specific terms, but also generally well-known gaming/speedrunning terms or things that might be obvious to a native speaker but that might not be for everyone.

  • Strat: Simply put, a speedrunning technique.
  • RNG: "Random Number Generation". This term is used for anything random in the game. Getting "good RNG" means the random stuff happening in the game is favorable. In Super Cable Boy, this is pretty much only used for bosses.
  • Speedhack: An in-game power that you can toggle in the stage "Streamlined" (accessed through the a secret exit in the Pipeline) that makes you run super fast on the ground and lets you run up walls.
  • Hook / Grapple: Refers to the ability given by the cable cartridge, allowing you to grab walls and ceilings.
  • Coyote time: Platforming term that refers to the delay where the game still allows you to jump as if you were on the ground after you start falling off a platform.
  • Voltage: Name of the last mandatory cartridge, obtained before The Firewall. May also refer to the ability it gives.
  • Ink: Name of the 3rd mandatory cartridge, obtained before the LCD world. May also refer to the ability it gives.
  • Dimension: By toggling the ink cartridge ability, it can be said that you switch between the normal and the alternate dimensions.
  • Clip / Clipping: State where two objects overlap, or technique allowing you to make two objects overlap. For example, performing a "wall clip" refers to making Cable Boy enter a solid wall.
  • Zip / Zipping: Passing through a solid object. Much like clipping, but with the additional step of getting out of said object, usually very fast.
  • Plug: The tiny shiny objects that Cable Boy's cable can plug into. Usually refers to the ones that finish the level.
  • Pool / Swimming pool: Blocks introduced in The Firewall that you can enter using the Voltage cart and that allow you to "swim" through in every direction at high speed.
  • Glitch (blocks): Walls or other surfaces made of that moving dark matter that kill you instantly when you touch them.
  • Consistency: An important concept in speedrunning. Refers to the probability that something will happen correctly. An inconsistent strat is one that does not often go well. Even without randomness, some strats are said to be inconsistent when it is difficult for humans to make them happen every time.
  • Cycle: Platforming term that refers to the intended pace of progression in levels that contain moving platforms. For instance, if you are supposed to ride a platform to the end of the level from the left to the right, every time the platform goes from left to right, it's a cycle. If you fail to board the platform before it gets away from you and you have to wait, you missed a cycle. If you manage to get to the end without having to wait for the platform to arrive at the end, you skipped a cycle.
  • Trigger: Invisible shape that starts an action (usually a cutscene) when you enter it. Sometimes we can get around these invisible shapes to skip a cutscene.
  • Fallback / Recover / Save: Avoiding complete disaster when failing a strat. Often improvised, but can also be planned in advance in order to avoid wasting too much time in case you fail a hard strat.
  • Casual: Refers to the indended way of playing, or the way someone who doesn't know the game would play. This is not a pejorative term.

Credits

This guide was made by Doublevil, and uses techs and strats developed and shared by members of the community from all around the world, including M4T/Sany, Ayden., Boney, Lopraito, TheGreatMetaphor, madorama and Doublevil. This is a group effort, and sharing and improving on each other's strats is what makes speedrunning so cool. Thank you all.

And thank you Sørb for making such a great game.