Supergliding

Not to be confused with supergrinding or supersliding.

Supergliding

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Class	Glitch
Type	External velocity exploit
Date found	Februrary 2, 2023
Theoriser(s)	Ejay B
Discoverer(s)	Ejay B
Timesave	N/A

Supergliding is an external velocity (EV) exploit used to increase speed. Although once used as a timesaving strategy on SNES Ghost Valley 2, it now has zero known uses for TAS BKTs due to its reliance on slow-ramp-abuse. Supergliding is only possible on bikes.

History

Supergliding was discovered in 2023, however, a fundamental part of it, slow-ramp-abuse, was found over a decade prior. Despite the impressive spectacle of the glitch, it remained useless for time trials until February 2, 2023, when Ejay B accidentally entered the state on SNES Ghost Valley 2 while trying to optimise the last ramp for a TAS. Wishing to complete an entire lap of the course in this state for fun, he utilised the properties of the grey blocks to pinball the vehicle around. In the process, Ejay discovered that specific manipulation of bike roll and joystick inputs while in this state could build up XZ speed. He navigated to the last turn and found a setup which allowed for the exploit to carry speed into the following lap. After some optimisation, the next lap could be entered with enough speed to make it faster than a standard miniturbo entry. Supergliding allows for a 117.1 XZ lap entry, saving ~0.250 over IDB no glitch flaps. Since then, ODBs have been used in conjunction with completely different strategies, such as supersliding, to achieve a time even faster by ~0.500. Hence, supergliding is no longer viable.

Technical description

The exact inputs used to fully optimise the setup of a superglide are not fully understood as of now. Below is a rough explanation.

After slow-ramp-abuse has been performed, the player must turn the vehicle so that the facing direction is perpendicular to the travelling direction. The player must then turn for a short time in the opposite direction to their travel, making the bike lean. Then, the opposite direction to that must be held until the bike's roll is approximately neutral. At this point, the joystick must be repeatedly alternated in a pattern of {0, ±2}, with the direction of the 2nd input being in the direction of travel. Inputs greater in magnitude than 2 can be used, but will result in inefficient speed-building. The same goes for not adhering to frame-perfect joystick alternations, and instead turning, e.g., once every three frames.

As the joystick is alternated, EV will slowly increase. Eventually, 70 EV will be reached, which, combined with the locked 50 internal velocity (IV), will provide a max speed of 120 XZ. EV will still continue to increase, but at this point it is no longer necessary to continue the strict alternation pattern to maintain top speed, since it is capped at 120. If airtime is achieved during a superglide, the superglide will end on the frame that the vehicle touches the ground after being airborne. The IV lock will be removed, and external velocity will quickly dissipate. Because of this, it isn't possible to exit a superglide in an ODB and immediately begin superhopping at full speed.

The imprecision of supergliding, unlike most other EV exploits, means that it is viable for use in RTA time trials if desired.

TAS BKTs

Applicable categories

Type	Unrestricted	No Ultra	No Glitch
3lap	No	No	Banned
Flap	No	Obsoleted	Banned

Runs:
SNES Ghost Valley 2 Flap (No Ultra SC) - 15.766 by Ejay and Citrinitas.

Relevant code

For Vabold and other programmers.