World Map Manipulation Directory

The following is a directory of resources used for various World Map Manipulation setups used in speedruns.

The first segment of this page links to all manipulations that can be used by each category of speedrun. The remaining segments detail all known manipulations.

Manipulations by Category

Any% (Slots)

• Midgar to Chocobo Ranch
• Chocobo Encounter
• Costa del Sol to Mt. Corel
• Corel Desert Harpy / Flapbeats Encounter
• Mt. Nibel to Rocket Town
• Palmer to North Corel
• North Corel to Tiny Bronco
• Corel Valley Cave to Icicle Inn

No Slots

• Midgar to Chocobo Ranch
• Chocobo Encounter
• Costa del Sol to Mt. Corel
• Corel Desert Beachplugs Encounter
• Mt. Nibel to Rocket Town
• Palmer to North Corel
• North Corel to Tiny Bronco
• Corel Valley Cave to Icicle Inn

No Major Skips

• Midgar to Kalm
• Kalm to Mythril Mines
• Mythril Mines to Junon
• Costa del Sol to Mt. Corel
• Corel Desert Beachplugs Encounter
• Mt. Nibel to Rocket Town
• Palmer to North Corel
• North Corel to Tiny Bronco
• Corel Valley Cave to Icicle Inn

All Bosses

• Midgar to Chocobo Ranch
• Chocobo Encounter
• Costa del Sol to Mt. Corel
• Corel Desert Beachplugs Encounter
• Mt. Nibel to Rocket Town
• Palmer to North Corel
• North Corel to Tiny Bronco
• Corel Valley Cave to Icicle Inn
• Emerald Weapon Spawn Location

100%

• Midgar to Chocobo Ranch
• Chocobo Encounter
• Costa del Sol to Mt. Corel
• Corel Desert Harpy Encounter
• Corel Desert Beachplugs Encounter
• Nibelheim Valron Encounter
• Mt. Nibel Valron Encounter
• Mt. Nibel to Rocket Town
• Palmer to North Corel
• North Corel to Tiny Bronco
• Corel Valley Cave to Icicle Inn
• Chocobo Sage Vlakorados / Trickplay
• Mideel Great Chocobo
• Icicle Inn Wonderful Chocobo
• Junon Zemzellet
• Wutai Razor Weed
• Wutai Thunderbird
• Emerald Weapon Spawn Location
• Grand Horn

Midgar

Manipulations from Midgar to the Chocobo Ranch or to Kalm will have to contend with entering the Zolom Box partway through he traversal.

to Chocobo Ranch

Unfortunately, due to the Zolom Box, it is not feasible to manipulate a 0-encounter traversal from Midgar all the way to the Chocobo Ranch. It is feasible to manipulate a long traversal without an encounter, as well to predict what encounter formation it will be so, most of the time, a traversal can be completed in 1 encounter.

Slots / No Slots

High-level runs on PlayStation in categories that do not perform Guard Skip will typically reach this point with an IGT between around 1:29 to 1:35.

to Kalm

A 0-encounter traversal manipulation to Kalm can be performed by moving right from Midgar and up-right to Kalm.

The difficulty with this manipulation is that exactly when switching from right to up-right can affect how many frames it takes to reach the western edge of the Zolom box, meaning RNG could progress differently afterwards. It isn't difficult to find solutions that work for many different positions, but a smaller set of positions for this allows for more IGTs that work. More IGTs can be generated by allowing menu buffers towards the beginning of the traversal.

Kalm

The spawn location when exiting Kalm is just above but not quite within the Zolom Box. Moving down slightly will enter the box, however.

to Mythril Mines

Runs that visit Kalm but do not visit the Chocobo Ranch next go to the Mythril Mines and therefore do Zolom Skip in order to pass through the marsh. The traversal to the swamp can be manipulated to have no encounters and to have the Zolom in a favorable location for a faster or safer Zolom Skip.

Chocobo Ranch

The spawning location from exiting the Chocobo Ranch is within the Zolom Box.

to Mythril Mines

Runs that collect Chocobo Lure or otherwise visit the ranch but do not perform Kalm Skip would often perform a manipulation to get past the Zolom and go to Mythril Mines. This is no longer useful in any main-category runs, but it was used in runs that performed the original method of Cosmo Canyon Skip. The closest to a main-category run that this manipulation might be useful for may be 100% NMS / Glitchless.

Chocobo Encounter

Runs that perform Kalm Skip will manipulate a fight with a Chocobo that is caught and then used to perform the skip. In order to be able to consistently catch the Chocobo without needing to purchase or use Greens, a specific formation is manipulated that consists either of a Chocobo and two Madragora enemies or, to fill gaps between those formations, a Chocobo, a Levikron, and a Madragora. The enemies in these fights can be defeated with two or three total grenade throws.

Mythril Mines

to Junon

Runs that do not perform Kalm Skip can manipulate the world map from the exit of Mythril Mines to Junon to ideally get zero encounters.

Costa del Sol

Beachplugs Encounter

100% runs may choose to manipulate a Beachplug encounter here instead of using the Corel Desert exit. This can be done by holding down-right

Corel (Desert)

Corel Desert seems to take longer to load the world map on PSX than other transitions (resulting in a 5-second menu offset on PSX instead of the usual 3-second offset).

Beachplugs Encounter

Runs that obtain Big Guard may choose to manipulate a Beachplugs encounter from a beach near the Gold Saucer to guarantee that the first encounter isn't against a Grangalan enemy.

The chance of an encounter with beachplugs is 75%, so it's arguable how important this manipulation is. However, it is possible to perform a manipulation that pairs well with the setup for PSX Cosmo Canyon Skip.

Harpy / Flapbeats Encounter

Runs that obtain Aqualung or need to grind enemy kills may manipulate a Harpy or Flapbeats encounter using the Gold Saucer desert.

Chain Manipulation

Slots typically needs to obtain Aqualung and then defeat sets of Flapbeats. As such, it is possible to chain-manipulate a Flapbeats fight by exiting the harpy fight, which would ideally be a preemptive encounter.

Icicle Inn

Wonderful Chocobo Encounter

In 100%, the Wonderful Chocobo can be encountered using a manipulation starting in Icicle Inn.

From Highwind

It's also possible to start this manipulation by visiting the interior of the Highwind and exiting it to seed the World Map, which can be done without having to traverse to Icicle Inn.

Chocobo Sage

Vlakorados / Trickplay Encounter

100% requires these two fights (for Carob Nuts and L4 Suicide),