Displacement Clip

Discovered by mrmrmen and gymnast86

Description

Normally, when Link collides with a wall, the wall collision pushes Link back out of the wall even if his collision intersects it momentarily. However, if Link moves in one frame from not intersecting the wall collision to his center being exactly on the wall collision's plane (within a ~0.004 unit range), then the wall will not push him out unless he touches some other collision, enters certain animations, or moves at all in either direction from the plane. Since walls try to push Link away if he's within 34 units of them, he needs to move from >34 units away to the wall's coordinates in one frame, meaning that a clip of this nature requires Link to be displaced by over 34 units in one frame and then, unless there is a ceiling underneath the wall being clipped into, immediately stop moving on the next frame so as not to be pushed back out.

For practical purposes, this is commonly done by pulling out an item while holding a pot, skull, etc. so that Link drops what he's holding and it pushes him away. To avoid inconsistencies related to Link's animation frame, this is done while in first person, and different displacements can be achieved using different objects, pulling different items, and facing upwards or downwards certain amounts.

Displacement methods

The base condition for displacement clipping is Link being displaced by 34 units or more in one frame as human. To stay clipped into a wall, Link must stop moving on the frame after clipping; he does this by himself for some of the options below, but he naturally continues moving for others, and in those cases, it's still possible to stop him short by picking up an item (rupee with text, etc.) on the correct frame. These are the known ways to get 34+ displacement in one frame:

can stop on the frame after displacement

• Get pushed by a dropped held object
• Get pushed by an object in the boomerang
• Stutter sidestep with first person item (discovered by ThymeWalk); only works while moving leftward with clawshot(s) or rightward with other first person items
• Precise itemless sidestep (discovered by BigBen); see video description
• Spinner in rooms with high spinner speed or coming from high speed spinner rails

continue moving on the frame after displacement

• Rollstab
• Vertical slash
• Diagonal slash
• Epona slide
• Transition a held running slash into a quickly charged spin attack
• Boomerang lunge (throw rang, then a few frames before catching it, run forwards and then release to neutral frame perfectly)

Clawshotting through

By itself, a displacement clip doesn't allow Link to pass through a wall, but he can clawshot through the wall at some angles after clipping. An example use of this is in City in the Sky to skip clawshotting around the small key room on GCN:

Clipping through with a pickup slide

Although a displacement clip does not allow Link to get past the wall, it puts him as close to the wall's center point as possible, meaning anything that can clip him past that center point will allow him to reach the other side. Pickup slides often take hours to execute without a displacement clip, but when done after a displacement clip, even the tiny amount of distance Link gets within the first second of the pickup animation is enough to push him past the center point of the wall, so the text box can be closed immediately (or almost immediately for some languages/text boxes) to finish clipping through a wall. One use case for this is Poe Gate Clip:

Clipping with a pickup slide results in a cutscene dive if there's no ground collision behind the wall being clipped through.

A certain frame of the rollstab animation displaces Link more than 34 units, so a rollstab can be used for a displacement clip. However, since the rollstab animation continues after that frame, it pushes Link back out of the wall again immediately unless he's stopped. Thus, it is possible to clip through a wall by rollstabbing it from the correct distance and frame perfectly getting text from a picked up item to arrest Link's movement on the frame he clips. The resulting pickup slide then carries Link through the wall. Since this method is so precise, it is currently only useful in TASing.

Clipping past with ceiling collision

The exception to Link getting popped back out of the wall if his animation continues after the displacement clip is when there is ceiling collision underneath the wall being clipped into. If that is the case, the ceiling collision pushes Link down beneath it on the frame he clips into the wall, which interrupts the animation and does not pop Link back out. Instead, he can jump (if holding forwards), and in most or all cases will pop back up on the ground on the other side of the wall. This has many RTA use cases, such as skipping pulling the switch leading to Aeralfos:

Standard point blank setups

Point blank setups involve doing a move from the list of displacement methods above while Link is standing right up against the wall being clipped into while Link is angled slightly off of perpendicular to the wall so that the component of the displacement that is perpendicular to the wall is exactly the amount needed to clip. That means that these setups are essentially angle setups rather than essentially position setups like the standard rollstab setup or the standard diagonal slash setup below. Point blank setups must be adjusted for their context, so there isn't a completely standard setup, but setups often involve 2k rolls and c-up cancels in specific positions; see notes on moves used in setups.

Point blank setups are more widely applicable than position-based setups because they aren't ruined by sloped ground and can be used more easily for non cardinal walls. They also tend to be faster than position setups when done optimally.

There are two 7-unit ranges of angles to clip for point blank vertical slashes and diagonal slashes. Given an angle N normal to the wall being clipped into:

• Vertical slash clips on the ranges [N+1880, N+1887] and [N-1873, N-1880]
• Diagonal slash clips on the ranges [N+3752, N+3759] and [N-3745, N-3752]

For reference for cardinal directions, these are the angle ranges:

• North (32768)
  • Vertical slash: [30888-30895] and [34648-34655]
  • Diagonal slash: [29016-29023] and [36520-36527]
• East (16384)
  • Vertical slash: [14504-14511] and [18264-18271]
  • Diagonal slash: [12632-12639] and [20136-20143]
• West (49152)
  • Vertical slash: [47272-47279] and [51032-51039]
  • Diagonal slash: [45400-45407] and [52904-52911]
• South (0)
  • Vertical slash: [63656-63663] and [1880-1887]
  • Diagonal slash: [61784-61791] and [3752-3759]

example point blank vertical slash clip on south wall

Standard rollstab setup

This is the most common setup for a clip of this kind, though it sometimes requires modification if the back wall or floor is sloped or there are obstacles in the way. It is:

1. Align Link to be perpendicular to the wall that will be clipped through
2. Backflip into wall
3. Dry roll
4. Turn 180
5. 1-frame c-up cancel (see notes on moves used in setups)
6. Targeted slash
7. Rollstab towards the wall

Notes

• This setup works in many cases. In some cases, it only works in certain spots on a door, which is why the example video above includes walking to the side of the door frame. This setup doesn't work at critical health (1 heart or less) in many cases because the amount Link moves during a 1-frame c-up cancel is different, but other setups can be made for specific cases where critical health is likely.
• The video above doesn't demonstrate step 1 because Link spawns in Aeralfos's room already facing a good direction, but this step is often done by turning around or using something in the room to set Link's angle quickly
• The setup can work with steps 5 and 6 in the opposite order, but sometimes it can cause a camera issue that affects Link's speed on the c-up cancel, so the order shown above is highly recommended
• Beginning to hold target and mashing B for step 6 before the map has closed in step 5 is fine
• Before step 7, it is recommended to turn 180 to face away from the wall, as shown in the video. This gives a 6-frame window (starting on the frame the control stick leaves neutral) to press A to roll without Link moving slightly beforehand. If Link is facing the direction of the rollstab, then the A press must be on the exact same frame as the control stick leaving neutral.

Standard diagonal slash setup

This setup is slower than the standard rollstab setup above, but since it doesn't involve moving as far from away from the clipping spot, it can be the best option in cases where there are obstacles or slopes that complicate the rollstab setup.

1. Align Link to be perpendicular to the wall that will be clipped through
2. Backhop into wall (ideally with non-clawshot first person item)
3. Non-clawshot first person item c-up cancel (see notes on moves used in setups)
4. Diagonal slash x2 (unabridged)
5. Turn 180
6. Diagonal slash to clip
7. Mash or press B again to jumpslash (will fall straight down otherwise)

Notes

• Using a diagonal slash to clip may not be useful in cases where Link can ledge grab inside the floor (e.g. Lakebed double door, City Gate Clip), as he'll get popped back in bounds after two frames. However, a B press on either of those two frames will make Link jumpslash and fall out of bounds below the floor.
• Step 3 can be done with any first person item other than the clawshot(s). Aim fairly far down before pressing A to prevent the wall from changing Link's angle.

Setups

Setup calculators made by TrogWW and Maddie

Data collected by bdamja, bewildebeest, minimini352, and Maddie

At their most lenient, displacement clips have a position range of 0.004 units. For this level of precision, setups using consistent moves are required. Some moves are self-explanatory, but most have subtleties that must be understood in order to execute setups correctly.

• Almost all setups involve facing cardinal directions; see notes on horizontal angle changes by turning around
• Many of Link's animations can be abridged by holding anywhere outside the deadzone on the control stick. Abridging an animation affects its ending position. If this is called for in a setup, it must be done by holding only slightly outside the deadzone ("ESS position"; values between 3 and 16 inclusive in any direction) so that the input doesn't also cause Link to move after the animation ends. Most setups in use do not involve abridging animations, though, and it is equally important to let animations play out and not accidentally abridge any animations that shouldn't be.
• "ESS position" is also useful for preparing sidehops and backflips without accidentally moving Link; for example, to sidehop left without moving left at all first, target and inch the control stick left until the A prompt appears, then press A
• Targeting and stick directions affect the direction of Link's slashes, as can the amount of time that stick directions are held during slashes; see notes on slash inputs in the next section
• Initial positions are not always as consistent as they may appear, so it is very helpful to use tpgz to check position and angle data when learning and practicing setups
• Angle changes are sometimes used in position setups; read more on those on this page
• When a setup calls for a specific first person item to be used, use that item, as it makes a difference for some moves
• As mentioned above, it is always recommended to start rollstabs facing the direction opposite the direction the rollstab will go
• C-up cancels rely on a c-up input being buffered to come out immediately after exiting first person, and this only works if the held c-up input begins at a certain point during item c-up cancels:
  • If you c-up and then press X/Y to pull the item, then the buffered c-up input must be at least 1 frame after the X/Y input begins, and the initial c-up input must end before the X/Y input
  • If you press X/Y to pull an item and then tap L to enter first person early, then the buffered c-up input must be at least 1 frame after L is released (do not need to wait until fully in first person)
  • If you press X/Y to pull an item and then wait to automatically enter first person, then the buffered c-up input will only work once the camera has started moving from third person to first person (do not need to wait until fully in first person)
• Some movement mechanics are affected by being at critical health, so any setup that works at non-critical health and involves walking without iron boots likely will not work with critical health; c-up cancels are an example

Some move names aren't self-explanatory:

• Dry roll: target and press A
• 2k roll: While Link is rolling, tapping left or right will make his facing angle change by 1000 units (1k) for every frame the direction is held. A 2k roll is holding left/right for 2 frames mid-roll to change facing angle by 2000 units. This angle change is the most common use for this technique in displacement clip setups, but a 3k roll would likewise involve holding left/right for 3 frames to change facing angle by 3000 units, 4k roll = hold left/right for 4 frames = 4000 unit change, etc.
• Autospin: jump attack, jumpstrike, or backflip and spin the control stick midair so Link automatically does a spin attack upon landing
• Item backhop: Hold L and X/Y for a first person item, then press down and A to backhop
• B&C cancel: hold X/Y for the ball and chain, then press A once Link starts twirling it
• C-up cancel: While in first person, hold c-up and press A (this doesn't move Link but is used in vertical angle setups
• Item c-up cancel: While in first person with a first person item out, press A while holding up on the control stick and c-up; to get a consistent distance from this move, you must either have aimed all the way down before canceling or must have entered first person by holding the first person item out in third person and waiting for the camera to enter first person on its own (briefly holding L makes this happen earlier); doing this with the clawshot(s) moves Link a slightly different amount than doing it with any other first person item does
• 1-frame c-up cancel: Enter first person, then press A and D-pad Right (open map) on the same frame while holding up on the control stick, then release up and close the map. This can also be done by pressing A and then D-pad Up/Down (open item wheel) on the next frame, which is more difficult but can be optimal if an equip is needed.
• 1-frame c-up cancel on Wii: This move is the same on Wii, except that you press 1 to open the map one frame after pressing A, instead of at the same time.
• There are multiple ways to achieve some slash directions, and while a slash in a given direction does the same thing no matter how it's achieved, it can be useful to know what input options are available. For slashes that involve holding directions, using ESS position (see previous section) is often useful to avoid moving by accident. However, continuing to hold ESS at the end of the slash will abridge it (see previous section again), which isn't always desirable.
  • Vertical slash: Neutral (targeted), up (untargeted)
  • Horizontal slash: Neutral (untargeted), left (both), down (targeted)
  • Diagonal slash: Charge & release (both), right (both)
  • Stab: Up (targeted)

tp setup generator by maddie

https://github.com/qwertyquerty/tp_setup_generator

method for determining wall coordinates with blender demonstrated by bigben

Frame data and exact displacement values documented by BigBen

Spreadsheet