Record Attack

The Record Attack menu.

Record Attack is a game mode in SRB2 in which the player replays the Single Player levels and tries to set a record in one of three categories: finishing the level in the fastest time, collecting the most rings, and getting the highest score. As of v2.2, the mode is unlocked by beating Greenflower Zone Act 3. Each Single Player level becomes available in Record Attack once the player has visited (not necessarily beaten) it in the regular game. This includes secret maps, but excludes all NiGHTS stages, which can be replayed in a separate mode called NiGHTS Mode.

For each character, the best attempt in each category is saved and displayed in the Record Attack menu. The player can obtain an emblem by meeting a certain requirement in each category. The requirement to beat is displayed in the in-game pause menu when playing a map. A combined tally of the Record Attack records for all maps is displayed in the statistics menu. Replays are recorded for the best attempt per character and category, which the player can watch via the Record Attack menu. Replays can also be displayed as transparent ghosts that the player can then compete against in real time.

Changes in Record Attack

If the player dies in Record Attack, they must restart the map altogether, to prevent players from abusing Star Posts to optimize their time. Consequently, Star Posts have been removed in Record Attack. Special Stage Tokens do not spawn in Record Attack, but emblems can still be collected. Extra Life Monitors are replaced by 1,000 Point Monitors. For extra lives that are exceptionally hard to access, the Special or Ambush flag is checked on their map Things, transforming them into 10,000 Point Monitors instead.

Record Attack statistics are not recorded when the game has been modified (e.g. by adding a file) or when the cheat protection has been activated (e.g. by activating development mode). To prevent this from happening, the console cannot be used during Record Attack runs. Scripts are disabled in Record Attack, since the player could bind a key to activate a game modifying command.

Replays and ghosts

Replays are saved as .lmp files in the /replay/main subfolder of the SRB2 directory. Replays are essentially recordings of the player's input and position data that can be played back and watched in the game. If replays exist for a given map, a "Replay..." entry will appear in the Record Attack menu, allowing the player to select and watch a replay. Up to 25 replays can be saved per map: For each character, the best attempt in each category as well as latest attempt are saved as a replay. Additionally, a guest replay can be saved as well. Replays are recorded automatically during each Record Attack attempt; this can be disabled with the autorecord console variable.

The purpose of the guest replay is to import other players' attempts in the game to watch them or use them as a ghost to compete against. The "Guest Option..." menu entry allows you to save an existing replay as a guest replay. The file for the guest replay always has the name MAPXX-guest.lmp, where XX is the map number. Other players can then put the file into their replay folder and access them in the game.

The ghost option allows you to display a replay as a transparent ghost player while you are playing in Record Attack. This is especially useful when trying for a fast time, as it allows you to race directly against your previous attempt or somebody else's record. The "Ghost..." menu entry allows you to set which replays will be displayed as ghosts. Alternatively, you can use the following console variables:

• ghost_bestrings
• ghost_bestscore
• ghost_besttime
• ghost_guest
• ghost_last

NiGHTS Mode

"NiGHTS Mode" redirects here. For the NiGHTS gametype, see NiGHTS.

NiGHTS Mode is a variant of Record Attack for NiGHTS levels. It is unlocked by beating Floral Field Zone, and each subsequent Special Stage becomes available in NiGHTS Mode once it has been visited (not necessarily beaten) in the regular game. Additionally, NIGHTS Mode is the only way to access Black Hole Zone once it has been unlocked. Functionally, NiGHTS Mode is identical to Record Attack.

The ring category is replaced by the rank, which is a letter grade between F (unattempted) and Rainbow A (highest) that is awarded to the player depending on their score in the map. The requirements for each rank vary from map to map. For each map, emblems are awarded for beating a certain time requirement and for achieving an A rank; achieving an A rank on all seven Special Stages unlocks Black Hole Zone.

Record Attack in addons

Record Attack is only accessible in addons if the addon supplies its own savegame data. This can be done with the GameData parameter in the MainCfg block. A new subfolder will then be created in the /replay folder to save replays for the addon. The subfolder will have the same name as the gamedata file (minus the .dat file ending).

Unless SRB2's default unlockable data is cleared with the Clear command (e.g. Clear Unlockables or Clear All), Record Attack will still be unlocked by beating MAP01, regardless of whether MAP01 is still accessible. To change this behavior, clear the unlockable data and create a new unlockable of the RecordAttack type. Likewise, the NightsAttack type allows the user to customize the NiGHTS Mode unlockable. See Custom unlockables and emblems for more information. The following SOC replicates SRB2's default behavior, where Record Attack is unlocked upon beating the first map:

MainCfg
GameData = mygamedatafile.dat

Clear Unlockables
Clear ConditionSets

Unlockable 1
Type = RecordAttack
ConditionSet = 1
NoCecho = true
NoChecklist = true

ConditionSet 1
Condition1 = MapBeaten 1 #exchange this for the map number of the first map in your pack

Official records

Records for SRB2's official maps can be found at and submitted to records.srb2.org. The site is currently in beta and may lack some features (As well as not being updated to support v2.2 yet). Users need an SRB2 Message Board account to submit records.