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Future Data - Part 3 (How to set up the glitch) As a result, the game plays a cinematic that is only loaded in memory so far and sends Max to its coordinates.
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So, what future data does is that it allows the player to toggle this flag at an arbitrary time during normal gameplay, forcing the game to resume playing a cinematic even if no cinematic is currently playing. The latter has a flag to it that tells the game to "pause or resume currently playing cutscene" whenever the game is paused or unpaused. Instances like this where you actually make progress can come in handy during a speedrun, helping Max skip navigation between areas, some small combat sections - and most importantly - long stretches of unskippable cutscene.Īs for why this glitch is possible at all, this is my theory: Max Payne 3 appears to have two types of different Pause-menu, the regular Pause-menu and a cinematic Pause-menu. You hit two progression triggers early for the price of one. For instance, you can make Max first teleport to the next cutscene and from there directly to next Checkpoint because you ALSO fulfilled the normal requirements for making progress for that Checkpoint. If you know how the triggers of the game work, you can sometimes set up a situation where Max gets to move the full two steps with future data. But since you only move one step forward instead of the required two, most uses of future data result in a softlock. Max will appear at the next cutscene all of a sudden, even before the game might be ready for it. In terms of game structure, future data is an exploit that lets Max take one step (and ONLY one step) forward on this path at any moment the player chooses. Two progression triggers are needed each time to fully enter a new Checkpoint. Progression triggers activate when certain conditions are fulfilled, for instance when all enemies in the room are killed or Max walks near an exit door. Max needs to hit invisible "progression triggers" to move forward on this path.
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You could imagine it to be like a long path of Rooms (or Checkpoints) that often have a cutscene in between them. Future Data - Part 2 (a less brief explanation)Ī few words about the structure of Max Payne 3. Future Data - Part 1 (a brief explanation)įuture data is a glitch that allows the player to trigger the next cutscene that is loaded in the memory earlier than intended.
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