Introduction
Schroeder debuted in the Peanuts comic strip on this day 70 years ago on May 30th, 1951, so here is my guide to speedrunning Schroeder’s section in Snoopy Concert to celebrate! This can also serve as a casual walkthrough guide.
Schroeder's section of Snoopy Concert can be one of the longest and most confusing to new players, as it features point-and-click gameplay with some puzzle solving. To top it off, there are some tricky jumps, and the last level features two sliding puzzles and finding a flower in the middle of outer space. The puzzles and the planetary hunt alone will add high variance for even the best speedrunners. This also means there's always room for improvement, making Schroeder's section one of the most interesting in the game to speedrun. With some practice, it's possible to beat Schroeder's section in under 30 minutes. The Any% Password category skips to the last level, but it contains the puzzles and space hunt, meaning it's still no pushover. My world record on the last level is just over 8 minutes with lots of practice.
Controlling Snoopy
You will click with Woodstock to guide Snoopy, and Snoopy will follow to where he is. Snoopy will not be able to see Woddstock if he loses sight of him. Clicking once will make Snoopy walk to where Woodstock is, and double clicking makes Snoopy run. For the sake of speedrunning, running saves time. However, walking can be good for standing in places precisely, as stopping out of a run will make Snoopy skid forward. Snoopy can jump at three different diagonal angles or straight up. Snoopy's sprite will change to make his head point in a direction to signal what angle he will jump at. Snoopy can do a running jump if you tell him to jump while running. You can do this by double clicking, moving up a little, then clicking again. Running jumps are necessary for some parts of the game. If you press Woodstock to the floor, Snoopy will crouch. Clicking while crouching will make Snoopy crawl forward. Clicking on an object will make Snoopy pick it up, and crouching will make Snoopy drop the item. Be careful, the detection on clicking items and areas can be kind of small. Snoopy can push items forward on the ground by crawling into dropped items. Snoopy will go into a stun animation if falling from tall heights, and it will also drop any carried items. To climb a ladder, have Snoopy stand under it and click up. Then, jump off at the top of the ladder.
Text
To get through text fast, hold down left click, and right click to advance the text, without letting go of left click. There are a few text boxes that can't be sped up.
Language and controller
I use Japanese as I assume it's faster (plus it's the original version). I prefer using a mouse as it makes navigating easier and can move in more directions than a controller's D-pad. I use Snes9x emulator as it has mouse support. The game has controller support if you can't use a mouse or prefer it. I legalized the English fan translation to make the speedrun more accessible to English speakers, and I assume it doesn't save any time over the original version.
Starting
Click to get past the title screen, click Schroeder (playing the piano), then click "START." Timing starts when you click "START" (and Woodstock leans forward.) The phone lets you use phone numbers as passwords to skip ahead. The Any% Password category skips ahead to Level 7 with the password 098-9084.
Passwords:
- Level 1: 077-5290
- Level 2: 055-4161
- Level 3: 033-3032
- Level 4: 055-2383
- Level 5: 033-1254
- Level 6: 022-0240
- Level 7: 098-9084
Schroeder Level 1 (077-5290)
At the start there is a demo which you can't control. You gain control when the butterfly reaches Snoopy and the music changes. Jump over the hole in the ground and click the shovel to pick it up. Click near the dirt clump to the right to make Snoopy dig through it. You will need to move Woodstock over the large rock as it's a solid object. (However, the tree on top can be passed through.) Then, click at the door of the boat house to move forward.
On the sand, you need to do a running jump to get over the cliff to the right. Head right and click on the wheel underneath the speaker to turn the speaker. Click the microphone to make it drop apples from the tree. Click on an apple then give it to one of the flowers at the gate by clicking on it. You need to crouch down and crawl forward to get under the gate. Click on the "NEXT" sign to proceed.
Schroeder Level 2 (055-4161)
You will be running right for a while, with a small jump. Do a running jump over the flowers ahead, they will knock you back if you touch them. At the flower with lips, click on the yellow flower above it to give it a drop of water, then go past it while it is distracted. Click on the "NEXT" sign to proceed.
Run ahead and click the flower to make it sprout. Click on it to train Snoopy up by using it as a punching bag. Click on the green gloves the flower dispenses. Click on the flower ahead with boxing pads to train Snoopy more, and it will give you yellow gloves. Going ahead, you can only beat flowers that match your gloves' color. You will need to jump over the red flower then click on the bell next to the yellow flower to get red gloves. Go left and click the red flower's bell to get purple gloves. Go right and click the bell of the champion flower.
Schroeder Level 3 (033-3032)
Go up the ladder and do a running jump off the ledge. You will need to go as far as you can to beat the record, so jump off of the white line. (The TAS skips the ladder and gets onto the ledge by doing running jumps from below.) Once you jump far enough to beat the record, a tree will give you a medal. Pick it up and give it to the flower at the booth, and it will give you a flower. Give the bow to the flower that's facing forwards, the third from the left. Click on the "NEXT" sign to proceed once they stop dancing.
Do not click the bell now, or there will be a long animation with the cannon. The fourth and seventh mines on the ground (also the two furthest back on the ground) will explode on Snoopy, so jump over them. You need to crawl past the brick wall or Snoopy will get shot. After the bricks, click on the first orange bush to pick it up. Go right and pick up the cap. Go left and click on the door to put the hat on. Crawl past the brick wall, jump over the mines, then click on the bell to the left. Once the cannon raises, click on the opening to get inside. Snoopy will shoot forward and proceed to the next level.
Schroeder Level 4 (055-2383)
Head right to the log on the ground. There is a ladder inside that Snoopy will need to push out, so make Woodstock crouch on the other side then make Snoopy crawl forward. Pick up the ladder then click on the tree to the left to prop the ladder up. Climb to the top and jump left to make a leaf drop and uncover a watering can. Climb up the ladder and jump left again to drop the watering can. Pick up the watering can, then go forward a little bit where there is a green bush in the background. have Woodtsock go up and click on the low cloud to make it rain. Once the water touches the watering can, run to the right all the war. Click the big sprout on the right to water it. Climb up the vine like a ladder then jump to the right at the cliff. Click on the "NEXT" sign to proceed.
Schroeder Level 5 (033-1254)
There are two large leaves ahead. You need to go past the second one, then go left past it to turn it over. Click on the backpack then head right to change into camping gear. Click on the campfire after that. Then, click on the tent to the left to sleep. Go to the right and get on the log. If you go past it and into the water, Snoopy will have to respawn. Run leftwards on the log to roll it to the right. Hop off it and click on the "NEXT" sign to proceed.
Schroeder Level 6 (022-0240)
None of the keys will open up the lock in this level. Head right and do a running jump over the water. Drop down and walk into the "DYNAMITE" box. Go left and do a running jump over the water. Go up the cliffs to the left and go to the "NO! DYNAMITE" sign. Crouch to drop the dynamite near it. Go right and do a running jump over the water, then drop down and walk into the "DYNAMITE" box again to finish the level.
Schroder Level 7 (098-9084)
Before puzzles
Go right and stand in the center of the crater. Stand on it for a while to break it. Go to the bottom floor to the left and pick up the coin. Go back up the ladder and climb the ladder to the telescope. Click the red box to put the coin in the telescope. (Click at the top of the machine to put it in.) Remember the number from the telescope. Go down the ladder to the bottom floor on the right and type in the number, then click "OK." (The TAS actually skips the telescope as the number is generated during the black screen before the level starts. However, it would essentially take a 1/1,000 chance guess to get the number right on the first try. I have noted numbers as low as 029 and as high as 939 and lots of numbers spread in between so I assume all the three-digit numbers are possible. I think the number that's generated is different for each frame, so you would have to be frame perfect going into the level if you wanted to determine the number beforehand with a TAS.) Go up the ladder, jump to the second floor, and pick up the coin. You will need to drop down and pick up the coin again. Go up the ladder, go to the right, and use the coin on the red machine in front of the door. Then go right to proceed to the next section.
You will need to stand near the barrier to lower it down. Go up the next ladder, plug in the plug, and use the crank to turn on the computer. You can jump across the crater to get across it. Go to the computer and click on one of the two red circles. You need to solve both slide puzzles.
Puzzles
The first puzzle can be any of five pictures, and the same goes for the second puzzle. The missing piece can also be from any of the pieces. The five puzzle pictures each need a password to type in after it is completed. They are: Lucy thinking (THINK), Lucy with a baseball (TRUST), Linus putting on a shoe (FOOL!), Schroeder lifting his piano (CUTIE), and Charlie Brown slipping under a ball (DULL!). I will include all the pictures below. You can also see the pictures if you go down the elevator to floor B2 and look at the codes in the book (which is optional), or look up a playthrough on YouTube to see the book. You should print out all of the pictures on one paper for reference and memorize the passwords. Clicking a piece that can move will slide it into the missing slot, and you can also click further back on a row to move multiple pieces at once. There is a specific method to learning how to solve a 15 puzzle, which you can learn by googling "how to solve 15 puzzle." A good method is to solve one row or column at an edge to make the board 3x4, solve another edge to make the board 3x3, then keep doing this to make it 2x3, then 2x2. Start filling a row with the correct pieces until there are two more needed to complete it. (So, start filling in two pieces for a four-piece row, and fill in one piece for a three-piece row.) To fill in the last two pieces of a row, make the last piece you need in the second-to-last spot, put the second-to-last piece behind it, then make the last spot missing so you can fill in the last two spaces. You should learn the method on how to solve a 15 puzzle fairly quickly and by practicing with a 15 puzzle with numbers. Learning how to solve slide puzzles fast is actually a whole discipline in and of itself. The sliding puzzles in Snoopy Concert are harder as there are no numbers and the missing piece can change, so you will need to be thinking about where all the pieces should end up. When you are done, click "QUIT."
Go to the elevator, click on the green box to select a floor, and click floor B2. Snoopy will need to crawl underneath the exposed wires. Go into the shaft on the right.
Planets
You will need to guide Snoopy to the planets and find which one has a flower, then bring it back to the ship. In the outer space area, you can move Woodstock around endlessly, and Snoopy will move towards where you click. I believe the area is rectangular and loops at the edges, however, there is no visual indication of this until you see planets or portals repeat. Going through a portal will make you return back to the ship. Going into a portal as Woodstock will also bring Snoopy with him. There are four planets, and the flower can appear on any of them. Wandering around aimlessly will make finding the flower extremely tedious. Fortunately, I have found a consistent way to find the planets, using the portal next to the spaceship as the origin point. You can see a map I attached below, with P1, P2, and P3 being portals. I move Woodstock around to find the flower first, then go back to guide Snoopy to it. You can find the first blue planet by going diagonally up-right from the space ship. Move into the corner of the screen to do this. You can find the yellow planet by going diagonally down left, and the magenta planet by going diagonally up-left. The second blue planet is a little harder to get to, so only go there if none of the first three planets had the flower. Go directly up, past the portal, then up to the planet with the flower, slightly to the right. If you ever get lost, go into a portal to return to the origin point. Once you find the flower, click on it to pick it up. Guide Snoopy to the spaceship's seat to head back.
After Planets
When you get to the exposed wire, crouch to drop the flower and walk to the right of it. Crawl on the ground next to it to push it underneath the wires. Pick it back up, go into the elevator, and click on floor B3. Drop the flower under the wire, then click on the wire to lift the exposed end up. Push the flower underneath the exposed with again. Pick the flower up and enter the dressing room. Go up the elevator to floor B2. Open up the barrier and jump into Lucy's room to finish the level. Timing ends when the last line of dialogue starts fading out, which is from Peppermint Patty. Congrats, you finished Schroeder's section!
Resources
Here is the world record as the time of making this guide, if you need a visual guide. Go to timestamp 9:41.
