https://www.speedrun.com/news/550-2021-9-7-prioritizing-entertainment-in-speedrunning

In the spirit of the above article, I thought it would be helpful to list as a reference the possible ways a speedrun mod could reduce the run time and allow players to focus on grinding the challenging sections (there could be a category for it maybe in category extensions). These are all currently achievable with existing modding tools and most are implemented in Kitty: Isolation mod. Time saves stated are approximate.

M1 - (2:35) Able to run to the bridge immediately. A flare and a medkit blueprint would be available on Taylor's table to compensate for not finding them in M2. Mission ends automatically upon entering the bridge. M2 - (15:00) The entire mission is skipped. The only danger sacrificed is getting past the humans near the end. It can be assumed you would have used a flare for this, hence why only one flare in M1. M3 - You automatically start the mission with the flashlight and maintenance jack M5 - (0:35) Dialogue with Kuhlman is shortened so doors open sooner M8 - (2:25) Brace is removed from the elevator and the elevator is already open. The transit to Solomons loads you directly into the start of M10 (facing Marlow as he concludes his story) M9 - (10:57) The entire mission is skipped M11 - (0:42) Torch panel door is removed near start of mission, robot vent is open without robot M13 - (0:52) Code door near entrance is already open and vent hack isn't required for Apollo M15 - (2:26) Anesidora doors no longer need code/hacking/gens, some dialogue is cut M16 - (3:00) Shortened dialogue and being able to run during spacewalk M18 - (0:58) Able to run during spacewalk M19 - (0:10) Able to run in spacesuit

Total (39:40) - Potentially making for a sub 2 hours NMG run. Some other shortcuts are possible with the mod, but I've tried to only include those that wouldn't alter or affect any challenging parts of the vanilla game.

Kitty: Isolation is a hardcore mod for Alien: Isolation which is designed to provide a whole new gameplay experience and speedrun challenge based around the familiar missions of the original game.

The core ideas of the mod are firstly to raise the level of difficulty to its limits while still keeping it fair and remaining close to the formula of the original game, and secondly to reduce the tedium of a full-game run by removing or shortening "non-hostile" parts of the game that do not offer any challenging gameplay.

Almost 1 hour of time saves are built-in compared to the original game, including a Mission 1 that is over 75% shorter, a Mission 9 that is skipped entirely (along with the preceding Solomons section of Mission 8 after using the transit), a skipped spacewalk in Mission 16, the ability to run in a spacesuit in Missions 18 and 19, and many smaller shortcuts in other safe areas such as certain doors being unlocked already and some dialogue being shortened when playing in English.

As a result of the changes to difficulty, most missions require entirely new or modified strats to beat effectively or efficiently, and the game will only be beatable by those with a strong knowledge of the gameplay mechanics (mostly the same gameplay mechanics that exist in the original game, but which generally players did not need to be aware of to succeed, such as the usefulness of smoke bombs, flares or exploding canisters).

The primary changes to difficulty involve enhancements to enemy behaviour - the alien, humans, and androids will all see or hear the player character far more easily; the androids are always running instead of walking; the alien will drop more frequently and runs instead of walking even when not chasing; the humans with revolvers are more deadly and have a faster fire rate. Additionally, some of the later missions include changes to enemy spawns, and a few other event triggers and object locations in some missions are altered to provide a novel and/or more challenging experience.

The player also has some buffs to balance out the extra difficulty, such as being able to stun the alien with the revolver (which allows for some limited counterplay to the ultra-aggressive alien) and automatically crafting 2 for the price of 1 with certain items, while all medkits now give you a full heal.

We hope you will enjoy Kitty: Isolation as a more fast-paced and exciting way to play Alien: Isolation, and challenge hardcore gamers everywhere to earn a badge of honour by getting their name on our leaderboard!