SpelunkyFan wiki

Ghost timer

Verified against the spelunky.ai port v0.1.10 on .

The ghost timer in Spelunky Classic is the level's clock, which warns a player who lingers on a level and then sends a Ghost that kills him on touch.

Every level has a time limit, though the game never shows it as one. A clock runs from the moment the player arrives; once it reaches a mark, a message and the music slowing down warn him, and at a second mark a Ghost, which nothing can hurt, comes in from the edge of the screen and drifts straight at him through the walls. Its touch kills him whatever his hearts, so the warning means that it's time to make for the exit.

How it works

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The clock

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The level's clock is the same one the pause screen and the screen between levels show as the level's time. It starts at 0 on each level [1], and the game adds 30 (the steps in a second) to it on every step that the player is alive on a level [2]. While the game is paused it stops, as the object that runs it is put to sleep [3]. It counts in thousandths of a second on its display, so it runs slow: a second on the clock is 33⅓ steps, about 1.11 seconds [4].

The warning and the Ghost

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On every step, once the clock has passed each mark, the game checks [5]:

  1. Past 120,000, 4,000 steps in, the message "A CHILL RUNS UP YOUR SPINE..." and "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" shows at the foot of the screen, once, and the area's music slows and deepens: its playback frequency drops by 100 on each of the next 100 steps [6] [7] [8].
  2. Past 150,000, 5,000 steps in, a Ghost appears halfway down the edge of the view: the right edge if the player is in the right half of the level, the left otherwise. The game marks the level as having its ghost, so no second one comes [9].

Neither happens:

  • on the first level, the Tutorial or Olmec's Lair;
  • on a custom level from the level editor;
  • while the player wears the Hedjet;
  • while he's going out through the exit, as himself or as the Damsel [10].

The Hedjet only stops the clock bringing one: a Ghost already on the level stays. What the Ghost does once it's there, and why nothing harms it, is on its page.

Other ghosts

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A Ghost that comes another way marks the level as having one too, so the clock sends none after it:

What sends itWhen
A destroyed altar of Kali'sThe third the player has defiled in the game, and each after, if the level has no Ghost yet; the level goes dark as well[11]
The Crystal SkullPicked up on a Jungle graveyard level (Graveyard level), if the level has no Ghost yet[12]

Each comes from the same place as the clock's, at once. The Sun Room, a bonus room, sends its own when the player has 80 points there [13]; it isn't a level, so its clock doesn't run.

Numbers

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ValueClockSteps into the levelSecondsShown on the clock
The clock's gain a step3010.03[14]
The warningPast 120,0004,000133.33 (2:13.33)2:00[6]
The GhostPast 150,0005,000166.67 (2:46.67)2:30[9]

Examples

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The ghost's warning. The player has stood still on a level of the Mines for 4,000 steps. A CHILL RUNS UP YOUR SPINE... LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! appears at the foot of the screen, and the music slows and deepens.
  • The warning. The player stands still on the fourth level of the Mines. 4,000 steps in, the message appears and the music slows; on a lit level the message is gone after 100 steps [15].
  • The Ghost. 1,000 steps later on the same level, a Ghost comes in from the edge of the screen, drifts through the rock to him and kills him [16] [17].
  • Paused. The same run, paused twice for 700 steps in all: the warning and the Ghost come 700 steps later [3].

Quirks

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  • The warning shows for half as long on a lit level. It's set to last 200 steps, but on a level that isn't dark two pieces of code each count it down, so it goes after 100, as every message does [18].
  • The clock decides whether the next level can be dark. The screen between levels allows a dark level only if the level just finished took more than 20 seconds past the minute on the clock, so a level that took 1:05 rules one out, as one that took 0:05 does [18].

FAQ

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How long until the ghost comes in Spelunky Classic?

5,000 steps (2 minutes 46.67 seconds) on the level, which the game's clock shows as 2:30. A warning comes 1,000 steps before, and only on a level after the first.

How do you stop the ghost from coming in Spelunky Classic?

Leave the level: the clock starts again on every level. Pausing stops the clock, and wearing the Hedjet stops it from bringing a Ghost at all. The first level, Olmec's and custom levels have no ghost timer.

What does "a chill runs up your spine" mean in Spelunky Classic?

That the player has been on the level for 4,000 steps, and the Ghost comes in 1,000 more. The music slows down and deepens with it.

Can the ghost come early in Spelunky Classic?

Yes. Picking up the Crystal Skull sends one at once, and so does a third destroyed altar of Kali's, which makes the level dark too. The timer then sends no second one.

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Ghost. Long after the player has arrived on a level, a ghost appears at the edge of the screen and drifts toward him through the walls, turning a big sapphire it passes into a diamond. Its touch kills him at once, leaving his bones and skull.

See also

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References

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  1. objects/oLevel/create.gml:11-14
  2. objects/oGame/step.gml:14-21
  3. Replay fidelity/replays/flow-pause-ghost-timer.txt
  4. objects/oScreen/step_begin.gml:94-114
  5. objects/oGame/step.gml:23-47
  6. objects/oGame/step.gml:26-37
  7. objects/oLevel/step.gml:1-5
  8. scripts/scrMusicFade.gml:1-12
  9. objects/oGame/step.gml:39-46
  10. objects/oGame/step.gml:26-28
  11. objects/oSacAltarLeft/destroy.gml:39-58
  12. objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:1232-1239
  13. objects/oSunRoom/alarm_0.gml:9-14
  14. objects/oGame/step.gml:18-19
  15. Clip ghost-timer/warning
  16. Clip ghost/touch
  17. Replay fidelity/replays/enemy-ghost-seed-2.txt
  18. Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md)

Source code

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