I realized yesterday after watching Bozon's Streets DLTK tutorial that alot of the things we do when setting up the tank strat are unnecessary. For example, all you need to do to get a spawn guard stuck is this:
The trick is to have the guards register Bond's last known position as being on top of the tank. In this case, i was able to do it by being on top of it at the moment a guard spawned. Any additional stuff such as making sure the tank is covering the entire pathway and stuff like that is useless. Strafing into the wall after letting the guards see you also serves no purpose and is actually a bad thing, since if there's even a tiny gap between the tank and the wall, the guards might be able to reach it. You're better off just standing in the middle of the tank for a few seconds.
Since we need the guards to be stuck in Val's alleyway and not in the middle of the street, we can't set their last known position at the moment they spawn (because then we'd be too far away, and they wouldn't spawn at all). So the next best thing would be to use the second time they read Bond's position, i.e. the moment they reach the previous known position. The strat then would be something like:
1. Make the guards spawn.
2. Lure the guards into the corner by the white car (my strat).
3. Drive into the alley with the tank and kill the 3 guards there, then just wait while on top of it. (no need to get it into position or anything)
4. Wait until the guards reach your last known position (which will be somewhere near the T-junction), then run to Val.This way, the guards will head for the tank and get stuck in the alley without them ever having seen you. As mentioned previously, the tank doesn't need any special positioning, so you can just kill the first few guards there and then wait at whatever spot you ended up in.
The only problem with this is that I don't really know how long you need to wait. It will depend on a number of factors, such as where you were when the guards spawned and when they spawned. The latter is easy to know though, since there's an on-screen timer. In the video above, you might've noticed the "Pursue Ouromov and Natalya" and "Minimize civilian casualties" messages popping up. I modded the scripts to show these messages when each guard attempts to spawn. In order to know when guards spawn in an unmodded game, you need to check the on-screen timer:
| Guard #1 | Guard #2 | Civilian #1 | Civilian #2 |
| 02:44:99 | | |
| | 02:43:99 | |
| | | 02:41:99 |
| 02:40:99 | | | |
| 02:39:99 | | |
| | 02:37:99 | |
| 02:34:99 | | |
| | | 02:33:99 |
| 02:31:99 | | 02:31:99 | |
| 02:29:99 | | |
| | 02:25:99 | 02:25:99 |
| 02:24:99 | | |
| 02:22:99 | | | |
| 02:19:99 | 02:19:99 | |
| | | 02:17:99 |
| 02:14:99 | | |
| 02:13:99 | | 02:13:99 | |
| 02:09:99 | | 02:09:99 |
| | 02:07:99 | |
| 02:04:99 | 02:04:99 | | |
| | 02:01:99 | 02:01:99 |
| 01:59:99 | | |
| 01:55:99 | | 01:55:99 | |
| 01:54:99 | | |
| | | 01:53:99 |
| 01:49:99 | 01:49:99 | |
| 01:46:99 | | | |
| | | 01:45:99 |
| 01:44:99 | | |
| | 01:43:99 | |
| 01:39:99 | | |
| 01:37:99 | | 01:37:99 | 01:37:99 |
| 01:34:99 | | |
| | 01:31:99 | |
| 01:29:99 | | 01:29:99 |
| 01:28:99 | | | |
| | 01:25:99 | |
| 01:24:99 | | |
| | | 01:21:99 |
| 01:19:99 | 01:19:99 | 01:19:99 | |
| 01:14:99 | | |
| | 01:13:99 | 01:13:99 |
| 01:10:99 | | | |
| 01:09:99 | | |
| | 01:07:99 | |
| | | 01:05:99 |
| 01:04:99 | | |
| 01:01:99 | | 01:01:99 | |
| 00:59:99 | | |
| | | 00:57:99 |
| | 00:55:99 | |
| 00:54:99 | | |
| 00:52:99 | | | |
| 00:49:99 | 00:49:99 | 00:49:99 |
| 00:44:99 | | |
| 00:43:99 | | 00:43:99 | |
| | | 00:41:99 |
| 00:39:99 | | |
| | 00:37:99 | |
| 00:34:99 | 00:34:99 | | |
| | | 00:33:99 |
| | 00:31:99 | |
| 00:29:99 | | |
| 00:25:99 | | 00:25:99 | 00:25:99 |
| 00:24:99 | | |
| 00:19:99 | 00:19:99 | |
| | | 00:17:99 |
| 00:16:99 | | | |
| 00:14:99 | | |
| | 00:13:99 | |
| 00:09:99 | | 00:09:99 |
| 00:07:99 | | 00:07:99 | |
| 00:04:99 | | |
| | 00:01:99 | 00:01:99 |
The 9-second interval guard (#1) is able to spawn once you get about halfway towards the T-junction from the beginning area. His non-elimination radius stretches all the way to Valentin's alley, but only the last part of it, with the windows and GL/BA. For the other guard you need to go a few meters past the T-junction (but not as far as we go with current strats).
Optimally, you'd want the 9 second guard to spawn first, since he spawns further away (to keep them somewhat synchronized). You'd also want the last known position of Bond to not be too far away from where they spawn, or else you'll have to wait too long. Other way around, you don't want them to get there too fast either, in case you can't get the tank in place fast enough (not sure if this is a problem though).
Anyway, i haven't worked out the best way of doing this yet, but i thought i'd post it anyway. Maybe someone will figure out an even better way of doing things that i've overlooked.
