Individual game modes (level sets, episodes, etc.), including those unlocked using in-game codes, are also acceptable as separate branches. These can also include different playable characters if their gameplay is significantly different. For games that have a second quest or loop, you are allowed to play only the first quest. The second quest is only required to be included if gameplay is significantly different.
- In-Game Codes: In-game codes that add gameplay are allowed for a separate branch, as long as such codes are used optimally. Codes that modify or disable in-game mechanics are not allowed, unless they unlock an in-game item or a skill that does that.
In-game codes that access harder difficulties and/or bonus content, including cosmetic improvements, are allowed for all branches.
- If a game's second quest is just a harder difficulty mode, it is allowed by itself.
I've been considering TAS-ing a Genesis game called Gravity Pig however, the game crashes on certain emulators (BizHawk included) when entering the final boss fight. It works on regular hardware and some emulators but I'm unsure whether a run that cannot technically beat the full game can be accepted or if it is acceptable it'd end on the final level instead.
Gameplay must be accurate to hardware If a game is not emulated well at all, it may not be accepted until the accuracy improves.
The movie must be complete Your submission must beat the game, or reach the most suitable endpoint the game allows. Single-level or otherwise incomplete movies are not allowed.
Okay. So to clarify, if a movie can only be further optimised via RNG manipulation, does this mean improvements can only be submitted on the same emulator version as the existing publication?
Obsoletion Any time saved or lost from version differences and/or emulation accuracy is considered unavoidable, and is discounted.
But the ending screen that should go next is this, and this movie can't reach it due to not being able to press Start, and #3192: Aqfaq's Genesis Mutant League Hockey "Regular Game, 2 players" in 00:42.20 does reach it:
Aiming for shortest input in a game that requires input to show the ending, and making the movie so short that the required input is missing, is a situation that feels weird, especially when there's already a movie that does it properly.
Speaking of which, I have no idea why #3192: Aqfaq's Genesis Mutant League Hockey "Regular Game, 2 players" in 00:42.20 has never been unrejected. But if it reaches the same ending as if it actually won the hockey game by playing hockey, I don't see anything additional to demand from it for being fastest completion of the Regular Game mode.
I personally think that (at least) this mode of this game makes more sense to aim for fastest ending, because apparently the time the game ends at is not the only difference. When it is, we let authors decide.
I would instead accept #3192: Aqfaq's Genesis Mutant League Hockey "Regular Game, 2 players" in 00:42.20 and maybe send this submission to Playground if we can agree on the goal, which is still tricky because the game is not fully completed.
Opinions?
Are they not real items? Have they been collected in advance and I missed it? That area is the only place where RTA is seemingly ahead of the TAS.
EDIT:
Hmm, they look already collected judging by the in-game map?
| Mode | Startup | Gameplay | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB | 628 | 1049 | 1686 |
| GBC | 480 | 1018 | 1507 |
| GBA | 494 | 1065 | 1568 |
If I were to play for full speed, I wouldnt be able to manipulate the pieces I like, especially late game. The pieces are impossible to catch at max rank at high speeds, in which you see me not speeding up at all unless I use it to intentionally finish a tile wave.
Also, I wish it gave notifications on the website for replies on this threads
What is considered as "doing the event"? What counts as "doing an event" and what doesn't count? This is about "player prompts" when doing a "max events%" run. The game is River City Ransom EX. I'll be using game jargons from the GameFAQs guide when discussing about "events". Guide: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/915026-river-city-ransom-ex/faqs/30625 It will be in the "Events" section. When triggering an event, you will get an NPC to appear, and a text dialogue will show up. At the end of the dialogue, the game will ask the player (called player prompt) to choose these 4 options: YES, DON'T KNOW, NO, and NO REPLY. Selecting any one of the responses will give different outcomes, such as whether the NPC will choose to join your party, or give money. However, you can actually skip the event that is triggered by exiting the area. This action is the same as selecting NO as the response, and nothing will happen. There is a significant time-saving if we skip the events by leaving the area, however, the viewer will not be able to understand that the NPC showing up is what we use to count towards "triggering the event". When we want to judge that "an event has been completed", I would like to ask if we should consider "choosing an answer from the player prompt", or "meeting the NPC character and skipping the events by exiting the current area" as the criteria to judge in a "max events%" run?
Ahh. Only other thing I could think would be editing how many pixels Mario travels forward per frame.
The framerule was changed from 21 frames to 1 frame, instant acceleration to 0x7F speed, various delays cut out or speed values increased, nearly instant level clear. It's about as fast as acmlm could make it go, and was meant mostly for a silly TAS, but turns out to be actually beatable too!
Hi my speedruning community and I have been attempting to TAS a Ds game, but we can't work out how to move the stylus with TAS Studio. The tutorials I have been looking for didn't clarify it, and most of us are amateurs on TASing. Maybe we just missed the tutorial with said info clumsily, but anyhow, we haven't found it. How exactly can I move the Stylus? Beyond pressing the T, for Touch, we don't know how to move the stylus somewhere different than the center of the screen.
Since no longer required, can I submit a run on easy for significant time save? Already beat the record on hard which I will also attach since that surely matters and helps the cause. Differences are minor and really only matters for ammo amount and avoiding picking up more ammo, boring stuff
Hello everyone! I'm new to TASing and I have a question regarding the usage of SaveRAM and save states. I tried looking at some of the existing publications and used this website's search function, but I'm still not sure on how I should proceed in my case. Sorry if that has been answered before. I'm using BizHawk 2.8 and TAStudio to make a TAS (a .tasproj file) of an N64 game. The TAS playthrough is done on the highest difficulty setting and unlocking this setting requires that the game is beaten twice beforehand. I've done the two playthroughs casually (by playing in the emulator without TAStudio) and after that, I created the TAS file using "Record Movie" -> "Record From: Now" (with "Now" being the title screen after turning on the console after the two playthroughs), which is based on the second method described in the two posts here: https://tasvideos.org/Forum/Topics/13505?CurrentPage=1&Highlight=403768#403768 I'm about to finish the TAS, but now that I read the "movie rules" page, if I understood this correctly, this procedure has lead to a .tasproj file based on a save state which is not allowed here. Since I have done the two previous playthroughs casually, I don't have videos of them in the tasproj file from TAStudio. Is there any way I can salvage this, or would I have to redo the two playthroughs and the TAS run from an empty save?
I have a question that kinda addresses that recent situation with SMB world selection. Generic version: Does a TAS violate the rules, if you complete half the game using a special glitch, then return back to Main Menu and continue a new game from the same level that you have just reached? As a result, all the levels are completed, despite the fact that you technically selected "the world" in the Main Menu. Specific version: GBA version of Doom has a unique player state glitch that drastically changes the gameplay. Episodes 1 and 2 can be completed using it. When Episode 3 Map 1 starts, you cannot continue the speedrun due to the player state limitations which cannot be now circumvented. So, you have to go back to Main Menu and start Episode 3 Map 1 with your normal state, up until the end. Thank you for your time!
Hello, over the last couple months I've been planning out a couple of TASes for some roguelike games like Binding of Isaac or Risk of Rain, however I'm running into something that could be a potential issue. As you probably know, roguelikes have some randomization to each run to make it unique. For the purposes of a TAS, obviously one would manipulate that randomness to get the best RNG and save time. My issue is any run that revolves around acquiring unlocks rather than just reaching the credits once. With libTAS's ability to change the system time mid-TAS, it's possible to restart the game and re-seed RNG to the same value it was at the start, meaning that you don't have to manipulate RNG again for another good start when the TAS has to do multiple playthroughs (runs) of the game. Of course, this might make the TAS quite repetitive to watch, always having the same start of the run and only potentially diverging somewhere in the middle (or potentially not at all, depending on the task at hand). So I guess my question is, what do I do about it? Do you think it's fine to have repetitive segments like that, or should roguelikes TASes forgo re-seeding to the same seed and do even more RNG manipulation?
Another question, also related to roguelikes. As far as I can tell, TASVideos prefers TASes made from what's essentially a "fresh install" of the game with no or minimal previous data. This is usually fine as a "default run" of most games would start from a new game, fresh savefile etc. However in roguelikes, both in normal play and speedrunning, the "default run" tends to be done on an existing savefile, usually fully completed. This is reflected in RTA speedrunning communities who will tend to run on either fully or partially completed savefiles. So with that in mind, would it still be preferred for roguelike submissions to include the "setup" section as part of the TAS (for example, unlocking the true final boss), or should it be in a separate verification movie and have the actual submission be more comparable to a normal run or an RTA speedrun?
Suppose there is a game where it has a lottery system. It's very unlikely in a normal gameplay session to win the 1st prize. Extremely unlikely, and especially rare to get. If you do win 1st prize, you will earn the prize, but it has no effect on the story plot progression, no NPC dialogue changes, and anything else. It may be an insignificant game event, but due to its rarity, it may have some significance in entertainment value. When doing a "maximum event%" TAS, is it acceptable to try to win 1st prize as part of the run?