TASVideos

Posted: 5/29/2020 10:10 AM

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feos

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I tried this game and I completely disagree with your goals. http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/63668734223205509

----------------------------------------
|   |      feos       |      link      |
----------------------------------------
|   | frames |  igt   | frames |  igt  |
----------------------------------------
| 1 |  442   | 09.46  |  519   | 10.60 |
| 2 |  532   | 10.84  |  601   | 11.77 |
| 3 |  543   | 10.90  |  599   | 11.68 |
----------------------------------------

The table only compares the hurdles, because dash is completely trivial. It counts from timer start to timer stop (for the winner). My movie also reaches the 4th dash 10 frames sooner than yours, but I don't think it's relevant. What's relevant is that making sloppy hurdles as a goal is extremely arbitrary. It's like playing Sonic in real time without rerecords and then reaching the level end at a point where it gives you the lowest score, so the next level starts sooner. It's not like there's nothing to optimize in this game. Reaching the finish line ASAP is really hard due to unpredictable nature of jumps in this game. So it's a real challenge and it involves serious TASing. Hitting every hurdle and wasting time just because the opponent is still running is not a speedrun goal. It's technically meaningless, and also not entertaining, because it's visibly sloppy. The amount of time I was able to save even in your first level, which you said you've optimized, shows that even by the stated goals this run is suboptimal. And after having tested this game myself, I'm convinced that aiming for overall movie time with this game doesn't lead to a meaningful speedrun record either. Because it's borderline trivial. I tried to figure out how the timer works, but it's kinda complicated. I still think in-game time as a primary goal makes perfect sense (even if you manipulate it a little bit?). But ideally, one would optimize for race duration in frames, which is what we consider actual gameplay in this game, and it's what we always compare when deciding on obsoletions. This run will have to be rejected.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/28/2020 9:33 AM

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feos

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feos wrote:

I can review those 2 movies closely, comparing every round by speed. The only difference the author mentioned explicitly was lag, and both are in Vault, so we'll see if there's actually any difference in gameplay. Meanwhile I can reject this run for sub-optimality and set the other one to Delayed until the comparison is done.

Obsoleted.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/28/2020 8:57 AM

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feos

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Sounds like bubbles are full-completion kinda items, and stars are just for score, like coins in Mario. You can still do "all bubbles, max stars", but that requires Moons feedback.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/25/2020 9:22 PM

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feos

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Added ram search, test! The OP link has changed.

phoenix1291 wrote:

Is it normal that the cfg files for each launched game are saved in the root of the MameHawk folder? Wouldn't it be easier to store them in a folder specific to MameHawk?

Try the new build.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/23/2020 8:20 PM

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feos

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Doesn't sync for me on 1.11.8, 1.11.8.1, 1.11.8.2, 1.12.0, 1.13.2, with 640x480, glide64mk2, 100% speed.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/23/2020 3:10 PM

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feos

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Good point. If we consider general notes on versions, this version wins indeed: - it's the original version - it's much more popular (I couldn't even find GameFAQs or MobyGames entries for the PS port) - has no loading times Obsoleting...

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/23/2020 10:58 AM

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feos

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I compared the 2 movies fight-by-fight and overall. Most fights last slightly longer in this version, by real-time. Gameplay looks very similar indeed, though in this run it's mostly 1 or 2 attacks, and the PSX run has more "variety". Probably that variety is due to worse manipulation. I made gameplay-only clips for each fight: https://yadi.sk/d/lozYC7RXK0Jh2Q https://yadi.sk/d/w_yN5bMzQnOhCw Not sure what to do with these 2 runs, aside from setting an "official preference" on this version, since it has no loading times?

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/22/2020 7:45 PM

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feos

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I doubt dramatic effect will make this movie more entertaining.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/22/2020 11:44 AM

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feos

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Much better indeed, voting yes.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/22/2020 5:43 AM

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feos

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It was much cooler than I expected. Not mind-blowing, but still rather nice. Especially loved the OOB heart. Voting Yes.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/22/2020 4:53 AM

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feos

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Fixed the range problem for 512kb. Update.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/22/2020 4:50 AM

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feos

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IGT isn't for entertainment but to take things like score tally (or waiting for the opponent in your case) out of the equation. If the visible IGT isn't accurate, we can use a memory address like in Sonic. Waiting during gameplay shouldn't be involved in a speedrun, and for all the time that one could spend just waiting, we prefer it to be minimized where possible. If Sonic was optimized for real-time, then you'd arrive to the end of the level and just wait for optimal moment to minimize the score tally. That removes the spirit of competition and meaning of gameplay optimization.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/20/2020 8:09 PM

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feos

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Any progress?

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/20/2020 7:56 PM

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feos

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Any progress with this?

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/20/2020 6:13 PM

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feos

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TASVideoAgent wrote:

the hurdles in 110M hurdles don't behave consistenly for each race. I did try to optimize the handling of hurdles for the first race, but it doesn't matter since you have to wait for the opponent to finish anyway.

Why not aim for in-game time?

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/20/2020 5:40 PM

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feos

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I get this in 2.4.1 and 2.4.2 (hashes match):

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/20/2020 3:04 PM

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feos

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Looks like my logic was "4.9 vaultable" is not too different from "6.2 moons-only" to remain separated. Also not sure if it was already 4.9 back then.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/20/2020 2:55 PM

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feos

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I have no idea why I set obsoletion... almost 6 years after they were published. 2335M looks like it's just a small addition to 100%, but in any case I'm completely clueless.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/19/2020 5:52 PM

Post subject: @jlun2

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feos

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It syncs indeed, but now I have further questions. Levels 1 and 3, as well as the last boss seem to be slower in this submission. Why? I think I calculated it correctly.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/19/2020 4:04 PM
(Edited: 5/19/2020 4:10 PM)

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feos

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These look suspicious indeed: http://tasvideos.org/Movies-C3030N-C3035N-Vault.html Precedents are explicitly worded if they happen, and even then we still review if they work in a new situation too. Either the case may be slightly different, or some policy may have changed, so relying on past decisions that don't line up with normal rules requires caution. If it's not explicit, it's likely just an error.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/18/2020 6:31 PM

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feos

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P.JBoy wrote:

As a possible suggestion, I really enjoyed watching the previous TAS' DVD icon bouncing approach, especially if you can get it to work out for the fireball / missiles bits for example and make the game look trivialised as a result, strong superplay vibes :O Anyways, I don't wanna be asking too much of you. The run is in an acceptable state as is, though I appreciate the effort you've gone through already to receive feedback and improve on the entertainment aspect.

2 toads can be doing it independently, and the projectiles can be manipulated to always almost touch the characters, without having to move away even once.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/18/2020 2:48 PM

Post subject: Re: Battletoads Update

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feos

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Lobsterzelda wrote:

More specifically, is including the message that I do in the level worth the time? Or should I scrap that to do something else? In case you didn't notice, at 9:22 in my encode of this submission, I spelled out "Lobsterzelda was here" on the screen using the movement of the toads' jets.

I couldn't manage to read that even after learning it's there. The movement is just too slow. Not sure what to do there tho, all I know is you can manipulate the projectiles, see the 1p run.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/17/2020 6:02 PM

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feos

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Doesn't sync for me on 2.2.1, 2.4, 2.4.1, or 2.4.2.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/17/2020 5:40 AM

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feos

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#4104: Rum's NES Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom in 11:05.92 was rejected since it used an easier game version and the audience preferred the harder one. You can't skip anywhere with the bike/surfboard glitch, it either ends the level or rolls through open bus and arrives to the start of the ROM, where game end code is located. If a certain flag is set, it will "beat" the game, otherwise it will execute game over. It's really hard to manipulate what exact code is executed in the glitched state, because it's hard to predict it and there aren't many RAM addresses you can affect in that level. There's no ACE method known, at least yet. Skipping those 2 levels is subjectively more entertaining too, because they're mostly autoscrollers, and there's not a lot you can do to be creative there after everything we've seen in the current run. It'd be basically the same thing, with little to no complex gameplay to optimize. So my only complain is the snakes level.

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.

Posted: 5/16/2020 10:21 AM

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feos

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WarHippy wrote:

nor can I use RAM search or savestates for checking values or optimization

How do you TAS then?

Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.