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ThunderAxe31 wrote:
Thank you to feos for judging this submission.
In the eventuality that NES emulation improves to the point of being able to reproduce this game's movies on console, please contact me! I'll be working on an improvement TAS.
As long as you are using NESHawk on BizHawk version 2.8 it should work. If you make a WIP of level 1 it should be easy to test by myself or other console verifiers.
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WarHippy wrote:
Alright. I was thinking it looks almost possible to absorb and fire all 3 bombs without having to take damage (allowing for more damage boosts).
I believe this is only possible with the quick action trick. To set up the trick for the first set of bombs requires swallowing an enemy in the previous room, which would cost more time the any potential damage boost would save. With double lasers this is not applicable for the second set of bombs, so it seems like using both damage boosts on Kracko is the way to go. EDIT: Actually looks like it is possible to do quick action with second set of bombs even with double lasers, but I seem to get a faster fight with the damage boost.
I went back and retimed both block sections compared to the original run and they come out about the same somehow, not sure how this is possible, but whatever. Timing Kracko I do save about 30 frames over the original run, so that is good. I'll try to optimize a bit more and save see if I can save any more frames, but it seems like it's almost time to move onto level 5.
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Link to video
Double lasers confirmed possible on Kracko!
I got this by pure dumb luck. No idea what conditions are needed to make it happen. It seems like it happened after delaying the first hit by a couple frames but it could just be a coincidence.
In any event this is a pretty big time save. I still need to optimize the second half of the fight, but this should be ~1 second saved.
movie file: https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638046721579096766WarHippy wrote:
Looking great so far!
I'm pretty unclear on what the benefit of getting the leaf is at 5:37. It doesn't seem like it makes you move faster. Is it the only way to destroy those blocks, and are you able to un-puff and run like normal?
And also, does the boss not drop a 3rd bomb if you don't get to the first one fast enough?
You cannot un-puff with the leaf. I actually tested not getting the leaf. It is possible to use the quick action trick and get by the blocks slightly faster, but it is slower traversing the next section without the leaf, because maneuverability is so much higher with the leaf.
I'm pretty sure the boss will always drop 3 bombs.
dekutony wrote:
Alyosha wrote:
I think the palette looks fine, which one do you think looks better? As long as you pick the palette on the first possible frame things seem to sync ok.
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--superseded, see later videos--
WIP of level 4. I think the first half is pretty good, but the second half needs some work.
I lose quite a bit of time in the first block section. But, I gain quite a bit in the second block section with better star RNG which I got by killing the last enemy in the previous room.
Unfortunately I can't seem to get a good boss fight. Right now I'm losing about 30 frames because the boss is having a longer delay between actions. Pretty frustrating.
If I can save some time in the first block section though and keep the good second block section I should be comfortably ahead going into the last level, still needs some work.
At least everything works on console so far.
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I think this is a good theoretical route for 2-player run using Up+Select+A+B death abuse plus dice game gambling:
Fuuma - get cape, recuse Fuuma, die
Goemon - get damage upgrade, rescue Goemon, die
Simon - get key, die
Kong - rescue Kong, get key, die
Mikey - gamble, get key, rescue Mikey, normal exit
Simon x2 - get defense boost, rescue Simon, die
--bring everyone back--
Moai - as normal
--rest of the game--
This avoids backtracking in Goemon's stage while only having to bring back characters once. Dying takes half your missiles, and the max you can get is 1000. Bringing back a character costs 100 missiles. So you can only bring back 5 characters, and you need them all alive to enter the last level.
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Oh yeah thanks for pointing that out, new file:
https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638043767938618519
You can't kill player 2 with the command, as player 2 has no select button on the famicom and pressing the combination twice for player 1 doesn't kill player 2. So it wouldn't save that much time in 2 player, about 10 seconds looking over the current run.
In 2 players you can use death abuse + dice game in essentially the same way, so at least another 10 seconds can be saved there. EDIT: actually you would need to test first if rescuing a character automatically assigns them to player 2, if o not as much time can be saved since you would need to climb the stairs to kill off player 2.
2 player routing is more complicated though, maybe a different route could lead to even more savings.
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So in looking at the 1 player run I took a look at RTA runs, and they use a trick where if you press up + select + A + B at the same time you can instantly kill your character. In the manual it says that this is used if you get stuck and can't progress (not sure how this might come up, maybe like you can only get to an area with a certain character but that character dies after getting there so you can't get back.)
This saves a lot of time in backtracking but you need to spend ammo to revive your character.
This opens up a lot of routing possibilities for the TAS.
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Levels 1-3, console verified.
The trick I mentioned above seems to save ~10 frames overall, so is an actual improvement. (At least where I chose to use the damage boosts, possibly there are better locations.)
--superceded, see later videos--
Movie file: https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638037217184361367
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dekutony wrote:
Pretty awesome that you're doing this. I tried to resync the TAS a couple of years ago and I was unsuccessful. I'll be rooting for you.
By the way, if you ever finish the full resync, besides sharing the input file for archival purposes, I would highly, HIGHLY recommend using a different palette for the game because the custom made palette for these Kirby games is... not very pleasant to look at, to say the least.
I think the palette looks fine, which one do you think looks better? As long as you pick the palette on the first possible frame things seem to sync ok.
I found a potential time saving strat in lvl 3:
--removed, see later videos--
This only costs 2 frames in the water section, but saving the hit saves 2 health compared to the original, so potentially 2 extra damage boosts available. Not sure where to use them though.
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Working on Kirby games for console verification. I resynced the existing run up to start of level 2 and it works on console. There are quite a few added lag frames compared to the original, which is expected since it was made in VBA.
I don't intend to work on this too actively, just as a side project since Kirby games are some of last GB/C games I want to see verified.
Note that I am using JPN version since carts are much cheaper, but I did check if it works on USA version and at least for level 1 it syncs pretty easily.
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Challenger wrote:
You forgot to remove Kendo Rage too, since the published run was obsoleted months ago.
Meanwhile, good luck with the next project ;)
Woah how did I miss that? Thanks to Samsara for working on it!
Thanks for the good luck, these Gameboy games were a horrible grind, some of these next few are more my pace, so hopefully the pace picks up a bit.
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Cosmo Tank done! This brings the total back to 15, with no more Gameboy games on the list.
It's possible I'll try Rolo to the Rescue, the only remaining Genesis game next, or maybe Wai Wai World one player to once again obsolete 2004.
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Fortranm wrote:
How different would it be if this is done on the GBC version (EU release of Konami GB Collection Vol. 1) instead?
Well it would be more colorful, but it takes about 7 seconds longer to start the game, and I don't think there are 7 seconds of lag that could be saved.
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Minor update, I tried changing the IRQ timing a bit without success. The best I can do is beat the first boss but I don't get correct RNG on the orb drop. This one will need to wait for better MMC5 emulation.
Now I wonder if the latest BizHawk version can produce verifiable movies for this game.
Seems like a pretty standard MMC3 game, of which numerous examples have been console verified, so most likely it would work. But yeah anything pre-2.8 isn't really worth comparing against for accuracy.
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Game: Castlevania III (USA)
Emulator: BizHawk: 2.8 - NESHawk
Console Verification Device: TAStm32 V3
Movie:https://tasvideos.org/7743S
Description of Desync: Randomly spawning enemy spawns differently on console compared to emulator ~ 1.5 minutes into the game.
Research: Presumably the error is in MMC5 IRQs, as this game uses MMC5 which has not been tested or updated in some time.
Possible Next Steps: Test ROMs needed
Status:Open. Closed.
resolution: Innacuracy in reading back state of DMC channel caused the desync. Test ROM confirmed correct timing. Additionally, unemulated open bus behaviour caused desync later in the run. This is also fixed. MMC5 IRQ timing also verified.
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Unfortunately this run desyncs on console.
About 1/4 of the time I correctly get the holy water, but then I get hit at the random spawning monsters about 1 minute later. In 4 trials of successfully getting holy water I get hit by the same enemy in this area and fall in the pit.
This is presumably an issue with MMC5 IRQs, which have not been tested to the same level of precision as MMC3 IRQs.
Disappointing, but thanks for making the effort to get it to work on 2.8 for testing anyway scrimpeh.
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I was able to get up (almost) dracula without too much trouble (only one enemy is visibly different between the resync and the orignial, I flying skull in level 3) with no added frames.
However I got a desync on the scroll glitch right before dracula. It looks like a controller input is missed and causes a desync in the tiles generated in draculas room. I don't know how to fix precisely, if some other approach can be used, or if dracula can be fought another way.
Here it is if you want to try, I think this is as far as I can go with my limited game knowledge:
https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638016425343155312
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Look like this game has a 'press select until you get what you want' type of RNG. I was able to resync up to the first boss in 2.8 but can't get the orb to fall as fast as in this run yet. I'll keep trying though, would be cool to be able to console verify this.
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Patashu wrote:
Probably lots of game-end-glitch/crash type stuff. Isn't there some glitchy warp stuff in Battletoads that isn't fully maxed out, or did it all get figured out by now?
I'm not sure there is anything noteworthy left in battletoads (game end glitch run already verified, so probably nothing time saving anyway.)
Here is a SMB3 glitch that would be cool to replicate (around 5:30 in the video):
Link to video
Also I recall a boss despawn in blaster master:
https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick/clip/OilyTiredPorpoiseNomNom?lang=it
Of course with no movie backing them up these could be hardware error, but it would be amazing if they really are re-creatable.
