Posts for ElectroSpecter

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Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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So there was one NES game that I used to own but never played because I was bad at it, and now I actually would like to remember what it was since I haven't played it in a long long time. I think you were some sort of kid ninja, the graphics were sort of cartoony, and there was one stage called Guerrilla Warfare, or something with the word Guerrilla in it (and I remember this because I didn't understand that word). There was some looping going on in the stages too I think. Also, I think I played a Bugs Bunny game on the NES where there was some sort of world map / level select type screen. I thought this was Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle, but after watching the recent TAS it must not be what I'm thinking of.
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HHS, thank you for this valuable chunk of data! It helps me a lot and I'm sure it will be useful to others as well. I'll really process the post tomorrow when I'm not as tired. It will be interesting to see how close my script estimated. Big edit: All right, let's see if I'm getting this whole thing correct. I pulled the first entry from the chest table, which looks like a Rabite. So I have:
Rabite        08 10 f8 40 04 
08: There's a 12.5% chance of the chest dropping.
10: Analyze spell must be at least lv. 0 to disarm a trap
    Agility must be > 8*1 to avoid a trap (but you start at 15 agl)
F8: Or 11111000
    111 = 7, so 7/64 = 10.9375% for a rare (!)
    11 -> common is an item, rare item is money
40: 64 = the first of the sweets = Candy
04: Amount of gold dropped
So it looks like my script did a pretty good job of estimating the rare item %age (assuming I did the bit calculations up there correctly; I just take 111 in binary and convert it to decimal, right?). I'm also wondering about the trap thing. To clarify, you either get hit with a trap 50% of the time or not at all, depending on your agility? People have thrown around claims that the chance gets less when you level (which is sort of ambiguous and may lead one to believe that the chance goes down for every level you gain).
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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Ah cool! Yeah it looks like there's nothing much of interest going on there.
This looks like it might be looking for a free spot
in the inventory (which is pretty small, just B places).
Yeah, the game only lets you carry 4 Candies, and if this trace is used for other items as well it makes sense for B to be a maximum because the number of items you can carry of each type varies, and I don't think it ever goes past 11.
The $652E branch. Which is an alternative loop to the
earlier one. Different kind of item?
Hm, I'll look into this. On another note, I left the fixed lua script running overnight. After 154620 trials (attempts on 154620 consecutive frames), the same chest gave me a rare item 16993 times, which is very close to 11%. However, the length of time it takes in between opening the chest and determining what item you get varies depending on which frame you open the chest. Because of this, I'm wondering if this has skewed my results. For example:
Frame 1000: Hit B to start opening
Frame 1001: Save state
Frame 1013: Get a common item, reload state

Frame 1001: Hit B to start opening
[this time it only takes 12 frames]
Frame 1013: Get a common item.
It's hard to say without understanding how the RNG affects drops whether this is giving me a "unique" copy of a common item, or the "same" one. If it gave me a rare on the same frame, it's still inconclusive because it doesn't rule out the above scenario if / when it occurs.
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amaurea wrote:
It's too bad you only have the parts that actually were executed, and not disassembly of the rest. The branch that did not happen (I.e. the 4GP part) won't be a part of this, though the logic leading to not taking that part will be there. Do you have a disassembly of the relevant regions of the rom too?
http://pastebin.com/nnzxq0nG I grabbed that from the ROM when I wasn't opening a chest, so it calls the x value and uses it to look at $7ECC05 instead of $7ECC48 like it did before. Probably would mess the game up somehow if actually executed. Digressions aside though, it doesn't look like it skipped too much important stuff. A quick skim over tells me that there's no real major branching going on, so it's not what I'm looking for (I think all it's doing is checking to see if I have room in my inventory for Candy or something). But who knows, 65c816 isn't my first language :p I don't have great intuition on what else I could look for either. There are about 10 - 15 frames after pressing B at a chest where the game could potentially be deciding what's in the chest; it doesn't have to be the same frame that it actually gives me the item.
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More than anything about these emails, what bothers me the most is the frequently occurring line, "I await your urgent reply." I realize the rest of the email is usually written pretty badly, but for some reason, that line just bugs me. It's obviously supposed to say something like, "I urgently await your reply." If I DO reply to them, it's not going to be urgent. Stupid scammers.
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http://pastebin.com/17FDpPBL Reading disassembly isn't my thing, so I made this lua script. In its current form, it only works for whatever enemy's chest you want it to work for (in this case, the Lullabud's chest). But basically, if you stand next to a chest that a Lullabud has dropped and leave this script running for a long period of time (e.g. overnight), you'll get a pretty damn good approximation of the drop rates of a chest. From what I've seen so far, the drop rate of the "rare" item from this chest is 4%, which goes against the claim that's been floating around. Interesting stuff! EDIT: Oops, I wasn't waiting long enough in between the reloading of states. Apparently the number of frames it takes for the game to register which item you got from a chest varies depending on when you open it... the script was of course missing some of the grabs, so I modified it. Now it waits longer in between frames and also checks the common item as well (which is stronger than just checking one, which I had before). And also, it looks like the % is closer to 12. Oops.
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Hey Dooty, did you save many frames on Lake Orangatanga and Kremwood Forest?
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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http://pastebin.com/3YdnNL2T Here's a chunk of code that I only partially understand (mostly because of familiar memory addresses). From what I can understand, the first block is the RNG going through its cycle and the last block is putting a Candy in my inventory from the chest. In between there's gotta be some clue as to how the game chose to give me a Candy instead of the "rarer" drop, 4GP. Of course, the answer might be buried in some subroutine that isn't written out there... I hate to ask for help like this, but I'm really stuck because I don't understand enough to really get what I want. It's frustrating. Any help is appreciated though!
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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Has anyone taken the time to figure out the game's drop mechanics? Someone by the name of CelesDestiny posted what they claimed to be the rundown a few years ago, but it doesn't seem quite right and it doesn't really go over the rate for getting the chest to drop in the first place (e.g. people have claimed to have gotten weapon orbs from end-game enemies at level 99, which goes against point #2).
CelesDestiny wrote:
Some enemies, like the fishes, do not drop treasures at all For all others applies a loot table: - There is always a common and a rare treasure, consisting of two of the following: Item, GP, equipment, weapon orb (the orb becomes a candy if no more orbs of that type can be obtained) - There are 0-3 traps within the table, notice that mimic box and shadow zero are considered as traps If a treasure is on screen: 1. Checks if the enemy has a trap within its loot table, otherwise proceed to 4. 2. Checks for the Lv of the char who opens it. If it is at least 3 levels higher than the enemy's, no treasure will appear - the higher your Lv, the less it will be a trap 3. If there are different traps on the table, one is chosen randomly 4. If there are no traps or you are lucky enough, the item is rolled (probabilities always: common 88%, rare 12%)
I'd be interested to see a nice formula for the drop rates, but once you factor in everything, it seems like it might end up being a task. Some enemies apparently drop up to three different items as well, so there may not be one nice formula throughout the game. EDIT: OK, looks like the chances for the chest itself to drop is ridiculously easy to find. The address mentioned earlier in the thread was off a little bit, but with some searching I was able to find it.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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Gitaroo Man (if you can get your hands on it) was a really fun and REALLY catchy rhythm-action game. Fairly challenging too. Check out some vids of the songs if you get the chance. Also, I really like Stuntman. It's a pretty strange genre, as it's not really racing, but you're usually in some sort of weird vehicle. The premise is that you're a movie stuntman, and you must complete stunt scenes for movies well enough for the clip to be used in the movie. The director shouts instructions at you through each filming. They get really hard. You have some cool vehicles though, including a rickshaw and a snowmobile.
Post subject: Re: Bayonetta
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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LightningRT wrote:
Gotta get Bayonetta, its an amazing game.....all the action of Devil May Cry with a dash of blatant sexuality and some over the top humor :)
I just bought and completed this game ($20, it's cheap now) and I'll second this. There's a lot of stuff to collect / unlock if you're into that, and they do a good job with the collecting not being too excessive / repetitive. And yeah, it's campy like DMC but the whole aesthetic is different as well. DMC was really dark and hellish and demonic. Bayonetta is often bright and empyrean. It's definitely at least worth a casual play through, and it's not that long.
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Jeeves The Immortal wrote:
Well, no one has responded but I figured I'd just update any viewers. I'm currently testing out a couple routes. I've found ~80 frames already so things are looking good. I must say though, these boss battles are extraordinarily well down. ES, if you ever view this it would be a great pleasure to talk to you about any thing you might recall fro your run!!
I'm still around, shoot me a pm if you have any specific questions. I'm too busy to do any serious TASing, but I'm willing to help out with advice and stuff (I'll watch WIPs and stuff).
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Yeah, I can't wait to see where they go with the story. The ending to the second one is INSANE.
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nfq wrote:
by "cranking up" the realism, i assume you mean they made it more realistic (english is not my first language). how do you mean that made it more boring? i mostly just noticed better graphics and physics, but it still lacks a lot of realism. for example, people don't lose any body parts when you drive over them at 200 km/h and there are no animals or children in the game.
Basically, there aren't super ridiculous hidden vehicles and jetpacks, and the trademark GTA humor is limited mostly to the radio stations instead of basically everywhere in the other older ones (like the cutscenes and character personalities). The story and characters just seem deadly serious for the most part, gritty and real. Which is most definitely a draw for most people. I think I just got spoiled on SA.
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If you liked GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas, you might not like GTA IV. They really cranked up the realism (which, in some regards is impressive, but to me makes it a lot more boring). Also, it gets really repetitive, especially towards the end. Also, the multiplayer is total garbage. Some of the shittiest people ever play online.
VirtualAlex wrote:
Dante's Inferno is absolute trash.
But... but... demon dicks with realistic phsyics!
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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amaurea wrote:
That script looks not only useful, but also stylish! Thanks for making and publishing it! I had a look at the source code, and I have a few comments: * There is a lot of code duplication. Generally, when you find yourself wanting to make variables with names foo1, foo2, foo3, ..., that is an indication that you really want foo to be an array instead. That way you can loop instead of repeating code.
This was my main problem with cleaning up the script... like I said, I'm new to scripting and I could probably have figured out how to neaten it up, but I just left it as it is since it worked.
amaurea wrote:
* The weapon ammo formulas were extremely complicated! I tried rewriting them using arrays and loops, but the formulas were too different. Are you sure those memory addresses are the easiest way of getting at the ammo?
There's probably a better set of memory addresses to use or (more likely) I wasn't looking at them correctly (maybe I didn't check to see if they were misaligned or more bytes or something).
amaurea wrote:
* You said that the hitboxes were approximate? In what way are they approximate? Looking at your picture, they seem to have the right size and shape, but their location seems to be a bit off. Perhaps you are adding a Y value instead of subtracting it? It looks like the hitboxes for the bats would work better if they were flipped horizontally around their top. If that is not the case, perhaps you can look around at nearby memory addresses - they might contain extra information you need to make sense of the hitboxes.
The only actual hitbox I drew was the one around Mega Man, which I didn't get from any sort of memory address (in fact, I just tested by watching his collision with objects until it looked correct). The boxes around the enemies' HP are just there to make the numbers show up a bit better. I couldn't find any hitbox information tied to RAM, and I am unskilled at looking at ROM so I scrapped the hitbox thing. Anyway, thank you for your comments! I'm glad you like it.
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Mothrayas wrote:
Looks very nice. Any chance you could make something like that for Mega Man X3?
I could probably whip something up... I'm only familiar with MMX, and I've never played X3, so it might take a little longer. I'll see what I can do though
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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I posted this in the snes9x lua thread, but I thought I ought to post it here as well: Here's a (hackneyed) script I created, specifically for the Mega Man X 100% run. I really have next to no experience with scripting (other than what I've learned here), so it can definitely be cleaned up... a lot. But it works!
It includes: - X and Y speeds - X and Y positions (including subpixel position) - An approximate hitbox for Mega Man - Numerical values for health and weapons (in corresponding colors) - HP values for enemies - Predictors for Mega Man's buster charge (the colored 0s underneath him) - An "Upgrade Progress" bar for fun, which increments every time Mega Man gets a heart tank, energy tank, new weapon from a boss, or piece of armor. - Leftover attempt at a lag counter somewhere in the script
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (244)
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Here's a (hackneyed) script I created, specifically for the Mega Man X 100% run. I really have next to no experience with scripting (other than what I've learned here), so it can definitely be cleaned up... a lot. But it works!
It includes: - X and Y speeds - X and Y positions (including subpixel position) - An approximate hitbox for Mega Man - Numerical values for health and weapons (in corresponding colors) - HP values for enemies - Predictors for Mega Man's buster charge (the colored 0s underneath him) - An "Upgrade Progress" bar for fun, which increments every time Mega Man gets a heart tank, energy tank, new weapon from a boss, or piece of armor. - Leftover attempt at a lag counter somewhere in the script
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Bag of Magic Food wrote:
Hey ElectroSpecter, erokky said that you are wrong for saying "completionist" and you should say "completist" instead!
Noted! Thanks for pointing this out. I tend to try to use the more "correct" version of a word even if a misuse has been used to the point of acceptance (sort of like empathic vs. empathetic). Also, yeah, I forgot about MM9 and MM10. As mentioned, 9 is a bit better but they're both REALLY well done.
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The highlights from my collection: - Assassin's Creed (I and II): If you're into the whole "Christianity is a conspiracy / Dan Brown" thing, this is a fun series. - Blue Dragon: The characters were sort of insipid, but I liked the story. - Bioshock: Unique, atmospheric, detailed, and addicting. - Brütal Legend: If you like Jack Black / any kind of metal, you should try this game out. There are some parts of the game that I sort of disliked, but it's still worth playing. - Dante's Inferno: A God of War clone, and not really anything like the original work, but still epic and fun. - The Orange Box: Half-Life 2 and Portal. 'Nuff said. - Resident Evil 5: ONLY if you liked RE4. If not I wouldn't bother. I found RE5 quite fun but not as good as 4. - Star Ocean: The Last Hope: Since I'm a completionist, I have a love/hate relationship with this game. If you want all the Battle Trophies, be prepared to sink several hundreds of hours into this. XBLA - Braid: A puzzle game. For me this was challenging, but I can't really speak for those who are puzzle game veterans... some say the game is pretentious, but I've seen it otherwise. I know this isn't 360 exclusive but I thought I'd mention it. - LIMBO: Sort of like Braid, but the puzzles are easier and the game is much darker (literally and figuratively). - Super Meat Boy: Again, not 360 exclusive, but definitely worth a mention. Ridiculously hard platforming but mercifully short levels make for a fun game that you can pick up and play whenever. Also many references to "retro" games (most of which us TAS gamers are familiar with) and current internet memes.
Post subject: Re: What are your favorite Nickelodeon Shows?
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Bhezt Rhy wrote:
2. Please don't put any negative comments (e.g: This show is lame.)
But... but there's so many horrible ones! [/cry] Anyway: - The Ren & Stimpy Show - Hey Arnold - Rugrats (the old seasons) - Rocko's Modern Life - Ahhhhh Real Monsters - Angry Beavers - Invader Zim - Doug - Are You Afraid of the Dark - All That - Roundhouse - The Tomorrow People - Eureka's Castle - Clarissa Explains It All - The Adventures of Pete & Pete - KaBlam - GUTS - Legends of the Hidden Temple - Double Dare - Nick Arcade - You Can't Do that on Television - Weinerville - Salute Your Shorts - Wild and Crazy Kids - What Would You Do? ^ I believe Dexter's Lab was a Cartoon Network show
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Hi moooh, I just tried testing both tricks... I couldn't get either to work, unfortunately. I'm pretty sure the programmers must have fixed both. For the chain trick, there's nothing more to it than pressing jump at the right time before landing on it, right? It's kind of a shame because Level 5 is so damn long anyway. (If you could find a way to skip either the cage or the fans I would love you forever!)
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This game looks very interesting. The fact that you can rotate the paddle would definitely add some entertainment to the run. How does 2 player work by the way? (I only watched a YT video). If it's simultaneous play, the entertainment factor would spike again.
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Highness wrote:
This would be nice: http://donkeykong.nintendo.com/ Donkey Kong Country Returns for Nintendo Wii.
Where's Dooty? =D
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