Submission #6617: r-bin2's SNES Secret of Evermore "game end glitch" in 06:29.39

(Link to video)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
game end glitch
lsnes rr2-β23
23402
60.0988138974405
92766
Unknown
Secret of Evermore (U) [!].smc
Submitted by r-bin2 on 2/2/2020 5:27:38 PM
Submission Comments
This game would feature an epic storyline, where the protagonist saves the virtual world of Evermore and the lives of those who are trapped inside… If we wouldn't skip all but two minor dialogs of the game. This is the story of "The Dog" and his trancendence once he's realized that he's actually trapped in the Matrix.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: lsnes rr2-β23
  • Objective: Reach the credits as quickly as possible
  • Categories:
    • Heavy glitch abuse
    • Corrupts memory
    • Genre: Action RPG

Glitches/Techniques

Infinite Flag Glitch

Looting an enemy drop with a numeric value also locks the amount of the next item pickup to the same value, for a short amount of time.

Executing Code (ACE)

A more detailed explanation can be found here:
The only difference is that the camera is being possitioned 255*4 pixels to the right, which makes the game read the jump address from the first controller instead of the frame counter.
AddressNameValueComment
$7E/3378Parts of alchemy Slot #0$005APoints at the Camera Offset
$91/005ACamera Offset (LSB Y, MSB X)$8104Points at Controller #1 Copy (Offset $8000)
$91/0104Controller #1 Copy$421APoints at the Controller Registers (Controller #2)
$91/4218Controller Register$xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxThe executed code is based on the buttons pressed in the current frame

Route Comments

This is an improvement to #6610: r-bin2's SNES Secret of Evermore "game end glitch" in 09:56.27 by 12.433 frames, which has been possible thanks to an improved ACE setup. Therefore this documentation is an extension of the previous one, which explains the ACE more in depth.
Two of the most important inofficial rules have been shattered now:
  • Having 9 alchemy spells on the screen crashes the game
  • "Zombie" Boy is the slowest character in the game
Without the requirement to wait for a certain frame optimizations became a lot more important:
  • Skipping the Inn forces us to play as "Zombie" Boy
    • Having 0 HP makes the Boy "immune" to enemy attacks
    • Having 0 energy is why we can neither run (Requires Jaguar Ring) nor hit for more than 2 damage
  • Looting less than the maximum possible amount of ingredients would be too slow
    • Infinite Flag Glitch allows us to loot 7 clay because 7 Talons have been looted before
  • It's not worth picking up the Jaguar Ring (Which means no running)
    • It takes roughly 40s to click through the dialog
    • In order to get the ring we would have to buy an item, which would cost 20 Talons
We still access the glitched cutscene as nameless dog, which makes the outro even slower.

Possible Improvements

  • It might be possible to loot the 7 Clay even faster, because despawned enemies seem to retain the damage that was previously dealt
  • In theory a better ACE setup, that can be executed in front of the "Hard Ball cave", exists

Thanks!

  • Black_Sliver for helping me understand ASM, SNES architecture and countless game mechanics!
  • p4plus2 for teaching me how to perform the ACE with lsnes
  • Colin, Solarcell007, TheAngryPanda and Zheal for helping me to route the new setup
  • And basically the whole Evermore discord for all the support, streams and being awesome!
  • ThunderAxe31 for being an awesome judge

Nach: Judging. Nach: Unclaiming as I don't understand what's going on well enough, and Memory seems to get this TAS better.
Memory: Judging
Memory: Updating file with 729 frame improvement with "loopy" ending per discussion.
Memory: Optimization looks good, though it can be hard to tell with the game end shenanigans.
The run was well received, though I don't think I totally understood all of it personally. That being said the loopy ending was definitely amusing.
Upon discussion, we decided that the so-called "bad ending" didn't really resemble beating the game, but this one fit well enough. Additionally I felt it was the more entertaining of the two endings, so I went for it.
Since this really doesn't resemble [2964] SNES Secret of Evermore by TheAngryPanda in 1:15:07.64 in the slightest, I feel it would be best as an entirely new branch.
Accepting to Moons as a new branch.
fsvgm777: Processing. Zinfidel is handling the encodes for this one.
Last Edited by feos 4 days ago
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