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Done up to dungeon 4:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4132/Testrun4.vbm6446 frames faster, or 1 minute and 47 seconds! That's almost 3000 frames just in this segment. Improvements:
-S&Q after getting the pineapple (it prevents a lengthy conversation with the bear from showing up)
-More precise use of the Pegasus boots, i.e. timing the boosts more carefully
-Faster method of killing the enemies in the Ocarina room
-S&Q after getting the Ocarina (yes, it's 90 frames faster)
-Right before the walrus, skipped a switch to the sword (I instead lifted the bushes, it saved 40 frames overall)
-Used a faster method of killing the Sand Worm boss (The glitched bomb is dropped at the earliest possible moment, any earlier and it will fall down the pit in the middle), saved 30 frames
-Picked up the key without letting it fall in the hole, and without switching to the feather. This eliminated another item switch.
-Warped to the 4th dungeon keyhole instead of walking there. This was the big timesaver; it saved over 10 screens of walking and other delays.
Note that I lost ~5 seconds when taking Marin to the walrus via the warp hole. Since I had activated the warp near dungeon 4, the warp near Marin takes you there first.
Edit: I improved the movie by 5 seconds after being notified of a timesaver with the pineapple by Tompa. I hex-edited the improvement in rather than redoing the whole segment... so there, Tompa :P
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4135/Testrun4v1.vbm
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Right now, Tompa and I are trying to find two more major sequence breaks. If it's possible to glitch past the Walrus and get into the desert early, the whole sequence with Marin could be skipped. As such, I'm waiting to continue with the next segment; I want to see if this sequence break is possible before I go back to the old route.
The other major sequence break, by the way, is glitching past the stone head guarding dungeon 8 (or getting into the dungeon by other means) without the third Ocarina song. This would eliminate the need for the Signpost maze and a few other things like rupees. Unfortunately, Tompa and I have yet to find anything useful...
Remember the glitch I used to walk on top of the wall before dungeon 8? I'm currently trying to find a place to use that and possibly "exit" the cave into the desert. But I'm having trouble finding a useful cave that I can access at this stage in the game...
If anybody has some ideas, Tompa and I would appreciate it. I'm just putting this out to people in case someone has a useful trick that we can use...
Edit: I succesfully got into the desert early using the Pegasus Boots glitch I discovered a long time ago. It's not allowed in this TAS, of course, because it classifies as a "warping" glitch; I'm just letting people know that it is possible.
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Yay, another update! This one completes dungeon 3:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4027/Testrun4.vbm
Okay, lots of improvements to list, here goes:
-Faster strategies on several rooms
-More careful and precise movement with the Pegasus boots (saves a lot of time, actually; I was pretty sloppy in the old version)
-S&Q after getting the Pegasus Boots
-S&Q after getting the next key (it might not look faster, but it's actually 30 frames faster than just walking back)
-Used a single bomb in the "clock bombs" room to kill all enemies. This saves a menu switch to the sword, but wastes a little time from having to manipulate the enemies and put the bomb in the right spot. It took a lot of re-records to get the clock bombs in the right spot, so that I could pick up their dropped bombs easily...
-S&Q after getting the next key (over 200 frames faster than walking back through the ~5-6 rooms)
-Timing the Pegasus Boots so that I get the boost after unlocking the blocks
-Took the lower route in the underground area. Note that I have to land on the "step" before I can fall down the ladder, otherwise the ladder will "catch" you and prevents you from falling.
-Clipped the wall while going down the ladder in the next room. This made me fall down the whole ladder without having to climb down.
-Slashed Slime Eyes at the first frames possible instead of just wildly flailing my sword :)
Some other notes:
-In the Slime Eyes battle, I had to alter the strategy since I didn't have double sword power with the Pegasus Boots. Instead, I spin-slashed them twice to achieve the same effect. This was slower because I had to manipulate them to bounce towards me, and it takes a little while for them to do so. Also, it's impossible to slash both eyes at once when they're dropping towards you... you have to wait while you're "stunned." But, the battle still ended up being pretty fast.
-Because I didn't have a PoP for this dungeon, I lost some time from lesser movement speed and sword strength.
So, the total time saved is 3468 frames, or about 900 frames just in this dungeon. That translates to 58 seconds saved so far!
Edit: With some motivation from Tompa, I redid the boss battle and saved another 110 frames. That puts the total time saved at (roughly) a full minute.
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So, I was looking at my previous posts, and I realized I was WAY off on my frame calculations. I somehow misplaced a digit, and the actual total time saved as of the last segment is 1556 frames. Even worse, I've been making mistakes converting to seconds (which means that 2556 frames actually equals 43 seconds, while the actual 1556 frames equals 26 seconds). Aargh! There is good news, though...
So, this next WIP goes up to the dungeon 3 entrance. I wasn't planning on posting it, but using several tricks, I saved over 1000 frames. So I had to post it :)
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3905/Testrun4.vbm
This brings the new, real, total up to 2573 frames over the published run (43 seconds, I threw it into a calculator). Improvements include:
-S&Q after getting the Slime Key
-Avoiding an item switch by using the mentioned S&Q (I didn't need to equip the sword for chopping the grass again, and since I can time the power bracelet switch with the text at the beginning of dungeon 3).
-Edit: Saved a little time taking a better route through the grass maze.
-Using the "key in keyhole from the side" trick with the level 3 key (remember the level 1 key trick?)
Tompa inspired me to thoroughly search for a way to perform the key trick... and I discovered that it can be performed from the left side of the statue! I just needed to backwards-diagonal-walk into the corner (to keep Link facing upwards) to make the key register with the statue (it doesn't work on the right side because of some technical reasons). It's hard to explain, you should watch the movie to get a better idea of what I'm talking about... Anyway, this trick saves ~8 screen transitions and tons of walking.
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I think the PoP count increments even if you already have a PoP (it just won't drop the PoP). So, I think the dungeon 4 warp trick already eliminated a bunch of enemies killed. Notice also that a guardian acorn only dropped at the final leaf (12 enemies killed, am I right?). That would imply 20 more enemies killed in dungeon 3 to get a PoP. I don't think it makes much of a difference at that point, especially when I'm going to do another S&Q warp in dungeon 3 (right after getting the Pegasus boots).
And thanks for the good review! I guess redoing things 3-4 times helps me improve the level of precision...
I was watching my old run, and I couldn't help but notice at least two or three places where a S&Q warp would save time. I did some calculations, and I found that a S&Q takes 185 frames to perform. This means that if I have to pass through more than one screen transition to get to the same place, it's faster to S&Q. For example, the 5th leaf S&Q saved walking across two transitions and lots of movement in-between. Whereas, S&Q after the ball and chain knight's leaf would have wasted about 10 frames because I only have to walk across one screen (and it's a straight shot, as well).
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Done with the castle and leaf collection...
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3810/Testrun4.vbm
Changes:
-Got the lvl 4 warp, S&Q
-Didn't have to wait so long in the shop while stealing the bow (~10 frames)
-Better manipulation for the "hole monster" with the first leaf (~30-45 frames)
-Better use of the bombarrow for the "wall monster" (~10 frames)
-Picked up the right pot instead of the left one (saved some diagonal movement) (~5 frames)
-Saved an item switch (I think... it's hard to tell) (possibly ~80-90 frames)
-S&Q warp after the last leaf (~50-100 frames)
-Damage boost from one of those bomb-droppers (~30-40 frames)
So, the total improvements add up to 2556 frames (51 seconds) saved so far. Only 49405 frames (815 seconds) left until I reach my goal! I'm going to be really happy, though, even if I only get 2 minutes under my published time.
I want to point out now, though, that there's going to be a part where I lose some time; dungeon 3. In the published run, I get a piece of power at the beginning, which helps me move faster and kill the boss much faster. However, all this S&Q warping is resetting the PoP count. I don't think I will see another PoP for the rest of this TAS. As for not using S&Q warps until later... well, there's the dungeon 4 warp that would be lost (probably at least 15 seconds from having to walk back). Also, I think the pegasus boots do not get an increase in speed from the PoP, so it's not that big of a deal for dungeon 3. Besides, then I can use S&Q's in dungeon 3 to save even more time :D Come to think of it, maybe I won't lose any time in dungeon 3... we'll see ;)
Edit: The frame count here is incorrect. The actual values are 1556 frames, 26 seconds ahead (see my first post on page 22).
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It's actually about the same speed (within about ~5 frames). But, you also have that period where you have to charge up the sword. So, it's not likely that it saves time.
Okay, I took another look at the sword part at the beginning, and I pressed D/L/R. I also found that pressing just U/D will achieve the same effect. Another strange thing; Link's vertical position doesn't matter for picking up the sword; it works in all positions from the very top to the bottom right before the owl trigger. I did the same testing on a golden leaf, and nothing happened whatsoever. I even tested if it was the shield that triggered the glitch, but no. I'm starting to think that the sword glitch is a unique special case where the L/R glitches worked.
On a side note, I'm probably just going to use a glitched bombarrow on the knight in a wall, and then shoot him with a regular arrow. I haven't yet figured out if I can shoot him without going down the stairs, but it won't matter much anyway because I have to pick up the leaf manually.
Edit: I made a short movie showing all the glitches with bombs and arrows (separately), just for future reference. I think I covered everything there...
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3799/ArrowBombGlitching.vbm
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I actually did manage to spinslash the knight in the wall, after he was blasted out, while I was still at the top of the room. I tried killing him that way, but the strange thing is that the spinslash did half the damage it should have... as in, I would have to do it again to actually kill the knight. But, I couldn't do it again because my glitched-up spin-slash would hit his sword. But, it's a step in the right direction. I'll do some more testing.
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Well, choosing "A" as a name over "STEF" saves 20 frames. Not that big of a deal, but there are only two or three times when the player's name comes up before I have to steal the bow. So, I thought it wouldn't really make a difference.
Tompa, I've just collected all the golden leaves, about 47 seconds ahead at this point. But, I've been thinking about your posted "lvl3key" movie and the stuff I tried on the ball-and-chain guy... I've spent a lot of time trying to actually collect the leaf, but there doesn't seem to be anything we can do... Aargh, there has to be a way to do it!
By the way, I could potentially use a glitched bomb-drop on the knight in the wall (instead of a bombarrow), then charge up my sword and hit him just as he comes out. I tested, and it wastes about half a second, but I end up with one extra arrow. Is that useful at all?
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I think everybody's comments are fair and valid, and I appreciate the response towards this movie. Before making this TAS, I had not really considered the differences between a 100% and an any% run of this game; I thought they would be too similar, so I thought I might as well try for the 100% version.
But, the points people make about the length of the movie are justified, too. I estimate that ~15-20 minutes or so are spent just in the bonus games, and the times for each level could probably be cut in half if the presents were not collected. Not to mention the expert levels (like 20 minutes spent in those). The same tricks would be present in the any% run, but with much less pointless backtracking and bonus games.
I think I'm going to cancel this submission and work on an any% version, since it's clear that many people like the tricks but got wearied by the length of the movie. An any% run would still complete the plus worlds, though... I think the length of such a run would be about one hour long (less if I'm underestimating the time spent getting presents). Am I right in saying that an any% movie would be a lot more interesting to watch?
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Alright, then let's brainstorm for other possible sequence breaks :) All we need is to find some exploit and use it to our advantage...
Oh, and a quick update; I'm currently in the castle, and I've collected the first leaf. No results on how much faster than the published run, since I'll have to check after the warp hole trick pays off. About the rupees, I was only just able to grab the four I needed before the shop. Basically, only certain enemies that Bow-wow eats drop rupees; moblins, swamp flowers, and tektites don't drop rupees from Bow-wow (I could be wrong, but I really tested this, and I never once got a rupee off one of them). I had to detour very slightly in the final cave before the shop to grab an extra rupee from a gel, probably wasted half a second or so. In the future, I think the 20 rupee chest could be skipped, but it would take such a crazy amount of planning to pick the exact enemies and luck-manipulate them that I don't think it's really worth the trouble.
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One thing I've been wondering is if somebody could just test a brute-force engine for a very simple game. I've always been very interested in these kind of topics, but in most cases nobody actually does anything past discussing the possibilities. I don't know much about coding for bots, but could somebody code up a brute-forcing bot for some simplistic game and run it for a day or so? At the very least we could see some results, and compare the best result with the TAS of the same game.
I think it might be more interesting to do something like this rather than just talk about it. I certainly would enjoy seeing some results in addition to the speculation.
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If dungeon 4 is completed, the ghost appears and won't let you enter the next dungeon until you return him to his "house." With this route, we don't have to worry about returning the ghost, since we'll have completed all other dungeons when the ghost event is supposed to happen.
In Tompa's black and white version walkthrough, the ghost didn't appear at all. But, in the DX version, the ghost does appear. This really scared me when I was working on the first version of the run, since I thought the ghost might not let me into the Wind Fish's egg. This would have required redoing more than half the TAS. Fortunately, there's no issue with the ghost there. So, it makes for another pretty nice sequence break.
By the way, I was thinking about the route... if we could somehow keep Bow-wow until after dungeon 4, then the ghost might not appear, and dungeon 4 could be done all at once. Normally Bow-wow must be left off in the village, since the monkey south of the castle will refuse to build the bridge for you if you still have Bow-wow.
But, I was reading through the SDA topic about the skip with the monkeys - Quijo discovered that you could use one of those bomb-dropper things to blast yourself across the water north of the castle, thus skipping the part with the bananas and the monkeys. My thoughts are that perhaps the golden leaves could be collected early, thus opening up dungeon 3 early (by early I mean without returning to the village). There is a problem with Marin, though... she probably won't follow you if you have bow-wow with you, so we can't get to dungeon 4.
There is, of course, that Pegasus boots "warping" glitch discovered in this topic several pages back. I think that if it was used properly, the walrus part could be skipped, too. But the majority's thoughts on this (mine included) are that this glitch counts as a warping glitch, and thus is not in the spirit of this run and should not be used. I'm just reiterating these points for consideration.
This particular idea I have might not be of any significance, since it might take more time to perform than it saves in dungeon 4. That being said, I think there is potential for more sequence breaks in this game... it's just a matter of how hard we can exploit tricks and brainstorm ideas. Tompa, what are your thoughts on this? Does anybody have any ideas?
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Yep, that's pretty much the route. Although I'm not sure, actually, that items can appear under lifted bushes... I'll be testing, though.
And one other upcoming improvement (that I'll be redoing): after the boss, don't switch to the feather; save it for the dungeon 2 text when re-entering for the rupees. That will save a second or two...
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No, carrying a shell while on Yoshi will knock you off Yoshi a second later. I know that you can carry normal items safely, but shells are the exception, for some reason.
Since Mushroom House can be completed much faster with the cape, it would not really save any time to get the secret exit while small (since we would be in Mushroom Land anway). But, if it were possible to get ML3 secret small, then the new route would be to finish the house earlier to avoid backtracking.
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mrz, I watched your progress, and very nice! You found a couple of extra ways to save time. I didn't try really hard with 6/5 on my run because it was for "fun," and I didn't want to spend hours optimizing for a couple of frames.
Oh, and in an attempt to bring a shell with me to climb that wall in ML3, I did the glitch of holding an item and riding Yoshi at the same time. Unfortunately, the game somehow treats that as being "hurt", so you get thrown off Yoshi a second after.
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Heh, I used the magic powder trick twice, and I finished that room 40 frames faster as a result. I used the U/D/L powder to light the left torch, then the D/L/R powder to light the right, when I was in the right positions. I'll edit this post if I have other information, or if I finish the dungeon.
Edit:Okay, here's the new WIP:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3748/Testrun4.vbm
It's only 6 frames faster than the previous version... the improvements totaled up to over a second, but it took about that long to grab some extra rupees. I need only 4 now before the shop. The reason I got more rupees is because I realized that I wouldn't have the sword equipped until well after the shop... so I will need to rely on Bow-wow and the one bush I pick up to supply the extra rupees. I'm not really sure that skipping the 20-rupee chest in dungeon 1 is faster... I've had to waste about 1 1/2 seconds getting rupees... which could probably be cut down to 1/2 or 1 second with absolutely perfect planning. But luck-manipulating rupees out of everything often wastes several frames each time.
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I tried for a really long time to get to the key in Mushroom land 3 without the cape. The best-case scenario was to jump off the message block (with yoshi), bounce off a shell (that was in yoshi's mouth), walljump, then yoshijump to the top. But, it just so happens that there are only red koopas in this level, so no shelljump. I'm pretty sure that ascending the wall is only possible with multiple walljumps and a yoshijump.
By the way, the key exit in Frosty Cave 3 is possible without a cape. You just yoshijump up to the key. But, getting to the keyhole requires keyjumping, and getting there as fast as possible requires keyjumping over the entire lava stretch (which is a lot of fun to watch, but rather tedious to optimize).
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Tompa wrote:
Just find a thing you can do with the magic powder.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3696/MagicPowder.vbm
You can light the other torch from the spot I tried to do it from. But you need to get into "swimming mode", and I forgot order I need to press the keys in =P. I'm quite sure that it won't be faster actually. But it may come in handy at other places. Or else you could do it at the nightmare boss, that would look very nice:).
Yeah, remember? I did that in the final battle of the last run :P Nice trick, anyway.
Anyway, your WIP looks good. I have a few comments anyway:
Why didn't you walk those few frames after opening a chest? You used to do before, isn't it faster? Probably not as you are pressing SSAB as soon as you can, correct...?
I guess there are one or two chests where I forgot to move in the right direction afterwards.
In the underground before the miniboss: Woit faster to throw the pot on the platform, and then jump on the edge of it instead of falling?
Hm, there are no pots in the underground before the miniboss. Do you mean before the boss? I tried jumping from the platform, but there didn't seem to be enough room to squeeze through, so I settled for falling a slight bit more. I wasn't that thorough, though, maybe it's possible...
Wasn't it possible to make the genie appear closer to the door so you could take the heart piece faster?
The genie has a set time before appearing again, in one of two places, as you probably know already. If I want to slash the genie at the earliest possible moment for the last hit, he'll either be relatively close to the door, in the position I've been slashing him, or far away, which I don't want.
You'll need to manipulate 8 rupees on your way to the shop... You sure you can do that?:O
Oh, and btw... You are going to the warp after the dungeon so you'll get to dungeon 4 quicker later I presume? Just go there and S&Q.
This is probably the best time to get the warp hole for the 4th dungeon... I believe I can get all 8 rupees between that and in running to the shop. There's the swamp flowers, many patches of grass, several enemies, and a bush just on the way to the shop. It'll just take some heavy manipulation.
EDIT: About the A&B route... I'll change it a bit so it is correct. I will also add a thing to the Fire Cave, see the movie=).
The reason why you'll get the bombs in Turtle's Rock is that it's fastest that way. You have to get the arrows, and to get the arrows as early as possible will make you get the bombs too. Check my earlier post for the latest version of the route=P.
Yeah, I see that you changed the arrows part of it... My question about the bombs was whether we might sacrifice a small amount of time on the sand worm by using only one bomb, then skipping the Turtle Rock refill on purpose. This would give the 0 bombs/0 arrows "perfect" finish. It's just aesthetics, really... It's just that a "perfect use" of bombs and arrows would be entertaining, at least to me, and impressive.
But, when I get to the sand worm, I'll test some bomb combinations and see whether it's worth it to save a bomb for entertainment's sake.
Right now, I'm thinking of redoing dungeon 2 from scratch, only to see whether starting over and being a bit more careful will give me a better result. I can optimize things on a case-by-case basis instead of just saying, "my first three rooms were good enough, so I'll keep them."
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Very nice bomb/arrow route! I love "double bombsetting FTW", hehe. I'm thinking that the clockbombs will go down really quickly anyway with a glitched bomb drop, so no need to use an arrow.
That S&Q thing doesn't save time on the Crocodile, but that's another good skip with the pineapple. This is going to be hard to follow even for experienced players :)
Anyway, I finished a midterm today, so I had a long break to finish the second dungeon! As usual, if you see improvements, I am not against redoing the segment to fix errors.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3689/Testrun4.vbm
Major changes:
-PoP throughout the dungeon, saved a ton of walking time and miniboss time. For some reason, the genie boss takes the same number of hits to kill even with the PoP... Another thing odd about the genie is that he takes 4 spinslashes to kill, or 5 regular slashes. Or something weird like that... But I hope I made the genie battle more interesting than before!
(relatively) Minor changes:
-Left torch first, up/right instead of right up, left block first :)
-At least two places where I saved an item switch (for example, the room with the ghosts)
-Yes, the pit glitching worked! Link moves so fast with a PoP, I wonder if pit glitching in other directions is possible, too, with a PoP...
And other things like more precise movement, attacks, etc.
Things you may be wondering about:
-Yes, I KNOW that I move diagonally sometimes instead of jumping... but it's actually faster on those occasions to walk instead of jumping because Link walks much faster with the PoP. In general, jumping was only faster when I had to jump directly diagonally (not just for adjusting my position slightly)
-After getting the bracelet and rupees, it's faster to pick up the extra pot instead of going around, since Link throws so fast with the PoP.
So, all these improvements add up to 2127 frames (43 seconds) ahead of the published run. I really want to break one hour, like you said earlier... I'm thinking 1:10 is about as low as I could get this, more realistically, unless we discover some other crazy sequence breaks. So, 1:10 is my quota for this run :)
Edit: One thing I was thinking about the bomb/arrow route... what if I only used one bomb on the sand worm thing instead of two, then skipped the refill in dungeon 5? If I count it correctly, I won't run into problems with running out of bombs, and I'll have that "perfect use" at the end :)
Edit2: Wait, nevermind, that would make me run out of bombs at the dodongos battle in dungeon 6. What if I skipped the refill in Turtle Rock, then?
Also, I'm pretty sure that using a regular bomb on the rabbits is faster. That would mean two extra arrows at the end. That also means that I could skip the two arrows in the face shrine, and have an absolutely perfect use of bombs and arrows at the end. Did I get all those counts correct? Does that check up with you?
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You have good eyes, Tompa :) I did stop for a couple of frames before the forest, but that was to manipulate a rupee out of the bush. I also tested SsAB on the texts for a range of frames, and they all failed to stop the texts. Redoing from the moblin cave... I'll edit this post when I'm done.
And yes, this is a "no-death" run. A bit slower, but more entertaining, in my opinion. It'll look good to have exactly the right amount of rupees to buy the items in the shop when I get there.
Edit: All done.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3641/Testrun4.vbm
This new version is somehow ~200 frames faster than my last WIP... I'm glad you convinced me into redoing, Tompa!
Edit 2: Oh, and one more thing. This racks up the total improvements made so far up to 1279 frames (25 seconds) ahead, which almost negates the time lost that will be gained back later. Which means that technically, this newest segment is the same length as in the published movie, even though I have to waste time doing other things in the WIP (as a setup for other time-savers to come). That sounds rather complicated... I hope I worded that correctly.
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New WIP, to dungeon 2:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3640/Testrun4.vbm
18 seconds ahead of the published run (1095 frames). But, there were some important changes that will come into play later.
Changes:
-Virtually every diagonal movement is now done by jumping instead of walking (except in a couple of places where it would be slower to jump up and wait to land than to simply walk)
-PoP route changed. The Moblin boss battle took an extra cycle by not having the PoP, but the PoP is now set up to drop from the second stalfos in the third room of the second dungeon (quite a mouthful!). The ~6 seconds lost from the boss will easily be made up from faster dungeon movement and boss fights finished more quickly (for instance, the genie boss will take 2 cycles instead of 4).
-Another small, but cool, skip; I managed to squeeze past the first swamp flower, so I didn't need Bow-wow to eat it. I was really hopeful that we could skip Bow-wow... but it turns out I can't glitch past the flowers in front of the dungeon entrance. Too bad...
-I took the chest in the swamp before going in the dungeon, thus saving several seconds (it'll be more easily compared once I get to the shop).
Oh, and there are a few frames lost here and there from grabbing rupees from enemies, although I tried to collect most of them without wasting time. I will need to get eight more rupees in the second dungeon before heading to the shop afterwards. Any improvements that I missed?
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I compared pressing ABStartSelect and just Start, but Start is about 20 frames slower. However, neither is faster than actually seeing the dungeon text. But, it's better to use the Start method if I need to switch items. As for damage boosting, I'll keep that in mind for the future.
So, an upcoming improvement is to save the PoP for the second dungeon instead of using it on the Moblin boss. I'll post a WIP once I reach the second dungeon (keeping in mind the other improvements we've listed).
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Active player
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Surprise! I had a little extra time today, so I completed Dungeon 1. (I thought I would be busier studying abroad, but classes are pretty easy so far.) I can't really promise more updates, though, since it'll depend on my workload here.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3626/Testrun4.vbm
Changes:
-S&Q warp after getting the feather (the PoP count isn't really messed up, I think, since I still kill the same four bats at the beginning)
-Skipping the 20 rupee chest. This was a difficult choice, since I may slowly lose time getting rupees. I hope I can manage to pick up 16 more rupees before getting to the shop...
-Spin attack on the boss (it's faster to spin attack on the second hit), and more optimal position of the heart from manipulation.
So, all these improvements total to 24 seconds ahead of the published run by the end of the first dungeon. I tried using the l/r glitches to grab the instrument early, but I coudn't get it to work...
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Active player
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I just want to make a note that I am not really TASing while in Italy, I just finished the last couple of levels while I was over here (and hexed together some improvements). But the vast majority of the work was done back at home.
About the repetitiveness... I guess I can see how that might be a factor (and I absolutely respect anybody's opinions about it), but I think it might be more entertaining if you've actually finished the game yourself. That way, you can see some of the more interesting routes I take in this TAS. And just for clarification, what is the policy on RPG's? They're extremely repetitive, in my opinion, since the TASer basically takes the known route through the game and fights a ton of battles with critical hits (I know that more strategy is involved, but I'm talking from a viewer's perspective). I'm not trying to say, "RPG's get published, so my run should get published," I just want to understand the process here.
