Posts for Spoony_Bard

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Posted: 11/23/2005 1:00 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
You should stop recording at the last possible frame that requires your input. I can't quite recall, but I'm pretty sure that you don't need to manually advance any ending text in DKC2, so you should stop the movie just as you deliver the last hit on K. Rool.
Posted: 11/22/2005 1:08 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
I think that in the long run Kuppan would waste more time than it takes to get Celes. It's an interesting glitch, but it might not be useful for the TAS. Of course, if someone wanted to make a pure glitch run for show, then it could be done. A run like that may not be published, but it'd be fun to watch.
Posted: 11/18/2005 10:28 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Another thing you could do (or not do) to make the finished product more entertaining is to avoid continuously hitting the 'A' button when you have a dual or triple tech selected while waiting for the other party member's turn to catch up. It makes a selection sound every time you do it, and constantly hearing 'bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep bleep' between turns gets annoying.
Posted: 11/18/2005 3:19 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Mario Adventure is different in that regard, as it only takes 3 jumps in the original game.
Posted: 11/17/2005 6:39 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
This topic rekindled interest in the game, and I replayed it yesterday. If anyone does make a test movie, please hold off on making final judgements on whether or not the game would be accepted until the last three levels or so. The first four levels have good design and all, but worlds 5, 6, and 7 is where the game really shines.
Posted: 11/17/2005 5:08 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
It might be worth it to grab a Frog Suit or two as well, if you're collecting items, as it would speed up some of those water worlds a lot. Not all of them, though, most water worlds do have a way to get around a lot of the swimming, but having at least one Frog Suit on hand may save some time. I'd also avoid getting the big bonuses at the end of levels, which the current 100% one doesn't avoid, the whole fireworks thing takes up a lot of time and it's not like you need the extra lives.
Posted: 11/17/2005 3:44 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Will it include beating all Hammer Bros / Pirahna Plants on the world map as well? Or will you make use of Music Boxes to skip them where possible? Do the 'Hand' levels in World 8 also count? It's been a long time since I watched the original all-level run of SMB3, perhaps I'll do that and keep an eye out for improvements.
Posted: 11/17/2005 12:40 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
I couldn't spot any errors, I might have commented on some of the stuff you already brought up, but it all seems to work out alright. Now, World 5 is probably my favorite in the game, in terms of level and graphics design. Good luck with it.
Posted: 11/16/2005 2:55 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
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Looks great. A good improvement over the first WIP, which looked pretty good as it was. This would be a great way to kick-start the N64 section. Now... how about a 70-star run? :D
Posted: 11/16/2005 12:35 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Seems good for a WIP thus far. During the battle with the R-Series wouldn't it have been better to use Cyclone on the first group twice in a row, thus eliminating them right away instead of attacking them once then damaging the second group, leaving all six to assault you? Also, in the battle with Slash, at the end you waste a Mid-Tonic right before he dies, and you wind up using a Shelter immediately after the battle so the HP restored by the Mid-Tonic was a waste. Of course, you've probably already accounted for it... Still, it's good to see a renewed effort in this game.
Posted: 11/16/2005 12:31 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Ah, I remember that hack. It was pretty tricky too, but tricky in a good way. Those who didn't like Mario Adventure's 'bizarreness' can rest assured things are nice and consistant in this hack. The graphics have mostly been altered, the level design is good, though aside from a few subtle ASM hacks (like world 6 mentioned above, and some stuff in world 7) not much of the game's physics are different. But that's no big deal. I was gonna recommend it myself, but thought recommending Mario Adventure was enough hack-showcasing for me. ;) Best thing to do is find someone who knows SMB2's engine well enough and make a test run. See what people think of it, then work on a more perfected version if it looks like the hack will be accepted. I seem to remember a few other neat things in this hack, like hidden bonus rooms and such, but it's been so long since I played it myself...
Posted: 11/13/2005 5:22 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Posts: 377
No brainer from me. Movie = Very Yes.
Posted: 11/12/2005 12:57 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
I see no problems. Good use of the Music Box to bypass the Hammer Bros mini-levels.
Posted: 11/9/2005 4:28 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
School happens, take your time. TASing is a secondary priority to real life anyway. ;)
Posted: 11/9/2005 12:56 AM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
It looks good to me. Much better over the old one. Though, looking at the structure in the level where he slides through the wall, I also have to wonder which was faster. I assume you did your testing, it's a hard thing to tell with the naked eye, though. And the reason he went to the second toad house 'later', as was mentioned before, was because his first trial video was unknowingly made on a previously started game, not a clean restart. He started off with 166 coins in that one, and in this playthrough he had to wait until he gathered 300 normally in order to go to the toad's house to get the Magic Wand.
Posted: 11/6/2005 5:12 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
For future reference, Krysimys, here's a quick video of an imperfect start to 8-5, demonstrating how to hit the bricks with the raccoon tail instead of flying over the gap to get blocks. Basically, you run and duck and slide, then when you're next to the block hold down and A for a couple of frames, then let go of down and hit B and keep holding both B and A until the block is broken, then release them both and hit down again to keep from sliding all the way out. From there it is probably possible to keep ducking and jumping to reach the next brick without having to run back out and slide again like I did in the video. I only did that because it was faster to make a demonstration with.
Posted: 11/5/2005 3:38 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
To be honest, FODA, I think you're just splitting hairs. The black Shyguys do indeed have spikes. Size of the spikes doesn't matter much. Besides, how could Mario not stomp on Bowser's head in Mario 1, yet could do so without being harmed in Mario 3? Videogames are not known for logical consistancy, not even the Mario series. That being said, the final 3 worlds look pretty good Krysmis, though I do have one thing to point out. In 8-5 I was able to run and slide under the ledge and hit the three blocks with the Racoon tail, granted it took four attempts since it slides you back out to the right. But it's a heck of a lot faster than running back and forth across the canyon.
Posted: 11/4/2005 10:23 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
This movie is REALLY hard to judge. On the one hand it is very entertaining to watch (at least, I thought so) and Genisto makes great use of all the games nuances where he can, and STILL manages to come in first. But on the other, it is simpley an entertainment only movie, and the problem is the fact entertainment isn't something that can be 'measured' like time or item collection. If it's accepted it could never be obsoleted, since entertainment value is subjective. So, I'll hold off on voting entirely, since I'm not really sure HOW to vote.
Posted: 11/4/2005 10:18 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
I've already raised my own points for the game. Krysmis and Makou are a bit more eloquent than I. The decision is, ultimately, up to Bisqwit and the others. I STILL think 'Amatuer' is far too harsh a term for the hack, but that's just me. I've had my eye on the romhacking community (or at least, a romhacking community) for a number of years. I've seen plenty of good and bad hacks (more bad than good, sadly), and Mario Adventure ranks up near the top of my list. SDW:TLC is probably one of the absolute best, but if you use that game as the standard to compare all hacks then, well, you're not going to get very many. If I had a vote then I'd say a run of the game deserves to be published. But, it's not my site. Bisqwit is certainly correct when he says there are potentially an infinite number of hacks out there, and some standards DO have to be adhered to. But the vast majority of hacks that are out there are graphics/text only edits, and those that are obvious that no care has gone into level redesign at all. Mario Adventure has its mistakes, but it is still a good hack.
Posted: 11/2/2005 12:41 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Nice work so far. I especially liked jumping up to the top platform from behind at the start of 3 Clancer Kids. One question though, are you shooting for fastest overall movie time, or fastest overall level time? It hasn't come up yet, but if you want the fastest overall movie time, don't forget to bypass all the Gold Gems to make the ending virtually non-existant. There might be at least one or two in the way that you might have to spend half a second avoiding. And also, the boss battles award gold gems when you beat them without taking a hit, so you'll have to sneak a hit in there somewhere without losing time. (For the record, the stage bosses which do this are 2-11, 3-12, 4-11, 5-5 and 5-7) Though you may not be able to get much more improvement in the battles with Lunar (3-5), Tarus (4-7), and Merco (5-3) since as I understand it those times were gotten after a lot of replaying, trying to get the right conditions. Merco in particular, according to the S-Ranking FAQ, needed everything to happen just right, so there may not be much to shave off in that already long battle.
Posted: 11/1/2005 1:03 AM
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Spoony_Bard
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Posts: 377
Ahh, yes, about time someone gave this a for real attempt. Looks good for what I can see. At first I wondered why you had some pauses in the 'Choose an Egg' room, but I imagine it was to manipulate what level you got next. Nice work making use of the Dinos. Yes vote from me.
Posted: 10/30/2005 12:55 PM
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Spoony_Bard
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Posts: 377
While we're talking about Mischief Makers and the emulator, there's a big, or a glitch or something, in stage 4-1. In that stage there's a boulder that chases you down the level, but in Mupen 64 (and I've tried every video plugin at my disposal) the boulder is invisible. (Of course, I dunno if other emulators have this same error, Mupen64 is the only emulator I got up to that far in MM). I can provide the save ram if you want to have a look Nitsuja. It's possible that messing around with more video settings may make it visible. It's not teribly detrimental to play, I managed to complete the level AND get the Gold Gem playing in real time despite the boulder being invisible. But it would look weird if a movie were ever made of it, and as far as I know that's the only invisible object in the game I've encountered. As for the run itself, Mischief Makers could have two runs made for it, pure speed and 100%. There are 52 stages in the game, and 53 Gold Gems (the 53rd is gotten in the ending if you got the other gems and had an average of an A ranking on all the stages). Getting all 53 gems allows you to see the entire ending, plus the final scene of the ending differs depending on what you input as your age. I believe 00-15 gives you one ending, and 16+ gives you the other. The game shouldn't be too hard to TAS, at least compared to other N64 games that have 3D control, it plays much like a SNES or GBA game. But it would still be trickey to get perfect. A 100% run wouldn't be TOO much longer than a pure speed run, most of the Gold Gems aren't too far off the beaten path in most levels, some can be gotten along the way without losing time, and for the Stage Bosses you only need to defeat them without getting hit to get the Gem. But of course, another thing to consider is that if you're doing a pure speed run, it may be more beneficial to get few or NO gems, so that the ending is faster. In that case it may be worth it to take a hit fighting stage bosses as to not get their Gems. Pity that you'd have to skip all the cutscenes in either run, the game has a funny little storyline. Even in the 100% run you couldn't 'choose' to leave the cutscenes in, since you need to get an A rating average in all the levels, and the level timer keeps counting during cutscenes.
Posted: 10/28/2005 3:39 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
I think a lot of it comes from experimentation, and hackers wondering just how much they can change things. In other words: Because they can. Perhaps you could think about creating a seperate category for hacks, so that they're not mixed up with other games of the same system. So that all hacks are under one category, regardless of which system they're for. Or would that be too difficult to implement with the current system. (ie: Is a movie classified as SNES automatically thrown into the SNES list via a script? Or could a movie classified as Hacked SNES appear in a list for all other Hacked games?)
Posted: 10/28/2005 11:19 AM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Getting Spark Mandrill's music into the game probably wasn't too difficult, since he has other Gameboy game music in there. Spark Mandrill was in one of the Megaman Xtreme games for the Gameboy Color, so it was probably just the same process as the other gameboy tunes, rather than editing SNES music. Still, this too is a good hack worth looking at.
Posted: 10/27/2005 7:21 PM
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Spoony_Bard
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Logitech has some pretty good analog controllers for the PC for a good price. The one I have is made by Logitech and it's essentially set up like a PSX/PS2 controller. It was 30$ Canadian, a pretty good buy. It was kinda trickey setting that up for N64 play, though, and took some creative button mapping. For example, I have the second left shoulder button as 'Z', it makes playing Mario 64 relatively easy since I'm hitting the button set for Z with the same finger I would with a real N64 controller. The C buttons are trickey to map, but there's enough buttons on the logitech controller for everything.
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