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Posted: 12/13/2005 6:12 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Wow, your plans and work so far look good. I suggested buying all the keys and mattocks earlier, but it's really not a big deal. Compared to changes in combat strategy, the menus won't make much of a difference. Honestly, I'd say all you really need to do to make this publishable is speed up the boss fights. Will is a bad deal, I think. It's always good to have more power, and the crystal makes the charging faster anyway.
Posted: 12/7/2005 10:15 PM
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TheAxeMan
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This is a pretty nice demo run, hope you are able to finish. Don't worry about finding every trick, just finishing the game at the pace you are going now will be a major accomplishment. Hey, now I know what it looks like to go through the darkness without the soul. :) The min level for each sword is kinda annoying, but workable. I agree that critical sword is probably a worthwhile pickup. Ice armor would take so long to get that I don't think it's worth it. It hardly phased you in Greenwood and there isn't as much fire in Leo's lab. It's hard to say how important it is to keep a lot of gems around, which is a very good reason to make a demo run. For sure there will need to be a lot at the end to take on DeathToll, but even then you can pick some up during the battle. Also, I think you can just poke the metal/spirit enemies with the right sword to kill them. This is good because otherwise you won't be able to kill the walls to levelup at the end. Of course you still need to be able to swing the Soul sword to use Phoenix, so it's necessary to get that high to finish the game.
Posted: 12/1/2005 1:19 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Ah, one of the gameBoy classics which I'm really surprised hasn't been done yet. I agree that damage should be taken, but having at least one powerup for each boss is a must. That means taking no hits between the last powerup orb and the boss or otherwise working things out to be powered up on the boss. So quite a bit of the run needs to be no-hit. Also, attacking really slows you down, I wouldn't be surprised if it's often faster to ignore lag and keep moving. I actually messed around with this game some myself, and noticed that taking hits is even faster than walking. By turning at the last frame so the enemy hits your back, you'll fly in the direction you want to go. Jumping slows you down by a few frames though.
Posted: 11/29/2005 6:20 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Yes Matty, you've certainly improved a lot since your FFA run. It's always hard to estimate how much improvement is possible, but you're probably about right. Also, using this run for comparison, making a better version should be pretty easy. The outer world travel should be pretty fast, but it will indeed be necessary to frame advance pretty much every boss fight. But hey, this game is so sweet, I'm sure someone will pick it up eventually.
Posted: 11/28/2005 5:14 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Interesting tip, I never noticed this. But pretty useless if it's very little MP. MP is indeed not particularly useful in a wild warp run. I only acquire level 3 attacks for water and thunder, late in the game, and both cause a lot of lag. A full run would definitely have much more MP used for teleport, so we'll see. But for the top sword attacks, only wind doesn't lag severely, and it's not that useful either. It's just much faster to run up to an enemy and stick your sword in him. Another nail in this coffin is the fact that there are several spots where it is very easy to acquire a magic ring. Oh, and I keep thinking about picking up this run again and then get into something else. If I do get something interesting to show, I certainly will.
Posted: 11/17/2005 2:44 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Sweet! Indeed, Mario should be the first run for each system. Congratulations Spezz, but I am also looking forward to the 100% version.
Posted: 11/3/2005 3:59 AM
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TheAxeMan
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You should play the other controller with your toes.
Posted: 11/3/2005 3:11 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Wow, this is exciting me as well. Cheap bloodbath skirmishes are neat, but I would like to see a run through the campaign. As I found out when doing Fire Emblem, a TAS on a strategy game requires a lot of skill and knowledge about the game, and this will be even tougher since you can't just manipulate all your hits away. Still, there are certainly ways to abuse enemy AI, rerecording, and slow motion to finish most missions very quickly. Unfortunately, the enemy is already entrenched in most campaign missions, so you can't just drone rush. My hunch is that the fastest method for almost every mission is a marine/hydra/dragoon rush (I have played through the original campaign like this.) This army can be built fairly quickly, and with multiple well-planned actions per second to micro these guys, this tactic should be absolutely devastating. If the mission has some goal for a certain target, then it can be ended quickly with a hero rush or some other dirty trick. This is what I think will be really interesting. I know that quite a few missions have hidden goals, for example the official goal is to destroy everything but you really only need to take out the command center.
Posted: 11/1/2005 7:54 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Wow, fascinating thread. I used to be known as the AxeMan, BattleAxe or simply Axe on the Ultimate Frisbee fields of the midwestern US. No reason in particular, just something badass everyone could call me. In fact, a lot of my teammates never learned my real name. I guess being shorter than average forced me to develop an unorthodox playing style, and I was great at making superman-style diving catches (very hardcore in Ultimate because you aren't wearing any padding.) Also, at the time, winning on the field was just as important as winning the party, where I was the MVP (but most teams are so serious now). I played on Leadbelly until tearing my ACL (main ligament holding your knee together), and since I live in a backwards country with no health care I ended up waiting a few years before getting the surgery I needed. Now I play pickup Ultimate at work every once in a while, but I am no longer known as The AxeMan in real life, so I use it as an internet alias.
Posted: 10/31/2005 5:16 PM
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TheAxeMan
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Wow, looks great. My only questions are on a couple weapon switches. At the end of Top Man you switch from Magnet to Needle, then to Hard Punch for the boss. But Hard Punch hurts the guy you used Needles on and I think you would have plenty left for Top Man, so why not switch to Hard Punch there? The other one is in Spark Man, you use magnets for a while, then switch to Shadow Blades. Are the Shadow Blades too slow for those falling bricks? You could use Shadow Blades more, but then you have to pick up those powerups in the end. Is that the only reason you don't switch earlier?
Posted: 10/17/2005 5:54 AM
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TheAxeMan
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I've gotten a Dragon Potion in this game before. It doesn't heal you, and it doesn't change the save spot (so when you die you'll go to the last normal save.) Still, you might be able to save, reset the game, and then load it up (yes, you can record a reset or a power cycle.) The effect would be the same as dying, but faster and without losing your sidekicks and half your gold. I would also wonder about the Falcon Sword and how much it would really help. Getting that much money should take quite a bit of time. If you get a wizard ring in the lottery you can be set on MP for the rest of the game. How hard would it be to get Cannock to a high enough level for Return, or even Outside? You can see metal slimes in the cloak of wind tower I think, and definitely in the dragon horn towers.
Posted: 10/14/2005 1:35 AM
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TheAxeMan
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http://home.comcast.net/~f_amoroso/BadDudes-TheAxeManv0.1.fcm (same link as before) Ok, it's a full bad test run on this bad game, but there's plenty of room for improvement. I used rapid fire for jumping and forgot about flaming punches until near the end. There are also more double jumps. The flaming punch does 1.5 damage compared to 1 for a weapon or jumping attack, so it might be useful in some of the boss fights. This ended up more interesting than I thought, this game is probably worth timeattacking after all.
Posted: 10/7/2005 8:38 PM
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TheAxeMan
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That's pretty sweet. I was wondering if you have any other tricks to get your hadouken shot off on some of the bosses faster, and maybe using it on the nose of the face boss? Any chance you could make an ice platform and fire from that?
Posted: 9/30/2005 7:03 AM
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TheAxeMan
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http://home.comcast.net/~f_amoroso/FireEmblem-TheAxeManv0.1.vbm (same link as before) Lyn's story is finished. The last three levels each take 3 turns. Theoretically, if Florina were as powerful as Lyn, I think battle 8 could be done in 2 turns. But only Lyn has even close the stats needed to pull off that killing spree. Of course, I could go straight to Eliwood's story, but if I decide to go there I'll do an improved version of Lyn's story first. I discovered several timesavers in later levels, and I never needed the money I put so much effort into getting. I could also do better with low-probability criticals early on. Well, it's going to get a lot tougher from here on out. I'm not really up for this right now, so if anyone else wants to take on this game, then please do.
Posted: 9/30/2005 12:28 AM
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TheAxeMan
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I have wondered about using bare hands vs weapons. There's some separation between the power of a weapon and character strength in the damage calculations, but I'm not sure exactly how it works out. Indeed, bare hands may be stronger. Also, I got to thinking about how useful the change spell might be. I wouldn't have to do much damage to bosses if I could simply come in with one person low on HP, they cast change, and I kill the boss with very little damage. The trick to increase HP and MP could also be useful. The catch is obtaining the spell early. The problem isn't getting to Mysidia, but getting the thousands of gold needed.
Posted: 9/29/2005 6:48 PM
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TheAxeMan
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Most likely, it won't be possible to slip through as easily as FF1. However, I think it may be possible to whup early enemies and get all the stats I need quickly by manipulating luck. Stat building might be based on a probability system. Use a little MP for a small chance to increase max MP, but use a lot and there is a big chance to increase max MP. Of course luck manipulation would only require a chance greater than zero. I haven't tested this out yet though. Right, shields don't increase defense, just evade. Having two weapons may be faster for building weapon skill, but in a two-weapon attack, each weapon is weak. However, one weapon and a free hand increases attack power. So yeah, shields are out. Inzult, you can up your max MP much more easily with the Aspil spell. Unfortunately, you can't get it until near the end of the game, but some enemies between Phin and Mysidia use it. You just let them steal your MP and then you'll gain max MP. With the spell yourself, you can drain down one person's MP, then have them cast it on someone else in the party. Also, if spell levels increasing becomes a problem, most spells can be discarded and relearned, resetting to level 1. Right now I am just thinking and putting this up for discussion. If I work on this game, I will start out on a translated version. As an American, I only know one language, and even that...only so-so. ;)
Posted: 9/29/2005 6:36 AM
Post subject: Final Fantasy 2 (J)
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TheAxeMan
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Final Fantasy rules! Of course there is no official English translation of FF2j on the NES, so a TAS would have to use the original Japanese ROM. Anyway, this game may not be too bad to timeattack, as it's possible to avoid random battles. Two methods I've found: --You can save anywhere in the outer world, with no item needed. Save, power cycle and reload to avoid the battle. --Go into inventory and use a healing item or spell. It's not enough to just go into inventory, you have to use something. Unfortunately, you can't cast cure on someone with full HP. You can use a potion, however, and this will avoid the encounter. There is a well-known glitch which allows weapon skill levels to be easily increased. You simply command one member to fight then cancel the next person's command, and repeat the command to fight. (so you can't do it for the last person.) It's slow and tedious for a timeattack, but hopefully it's only necessary for one person to build up one weapon type (probably sword, but maybe axe). This works on magic too, but there may be no advantage. This game has no levels, instead stats go up randomly after each victorious battle depending on what happens in the fight. Take damage, HP might go up. Lose MP, max MP goes up. Cast a spell for magic power, fight for strength. If this system can be manipulated well, then all the strength necessary to beat the game can be acquired pretty early on. What I think is necessary: at least one character with high hp, one with high mp and low magic power and of course one with high strength and weapon skill who will slaughter the bosses. Theoretically, this could be combined into one person, but it might be easier for two or three to build up skills in parallel. Each battle fought will drain the high-hp character, and the high-mp person will gradually heal them, avoiding battles. In boss fights, the high-strength killer will do his thing, perhaps in one blow each time. Swords are likely because there is a blood sword somewhere that can do insane amounts of damage. There's also the ancient sword which can curse any enemy, lowering their defenses significantly. So perhaps someone will curse the enemy (only takes one hit) and then someone else will use an axe for extra power. Also, wide amounts of the world open up quickly in this game. If you've played then you know how easy it is to encounter some very nasty enemies early on. This is the only thing preventing trips to the later towns, where better weapons and magic could be acquired.
Posted: 9/28/2005 6:12 PM
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TheAxeMan
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Wow, there seems to be a lot more interest in this than I thought. The 2-player mode is alternating, so it's very bad. I agree that the arcade version of this game is much better. The TAS makes this game look much better than it actually is though. I'll have to check out that double jump bug, it sounds interesting. In addition to hitting enemies in midair, it could also be useful for jumping over pits. In fact, because jumping is much faster than walking, it may be good for constant use. I also think it's funny to see the ninjas run up and get mowed down. In a way though, it breaks my heart because ninjas are so frickin cool. The 8-bit speech on beating each level is priceless. Finally, the ending of this game alone would make a timeattack worthwhile. It makes me very proud to be an American...
Posted: 9/28/2005 4:53 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Ah, thanks for the support, it's important for somebody to make that pun. ;) Nils wasn't useful in Chapter 7 for two reasons. The tutorial script forces me to waste his dance on Lucius, but even if I could use him on Florina, it wouldn't be enough to get me all the way around the shaman to put Lyn in front of Heintz. Of course, I could have dropped in Rath and gotten the boss from the side. Now, if I had picked up a javelin somewhere, Florina could fly in and nail the boss on the first turn, but it would take an extra turn to get the javelin in Chapter 5. In 8, I've worked out a plan to finish on my turn 3. This is key because the reinforcements come during enemy turn 3. As you guessed, I'll be using Nils and Florina in a balls-out, Rambo style raid. But you were wrong about one thing, it won't be a one man army... Looking ahead, chapters 9 and 10 both have seize-the-throne goals, which will unfortunately add an extra turn. After checking them out a little, I think three turns each will be the best I can do. Again, if Florina was an invincible killing machine, things would be different, but the programmers did a good job of making her useless in big battles.
Posted: 9/27/2005 9:14 PM
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TheAxeMan
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I forget, one of the buttons skips the screen, but only after a certain time. Select, maybe? Yeah, this actually ended up more interesting than I thought it would be, so I'll come back to it in a bit. Unless someone else thinks they're bad enough...
Posted: 9/27/2005 11:31 AM
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TheAxeMan
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A couple more levels beaten, 3 and 2 turns. Now just three left, but they will get a little tougher. The next level requires beating all the enemies, and there are quite a few of them. The terrain is also annoyingly difficult to traverse on foot. I'll see what I can do, I'd like to work in the ballista. The last two levels have the capture goal, so I'll be able to march right in, and hopefully Lyn has enough strength that her crit will slaughter the bosses. Otherwise Sain or Erk will step up.
Posted: 9/26/2005 5:08 PM
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TheAxeMan
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I'M BAD!!! http://home.comcast.net/~f_amoroso/BadDudes-TheAxeManv0.1.fcm I messed around with this game a little, but put it off to work on some...not so BAD games. Boss 2 could be much faster if you could keep him from jumping across the screen. A big problem that has to be considered is that some enemies will prevent the boss from appearing if you don't kill them, as you'll see in level 3.
Posted: 9/25/2005 8:17 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Ok, forget about what I said before, I was able to finish that level in two turns after all. Of course I'm not able to do any shopping, but the fact that this is possible at all is pretty impressive. To see how I pulled it off, get the vbm from the same spot in my first post. Next level will be a little longer, it will be interesting to see what happens.
Posted: 9/25/2005 12:54 AM
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TheAxeMan
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Well I finally got around to watching the full WIP, and I'm quite impressed. You clearly know the game very well and have a pretty good array of tricks. The many puzzles are done well too. I hope to see this finished sometime, it would be a shame to give up after making it so far!
Posted: 9/24/2005 3:55 AM
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TheAxeMan
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I used to have this error all the time. It seems to be a little better if you turn off the sound. But as others have said, the best solution is to slow down no further than 25% and use frame advance when you need real control.
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