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Excellent run through a classic adventure. Too bad it wasn't enough to keep this company above water! By the way, there's hope that the sound bug will be fixed soon.
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Very good, I love how you showed off, particularly on the bikes and snakes. The boss battles were very well done. Despite the obvious advantages of timeattacking, it's still easy to see that this is a tough game.
One thing about the second level, it seems to pause for little bit everytime you hit a bird. You wouldn't be able to show off as much, but would it be faster if you went for minimal hits on the shaft?
In the fire zone, you kill some enemies with ordinary punches while others get ramming headbuts and giant fists, taking longer. Any reason for differences?
Also, is it any slower to put in the 5-life code in the beginning? It's not a button sequence, you just hold A B down when you hit start.
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Here is the text displayed during the last fight:
Also, when playing the jap version, I noticed that there is a backstory sequence that plays if you let the title screen sit. I guess they decided to take all that stuff out and just give the action to us Americans.
I only played through the normal mode, but it looks like there is a big difference in level 6. The jap version has a barrier which prevents you from wrapping around the screen vertically, though you can take an armor hit and pass through it. This makes things considerably more difficult since the ground is also moving vertically. There also don't seem to be any P powerups in stage 6. For these reasons, I think a run on the jap version would probably be tougher and most likely slower, but not necessarily more interesting. It's been commented that stage 6 is the most interesting part of the current run, and it definitely wouldn't be as fun without those wrap-around falls.
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Ok, I downloaded the jap rom and watched this run. While the run itself was poor, I noticed only superficial differences between the two versions. In my opinion the robot doesn't really look better in white. The sound is probably better in the jap version. There was some difference in enemy layout, the normal jap mode seemed closer to the USA expert mode, but otherwise all the levels were the same. Perhaps I'll check the jap expert mode, but probably not.
Most interestingly, there was some kanji text that appears during the final fight. I can't read it (as an American I barely even know English) but I'd be interested to know what they are talking about. The ending is an excellent specimen of Engrish.
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I would love to work on this once my current projects are complete. No doubt on the longish side but there would be plenty of good stuff. Don't count on this coming from me anytime soon...
If I did this in addition to Crystalis I suppose I would be Hamm's hero. :)
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I'd love to see them both. Even though battletoads is longer, it's more straightforward and might actually take less time to make. Batman will probably be more impressive though, based on your first level. So either one is fine.
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Is everyone sure that easytype is the way to go? The extra moves in hardtype could be interesting. Extra magic with Rydia, recall with Tellah, dark wave with Cecil... I would love to see a weak party walk up to Octomamm and bamm!--Tellah suddenly remembers Lit 3. Some early fights can also be faster with properly used dark waves. Plus, damage-dealing items are available for extra damage from otherwise useless bitches like Rosa and Edgar. I think a well-planned jap run could be interesting, even though no one would understand the dialogue. Hell, as an American, I don't even know English that well, so...
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Excellent job, entity. I would like to see two runs at this, the result is always a higher quality in the end.
It looks like you've found some nice corners to cut and also put some thought into finding a good path through the lava. You pause a few times, is this just to recover mp? It seems unnecessary. It also looks like you could work out some more jumps on solid ground, saving HP. Keep at it, always looking forward to seeing more.
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....136 frames slower...
Sorry to hear that. This game is pretty tough to timeattack when you take the lag into consideration. I've started my v2 and finished the first 3 levels a total of 207 frames faster. I'm at least a frame faster on every section too.
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I would say my top NES pick would be the SMB2 full run. Low-G man could be interesting, particularly if powerups could be manipulated. That was what always made it tough, there was so much you could do but you got what you wanted.
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Inzult has found out that preemptive/ambush battles are decided at the end of the last battle, in addition to number of enemies. The type of enemies follows a hardcoded rotation. Don't know if he manipulates to get a large number of steps until the next battle though, but this would be good too.
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On level...4, I believe, when you're inside that moving box, you don't destroy the pink enemies, rather choosing to jump over and move around them. Aestetics?
Yup, just showing off. :) Slowdown starts at a certain threshold, so if there's no danger of reaching that then there's no reason I can't have some fun. In general it only seems to be a problem with enemies that have some sort of shot.
On the sixth and seventh level, when you fight the platform bosses, you sometimes don't position yourself to shoot right when the hatch opens (although you don't miss a shot, either). Was that due to manipulating when the hatches open, or what?
As I said in the submission text, it's only critical to hit the one that takes the most hits right away. I make sure to hit him as soon as opens up, but I can wait on the other ones. The shot doesn't have to be at point blank as long as I time it so it hits at the right time. There doesn't seem to be any way to manipulate the openings, after taking a hit they close down for a set amount of time and then reopen. The exception is in the beginning of the fight, they all open briefly and then close whether you hit them or not.
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Since we are both starting about now, perhaps we should nail down exactly what password to use. I'll do some experimentation, I think I can find one a little faster than the one I used.
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Well, even when you're a fireball all the time it's not like you aren't in danger. messing up by one frame is death, and I have to come out of it to do some movements. I just thought I'd show that it was possible to do it more or less as a fireball.
In the first fight with stage 2 boss I couldn't find an optimal order which would have me going from one to the next the whole time. With fireball I need to kill one all the way before going on to the next since I have to take a few steps into their little nook. I'm vulnerable when jumping to the next one so I can't do it when either one is firing. If you kill one of them while it's firing, the shot finishes firing.
In stage 5, almost all the lasers are positioned so that you'd have to go out of the way to kill them. I tried killing some of them anyway, but it was always faster just to take the lag than to take the time to kill them. They just take too many hits and are positioned too poorly. The gun is too weak, and I have to be on top of them to fireball them, which ends up taking more time then it's worth.
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Yes, this game was pretty badass, I loved the action. Never tried speedrunning more than attempting 1/4... and only got 1/8. Dammit. But still it was pretty sweet, definitely a unique experience.
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I'll second the smash TV request, but the SNES version would be the one to do. Phil has started working on Mighty Final Fight, see his thread in the "general" forum.
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I love the Ogre Battle run, I'd love to see this finished. You've assembled an excellent ironman party which should beat anything in no time. However, I suppose it will get tougher. Apparently you have no trouble manipulating drop luck which makes this game much easier. Have you figured out where you will get money for the merchant? I guess feeding potions will take a while but you can become laughably powerful. Getting mages might require more fighting since you need to lower your alignment, but then you are set. It might be nice to change to Gryphon as well, there may be occasions for the petrify.
On second thought, it might get old after a few levels of simply flying through, slaughtering the boss and moving on. The whole point of this game is to spend lots of time doing different things. As it is, you probably won't get to see your old avatar :). I'd still be interested in seeing it though. Good luck.
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Some of these might have already been listed, but...
More straightforward for timeattacking:
Wario Blast
Mega Man GB series (I think there's at least 4 of them)
Batman
Batman-The animated series ** a cool game, but tough **
Mario Land
Mario Land 2, normal and 100% runs
Castlevania Adventure series
Boomer's Adventures in Asmik World
Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly
Battletoads (two of them) ** impossibly tough games **
Ren and Stimpy ** for the memories **
Operation C ** hunter or spread?? **
Kwirk ** a cute puzzle game **
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3 of them I think)
More complex but potentially sweet:
Zelda: Link's Awakening
Knight's Quest
Sword of Hope (I believe there's also a sequel)
Final Fantasy Legend series ** all amazing, but 2 is the best **
Final Fantasy Adventure ** this would be pretty badass **
Ultima: Runes of Virtue (1 and 2) ** different from other Ultima games, these are actually single-character puzzle/dungeon crawlers **
I have a whole bunch of games, I'll have to check when I get home.
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Cheez has posted an 11:43 normal mode run in the forums so this one is now obsolete. It's been decided that expert mode is the way to go in this game anyway. I'll hopefully submit mine soon, maybe tonight. Jed, you should cancel your submissions.
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I am up to boss 6, so this run will be done as soon as I can beat him and all the bosses again. I used a password that gave fireball but not armor. It doesn't matter anyway, the armor is less useful in expert mode. I do use it to finish 4-1 subboss earlier, but there are a couple good spots to pick it up before this. It might also be necessary in the second fight vs boss 3 as I don't know if it's possible to reach the safe spot without getting hit. By the way, using gravity fireball I finish some of the bosses faster than any run I've seen yet despite the fact that they take more hits in expert mode. It's too bad I have to switch for boss 6.
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Well it definitely did get more interesting. I agree that you shouldn't bother going out of the way to kill any enemies as long as you can still kill the bosses. Especially if you can manipulate them as well as you have been. Nice job, looking forward to seeing more.
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In Goa fortress, the lamias are exactly the same as the waterfall cave. That is, they only give 50 exp while the spiders give 1280. Even killing every lamia on the way won't be enough to make up for one spider. I would do it for kicks if there was no penalty, but there is. The level 2 thunder blast creates lag and other attacks would require turning around. So I just ignore them, they are little fish at that point. Remember that at levelup, experience resets to zero, so extra kills really are worthless.
I've considered using warp boots more, but it is hard as I have to visit a town first. This is why I can't do it for Amazones. One place I thought about using it was to Goa since I warp there twice. However, getting Goa on the warp list would require going through the front exit, not the back one to the fortress, and this would also be where the warp boots take me in. At that point, another time through the warp points is faster. I need to warp to the desert for the power ring anyway. Another spot I considered for warp boots is another one in Portoa, warping out of the cave behind the throne the first time I go there. This would take me to the entrance faster so I can see the fortune teller. However just walking is faster since the warp boots require 1 second in inventory (but more worthwhile if I do other things in inventory) and then 3-4 for the animation. I can loop through all the warp points in about 12 sec. You might notice that after getting the ball of water I retrace my steps instead of warping back to that point. In general the optimal results come from planning the order I do things around the warp points as much as possible. I resort to other methods like warp boots or (gasp) walking when the warp points won't do.
The first time I loop back through the warp points is actually pretty convenient. I use it to tie up several loose ends including Amazones and getting barrier magic. If I didn't do this I would get barrier right after change and maybe use warp boots to Brynmaer to get to Amazones. But since I'm warping anyway it works out. The main reason for the loop is to avoid walking all the way back through Shyron to the dungeon area of Mt Hydra.
Well, the moral of the story is that optimizing the warp pattern is a pretty complex problem. I'm confident that I've got an optimal solution now though.
Also, when playing the jap version, I noticed that there is a backstory sequence that plays if you let the title screen sit. I guess they decided to take all that stuff out and just give the action to us Americans.
I only played through the normal mode, but it looks like there is a big difference in level 6. The jap version has a barrier which prevents you from wrapping around the screen vertically, though you can take an armor hit and pass through it. This makes things considerably more difficult since the ground is also moving vertically. There also don't seem to be any P powerups in stage 6. For these reasons, I think a run on the jap version would probably be tougher and most likely slower, but not necessarily more interesting. It's been commented that stage 6 is the most interesting part of the current run, and it definitely wouldn't be as fun without those wrap-around falls.