TASVideos

Posted: 6/4/2023 3:15 PM

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eien86

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Randomno wrote:

Would that be using a brute forcer on the simulated version of the game?

Exactly, but also using some of their optimizations as well.

Posted: 6/4/2023 8:29 AM

Post subject: Please replace movie

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eien86

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Hi Nymx and Spikestuff, Apologies for submitting this at this point in the process, but I realized a faster boss kill was possible. This movie here contains a ~13 frames faster solution. Please do replace the current submission with it https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638214640676891518

Posted: 5/31/2023 3:31 AM

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eien86

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I love movies with happy endings =D Now for the "hindsight is 20/20" comment: my tip is to setup Bizhawk to do regular saves and backups. And not only that, but work on a GoogleDrive/OneDrive folder, such that every single change you make gets insta-uploaded into the cloud with versioning and all. This should cover you in case your whole computer or SSD goes kaputt. Finally, also make regular uploads of your WIPs into TASVideos.org userfiles.

Posted: 5/30/2023 3:32 PM

Post subject: Remote Workout

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eien86

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Patashu wrote:

It's been a billion years, and it looks like it's finally time - the Maniac Mansion TAS is improvable! https://www.speedrun.com/maniac_mansion_nes/run/m7202xez The WR in RTA timing is 5m29s. Arc's TAS by the same timing would be a 6m15s or so.

Amazing -- he works out with one kid, and the other gets the gains! I wish I could pay someone to go to the gym for me!

Posted: 5/28/2023 1:26 PM

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eien86

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Thanks for the comments!

nymx wrote:

Wow....you are turning these BOTed games out like crazy! Are you sure you aren't using a BOT to simulate your presence in front of your monstrous machine? :)

I guess we can recruit ChatGPT to replace the human part of my work -- that'd be the end of TASing as we know it ;) For anybody reading this: we're joking. Even though it's partly automated, TASing with bots requires ungodly amounts of human effort in reverse engineering, scripting, calibrating, etc for each game. I am personally spending a couple dozen of hours a week to this as of late.

Posted: 5/26/2023 9:29 AM

Post subject: GPUs and Emulation don't mix

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eien86

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Fully parallelizable emulators exist and I've been using them for a while with high-level of parallelism (128 cores in my threadripper computer) See: [https://tasvideos.org/Forum/Topics/24058] Take a look at my movies to see what can be done with a fully parallelized bot: [https://tasvideos.org/Movies-Author11245] Some emus are non-parallelizable yes, but just because they employ global variables. This is an easily fixable problem, and I indeed did solve it for a bunch of platforms in JaffarPlus. Beyond that, GPUs are nothing but vector processors, ideal for workloads like linear algebra where the same instruction is applied to many data elelments. Console emulation is literally the worst possible workload for a GPU, because you need every different instance of the game to emulate a different console opcode.

Posted: 5/25/2023 3:54 PM

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eien86

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Thanks for all your comments! Very appreciated! The submission summary says re-record count missing, but in fact I manually modified the bk2 file to include the real number: 204150846438. This number comes from the bot's logs, and represents how many load_state/advance_step cycles it tried. I've seen other movies using similar lua script bots being published with similar astronomical re-record counts so I argue there's no reason to not do that for this movie as well.

Posted: 5/25/2023 4:53 AM

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eien86

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- Guy on the boat: "Look! I'm going 200mph!" - Alligator coming from the opposite direction: *breaks the speed of sound* Yes vote 6.9/7

Posted: 5/9/2023 4:36 PM

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eien86

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Linkister wrote:

Hello. I am Linkister and i am new to the whole "TASING" community. I was just wondering how to make SMW tases. Becuse i have been serching, but can not find answers. P.S. I whould love to work and make tases with someone if anyone are interested. - Linkister 2023

Hi Linkister and welcome! In general, it is not recommended for beginners in TASing to tackle such monumentally researched games (i.e., any game starts with Super or Mario). Instead, you'll have a much fun slide into this hobby by tackling a more basic game that you might be fond of. To start TASing in general, there are a lot of resources. If I were you, I'd start perusing the article library in this site, especially the Tasing Guide If you are nevertheless insisting on tackling this game then I, no joke, would read every single post in this very thread. There is a rich history that you just cannot ignore. Then take a look, reproduce, and analyze published movies. Finally, take a look at the knowledge others have curated in the game's resources TASing has a steep learning curve, but it's incredibly rewarding. Looking forward to watching your movies in the future!

Posted: 5/9/2023 11:07 AM

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eien86

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pooiyx wrote:

I'm referring to this: https://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_Bros.#Hard_mode For such a historic and iconic game, I'm surprised that there aren't any TAS videos made of its hard mode: https://tasvideos.org/1G I would love to see both a "warps" and "warpless" run of Super Mario 1's "2nd quest".

*Correct me if I'm wrong*. I suspect such a movie would be much like the normal mode, since the only thing that changes is enemy behavior which is largely inconsequential to begin with.

Posted: 5/7/2023 4:26 AM

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eien86

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There is enough evidence and feedback from the community and judges to deem this and the Tengen version as one and the same game. I agree with that, and since the Tengen one is shorter, I'm cancelling this one. Thanks all for their feedback!

Posted: 5/6/2023 8:09 PM
(Edited: 5/6/2023 8:10 PM)

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eien86

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Alyosha wrote:

https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638189969203933938 I tried a bit more to get a good Kraid fight. I ended up about 5 seconds ahead of the published run leaving Kraid's lair. Currently the run desyncs due to an extra enemy spawning that I don't know how to fix. If anyone can fix it feel free to continue the run.

I could try to help. I had setup the bot to run NES Metroid but quickly gave up doing the entire game due to frustration. If this is a particular situation that a bot can untangle, I'd be happy to take a look. HMU if interested

Posted: 4/27/2023 6:20 AM

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eien86

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Good stuff, although I'm afraid this choice of games betrays your age ;)

Posted: 4/25/2023 4:34 AM
(Edited: 4/25/2023 5:19 AM)

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eien86

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SmashManiac wrote:

Does this movie sync with the Tengen version as well? Because it sounds like the only difference is the forced delayed start that causes the RNG to desync from [5231] NES Pac-Man (Tengen) by eien86 in 12:02.86. Are they really different games?

Hi, the solution desyncs even if you account for the delay. I couldn't say whether this is specifically an RNG effect or some other elements in the game mechanics are also affected. As to whether to consider these different games, I'll leave that to the community to decide. If the consensus says they are, then I'll go ahead and cancel it

Posted: 4/25/2023 3:16 AM

Post subject: Not a TAS

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eien86

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Was excited to see a winning eleven submission. I used to play the hell out of this game with my friends in my high school years and I know it has a huge potential for a funny glitch showcase. This submission (or, at least, the encode) however, is not a TAS. It is but a recorded casual playthrough to showcase the mod. It's cool, but I don't think this is the right venue.

Posted: 4/23/2023 6:32 PM

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eien86

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Alrighty, thanks for the clarification. I just had to make sure :)

Posted: 4/23/2023 5:47 PM

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eien86

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Just letting you know that you can trigger an error when logging in, if you change the value of "RememberMe" after clicking "log in". This sends both values which triggers an error. This happened to me on Android+Chrome

What's concerning to me, though, is that the form returns with all credentials as plain text. This means the pass went to the server and back without any type of obfuscation. Pretty sure this isn't too safe.

Posted: 4/7/2023 7:24 AM

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eien86

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I love this game and it's awesome to see a TAS for a fighting game that aims for shortest movie (and not just playaround, which are great in their own right). However, these questions remain:

Noxxa wrote:

Is it possible to manipulate what opponents/stage you get? Wondering if it might be theoretically possible to avoid the Raging Inferno stage with its time-slowing stage transition, or avoiding the Juggernaut/Zangief team. Is Ryu really one of the lowest health characters in the game? I'd have expected it to be someone like Cammy or Magneto (shame you can't pick another Akuma). Is there a character health chart anywhere for this game?

In particular, the possibility of manipulating opponents -- is this deterministic based on your own choice or RNG-based that could be manipulated by delaying button presses? If opponent health determines the number of tatsu cycles requires to defeat them, then this is a crucial issue. This movie might be already be optimal, but we won't know until these questions are answered.

Posted: 4/1/2023 10:15 AM
(Edited: 4/1/2023 11:16 AM)

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eien86

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feos wrote:

If the same tricks work in both versions, I think having the more complete one is enough (especially if optimal input in the same levels is identical). If there are differences, having both versions means someone will be interested in TASing the shorter one to see how much quicker it gets, and therefore it makes sense to have it. But if you can automatically know how long the quicker one is by simply subtracting a constant value, or copying inputs and then cutting out one level, I'm not sure what value it has, and for whom.

I don't know if I buy the argument that an identical game with more material should supersede the original one. I'll use an imaginary case: "Nintendo launches NES SMB Deluxe in a bundle with a new game to promote sales. The Deluxe version is exactly the same as the original, but contains two more world after the last one -- where you rescue the Princess lost jewels or something." If we used the superset approach, we should adopt the Deluxe version as the main game, converting the current any% into a subcategory lke originalAny%. Here are my my counter-arguments to that: * Pedigree: Even if the new game is a superset of the first one, it does not carry the same history and nostalgia as the original. Gamers will associate the old one to their memories and emotions and will probably reject as extraneous a game that is longer -- in the same way I reject some self-proclaimed sequels for many series and movies. NES SMB any% carries so much more weight than anything that could be deemed NES SMB Deluxe Version OriginalAny%. * Backward References: NES SMB any% is the way the most popular category is called. It may become confusing if years and years of using this name would now refer to a different game and different category. * Multiple Supersets: This is purely mathematical argument, but infinite supersets may exist of any set s != U. Nintendo may choose to release yet another Deluxe version with different worlds. Now we would have to discuss to which deluxe version does the original SMB belong to?

Posted: 4/1/2023 7:20 AM

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eien86

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My two cents: these ARE and should be considered two different games.

Posted: 4/1/2023 7:04 AM

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eien86

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Link to video

Posted: 3/31/2023 3:55 AM

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eien86

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Spikestuff wrote:

How the shit does your input sequence get that damn lucky to be that repeatable, like the hell?

Ah, I need to clarify this. The input is the same as my previous submission only for the first level. But then every other level after has a different set of inputs; I had to run the bot for every one them.

Posted: 3/30/2023 4:55 PM

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eien86

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Cancelling this submission based on the feedback received, in favor of my upcoming submission where: - The category has more chances to meet acceptance criteria - I includes the exact inputs of this submission but adds more levels, up to where the game doesn't change anymore

Posted: 3/28/2023 4:49 PM
(Edited: 3/28/2023 4:50 PM)

Post subject: We'll be back!

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eien86

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Cancelling submission for the following reasons: - There exists another version of the game (Tengen) which is equivalent to this (Namco) but allows starting faster. This movie needs to be re-done on another rom. - Spikestuff pointed to us that a previous work exists that I missed from Randil. This work faster in its routing. - Our calculations failed to observed some of the particulars of the game (in particular, the ability of Pac-man to quick-grab pellets around the corners). We need to go back to the drawing board and re-calculate the routing with this in mind. - Based on how busy my co-author and me are, this might take a while -- more than a 'delayed' submission can sensibly take. We'll be back, but for now let's remove this sub from the workspace. Thanks for the feedback to all!

Posted: 3/28/2023 3:38 AM

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eien86

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jeff_town wrote:

I love bot optimization but understand if it doesn't fit other site rules.

Hi Jeff, thanks! Yes, it's true that TASvideos traditionally accepts full movies. However, I've been following the site developments closely and this rule has been relaxed in some instances to enable some really entertaining movies to be published in a special category.

jeff_town wrote:

Does [...] the occasional 1-pixel forays into a side tunnel (e.g., one around frame 486) not lose frames?.

The 'forays' might be pure Ghost manipulation, to get them out of the way.

jeff_town wrote:

The frame 1550 pill-eating seems especially surprising as that part of the maze is traversed again a little bit later, so the pill would be eaten anyhow.

I'm investigating this right now because it seems some of the pathing might be superfluous, given how the pac-man moves in this game. I'll be working on a new version soon so stay tuned.

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