How exactly does the password glitch work? How many things can allowed from it? Any limits? There was a glitched password TAS of a different game that skips directly to the credits (usually does not do that), but that got rejected for being unvaultable.
Bizhawk installer doesn't run in my pc/potato,just like FBA-rr crashes all the time randomly with its guru meditations and fatal runtime errors ,which is why i gave up on both emulator and decided to try something at an emulator which runs with no problems.
Also,since the emulator is accepted but not prefered,i'd rather use the one i can instead of going out of my way just to use the one you guys use as well.
TL;DR:I don't understand what should BIOS should I use just to be safe,since you're suggesting to change emulators.
Try posting for help. According to this thread, they have an IRC for it.
when making a movie,which bios is the correct one?the default emulator bios, GBA with intro or GBA intro-less?
I'm using the one with intro, since for things like hard reset skipping the intro would make the run far faster than an actual GBA.
Also what's wrong with BizHawk? It has a lot better Ram Watch and even includes TAStudio that vba doesn't.
Sorry for posting again, but this time it's about event flags and other things
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zYLmhTzuoJj20F59IMrOObM3G8vSBPnw8na67ukxVCc/edit?usp=sharing
Notes: All in EWRAM
012F66 - # of clues obtained; curiously this affects the clue displayed when you grab one; say if you edited it to 1, and grabbed the first clue. The game will hand you the 2nd clue instead.
There are also flags for items regarding should they exist in the room (obtained or not) and another flag checking if you had grab them. As a consequence of the latter, even if you were to (for example) take a key or wrench from earlier and somehow not used it, it still won't let you use said tool in a later part.
Same with clues, so it means I still have to physically obtain them, or else it will pretend I never owned it.
The savefile does not save the stage you're on; only the room. So if you cheated/glitched to a room in a completely different stage and saved after a checkpoint, it will show up as the new stage.
Edit: Also improved room 0x0E by 197 frames. I'm going to retry the first stage again.
Oh, and I went and analyzed the room with the first stairs in room 0x11. Seems I'm unable to actually gain enough vertical speed to clip into it on the spots I am able to clip (by cheating the speed value), and when I do obtain enough speed I'm too far up the stairs. I'll say it's not possible to clip there for now.
Edit2: Just so I won't forget to implement it this time, this is the fastest time I managed to slow down starting from a speed of 560
Which takes 17 frames rather than 12
Edit 3: That method works even at the normal cap of 553, but it stops earlier. A somewhat comparable method for this speed would be
Come to think of it, this thread in a way made me curious exactly how different a run of some game would be like given different glitch/trick restrictions in terms of time and gameplay. I know for some games (metroid for example) would be nigh impossible to have any agreed standard, so maybe a sticky thread where people post movie files that showcases different routes?
I know for example, there was a ACE zelda Link to the Past glitch that will never fit in any main category since it's slower than the any%, not really that entertaining, and seemingly TAS only (so no RTS). A thread dedicated to runs that beat the game but don't exactly "fit" with current classifications may work. Might actually start such a thread once I make something if no one does I guess.
Idk. Honestly, I'm just waiting for a game where the fastest way to beat the game (or achieve some end state others agree on) is to throw your salary at the developers as fast as possible. These "records" already occur for a game I play online, so its just a matter of time before it becomes mainstream. In context, the "end state" on that link is having all levels at 99, and without throwing money it takes like at least half a year. Real money makes the records go to sub 3 days. You don't buy the levels directly, just access to the fastest ways of gameplay to reach the end state.
Edit:
I can safely say that I am able to do a boring ACE run of at least 10 other SNES games for sure.
But it's hard to do and it's boring for the audience so I don't do it because it feels like a waste of time. And I'm sure that anyone who fully understands how it happens and is able to make a short run himself, is also clever enough to understand that it's really boring.
I'm unsure as to whether this contributed to the question of this thread and I apologize if it didn't, but I felt like I had to say something about the current situation.
It may sound boring if you've seen it tons of times, but for a community for whatever particular game it'd be treated like a different branch altogether likely.
I'll post some glitch findings that are irrelevant to the run since I'm rather stuck atm:
1.) If you save without reaching the stage's first checkpoint and reload, you have 1 frame to move at the first dialogue (normally impossible).
2.) At the 2nd room, trigger the dialogue for encountering the first ghost. Without moving, save and reload. Then go back to that exact location, and save on a different file. The game will now crash.
3.) You can bypass the "barrier" at the first screen by using the partner switch glitch (PSG), but then you still cannot do anything else since doors are locked.
4.) You can move through dark areas by using PSG, but if you don't have a lantern you'll trigger the dialogue for dark places over and over.
5.) There's a 1 frame opportunity of pressing "B" near a pillar to quickly hide in it, skipping the normal animation.
6.) You can skip the battery until the 2nd stage, and even if you do not have the lantern the game pretends you still have it.
7.) By moving at 100,000 speed, there's a 1 frame chance of delaying the trigger at stage 2 for Shaggy getting kidnapped and entering the door. This glitches the dialogue to the next screen, and softlocks once the camera moves.
8.) Moving to a different screen while a dialogue occurs in general usually delays it to the next screen. It's better to simply trigger the dialogue normally though.
9.) The words "inv" appear on stage 4 on usually inaccessible areas to indicate a point where it checks if you have a clue. Going over these points causes the game to reset. However, it's completely possible to bypass it by PSG to build up very high speed.
10.) You can lock the camera at stage 5 by entering a room with a fire ghost, then quickly leaving and reentering.
On the interim build by feos, pressing insert while TAStudio does not exist gives this error
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.TAStudio.InsertFrameMenuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.TAStudio.InsertFrameExternal()
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.MainForm.CheckHotkey(String trigger)
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.MainForm.<ProcessInput>b__1e(Boolean current, String trigger)
at System.Linq.Enumerable.Aggregate[TSource,TAccumulate](IEnumerable`1 source, TAccumulate seed, Func`3 func)
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.MainForm.ProcessInput()
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.MainForm.ProgramRunLoop()
at BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk.Program.SubMain(String[] args)
This is the entire map of the 31st platforming stage. It is composed of 160x84 16x16 tiles. You start at tiles (1,55) and the real exit is at (152, 10). This is zero indexed.
In comparison, for almost all of the previous platformers they span about 2 screens worth 32x24 tiles. I'm unable to TAS the 100% due to limitations on DS recording, but at least here's a map for this part.
Here's a google drive folder for the other maps:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-2O13fpsnI4ZmpjSWFDa3MwaEU&usp=sharing
Edit: Turns out these platformer stages are not as straightforward in terms of optimizing; the positions are 4 byte unsigned fixed point 20.12 format, and at the very first stage, it appears there's ways to briefly "boost" if you jump just before a block falls.
Hey just curious, but iirc, there's a bunch of interface's for the Tingle Turner on the GBA itself. With that said, it takes time to navigate through. Example
Link to video
With that said, I haven't seen the TAS yet, but does it take account into the time to activate commands on a real GBA? Because otherwise the TAS would be quite different than using a real GBA which is limited on said actions.
Just curious on how any Mario Party game superplay would be like. It's not exclusive to Wii/GCN, but that's what I grew up with.
And no, I don't mean just 1 minigame or whatever; I meant the actual board moving around and just messing around with highest level NPCs. :D
Depends. For some games, if it's very deterministic, then you can open the dsm file in notepad (or similar) and copy paste the input back. For other games which aren't, you can copy paste parts of the run (usually).
Well, if it helps, 100% is vaultable, so regardless of the entertainment value it is submitable. Besides, like others have said, probably should worry about a run done first before making others. Unless you're really patient and knowledgeable about this game and won't feel burnt out I guess.
Okay, this is the last post i'm going to make here, because i finally found the issue!
The problem was the Gamecube controller adapter. On my main computer i was using that to record my test .dtm files. On my laptop i had "standard controller" selected and it would desync at seemingly random places every time. So i plug my gamecube controller adapter into my laptop and it syncs! So for anybody else out there that has problems with desyncing, make sure your controller input is set to the same thing on all computers. For the full TAS i will use standard controller with the TAS input so it should sync on everybody's computer as long as they use the same settings as i did.
That sounds like a bug (either the desync, or this option not saved onto file). Please try reporting it to the dolphin issue tracker:
https://bugs.dolphin-emu.org/
But hey, nice you finally found the reason why. Hope it actually does fixes it.
If after you've practiced enough, you want to aim for a publishable run, you could do 100%. That one would find all the secret switches and probably avoid the stone glitch.
Sorry for hi-jacking, but what "state" is the game at after the credits are reached via stone glitch? Does it still only have the first stage unlocked? Or up to the last? Similarly if you wrong warp to a different world's stage, does it unlock the previous worlds too? If not, then the stone glitch seems rather useless in a 100%.
In case anyone wonders:
v1 - Up to half stage 1; barely uses partner switch glitch; easier partner glitch killed it
v2 - Up to final boss; many more tricks missing; ability to start cutscens 18 frames sooner in most rooms killed it
v3 - Up to half 2nd stage; lack of quick partner glitch usage in stage 1 killed it
v4 - Up to quarter 2nd stage; Realization that setting up 60,000+ speed improves a lot of rooms killed it
v5 - 4919 frames faster than v2 by the end of stage 2. Improves 397 frames from v4 by the time it reaches the same point as said WIP
Drastically changes rooms 0x20, 0x22 (when leaving), 0x23, 0x24 (when leaving), 0x25, 0x2E (last 2 levers).
Edit: Just found out I implemented a trick to stop quickly on stage 3, but for some reason not used on the first 2 stages. lol
Saves 7 frames per use.
Edit2: I lost all frames gained due to worse luck @above. Might as well continue the current WIP.
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/31858569494485296
I'll post this here and continue from stage 2; Mainly the savings are from room 0x13, but rooms 0x11, 0xD, 0x15, 0x16, 0x15 and 0xD in that order all have minor savings due to stopping earlier to trigger dialouge/open locks sooner. That would've saved 100ish frames, but lost all due to bad ghost placement.
Any link's fine. There's a host here for this site, but other 3rd party sites works fine as well. If it always works fine on your computer, but not on others, was there any setting that you changed from default?
Wait. Different places on the same computer? Does it always desync now? If so, and at the same time its always a different place, maybe it help if you posted the dtm here or the dolphin forums so a dev can check out?
Any super obscure games that were server-sided only (in other words, not a huge fanbase to potentially create a private version) then that gets discontinued and forgotten. Now it's pretty much impossible to TAS, or even play, the game.
But if you hit the nearby saveblock, the stacked event pointers are overwritten. And weird stuff happens -> The saveblock moves. I remember seeing similar weirdness when I tested events back when I added the functionality to my luascript. Random sprites would move in random directions etc. Because the game jumped to a bad ROM pointer.
Now, if this could be done somewhere else in the game..... Or if it can be influenced..... Needs testing. You can hit the saveblock at close to the same time the wide block gets solid for some strange outcomes, e.g.: Screen may fade black without sending you to the save screen
If you hit the saveblock while it is moving, it will stop and the wide block will be alive forever. You can farm free money forever from this block since the timer already reached the end (but the block is not solid). It will turn solid when you leave the room, though.
Edit: Actually, the overwritten events aren't the cause of the bug, it seems. It seems to be a very minor oversight that the event is handled slightly differently. $004C14 turns different values between the "hit saveblock" and "don't hit saveblock" cases at the time the wide block is supposed to get solid. Not sure what this address does but it's related to the bug.
Wait, so is there any actual effect when event pointers get overwritten to something else? That seems like some exploit waiting to happen if so.
This is the entire map of the 31st platforming stage. It is composed of 160x84 16x16 tiles. You start at tiles (1,55) and the real exit is at (152, 10). This is zero indexed.
In comparison, for almost all of the previous platformers they span about 2 screens worth 32x24 tiles. I'm unable to TAS the 100% due to limitations on DS recording, but at least here's a map for this part.
Here's a google drive folder for the other maps:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-2O13fpsnI4ZmpjSWFDa3MwaEU&usp=sharing
Edit: Turns out these platformer stages are not as straightforward in terms of optimizing; the positions are 4 byte unsigned fixed point 20.12 format, and at the very first stage, it appears there's ways to briefly "boost" if you jump just before a block falls.