Before we answer that (and other raised here) questions, let's repeat the long-established TAS maxims that aren't really questionable.
1. Any TAS is an essentially collaborative work that is based on finding new tricks, reverse-engineering those not completely documented, and improving upon existing work. Unlike sports or real-time playing, the previous work is always available to deconstruct, research, and repeat if needed.
2. Any subsequent TAS will have an input section functionally or literally identical to its previous generation.
3. When aiming for speed, the fastest known strategy must be used.
Now that we have those out of the way, the common sense maxims.
1. No TAS is created of 100% original material, unless the author happens to be both the developer and the sole player of the game in question, or the game is so obscure nobody else ever talks about it. Even if the subsequent generations happen to only contain tricks not seen elsewhere, the previous ones have already served as stepping stones; more precisely, somebody else's tricks in them have. You can't come up with everything yourself. You always have to use somebody else's work to build up on it to make sure you aren't missing anything. What can you do about it to not make yourself look like a dick? Right, give a credit.
2. You have no moral right to prohibit people from using methods and strategies. Industries would fall into chaos if people started copyrighting (essentially monopolizing) things like conveyor belts, bottle caps, pedals, gears, etc.. It would also suck majorly, btw, because for every "original" idea everybody feels entitled to, they use a hundred existing ones. It's normal.
3. An input file created independently from another input file has its own authorship regardless of its content. When you're doing a math exam you can't claim another student is copying your solution if they come up with an identical one. Most of the time this is supposed to be the case. Because it's either the most optimal, or just the only possible solution.
I don't really see the issue here, or some difficult moral dilemma this situation tries hard to be. gia has come up with a strategy improving upon an existing strategy, but decided not to submit it. His was found, researched, and reconstructed as a part of the normal TASing process, and gia was credited for finding this strategy. p4wn3r was honest with everybody else about what he did; there is no misinformation anywhere. The site has no unfulfilled obligations to gia in respect to this submission.
After the new Castlevania IV TAS, I think a new reason for using a J over a U-ROM should be added: Less censoring. No one likes things like green blood, especially when you know that the original version didn't had it.
This is not exactly new. This issue has been raised previously with games like Bionic Commando; however, while it's by itself a fair "good" reason, in case with BC the U version had changes to gameplay, so no single version was universally preferred in that case as far as I remember.
The rules should be clear. The PAL60 information will be added there. However, what I'm trying to say is it doesn't really matter since NTSC-U versions are still preferable regardless. I mean, even if you put the PAL60 information there, the person in question would still need to come here and defend their choice of version if they're doing it on PAL60 instead of NTSC-U.
PAL has 575 lines/field, NTSC only 562,5. Why should this be any different in an emulator?
Because, as I said just above, PAL60 isn't PAL. Also, those numbers are wrong and I'm rather unsure where did you take them from at all. PAL Gamecube can output at most 640x480 with progressive scan. 640x576 is also possible, but only interlaced, and thus generally doesn't make sense for maximizing video quality: there's less meaningful information per frame, and deinterlacing will not restore all of it, not without artifacts of its own at least. But that is irrelevant anyway, as PAL output is 50 Hz.
Wikipedia wrote:
Many 1990s onwards VCR players sold in Europe can play back NTSC tapes/discs. When operating in this mode most of them do not output a true (625/25) PAL signal but rather a hybrid consisting of the original NTSC line standard (525/30) but with colour converted to PAL 4.43 MHz - this is known as "PAL 60" (also "quasi-PAL" or "pseudo PAL") with "60" standing for 60 Hz (for 525/30), instead of 50 Hz (for 625/25). Some video game consoles also output a signal in this mode. Most newer television sets can display such a signal correctly but some will only do so (if at all) in black and white and/or with flickering/foldover at the bottom of the picture, or picture rolling (however, many old TV sets can display the picture properly by means of adjusting the V-Hold and V-Height knobs — assuming they have them). Some TV tuner cards or video capture cards will support this mode (although software/driver modification can be required and the manufacturers' specs may be unclear). A "PAL 60" signal is similar to an NTSC (525/30) signal but with the usual PAL chrominance subcarrier at 4.43 MHz (instead of 3.58 as with NTSC and South American PAL variants) and with the PAL-specific phase alternation of the red colour difference signal between the lines.
[...]
Beginning with the Dreamcast and continuing through the sixth generation of consoles, developers began including PAL60 modes in their games. Games that run at PAL60 are produced with the same colour encoding system as 50 Hz PAL signals, but with the NTSC resolution and field rate of 60 Hz, providing an identical gaming experience to their NTSC counterparts.
I hope you see the difference between PAL and PAL60 now, as well as why it's in no way superior to NTSC.
Slowking wrote:
It's obviously confusing, since it confused somebody. ;)
Not everybody knows about output standards and what they are.
...And that's why there's that "go with the (U) version unless there's a good reason not to". If the person in question is confused and wants to submit here, they could as well go here on the forums and ask, right?
Actually, that second rule you've quoted is just fine as it is currently, as there's no actual benefit to PAL60 over NTSC in an emulator.
It won't give any "better" picture quality because the signal deterioration associated with NTSC only takes place in actual hardware (analog transmission, yadda yadda). PAL60-capable consoles output the same resolution as NTSC as well. In practice there will be no visual difference.
There may be gameplay differences, in which case the faster (or otherwise better) version will be preferred. The rule elaborates on that point.
It's the same with handheld games. They have no PAL/NTSC output, and they all run at the same framerate in all regions. Yet, (U) versions are preferred unless there's a good reason for the otherwise.
Slowking wrote:
This passage might be a little confusing for newcomers since, like stated, GC runs PAL60 natively
It's not really confusing because PAL and PAL60 are two different output standards. :) The rules just don't include the latter yet.
I'd say a single competent coder with self-managed time schedule and a clear idea of what he's doing and wants to achieve is at the very least as efficient as a team consisting of specialists with varying experience and coding expertise being thrown from one project to another (as if often happens in large companies) with severe time constraints put on them.
I'd like to see what comes of this project. If I ever dated to create a game myself, this could be my engine of choice!
Hmm, either r63 doesn't pass the arguments as it should, or Demul doesn't receive them as it should. So, for instance, if I run it from commandline (without Hourglass) as "demul.exe -run=cave3rd -rom=mushisam", it immediately starts running Mushihimesama. When I try passing "-run=cave3rd -rom=mushisam" via the designated field, it still just starts Demul's UI, with its menu bar available (i. e., the emulator is just idle, not busy loading anything) but not working. The frame counter doesn't increment, and frame advance doesn't work.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
All of the entries on the list except Banjo Kazooie and FF don't need any introduction indeed, if only because their plots mean absolutely nothing before their gameplay (i.e., could be completely ignored), and gameplay in each of them either belongs to a major archetype, or they were the ones to set it in the first places. FF games do need introduction because they rely on their stories a lot, and thus, but otherwise they're also very much archetypal.
I agree the trope itself is somewhat overused though. I tend to likedescribingobscuregames more because of it.
DarkKobold wrote:
Fabian wrote:
People on tasvideos take something super retarded and take it super seriously and discuss it at length over several threads spanning 6-8 months? Well color me surprised!
Leaving this here for future reference, as it seems arukAdo isn't too keen on implementing it: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/205960373/spinningroom.smv
From what I've understood, lag in this room is caused by several things:
— having the chain in free control mode while there are many sprites on the screen;
— having an item (like a small heart) in free fall when many other sprites are on the screen (thus it's best to take them while at point-blank, or let fall before skeletons appear);
— skeletons breaking out of the graves (sometimes can be circumvented by jumping at a different time or avoiding using the whip).
The timing is tricky, but it allows for, say, one of the skeletons being destroyed by the cross pendant without causing any lag.
As for the changed damage boost, it was rather intuitive: boosting from higher ground leads to more space covered by moving airborne, which is much faster than walking. I first thought to boost from the bone, but then realized the bone is indeed too high, however the skeleton could be boosted from, as well, and it would still let me get the drumstick, too.
Well, I can't say it's unfair to expect the change to come from where it reasonably should come from, but the worst part of it is, even if misunderstanding is not your problem per se (I don't subscribe to that school of thought myself, either), it still ends up as your problem too because you're a part of the same social group.
So yes, you still have to deal with it somehow.
While assuming that it's the other party who is responsible for misunderstanding is a valid defense, it can only go so far. And after it goes as far as it can take you there's a lot more to do, like trying to see if what you've said could look dickish, and reformulating it unless the original form was intended. Stuff like that often tends to be an eye-opening experience, which is surely lost on you if you're simply not sensitive enough to actually perceive the problematic aspects and thus the difference.
As for the post length, talking as somebody who has written many screen-long posts on several forums, there are also nuances to see. For one, if you're making a point and not just fencing with words, verbosity is needed only if it actually produces new information, or the other party has problems understanding it when the message is brief. At the same time keeping it brief and to the point usually makes it easier to comprehend.
Also keep in mind that some aspects of verbal behavior don't suit different people equally, depending on various factors.
tl;dr: It's more complex than it seems, Warp. You'll need to learn to deal with it.
So I've been beta-testing for a new Demul release, but this proves to be a really annoying task because savestates don't work, and won't work for a while longer.
I've had the idea of running Demul in Hourglass so that I could save the state of the entire emulator disregarding problems with actual emulation inaccuracy. However, it doesn't work. Quite simply I can't even make Demul run a ROM if it's wrapped in Hourglass: the File menu does not open the file choice dialog.
Seeing as Hourglass has a whole lot of settings that may or may not affect this behavior, could any of you at least point me to those that may affect it?
I'm on Win 7, my Hourglass is from 17th of June, and the Demul 0.5.7 beta I'm trying is a private WIP for testing purposes, so I can mail it to Nitsuja, or you could use another recent release like this one (it's from February, not much has changed since).
Indeed.
<moozooh> .seen dannylilithborne
<BisqBot> dannylilithborne signed off ("He is Santa and Jesus, G*ddamn he's Santa Christ") 570d 22h ago.
(For those who didn't know, DannyLilithborne was Dasrik's IRC nickname.)
So, what do we know about Dasrik aside from his TASVideos activities?
1. He was 32 when he passed.
2. He had some kind of long-term illness he had seizures from (epilepsy or some other neurological condition), which most likely was the cause.
3. He wrote fetishist stories. :)
4. Apparently he liked anime and was a good fighting game player.
I'm not very familiar with it, but it would probably be a good choice.
Re: Metal Slug, it's basically a paragon of amazing pixel art with regards to being visually pleasing, and sound work is pretty great as well. Gameplay is reasonably fast and varied (this series is more about shooting than, say, Contra which is more about platforming). I'd have to watch all of the MS TASes made thus far to be sure which would be the recommendable one. Gunstar Heroes is notably different gameplay-wise: it has a lot more platforming trickery (including optimization of forward movement that makes it faster than unassisted runs just by that virtue), several unique TAS-only tricks like writing text with flame chaser, and the game itself is much more of a tech demo showing off Genesis's abilities compared to Metal Slug which is a honed, comercially successful arcade title. I don't think they are very comparable.
Very entertaining! Some parts could likely benefit from better direction, but glitching and most of the combos are top-notch. I'd suggest using somebody else instead of Kung Lao (Rain perhaps?).
I think it could be submitted as a concept demo. Very clear entertainment potential here.
Destroyed? You people sure are picky. :P
That replay didn't look half bad on my PVA display. (Also, I remember having a video file of said replay on my HDD actually.)
But YT has the best video quality among the streaming services already. The only way to make it better is to do what you've been doing with Archive.org.
With regards to video quality/convenience/freedom of input/output formats, 30 fps is YouTube's one and only disadvantage by now. Everything else has been fixed.
