Posts for sgrunt

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Posted: 3/20/2010 5:40 PM
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sgrunt
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Joined: 10/28/2007
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compucomp wrote:
But you're on the wrong side of a landslide. If someone lost an election 80-20 typically they can't find a hole in the ground fast enough to hide in.
Allow me to clear up a misconception here: The raw results of the poll do not matter. Far more important is being able to provide your detailed thoughts supporting your position in the discussion thread - it is that type of analysis which greatly benefits the judges in the making of their decisions. It is up to the judges and (to a somewhat lesser extent) the queue manager(s) and site admins to enforce and therefore interpret the rules as they apply to submissions. Here adelikat has explicitly set out how they apply in the situation that led to this discussion being triggered. People are of course welcome to criticise the rules and how they are being applied, but this generally involves constructive criticism which has a chance of eventually leading to the rules being changed for the better as opposed to mindless slagging and name-calling. Be very careful with how you (the general you, as in everyone watching this thread) proceed in the discussion here. As I have said elsewhere, I will not put up with unnecessary crap.
Posted: 3/20/2010 5:20 PM
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sgrunt
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Well, this is a surprise! I've been looking forward to a TAS of this, but I didn't know anyone was actively working on one until very recently. I have to say, the presence of spindash/peelout creates a very different game dynamic than the first two 8-bit games; everything is faster. (Everything is laggier too, by all appearances, but not to the point of being excessively distracting). I'll point out an improvement which Sonikkustar also noticed: you should deliver the final hit the second stage of the final boss on the right side of the screen, which should save a few frames. This is minor enough that you should just be able to replace the submission file, and I'll encode this when that happens. I'll hold off my vote until I see the revised run, but I don't see any reason why it'd be anything other than Yes.
Posted: 3/20/2010 3:51 AM
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sgrunt
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A good run of a good hack should demonstrate more that is possible with the game engine than the original game, whether that be in the form of new content, additional glitches, etc.; in essence it is there to show more that can be done with the engine. The current MM2 run is a lot faster-paced than this and seems to demonstrate a greater variety of glitches than this run does. You do use item-1 zipping frequently (possibly almost too frequently to stay interesting), but in general it feels like there is less being demonstrated here than in the MM2 run. Since you're demonstrating a reasonable degree of technical competence in your glitch use, I'd attribute this more to the hack than anything else. That being the case, I do not think this is not a good hack for publication, and I will vote no.
Posted: 3/20/2010 1:00 AM
(Edited: 3/20/2010 4:42 AM)
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sgrunt
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From what I can tell, the two most cohesive arguments in favour of this being published are "This is a popular game" and "I found this entertaining". I'll articulate my opinions on those one at a time, and hence set out why I agree with the run not being published. Firstly, popularity of a game is not something which should have an impact of whether a game will be published or not; it is a question of how technically well done the run is - for which there is a very low limit for this type of game, as I am about to set out - and how interesting it is to watch - which I believe to have an equally low threshold. As to the entertainment value of this run: looking at this variety of adventure game, most of the difficulty comes in the form of puzzle solving. If solutions to all of the puzzles and hence the ways to reach the end of the game are known, it is simply a matter of providing the game with those solutions; given the point-and-click nature of the average adventure game this is a lot less of a feat than your average platform game (where precise motion over the character is important at any given frame). In other words, the optimal solution for a graphical adventure game tends to be obvious, and this is no exception; the only technical feat present here is inputting that solution as quickly as possible. Therefore, the only real value I see in creating a demonstration of playing through an adventure game would be to act as a walkthrough; in the case of a speedrun or a TAS, though, they are inherently difficult to follow for those that are not familiar with a game and hence unsuitable as walkthroughs. Basically, TASing any adventure game of this sort is something which I do not believe is inherently capable of being entertaining.
Posted: 3/20/2010 12:28 AM
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sgrunt
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We praise your acts of optimisation and deeds of TASing! I'm astonished that there was this much improvement in such a tight run. This gets a clear Yes vote from me. I'm in the process of encoding this. EDIT: http://www.archive.org/download/GenesisGoldenAxeIn0701.95ByMukki/goldenaxe-tas-mukki.mp4 That version can be streamed at http://www.zexsoft.com/aktan/?GenesisGoldenAxeIn0701.95ByMukki/goldenaxe-tas-mukki
Posted: 3/19/2010 11:53 PM
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sgrunt
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Nisto wrote:
Don't want to be picky, but I think that it'd be a good idea to put in "hardest difficulty" in the right table from where the links are. I didn't mention it anywhere before, but yeah, there it is.
Done.
Posted: 3/19/2010 10:19 PM
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sgrunt
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You do realise this is a nearly four year old published run, yes? Please try not to make comments as though this is a brand new run if that is the case. If you wanted to inform people about improvements and the like, there is a perfectly good thread over in SNES Games for that.
Posted: 3/19/2010 7:07 PM
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sgrunt
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Something like this for the screenshot, then? Flygon and company have written an HD encoding guide which can be found at http://tasvideos.org/HighDefinition/HowToContribute.html - if you care to know more about the standard encoding process, check out these two pages: http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MakingAVI/Common/Windows.html and http://tasvideos.org/EncoderGuidelines.html EDIT: Encode will be here: http://www.archive.org/download/GenesisTheTerminatorIn0520.88ByNisto/terminator-tas-nisto.mp4 Stream of that file specifically will be at http://www.zexsoft.com/aktan/?GenesisTheTerminatorIn0520.88ByNisto/terminator-tas-nisto
Posted: 3/19/2010 4:36 PM
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sgrunt
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Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
Nisto wrote:
Why do we need another encode of it? You posted links to a pair of encodes in the 7th post in this topic.
Those are HD encodes, which are too large of a resolution to meet the publication guidelines. I'm working on a normal encode now.
Posted: 3/19/2010 4:26 PM
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sgrunt
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Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
We don't vote for special stars - it's presently up to Baxter to maintain the list (though we do maintain a discussion thread for suggestions/discussion). We've discussed elsewhere the notion of submissions having categories - I guess a system like this would behave as the "special star" of gruefood, which would mean that someone would maintain that list in a similar fashion.
Posted: 3/19/2010 1:43 AM
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sgrunt
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Baxter wrote:
Is this TAS different enough from the speedrun to warrant publication?
No.
Baxter wrote:
(Or perhaps you are of the opinion that what the speedrun looks like should not influence what's published at TASVideos?)
Possibly, though in the case of an adventure game what could be done in a TAS that can't be done in a speed run besides optimisation?
Posted: 3/18/2010 9:15 PM
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sgrunt
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Limne wrote:
It is true that this was fast enough not be properly boring...
I disagree; speed itself is not the only thing contributing to the alleviation of boredom. Speed can make things more interesting, but that requires something interesting to happen in the first place and I just don't see that here.
Posted: 3/18/2010 7:46 PM
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sgrunt
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Mukki wrote:
P.S. sgrunt's DS encode logo is cool.
Why, thank you.
Posted: 3/18/2010 7:38 PM
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sgrunt
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I do not think that a "fastest ending" run is suitable for this game; there wasn't very much variety in what this run presents and one can tell that there is a lot more to the game than what is presented here. I understand that there are multiple endings, so perhaps a "best ending" run would be more interesting to watch? This run gets a Meh from me.
Posted: 3/18/2010 6:53 PM
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sgrunt
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This has now been implemented. New submissions will save the frame count directly from the input file. Old frame counts have been reverse-calculated from the time (as that's what's stored in the database) and should be accurate for the most part (with the possible exception of some of the N64 runs). If you happen to notice that a frame count is wrong, let us know.
Posted: 3/18/2010 6:45 PM
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sgrunt
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The core gameplay here wasn't particularly varied, so this didn't hold my attention very well. However, it is reasonably fast-paced, and two of the boss fights (first and last) had me amused at the sheer number of projectiles flying around. Between that and the length of the run, there is enough here for a rather weak yes from me. EDIT:
Baxter's acceptance text wrote:
Accepting due to an abundance of weak yes votes :)
I guess that's a weak accept, then? :-)
Posted: 3/18/2010 5:44 PM
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sgrunt
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Tech quality is acceptable, but gameplay is just too much slow-paced running around. I really do not think a run of this game will ever reach the point of being publishable. Voting no.
Posted: 3/18/2010 5:39 PM
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sgrunt
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I didn't like this. It is too much running around and mandatory cutscenes (what's with the scrolling credits in the middle of the run?). There are some differences in game play between this and the Lute run, yes, but I maintain that this type of run for the game is just not that interesting. Voting meh.
Posted: 3/18/2010 4:48 PM
Post subject: Re: Flash Emulator
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sgrunt
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Scepheo wrote:
Considering there's plenty of programs capable of emulating Flash games out there (most of them called browsers), how hard could it be to make a Flash-running program with TASing tools?
Something of the nature you describe would, in my view require a reliable alternative (preferably open-sourced) implementation of Flash to which rerecording tools could be added. Since such an implementation does not to the best of my knowledge exist (as yet, if ever), this sounds like a pipe dream to me.
Posted: 3/18/2010 4:46 PM
(Edited: 3/19/2010 11:33 PM)
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sgrunt
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Bablo wrote:
It looks quite unoptimized most of the time.
Bisqwit wrote:
The execution of the movie looks suboptimal to me.
Can you point out specific places where it looks suboptimal? I'm curious as to what specifically looks out of place. About the only thing that bothered me personally was possible bad placement of Item-1s, but I don't think that detracted overall from my own viewing experience (as I'm not exactly an expert at Rockman or at TASes in general).
Posted: 3/18/2010 1:58 AM
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sgrunt
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Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
JXQ wrote:
  • Why was time spent stealing the fisherman's hat?
  • How did you get the golden scale as a kid?
  • Why was each bottle drop/regrab necessary?
  • Why did the game go into the six-pendant sequence when you had no pendants?
Curiously, all four of these are connected to a memory manipulation glitch by the name of Reverse Bottle Adventure. I won't pretend to understand the details, but by putting a bottle on the B button, emptying and refilling the bottle causes memory to be manipulated, including, say, the number of medallions you have.
Posted: 3/18/2010 12:27 AM
(Edited: 3/18/2010 12:47 AM)
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sgrunt
He/Him
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Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
I couldn't really tell what was going on most of the time, and the game was certainly completed quickly. The thing is, I didn't really find this all that interesting to watch; this may be due to my unfamiliarity with the game, but it doesn't look that challenging to pull off what you have done here. This will get a Meh vote from me, and I'm going to encode it as well. EDIT: By the way, looking in the thread for this game, I see the run was posted on YouTube by the author. It also bothers me that this game doesn't really have a proper ending sequence; it feels like it just sort of stops and leaves you hanging. EDIT2: http://www.archive.org/download/DsMystDsIn0107.16ByScepheo/mystds-tas-scepheo.mp4 This has a very small bit rate, so I suggest you stream that version ( http://www.zexsoft.com/aktan/?DsMystDsIn0107.16ByScepheo/mystds-tas-scepheo ) rather than depending on archive.org's 512kb variant.
Posted: 3/17/2010 11:45 PM
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sgrunt
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This gets very boring very quickly; I couldn't finish watching the first segment. I could a run of this game working for, say, seven or eight levels (and apparently people think it could work for up to sixteen), but 36 is overkill, so I doubt a run would be likely to be accepted. EDIT: As a disclaimer, I do have a notoriously short attention span. Perhaps others will find this interesting, but that it's done on GB will probably count against it...
Posted: 3/17/2010 11:04 PM
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sgrunt
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Limne wrote:
To demand that future runners pit the U-ROM against the J-ROM really does sound like it puts them in an awkward position whether or not it ultimately effects judging.
This is partly why the rule exists in the first place. Historically there have been many instances of swapping back and forth between J and U ROMs with little if any justification given, leading to a lot of ill will and bad blood. The rule is meant to clarify what should happen in the event that there is no substantive difference in running between the two versions and defuse that sort of argument. As I have said, time savings during text in cutscenes are a misnomer; it is the gameplay itself that people should be focusing on. This being the case, a run being hard to follow or not based on the cutscenes alone is a bit of a misnomer. TASes are not meant to be easy to follow; they are meant to complete games as quickly, as thoroughly, and/or as entertainingly as possible, and in my view the entertainment value is in the gameplay, not in anything that the language present has any impact on.
Posted: 3/17/2010 10:51 PM
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sgrunt
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Warp wrote:
Maybe instead of doing that we should approach this from the opposite direction. In other words, rather than specifying in each video which glitches and other TASing techniques the run uses, we make a list of specific glitches and other techniques, and put links to movies which use those techniques there. This way if someone wants to see a movie which uses a specific TASing technique, he can check that list and pick a movie.
I'm suggesting doing this from a category perspective for ease of maintenance; I think it's much more likely for those submitting runs and our publishers to figure out which movies use what and tag the movie appropriately, which will automatically generate a list of the appropriate movies, rather than attempt to maintain a separate list. Either way, we get the list you describe; I view it more likely to be up to date on a consistent basis by using the categories.
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