Info to sync the TAS

  • Use Dolphin 4.0-4167
  • Memory cards are off
  • Uses LLE recompiler audio
  • Dual Core and Idle Skipping turned off
Thanks to TheRobMan 07 and whokilledthekitty for their videos of runs of the game which I was able to use for reference.

My comments on the run

I'm so glad that I finished this run, because I can remember thinking and feeling that it would never get done. I can remember starting it just about 6 months ago and being excited to even be able to play it. I used to love this game when I was younger but hating to have to go through the entire game not knowing any way to go through it faster. Now that I revisited it with some tools, it was much more excruciating exciting. I know that it's improvable but only to a certain extent, with the current route at least. With the current route and tricks/glitches, runs will never sub 2 hours. They will get close, but there is only so much that can be done to reduce time lost. There is probably a relatively small timesaver in the beginning with the Whomping Willow or somewhere in another one of the spell chambers. When I come back to the game again or when it gets more attention, I'm hoping more useful glitches will be discovered. I was also a bit annoyed at a small emulation error (I'm assuming) where Harry would start "stuttering" as he was running. It happened frequently.

About the TAS

  • Aims to complete the game in as little time as possible
  • Manipulates enemies to take or avoid damage to save time
  • Abuses glitches

Techniques or tricks

The only real techniques that I used in this run were a quick turn-like movement that I use to change directions in a matter of a few frames and skipping the dialogue boxes. The quick turn movement happens when Harry is running and I press the L-trigger and hold a different direction. It happens because pressing the L-trigger is supposed to center the camera behind Harry, but if he's running it'll make him instantly change directions. It can also be used when Harry runs and jumps off a ledge. Harry will still jump off the ledge, but pressing the L-trigger on the right frame and holding a different direction will make Harry jump in that direction but still face the same way as running off the ledge. Also, during the run, when a help box pops up, I press Z to open the menu and then close out of it to make the box go away instead of just waiting to press A. Opening and closing the menu saves time over waiting to press A.

Level by level comments:

The Burrow
This area was fairly easy. It was just an introductory level, teaching the basics to the player. Nothing here could be skipped. Though, I do think I did the "washing machine duel" fairly quickly. The gnomes in the garden probably could have gone better, but I tried to spend as little time hitting and throwing them beyond the wall.
Diagon Alley
This area was a bit annoying just because of all the unskippable cutscenes.
Whomping Willow
Nothing too unpleasant about this area except for the final fight. I feel like I could get an early cycle somehow.
Flying Lesson
Simple and straightforward.
Saving Neville
This task was actually really annoying because it seemed like there was so much unnecessary running around (going to the Library to get the book, then going to get the Diffindo spell, then running all the way back to Neville who was stuck behind a big hanging carpet).
Expelliarmus Challenge
This chamber was really fun and I feel I did it really quickly. The beginning with the flying spiked balls was very solid in my opinion because I manipulated them to hit them in groups instead of one at a time. The major skip was done quickly, and the fight against the statue was done quickly as well.
Quidditch Practice
Practice was also straightforward.
Skurge Spell & Hogwarts - A History
This area was also pretty annoying. The very first section felt incredibly slow but there was nothing that could be done about it, and there were so many sections after that that I felt I could have saved time on if there was a way to avoid all the wall sneaking. Otherwise, the room with the enchanted bookcase was alright, and the room with Slytherin duel was solid. The most fun part was running past the prefects going towards the restricted section of the library.
Avifors Challenge
This challenge wasn't so hard. Not too much to say about it.
Quidditch Match 1
Very simple.
Questioning Draco
This was probably the most fun I had in the entire TAS. It was all supposed to be based on sneaking past the prefects and not getting caught, but instead I taunt them and run past them.
Incendio Challenge
This chamber wasn't that bad either. The initial statue fight was fast, the gate skip execution was good, and getting the spell book was quick as well. The only problem that I had was that I feel that pushing all the switches could have gone faster somehow. I think there will be a way to get past the door early without having to stop the fire from blocking it.
Quidditch Match 2
Again, nothing complicated about it.
Forbidden Forest & Aragog
sigh... I hated this area. There are a ton of enemies throwing projectiles at you that can still hurt you if you run into them, and often there was very little space with no room to dodge them. I still think it looked neat just skipping almost all the enemies, not having to stop for them. The fight with Aragog was excellent. I was able to manipulate him so that I could attack 4 times in a row without waiting, which is very fast. I'm happy with the fight.
Quidditch Match 3
Nothing much to comment on.
Final Battle
I honestly think this fight was terrible, yet I don't think there is really anything I can significantly improve on. I couldn't manipulate the basilisk to be open to attack early, so it seemed like it was very slow when it's supposed to be like that. All the "stuttering" during the running animation didn't help either. I hope I can get some kind of early attack cycles later on.

GoddessMaria: *commits suici*--I mean, Judging!
Noxxa: Unclaiming and resetting to new due to judge inactivity.
ars4326: Judging!
ars4326: Hello, USTA2877. Apologies for the delay in judgment. Good effort done on this one, overall! Some parts, such as the TAS-optimized Quidditch matches and the executed sequence breaks, were especially nice to watch. As stated in the thread though, the game is rather cutscene-heavy with considerable amounts of downtime. Nonetheless, the effort put in here is certainly worthy of publication.
Accepting for publication to the Vault!
RGamma Publishing with all my disk space...

Spikestuff
They/Them
Editor, Publisher, Expert player (2306)
Joined: 10/12/2011
Posts: 6342
Location: The land down under.
arandomgameTASer wrote:
Nearing 5 months now. I don't mean to nag, but how's it going with this?
Do you want to do it? I mean, we're open for people who wants to sacrifice more than 900gb to something like this, are you volunteering 'cause to me it sounds like you would switch and have a long ordeal to suffer doing this. Oi, Einstein. Want to talk about dates, lets talk about dates, because you're interested in dates. Submitted: June 7th Judged: August 27th Accepted: August 29th Claimed: September 26th September 26th, even prior a publisher who was going to publish had to pull out and substitute with another. and today, November 5th. That's not 5 months, that's not even 2.
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. Something better for yourself and also others.
Joined: 2/3/2013
Posts: 320
Location: Germany
Sorry for all the delay, the encodes are ready and to be uploaded in the coming days (60GB in total). I have (quite massively) underestimated encoding time, but it's all done now. This has been a surprising PITA, so please make the next TAS shorter :) Edit: I'll try to find a video editor that doesn't suck for the cutscene-less encode, suggestions welcome.
All syllogisms have three parts, therefore this is not a syllogism.
Active player (434)
Joined: 2/5/2012
Posts: 1693
Location: Brasil
i was wondering: does one encoder absolutely have to do all the encodes,because it's more productive this way?i'm a total noob on the subject,don't flame me pls.
TAS i'm interested: megaman series: mmbn1 all chips, mmx3 any% psx glitched fighting games with speed goals in general
Joined: 2/3/2013
Posts: 320
Location: Germany
grassini wrote:
i was wondering one encoder absolutely has to do all the encodes,is it more productive this way?i'm a total noob on the subject?
Not necessarily, but transferring the source material is prohibitive (for many systems) with current internet speeds, so this is the pragmatic way to go. And having several people obtain the source material themselves is just redundant work and not much faster, but some form of distributed encoding process is in our box of ideas in case you're wondering...
All syllogisms have three parts, therefore this is not a syllogism.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14903
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [3009] GC Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by bihan in 2:19:07.82
Former player
Joined: 4/18/2015
Posts: 168
Location: Canada
Hooray!! It finally got published and it only took a mere.... Five Months!!!! In all seriousness though, I'm glad to see this off the workbench. Thank you RGamma for destroying your computer to publish this.
Spikestuff
They/Them
Editor, Publisher, Expert player (2306)
Joined: 10/12/2011
Posts: 6342
Location: The land down under.
Weegeechan wrote:
Hooray!! It finally got published and it only took a mere.... Five Months!!!!
Lets play the time game again. Submitted: June 7th Judged: August 27th Accepted: August 29th Claimed: September 26th Published: November 30th Submit - Judged : 0 Days (doesn't count) Judged - Accepted: 3 Days Accepted - Claimed: 29 Days Claimed - Published: 66 Days (2months 6days) Judged - Published: 96 Days (3months 5days)
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. Something better for yourself and also others.
Joined: 9/6/2005
Posts: 39
Location: Sweden
RGamma wrote:
Edit: I'll try to find a video editor that doesn't suck for the cutscene-less encode, suggestions welcome.
I would suggest Cyberlink Power Director. Any version really, but 10 and forward have better HD settings and an automatic upload-to-youtube feature. I found Videopad too, it seems nice - plus it's free for non-commercial uses: http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/ EDIT: After trying Videopad, that's the one I would recommend. Although, it uses 100% CPU when encoding and my CPU reached 80C in temp, but that's what you get from using a stock cooler :P
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