Today marks 10 years since I joined this site! Thought that would be reason enough to warrant the making of a new TAS. As Sonic games are the ones I've had the most fun with due to their complex physics, and the fact that I didn't already have the record for this one, made it a wanted target to improve. Only problem was that in order to do so I had to beat Tee-N-Tee... big challenges are great motivators though and in the end I improved his run by 473 ingame frames (~7.9 seconds) and about the same amount of real time. The input file still became a few seconds shorter than that due to ending the input earlier by pure greediness.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Gens 11b-s1 (Camera Hack + Solidity Display + Hitbox Display) + sonic-hud.lua + predict-animals-v2.lua (syncs with Gens 11b)
  • Aims for fastest in-game time
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Abuses programming errors
  • Manipulates Luck

Timetable (the times are correctly read as minutes:seconds::frames)

ActNew timePrevious timeFrames savedTotal frames saved
Green Hill Zone 10:23::400:23::4222
Green Hill Zone 20:12::500:13::031315
Green Hill Zone 30:30::300:30::451530
Marble Zone 10:15::040:15::04030
Marble Zone 20:10::320:10::33131
Marble Zone 30:24::280:24::411344
Spring Yard Zone 10:21::090:21::312266
Spring Yard Zone 20:25::490:26::102187
Spring Yard Zone 30:37::420:40::15153240
Labyrinth Zone 10:33::430:34::0623263
Labyrinth Zone 20:25::300:25::344267
Labyrinth Zone 30:26::590:27::2627294
Star Light Zone 10:15::040:15::3632326
Star Light Zone 20:10::190:10::201327
Star Light Zone 30:26::060:26::2014341
Scrap Brain Zone 10:28::250:28::3914355
Scrap Brain Zone 20:11::430:11::452357
Scrap Brain Zone 30:07::490:09::42113470
Final Zone1:11::581:12::013473
  • New total time: 07:39::20
  • Previous total time: 07:47::13

Level-by-level comments

Green Hill Zone 1

Several micro-improvments throughout the first half of the level added up to 1 frame, the other one came from building up higher speed before the loop in order to enter it earlier.

Green Hill Zone 2

The wasp got backstabbed.

Green Hill Zone 3

Found a later spot to start the bounching sequence.

Marble Zone 2

The previous run had a margin of 5 x-subpixels to perform the level wrap. Doing it 1 frame earlier required subpixel perfection :)

Marble Zone 3

Managed to hit the boss 3 times before jumping over to the left platform.

Spring Yard Zone 1

Subpixel positioning to hit the yellow spring after the downhill. Compensated that by not using the springs at the end :)

Spring Yard Zone 2

Different strat at the beginning saved about 20 frames. Unfortunately that advantage made me have to wait for a spike ball to move a little upwards to fully abuse the downslope. I even found a faster way to start the level than what's shown here, but that would only result in having to wait even longer for the ball which would look rather anticlimatic. Here's a demo of this other strat.

Spring Yard Zone 3

Through carefull speed management and breaking thorugh multiple 32-pixel wide walls I could gain enough speed at the uphill to break through the ceiling and extend the zip to the end of the level.

Labyrinth Zone 1

16 frames saved by managing to start the zip above the rising platform and not having to to wait for it to pass you vertically and then pass under it.

Labyrinth Zone 2

Quite simple level - the strats up til the zip are almost identical to what was done in the first ever published run.

Labyrinth Zone 3

Plain faster movement from the start to the level wrap.

Star Light Zone 1

lol-improvement.

Star Light Zone 2

Better x-positioning during the zip.

Star Light Zone 3

1 Frame gained up til the first zip, 1 frame gained during that zip and 12 frames gained on the boss by delaying some of the earlier hits to deliver the final hits faster.

Scrap Brain Zone 1

Got on top of the platforms right away after the big jump while zipping, unfortunately this didn't save much as I had to wait for the camera before advancing further.

Scrap Brain Zone 2

Got clipped forward a little on the first wheel.

Scrap Brain Zone 3

Used the slope glitch found by Tee-N-Tee.

Final Zone

At the final hit, by jumping while rolling, you can hit him 3 frames later. And as he descends by 2 pixels/frame before being hit and 1 pixel / frame after being hit it results in 3 frames being saved.
Thanks goes to Tee-N-Tee and the previous authors, plus tasvideos.org as a whole - for being the objectively best Internet community :)

GoddessMaria: Judging.
GoddessMaria: This is an excellently made movie, Aglar! Improving the current published TAS which was already tight to begin with by 8 minutes is no easy feat, but you did it! Optimization was very on point, entertainment value was very high, and the audience reaction was generally extremely positive! Excellent work, Aglar!
I'm accepting this as improvement to the current movie.
feos: Pub.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #5702: Aglar's Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog in 14:13.87
Challenger
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Woah new sonic 1 TAS! GHZ3, SYZs, LBZ1 and SLZ1 were impressive. Great work Aglar. Yes vote. Also, congrats for your ten years on TASVideos. :)
My homepage --Currently not much motived for TASing as before...-- But I'm still working.
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Very good improvement to your 10 years of tasing! I am a little concerned about the emulator that you used though. Is using it allowed, or did you get permission from the admins? Nevertheless, it still receives a yes vote from me.
BigBoct
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There hasn't been any announcement about disallowing Gens-rr.
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Congrats Aglar! I hope I'll make a comparison video this weekend.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
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feos wrote:
Congrats Aglar! I hope I'll make a comparison video this weekend.
I'm looking forward to this video.
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I'm flabergasted that almost 8 seconds could be shaved off this run. Impressive work! Yes vote
WST
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Like a boss ;)
Captain Forehead wrote:
I am a little concerned about the emulator that you used though. Is using it allowed, or did you get permission from the admins?
I’m sick and tired from explaining why Bizhawk is absolutely useless for Sonic TAS. It is just impossible, banning Gens will not make us move to Bizhawk, the reasons are fundamental.
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
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#Instayes #Instapublish #Aglar
You can see more TASes on my youtube channel
Dwedit
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What happened to the audio in that encode?!
WST
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Out of curiousity, why in the world you start GHZ1 with [>][<>][>C] instead of just [<>][>C]? Too lazy to test.
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
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WST wrote:
I’m sick and tired from explaining why Bizhawk is absolutely useless for Sonic TAS. It is just impossible, banning Gens will not make us move to Bizhawk, the reasons are fundamental.
I never said anything about Bizhawk. I just noticed the emulator used and it wasn't the most recommended was all. If the emulator used was the best choice for Sonic the Hedgehog, I didn't know it.
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Aglar wrote:
plus tasvideos.org as a whole - for being the objectively best Internet community :)
Well said, Aglar. Very well said!
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Hey, could we please get an encode with fixed audio?
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Dwedit wrote:
What happened to the audio in that encode?!
Me being the encoder happened. Once a better encode exists I'll replace the link with that one.
WST wrote:
Out of curiousity, why in the world you start GHZ1 with....
The [>] comes before the ingame timer starts, so it's not registered.
feos wrote:
Only Aglar can improve this now.
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Great TAS, mandatory Yes vote.
Ready Steady Yeti wrote:
Aglar wrote:
plus tasvideos.org as a whole - for being the objectively best Internet community :)
Well said, Aglar. Very well said!
I agree, too.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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Pfffft I could totally do better. I can beat this game in less than a frame. In all seriousness this is a definite yes from me. Very nice and well optimized run. I'm kinda confused about one thing though. Couldn't you do a level wrap in Scrap Brain 1 by using the flipping platforms in the begining?
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In fact, is a big zip to the end. I recommend you to see the entire TAS with camhack and frame-by-frame.
You can see more TASes on my youtube channel
WST
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kaan55 wrote:
I'm kinda confused about one thing though. Couldn't you do a level wrap in Scrap Brain 1 by using the flipping platforms in the begining?
He certainly could, but it would be slower :) Keep in mind that in fact, in order to beat the level faster, you need not just to reach the end as fast as you can, but instead, to deliver the camera there as fast as you can :)
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
Alyosha
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nice! Hopefully this run will work on console like the previous one did, that would be cool to see.
marzojr
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kaan55 wrote:
I'm kinda confused about one thing though. Couldn't you do a level wrap in Scrap Brain 1 by using the flipping platforms in the begining?
It leads to inevitable death, and you can't complete the level.
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I didn't expect to see an improvement for this game and certainly not to this extent. I'm most surprised Marble 2 could be improved. Given there is a forced wait at the start and the end as the screen tries to catch up with Sonic.
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I also remember these words…
3402S wrote:
Star Light Zone 1 the result is that this level is now as fast as it can possibly be
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
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Comparison downloadable: https://yadi.sk/d/S5WslEs33S6AnM Link to video Didn't bother with frame diffs, since my real-time-frame-diff automation wouldn't work. Download sonic-comparison.avs
Language: avs

factor = 8 aglar = avisource("aglar.avi").PointResize(320*factor, 224*factor) tee = avisource( "tee.avi").PointResize(320*factor, 224*factor) aglar = aglar.insert( 3, 51692) aglar = aglar.insert(122, 46986) aglar = aglar.insert( 1, 46282) aglar = aglar.insert( 14, 43723) aglar = aglar.insert( 16, 40678) aglar = aglar.insert( 32, 35653) aglar = aglar.insert( 10, 33440) aglar = aglar.insert( 23, 27365) aglar = aglar.insert(162, 24413) aglar = aglar.insert( 21, 21016) aglar = aglar.insert( 32, 18148) aglar = aglar.insert( 4, 12514) aglar = aglar.insert( 17, 8342) aglar = aglar.insert( 12, 5382) aglar = aglar.insert( 5, 3277) aglar = aglar.subtitle("Aglar", align=8, size=18*factor, text_color=color_white) tee = tee.subtitle("Tee-N-Tee", align=8, size=18*factor, text_color=color_white) stackhorizontal(aglar, tee) killaudio audio = MonoToStereo(getchannel(aglar, 1), getchannel(tee, 1)) audiodub(audio, last) function insert(clip c, int count, int start) { c trim(0, -start) ++ blankclip(last, count) ++ trim(start, -0) }
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
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Hey, Aglar, I just wanted to do something cute for you :3
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2 my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)