Topic by Toothache

Posted: 12/14/2010 10:58 AM

Post subject: Ch12 improvement: Now with encode!

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Ch12: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/498974879/FE6%20TAS%20Ch1-12%20improvement.vbm Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG1TxBQ2Ibo Managed to improve this by 171 frames, and set up a bigger saving in the next chapter too. Turn 1: Roy sorts out Alan's equipment, and gets rid of a 1 use Javelin, a 4 use Javelin, and the Iron Lance which I don't think will be useful any more now that I'm getting Killer Lances in the next chapter. Alan sets up an enemy phase crit as in the previous version. Turn 2: I have to rush here since the enemies coming from the west will close down Alan's kill of Aine. There's a cutscene that generates if I delay a turn killing the boss, so I can't slow play until Aine is dead. Turn 3: Same enemy phase as before. Draws one unit into the chokepoint to force the other hand axers into attacking close range. C Swords gained on enemy phase. Turn 4: Again, finishing off the last hand axe fighter. Turn 5: Manipulates a different level up this time (HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Def), and crits not only the fighter but also the armour. Turn 6: Alan rescues Roy so he doesn't suffer any attacks. Turn 7: Alan drops Roy, since he can't do both this and use the key. Turn 8: Roy opens the door, Alan gets rid of the Sleep Staff priest. Turn 9: Roy blocks the right spawn point. Alan's new position allows a much faster manipulation of the 2% crit on Aine. Turns 10-16: Alan drops back to get support turns with Roy. Turn 17: Alan C Roy Support, finally! Alan drops over the other spawn point. Turn 20: Roy moves to seize. I found out that if I delay skipping the first cutscene slightly, I can skip both of them and save more time. Turn 21: Seize. Also, on Vykan's suggestion, I tested whether turning the Autocursor off and moving towards the centre saves time. Having Autocursor on starts the turn immediately on Roy, which can be a timesaver in a lot of situations. Although it looks longer, it turns out there is no difference in frames between having autocursor on or off, since the movement that happens occurs during the phase animation, so no time is actually wasted.

Posted: 12/24/2010 5:14 PM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Ch13 v3: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1977039107/FE6%20TAS%20Ch13v3%20WIP.vbm Well, not only did I redo Ch12 AGAIN, I've redone Ch13 too. Managed to make some further savings across both chapters, but made a bit of a loss in one place. Ch12 is almost exactly the same, except Roy keeps the Door Key and doesn't trade it across to Alan, so I save time by not having to take it back. Slight improvement by not getting hit on turn 20 enemy phase too. 67 frames saved here, on top of the 171 from the previous version. Ch13 was a new kettle of fish. I reverted to getting the first version's turn 1 enemy phase, with 2 critical hits and a HP, Str, Skl, Spd level up. I actually set up the RNG in the previous turn so that I needed no manipulation to do this. Alan takes a hit on his first enemy though, but its not a problem Turn 2: Less trading here, since Zealot wants to empty his inventory. Roy takes the Steel Lance and Steel Sword from him. Alan had taken the Javelin and Killing Edge as before in the previous turn. Marcus again crits the Troubadour, and finish in the same positions as last time. Turn 3: More new changes - Zealot drops Roy, so Miledy can pick up Zealot and save me having to move him next turn to avoid the enemies on Turn 6. Marcus picks up Roy and moves as normal. Alan positions himself forward, holding a 10 use Hand Axe and full Javelin in second position. You might not think it, but this is the exact RNG manipulation used in the previous version - something caused Alan to miss on the second-to-last enemy, which is the biggest loss in this entire version. Still, I finish overall much faster. I save time by skipping the Sophia visiting Cecilia cutscene early. Turn 4: Again, more cutscene savings by skipping the move back across after a unit moves. Marcus finishes off the awkward cavalier, and I finally realise I don't need a crit to kill the Troubadour, which makes manipulating the double miss on Lalum easier. Turn 5: Pervical recruited, Marcus deals with his inventory issues (dumps the Hammer, Hand Axe and 12 use Javelin on Roy, destroys the 1 use Javelin). Alan crits the wyverns as before. Turn 6: Now that I have Roy C support, I can reach an earlier critical than before on the boss (RN for crit is 33, Alan has 31 crt with Killing Edge, 36 with Roy support). Turn 7: Marcus goes shopping. Roy seize. Total saving 77 frames in Ch13, 144 between Ch12 and 13 in this version. I think I can stop optimising here. Time to move on Ch14, finally.

Posted: 4/11/2011 1:42 PM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Thanks to a recent discovery, I think I will finally get this TAS started from scratch. Been reviewing my old WIPs to spot potential improvements: Ch1: Turn 3 EP, could I manipulate 7% and 12% crits instead of just one? Ch2: Manipulate a roy level up with Str, Skl at bare minimum (Spd causes roy to double here which costs time) Ch3: Kill off Ellen, don't use Dieck, ensure Roy level up gains Str, Skl, Spd, Luk Ch4: Kill off another unit (wolt?), manipulate Str, Skl, Spd for Marcus Ch5: 2 turn strategy test, ensure Roy can clear enough of a path Ch6: Give Marcus Hammer here, manipulate all attacks to hit Ch7: Disarm Lance, have Alan kill more enemies (ideally with Sword for the wexp) Ch8: Nothing I can spot Ch9: Have Alan get crit+level up rather than 3 hits on boss Ch10A: Have Alan draw less attackers in the later turns Ch11A: Is there a way to avoid drawing the longbow archer into play and still 3 turning? Ch12: Ensure Roy support by end of chapter Ch13: Ensure Alan does not miss his attackers. I've also had a review of the level ups gained as well. In addition to making Str, Skl, Spd a minimum requirement for Alan's level ups, I'd like to get as many Luk level ups as I can manage. Luck in this game adds +1 to hit and avoid, making Alan more accurate and durable, and some of the time wasted has come at the expense of accuracy, so any little that can fix that up will help. I would like to include a few Res increases so Alan can at least have a chance to avoid the stave users in the last chapter. Def isn't much of an issue. By the time we reach Ch14 Alan is capping some of his stats, but the more I manipulate in the early game, the less I have to get later on.

Posted: 4/21/2011 9:39 PM

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Toothache

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Ch2: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/997106232/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm May as well post my progress so far. This is a 74 frame improvement over the previous WIP to this point. Annoying issue is that I'm planning to use Roy for a bit of combat in ch5, so ideally I want to get his Str up a bit. Unfortunately, getting the double-crit and surviving the enemy phase in ch2 cannot earn Roy a Strength point, not within the first 2000 RNs at least (I didn't check further, but it would cost way too much time to manipulate anything after the first 500). I might have better luck with the level up in ch3. I may also have to take another level up for Roy from ch2 (gives HP, Spd, Def) if he needs to double more stuff, but I think I can get away without that Spd point. So, the improvement so far has come from improved RNG optimisation and lag reduction mostly (turning off combat display, and the terrain display reduced lag), and I skip the ch1 turn 1 cutscene earlier. Other than that, no real visual change has occurred yet. Things will start happening in the next chapter though, as I have to kill off 2 units before ch5 starts to reposition Alan in the right place. I won't really be able to judge any improvement until the end of ch5, so I'll post a WIP then. Stay tuned!

Posted: 4/23/2011 7:32 PM

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Toothache

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http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/695133054/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Ch3 completed, and I've gone from being ahead of my old WIP to behind by 79 frames. There are several reasons for this which I'll detail here. The thing you may notice first at the end of ch2 is that I have Thany shift 1 RN before Roy seizes. This is important - it changes the stats of the two soldiers that attack Alan in turn 1 EP, so they both have 0 Def (they would have 1 Def each otherwise). With 23 HP, Alan can 2HKO with Iron Sword if they have 0 Def (12x2), but fails to do so if they have a Def point. With the growth being a mere 12% and the soldiers being only L5, it was easy enough to manipulate away. First thing in the chapter proper is that I changed Alan's first level up so he gains +luck on top of the full-left set he gets. More manipulation, and an additional level up point. With him using the Iron Sword to get kills here rather than Iron Lance, it speeds up his Wexp gain, and I can then save time with more Javelin use in later chapters after he gets C Swords. Second thing that costs a bit of time is using Thany to kill one of the two western soldiers. Giving her exp, and potentially a level up will give her greater survivability. I bring Dieck up to take out the other soldier (because he has a crit range, unlike Bors or Chad), and have Lance gain more exp by finishing the eastern soldier that Dieck took out in the last WIP. Things progress more or less the same as before, until Roy is dropped. Rather than having Roy take out both the soldier and cavalier as he did last time, I make sure he crits the cav, netting a HP/Luk level up to increase his survival without costing time. Roy softens up the soldier for Alan to finish, netting him even more sword wexp. I had a lucky find, after Roy comes around to crit the hand axe fighter, without further manipulation I can get Alan to survive, finish off the wounded soldier, and Marcus crits the eastern fighter on the last enemy phase. This saved some of the time wasted, and gains another Silver Lance use for later (probably not needed, but every little helps). Ch4 will be an interesting beast, I need to find a nearby enemy that can crit Wolt for Ch5's 2-turn to work. Turns out I only need to kill off one unit, which helps. Still, I expect to come out of Ch4 behind as well because of this, but the gain from Ch5 should balance out the extra time I've spent. In the long term, I expect these minor delays will manifest into savings, especially as Alan is getting the majority of combat throughout the run and the extra accuracy will be a godsend - should make the overall RNG manipulations faster, in theory.

Posted: 4/24/2011 7:08 AM

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Nitrodon

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Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341

In turn 3 of chapter 2, why did Marcus counter those soldiers with a hand axe? I would expect it to be faster to stay out of their range that turn, and just let them attack without a counter next turn..

Posted: 4/24/2011 2:40 PM

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Rolanmen1

He/Him

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Joined: 2/20/2009
Posts: 569
Location: Dominican Republic

Nitrodon wrote:

In turn 3 of chapter 2, why did Marcus counter those soldiers with a hand axe? I would expect it to be faster to stay out of their range that turn, and just let them attack without a counter next turn..

What he said Chapter 3 - Turn 1-2 Instead of using Lance to kill some those enemies, why not use the Fighter nearer, doing that, Lance wouldn't get a level up (i don't see why you want to level up him). Im also a bit unsure to Roy getting level ups. For what notable chapters you want him to survive that much?

Posted: 4/24/2011 3:32 PM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Marcus counters with hand axe in order to start building his Axe wexp - I want him to be able to use Hammer by the time armored bosses start appearing. Also, if I get too close it triggers other enemy units to start moving south, and I don't want to have to move all those allied units just to avoid counter, crit on player phase, move, respond, etc. I don't use Wade because he lacks a critical hit on the soldier. Roy's survival becomes increasingly difficult later on from his base level, due to having busy areas near the bosses of latergame chapters (ch15 is a good example). He'll be getting ferrydropped at least a turn early enough so he can seize. So far, his level ups have been on HP/Luk, since those are his highest growths anyway and they add to his survival a bit.

Posted: 4/30/2011 2:28 PM

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Toothache

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Ch3: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/60010897/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Ok, so here's a fair few changes since last time. I figured with the cavs in Ch4 being as annoying as they are, it would be much faster killing off Wolt here. 1 RN was shifted at the end of Ch2 to allow this to happen, it turns out the easternmost of the soldiers also has 6 str, the minimum needed to 2HKO Wolt with Iron Lance, as well as the 0 Def needed for Alan to ORKO the soldiers that attack him on enemy phase. Turn by turn, things go like this: Turn 1: Movement happens as before, except I move Dieck here instead of later (I can reach him sooner when I need to manipulate an end of turn RN string in turn 3), and send Wolt off to the southeast (avoids luring weaker soldiers his way). Enemy phase continues as before. Turn 2: Almost the exact same as before, just with Wolt getting poked for half his health. I did test out putting Merlinus in the way to lure the soldier that attacks Lance on enemy phase, but this turned out to be marginally slower, since it would take longer to manipulate an enemy phase crit for Marcus instead of Lance. Turn 3: Dieck and Thany pick off the western soldiers, Alan and Marcus advance as before. Had to shift a few more RNs since the level up used for Alan last time also meant the soldier attacking Wolt would miss; thankfully a HP, Str, Skl, Spd level up was only an additional 18 RNs ahead of the last one, and this one did allow the soldier to hit. Turn 4: Lance takes revenge on Wolt's murderer, and then things continue as before. Turn 5: I decide to let Marcus get even more Axe wexp here, by using Steel Axe to kill the boss (and fighter on EP). This also saved 2 more Silver Lance uses, so it was probably worth the 80 frames spent on doubling the boss. Turn 6: Seize. In total, I'm now 487 frames behind my old WIP. However, this setback will allow for at least four times that improvement in ch5, by my estimates, and likely much more (since the enemy phase is quite long, having so many enemies). Some of that is admittedly due to changes I made that are not related to the death of Wolt, but which should hopefully set up bigger savings later on.

Posted: 5/6/2011 11:54 AM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Ch4: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1129660307/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm I expected to make up the time I spend in Ch3. But I didn't expect to do so in Ch4, and certainly not this large of a saving. Suddenly, thanks to better planning and the help of Nitrodon, I've gone from 489 frames behind at the end of Ch3, to 249 ahead at the end of Ch4. That means I managed to save a massive 738 frames in Ch4 alone! Turn 1: Because of Wolt's death, Thany cannot reach the armoury on turn 3 (she is short by a mere 1 square), so I have to get Lance to pick her up and drop her off in turn 2 so she has the distance. Alan takes Roy, and Dieck moves in ready for next turn. In the enemy phase, Marcus nabs two crits with the Steel Axe, and Alan gets his exp pushed once again to 99 with the nomad's attack. Turn 2: Bors crits the northern cavalier, and Dieck takes out the nomad. Alan moves close enough that he can both hand Roy over to Marcus on turn 3 and lure the second nomad in his direction. Lance drops Thany just out of the cavalier's range, and Marcus takes a full move and equips the Silver Lance (Steel Axe is too heavy for him to double, and the Iron Axe would miss a couple of KOs from the reduced might). Marcus nets a HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Res level up, no crits this time because of the level up. Turn 3: By ending Turn 2 in a more southern position than the old WIP, Marcus has managed to clear more space around the boss (thanks Nitrodon!). Dieck nabs the second nomad, Alan hands Roy off to Marcus for dropping. Thany emptied her inventory to Lance on turn 1, so she wastes less time while shopping (I'd get extra messages once her inventory was full, so it was faster to have her buy 5 Javelins before the 6th added the messages to have those and the subsequent purchases sent to Merlinus. Last time I didn't empty her inventory and she only was able to buy 2 items before the 3rd added extra messages.) On the enemy phase, Roy dodges a cavalier but eats up the other 3 attacks, barely surviving. His positioning allows for free travel to the boss, rather than forcing Alan to crit an enemy to free up space (the RNs are not kind to an Alan crit + level up here, hence the rather poor level up I got last time). Clarine shows up and stops next to Marcus. Turn 4: Marcus can just OHKO Erik here with the Steel Axe (does 9 damage, crit does 27 vs his 26 HP). Thany manipulates the crit (37 hit isn't friendly) and picks up the Angelic Robe, sending one of her Javelins back to Merlinus (she needs to sell the robe at a later point). Erik bites the dust and Roy seizes. I've gone from behind to ahead once again in the space of a chapter. And this isn't even the biggest saving - that's coming up next time. Stay tuned!

Posted: 5/7/2011 5:47 PM

Post subject: Ch4 New WIP and preserving the Silver Lance?

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
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Ch4!: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1525734941/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Ch4 again? Yep, but I made changes to the last two turn, after consulting with Nitrodon. Turn 1 and 2 are unchanged, the purchase of the 1-2 range weapons is also unchanged. Turn 3: After Thany finishes shopping, Alan hands off Roy. Dieck and Alan ignore the nomad kill, and Marcus again drops off Roy, a slight movement improvement pointed out by Nitrodon here. Alan nets a HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Def level up from the nomad, and Roy survives the attacks again. Turn 4: Basically continues same as before. Before seizing, Roy shifts 15 RNs to allow Thany to OHKO a mercenary in ch5 with a crit. So, the level up puts me behind again - by only 30 frames. I'll make this up anyway since Alan will see less combat in ch5 (and he'd have got either that level up there or ch6, so it is a moot point about its frame cost). Still, overall this chapter has had a 459 frame improvement, so I can't complain too much, and it was only the Wolt death that even put me behind at all. By the end of Ch5 I'll be well ahead and this will all be behind me. EDIT: This may not be the end for this chapter. I did a careful look over Marcus's combat in turn 2, and he could potentially KO all the cavs that attack him on the enemy phase with the Iron Lance instead of the Silver Lance, except for the last, and that just requires some enemy stat manipulation at the end of ch3 (would need only 1 less Def). This saves the 19 use Silver Lance for later chapters, rather than eating up half of its uses on this one enemy phase. Both Marcus and Zealot can use it immediately, and Alan doesn't take too long to get to A Lances with all the javelin use he has.

Posted: 5/14/2011 2:09 PM

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Toothache

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Ch1-4: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1107876167/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm So, as it turns out, killing Wolt in Ch3 is very much slower. I've gone from 30 frames behind to a comfortable 533 ahead. Alan misses out on a level up, thanks to the changes I've made here. Thankfully this game is very hex-friendly, so it didn't take me that long to redo. Ch 2 changes: Marcus gets the Iron Axe, in addition to the Steel and Hand Axes. Ch3 changes: Dieck moves later, Wolt survives, Silver Lance kill on boss + fighter. Ch4 changes: Wolt dies, big improvement, Marcus keeps most of the Silver Lance by using Iron Axe to kill the turn 2 cavs. So yeah, Wolt is dead, I'm ahead by a lot, Marcus has even more axe wexp to play with, I have a Silver Lance mostly intact (17/20 uses), and Alan is 1 exp short of a level up again. Things are definitely looking up. Finally, after all that palaver I'm ready for Ch5. If you think the improvement here was big, you ain't seen nothing yet! EDIT: Newer version with a further improvement. By moving Dieck on Ch3 turn 2 I get an earlier cutscene skip as well as less cursor movement overall, surprisingly, saved 13 frames. Seems strange, but there you go, I'll take what I can find.

Posted: 5/17/2011 8:54 AM

Post subject: Ch1-5: Now with encode!

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Toothache

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Posts: 791

Ch1-5: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/407120671/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr0caOe92GQ Massive improvement here, as expected. I am now 2737 frames ahead of my old WIP, thanks to reducing this chapter by a whole turn. Thank you Wolt, your sacrifice was not in vain. Turn 1: Turns out I could get Roy to survive by shifting 0 RNs on this turn, so I did exactly that. Merlinus hands out the 1-2 range weapons to Marcus, and Lance takes some too before rescuing Roy and opening the gate. Thany is moved into position, and Marcus drops Roy. On enemy phase, Roy takes only a single hit from the mercenary, and dodges everything else. Managed an earlier cutscene skip too. Turn 2: I had to stat manipulate at the end of last chapter for the mercenary to have low enough def so that Thany could OHKO with Javelin crit here. Lance nets the smallest level up I could get without costing time (only 3 RNs needed to shift), and Marcus has to shift no RNs to get his crit on the boss. Can't use Steel Axe cos Dory just survives a crit, so it is back to Silver Lance on that. Now the path is clear, Roy seizes. This couldn't have gone better if I'd planned it. Almost no manipulation needed in the entire chapter, and one crit set up the next one very easily. I doubt I'll get so many generous RNs in the future, so I'll just appreciate and move on. Finally we get battle preps!

Posted: 5/24/2011 2:39 PM

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DarkKobold

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Chapter 5 is definitely my favorite thus far. Keep up the good work.

Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.

Posted: 5/26/2011 2:17 PM

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Toothache

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Quick update: I'm starting again. Yep, I got 2 changes to make - one major and one minor. The major change is that Alan gets one extra kill in ch1 (the fighter that went for Lance in turn 1 EP), granting him more experience, which changes the entire exp/levels up for Alan and Lance, meaning new manipulations. The minor change is in ch3, the soldier that Alan doubles on the EP after killing the armour is killed last time with the Javelin, but Marcus can change his weapon to the Iron Sword and he'll still 2HKO. All this change will add about 20 more exp and 5 more wexp to Alan, meaning he'll also get to L5 by the end of ch3, and Lance will be short of a level up by the end of ch5 (but he'll get one in ch6). Overall, I expect these changes to save some time, and Alan will certainly get C Swords much sooner meaning I can play with the Ch7 Killing Edge more. EDIT: Ch1 completed, 41 frames behind, due to more manipulation needed. Lance's first turn crit (50 hit with javelin), turn 3 EP and the boss crit all cost more time to do. I expect to make some of that up in ch2 with needing a shorter manipulation for Roy's boss crit, and the different level up position for Alan.

Posted: 6/5/2011 12:55 AM

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Vykan12

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Joined: 3/20/2008
Posts: 466
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

I know I'm not involved in this project anymore, but I just wanted to say I've been impressed with the WIPs so far and am looking forward to seeing more. And hell, if there's any minor way I could still help with this run I'd be glad to do it. To be honest I'm actually a bit worried that you're restarting 13 chapters of your run over 2 kills. It made a lot more sense to restart with that Wolt dying improvement, but this is very diminishing returns for the effort required. I commend you on your effort, but at the same time I'm worried that this run will never get finished, especially when that's common practice on this site :S

Posted: 6/5/2011 5:27 AM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Do not panic. I'm prepared to take as long as it needs, but I will finish this. I'm just a rather slow methodical sort of TASer - it is a tortoise and the hare story. EDIT: Ch3 is complete, and I'm 64(+353) frames behind, but catching up slowly - and was 67 behind after ch2. The 353 frames is the extra level up Alan gets in this chapter, which he would have got in ch6 anyway. He's got to 30 Sword wexp already, and just needs 21 more to hit D rank (getting C from promotion). New strat also preserves the Silver Lance even further, it is up to 18 uses from 17, and I decided that Roy doesn't need the Rapier after this point so he's dropped it along with the vulnerary he started with (he can serve as extra inventory space for the units that ferry him). I should hopefully start making a net positive of frame gains in the next couple of oncoming chapters, depending on how generous the RNG decides to be. EDIT THE SECOND: Ch4 now complete, pushed myself up to 405 frames behind (or 52 if you discount the extra level up). I'll probably have to reduce that to manipulate the enemy mercenary in ch5 for Thany to kill again though. Marcus level up was HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Res. I'm not losing anything significant though frame wise, so this should still pay off in the long run.

Posted: 6/11/2011 2:04 PM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

ch1-5: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/108280330/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Ch5 is completed with 320 frames behind the previous WIP (33 frames ahead if you disregard the level up Alan will have got in ch6). Had to do extra manipulation here for the crits. Even though Lance isn't going to be used for combat much, that 3 point level up was faster to get than something later with fewer increases. Roy only had to shift 1 RN in the previous chapter for the Thany crit, too. EDIT: Fixed a mistake in ch4. Gone from 350 behind to 320 behind.

Posted: 6/12/2011 11:20 AM

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Toothache

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ch1-6: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1716211508/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Ch6 complete, with a massive 3154 frames ahead of the old 13 chapter WIP. Considering I was 2417 frames ahead after ch5, this is a massive improvement. Turn 1: I have Thany empty her inventory of all javelins onto Lot, Angelic Robe is for sale in the next chapter. Merlinus drops his items onto Roy, and pulls out all the hand axes and javelins he has left. I no longer have to enter Merlinus' stash to get more weapons, and they are just a simple trade away from being used later on. Alan and Lance pulls forward, Roy is picked up by Lance and they stop out of enemy range. On enemy phase, Marcus is forced to crit the two armours and get a level up consisting of only Strength, but it does clear the way for my cavs. Turn 2: Lance hands Roy to Marcus and moves his full distance north. Alan crits a soldier so Marcus can place Roy down. On enemy phase, Roy and Lance are attacked without counter attacks, and dodge as much as they need to. Lance's position reduces the amount of combat needed in turn 3 by 1. Turn 3: Alan doubles a mage to get a 6 point level up - everything except Def. It is possible to get a level up 26 frames faster without getting Res (ie, just HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luk), which crits the mage he attacks, but this was so close I figured it was worth the time spent. Marcus nets an Iron Axe crit on the boss - he doesn't need the Axe wexp any more after getting D Axes in turn 1, but if I can avoid getting S Lances it will save time - just need to make sure I don't go too far and get C Axes instead!

Posted: 6/18/2011 12:24 PM

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Toothache

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Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Having some issues with enemy stat manipulation. In Chapter 7, there are 2 wyvern riders that appear. I'm interested in manipulating the stats of the left one, which is Level 9. So, by checking the base Def of a male Wyvern Rider (8) and the growth (25%), a L9 unit should be averaging 10 Def. However, I am seeing it constantly fixed on 11 and there appears to be no changing it. 10 Def would allow Alan (13 Str) to 2HKO with a crit + normal attack (21+7 dmg, average HP is 26) using Iron Sword (getting his Sword rank up gives him Killing Edge access sooner), but 11 Def means he would survive (18+6 dmg) and cause one of the enemy physic healers to activate and heal the Wyvern, wasting time. There's also another issue - the Luck stat. There are no base Luck stats listed on Serenes, but I'm convinced some units - Wyverns included - have a base Luck higher than 0. I've seen it range from 3 to 5 with my testing, being at 4 most of the time. Again, with 25% growth 2 should be the average with a base Luck of 0. So, there is some information missing. 3 Luck would allow an earlier crit (2%) for Alan with the upcoming RNs. On top of this there's an armour that Alan can just OHKO with a crit on turn 1 with Javelin as long as it has 10 Def too, so both of these unit's stat changes need to be taken into consideration. Using DK's MoveChar's script, the wyvern's stats is generated 2nd (listed as enemy 1), and the armour in question is generated 8th (enemy 7). I would appreciate any help with this. Thanks in advance.

Posted: 6/19/2011 3:04 AM

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Nitrodon

Active player (283)

Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341

The aforementioned Wyvern Rider's base stats are 22 HP, 7 str, 5 skl, 6 spd, 9 def, 0 res, 2 lck. I have no idea why this is the case. Either the information on Serenes Forest is wrong, or this one is different in some way.

Posted: 7/17/2011 4:43 PM

Post subject: Ch7 new WIP

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Toothache

Active player (276)

Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

VBM: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/554854624/0378%20-%20Fire%20Emblem%20-%20Fuuin%20no%20Tsurugi%20%28J%29.vbm Ch7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6bnhDBSIW8 Ok, so after putting this off for some time, I finally got around to finishing Ch7. I want to minimise the amount of combat, so by having a low health Thany, the AI targets her rather than anyone holding a weapon, so they don't counter attack. Turn 1: Roy takes the Hammer from Ward, who moves his full distance north east. Lance and Marcus perform a drop so Roy can recruit Zealot next turn. Dieck hands his Iron Blade over to Alan. Over in the west, Alan takes out an armour with Javelin, and Thany makes him equip the Iron Sword for the mercenary. Alan crits on enemy phase. Turn 2: Alan's position is deliberately chosen so Marcus doesn't counter attack the cavalier - this would also trigger one of the Physic healers since Marcus can't 2HKO or crit while carrying Roy. Level up is HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luk. Zealot is recruited, and takes Treck south. Lance is picked up by Ward after critting the mercenary - this is to stop him doubling the armour. Thany buys 4 Door Keys and a Chest Key. On enemy phase, I let Thany get hit to encourage the AI to target her over Alan, who would counter some of the attackers wasting time. Marcus does a double miss on the armour to save weapon uses, and picks off a soldier in the meantime. Turn 3: Dieck rescues Noah to stop him being annoying. Ward moves out of range of the armour, while Zealot picks up the Killing Edge. Marcus advances, taking the Hammer and equipping the Iron Axe, Alan gets another Sword kill, and Thany opens the door while luring attackers in her direction. Enemy phase continues to use Thany as a lure, while a few wayward enemies go for Marcus and Alan. No counter attacks other than the Wyvern, which is good. Turn 4: Thany moves out of range of her pursuers, and Alan allows for further distance to avoid all but one enemy. Dieck moves out of range of the armour, and Marcus drops Roy, who has to dodge almost all the attacks aimed at him. Turn 5: Marcus nets a crit with the Silver Lance, and avoids levelling up surprisingly. He doesn't double with the Hammer unfortunately, and has no crit with it either, and I don't see myself saving time by going back and rigging his second level up to gain Speed, since he needs to perform 2 crits on the same enemy phase as levelling up in Chapter 6. Overall, this was the easiest and probably fastest option. In terms of frames, I am 4315 frames ahead of the old WIP

Posted: 8/4/2011 10:25 AM

Post subject: Ch8 complete

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Toothache

Active player (276)

Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gGMUTjiJnE With Alan being so far behind in terms of the level he needs to promote, I had to dedicate some of the kills to him. He ends up getting a little over the exp needed to promote, but I doubt he can get 1 fewer kill in order to promote by the time it is needed. Turn 1: Thany trades all three Door Keys to Roy. He needs one in Ch12, and the other two will be given to Marcus later in this chapter. It is faster for Alan to double here than to crit. Zealot trades Alan the Killing Edge, and picks him up, for Marcus to drop Alan 1 square forward. This position allows Alan to get into a better combat position later on. Getting Alan's level up necessitated avoiding crits here too - he gains Str, Skl, Spd, Luk, Def. The archer that attacks Lilina cannot crit, so he has to take 2 rounds killing her to avoid the gaiden. Turn 2: Marcus nets a level up of Str, Spd, which is all he really needs. Zealot gets into position to kill the archer next turn - it stops him walking all the way across the map wasting enemy phase time. Alan and Thany advance, Thany giving Zealot a 2 use Hand Axe as she goes. I have plans for that. On enemy phase, both Alan and Marcus save time by critting their attackers. Turn 3: Alan's repositioning on turn 1 allowed him to get another sword kill on the knight. Marcus nabs another crit, and another on the enemy phase. Zealot also crits the archer. Turn 4: Marcus was in desperate need of Hand Axe uses, so Thany trades a full one to him. Alan takes Roy and the Chest Key and advances, getting another sword kill for HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luk, Def, level up. Turn 5: Marcus crits the archer, and the soldier on enemy phase. Turn 6: Here's where the fresh Hand Axe was needed - Marcus cannot OHKO the knight with the Javelin, and he has 5 more enemies to deal with. No level up makes this battle easier to manage. Turn 7: Alan trades off Roy. It would be nice if I could use a glitch here, that allows both Alan and Marcus to occupy the same square, but Marcus would not be able to move this turn if I did that. Marcus takes the Door Keys off Roy and advances. Alan gets another sword kill on EP. Turn 8: Starting the advance to the boss. Turn 9: Alan gets the Knight Crest. Having a full inventory means I can get rid of the now useless Chest Key. Marcus whips out the Hammer for a OHKO on the knight. Turn 10: Cath and another thief appear on enemy phase. Turn 11: Marcus takes a kill with the Silver Lance - he doesn't have the ability to crit the mage with a ranged weapon. I had to manipulate the thief's stats to allow Alan to OHKO with Iron Sword - 20 mt vs 18 HP/2 Def. Turn 12: Getting rid of Cath stops her wasting time later as well as giving the final exp Alan needs to promote. It will be faster to do that at the start of next chapter, which is why I don't do it here. Alan also gets his Sword rank up finally, meaning he can immediately make use of the Killing Edge after promotion. All that extra effort will pay off for definite with all the extra crits. Level up gains are HP, Str, Skl, Spd, Luk, Res. Marcus equips the Hammer for the enemy phase, dropping Roy just in range of the throne. Marcus gets HP, Str, Luk level up - I could get a level up with just HP only easily enough, but I have a feeling the Str will be useful later on. Turn 13: Leygance bites the dust. 5131 frames ahead here, but the promotion will take about 1000 frames or so. Overall I've not really lost any time but not gained much either - combat went faster, but Alan got stronger level ups with a few less crits to compensate. The narrow corridors around the first half of the map are not conducive to big RNG manipulations, so I minimise them as much as I can - which allowed me to get so many good enemy phase results and level ups without spending forever manipulating them, so overall I'm pleased with this. Alan gets to promote next chapter, and I can have fun with the KE, saving a huge amount of manipulation.

Posted: 8/11/2011 3:37 AM

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Toothache

Active player (276)

Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791

Ch9 encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec_WD8YAigw Fog of War delays actions by 16 frames after every move, so I play around with the cursor here. Other than that, there's not a huge amount of difference between this and the previous incarnation, given this is such a small map. Turn 1: Alan finally promotes, Roy moves out of range of an enemy and ready to be rescued on turn 3. Thany rescues Alan ready for the drop. Turn 2: I would have liked to drop him one place to the right, so he didn't lure the Poison Axe fighter, but this would mean he would be 1 square short of the enemy that appears on turn 3 and delay the whole thing by another turn. Thanks to my dedication to raising Alan's Luck and Skill, overcoming the low accuracy of Javelin on all 6 enemies was a little easier this time around. Turn 3: Roy gets to be ferried around. Alan equips the Killing Edge in order to save time manipulating a critical on the fighter. Turn 4: Alan stops 1 place short of his full move, so he avoids combat with the mage next turn. Sorry Fir. Turn 5: First use of the Double Occupancy Glitch, saving time by avoiding combat with the mage. Roy has just enough defensive stats to avoid the KO from Shin and the mercenary. By moving towards Thany before the FoW effect allows me to end turn, I can save time moving to her in order to manipulate the boss kill - there will be no space around the boss for Alan to manage it. Turn 6: Netting a crit on Scott needed a bit of work. I had to forego Str this time, but Alan still gets HP, Skl, Spd, Luk, Def. I've a feeling his Strength is high enough at this point I can miss one level up there. Total frames saved: 4468 from previous version

Posted: 8/12/2011 4:38 PM

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Vykan12

Player (98)

Joined: 3/20/2008
Posts: 466
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Don't forget to provide VBMs next update :P