http://www.twitch.tv/guhbadoo/c/2432899
Really stupid skip guhbadoo found on Twitch yesterday. All you do is hold left and it skips the conversation (or hold right or down).
It's now possible to skip the C-Serpent in both StarTropics games:
Link to video
Also, it's possible to make the following jump (doable in real time as well). The old TAS strat was already outdated, but this is even faster:
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Hey guys,
I just watched the current run of Star Tropics 2 and noticed a small time saver (in case it hasn't already been noticed).
Upon getting the final tetrad it takes around 13-14 seconds for Mike's life meter to fill back up. I figured it would be far faster to collect heart refreshers prior to fighting the dragon. In turn, this could probably save at least 700 frames.
Good luck on the improved run!
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
I run this game and I've just now come across this thread. I figured I'd add some information that I've learned. I've only played in real time so I don't have exact frame counts.
-After the Chapter 4 brain boss it is possible to grab the "?" orb without landing on the raised platform, which makes only one jump necessary.
-It is possible to 1-cycle Zoda-X, even in real time. Grabbing the spike disc in the raft room 2 rooms before the boss makes this possible. It only takes a few frames to get, but saves several seconds.
If I think of anything else I will let you all know.
Check this out:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/764242420/crocs.fm2
Just messing around right now and I was able to find an early exit for monkey pit 1, which I can't seem to recreate right now. But I did manage to record this bit of crazy glitchiness.
Screenshot (when you press select to bring up chapter info):
EDIT:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1471819064/wholething.fm2
Early exit recorded, finally.
I think what's happening is similar to Mega Man 2 where you're on a different screen than the one being shown.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1090051752/warp.fm2
Well, now it's starting to get even more broken. I was just able to warp from chapter 3 to chapter 6. Holy shit.
Same glitchy screen as before, but I was able to not have it freeze and this happened. Actually, it happened a bit earlier and this is me recreating it - the first time it happened right away in the glitchy part by just going up.
I was also able to get a different glitchy screen on the next screen up, so maybe other warps exist? Nothing would surprise me at this point.
I did it. Warped to the credits from chapter 3. This file won't explain anything, but here it is:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/833514704/end.fm2
But anyway, like in the early exit video above, it all starts by getting to a part of the screen where you're not supposed to be. By using the walk on water trick, you can get down to the black part of the screen and come out the top. From here, it's like Mega Man 2 where you're apparently walking around on a different screen than where you actually are.
It's then possible to reach "exits," which can lead to multiple possibilities:
1 - Screen stays black and nothing happens
2 - Takes you to the dungeon entrance on the overworld, everything then proceeds as normal
3 - Same as #2, except it goes to the dungeon exit (see the final boss skip)
4 - Takes you to an extremely glitchy overworld screen, like the screenshot above. I guess if you glitch the screen enough, it's past the point where it can go back to normal. Most of the time it either freezes instantly or as soon as you walk a little bit. Sometimes it's a bit more stable, though. And here, it went straight to the credits.
Real interesting stuff scaryice, I can see some weird things happening in the future with this game.
Some things I forgot to mention in my prior post:
The Skeleton Miner's hammer causes a stun. If you jump at just the precise moment this can be avoided.
I found this weird graphical glitch in this room. You throw katanas instead of daggers. Probably worthless, but interesting nonetheless.
Randil and I have both accepted that our schedules make it very difficult to complete this project. We invite others to use our existing work to create either warpless and / or warped runs of this game. Our only request is that we remain listed as authors if our footage is still used, and I would like it if I could encode the video for the publication.
Would anyone like to work on this? scaryice, you've done some pretty amazing stuff with this game; how about you? We can consult anyone who attempts to take it up.
We have two movie files in our repository: [URL=https://code.google.com/p/brandon-evans-tas/source/browse/Startropics+2+-+Zoda%27s+Revenge+%28U%29+-+Current.fm2]Current[/URL], which is our best time for our longest run (beating Chapter 3), and the [URL=https://code.google.com/p/brandon-evans-tas/source/browse/Startropics+2+-+Zoda%27s+Revenge+%28U%29.fm2]main branch[/URL], which was our attempt to implement improvements to that run. The Mercurial repository shows many notes documenting tricks we've performed and ideas we've had, and the subtitles for the movie do as well. [URL=http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/2725020793014136]Here[/URL] is the link to our submitted WIP. We have a Lua script, which I'll upload and edit into this post later. Let us know if you have any questions.
Link to videohttp://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1365595487/glitchy%20credits.fm2
Here's a video of the credits warp. I get there from the room with the exit. I don't know if that's the only room - that's just the way I did it the first time, and I know that it works.
I've tried to get to the "glitch world" from the Yum Yum fight in chapter 1, but no luck. I can get out of his room to the left or down, but that's it. Can't skip the fight yet.
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1977
Location: Making an escape
So here I am, making a TAS by myself, having made it to the boss rush at the end and inadvertantly triggering another credits glitch, before discovering this topic.
There are ways of crossing pits?! I'm gonna have to start over, won't I?
Just to contribute my own offering to the pool of knowledge here: Attack cooldown is reduced by two frames when you're in the air.
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1977
Location: Making an escape
Nice find, Ducks.
Now that I'm here, I figure I may as well share my progress before halting. It works its way up to Zoda Y during the boss rush, where it will promptly crash. I think it's the result of defeating part 1 too quickly.
I've also had a chance to watch Brandil's WIP to pick up a few pointers. Good work. Overall, they seem better at navigation, while I pick it up with better combat.
Anyway, now to undo three month's worth of inconsistent work. I'll be sure to put together everything found in this topic, plus my own experiences, and produce something that's hopefully pretty bangerang!
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1977
Location: Making an escape
Topic spam!
Chapter 2 is (re)done. Approximately 20 seconds ahead of my first effort at this point, and about 6 seconds ahead of Brandil's.
Another test!
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
Watching you play around after the Yum Yum battle gave me an idea. What happens if you use the void walking trick off of a bubble or something and get behind Yum Yum? Will the screen scroll upwards there? Is it a dead end? It seems like it should be possible to get around the skulls in the upper right side with a void walk.
Really good progress so far! I'm really excited for this run. ^_^
Watching you play around after the Yum Yum battle gave me an idea. What happens if you use the void walking trick off of a bubble or something and get behind Yum Yum? Will the screen scroll upwards there? Is it a dead end? It seems like it should be possible to get around the skulls in the upper right side with a void walk.
I spent some time testing this a while ago. You can't scroll up. I couldn't find a way to get past the battle without killing him, and I couldn't get to the "glitch world" either. I was able to go one screen down and end up in the wall in that big room. But, I couldn't walk around; it would only let me jump off. I also could go into the room on the left, but it's a false exit so not really helpful.
What's interesting is that in Yum Yum's area, there is one square that is semi-solid. If you jump onto the wall to the left of the topmost skull, you can jump onto this square and if you do it right, everything in the room will shift down one row. The graphics stay the same, but you're able to move one row lower. You can keep doing this over and over, which allows you to eventually jump down to the black space where your items/health are. But I was unable to totally break things (yet).
Ah dang, that is disappointing. I'm glad you had already checked into it, though!
That screen scroll glitch sounds interesting. It's a shame it doesn't appear to be useful. :(
Keep up the good work everybody!
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1977
Location: Making an escape
Scaryice: That's a lot more than I was able to get. All my attempts at going above YumYum resulted in the game locking up.
I also doubt I'll be using the credits glitch. I'll leave that up to someone who's more well versed in ASM to deal with.
Let's test something....
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
EDIT:
