Submission Text Full Submission Page
A technologically impressive hack also known for it's rapid speeds, pushed faster than the developers expected!

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Gens 11a
  • Takes no damage
  • Completes the game as fast as possible
  • Exploits programming oversights and engine limitations

Comments

A group calling themselves SÆGA set out to make a game that did justice to Sonic's speed and agility, to do this they took a Sonic 2 rom, disassembled it and began to modify the source code, pushing the limitations of the engine far what most had seen before.
Levels are fast-paced with lots of multi-choice paths and are impressively long, so much that a typical player can easily run out of time if they don't know where they are going! To help navigate through these levels seven new movesets are introduced to Sonic, as detailed by Sonic Boom's Wiki.
According to the forum topic, this hack is still in production and only the "First Level" is released so far.

Stage by stage comments

Power Plant Zone

Act 1

This act is rather generous at the start with rings quickly allowing me to use the Diagonal Dash ability I so I can glitch into the second loop, allowing me to zip through portions of the level. From then on the movie pretty much speaks for itself for this level.

Act 2

@ 0:03 I use a Diagonal Dash at a precise frame into the springs, this allows me to cancel the forward momentum that would otherwise cause me to go through a different (and much slower) route.
@ 0:27 I Diagonal Dash into another corner, this allows me to cut 80% of the level and put me conveniently right next to the boss.

Act 3

Unfortunately there is no real time-saving glitches available to this stage, I can glitch out of the stage in several places but never manage to get back into the level before the ring count is depleated from being in the fire. It also seems not to matter how fast you try to move through the level, it has a pre-determined length or something. Although for the sake of simply making things interesting to watch, I deliberately kill a Badnik on the way out of the level this causes a interesting graphical glitch!

Final comments

Things for the Audience

Unlike some Sonic games (and/or hacks) there is next-to-no places that force you to wait for long periods of time, so alot of the entertainment in this run will come from the blazing speed and not from goofiness inbetween waits.

Possible Improvements

I can't help but think perhaps a whole second or two is squeeable from Power Plant Act 1, and I refuse to believe there is no way to speed up Act 3 but I have been completely unable to find anyway to do so.

Suggested Screenshots

The recommended thumbnail screenshot would be frame: 12784
A few other interesting screenshots may be frames; 1078, 3436, 4143, 4869, 10641

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14856
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2850: DDRKhat's Genesis Sonic Boom in 03:32.13
Player (36)
Joined: 9/9/2006
Posts: 388
An encode is already available (albiet not following TasVideo's encoding standards...) on my YouTube Page. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRW58eBI1_k
A whisper in the wind~~
Active player (276)
Joined: 4/30/2009
Posts: 791
Crazy fast paced, and if this level is anything to go by, the finished hack should be awesome. However, I'm reluctant to vote yes on an unfinished hack TAS. Maybe when (if) this gets finished, but not right now on a single stage TAS.
marzojr
He/Him
Experienced player (748)
Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France
I agree with Toothache; the TAS is impressive, but I don't think it warrants a publication yet given that the hack is still under development.
Marzo Junior
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: Minnesota
It was interesting enough. Too bad it wasn't longer, though.
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
I remember trying to play this hack when it was released. I was too crap at it to do a decent job of it, heh. It's a wonderful hack technically, enough so to actually make me feel very uneasy inside. I'm going to attempt a HD encode of this, but I really really really really cannot promise anything, even for a movie this short. It's really too damn fast paced. I place a Yes vote for it being a technical demonstration of what can be done. Though, unfortunately, I do see this being ultimately rejected... unless precedent is broken, anyway. Also, suggested screenshot below:
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
This looks like it's going to be a great hack. The speedometer is a nice touch in particular (though I'm also partial to Mega Man X music remixes). The play looks very solid, though there seem to be some larger pauses than needed fighting the first boss. I'm still chalking up a Yes vote, though if more of the hack gets developed soon, this should probably be viewed as a WIP instead of a full submission.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
GabCM
He/Him
Joined: 5/5/2009
Posts: 901
Location: QC, Canada
Voting yes, due to the extreme fast-pace! Of course I will do an official SD encode for this one!
Player (36)
Joined: 9/9/2006
Posts: 388
Flygon wrote:
I'm going to attempt a HD encode of this, but I really really really really cannot promise anything, even for a movie this short. It's really too damn fast paced.
My youtube has a HD encode of it. (See 720p due to YouTube's uploading limitation AT THE TIME it was posted)
A whisper in the wind~~
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
DDRKhat wrote:
Flygon wrote:
I'm going to attempt a HD encode of this, but I really really really really cannot promise anything, even for a movie this short. It's really too damn fast paced.
My youtube has a HD encode of it. (See 720p due to YouTube's uploading limitation AT THE TIME it was posted)
Our HD encodes operate differently. Mine are created with the intent of avoiding the visual anomalies associated with the Chroma subsampling that YV12 reduction induces... yours seems to be in it for the bonus bitrate. Though, this also means that my HD encodes need to be viewed at a higher resolution because YouTube is honestly, retarded. That, and the encode I am making is being designed with the flickering in mind, which is why it's actually taking so long to encode, because the added blur increases the bitrate exponentially (And the time needed additionally). So far, the encode's bitrate is only going at half of the YouTube cap, which is good (The cap, as far as I am aware, is 30 megabits a second for 1080p videos, I've not tested for Original mode videos yet).
Player (36)
Joined: 9/9/2006
Posts: 388
Oh I see. I apologize then. Look forward to your encode :) When complete, mind sending the file to me so I may have it on my YouTube account?
A whisper in the wind~~
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
I'm not sure if I'll be able to, the filesize could be prohibitive (My Mother has a really bad upload cap, and HD encodes chew it like Locusts in a Sugarcane field). A good YouTube video downloader should support downloading the Original mode video file, however.
GabCM
He/Him
Joined: 5/5/2009
Posts: 901
Location: QC, Canada
On my side, I do the HD encodes like Flygon does, but since we found a way to use HQ<digit>X filters in AviSynth, I'm using them to make my encodes look better and less pixelated. But it makes bigger files.
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
On a side note, this would be a nice TAS to see a 30fps blended HQx HD encode made for. Mister Epic, if you get the spare time, would you be able to generate one? Be sure to apply the HQx filtering before the frame blending, if you do decide to do this. :3 This upload should finish in 7 hours
Joined: 6/4/2009
Posts: 893
the hacks looks very promising but it would be better to wait for the hack to be finished before making a tas of it. voting no.
GabCM
He/Him
Joined: 5/5/2009
Posts: 901
Location: QC, Canada
Flygon wrote:
On a side note, this would be a nice TAS to see a 30fps blended HQx HD encode made for. Mister Epic, if you get the spare time, would you be able to generate one? Be sure to apply the HQx filtering before the frame blending, if you do decide to do this. :3
That's what I did for my Magnetica TAS HD encode. The frame blending happens last. And that's what I will do for this one as well. I will apply HQ3X and HQ2X this time. I will do it after I've uploaded the SD encode. EDIT Archive page Video file (MP4, 22.5 MB) The filtered HD encode will come up later.
Skilled player (1306)
Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 1354
Location: U.S.
Voting no, because it does not beat the current record. Nice hack though.
Former player
Joined: 11/13/2005
Posts: 1587
Sonikkustar wrote:
Voting no, because it does not beat the current record.
This submission is far more entertaining though. I still have to vote no, because it fails to meet its primary goal.
Player (36)
Joined: 9/9/2006
Posts: 388
Sonikkustar wrote:
Voting no, because it does not beat the current record. Nice hack though.
Damn. wasn't aware of that... Sigh. Yet another reject.
A whisper in the wind~~
Skilled player (1636)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy
Uh, this shouldn't even be run, until the hack is finished. Strangely, I can't find the rule, but I vaguely remember that WIP hacks are not acceptable. Also, DDRKhat, you should cancel.
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.
TASVideosGrue
They/Them
Joined: 10/1/2008
Posts: 2738
Location: The dark corners of the TASVideos server
om, nom, nom... minty!
GabCM
He/Him
Joined: 5/5/2009
Posts: 901
Location: QC, Canada
I've stopped uploading my HD encode.
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
Link to video Too late for this upload.
Banned User, Player (142)
Joined: 8/30/2010
Posts: 500
Location: Argentina Bs. As.
DDRKhat wrote:
Sonikkustar wrote:
Voting no, because it does not beat the current record.
I too would vote no, because emu it does it faster than he (0:33) I want to show that I have improved Power Plant Zone (Act 1) I have it here 0:32.50 PPZ1: Achieve improve at the beginning and end First, making a small spindash, jumping and making downward dive. After touching the ground (I think they have to skip 1 frame, not try it and see) made a leap and yet another downward dive and will do the glitch Second, in the boss in the first five shots is normal and the last five shots, hit a double jump and activate the auto-fire in B and C and be quiet. And so I was able to achieve this improvement
[18:51] <scrimpy> Oh, nothing [18:51] <mmarks> oh [18:51] <Nach> I think scrimpy is just jealous of you mmarks