(Link to video)
This is a tool-assisted superplay of RoboCop 3 for Sega Genesis/MD. RoboCop 3 is a 1993 video game published by Ocean and later ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear by Flying Edge. Comparing to the NES version, there is no zonal system damage; different levels, weapons, enemies.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: GENS-rerecording 11A
  • Aims for the fastest time
  • Hardest difficulty
  • Genre: Platformer
  • Genre: Shoot'em Up

Comments

I didn't expect the game will be short, but I didn't even pass the first boss (enemy attack) of the 2nd level using easy diff. in my childhood! NES (Famicom in my case) version was easier, but I didn't know what to do on the last stage with 2 ninjas =) It was one of not many games I remember, most of them are TASed now and I think the best game choice for TASing is a childhood game. This game is s perfect example for TAS practicing because it asks for all tools for a comfortable play!

RAM addresses:

It was the first time I've found addresses myself, after rereading the Memory Search article some times!
1. 00FF05B9 - Player X/Y position (?) - It was the only right address for movement I've found in 3 searches! It should be 2 addresses for each position, but I don't understand the function of this one: it changes when I walk/jump/walk and jump simultaneously, but it doesn't show the equal value when I go on full speed!
2. 00FF293B - Random Enemy HP - It shows the HP of an enemy which you face and shows it for some time after he've left the screen. If there are 2 or more enemies, it doesn't change its value until the shown enemy dies.

Enemy HP:

Bandit in blue - 2
Bandit in red - 3
Rocket Bandit - 4/5
Bikers - 3
Bike - 4
Satellite - 8
Silver killer (rocketgunner) - 4/6/8
Red Killer (lasergunner) - 4
Big/Small robot - 6
Rock - 32
Air Fly Satellite - 5
Air Fly Silver killer (fireballer/bulletgunner) - 9/7
Red Devil (Level 2 Boss) - 64
Flying Krang from TMNT (Air Fly Level 3-1 Boss) - 214
Giant Warplane (Level 4-1 Boss) - 216
Ninja (Level 3-2, 4-2 Boss) - 28

Weapon damage:

Bullet/Triple bullet - 1
Laser - 4
Flame - 1
Rocket - 4
Punch - 2
Air Fly Double Laser - 2
3. 00FF1A23 - Ninja HP (Level 3-2 Boss) - I don't know why the REHP address didn't show the HP of the him during the fight. The strange is that it shows value not from 28 to 0, but from 228 to 255.

Level by level comments

Level 1: Streets of Old Detroit

We appear on the street full of bad guys and start shooting them up from our simple hand-machine gun using Frame Advance to change weapon and shoot again (1 shot per 2 frames), thanks to strong Genesis' hardware for almost no lag frames and ability to perform every action in a single frame! Some guys survived for entertainment or wasting time to kill'em. Walking around during the boss fight to spawn the enemies faster.

Level 2: Way to Parking Area

First of all we walk to the elevator for windows and shoot up all the bad guys. During the going up I decided to play in pacifist a little and dodge bullets. Someone can't shoot down (guess who) and someone can't shoot up like enemies from windows so some guys survived again. I took Laser Gun because I just didn't have enough ammo to kill the enemy attack (first boss). After walking on the rooftop, we go down on the top of another elevator and meet a new kind of enemies - flying robots. They decrease the energy during the contact. One of them pushed me down and disappeared after a while. Then we meet another guy written in Paint who repairs the robot and runs away when the enemies appear. My try to talk to him crouched didn't bring the success! Anyway, I allowed the robot to shoot some times so it showed its usefulness or otherwise I wasted 5 seconds looking at the repairment. On the way to the boss I didn't take any weapon because with flamethrower and rocket launcher I kill the boss 4 frames later.

Stage 3: Air Fly, Church

An innovation in RoboCop - a classic air shooter view! We're flying and shooting in everything that moves. The only weapon is Double Laser with some upgrades. There I decided to play in pacifist again because there no ability to destroy all the enemies like in other similar shooters. I had improved the boss fight twice before I got the fastest tactic. If he was slower, I'd make some more point blanks.
In the Church I tried to take as less damage as I could. Laser Gun wasn't taken to save time. New add-ons are stairs and door that require keys. Who jumps up the stairs and goes through the steps?? Even RoboCop 1 for NES has more realistic animations! Anyway, its used to save time. I tried to bypass the door performing all possible actions and cut the route to the first door (fall down), but nothing helped! Funny that you can jump once after the falling if you haven't reached the floor, but no more second jump (taking damage didn't help too)! The boss is too easy: he can't damage you if you are too close to him, but you somehow can't use your weapons.

Stage 4: Air Fly 2, Final Boss fight

During the second fly, I tried to kill as many objects as I could, but I also used pacifism in some parts. By the fighting with boss I didn't kill anyone to configure the address to show boss HP. A strange thing that I got a desync during the fight, I watched playthroughs and they got they same result: sometimes RoboCop interrupts on 0,5-1 seconds and then starts working again, but I redid the fight and also improved it.
Final Boss are 2 ninjas as one in the church and you can't use your weapons again. Second ninja only helped to finish the fight faster because I shouldn't jump after him to punch. The bad thing is that RoboCop punches too slow in frame advance (1 punch per 29 frames), but with ninjas with their skills, it's no a problem!
THE END

Suggested screenshots:

25986 - looks like RoboCop's jetpack destroyed, but no, tank's explosion animation is placed on a wrong layer.
30718

feos: Judging...
feos: Updated submission with a faster movie.
feos: Accepting to Moons.
fsvgm777: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #4462: Dimon12321's Genesis RoboCop 3 in 08:40.92
Spikestuff
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Doesn't need to add his 2 cents on the input What? Anyways, I was entertained enough to a point but not enough for me... so that's good enough for me to give a Meh vote. Also WOO different port!
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i found a glitch where you get stuck to the wall on the level 2 lift 4 years ago
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1620352655/Robocop3%28UE%29%5B!%5Dwipglitch.gmv
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Finally Dimon played nice game instead of FPS with creepy graphic! Movie is enough entertaining and also well optimized (10 frames ahead than AndyD's WIP) = Easy yes vote.
I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Current projects: NES: Tetris "fastest 999999" (improvement, with r57shell) Genesis: Adventures of Batman & Robin (with Truncated); Pocahontas; Comix Zone (improvement); Mickey Mania (improvement); RoboCop versus The Terminator (improvement); Gargoyles (with feos)
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looks good but i don't know about the game itself
TAS i'm interested: megaman series: mmbn1 all chips, mmx3 any% psx glitched fighting games with speed goals in general
ALAKTORN
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Didn’t look optimal to me but what do I know. Game’s music is pretty nice, but the gameplay itself is boring to me. Didn’t vote.
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Spikestuff wrote:
Doesn't need to add his 2 cents on the input
Well, look for possible improvements right at the title screen/menus is also one of my hobbies. No, there's nothing wrong with his inputs on those menus, the run is also pretty optimal overall. But there's always something that we overlook when we're working on a TAS. So here's a really small possible improvement if you ever want to give this game another try; dropping from a ledge makes you stop for one frame, and you did this six times on stage one. Here's a Lua script that may help if you want to avoid those "droppings";
gui.register( function ()
local pos = memory.readword(0xFF12C0)
local spd = memory.readbytesigned(0xFF12C5)
gui.text(10,40,"X Speed: "..spd)
gui.text(10,50,"X Posit: "..pos)
end)
I am old enough to know better, but not enough to do it.
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At 0:46, won't staying on the platform add its movement to your own instead of jumping off immediately? And why the two jumps at ~5:58? Regardless, most of it was either auto scroller or walk right and shoot enemies as they appeared, soaking up damage to no ill effect, so...
Dimon12321
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Archanfel wrote:
Finally Dimon played nice game instead of FPS with creepy graphic! Movie is enough entertaining and also well optimized (10 frames ahead than AndyD's WIP) = Easy yes vote.
10 frames? I'm about 100-150 frames ahead than his: lag frames in the middle of the stage, and slower boss fight in the end.
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
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Seems like a decent game, with that recognizable 90's angle to the whole futuristic dystopia setting (complete with rampant biker gangs). The action was slightly dull... and what's the point of Robocop flying in the skies using a jetpack if he weighs about 1000kg... wouldn't it be more fuel-efficient to leave that job to some less metallic special unit guy instead? Anyway, the game was quite pleasant and the run wasn't very long, so I would still give it a mild yes for entertainment. Another Robocop-game down for the count!
Dimon12321
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Tangent wrote:
At 0:46, won't staying on the platform add its movement to your own instead of jumping off immediately? And why the two jumps at ~5:58? Regardless, most of it was either auto scroller or walk right and shoot enemies as they appeared, soaking up damage to no ill effect, so...
I think improvement will be, but only 1-5 frames because I won't be able to jump on the next platform if it goes up so high. I can't reach the next floor with 2 jumps, so the fastest route is jump 1 step up, land on its leftmost position and jump left. Shooting enemies as they appear is not boring. Also walking right and jumping up and down. Pain effect... it's an unstoppable machine though Robocop 1, 2 for NES showed his weakness (have pain effect as slowdown or interruption).
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
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Dimon12321 wrote:
Archanfel wrote:
Finally Dimon played nice game instead of FPS with creepy graphic! Movie is enough entertaining and also well optimized (10 frames ahead than AndyD's WIP) = Easy yes vote.
10 frames?
AndyD wrote:
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1620352655/Robocop3%28UE%29%5B!%5Dwipglitch.gmv
I compared them at this point:
I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Current projects: NES: Tetris "fastest 999999" (improvement, with r57shell) Genesis: Adventures of Batman & Robin (with Truncated); Pocahontas; Comix Zone (improvement); Mickey Mania (improvement); RoboCop versus The Terminator (improvement); Gargoyles (with feos)
Dimon12321
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Archanfel wrote:
I compared them at this point: (Pictures)
Ah. I meant the first WIP somewhere in Genesis forum section. Edit: Thread #8991: RoboCop 3
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
MESHUGGAH
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In the NES version, you can manipulate the spawn side of the enemies at the end of 1-1. I have a feeling that your strategy is sub-optimal, just like the published NES tas.
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Dimon12321
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MESHUGGAH wrote:
In the NES version, you can manipulate the spawn side of the enemies at the end of 1-1. I have a feeling that your strategy is sub-optimal, just like the published NES tas.
They are different ports on different engines. I don't think so. I tried some position changes, but enemies anyway spawn from both sides.
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
Dimon12321
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AndyD wrote:
i found a glitch where you get stuck to the wall on the level 2 lift 4 years ago
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1620352655/Robocop3%28UE%29%5B!%5Dwipglitch.gmv
You propose me to do this in my run for more entertainment? Nice glitch =)
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
Dimon12321
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Dooty wrote:
Here's a Lua script that may help if you want to avoid those "droppings";
gui.register( function ()
local pos = memory.readword(0xFF12C0)
local spd = memory.readbytesigned(0xFF12C5)
gui.text(10,40,"X Speed: "..spd)
gui.text(10,50,"X Posit: "..pos)
end)
Where should I enter this code? GENS asks for a Gens Lua Script.
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
MESHUGGAH
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Dimon12321 wrote:
MESHUGGAH wrote:
In the NES version, you can manipulate the spawn side of the enemies at the end of 1-1. I have a feeling that your strategy is sub-optimal, just like the published NES tas.
They are different ports on different engines. I don't think so. I tried some position changes, but enemies anyway spawn from both sides.
You are right, the spawns are fixed and timed on Genesis so that place can't be improved.
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Dimon12321 wrote:
Where should I enter this code? GENS asks for a Gens Lua Script.
There you go: Download DragnDropMeToGens.lua
Language: lua

gui.register( function () local pos = memory.readword(0xFF12C0) local spd = memory.readbytesigned(0xFF12C5) gui.text(10,40,"X Speed: "..spd) gui.text(10,50,"X Posit: "..pos) end)
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.
Dimon12321
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Writing from tablet: Improve is done, about a second faster. I have no internet connection on my PC for now and have no OTG cable to upload the movie to the tablet and then upload to TASVideos. Will upload it tomorrow anyway. No improve found to platforms on level 1. Moreover, up/down platforms became more uncomfortable for speed gaining because I improved some frames from dropping from ledges, so I changed jumping input a little. Level 2, using Dooty's script, was improved on rock conveyor (also droppings). Can also re-encode the movie if you want!
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
Dimon12321
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Movie improved and is now 29 frames faster!
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
WST
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I remember this game. Nice work, I’m voting «yes».
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Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2703] Genesis RoboCop 3 by Dimon12321 in 08:40.92