Rolan's Curse II is a somewhat clunky Zelda clone. Compared to its predecessor, it features multiple party members as well as level ups hidden in treasure chests around the world.
Game objectives
Beat final boss in the shortest amount of time
Comments
Emulator used: BizHawk 2.2.1, SameBoy core. Some bosses were skipped. Only bosses needed to progress to the next area were fought. Mostly similar to Trysdyn's RTA WR, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFs4B0SdiS4
ThunderAxe31: According to the Movie Rules specific for Game Boy movies, a game should be played in SGB mode only if the game features enhancements available in such mode. Since this is not the case for this game, I reject this submission.
Question:
Why did you use the SGB SameBoy core, even though the game has no SGB enhancements (for instance, a SGB border)?
I personally don't think there's a point in running it in SGB mode if it doesn't have a SGB border to begin with.
Game Boy series: Use the best mode
Some Game Boy games work in multiple modes:
GB ― monochrome (the original Game Boy type);
SGB ― Super Game Boy (the GB game plugged into SNES, has a graphical border and some colours);
GBC ― Game Boy Color.
Because the game can emulate differently depending on the mode, the one you choose is saved in the movie file. This can be difficult to change later, so you should always start recording in the best mode supported by the game.
If the game supports GBC capabilities, play it in GBC mode.
If the game does not support GBC, but does support SGB and is enhanced by it (with sound enhancements, screen palettes, or similar), play it in SGB mode.
Only play the game in monochrome GB mode if the game does not support GBC, and does not support SGB or is not notably enhanced by it.
It is worth mentioning that there is at least one GBC game, Shantae, that recognizes whether it is running on a GBA, and utilizes GBA's hardware features if available. Utilizing this feature is currently only available with recent revisions of lsnes and Bizhawk, and thus does not work at all with VBA-RR.
The default options that appear when starting a recording should reflect the best choices for the currently running game, so think twice before changing them.
To be completely honest, TAStudio would crash every time upon loading the .tasproj if I used the GBC core. That's the only reason. But I suppose ThunderAxe posted a good enough reason too...
#6717
Interested in:
GBA Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (any%)
GBC Dragon Warrior III (Pachisi glitch - skipping Kandar 1 means Kandar 2 won't be triggered)
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
This game came out in 1992. It predates all Gameboy systems that came after the original.
It makes no sense to play it using SGB or CGB cores.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
This game came out in 1992. It predates all Gameboy systems that came after the original.
It makes no sense to play it using SGB or CGB cores.
I concur.
Heck, BizHawk/the Gambatte core properly detects it as a GB game (set Console Mode to Auto in the settings).
By the way, I did not experience crashes when loading my test .tasproj files in TAStudio with this game, since I was on GB mode to begin with.
Probably a dumb question, but - assuming the game behaves the same way on SameBoy and Gambatte - is there a way to copy the inputs from my SGB movie to a GB movie?
#6717
Interested in:
GBA Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (any%)
GBC Dragon Warrior III (Pachisi glitch - skipping Kandar 1 means Kandar 2 won't be triggered)
To be completely honest, TAStudio would crash every time upon loading the .tasproj if I used the GBC core. That's the only reason. But I suppose ThunderAxe posted a good enough reason too...
The core used for GB and GBC emulation has remained unchanged for years. Try using a BizHawk version between 1.12.0 and 1.13.1. These use the same Gambatte core, so the result will be the same in a TAS done in BizHawk 2.2.1.
Game Boy series: Use the best mode
Some Game Boy games work in multiple modes:
GB ― monochrome (the original Game Boy type);
SGB ― Super Game Boy (the GB game plugged into SNES, has a graphical border and some colours);
GBC ― Game Boy Color.
Because the game can emulate differently depending on the mode, the one you choose is saved in the movie file. This can be difficult to change later, so you should always start recording in the best mode supported by the game.
If the game supports GBC capabilities, play it in GBC mode.
If the game does not support GBC, but does support SGB and is enhanced by it (with sound enhancements, screen palettes, or similar), play it in SGB mode.
Only play the game in monochrome GB mode if the game does not support GBC, and does not support SGB or is not notably enhanced by it.
It is worth mentioning that there is at least one GBC game, Shantae, that recognizes whether it is running on a GBA, and utilizes GBA's hardware features if available. Utilizing this feature is currently only available with recent revisions of lsnes and Bizhawk, and thus does not work at all with VBA-RR.
The default options that appear when starting a recording should reflect the best choices for the currently running game, so think twice before changing them.
Should be noted that these rules are pretty outdated, and only consider VBA-rr - I've started drafting replacement rules for this to account for the newer situation in emulator choice and emulation state of the systems in question. See here: Thread #19752: Rule update proposals for Game Boy modes
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa
<dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects.
<Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits
<adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
Hi, is there any progress on a temp encode for this run? I watched the provided link for the RTA record, which was pretty entertaining. (This game definitely moves faster than the prequel.)
It is a bit of a shame, though, if the strategy is just like the RTA run, using a bunch of health restores to go and tank the bosses.
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.
#6717
Interested in:
GBA Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (any%)
GBC Dragon Warrior III (Pachisi glitch - skipping Kandar 1 means Kandar 2 won't be triggered)
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
Alright, thanks for the encode!
Unfortunately, as is common with these RPG runs without a ton of apparent luck manipulation, the TAS looks more boring than the RTA since it doesn't engage with as many enemies. The run is nice and efficient, and the knight boss is pretty good. I get the feeling, however, like there's occasionally too many steps taken in an overworld route, or perhaps like you make odd choices of which enemies to kill. (You don't end up using at least half of the health items you pick up.)
I think I'm going to go with a Meh vote here.
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.
Yeah I actually haven't figured out if it'd be faster to kill enemies or just run through them, so I wasn't entirely consistent with my decisions. I think this game has damage boost but I'm not sure. Only thing I know is that I need to die after the first boss, so I have to take damage before it.
Anyway thanks for the comment.
#6717
Interested in:
GBA Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (any%)
GBC Dragon Warrior III (Pachisi glitch - skipping Kandar 1 means Kandar 2 won't be triggered)
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
(3584)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4738
Location: Tennessee
With some tedious notepad++ macro-ing, I was able to convert the current movie to a GB movie. However the resulting input doesn't sync at all. It desynced when putting in AAAA and after resyncing it, it got further but desynced again. The timing is just too different unfortunately.
Just in case it is of any value, here is my file
To be completely honest, TAStudio would crash every time upon loading the .tasproj if I used the GBC core. That's the only reason. But I suppose ThunderAxe posted a good enough reason too...
Have you tried posting the tasproj file that crashes here (along with config) and see if others experience the problem?
To be completely honest, TAStudio would crash every time upon loading the .tasproj if I used the GBC core. That's the only reason. But I suppose ThunderAxe posted a good enough reason too...
I bare the blame here for GB not being very TASable in the most recent release. I do believe the current dev build has returned to being very stable though:
https://ci.appveyor.com/project/zeromus/bizhawk-udexo/build/artifacts
If you need help with anything feel free to pm me.
Joined: 10/17/2005
Posts: 629
Location: Seattle, WA
There are definitely frames to be saved throughout this whole run. Attacking fewer enemies and possibly using more potions, while attacking specific enemies that cause lag with bullets (I'm looking at you, wizard-looking jerks!) Also, the potion use right before the final boss seemed unnecessary--since you have to use one later during the boss anyway you could probably have just swapped characters first instead and saved one trip into the menu. Using a full health potion or two in the Knight fight to keep yourself near or inside his hitbox could possibly make that one faster, too, but this is just me spitballing ideas after only viewing the encode.
I'd like to see more in the submission text, too, like I don't know this game at all, I don't know what you're doing much of the time. It seems like the RTA path has you pick up a bunch of MaxHP Ups...do those affect anything else, like your damage? If it's just HP/MP, maybe a couple could be skipped to save time.
I mean, I'm kinda nitpicking. The run's good! If I paid enough attention to watch the whole way through and notice little things as possible improvements, the game and the run had to be entertaining enough. If the core choice issue doesn't kill the run's chances, I could see it being publishable, but I feel also that there's enough room for someone to take another fine-tooth comb to it later.
Attacking fewer enemies and possibly using more potions
I agree.
Twisted Eye wrote:
attacking specific enemies that cause lag with bullets
I agree.
Twisted Eye wrote:
the potion use right before the final boss seemed unnecessary--since you have to use one later during the boss anyway you could probably have just swapped characters first instead and saved one trip into the menu
Actually I did need Zold to be at full health (195 HP) since the boss does damage in rounds of 96. 195 HP lets me survive two rounds.
Twisted Eye wrote:
Using a full health potion or two in the Knight fight to keep yourself near or inside his hitbox could possibly make that one faster
I'd wanted to follow the RTA stationary strategy, but I thought the knight was easy enough to manoeuvre around so I thought I'd try to make it interesting by using Zold, who is stronger but lacks the range needed for the stationary strategy. It turns out to be about 13 seconds faster.
Twisted Eye wrote:
MaxHP Ups...do those affect anything else, like your damage? If it's just HP/MP, maybe a couple could be skipped to save time.
I luck manip'd for them whenever I could, just to see how many could be obtained in the run. It turns out a TAS probably only needs two of them, one for the Hand boss, and one for the last stretch of the game.
Anyway I gave it a try on Gambatte SVN 344 of an older BizHawk version. Successfully finished the first boss without a crash. This run can be rejected if desired.
#6717
Interested in:
GBA Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (any%)
GBC Dragon Warrior III (Pachisi glitch - skipping Kandar 1 means Kandar 2 won't be triggered)
