Story:
"That's my home, Metro City. Quiet place. Good city. Good people. Good future. But as time passed, bad seeds started to grow, and Vortex, Metro City's protector, was outnumbered. Even with the help of the local police, Vortex was no match for the growth of corruption.
With Vortex gone, the criminals moved in like a cancer, eating through the city's heart. Day by day, Metro City was getting worse. Without Vortex to combat crime, things started to get out of hand. Crime feeds upon itself like rats fighting over cheese. Pretty soon the crime bosses began to fight over control of Metro City.
Then, something began to change. The gang wars stopped. There's someone new in town. Someone organizing all the criminals. He's the one I want. He's the one who wants to kill my town.
Someone had to do something!
Someone had to take Vortex's place. Someone had to stand up to Sutekh. It's time to put a stop to this plague. It's time for Nightshade."
Strategies used:
  • take damage to save time
  • aim for fastest completion
Notes:
Looks like fourth time is really the charm. More than a minute was shaved from the last release, and I'm pretty confident in saying that it's unlikely this time can be improved by as drastic a margin as the last 3 versions kept setting (13:07 to 11:25 to 10:16 to current).
The ninja fights have all been DRASTICALLY improved. Props to Nitsuja for bearing with me while I kept refining this.
The new path on the opening level saves about 600 frames overall. Getting the gas mask as opposed to taking the damage in the sewers actually also saves about 5-7 seconds overall since you avoid 4 message prompts as a result.
The final battle is also greatly improved; Sutekh only teleports once :)
For this movie to be any faster (by a noticible margin), there would have to be a way to do more damage to Goliath in both battles.

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #843: Maximus's NES Nightshade in 08:53.12
Emulator Coder, Skilled player (1300)
Joined: 12/21/2004
Posts: 2687
My only problems with this now are that you mostly just stand around after fights (I bet Nightshade can dance pretty well during that time instead), and the fights with Goliath and whatever those spinning enemies are look like they have a little room for more precise playing / manipulation of the enemies. But it's good enough now to get a Yes from me. Oh, also, you should probably describe the game in your submission message; it's not exactly well-known.
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
The dialogue in this game is beyond awesome. I now have a new signature! I had forgotten about this game. The run was played well, but the game doesn't lend itself to being that fast. I say meh.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 563
Location: Toronto, Ontario
jxq2000, I hope I'm not getting a meh cause it was boring to watch :) I'm going to attempt a more action oriented game for the next submission. Doint TAS' is kind of addictive :)
Skilled player (1885)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2160
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Amazing battles, spot on menu manipulation, a refined route and generally awesome gameplay makes me feel like voting YES, and so I will. :) You've really improved a lot during the making of this movie, Maximus, you cut down the time by around 5 minutes compared to your first submitted movie. Very impressive. I'm looking forward to your next run, whatever game it will be. And yes, doing TAS' is kind of addictive sometimes, I know :)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 804
Location: Canada
Maximus wrote:
I'm going to attempt a more action oriented game for the next submission. Doint TAS' is kind of addictive :)
Just be aware: It does things to your brain. At first you won't be able to play games imperfectly any more. One mistake and you'll have to start over. Soon you'll be planning the most efficient route when you're buying food at the grocery store. (I'm serious) Then you'll start thinking about the gas you could save if you optimized your route before driving. Then it will be the most efficient way to remove your girlfriend's bra. Life will become an endless quest for optimization and efficiency. Then the dreams start. You'll be playing games in your sleep to get new ideas for your latest TAS. Your friends will hold an intervention, but you won't care. They don't understand. They don't see how the quest for purity benefits mankind. Everything must be perfect. The herd must be thinned! Eventually you can't even see the people any more. Everyone looks 8-bit. People have gloves because their hands are too hard to draw, and a mustache because it shows up better than a mouth. You'll tell your girlfriend that she needs to shave, and it will look she's throwing a fireball at you. But it won't burn. No, it won't burn. That's her slapping you, trying to bring you back to reality. Finally the whitecoats, dressed as ninjas, will strap you to a chair and try to communicate with you. By then you won't need their help any more. All you can hear is the music from Super Mario 1, world 2-2 playing over and over again. You'll enter the Minus World of your mind and be able to play the games without a console. You'll achieve Nintenvana and the perfect bliss of leaving the real world behind and finally seeing the code. All will be a game, and you will have infinite lives. No final boss will ever hurt you again. <Ahem> Just a friendly warning.
TASing or playing back a DOS game? Make sure your files match the archive at RGB Classic Games.
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (968)
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Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
>Then it will be the most efficient way to remove your girlfriend's bra. Ahem. Real gamers do not have girlfriends. They live their single lives until age 29, when they vanish in a puff of loneliness. Everyone knows that. It's okay to think about the most efficient way to remove the bra from any imaginary potential girlfriend (in your view, not hers), video game girl (with oversized mammary glands), or underaged hentai manga babe, though the latter's bra usually does not need to be removed.
Player (84)
Joined: 3/8/2005
Posts: 973
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Heh.. Im a true gamer, yet i am not single.
Joined: 1/10/2005
Posts: 63
There ya go, that was good mastery of the battle system! And faster yet again, is there anything bad that happens when your health dips into the red? Could you have made it through the sewers without getting the gas mask? or would you have died?
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 563
Location: Toronto, Ontario
The bomb at the beginning halves your life, as does the gas in the sewers, so if you take both hits, you die :( I might retry this run again sometime, but i don't think it's all that improvable (at least i hope not :P). For now, i'm working on finding a new game to attack while i wallow away my last few years before vanishing in a puff of lonliness ;)
Joined: 8/31/2004
Posts: 298
Location: Falun, Sweden
I liked the run. I can agree on the comment about doing something interesting in the wait secuense. Haven't played the game myself but it looked cool, however, I don't think this is the kind of game that is suited for TASs. This one's okey but no more of theese. Vote: Yes.
Bein' away for like five years, and not a single new post in the ZSNES forum... :'-(
Player (84)
Joined: 3/8/2005
Posts: 973
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
I seen this also. I had to ask my friend to watch it since he knows more about the game then i do. Voting yes.
Sir_VG
He/Him
Player (39)
Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1911
Location: Floating Tower
Truncated wrote:
Ahem. Real gamers do not have girlfriends. They live their single lives until age 29, when they vanish in a puff of loneliness. Everyone knows that.
Oh great. You mean I only have 3 years to live? ;_;
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 563
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Man, I thought all interest was gone for this run. I tried doing it over again a few times to see if I could improve the fight against Goliath, because that part is pretty boring (jump jump kick repeat). If there's enough interest though, I could try to shave a few seconds off and have nightshade dance while the scenes fade :)
Joined: 5/27/2005
Posts: 465
Location: Turku, Finland
Because people have liked this movie, I have made an .avi of it. So if publishers are going to publish this, they can get the .avi from me (and thus reduce the trouble of publishing).
Which run should I encode next? :)
Skilled player (1885)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2160
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Maximus wrote:
If there's enough interest though, I could try to shave a few seconds off and have nightshade dance while the scenes fade :)
How much time do you think you can save? Either way, if you're up for it, then by all means try to improve it. I know I would watch it if you made a new run...
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 563
Location: Toronto, Ontario
I actually don't think i can save much more time unless i can find a new strategy. I tried a test run where i don't get the gas mask and just heal the damage i take in the sewers, but the dialog boxes that popup saying that i'm dying of the gas takes longer to clear than just getting/using the mask does :(
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. ---- [509] NES Nightshade by Maximus in 08:53.12
Emulator Coder
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For those that want to play the game, I originally wrote a much funnier description but it was less about the run and more of an advertisement for the game. Here it is for those that want to read it:
Welcome to Metro City, the intro of this game promptly starts with the murder of Metro City's hero Vortex. The need has arose for a new hero; Nightshade - a guy in a trench coat! The game starts as exciting as the intro, our hero is tied to a chair next to a bomb that is about to explode. Guide Nightshade through Metro City to build popularity, fight rats, gentleman, and female ninjas, and most importantly museum statues. Take advantage of a secret telephone booth hideout, ashes, or ancient egyptian staffs. In this game you can collect items, talk to people, operate some scenery, fight the bad guys; and if you faint in battle, you get to fight for your escape after being strapped down to a conveyor belt ready to be turned into swiss cheese, or save yourself from being turned into a rug for Sutekh by his deadly pancake making room of death. One of the highlights of this game is also the excellent dialog. Where else will you be threatened by the legalization of wooden nickels? This run by Maximus speeds through the game as fast as Nightshade is able to, ignoring lesser goals such as the museum items, saving a kitty, or checking out the women's dressing room. The only escape from a deathtrap seen in this run is the deathtrap you Nightshade finds himself in at the beginning.
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.
Skilled player (1885)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2160
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Congratulations on getting this published Maximus! :) A very entertaining and good run indeed.
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 563
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Thanks Randil. I'm just hoping not to be a one hit wonder, so to speak, but finding a new game to run (and run in an interesting fashion) has been proving to be difficult.
Skilled player (1885)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2160
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Yeah, i know what you mean. I'm guessing you've checked out the list of ideas... Myself, I have no specific idea about what you could run. Why don't you join the IRC channel sometime and discuss it there? Here are some other pages with some game ideas: Highness' page here on Nesvideos Nach's page here on Nesvideos Godd luck on finding a new game to TAS. :)
Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 70
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I never heard of this game until now. i had to watch this since i was unaware of it. if i ever played this game, i wouldn't have the patience for it. great work :) how about a run where u complete 100%? also, I found the NSF for this game and a bunch of others here: http://gilgalad.panicus.org/
Emulator Coder, Former player
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I thought of doing a 100% run, but it prolly wouldn't be much more interesting (the minimalist run still completes 65% of the game :P) If there's any interest though, it would be more fun to watch since for each of the 4 artifacts you cover, it's one less boss you have to fight in the last level (if i remember correctly). You might wanna play the game for yourself though, the dialog is kinda quirky ;)
NitroGenesis
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Trying to encode
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.