<The president has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?>
- Emulator used: < FCEUX 2.0.2 >
- Aims for fastest time
- Takes damage to save time
Comments
I'm happy to present my first submission to TASvideos. I began work on this run in mid-July. Using TheAxeMan's test run as a reference, I completed what I considered a fairly optimized run by the beginning of August with a time of 13:49. I chose not to submit that run because I knew by the end that I could make it much better. Due to a joyous semester of college, the final production was delayed for quite a while. Most of the final version was constructed in December.
Damage:
- Ground Attacks: 0.5
- Air Kick/Spin Kick/Weapons: 1
- Dragon Punch: 1.5
The nunchuck reaches further than the dagger and thus is used throughout the run. Some bosses actually have a fraction of a hit point.
Movement:
During any scrolling portion, if connected with the ground, the screen will take some time to scroll before allowing you to do anything else. This is why jumping through the air is fastest.
A couple jump glitches were used to move faster. The first portion of the run uses jump - jump - glitch rejump spin kick. In the middle of the run I discovered jump - jump - glitch high jump which I found to be very slightly faster, and it was used for the remainder of the run. These are faster because they cancel some landing lag. The glitch jumps are used as close as possible to the ground for maximum distance.
- Jumping (moving up) - 4 Units/3 Frames
- Jumping (moving down) - 7 Units/5 Frames
- High Jumping - 4 Units/3 Frames
- Spin Kicking - 4 Units/3 Frames
- Glitchwalking - 6 Units/2 Frames
Memory Addresses Monitored:
- X position - 00A4
- Y position - 00A2, 02A4
Glitches:
Glitchwalking - in any nonscrolling section, alternating between pressing a direction and releasing it every other frame will allow you to move much faster than any other form of movement. On the frame in between you can crouch, reverse crouch, or look upwards.
Jumping the exact frame you land out of any jump into the same jump causes some interesting effects.
- High Jump - High Jump (holding up): Upon releasing up you will rejump, and can kick or spin kick.
- Jump - Jump: During any jump following another, you can initiate a spin kick, or a high jump.
- Spin Kick - Spin Kick: During the second spin kick, once a direction is released you will rejump into an air kick.
- Air Kick - Air Kick: Moving during the second air kick will cause you to rejump into a spin kick.
Obscene amount of rerecords:
I did legitimately use over 50k rerecords. My first run used over 20k. I did not use rerecords efficiently at all. I do think the nature of this game requires a substantial amount of rerecords. I sometimes used 10 or more rerecords to check the first frame I could reach and hit something. I used many rerecords in the scrolling stages to find entertaining results. I also often tested actions in real time to find out how enemies reacted. I think I used my time well, but as a result I went through rerecords very quickly and inefficiently.
Stage by stage comments:
Intro
The run is reset at the start which bypasses a couple of introduction screens. Blade and Striker function exactly the same. Holding down random buttons during load times sometimes makes them a couple frames faster.
Stage 1
At the time of finishing this level, I had thought this was almost perfect. I later learned it could be improved by a few frames with the use of jump - jump -> high jump. I also was unaware that I could glitchwalk with a dragon punch charging, but I think that would only save a couple frames. I estimate I could save about 20-30 frames in this level.
Stage 2
I worked hard to make the scrolling stage worth watching. The two scrolling stages probably accounted for more than half the time I spent on this run. I lost 17 frames compared to my test run throughout the course of this level due to lag and/or scrolling issues. This was the only portion of the run where frames were lost.
Stage 3
The use of jump - jump -> high jump could've probably saved 30 frames or so throughout this level. I was highly satisfied with the final result of the boss fight after extremely numerous tries. I saved over 5 seconds during the boss fight as compared to my previous run.
Stage 4
Manipulating enemies becomes extremely important when approaching the stopping portions. Many enemies spawn only after another enemy dies, and sometimes extra enemies spawn if it is killed to early. I have to be somewhat towards the center of the screen for scrolling down to begin. The last portion of the level is as optimal as I could get it. There is probably a better method to be discovered though.
Stage 5
I personally think the result of this level was better than stage 2. I actually gained 3 frames throughout the scrolling over my test run.
Stage 6
I should not have taken damage from the small white ninja at the beginning, this cost me 5-10 frames towards the end of the level in order to not die. The rest of the level went well. Boss 6 will have to remain a mystery.
Stage 7
I really was satisfied with the final result of this level. There is little that I could have done better. The weird occurrence at the end of the level happens simply by holding right during the cutscene. It is very easy to freeze the game while it is occurring. TheAxeMan demonstrated the method used in killing the final boss in his test run.
Conclusion
I tried my best to make my first submission a highly optimized and entertaining movie. I put forth an extensive effort to optimize everything that came up. The only time I didn't fix something was when it required me to go back and redo over a minute of gameplay, and that is where most of the known improvements come from. Stages 4, 6, and 7 required an extensive amount of enemy manipulation, and I think I was able to produce highly optimal results.
I would estimate that there is anywhere between 5 and 15 seconds of improvement that can be found. I don't see myself reproducing this run on my own any time soon. If anyone is looking to improve this, I would be glad to help.
I'm also looking for suggestions on what to work on next. =)
- Suggested Screenshot - 919 - By the front of the semi.
adelikat: Well, this game choice is a bit problematic due to its long auto-scrollers with limited choices for "entertaining the audience". In addition it is a fighting game, which can be a problematic genre in general. However, it entertained me enough, and I have a personal fondness for the game, so I am accepting it for publication.
I'M BAD!
ShinyDoofy: Processing...