Submission #4886: Axodo's PSX The Smurfs in 16:37.88

(Link to video)
Sony PlayStation
baseline
BizHawk 1.11.1 svn9307
59813
59.94005994005994
5261
Unknown
The Smurfs.ccd
Submitted by Axodo on 10/20/2015 9:52:57 AM
Submission Comments
The Smurfs is a game released on PSX based on the belgian comic from the same name in which the Hefty Smurfs has to save his friends taken by the wizard Gargamel, by finishing 10 levels. This movie improves turbofa's run by 4572 frames (1:17.11 minutes), by a global optimization in most levels, and by using new glitches

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Bizhawk 1.11.1.9307
  • Uses death to save time
  • Takes damage to save time

Comments

Even if the levels are pretty linears, this movie skips uses some glitches to avoid collecting items, and so save time. I really did my best to make this movie as entertaining as possible (grabbing or not cakes, using damage boost to get an extra life), especially in the firsts levels where few tricks are used. The improvement is detailed below

Stage by stage comments

Beginning of Adventure

Nothing notable in this levels, I did my best in entertaining

Night Ride

The physical in this level is very strange, as a long jump will make you save time in some areas, and lose time in others. I made some tests and tried to get the fastest strat, even if this is still unpredictable

Underground Exploration

Some frames are saved using the lava strat at the beginning of the level. Nothing notable excepted that

Snowbound

You can keep momentum obtained thanks to speed potion and fans, making this level pretty nice to watch. However I have not found a way not to slow down in the area with the snowman and the fan. I did my best to keep most of my speed for the rest of the level

On the Mountain Top

In this level, you can keep the momentum given by flowers, making it pretty short. Few frames are saved using a better boss strat

Alone in the Dark

This level is the one that is the most different from the previous movie. I have discovered that when you lose the helmet, the game updates the smurfs's state, and you can go through the breakable wall with a correct timing. Using this glitch is faster than going to the present to break the wall. The second glitch used in this level is what I call the "Immaterial glitch" : When you throw a present, your state is updated. But, for some unknown reason, if the present is thrown during a second part of a jump, you will be in a state where you can pass through any sprite in the game, until your state is updated again (for example by jumping). I used this glitch to go through a wall instead of taking the magnifying glass as intended. I also jump later on the rope section to get a speed boost from a bat instead of keeping my speed as in the previous movie

Ice Cave

Almost the whole level is skipped by taking the secondary exit thanks to a damage boost. "Mashing" pause reduces time before I regain control of the Smurf, I used just the number necessary to reach the plat form

The Diamond Mine

In this level, I save some frames by getting a speed boost from the yellow enemy, but the most important gain is that I use death to go back to the checkpoint faster to get the shortcut

Splish Splash

By swimming near the floor, you can keep the momentum given by the fans, making this level much faster than intended. Hardest stuff is to find the good compromise between getting speed, and reaching the ground as soon as possible

Gargamel's Castle

I spent hours on the beginning of the level, saving frame by frame trying to find a way to reach the moving plat-form at its first cycle. Despite all my work, I still miss some frames and I have to wait for it. I kept the fastest strat in the movie just to show how close I am to the 1-cycle. Still, some frames are saved by global optimization

Other comments

Even if I did everything I could, this movie is probably not perfect. Here are some thing that may be improved :
The second level, as the physic is weird, maybe someone will understand it better than I do The ninth level, because maybe someone will find a better way to get/keep speed from the fans The tenth level, by reaching the plat-from at its first cycle if even possible
Please don't mind my bad English =p
Suggested Screenshot : 31782
Thanks to Turbofa for some findings and help

ars4326: Judging!
ars4326: Hi, Axodo. This run had good, significant improvements from the second half, onward. The pause trick used in the Ice Cave was especially noteworthy, as well as the sprite glitch utilized in the Cave level, prior (in addition to the other improvements made). While the game, itself, remains a bit limited in entertainment value (although you did spice things up a bit, in spots), this was still nice technical work, all around. Congrats on your first published run!
Accepting as an improvement to the published run!
feos: Pub.
Last Edited by adelikat on 10/14/2023 8:46 PM
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