I just downloaded the any%-run from SDA, but since I'm so good/tool assisted, I might be able to skip some of the items he picks up, we'll see.
I've only seen it very long ago so I don't remember, but which items would you skip?
My first thought is E-tanks. How many do you need to do the acid dive (can you farm energy during the dive to take fewer?), and which ones are along the way before you get to that point?
someone is out there who will like you. take off your mask so they can find you faster.
I support the new Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun.
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
I was more concerned on cutting down on the Missile Tanks, since aiming won't be an issue.
I suppose very few E-tanks would be obtained. Just enough to barely survive acid dive and/or a trip into the Queen's belly, and then make up for damage lost along the way by harvesting from enemies.
I haven't done any planning at all yet, mostly because I'm sick/lazy/unmotivated, but as soon as I get better, I'll get back to the planning.
Alter: How much of the game have you done now?
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Two with Varia, and most likely up to four+ without it.
As for the items, Bombs, Varia and Space Jump are a must, other items directly affecting speed include High Jump, Spring Ball and Spider Ball.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
[...]
Alter: How much of the game have you done now?
Maybe 30%.
Using the non assisted run as a benchmark, I am 22:55 where the non assisted runner is at 25:40. So under 1 hour will be one of my goals. I guess I can gain more towards the end, because of Metroid battles and general harder difficulty.
I (think) I maintained the quality of the beginning, glitch jumping everywhere, cutting every corner higher than two block, morphing and unmorphing ideally etc.
The only thing I am not sure about is the Metroid battles, it`s very hard to find an "ideal" one, since they dodge so much. Eg the Alphas: If you hit it with a missle, frame-advance and rewind to see which direction it`s going next, then jump/fall in that direction after the rewind, it will change it`s direction :(
Anyways here`s an example including Metroid fights, and a lot of optimized jumping: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4236/018%20hunting%20more%202.vbm
Joined: 11/14/2005
Posts: 1058
Location: United States
I like what you have shown so far. You are making fast progress, by my calculations you are about 37% of the way done. Keep up the great work, sub 1 hour would be very impressive.
Some testing revealed that the speed while running with Varia suit equipped is equal to rolling in ball form (everything else doesn't matter). That means every time you roll instead of running after having acquired Varia suit, you're likely to lose frames… many of them. (At least until you get to Spring Ball.)
Sorry to present it so late, Alter, now you'll most likely have to redo everything after the acquision of Varia. :\
EDIT: On the other hand, there might be better news. I'm watching your submission at the moment, and it's much faster (duh) than carlmmii's single-segment run at SDA, despite having greater total time. I think the main reason for this disrepancy is that your routes differ enough to put you behind on time. This is something definitely worth considering, because if his route allows enough leeway for an SS run to still be faster than a TAS, then even if you do it with full precision, the run will be improvable by minutes. I suggest that you watch carlmmi's run and compare the routes; I'm pretty sure his route can also be improved (especially in regard to refilling). With all the speed tricks involved, sub-hour should really be trivial. I'd aim for something like 55-57 minutes, depending on the route choice.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Some testing revealed that the speed while running with Varia suit equipped is equal to rolling in ball form (everything else doesn't matter). That means every time you roll instead of running after having acquired Varia suit, you're likely to lose frames… many of them. (At least until you get to Spring Ball.)
Sorry to present it so late, Alter, now you'll most likely have to redo everything after the acquision of Varia. :\
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
^^
Ok, guess there`s no other way...
About the route: I am now ptreey much using the same route as that SS run, except for skipping some unneeded refills.
Ok, another small note: at around frame 79xxx in your run, you're being slowed down by bomb explosions. You can avoid that by spidering one of the walls on the next frame after being hit by the explosion (if everything is right, any destructible block adjacent to the explosion should disappear on the same frame you should turn spider ball on), then immediately turn it off for faster landing.
Here's a demo which improves this segment of your run by about 130 frames.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Another thing worth mentioning: metroid HP meter. It's located at address 00:C60C.
I'm actually surprised by how useful it is. For instance, omega metroids have 40 HP. If you hit one from the front, the missile will do damage of 1 HP. But if you hit it from behind, it'll suffer 3 HP damage. %)
That will get it harder to optimize but allow to save seconds on each metroid.
Metroid queen's HP meter is located at 00:C3D3 and its initial value is 150.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Started redoing from Varia, not having to morph all the time makes things a lot less tedious. Also used the Spiderball Bombing technique, nice one.
Metroids in general are still a major pita for all the dodging, I doubt this can be really optimized :/
Metroids in general are still a major pita for all the dodging, I doubt this can be really optimized :/
Well, you just should keep in mind that making them turn around is highly beneficial, unless it takes more time to make it turn around than what it can possibly save.
Other potentially useful addresses:
01:CE5A — X position (2u);
01:C026 — Y position (2u);
01:C072 — internal frame counter (2u).
The problem with them is that I can't seem to figure out how to make them display in the memory viewer pane (I could only manage to monitor them from the cheat search window, which isn't convenient at all), unlike 00:xxxx addresses.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Something new I found out, very hard to do except on spikes: If you jump the exact frame that you take damage without being hit again immediately you completely negate the being pushed away from the source of damage effect. Don`t know if that`s useful yet...
This also negates Samus being invulnerable after being hit... So if you happen to want to kill her, you can do it very fast this way ^^
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4241/damage.vbm
Some progress, from picking up the Varia Suit until shortly before the acid dive. Again, using the non TAS as a benchmark I am at roughly 30:30, being about 5 minutes faster.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4242/Metroid%20ii%20wip.vbm
If I didn`t make any major mistakes the only thing that could be improved should be the Metroid battles. I hate them ^^
MUCH better!
Now, comments.
First of all, there's no need to glitch-jump if height of the jump is out of question (that applies to all the cases when the platform you're jumping from is equal or higher than the platform you're landing on), because you're sacrificing one frame of moving forward and stay airborne for 2-3 frames longer. Basically, you were losing 1-2 frames in each of such cases, but most likely less than 2 seconds overall.
Also, 44640 — missed a springball jump.
The rest is excellent, metroid fights are straight impressive now.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
MUCH better!
Now, comments.
First of all, there's no need to glitch-jump if height of the jump is out of question (that applies to all the cases when the platform you're jumping from is equal or higher than the platform you're landing on), because you're sacrificing one frame of moving forward and stay airborne for 2-3 frames longer. Basically, you were losing 1-2 frames in each of such cases, but most likely less than 2 seconds overall.
Also, 44640 — missed a springball jump.
The rest is excellent, metroid fights are straight impressive now.
Thanks for the compliments, and thanks for the advice.
As for the missed Springball: >< I hope I can edit that in somehow, I`m not really firm with Hex editing and stuff.
I just did the acid dive - boy, that was annoying! Frame precise jumping is tedious under normal condition, but when you cannot frickin see your character! ... Add that to the TAS unfriendly games thread ^^
Joined: 11/27/2004
Posts: 688
Location: WA State, USA
Cardboard wrote:
Do you need to shoot them from behind, or is just enough to hit their "back portion"?
I think the missle needs to be traveling the same direction the Metroid is facing. I've tried hitting the back by aiming up, but that didn't do anything.
Nach wrote:
I also used to wake up every morning, open my curtains, and see the twin towers. And then one day, wasn't able to anymore, I'll never forget that.
...
First of all, there's no need to glitch-jump if height of the jump is out of question (that applies to all the cases when the platform you're jumping from is equal or higher than the platform you're landing on), because you're sacrificing one frame of moving forward and stay airborne for 2-3 frames longer. Basically, you were losing 1-2 frames in each of such cases, but most likely less than 2 seconds overall.
...
I have tested this a little more, and if I am moving already I land on the same frame as with a normal jump (where I tested anyways). This is with Varia Suit and Hijump Boots, gotta test without those too.
I`ve made some good progress. Here`s from the acid dive up to the last two energy tanks after the first Zeta Metroid.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/4280/Metroid%20ii%20100%20wip%20acid%20dive.vbm
Again, rerecord count is of course wrong. For the final submission, would it be accepted to edit the VBM file for the actual rerecord count?
I am now roughly 7, 8 minutes ahead of the reference unassited run.
>For the final submission, would it be accepted to edit the VBM file for the actual rerecord count?
Yep. It is nice if it is at least in the vicinity of the correct number.
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
RT-55J wrote:
Cardboard wrote:
Do you need to shoot them from behind, or is just enough to hit their "back portion"?
I think the missle needs to be traveling the same direction the Metroid is facing. I've tried hitting the back by aiming up, but that didn't do anything.
Yeah, I got the first one to rise so he/she/it got hit in the back portion, but only one damage. Boho :(
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
