Editor, Experienced player, Reviewer (967)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
Just watched this. Does being hit by enemies give a boost? I can't tell if it's faster than walking. You exit both levels with a lot of spare health in any case. You don't jump up the last ladder. Is this because of the wind? A silly thing I noticed: if you climb up to the top of the first wall (to the left), jump away from it and press left immediately, you grab it a bit further in every time. Eventually you will go so far into the wall that you go trough it and fall down to your death. I'm not sure if this is an effect of the bug mentioned above, but you don't need to press both directions at the same time. Perhaps it could be used for passing trough walls at some point, or just for general crazyness after a boss is beaten.
Joined: 8/12/2004
Posts: 651
Location: Alberta, Canada
Getting hit in Ninja Gaiden 2 causes a tiny bit of a vertical boost, but according to Josh it moves you horizontally at the same speed as running normally. This is the opposite from Ninja Gaiden 1 where it gives you quite a large verticle boost, but slows your horizontal movement to a crawl. As for the going in the wall: From what I have seen in exists in NG 1 and 2. In NG 1 the wall doesn't acually always extend as far it looks, so in some cases you can jump over it and land behind it. I have found uses for something like this in my run. In NG2 it can be accoplished in two ways. One being what you just mentioned, and the other is done by holding left+right.
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Yep, b nailed it. As a matter of fact, taking damage causes you to pause for one frame when you land...I'll see if there's a way to avoid some of these hits when I do my real run. And yes, there are actually two spots where the wind forces me to climb walls normally. There's the one you mentioned, and also earlier in the stage (before the first ladder when I jump left onto that wall...I climb for a tiny bit before jumping forward onto the platform). I tried every possible way, and the wind makes it impossible to walljump. -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Redid almost the whole thing yet again. I managed to save another 2 frames in Act 1 (moving right just before taking the first hit), and 16 frames in Act 2. There were a lot of tiny improvements in that level; not taking two of the hits I did before, grabbing a different scroll which was next to an orange ninja power, killing the boss slightly faster, and taking a hit from the bird right before the boss. Man, this game is fun to timeattack. =) I'll post something new when I have Act 3 completed to satisfaction. -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Hey all, a new movie with the first 3 acts is up. I saved another 2 frames in Act 2, so in the first two acts this movie is 20 frames faster than the last one. In case anyone's wondering why I didn't kill the bird near the end of Act 2, it turns out that being hit while climbing a ladder actually gives you a slight boost upward. In this case, it saves 2 frames. In Act 3, I grabbed one blue ninja power which I didn't end up needing, but can't think of any mistakes that actually affect time. The walls on this level are annoyingly random, sometimes you can start rapid walljumps immediately but other times you need to do one longer jump first. This doesn't make much, if any, of a difference in the time, though. Early in Act 3, I discovered that it doesn't hurt to slash on the way down from a jump. I initially thought this cost you one frame, but it actually has no effect at all. Taking damage and using special weapons do cause you to pause for one frame, btw. The boss took quite a while to perfect, but I've got it down. For those who don't know, he can't be damaged unless he's flying. This is why you see me wait a bit. This level yielded more improvement than the first two combined. Overall this is something like 13.8 seconds faster than the currently published video. Any feedback on this would be appreciated, as I'm trying to perfect this game before I do my real left+right run. -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Act 4 is done, you know where to get it. This one took much time and effort to get down, but I'm proud of it for the most part (there is one minor mistake I know of). And the boss fight may look strange, with me needing to slash him to finish him off, but it's the fastest method I could find. Again, this level yielded much improvement. Overall this is around 20.5 seconds faster than the current movie. As always, any feedback would be greatly appreciated! -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Ambassador, Experienced player (695)
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Very nice, it seems you've put a lot of thought into holding onto the right powerups, but also use the sword more to save time. You also use the water currents well. Does anyone else think it's strange that the ninja walks on water in this game? I guess it looks funny after NG3 where he doesn't. I noticed you did a couple slashes while standing in the water, are you using that glitch or does it go just as fast?
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Thanks for the comments! One of the things that kinda bugs me in movies is seeing people pick up items indiscriminately, unless they're aiming for high coins or score or something along with the time. I personally feel it shows mastery of the game to only get what you absolutely need, so that's what I'm aiming for here. Yeah, the water thing is pretty funny, I noticed that too. Ninja Jesus? =) For some reason, attacking while on the water keeps you moving at running speed. Remember, there is no left+right usage in this movie as FCEU disables that button combination (and up+down also, I believe). This is why I say this isn't my "real" run and I won't submit it; the glitch saves a bit of time but isn't game-breaking enough to warrant its own run, so I'll wait until I have the ability to perform it to make the run intended for publication. This run is just for me to learn the ins and outs of the game so I (hopefully) won't screw anything up when it comes time to do the glitch run. Thanks again, Josh.
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Act 5 is done and uploaded. This level was fun. I actually found a purpose for the normal throwing star, and can thusly say that this run uses every weapon in the game. Also I found another wall glitch in addition to the one stx-Vile used...this is actually slower than going the normal route, but with left+right I am almost certain it will be faster. Even still, I show it off in this movie because it looks cool and is only a little slower. The ice part is fun because it has the same properties as the water (i.e. you can slash or crouch slash while maintaining speed). This comes in handy quite a bit. Ashtar was frustrating as all hell, but after much experimentation I finally figured out how to kill him before he disappears. The fighting technique used here could probably save a few frames on other bosses as well, and is something I'll try in the glitch version. Overall this is just over 29 seconds faster than the current movie...honestly, that high a number shocks me as I doubted this could go under 10 minutes even with the glitch. Goes to show... -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Expect the complete v1 to be posted tomorrow. I got a second of improvement out of Act 6, almost all of that being from the boss; the rest didn't have much to improve upon, as it's an extremely short and simple stage with not a hint of climbing to be found. The movie would be completed already, but Act 7 is a total bitch. I'm going to do it over with a different strategy, to see if it's possible to reach the bosses with max ninja points... -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 8/12/2004
Posts: 651
Location: Alberta, Canada
Errm, sorry I haven't gotten around to looking at your video for any improvements yet, i've been busy with new games which have been coming out (HL2 and now WoW). I promise i'll watch v1 when it you post it.
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
b, don't worry about it, it's cool. As you can all see, it's not done...had much unexpected gaming and fun with some friends today. I won't make any more guarantees, but it will be done very soon hopefully. Still hating Act 7, Josh.
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Editor, Experienced player, Reviewer (967)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
I liked it. I somehow remember the boss throwing raspberries at you. Was that in NG1 too? I played that game like one time five years ago. I still haven't seen any falling behind walls and nearly dying when you beat the boss. Isn't that possible to incorporate somehow?
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Thanks, nice to see people enjoy this. =) Which boss are you talking about? The Kelbeross (Act 6 boss) throw raspberries, and they did so in NG1 as well. When I post the full v1, if you look closely, you can see them shoot one of these raspberries in the fight. And quite frankly, I haven't put too much effort into playing around after bosses. I'll definitely look to incorporate that trick in the real movie if it's possible. -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Check my filespace for a little Thanksgiving present. =) Yes, it is finally done, with a time of 9:50 (44 seconds faster than the current movie). My strategy for Act 7 ended up just barely working, as I constantly take damage to conserve ninja points; this left me with exactly 1 HP remaining but all 100 ninja points available for Jaquio's many forms. The first of said forms was far and away the most troublesome, and I'm still wondering if there isn't a better strategy I'm missing. I tried using rapid walljump-slashing, but that isn't effective for a variety of reasons...the fastest tactics I could find left me with one extra fire wheel to use on the last boss, which is nice. Seems like he could be done faster, though...it's just that the ninja doubles can't always be where you need them to. *shrug* I'd love to hear anyone else's ideas for this battle. The following battles are all extremely simple. I would've liked to use that last fire wheel on the head at the start of the fight, but he's immune to it. Thus I have to use it on the heart. Ah well. Hope you all enjoy the video! =) -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Editor, Experienced player, Reviewer (967)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
Nice to hear! I haven't watched it yet but I will when I get home. Are you going to submit this version or are you going to start with a glitched newer version at once?
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
This run won't be submitted due to a variety of minor mistakes and (mainly) the fact that it will be easily obsoleted by a glitch run. I'll start on one whenever FCEU gets patched to allow it. For now, though, I should probably get back to Startropics. Still got somewhere between 20-30 minutes to go in that game... -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Editor, Experienced player, Reviewer (967)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
Didn't Phil use a patched version of FCEU for SMB? I think I read he pressed left+right in that video. Just ask him to send it and you'll be all set.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1976
Location: Making an escape
I really hate to get nit-picky over something so superflous, but would it be possible to manipulate luck so that the last level plays the first level's music? Doesn't sound quite right any other way. Very nicely done.
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
I was wondering how this works. Personally, I like how it was in stx-Vile's movie as the 3-2 music is my favorite in the whole game. Never knew it was possible to get the Act 1 music as well...are there any other songs that can play there? For what it's worth, I did all of Act 7 twice in this run and got the 2-2 music both times. Dunno how one would manipulate this, but I sure would love to... And glad you liked the video! -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Joined: 4/6/2004
Posts: 34
I didn't make any specific choice of music for the final level... in fact, I went in with the impression that the level opened with a specific tune, but changed only if you lost to Jaquio and had to start the level over.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1976
Location: Making an escape
The songs for 1, 2-1, 2-2, and 3-2 are the ones that play for that level. It's randomly decided once you enter you enter the level and changes every time you die (I've been known to commit mass suicide there to get the music I want!). I'm not certain input would change anything, because I've only messed with it on a console. Oh well. As I said, it's superfluous.
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Phil, in the words of Sean Connery, you're the man now, dog! Yes, thanks to his kindness, I have begun the glitch run. Just completed Act 1 and saved over a second thanks to it...I won't post any updates of this one, don't wanna spoil y'all before it's submitted. ;) -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice
Editor, Experienced player, Reviewer (967)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
Since my suggestion for a trick after you beat a boss wasn't included last time *sob sob* perhaps you can put it in now? Good luck with it in any case.
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
I will definitely do it IF any of the walls allow it. I can tell you right now that it doesn't work with any of the Act 7 bosses, nor with Act 3 (no walls) or 4 (jumping over the wall will just make you land on top of the little waterfall). I'll try it on all the others, though. And thank you, this one should take a lot less time since I know the game now. There's almost no randomness involved, just lots of frame-precise movements. -Josh
but then you take my 75 perchance chance of winning, if we was to go one-on-one, and then add 66 and two-thirds ch...percents...i got a 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at sacrifice