Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (969)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Just watched it. I don't know this game well, but it seemed well played.
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Thanks, I was thinking you'd come in with one of your lists of improvements. =P Most movements are quite easy to perfect in this game, as you can hold down your desired button(s) during one action to make the next come out on the first possible frame. Anyway, new movie is up at my filespace. This one goes to the start of Magma's dungeon. If a chapter has multiple dungeons, I'll notate them like stages; Chapter 3's dungeons would be 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, and 3-5 for example. This is why it says "Up to 3-2" in the filename. And yes, you really DO have to do all that talking in the village. I tested it, this is the fastest way 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: 8/25/2004
Posts: 44
Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
I watched this run and found it to be very well played and a pleasure to watch. I played this game religiously as a child, so watching this was neat. I think there may be a few places in the future where time could be a factor. For example, in the level with the graveyard and the ghosts (I think it may be chapter 3, I cannot recall), you have to constantly pick up those rods to expose the ghosts. I'm only noting this because in some areas they're stuck in the walls, and you must expose them in order to kill them so the door to the next area opens up. I also cannot recall whether you need to go out of your way to pick up more rods, so someone should definately look into that. Also, at the beginning of Chapter 6, you have to navigate the sub-c though islands and a very large area to find where you must go. It is, to put it very bluntly, a pain in the ass without a map. Not sure if anyone has found one for the Chapter 6 mainland, but I figured that may be something to look into. Just thought I'd help out ^_^
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Thanks for the comments and tips. I'm dreading the Ghost Tunnel for this exact reason...plus, isn't the boss only vulnerable to bolas or something? And while I'm at it, I made a mistake in the order of talking to villagers in the posted movie. Fixed it and it's 72 frames faster now. -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: 8/25/2004
Posts: 44
Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
I'm dreading the Ghost Tunnel for this exact reason...plus, isn't the boss only vulnerable to bolas or something?
Yeah, he can only be attacked by bolas due to the range they have. I'm not entire sure how fast one can throw those at one time, either.
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (969)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
>Thanks, I was thinking you'd come in with one of your lists of improvements. =P Heh. But I can only do that if I know the game well, or there are obvious mistakes. People tend to appreciate ideas and improvements anyway. I wish someone would send me a list of improvements too. ;) It's too bad this game has those pointless overworld maps. There's usually only one thing to do anyway. The action in the caves is much better. Another thing: Is there no "play from savestate" in FCEU? Do I have to watch the whole movie from the bloody start every time?
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Fro: Yep, you're right. Too bad, the yoyo is faster, but ah well. And one good sign here is that there's only one Rod of Sight in the whole level, and it's directly on the path. Same thing goes for the mirror, which is also mandatory. Truncated: I love constructive criticism too, I'm just happy that there seems to be almost nothing to improve upon at this point. And you're right, this run would be better if the game didn't force you to do so much talky stuff. Just posted a new FCM with dungeon 3-2 added. This one took awhile, first to figure out that the slingshot was worth grabbing and then to figure out the best way of defeating the boss. I'm doing a no-hit run, remember, so it takes a lot of clever manipulation to beat this guy. For a frame of reference, the total time was 14:30 at the start of 3-2 and now it's 18:06 at the start of 3-3. I know that time's increasing quite rapidly, but Chapter 3 is the longest in the game. I'm hoping for under an hour for this run, and that still seems plausible...Chapter 4 is the shortest (not a single dungeon), and 5 isn't much longer than 1 and 2. Now for the longest and toughest of the many Chapter 3 dungeons, and also the last one where I'll be stuck with the yoyo...the Ghost Tunnel. -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, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
Looks good, again. :)
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Well, I was wrong, of course there are multiple rods in this dungeon. I'll need to grab a second one, as you need to use one in every room with ghosts in order to avoid damage. Onward I go... -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: 8/25/2004
Posts: 44
Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
With the use of savestates, would it be able to not take damage due to knowing where the invisible ghosts will be at any given time? I know they move in set lines, as in only horizontally or only vertically, so they're not like the starfish in that sense, so would it be easy to do this? It won't look too impressive to someone who hasn't played the game, but to those who have it'll look neat, I believe. Of course, this will only work in the rooms where you don't need to kill every enemy (or a specific enemy) in order to unlock the doors.
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 380
Location: Finland
Looking good, I'm really looking forward to seeing the final version. :) I remember playing this as a kid, but not getting too far. Though this seems to be quite easy now...
"Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home." ( Pratchett & Gaiman: Good Omens )
Former player
Joined: 5/3/2004
Posts: 366
Out of curiosity...against that fire boss guy, once you activated the second switch you went left and around, although you can jump straight down. Were you unable to avoid damage by jumping straight down? Or did simply not notice you could jump down like that?
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Wait a second...WOW am I an idiot. Just redid the Magma fight with Gigafrost's suggestion and it saved quite a nice chunk of time. I still have my other savestate where I'm almost through the Ghost Tunnel, and I'll finish that first to test something out. See, all the FAQs tell you to go to Shecola and talk to the fortune teller before going to the Ghost Tunnel. I skipped this part in the movie, and am going to see if that will end up working. Anyway, Gigafrost, thanks a bunch! Can't believe that... Fro: If that were possible it would be a huge timesaver, as that would mean 2 less uses of the rod and thus allow me to make it through with my first one. However, it appears that the ghosts remain stationary until you use the rod. I'll test this out fully when I redo the dungeon, but that's how it looks anyway. -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
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Turns out I was right, you don't have to go to Shecola until after the Ghost Tunnel. Redoing that dungeon now on my proper movie, which is 11 seconds faster thanks to me correcting that stupid stupid mistake vs. Magma. -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
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Fro Jackson, you rock. Turns out your idea about the ghosts was correct, which meant I didn't have to grab the first rod. Saved a nice amount of time, so thanks! So, for those unfamiliar with the game, there are a couple rooms where I pause for seemingly no reason. This is because there are invisible unhittable ghosts which I am avoiding; you can only kill them after using the Rod of Sight, as seen later in the level. Anyway, a new movie is up. This one covers the first 4 chapters...those who know the game will be in for quite a surprise upon seeing the Ghost Tunnel boss fight. =) -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: 8/25/2004
Posts: 44
Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
The movie is looking sweet thus far. I believe the movie will become even more entertaining in the last few chapters, as the difficulty level of the game increases. To be honest, even though I'm a fan of this game, I was under the impression that a run of this game would be boring, mainly due to the "overworld" sections. Clearly you've proven me wrong, so keep up the good work ^_^ As for the movie, I found it interesting that, two rooms before the boss in the ghost tunnel (by the way, I never knew you could hit the boss with the yo-yo, so that was sweet), you killed all but one of the mummies. This led me to the theory that perhaps, similar to past rooms, that last mummy you killed was the only one you had to kill before the door opened up. Of course, I'm not entirely sure if this is true, as I cannot remember if this is the case, and that the few guides I've read on gamefaqs explain that one must kill all the mummies in order to pass, which was not the case in your movie. Any idea if you need to kill all of them or just one? And a more important question: If my theory is true, would killing only one, but using time to dodge the other 6 or so mummies save any time at all?
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Thanks for the compliments. =) Oddly enough, you need to kill all the mummies in that room except for that one. Tested this again to make sure, and it is true. Right now I've been doing some preliminary stuff for Chapter 5. Figured out the optimal route for the overworld stuff, am currently thinking about hearts. See, I have not been able to randomize hearts from enemies, so it seems that getting two heart packs from the beginning trap room is the best way to get the shooting star ASAP. I'll play around with this some more to figure out if this is actually the best thing to do... -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
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Chapter 5 is done, movie is up. Turned out that getting the two heart packs was the best idea. I just can't make enemies drop hearts... The dungeon was rather frustrating at times and took a few redos to get right, but it turned out well. And now I know there's no way this is going under an hour. Not with 5 dungeons left, and a bunch of overworld crap in Chapter 6...ah well. -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, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
Bisqwit wrote:
Remember to do the rotatejump trick (as shown by zer0) a couple of times somewhere. It looks cool :)
Josh the FunkDOC wrote:
As a matter of fact, I did this after the second boss died. I need to redo that fight because I just figured out a way to improve it, but I'll keep that in there.
It is too fast to look good... I liked it as it was in Zer0's version.
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Alright then, I'll make sure to do some slower ones at a few points in these last few chapters... -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, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
What is happening?
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Ninja Gaiden 2, that's what. =) I will get back to this after that project is done. 3 chapters, 5 more dungeons to go... -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: 12/7/2004
Posts: 69
this is going to look cool, can't wait.
Former player
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 706
Location: Elyria/Oberlin, OH
Chapter 6 is done at a total time of 54:08. I really like the second dungeon here due to the presence of the Asterisk...a unique and very effective weapon! Filespace is down or else it'd be up there by now. You guys may have to wait a few hours, we'll see. And now it's time for the alien spaceship... -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
Post subject: StarTropics 1 VS 2
Joined: 8/10/2004
Posts: 173
Location: Bethel, VT
I noticed that each TAS on here was just a few minutes over an hour, with 1 being about 30 seconds shorter than 2. I am wondering which one can actually be beaten faster. I am not an expert in the games, so I have not seen any areas of improvement that could be had in either, but at an hour+ in length, shaving 30 seconds off does not, on paper, sound unreasonable.