(Link to video)
Lets get back to the root of evil, this game is the prequel to Symphony Of The Night, its the first castlevania using cdrom, and was never release in usa / europe
There is a SNES port of this game called Dracula X (or Vampire Kiss in pal version), but its nowhere near his big brother

Summary

  • Aim For Fastest Time
  • Takes Damage To Save Time
  • Manipulates Luck
  • Emulator used: Mednafen-RR rev.249 (mc2)
    • But Windows users should use PCEjin
  • Frames:83624 Lag:4560 Re-records:41385

Comments

After a few troubles (here) i completed richter speedrun using the optimal route
Noone realy excepted that outcome, but well, here it is! Richter beating maria :p
The main reason is obviously the unskipable dialogue you get when you rescue maria, and also the reset needed to select her
It was originaly tought maria would beat richter regardless, this is why the first submission was more oriented on entertainement than pure speed (stage3/4 been more interresting than stage3'/4')

This run use a few cool tactics to save time, the main time savers are (abuse off) the key subweapon and the flipback

The key subweapon is obtainable in stage2, this is why i dont go by stage2', the key damage output is twice of the whip, it cost zero heart to use, the item crush (select button) is also "free of charge" (altought its completly useless)
Also, on most bosses of the games, the key is not "nerfed", a regular axe does same output than key (16 damage), but most bosses have some kind of "protection" that reduce damage, the key was probably overlooked in most cases and do full potential (6 hit and boss is dead in most cases)
Unless proven wrong, stage2' route is slower due to using regular subweapon and needing to collect hearts all over the way
Obviously the key was just meant to be used to open doors (maria & the other girl in stage7), not to be a weapon, i use item crush a few time for entertainement coz on first submission i was told its bad not to use it, in stage6 it does roll the boss rng pattern i dont use it just for style (note that the youtube encode will show more key crush than the real movie does

The flipback save time over walking, i dont know exactly how many pixels, i think it doesnt realy matter, but just in the first stage - first room i remember i saved several seconds over walking, so its common agreement that walking is wrong for speed purposes
The idea is generaly to cancel your current flipback as fast as possible, so you try to make the shortest flipback possible, to cancel the "landing" kneeling effect you need to use an attack
The key was a great help over the flipback, first of all it doesnt make sound, so basicly i didnt ruined the audio experience of game by having a constant flipback+whip in the whole movie, only stage1/2/7 use whip, stage3'/4'/5/6 use key for flipback
The real reasont the key was technicaly superior for flipback is the pattern been much more simple and not realy impacted by hitting something on your way since its realy short range
I will try to define more precisly how the "loops" for flipback are working later on

Stage by Stage Review

For latter ! plz be patient...

Frame compares with regular stages route and maria

Just a little comparate between the 2 movies, measured with time spent on given stage from first image to first black screen after end stage score
Of course this run use the alternate stages (' or prime) and the old one use regulars stages, so its just for reference i put theses, maria is somewhat mixed in between, her table is just to show shes faster, she loose because of the dialogue but in most stages she do fine (i didnt compared stage3 since they are completly different)
StageOld runThis runFrame Gain
Stage16639661722
Stage292549397-143
Stage3/3'843658922544
Stage4/4'1000778022205
Stage597409148592
Stage67933789241
Stage798279594233
Stage842443755489
I made some improvements obviously in stage5/7/8, for stage6 ill guess frame rules, its basicly done the same way
StageMariaThis runFrame Gain
Stage16652661735
Stage21529593975898
Stage4'65457802-1257
Stage586629148-486
Stage677067892-186
Stage7????xxxxxxxx
Stage8????xxxxxxxx

Ram Watch

Copy/Paste this in notepad and save as watch.wch, then load in mednafen

11
00000 00000094 b s 0 hearts
00001 00000098 b s 0 health
00002 00000093 b s 0 weapon
00003 00001E10 b u 0 X Cam 2nd byte
00004 00001E0C b u 0 X Cam
00005 00001E30 b u 0 X Subpixel
00006 00000720 b u 0 y pos
00007 00000CD0 b u 0 y pos
00008 00000D28 b u 0 Y Subpixel
00009 00000742 b s 0 Boss HP
0000A 000012B8 b s 0 Boss HP
000B 00001E10 b u 0 X Cam 2nd byte

Credits & Closing

Thanks to paul_t and adelikat, whe worked all together on rondo, and it was realy fun, even tought i made this one on my own side and im submiting alone, whe mutualy helped eatch others well, and it end up very efficient to have 2 extra pairs of experienced eyes :D
A svn was setup to collaborate in making rondo movie(s), you can have a check on it here : http://code.google.com/p/rondoofblood/
A release zip of both movies and frames date should be available today or tomorow

enjoy it :D

adelikat: Replacing the submission file with a fixed .mc2. The movie content is not changed. The file format is fixed to represent the new mednafen/pcejin .mc2 file format.
Also, accepting for publication.

adelikat: Processing.
Someone else will have to take this one.
ShinyDoofy: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2326: arukAdo's PCECD Castlevania: Rondo of Blood in 23:17.78
Experienced player (953)
Joined: 12/3/2008
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Movie has been hexed and resubmited, removed all key crush that didnt affect the rng, tought the youtube clip is left unchanged for now
Joined: 7/1/2008
Posts: 272
it that's the only difference, then my verdict hasn't changed. Yes vote.
Samsara
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We need more runs that viciously unlock enemies to death. Yes vote.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | Cohost
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You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
adelikat
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4736
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I'll vote a big yes on this. You beat the maria run by a minute! No one would have predicted this to be the fastest movie, let alone by such a large margin. Excellent run sir.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Joined: 3/28/2005
Posts: 216
I still think this run kicks ass and still vote "yes".
mklip2001
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Given all the question mark popups, I think Richter is just as confused as we are about why a key should be a better boss weapon than a chain whip :-) Seriously, yes vote. Nice going, and I found this more entertaining than the Maria run, although I think both should be published.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Joined: 3/7/2006
Posts: 720
Location: UK
I remember a while ago there was some kind of debate about whether TASvideos was about collecting the fastest run on every game or about publishing entertaining movies. What was the 'result' of that debate? Movie same as every other 'classic' Castlevania on the site except with additional key gimmick that is amusing for one level and dull for the rest. Meh. At least it's prettier than the other classic ones.
Voted NO for NO reason
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Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 936
Location: Castle Keep
Im not sure what you are referencing to, but if the outcome would be to publish a 1 min slower maria run over richter, witch use reset, that sure would be a bad call imo, its Tools Assisted Speedrun not playground i think (i dont say this to say maria is not leggit to publish, she good to go too,i just think this deserve it more obviously since its 1 minute faster, aka 3600 frames...) As for the key been annoying, i agree, but, the whip is even more annoying... so you gotta choose between the question mark or the "shhhhh" from the whip, obviously the whip sound ruin more the experience overall considering the quality of audio tracks But since whe are doing speedrun, anyway, your not given the choice... you simply pick up key coz its the damn best weapon and its faster than the rest :D
Joined: 3/7/2006
Posts: 720
Location: UK
Yeah, it's faster but also boring wheeee... reference previous post.
Voted NO for NO reason
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1341] PCECD Castlevania: Rondo of Blood by arukAdo in 23:17.78
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KEY'D
"The way to move out of judgment is to move into gratitude." — Neale Donald Walsch DannyLilithborne on IRC
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I was bored and wrote a relatively accurate translation of the intro monologue: In der guten alten Zeit lebten die Menschen noch ruhig und in Frieden. Niemand glaubte, dass es in Zukunft zu einer Bedrohung kommt. In the good old days people quietly lived together in peace. No one believed, that, in the future, a threat awaits. Auf der Schattenseite des Friedens und des Wachstums gab und gibt es aber auch immer das Böse: Die Menschen beginnen, das Wachstum abzulehnen, und bezeichnen den Frieden als "Degeneration". On the dark side of harmony and growth though, there invariably are the evil ones: The people start to refuse the prosperity and call peace a "degeneration". "Wir haben uns hier versammelt, um die Mächte der Finsternis mit unserem verfluchten Blut zu rufen. Wir wollen, dass sie die Welt regieren; wir erwarten lächelnd den Niedergang der Welt." "We have gathered here to summon the powers of darkness with our cursed blood. We want them to rule the world; we smilingly anticipate the world's demise." Nach einhundert Jahren ist der Böse wiederauferstanden. Er kann sich in eine Fledermaus, einen Wolf und Nebel verwandeln. Er liebt die Nacht. Er schlürft das Blut von jungen Frauen und lebt ewig. Der Burgherr des Teufelsschlosses, der Herr des Bösen, Graf Dracula ist auferstanden. After one hundred years the Evil One was resurrected. He may transform into a bat or a wolf or turn into fog. He loves the night. He pleasurably sucks the blood of young women and lives forever. The lord of the devil's castle, the master of evil, Count Dracula rises again.
All syllogisms have three parts, therefore this is not a syllogism.