Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
No work on it lately, but I will get it finished.
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
I lost one of my backups so I was afraid it would be difficult to reproduce the same effects, but it turned out pretty easily. I'm mostly done round two now. I'll post an update when I'm back up to where I left off.
Dwedit
He/Him
Joined: 3/24/2006
Posts: 692
Location: Chicago
So FM2 files are plain ascii? that explains why they are so bloatedly gigantic. They might as well just be XML.
Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960
Plain ASCII is easier to edit than binary globs, and they do compress wonderfully. Just don't distribute uncompressed files and you'll be fine.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
Mission 2 is complete. http://www.heisanevilgenius.com/Heisanevilgenius%20-%20Double%20Dragon%20Stupidity.fm2 I noticed what you said about file sizes, and wow are you right. Here's a zip for those who'd prefer it. 0.5 megabytes compressed down to 4 kilobytes. Nutty. http://www.heisanevilgenius.com/Heisanevilgenius%20-%20Double%20Dragon%20Stupidity.zip
Post subject: Co-Author Wanted
Player (245)
Joined: 7/30/2006
Posts: 207
Location: Alefgard, USA
. . Co-Author Wanted!! Hello everyone. Please watch the following video. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1536093789/DD-Dave.fm2 This video completes the first 2 missions 3 seconds faster than the current published run. However, due to grad school and job applications, I will be unable to finish this TAS. The main reason this video is faster is because I found a "glitch" that allows less enemies to be fought. Also, check out another time saver in level 3 a few posts up. You can save almost 3 more seconds on the Chins. However, you will be behind on points, and may have to punch more enemies to get your elbow attack skill for the final boss. Please respond or PM me if you are interested in finishing this run. Thanks!! . .
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
Okay, I could use some help here. I discovered something by accident and I'm trying to recreate it with zero success. Billy's kick combo (three kicks if you have two hearts or more) ends with a roundhouse kick when his enemy is stunned. Or so it's thought. I've found numerous circumstances when you can perform the roundhouse without having to do two kicks beforehand. At one point I was able to throw two roundhouses in a row at the same target. I can't figure out how I was able to do this before. Every attempt to recreate it has failed. Does anyone have a good knowledge of the game and how this system works that can help me figure out what causes this? I still have a backup of the movie where I was able to do this, but there's a lot of stuff I decided to cut out for being too long and boring. I'd prefer not to use that movie file and instead just recreate the circumstances in something tighter and funnier.
nesrocks
He/Him
Player (240)
Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
Some enemies lure billy into throwing a roundhouse kick or uppercut punch without having to stun them first. They appear and they carry that "property" until they are hit. It appears to be some bug with the enemies' "I am stunned" flag.
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
Is there some way I can track that? Is there a memory address I can watch that tells me when I can do it?
nesrocks
He/Him
Player (240)
Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
Heisanevilgenius wrote:
Is there some way I can track that? Is there a memory address I can watch that tells me when I can do it?
It sounds like you could, I'll search for it later.
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
I unfortunately can't really help plan out anything in this run. However, I would like to at least mention: this is pretty friggin awesome right now. I think that this run drags on a bit, but the setup is usually worth it. This would make an awesome "glitchfest" run for this game. Good work so far, Heisanevilgenius!
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: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
Very nice. Less superfluity with the Lindas and glitched wall-climbing than I remember in the last demo. Incidentally, are you supposed to be awarded points for punching air? I would think not, but this game is a bit weird even without all the glitches...
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
Dromiceius wrote:
Incidentally, are you supposed to be awarded points for punching air? I would think not, but this game is a bit weird even without all the glitches...
That enemy I scrolled off the screen earlier is glitched. He's gone, but there's still a hitbox there that I can punch and get points. It disappears when the last remaining enemy is defeated.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Expert player (3514)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2713
Location: US
I realized that I never posted any progress on this as I was previously working on it, and as BrunoVisnadi has asked for any info I might have, I figured I'd post everything here in the thread. Dave_dfwm did great work on the first few levels, I carried on from his WIP. I quickly got stuck however, as RNG was not in my favor, and I never completely figured out how to control enemy behavior. However even worse, it seems that missing a few enemy kills and not having enough experience to do the jump kick severely impacted the latter half of level 3. It might be the case that some of Dave_dfwm's earlier improvements will have to be thrown out in order to keep good times later on. But, I did include the knocking the 2 knuckles into the water trick in this WIP, so at least it's there on a current emulator, should save some hassle. http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/28798667389354492 By the time I beat level 3 I had lost all the previous savings, so starting over on that level is probably best, at least you have something to compare too. Game Mechanics: Enemies in a wave spawn as soon as previous ones fade out. They spawn off screen however so you will have to manipulate their behavior so that they spawn in a pattern that has them walking toward you, unless you have something to throw at them. RAM addresses: player X: 005A enemy 1X: 005B enemy 1y: 005C player y: 0072 enemy 1y: 0073 enemy 2y: 0074
Editor, Skilled player (1408)
Joined: 12/28/2013
Posts: 396
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Thanks, Alyosha! That for sure will be tricky to optimize. Also, I can't seem to find an address with the HP of the enemies. Some addresses seem to be the HP, but there are some weird inconsistencies. I noticed there is a frame rule after each screen. Understanding it better will be useful to optimize it, too, as I'll know now many frames I'd have to save to improve each screen. If I find some information about it, I'll post it here.
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoUfT49xN9TU-gDMHv57sw Projects: SMW 96 exit. SDW any%, with Amaraticando. SMA2 SMW small only Kaizo Mario World 3
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Expert player (3514)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2713
Location: US
03B4-5 for enemy HP. Seems to hold for all levels. I didn't get as far as frame rules, but yeah this isn't a game you can really do just by feel, it will likely require some serious research. I'm happy to help too if you need help finding something specific. Good Luck!
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Expert player (3514)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2713
Location: US
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/32722373011773225 I decided to give this another look to test the EXP route. I redid the first part of level 3 and completed up to the end of the stalagtite room. At this point I am 200 frames ahead, but 600 exp behind. With some more work in optimization maybe I could save another second or so. The problem is that even 300 frames of savings is not worth 600 exp. I wouldn't even have the final attack by the end of the game at that rate. This was my fear from the beginning with dave_dfwm's WIP skipping enemies. I'm not sure if this approach is salvagable. If I played the rest of the game at least as good as the published run I would end up way behind. If anything I want more exp not less. Well if anyone has any ideas or if I'm missing something please post, this game is really hard to optimize.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Expert player (3514)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2713
Location: US
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/32976581112646945 I figured out the workings of the EXP glitch in level 2, which has been known for some time and is demonstrated in evilgenius' WIP above, as well as in some youtube videos. Basically any time you despawn 2 enemies but only 1 new one spawns, the hitbox from one of the previous ones remains. I thought I might be able to use it in the run, but it turns out to be too slow by a pretty wide margin of about 15-20 seconds, by my estimation. Then I thought maybe I could find another setup that was faster. The whip gives 30 exp per hit instead of the punches 20, so I thought I could use the Linda's near the tower at the end of level 2 to get EXP. it turns out this was possible, and works out pretty nicely, as in the WIP above. Unfortunately, it's only less then 10 seconds faster then the original EXP glitch, which isn't fast enough to make it useful, too bad. Unless some new setup is found I think I'll have to start from scratch.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Expert player (3514)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2713
Location: US
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/33077654507118279 Ok, I think I'm finally getting on the right track now. I restarted the entire run and this time my goal is to get as much EXp as possible without adding too much time. So far I did levels 1 and 2, and I managed to get 300 extra EXP compared to the published run while only being 100 frames behind. This is exceptionally good pace and better then I expected by half. I should be able to break even in the first part of level 3 and end up 400 EXP ahead going into the cavern. The goal here is to have the elbow attack by the time I reach the final boss rush. I should be able to save >5 seconds compared to the published run in this way. This means i nees 650 extra EXP total. This should be possible but it will still be pretty close.
Player (57)
Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 312
Location: Sweden
Man, it feels like an eternity since I was here last; finally back after a long rest, lol. I discovered a bug that allows one to kick down one's enemies through the ground? ... Heh, I guess that's how it is. Could it possibly be a time saver in seconds? Nine professionals can probably give you your recordings. Please let me know if the file doesn't work to replay, or if there is an issue to download it, or whatever: https://ufile.io/ya36srxm Cheers! Moderator edit: I moved your post here. Please use the main game thread for discussing new research. Also, your file has expired; please use TASVideos Userfiles for permanent movie uploads. — moozooh