Emulator used: "antids-mupen" (not the same as v2 apparently)
Video plugin: Jabo's Direct3D8 1.6
Sound plugin: Jabo's DirectSound 1.6 (you can use zilmar too if you want)
Input plugin: TAS input plugin 0.6
RSP emulation plugin
Aims for fastest ingame time
Abuses death to save time
This is a TAS of only the Obstacle course, in which you drive through different obstacles. The ingame time is 1:30.519.
The m64 starts from a savestate, you can download it here: [dead link removed] (I'm not sure where I should upload it so that it stays there forever)
The beginning was pretty hard to get through without having to stop. I didn't think it would be possible at first so I didn't do it, but later found out it was possible (but had to change tires to 'slick', but they didn't seem to be any slower than 'pro slick'), so I redid the beginning. I used death to get through the 5th obstacle faster. The WR on this level is 1.43.118, so it's about 13 seconds faster.
DarkKobold While I'm not sure the exact reason for such a negative audience reaction - whether it be the cheat code, or the savestate debacle, or if the audience just doesn't like Single Track movies - they've spoken pretty loudly against this run. Runs with much higher percentages than 50% have been rejected due to viewer feedback. Thus, I am following the audience guidance for this. Also, the conversation in the thread echoes the votes.
Joined: 8/6/2006
Posts: 784
Location: Connecticut, USA
I've never seen this game before, but it was fun to watch you tear through those obstacles. I especially like the MIB style ceiling action and the ridiculous jumps. Voting Yes.
Why only a single track? It seems a lot of this game has been left underused. Refraining from voting on this, but a playthrough on all tracks seems appropriate if you're going to do this at all, especially from a savestate.
Requesting speedy rejection due to violating the rules. More specifically, the rule against starting from a savestate without a really good explanation and a verification movie.
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2174
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
henke37 wrote:
Requesting speedy rejection due to violating the rules. More specifically, the rule against starting from a savestate without a really good explanation and a verification movie.
Can you be even more cold?
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I liked this movie, a few times I seemed you where going to lose control of the vehicle and you saved it in a nice way.
Voted yes.
You will need to add a verification movie though...
Sorry about not having a "verification movie", this is the first time I heard about something like that. There doesn't seem to be any luck factors on the level (I think the hanging spikes at the beginning for example start at the same position every time), so a verification movie should be possible... simply by starting the game from power-on and activating the "all parts", "all levels" and "all cars" (I didn't use any special car here, but it might have to be turned on for it to sync) cheats, going to the obstacle course menu and choosing the same parts for the car, then it should sync.
I tried to edit this movie before though, using "tas-movie-editor-v0-12-2i" where I went back in the menus to turn off the music, but it didn't sync then for some reason. Not sure why, maybe I don't know how to edit movies or perhaps there are small luck factors like those moving things in the beginning which have to be timed for it to sync.
Joined: 2/20/2010
Posts: 209
Location: I'm in space
While the run in itself seems technically and aesthetically up to par, I think it lacks a truly awe-inspiring quality that could justify publication despite it being (1) loaded from a save state, and (2) completion of only part of the game, with (1) being the biggest problem.
I appreciate the effort that went into the run, but sorry, my vote is no.
Oh, play it cool. Play it cool. Here come the space cops.
It's not clear to me what the purpose of using a save state here is.
I used it because I had already activated the cheats that unlocks the parts/levels/etc and the cheats were pretty annoying to activate so I didn't want to activate them again when I started this TAS, so it was easier to just use a save state. I did it partly for the lulz too.
But I'll see if I can edit the movie so that it starts from the beginning... shouldn't the TAS movie editor be able to edit m64 files properly? I'll make an m64 that starts from the beginning which then activates the cheats. Then I paste that input before the input of this m64, and I'll have an m64 that starts from power-on. Should work, right?
Joined: 10/28/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
What's the justification for using cheat codes? Those are explicitly disallowed (though, in principle, a run using them could be published as a demonstration).
Well, the cheats are just button codes that I use to unlock things, like the car parts, tires, engines, the obstacle course etc... (kinda like in Ristar Bonus stages TAS where you put a cheat to unlock the bonus levels) if I didn't unlock them using cheats I would have to drive 2049 miles to get the best engine/speed for example.
Fast rejections are the biggest source of judging controversy in this site, I don't think it's a good idea to quickly reject this. It has beenrepeatedlyproven that casting a verdict solely by the rules is not the ideal way to go.
Also, no matter how sure one can be of the impossibility of an explanation being given, it's a good policy to give the author a chance to explain himself before making a final decision.
That said, I'd vote No because I don't think nfq's reasons for using a savestate are strong enough. However, since he can provide another one that starts from power-on, I'm abstaining from voting until he does it.
I made one that starts from power-on, but the moving spikes are 1 fukking frame behind (which causes me to crash/desync on them) for some reason compared to the one that starts from save state. m64
Comparison:
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4791/oldtas.pnghttp://img543.imageshack.us/img543/2980/newtas.png
I've tried adding and deleting empty frames before I press A to start the Obstacle course, but they didn't affect the spikes position, so I'm not sure what causes them to be at slightly different place... I can try do some random stuff which could affect them.
Hvaing played Rush a LOT.. I know just how brutal that track is. I've beaten it a total of once... with cheats on no less. So this is simply amazing! I agree cheats are a bit... eh.. but still solid entertainment for me considering the complexity.
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Just another random gamer
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<OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Voting no on this. I don't know why you decided to run only a single track from this game. I don't recall a single track from a game ever being accepted, and this is the exact reason why.
If you're going to run something, do the whole game. Do the races against the AI. But geez, not a single track.
Voting no on this. I don't know why you decided to run only a single track from this game. I don't recall a single track from a game ever being accepted, and this is the exact reason why.
Is the Super Speed cheat on for this run? It's a fairly tame 5% speed boost, and notably doesn't disqualify your time from being on the record list, so if you're already going into the menu to get the parts, it's worth considering.
Voting no on this. I don't know why you decided to run only a single track from this game.
This is the only "obstacle course" in the game. It is a very different type of race from the rest of the game.
Having said that, I do think the movie should start from power on and would like to hear the author's response from the speed boost code suggested above.
If you're going to run something, do the whole game. Do the races against the AI. But geez, not a single track.
It would take a long time to do the whole game, I don't really have motivation for that, and I'm not sure the other races are so interesting since they are just races against the AI, so I would be driving alone there all the time, ahead of the AI. But a "playaround" could be interesting where you could do some insane stunts on the way, kinda like in this other video I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRlyNSJXMi0p4wn3r wrote:
That said, I'd vote No because I don't think nfq's reasons for using a savestate are strong enough.
Really? I thought I had good reasons... xD
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin wrote:
Hvaing played Rush a LOT.. I know just how brutal that track is. I've beaten it a total of once... with cheats on no less. So this is simply amazing! I agree cheats are a bit... eh.. but still solid entertainment for me considering the complexity.
Thanks, I'm glad there's some who liked it.
Mr. Pwnage wrote:
Is the Super Speed cheat on for this run? It's a fairly tame 5% speed boost, and notably doesn't disqualify your time from being on the record list, so if you're already going into the menu to get the parts, it's worth considering.
Hmm... I wonder if they used that in the world record? I didn't have it on because I considered it cheating because it's not something you can normally get without activating the cheat (unlike other things like the car parts). I don't really like using that kind of cheats, but I would use it if they used it on the WRs.
Joined: 10/28/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
If the settings you're using can be obtained by normal means, use those means to put together a save state to start with. Better yet, if the items can be obtained in the context of, say, a 100% TAS or similar, that would make for a worthwhile project on its own and would lead naturally into a run of this nature.
As it stands, the justification for using a save state seems to be, "I didn't want to spend movie time on entering in cheat codes"; in turn, the justification for using cheat codes seems to be, "I didn't want to spend movie time on entering in these items". This does not, in my books, constitute a valid excuse for the purposes of TASing - we see great value in putting in the extra effort in general to get the most desirable possible end results.
Cutting corners is just not something consistent with our community values.
The run itself is executed very well.
That being said, I'm voting no for the same reasons others have listed: the cheat codes and starting from savestate.
I will agree with sgrunt, and say that a 100%, or at least an "All Tracks" run would be much more fun to watch, and more widely accepted among the TAS community.
Either way, despite my vote, I did enjoy this run, and I highly encourage you to not give up if this gets rejected.
I still might get the movie to sync from power-on. I already got the spikes to sync, now all I need is to get the smoke to sync (the smoke from the cars tires; compare pics on previous page).
As for the button codes, I don't see why they couldn't be used. Tasvideos has TASes that use codes, for example the Ristar "bonus stages" TAS uses a cheat to unlock the bonus stages, just like I use a cheat here to unlock the obstacle course.
