Dragon Warrior 4 is the last NES game of the Dragon Warrior series. This is by far the longest and most advanced RPG made for the NES, featuring in-depth battle sequences, AI controlled characters, and a unique chapter system.
  • Uses FCEU 0.98.12 (*NOTE: this run will desynch in version after this, sorry the newer version of FCEU didn't exist when I started this run!)
  • MANIPULATES LUCK
  • Uses Death as a shortcut
  • Aims for fastest completion

Quotes from the DW4 discussions:

Paulygon wrote: "In battle, of course, it would be relatively simple up until chapter 5, where AI considerations make it much more complicated.. Making do with a battle round's outcome that ends up being "close enough" to the way you wanted may be a necessity most of the time."
Mookish wrote: "To be honest, I don't know...I may run the first chapter this weekend as a trial, just to get an idea. I'd say 5 hours"
Hopper wrote: "I once posted that a speedrun of DW4 would be nearly impossible. This is a huge game with multiple chapters, a lot of playable characters, and tons of weapons and armor. I think I said that someone would have to be very brave to even attempt it, and I stand by that."
Well here it is, a run of this game, a Herculean task indeed! This run is done in a mere 2hr 9min (as opposed to the predict 5hrs). Note:
  • I only get into 2 fights for the sole purpose of leveling up
  • There is no single instance of "good enough" during fight sequences. If It was possible, I made it happen :)

Making the run:

I began this run in late July of 2005. Nine months of my life have been devoted to the making of this game. WOW! I feel like I've been on a journey of my own. In the process of making this run I have through much frustration as well as excitement. I've watch 2 dragon warrior 1, and a dragon warrior 2 run completed. I've gone through many personal life events. And in the end, I learned far more about this game and TASing than I ever thought I would.
Route Planning: A nightmare! You will notice I use death as a shortcut quite often in the run. I also keep my characters at as low level as possible. I use the return spell/Wings as efficiently as possible to reduce walking distance. Character selection was difficult for chp5 5. I went almost entirely with a Hero, Ragnar, Alena, and Taloon party. This gave me the advantage of having pure attackers, reducing the need to manipulate the AI. Taloon was invaluable for his "sweeping legs" and "awful puns" in order to incapacitate enemies. I kill off uncessary characters to prevent them from leveling up. This saved me several minutes.
Luck Manipulation: This is by far the most difficult part of the run. Unlike many RPG's almost any button pressing are any delay changes the rng. While this is a blessing it is also a nightmare for the author. With so many options I have no excuse but to get every critical hit, miss, etc.
Critical hits: In this game the odds of a critical hit is 1/64 (unlike the mere 1/32 in DW1&2 :P). The only exception is Alena who has a lv/256 chance. (notice that this mean the 2 critical hits I get early in chapter 2 are each a 1/256!) With a systematic use of button presses & waiting I manage to reduce the delay when trying to get critical hits to and average of 10 frames (with a 20max). This results in near-flawless looking fight sequences.
Miss attacks: It is always faster for a enemy to miss rather than to cause damage (even when my characters have plenty of HP). So you will see that an enemy never causes damage to my characters unless I am purposefully killing them off. Also I manipulate them well in order to get a missed attack after only a short delay.
Taloon's actions: it is highly unlikely that taloon will do any one particular action, nevertheless I manage to get the optimal action. Note that Taloon's "army of merchants" is used rarely. This is because it is rather slow and it is much less manipulatable for critical hits (button presses don't affect critical hits in this case which could lead to long delays). In one case I used the "tripping" in order to get a critical hit. This is usually slower due to the added text. But you can manipulate the amount of damage the critical hit does (which was needed to get a few more hp of damage against the final boss). The last hit of the game came from Taloon. I thought it was only fitting that the brave hero trip and accidentally kill the ruler of all evil :)
Smooth walking: This is much easier in this game than others since it is very easy to change the rng. Also up+down and left+right were used to give me more possibilities.
Future Improvements: Like with any RPG there is always the possibility of improvement. As far as route, character selection, I believe this to be as fast as possible. Further improvements would be mainly be from better luck manipulation to reduce wait times between actions. (I believe this to be unlikely without the aid of a "bot") I did sacrifice some time due to inability to luck manipulate: in chp 5, on my way to Keelon, I get stiletto earrings form a random treasure drop. It is slower to have Taloon in the party, but I needed him to steal the treasure chest. The odds of getting the regular treasure drop are 1/4096! I hope people can understand me compromising with THOSE odds :)

Special Thanks:

I want to thank TheAxeMan, Acmlm, and Paulygon for their invaluable insights and help in making this run. It wouldn't have turned out so well without their great advice.
I want to also thank hopper, spoonybard, and mart for their enthusiasm and encouragement. Many times this run was pushing my patience to the limit and I seriously considered abandoning the run. Their moral support helped me keep my motivations.
Well thats it for now, I hope you all enjoy!

Joined: 1/10/2005
Posts: 63
Impressive, very impressive.
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
I give it one and one half banana vote. Edit: Monkey apple carburetor
Joined: 2/2/2005
Posts: 198
To me the DW series have always been kinda...bland, to say at least, but it's still well played and there's still plenty of amusing moments, so yes.
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 804
Location: Canada
adelikat, I have been waiting to congratulate you on this day for months. You said that this took a long time, but when I read that you were about to face Necrosaro, I had exactly the opposite impression. I can't believe how quickly you did this. You could have taken another three months and I would have been impressed that it only took a year. The time also has to be considered amazing. When I got this game for Christmas, I played it non-stop until I finished it. It took days! Two hours? Unfreakingbelievable. I know I'm voting Yes, but I have to watch it first, and I don't have two hours to spare right now. It's the only thing on my to-do list for tomorrow. Congratulations, man. You are truly insane, and I'll gladly testify to that effect if you ever need to plead insanity. I can't believe you TASed a game this big.
TASing or playing back a DOS game? Make sure your files match the archive at RGB Classic Games.
Twisted_Eye
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Joined: 10/17/2005
Posts: 629
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I never played the game, but this movie was still amazing to watch! The movement is absolutely flawless and the battles are perfect! This movie deserves a yes vote from me and a good hearty publishing for sure! Top of the line job.
Joined: 4/6/2004
Posts: 74
Location: California
I must agree whole-heartedly and cast my yes vote. The amount of work put into this is amazing and it shows. Congrats on a fantastic job! Oh, and the quote was nice, too, heh.. although in fairness, it was said before I knew you could put it on slow speed and control most of the battle actions, as well as use different button presses to greatly increase the speed of luck manipulation in battle. I'm sure glad I was wrong on those points. :-) Once again, thanks for the unrelenting efforts that produced this gem.
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. ---- [519] NES Dragon Warrior IV by adelikat in 2:09:06.58
Joined: 3/30/2004
Posts: 1354
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Of course I meant
someone is out there who will like you. take off your mask so they can find you faster. I support the new Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun.
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Joined: 5/29/2004
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You're number one too, Boco! You should come to the IRC channel again!
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Joined: 8/17/2004
Posts: 377
Yay, published! Grats, adelikat!
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Joined: 3/10/2004
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I'm so downloading this one! (Not that I wouldn't download other videos. In fact, I have every single published video in my HD. However, I'm so downloading this right now!)
Joined: 12/15/2005
Posts: 38
This video was great....I broke down laughing thinking about all the long hours I spent on this game all those years ago. First rate job....Taloon is apparently smack-down incarnate....
adelikat
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4736
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getter77 wrote:
Taloon is apparently smack-down incarnate....
ROFL, never thought about it that way but indeed he is :)
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Post subject: sizar me timbers
Joined: 11/9/2008
Posts: 108
Location: New Orleans, LA U.S.A.
Amazing movie! I started watching it again (after watching the newly published speed demos archive DWIV run) and am still blown away by it! One quick question though: In the first chapter, after you get the flying shoes, you walk a considerable distance before encountering the Sizarmage which you use to deathwarp out of the dungeon. I plodded through all of the praise on this forum and rereread your comments and am still at a loss. I'm positive a player of your caliber wouldn't allow an unnecessary time waster like this, so could you explain it to me please? Still, breathtaking run Adelikat!
__--N0ISE
adelikat
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I walked to the first possible square that will generate a random encounter. All those squares are enemy free!
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
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I think there are no encounters towards the end of that dungeon, so he has to backtrack to an area with encounters. Also, you have good taste in games. :) EDIT: adelikat posts faster than me. :(
Joined: 11/9/2008
Posts: 108
Location: New Orleans, LA U.S.A.
Ah, that would have been my first guess. Never knew that. Thanks for the insanely swift reply, and for a kick ass and apparantly timeless TAS (After posting I happened to note I had the first comment since '06!).
__--N0ISE
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djchilxxn wrote:
Ah, that would have been my first guess. Never knew that. Thanks for the insanely swift reply, and for a kick ass and apparantly timeless TAS (After posting I happened to note I had the first comment since '06!).
Adelikat and I are working on an improvement. Honestly, however, this TAS will remain more impressive, given the tools he had at the time. No memory watch, no Lua, no Bisqbot....
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
Joined: 11/9/2008
Posts: 108
Location: New Orleans, LA U.S.A.
An improvement would blow my mind! Any spoilers for us eager Dragon Warrior fans? Just general optimization or will there be new routes/tactics? At least do you have an ETA? Excited!!
__--N0ISE
adelikat
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4736
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We spent a year doing Chapter 1, there is no ETA. As for new routes and tricks, there is a slight change planned in Chapter 2, and a few slight ones in Chapter 5. Other than that it will be mostly better and faster luck manipulation. But who knows what we will find when we get there. Our chapter 1 is the same route as before but 300 frames saved in less time spent luck manipulating and about +10 Str in levels ups which will probably pay off in Chapter 5
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects