Post subject: The Ninja - SMS: First-time TASer, looking for info.
Joined: 7/30/2010
Posts: 16
Avast fellas, I'm looking at starting my first TAS, I chose The Ninja as my first game because it's a great game, pretty simple and short, playing it in real-time is really difficult, so it should make for an entertaining run, there's no existing run of it, and I've played it quite a lot it when I was younger. I haven't done much work on it yet, I'm sorta hoping to get a point of comparison first before I get too far. Does anyone feel like TASing the first 500 frames or so? (Getting through the first gate ~6 seconds in would be plenty.) Just so I have an idea of how far along I should be, and where/when frames are dropped from sideways movement, etc. I was hoping to try for as many kills as as possible on the run too, but movement seems to behave strangely when shooting at angles, When moving straight up, you move at 1 pixel per frame, so that was an easy benchmark to set myself to, While moving up/left or up/right this slows down to about 4 pixels (Of upward movement) per 5 frames. And for some reason, whichever enemy I killed 3rd with a diagonal shot would cause me to lose a frame of upward movement, I tried killing them in different orders and at different times, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. If I have to run through nearly the whole game only firing up and skipping most enemies, it'd make for a pretty boring watch, nor would I enjoy making it half as much, so is it viable for me to make my first run a "100% kill" run? Or should I try to keep it as a standard speedrun? Thankee for any help!
Brandon
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Editor, Player (190)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 913
Location: Tennessee
Welcome to the site! The first thing I'd suggest is posting in the appropriate forum for the console you are TASing on. Let me report this to a mod to be moved... Edit: Correction: the mods have ruled that this should stay in The Newbie Corner. My bad.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Post subject: Re: The Ninja - SMS: First-time TASer, looking for info.
Banned User, Former player
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
PotatoHandle wrote:
The Ninja
I vote no. The run is clearly unoptimized and there are many places which could have been done significantly faster. (Just kidding, of course. :P )
Post subject: Re: The Ninja - SMS: First-time TASer, looking for info.
Joined: 7/30/2010
Posts: 16
Warp wrote:
PotatoHandle wrote:
The Ninja
I vote no. The run is clearly unoptimized and there are many places which could have been done significantly faster. (Just kidding, of course. :P )
Let's hope you're not saying the same thing when the run's done, haha.
Jungon
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Player (40)
Joined: 4/2/2009
Posts: 376
Location: Porto Alegre - Brazil
I was thinking which Master System games have quick paced gameplay, bad collision detection and taking out of bosses in less than 10 frames, and then it hits me, The Ninja! =P so I did a WIP in one afternoon, less than 2 hours to see if the game is appealing enough: This WIP, runs on Dega 1.16 doze Some things about the game: 1- I decided not to get the red scroll, because of two factors: it changes the music on all stages (steps..?) to the same of the title screen (unwanted), and it makes shots go through the enemies.. this second one is actually a good willing fun factor but.. maybe I'll get it on stage 9 or 10 in a more optimised try later.. 2- Disappearing looks really cheatful, so I should focus on using it the least I can, or maybe.. never? Or it could be just once, to show that it exists, so players that don't know the game will get that I can run through everything without being damaged and I decided not to ... XD 3- Commands take one frame to work, except when the area is full of enemies, which is lagging and should be avoided, and is why I try to clean the screen on level 1 and 8.. 4- I don't know if it's possible to see it but.. I was one frame away of being killed by the final boss, ... if this can be seen, it's a good thing =P he shoots really quick x_x 5- I should explore more the collision against horses, big rocks, boomerangs, dogs, and shurikens in general, to go nearer them and look more professional ... xP but I have to miss some shots on every level because 100% hit ratio takes to long to add up to the score... or maybe I should do it all the time? *seeing a label 'Aims for in-game time instead of real-time' coming*... 6- On stage 10, I can finish the level without hitting any enemy, but that turned out bad, real bad, because the game divides by zero, and then the catastrophe happens, a slow screen counting 10 millions points on the score.... 7- I don't have to explain why I kill enemies in the first stage, but the blue scroll bearer don't show up if I don't, so ..... (blue scroll = speed = really wanted item) and of course, the 5 green scrolls need to be picked up or else the game doesn't let you go to the final level... 8- When I shoot a shuriken and it stays in mid-air, that's a glitch that happens when I shoot it while pressing left and right together =P 9- Some enemies are faster than the main character, which are the flame spitters and the cyan samurais, .. and I think a little more of these cyan guys could show up in the final video.. 10- I tried everything to make the secret passage show up and still be moving the character around, but it didn't turn out good, it only opens if we are in the right spot and don't move.... 13- Actually, there are two more levels, 11 and 12, but I skip them by finding the secret way to the final level =P ... Is this somewhat entertaining to other people? I actually had fun doing it, because it is a very easy game, with great playability (1 frame for all commands), and it's Ninja, when are Ninjas not entertaining? XD EDIT (21/09/2011): And this WIP, runs on Dega 1.16 MAME EDIT 2 (23/09/2011): Some explanations about the second WIP: - got better boss fights, and less lag on their scenes, got a little closer to the fire spitter guys, and.. - got better last levels, with that spinning enemy.. maybe it's not looking cool to use invisiblity on that last level, but that's exactly what I'm trying to break for the next WIP =P
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Jungon
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Player (40)
Joined: 4/2/2009
Posts: 376
Location: Porto Alegre - Brazil
And coincidentally I came up with my topic 2 days later... O_o Ok, I didn't know someone else would be working on this game, and from now on, I'll be checking this section for SMS games every time I decide to start a new WIP,... õ_o Also, this game has one big problem for TASing: you have to miss shots all the time to low down the hit ratio, if you get 100%, you get a slow screen, and if you get 0%, you get a VERY slow screen for 10.000.000 score, that obviously overflows.. EDIT: Shouldn't this and the topic I did be merged or something like this?
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Joined: 7/30/2010
Posts: 16
Don't worry about it, It's all yours; I needed a reference point before I got started since this was my first TAS, but help seems to be hard to come by here. So I didn't make it past the first 500 frames unfortunately, because I was constantly worried that I was doing something wrong and had no way to check; thus I made this thread. I'll be looking forward to your run though!
Jungon
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Player (40)
Joined: 4/2/2009
Posts: 376
Location: Porto Alegre - Brazil
I still don't actually FEEL this game will ever be accepted, but .. I'm on my way to glitching a little more those fire spitters, and walking a little closer to dogs, big rocks, and thinking seriously on the stage 5 to make it with no enemy killing, AND no invisibility, .... this can use some more 5000 rerecords in the near future, I'll see if I can make it to 'published' some day ... XD But if you feel like teamworking, why not? Do a complete testrun too, maybe you have some ideas that I could be missing out =P (and maybe that merging, we should be posting on SMS WIP section!) x.x (BTW, did you see the WIPs?)
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Jungon
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Player (40)
Joined: 4/2/2009
Posts: 376
Location: Porto Alegre - Brazil
Bumping, bumping! Breaking news =P Starting new WIP, this is beyond human skills alright Pressing three directions at the same time \o/ Now I think this is worth working on, submitting, and maybe even publishing! +D EDIT: not using Dega 1.16 doze for WIPs and TASing anymore, always MAME core =P
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Former player
Joined: 5/22/2005
Posts: 41
I'm interested in the run, one of the other game I played, might wanna go at it more like an entertaining run than a speed one. Here's a vid found on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCdada-p654&list=FL4tBhybvuEiILtj-bWT9mIQ&feature=mh_lolz What do you think, is the game Worth a try ?
Active player (433)
Joined: 4/21/2004
Posts: 3517
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Wow never seen this game before. Definitely tas it man. It's short and sweet. You sure know how to pick your games Dadoc :)
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
Cooljay wrote:
Mayor Haggar and Cody are such nice people for the community. Metro City's hospitals reached an all time new record of incoming patients due to their great efforts :P
Former player
Joined: 5/22/2005
Posts: 41
Well I pick up games I played younger. I always thought that this game was well known. I tend to pick up SMS games since if think it's will be easier to tas and the games are short so the video won't be too long.
Former player
Joined: 5/22/2005
Posts: 41
someone posted this in the french section of the forum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwax8XNZpOo
Active player (433)
Joined: 4/21/2004
Posts: 3517
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
That looked quite nice. Do you think it's improvable? If not, does he plan on submitting?
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
Cooljay wrote:
Mayor Haggar and Cody are such nice people for the community. Metro City's hospitals reached an all time new record of incoming patients due to their great efforts :P
Editor, Experienced player (609)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
In case you missed it, the author submitted it earlier today.
Jungon
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Player (40)
Joined: 4/2/2009
Posts: 376
Location: Porto Alegre - Brazil
Why didn't he look at my more-than-1-minute-faster WIP? o_o And.... why am I the only one to think it's a bad TAS idea to get the red scroll?? @__@
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Player (15)
Joined: 11/24/2012
Posts: 42
Location: Toronto (Canada)
I'm working on it, i've found some interesting trick on this game, I'm going to share you a video of what I've made recently :). And yes i am for get the red scroll, at horses level I've found a funny trick
Player (15)
Joined: 11/24/2012
Posts: 42
Location: Toronto (Canada)
here is the video: http://youtu.be/M-JIf0xH45A http://youtu.be/HGkN0JkmKs8 The current submition of this game is very bad, I am quite motivated to work on it, I've allready begun ;)
Jungon
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Player (40)
Joined: 4/2/2009
Posts: 376
Location: Porto Alegre - Brazil
These tricks make it more interesting to get the red scroll, and I see the triple direction glitch is in constant use there =) It's too bad red scroll changes the musics of levels all to the same... >.>
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Isotarge
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Experienced player (542)
Joined: 7/28/2015
Posts: 17
Location: Australia
Hi all, I've been working on a run for this game on and off since 2012 and thought it was finally time to reveal my progress. I've made a YouTube playlist available with several WIPs and detailed descriptions for each, a spreadsheet comparing the US and JP versions of the game, and written a Lua script for this game that includes a drag and drop hitbox viewer and some useful watches in the top left. I hope to complete the run some time this year and occasionally live stream the TASing progress to my twitch channel Looking forward to some feedback, especially if anyone spots improvements.
Post subject: Step 5 Cleanup
Isotarge
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Experienced player (542)
Joined: 7/28/2015
Posts: 17
Location: Australia
I spent today redoing step 5, bringing it down to 2% ratio from my previous best of 5% and adding a lot more playaround in the process. I might go for 1% but I think it'll require removing the shots at the start that aren't facing straight down and maybe some others that aren't directly aimed at the closest edge. Link to video
Isotarge
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Experienced player (542)
Joined: 7/28/2015
Posts: 17
Location: Australia
Small update, I redid level 3 shot spam today saving a few more frames on ratio, and doing this resynced the levels that had previously desynced later in the run! Currently sitting at 5:17.008, very close to 5:16. I'm contemplating posting another WIP but it's pretty much at the point where I'm finalizing levels now so I may just wait until the actual submission.