Tasv4 - Contra (J) “Pacifist” in 9:35.90 by Soig.

Emulator used: FCEU 0.98.28. Fcm was converted to fm2 by FCEUX 2.1.5.

This run beats published run 326 frames. About 5.43 seconds.

Improvements of every area:

Area 1: 1 frame faster.

The improvement came from 1 less jump.

Area 2: 2 frames faster.

1 frame improvement came from room 1. Published run waste 1 frame here. Maybe the author didn’t pay attention to that wasted frame. I beat big boss 1 frame faster. So total improvements were 1+1=2 frames.

Area 3: 241 frames faster.

I made full use of double-floor jump. Saved much time!

Area 4: 20 frames faster.

Room 2 saved 1 frame. Room 3 saved 16 frames. Because I pressed down instead of jumping. So that I could take the shoot earlier than published run. Room 4 saved 1 frame. Room 5 saved 2 frames. So total improvements were 1+16+1+2=20 frames.

Area 5: No improvement.

It is same as published run in this area.

Area 6: 15 frames faster.

I lost 4 frames at three fires place. Due to worse frame randomness. Lost 5 frames at two fires place. (At the 24942nd frame) After that, I lost 1 frame. (In fact, I didn’t pay attention to here. When I found here, I have finished area 7. So I didn’t correct here. Please forgive me @_*). Because of it, and I really wanted to save some time in area 6. So it was possible to save time at boss. When I fought against boss, I tried to make boss move to left later. So that I could run to the right after beating him. And finally, I saved 25 frames! (There were 2 frames improvement came from beating boss faster.) So total improvements were -4-5-1+25=15 frames.

Area 7: 4 frames faster.

I lost 4 frames from the 27645th frame to the 27649th frame. Due to worse frame randomness. But fortunately, I saved about 14 frames from the 27969th frame. Also, I lost some time at other frames. Total improvements were 4 frames.

Area 8: 43 frames faster.

I beat mini boss faster. Saved 14 frames. 29 frames saved because of the improvements of the place nearly final boss. So total improvements were 14+29=43 frames. The whole run’s improvements were 1+2+241+20+0+15+4+43=326 frames faster.
What’s more. This run is more entertaining. But unfortunately, player died finally. What a pity...
Hope you’ll like it.

Nach: Very nice. About time we had a more efficient climb up the 3rd level. I also really liked how you handled area 7. Accepting as improvement to existing run.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3300: Soig's NES Contra (Japan) "pacifist" in 09:35.93
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Ooh, an improvement! I'll wait for an encode.
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This run is really entertaining! Great improvement and Yes vote.
Blah Blah Blah... Why I'm writing this?
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Wow, that's a good improvement! I can't wait to see an encode! :D
J.Y
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Yes!!!!
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Nice improvement, yes vote.
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It would impress me if the player shoots all the time with different weapons, still not being able to hurt a creature. Meh vote for not seeing any intertamnent here.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
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feos wrote:
It would impress me if the player shoots all the time with different weapons, still not being able to hurt a creature. Meh vote for not seeing any intertamnent here.
This... is actually an excellent idea, if there was a way to both do it AND control lag.
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Yep, lag can be a reason to prevent some shots to keep our eye not bored of too much fire.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
mklip2001
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feos wrote:
It would impress me if the player shoots all the time with different weapons, still not being able to hurt a creature.
Nifty idea. However, there's a few reasons why this couldn't be done when aiming for fastest time. 1) Shooting alters randomness, so missed shots are used to manipulate enemies to appear in different places. Recall that each jump costs a frame. 2) The big reason: switching your weapon removes the Rapid-fire "R" upgrade. This would lose quite a lot of time in the run by not having it for certain points (like the base levels). In any case, nice job again Soig! The death at the end looks a little bad, but I find it funny, like the guy sacrified himself for his planet. Are any of your improvements applicable to the 2-player run?
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.
Jungon
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Voted Yes, but it would be too incredible to see a 2-player pacifist... +D
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
Soig
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mklip2001 wrote:
Are any of your improvements applicable to the 2-player run?
Maybe, decreasing some jumping times will make the run faster, I think. But these are very small improvements.
Jungon wrote:
Voted Yes, but it would be too incredible to see a 2-player pacifist... +D
In fact, there has been a contra 2-players picifist run here. You can download this video here
XYZ
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Yes vote. Is it real "pacifist" playing in 2&4 levels that you destroy enemies with explosion wall?
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XYZ wrote:
Yes vote. Is it real "pacifist" playing in 2&4 levels that you destroy enemies with explosion wall?
Would you prefer waiting around till the screen is mostly clear of enemies?
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
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Jungon
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Soig wrote:
mklip2001 wrote:
Are any of your improvements applicable to the 2-player run?
Maybe, decreasing some jumping times will make the run faster, I think. But these are very small improvements.
Jungon wrote:
Voted Yes, but it would be too incredible to see a 2-player pacifist... +D
In fact, there has been a contra 2-players picifist run on www.tasvg.com. You can download this video at http://tsg.dydisk.com/lengmianysh-FC-Contra.rar
I mean a 2 player run that shows up different play on each player instead of equalling the commands for both players half the time... >_>'
*Jungon*/*Johnnyz* smilie weirdo =P ^^ o.o @__@ +D
XYZ
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Nach wrote:
XYZ wrote:
Yes vote. Is it real "pacifist" playing in 2&4 levels that you destroy enemies with explosion wall?
Would you prefer waiting around till the screen is mostly clear of enemies?
In this levels better thought that enemies have come after the wall has been blown up and have been destroyed not by the player directly.
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. ---- [1883] NES Contra (Japan) "pacifist" by Soig in 09:35.93
Joined: 9/22/2011
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I just wanted to say that the publication screenshot is amazing.
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Nice:-) an encode, i can finally vote!... Wait a minute! dont want to step on anybodies toes.
How should I know what I think before I read what I post?
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I'm having problems with the encode in multiple video players. In VLC, there is no sound. In SMPlayer, the picture freezes frequently. Both of these players have worked fine for every other official encode I've played from the site. Windows Media plays it fine, though.
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AzureLazuline wrote:
I just wanted to say that the publication screenshot is amazing.
I agree.
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arkiandruski: I replaced the encode with one that should work properly.
Current Projects: TAS: Wizards & Warriors III.