Posted: 12/21/2011 10:26 PM
Post subject: Rod Land
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goofydylan8
Experienced player (520)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
I saw that Rod Land was on the list of ideas, looked into it and thought it would be a short (probably around 6 or 7 minutes total if I had to guess) and pretty interesting so I decided to give it a try. Here is a WIP I have been working on for a little bit. This is through "Scene" 8 and beats the first boss. There are 3 more bosses and 23 more levels. The game was only released in Europe and Japan which is why it is the E file (Rod Land (E) [!]). If I understand how PAL timing works I believe it is currently 1 minute 36.34 seconds. Hardest part of optimizing this game clicking directional buttions, fire, or jump on either character can affect the bonus weapon that appears when an enemy is defeated. Let me know what you think about my work so far.
Posted: 12/22/2011 6:09 AM
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Randil
Skilled player (1827)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
I TASed around with the J version of this game some time ago. I only did a 1 player WIP. I heavily abused the different items that enemies can drop. I just quickly looked through your WIP now (I'm very tired right now so my focus is so-and-so) and it looks quite different from my TASing strategy of this game. I like this fact about two people trying to TAS the same game independently - they will often come up with very different solutions. The fact that yours is a 2 player run also makes them harder to compare. Anyway, hopefully there are a few things in my WIP you can incorporate. Here is my input file. I personally think the key to beating this game fast is to use enemy drops, in particular the bouncing balls item while manipulating the enemies to get hit by the balls.
My own page on this site.
Posted: 12/22/2011 2:09 PM
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NitroGenesis
He/Him
Editor, Experienced player (556)
Joined: 12/24/2009
Posts: 1873
You should use the J version, it runs faster.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Posted: 12/22/2011 4:32 PM
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goofydylan8
Experienced player (520)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
Thanks for posting that. Gives me something to look at and makes me realize optimizing the weapons should get some more focus. Question, does the Japanese version run faster enough to require the change? The European version I believe to be faster overall because it has the option for fast level transitions that the Japanese version does not have. I was comparing the runs and here are the comparisons (Japanese then European): Time to get to first level: 4.267 seconds, 10.34 seconds [Difference due to European title screen being longer and going through the submenus] Time between levels: 4.033 seconds, 1.24 seconds Estimated time between all levels: 121 seconds, 37.2 seconds So, even though I am not all the way through it looks like cutscene times for both movies are looking like they are going to be Japanese = 125.2667 seconds, European = 47.54 seconds. So unless the faster running leads to more than 2 seconds per level it doesn't appear to be worth it.
Posted: 12/22/2011 8:37 PM
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MESHUGGAH
Other
Skilled player (1918)
Joined: 11/14/2009
Posts: 1353
Location: 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝑦𝔞𝔯
NES TASer of 2013 NES TAS of 2013 NES TAS of 2012 NES TAS of 2011
Thank you for showing this GEM! This will be my new project: a 2 player Rod Land tas. I already have a file which starts 4 frame faster than randil and finishes the 1st level in the same time. I also found a bug: climbing a ladder "off-tile" and abuse the wall ejection by inserting 1 or 2 different sideway. Luck manipulation is very easy too! I will continue and finish it in 2012 =)
PhD in TASing 🎓 speedrun enthusiast ❤🚷🔥 white hat hacker ▓ black box tester ░ censorships and rules...
Posted: 12/22/2011 9:17 PM
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goofydylan8
Experienced player (520)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
I am going to continue working on this as well. It is interesting. MESHUGGAH so you know. I really feel confident that the European version is the quickest way to go. Since there are 35 total levels there will be around an extra 80 seconds of cutscenes in the Japanese version over the European. I am predicting there to be a maximum of 7 minutes for the entire video.
Posted: 12/23/2011 3:54 PM
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MESHUGGAH
Other
Skilled player (1918)
Joined: 11/14/2009
Posts: 1353
Location: 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝑦𝔞𝔯
NES TASer of 2013 NES TAS of 2013 NES TAS of 2012 NES TAS of 2011
Thanks for the infos! I tested E and I finish the 1st level on E version in 826 frames. it's 30 frames faster because of better menu moving, luck manipulation and strategy. Input file: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/302904926/MESHUGGAH_ROD_LAND_E2.fm2
PhD in TASing 🎓 speedrun enthusiast ❤🚷🔥 white hat hacker ▓ black box tester ░ censorships and rules...
Posted: 12/24/2011 9:08 PM
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MESHUGGAH
Other
Skilled player (1918)
Joined: 11/14/2009
Posts: 1353
Location: 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝑦𝔞𝔯
NES TASer of 2013 NES TAS of 2013 NES TAS of 2012 NES TAS of 2011
After communicating with Zeup, I will continue this run in 2012. Here's a WIP which is improvable and will go out of sync after a while: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/806224682/MESHUGGAH_ROD_LAND_2011.fm2 Some technical things: -1st enemy AI depends on previous input (previous stage). -Continous enemy AI check: where is the player, where are ladders, how to avoid effects -Sometimes it takes an additional frame to do a ladder for P2 -Bonus clear screen can be avoided on every odd frames -1st boss fight has 8 HP (around 0x0589) -Balloon manipulatable by previous input (previous stage). Newest wip syncs until pre 3rd Boss section http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/914188393/MESHUGGAH_ROD_LAND_WIP2.fm2 edit: I made a run which tries to play as fast as possible and now making a new TAS that tries to improve everything. Will submit when I'm complete. 6 frames improved until Scene 04 already =)
PhD in TASing 🎓 speedrun enthusiast ❤🚷🔥 white hat hacker ▓ black box tester ░ censorships and rules...