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Castle In The Darkness Prologue v1.18 played in 01:33.17 by Sopreti using Hourglass r-81 (426 re-records).
This is one of my first TASes and I used only slow-mo and save states, so it's still improvable. One of the most important time savers should be the skip of the mask (the first time it appear): sometimes the mask don't drop flames and the screen isn't blocked, so it can save almost 6 seconds, but it's very rare and random.
This is the "first ending" run. You don't need any item to this ending but you need the secret key to take the shortcut and it's goty.
There aren't many big tricks in this TAS, just think to always jump when you use the sword.
Warning: You can die against ghosts with the .wtf file.

feos: Judging...
CoolKirby: Removed branch name. Fastest ending runs are always any%, so no branch name is needed.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #4235: Sopreti's Windows Castle in the Darkness Prologue in 01:33.50
Editor, Experienced player (608)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
This looks like a pretty cool game, and I found the run to have enough action to keep it entertaining for the duration of its (short) length. Yes vote.
Player (26)
Joined: 8/29/2011
Posts: 1206
Location: Amsterdam
Interesting. So what's the status of this game? As far as I can tell, the prologue is a short demo of the full game, which has been Greenlit on Steam and was expected early in 2013, but I can't find it available anywhere?
Former player
Joined: 11/13/2005
Posts: 1587
Since this is just a demo of a game, I don't think there should be a TAS of it on the site. I know that the game hasn't been released yet, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not a full game. As for the run itself, it doesn't look optimized. TASes aim for perfection and perfection is not achieved by not using the most basic tools to their full extent. TASes should never forgo the use of frame advance and it never hurts to use a lot of rerecords to check if you can do something faster, be it a jump or an attack or even a simple action such as entering a door. Based on these thoughts, I will have to vote no. I encourage you to try to improve this run for the good practice it provides and post your WIPs on the forum (not submitting them, but creating a thread for this game and posting the WIPs there) to get feedback.
Player (26)
Joined: 8/29/2011
Posts: 1206
Location: Amsterdam
In this case, a "demo" is similar to having the shareware (free) version of a game instead of the full (paid) version. By precedent, we already allow runs like that, and I see no reason to disqualify this one just because it's a "demo". (disqualifying it on grounds of quality is another matter)
NitroGenesis
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Editor, Experienced player (551)
Joined: 12/24/2009
Posts: 1873
Yeah this run doesn't look incredibly polished. It seemed to me that sometimes you didn't enter the doors as soon as you could. Also, I don't really care about it being a demo, unless we have confirmation that the full game is still being worked on. I don't think this is comparable to a shareware DOS game, or at least the ones we have published. The published sharewares seem to be runs of "episode x" where a full version would not be any different.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Editor, Experienced player (608)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
The game is available here as freeware, on what appears to be the main site. The problem is that the current version available there is v1.25, and I wasn't able to find v1.18 anywhere or sync the run on v1.25. Since the game is freeware, I think it would be appropriate to ask the author to upload the v1.18 game exe somewhere so others could play back the run.
mklip2001
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Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
The run looks pretty fun. However, the submission describes potentially six seconds of improvement from better luck manipulation. For a run which is this short, that is a significant amount of savings. More should be done here to see whether that timesaver is possible.
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.
Experienced player (703)
Joined: 2/5/2011
Posts: 1417
Location: France
I can't get it to sync, even with v1.18... it dies after avoiding mask
Current: Rayman 3 maybe? idk xD Paused: N64 Rayman 2 (with Funnyhair) GBA SMA 4 : E Reader (With TehSeven) TASVideos is like a quicksand, you get in, but you cannot quit the sand
Experienced player (703)
Joined: 2/5/2011
Posts: 1417
Location: France
Currently improving it. Improved 20 frames before mask But I can't compare without getting mask sync :(
Current: Rayman 3 maybe? idk xD Paused: N64 Rayman 2 (with Funnyhair) GBA SMA 4 : E Reader (With TehSeven) TASVideos is like a quicksand, you get in, but you cannot quit the sand
Joined: 2/15/2014
Posts: 2
It's OK guys, as I said it was my first TAS and I just wanted to learn how to use the tools (even if I didn't use everything). When I finish it I asked myself "why not suggest it on TASvideo ?" but I shall understand if you refuse it. By the way I used the version of the game I had on my computer and didn't search if there was a later version, so I think I'm gonna delete my two suggestion and maybe do it again another time. Sorry guys.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11274
Location: RU
No need to sorry :) We will always be glad to see you improving your skills and posting WIPs at where I described in your other submission thread.
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.
Experienced player (703)
Joined: 2/5/2011
Posts: 1417
Location: France
Feos: Did you managed to get it sync? I would like to improve it but I cant, it desync at first mask
Current: Rayman 3 maybe? idk xD Paused: N64 Rayman 2 (with Funnyhair) GBA SMA 4 : E Reader (With TehSeven) TASVideos is like a quicksand, you get in, but you cannot quit the sand
TASVideosGrue
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om, nom, nom... crunchy!