So here's the new WIP: using the new route, and skipping the bossfight totally. This saves about 800-1000 frames in the end.
For everyone who can't get the movie to sync, I uploaded the new route to Youtube (Non-TAS and not aiming for speed obiously ;))
Yes, it might be funny to see a TAS that completes GS1 first, and then GS2, using the password, but I'm not going to do it, simply because one run alone is 5 hours long, and I really don't want to make a TAS that's 10 hours, because it would just be too much for viewers and for the one who makes the TAS.
Well GS1 would be far faster than the 5 hours you need for GS2. But I get where you are coming from.
But what about using a fun code with super weapons and crap?
The maximum password of this guide comes to mind: http://www.gamefaqs.com/gba/561356-golden-sun-the-lost-age/faqs/44287
So, yes, this is still alive.
I've been really busy and actually will be the next time, so don't expect a lot of progress (I hope, there will still be a bit, though)
Anyway:
New WIP
I've finally found a way to manipulate fights so I can flee from almost every random encounter (it sometimes wastes a lot of frames, though).
When you choose an attack with Felix or Jenna, but then press 'B' to undo your decision, it seems to affect the RNG as if the attack was already executed. This way things like enemy behaviour can be changed. This also allows to flee from fights by choosing attack and pressing 'B' a couple of times until you actually can escape.
When I don't flee from encounters, that's because I have to lose pp anyway, and for manipulating better fights later.
At this point I'm a bit over 11 minutes ahead of the run that got rejected a while ago.
I hope I will have more time to work on this in around a month, but I can't promise anything.
@ Slowking:
I just want to complete an any% run of this game, because I think since it's a normal game, there should be room for a normal run. It might be more interesting with strong characters and weapons and stuff, but it could also be really boring, and since this is my first TAS, I just want to complete this game in a normal category and not some custom 'uses-GS1-code'-category.
good work. for some reason the movie doesn't sync for me though (i had that problem before too). did you use any specific settings in the emulator that i should enable? i agree that strong characters would make it really boring.
Since the PP regeneration when walking is tied to the distance you walk. I was thinking that casting 'Move' just before it regenerates a PP might reset the walking distance before the next PP is regenerated. This does not work, unfortunately. Maybe there is some other way to cancel PP regeneration.
Notice that later in the run, deactivating Felix's Djinn will be a faster way to get him to 0 PP.
Ah, saving in the second slot avoids an 'Overwrite?' message. Nice.
You go somewhat far out of your way for some of the Djinn. Its hard to know how necessary they are throughout the run, so I will trust your judgment.
I assume the beginning of the run is a bit obsolete due to the new battling trick of canceling actions. I would encourage you to continue this run though; I'm sure there are still many new tricks and routes to be found.
I'm looking forward to future progress, but no rush. :)
Could the desync be due to different ROMs e.g. [hIR00] vs [!]? Would you mind auditing the ROM used in this run?
<klmz> it reminds me of that people used to keep quoting adelikat's IRC statements in the old good days
<adelikat> no doubt
<adelikat> klmz, they still do
Could the desync be due to different ROMs e.g. [hIR00] vs [!]? Would you mind auditing the ROM used in this run?
I use a normal (U) ROM, no specific version or something.. I just recently downloaded a random ROM to test whether it syncs, and it synced perfectly, so I don't know, why it doesn't sync for some of you.. and as far as I know, I didn't enable any specific settings.. Does it desync at the very beginning or at what point? Maybe Kirkq can tell us, how he got it to sync, since it seems that he can watch my WIPs...
Kirkq wrote:
You go somewhat far out of your way for some of the Djinn. Its hard to know how necessary they are throughout the run, so I will trust your judgment.
Well, I have to get the pound cube anyway, so getting cannon is not that timewasting. And I think, he is definitely worth getting. For future djinnis, there will definitely be more planning and stuff, to see what djinni (that may be far out of the route) is really worth getting.
Kirkq wrote:
I assume the beginning of the run is a bit obsolete due to the new battling trick of canceling actions.
Well actually there is only one optional encounter I really fight against and that is to lose my PP fast, so I don't think that this trick would save a lot until now... Anyway, thanks for helping and sharing ideas :)
Does it desync at the very beginning or at what point?
the beginning when you type the names syncs, but when you start controlling jenna, it desyncs.
i probably got some kind of curse, because when i got my old testrun from my old computer which had been deleted from the harddrive, i had to use a recovery program, so i was pretty sure it was corrupted and wouldn't work, and it didn't. however, to my surprise someone got it to work... but because i believed so hard that it would not work, now any golden sun 2 TAS won't work. everything else works fine. belief is a very strong thing... it can cause TASes to desync or become cursed.
A new glitch was discovered recently that has the potential to break the run. They are still looking into uses for it. I think combining it with save-retreat glitching may cause some crazy sequence breaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy_Xq75tsaM
just wanted to say I am still around here, but for the moment I lost interest in TASing this game, just because it is to long and there is way to much planning to do. However, if someone feels motivated to TAS this one day, maybe when this or even more glitches are totally understood, I am totally willing to help them, just ask me then... :)
Hey, all!
This is my favorite childhood game, and I would like to contribute to the community by making an improved TAS of this game. The previous TAS by nfq (which was rejected, sadly) didn't make use of the Retreat Glitch, which can be used to skip large parts of the game's dungeons and even save a lot of time on overworld movement. I believe with the Retreat Glitch's applications, I could get a sub-5 hour time, maybe even less.
I already started a WIP TAS using the Japanese version of the game for faster text, faster start screen (which is nice for save/retreat warping!), and the fact that I can name Felix a one-character name. As far as I can tell, there isn't any other significant differences from the NA or EU versions.
One question I do have, though: I'm using VBA-RR v23.6 svn480 to make this TAS. How can I record WIP videos with this emulator?
you use the dump AVI feature in the emulator,but consider checking with the community if the japanese is recommended for submission since faster start screen is a good reason to use it but text isn't.
Good luck on your run, looking forward to see this game TASed.
TAS i'm interested:
megaman series: mmbn1 all chips, mmx3 any% psx glitched
fighting games with speed goals in general
Dump AVI? I'm not sure where that is in VBA-RR...
I saw an option under "Tools" that says "Start AVI Recording...", so I tried that, but uncompressed video for a WIP that is a little over 10 minutes in length, I got three split files totaling over 4 gigabytes in size, and the video quality was not that great. So I must be missing something here...
As for checking with the community, I was thinking of asking some top speedrunners of this game for their opinion on the matter (like CriticalCyd, TLPlexa, and maybe even Werster), unless there's another way I should go about this.
EDIT: Right now I'm in what I call "Data Collection Mode", so I probably won't start the actual TAS until sometime next month, likely closer to Christmas time.
I'm using VBA-RR v23.6 svn480 to make this TAS. How can I record WIP videos with this emulator?
Why VBA?
It just happens to be the one I'm currently using. I'm aware of other emulators, such as Bizhawk, so maybe it would be worth me looking into.
Edit: Ok, just looked at the emulator resources page, where it says that Bizhawk is preferred for GBA games. While it looks like VBA is accepted, I'll try working with Bizhawk and see how that goes.
I'd love to see a good TAS of GS2, so I really hope this goes well! One thing though: for GS2, do you really want to name Felix a 1-character name? The time spent for Felix's name to be written out in textboxes before you gain control is really negligible, and you can change it to I think 1 frame per word on Fast speed as soon as you gain control in the intro.
In addition, in RTA strats the name is normally set to a specific value for "RNG" manipulation, in particular the Great Gabomba puzzle configuration, which saves far more time than the few frames in the intro.
I see what you're saying about the text speed, but there are two things about the Gabomba Statue puzzle: (1) the puzzle is generated based on whatever Felix's name is, and (2) as soon as the puzzle starts, you're on a timer.
Felix's name doesn't necessarily have to be one character long in the Japanese version, but as far as I have tested, it seems to be fastest to enter as a name (the Japanese hiragana "u", specifically). I'm gonna have to look into this a bit more, though.
As for the second point, it becomes a matter of having to solve the puzzle in as few casts of Pound as possible, since the timer I mentioned pauses when you enter a menu or cast Psynergy.
Also, speaking of the Japanese version, I wonder if I really should be using it as opposed to the English version. While I would save a lot of time due to faster text, someone watching this TAS who's not too familiar with the game might not follow the story too well. Then again, the current TAS of the first Golden Sun uses the Japanese version, so maybe it would be alright if I used Japanese as well...
