Posted: 12/14/2006 4:29 PM
Post subject: Ecco the Dolphin 2: The Tides of Time
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upthorn
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I've been wanting to see a run of this for a while, so I've started experimenting with it some, but I can't tell if a TAS of Ecco 2 would really be worthwhile. So I've uploaded this WIP to microstorage. It has examples of why it might be worthwhile, as well as why it might not. Here's the run so far http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3115/Upthorn-Ecco2Test_1.gmv It completes through Crystal Spring.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Posted: 12/14/2006 5:51 PM
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Mitjitsu
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Well its certainly very fast paced, was that a glitch at the end? In my opinion the first level isn't a good demonstation of what the game is like. From what I remember the game is very long and requires a bit of back tracking since I remember a level where you have to get a about a trillion orbs and return them two at a time order to complete some kind of DNA structure, that was a far as I ever managed to get back then.
Posted: 12/14/2006 7:48 PM
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upthorn
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AKA wrote:
Well its certainly very fast paced, was that a glitch at the end?
Yes. For reference, what you're supposed to do there is free four crystal shards (one from each corner of the level) and bring them to the center, where they combine to form a crystal which teaches you a song that can break rocks. This would probably take at least 45 seconds.
"AKA wrote:
In my opinion the first level isn't a good demonstation of what the game is like. From what I remember the game is very long and requires a bit of back tracking...
Well, hopefully it's a good demonstration of what a TAS will be like.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Posted: 2/21/2007 11:57 AM
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ECCO
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Joined: 2/10/2007
Posts: 60
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I love this game.I have seen the movie for Ecco the Dolphin 1.It's pretty good. I think I should try to make a speedrun for this game.After all,my nick name is the same as the vigorous dolphin:)
Just Run
Posted: 2/21/2007 11:39 PM
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Deep_Loner
Joined: 12/26/2006
Posts: 256
Location: United States of America
ECCO wrote:
I love this game.I have seen the movie for Ecco the Dolphin 1.It's pretty good. I think I should try to make a speedrun for this game.After all,my nick name is the same as the vigorous dolphin:)
I'm all for it. Be sure to study the tricks used in the Ecco 1 run, and good luck!
Posted: 4/28/2014 5:37 AM
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morningpee
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A 43:26 RTA came out today. In the stream, the runner talks about how his strats and techniques differ from Upthorn's TAS.
Projects: Tetris DS Genesis Toys: Let the Toy Wars Begin
Posted: 9/5/2018 1:51 PM
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upthorn
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I've secretly returned to TASing and begun work on an improvement to the published TAS. I've secretly uploaded a WIP of the first three levels here. Don't tell anyone. I want to surprise everyone when I submit a major improvement out of nowhere.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Posted: 9/5/2018 2:00 PM
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Memory
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Pretty sure there's been some fairly major finds by the RTA community, have you secretly kept up with them?
[16:36:31] <Mothrayas> I have to say this argument about robot drug usage is a lot more fun than whatever else we have been doing in the past two+ hours
[16:08:10] <BenLubar> a TAS is just the limit of a segmented speedrun as the segment length approaches zero
Posted: 9/8/2018 9:39 AM
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upthorn
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I accidentally encoded my progress so far. Link to video But all of a sudden I'm wondering if I should really be doing the TAS on hard mode. Compared to normal, Hard mode:
  • Changes level layouts to add barriers and enemies. Most notably a quite a few shell walls in "The Lost Orcas" that must be broken through by ramming multiple times.
  • Adds the 1 minute 4.3 second autoscroller "Aqua Tubeway"
  • Increases the number of Orcas that must be rescued in "The Lost Orcas" from 4 to 8 (all of them)
  • Adds the puzzle-based level "Maze of Stone"
  • Increases the number of Asterite globes that must be found in Deep Ridge from 8 to 22!
  • Increases the HP of the Globe Holder boss from 5 to 15 in phase 1 and from 5 to 14 in phase 2.
  • Adds the 2 minute 9 second autoscroller "The New Machine"
  • Increases the HP of the Vortex Queen boss from 8 to 17
  • Probably also increases the damage that enemies deal, I haven't checked normal mode.
  • Doesn't have any RTA competition.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Posted: 9/8/2018 10:09 AM
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r57shell
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I'm not familiar with this game Increased numbers of rescue, collectables, obstacles, health of bosses, increased length of autoscroller - I doubt there is anything brand new there. So, only two bullets left in list: 1) Adds the puzzle-based level "Maze of Stone" - really good 2) Doesn't have any RTA competition - good to see how fast hard might be completed, drawback: you can't compare with normal mode RTA.
Posted: 9/8/2018 7:17 PM
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£e_Nécroyeur
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upthorn wrote:
But all of a sudden I'm wondering if I should really be doing the TAS on hard mode. Compared to normal, Hard mode:
  • Changes level layouts to add barriers and enemies. Most notably a quite a few shell walls in "The Lost Orcas" that must be broken through by ramming multiple times.
  • Adds the 1 minute 4.3 second autoscroller "Aqua Tubeway"
  • Increases the number of Orcas that must be rescued in "The Lost Orcas" from 4 to 8 (all of them)
  • Adds the puzzle-based level "Maze of Stone"
  • Increases the number of Asterite globes that must be found in Deep Ridge from 8 to 22!
  • Increases the HP of the Globe Holder boss from 5 to 15 in phase 1 and from 5 to 14 in phase 2.
  • Adds the 2 minute 9 second autoscroller "The New Machine"
  • Increases the HP of the Vortex Queen boss from 8 to 17
  • Probably also increases the damage that enemies deal, I haven't checked normal mode.
  • Doesn't have any RTA competition.
With so many features, how can you resist Difficult Skill Level? :)
Posted: 9/9/2018 7:10 PM
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upthorn
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I had been paused just before the first hard mode autoscroller. As the consensus is in agreement, I'm going forward in hard mode. I've uploaded a new WIP that now completes through Eagle's Bay. I'm open to any suggestions for improving the entertainment value of the autoscrollers. In the first one, I tested sonaring to the music some, and I don't think it came out well. In the second one I took a "lazy" approach, having Ecco do a minimal amount of movement to avoid dying, and I'm still not sure it's much fun to watch. Edit: Here's a comparison video.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.