(Link to video)
This beats the published run by 2959 frames (49 seconds).
The improvement comes largely from movement optimization, which is important, as the llama moves like he's constantly on iceskates while dashing. In addition, a small amount of levels have new routes and the boss was shortened by using 2 rocks instead of 3. I don't think I have anything else to add, so, hope you enjoy this lousy game being 50 seconds shorter.
Wew, it's almost been 5 years since I posted about this game for the first time. Always nice to knock out a long overdue improvement even if the game is typical vault crap :p

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 2.4.2
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Aims for fastest possible time

Thanks

RachelB for the published movie, Spikestuff for his old run & improvement wip, Arc for catching some optimizations, and the realtime speedrunner Rayquaza911 for the improved strategy against the boss.

Samsara: Oh jeez, uh, pretend I said some fun movie quote that incorporates the word "judging" in it.
Samsara: File replaced with a 149 frame improvement that I definitely should have replaced earlier!
Samsara: Optimization looks good. I played around with the game a bit and found that it's surprisingly technical for a GBC game, lots of quirks with the controls and physics that make the game harder to optimize than it looks, so great job pushing it to its limit with this run!
The level of control also makes for a more entertaining watch, and the thread seems to agree with that, with only a small handful of Meh votes and quite a lot of Yes's backed up by posted explanations. Full disclosure: One of those Meh votes is in fact mine, but I'm discounting it since I feel the Judge's opinion of a game shouldn't affect its tier placement. Also, I'm an idiot, and my biggest reason for voting Meh was entirely avoidable and my fault: All my viewings of this run were done in BizHawk without Audio Throttle enabled, meaning there was some serious pitch bending all throughout the run. This pitch bending isn't present in the game, isn't present in the encode, and won't be present in the publication, so it shouldn't have impacted my opinion in the first place.
It was brought up in the thread that the published run may have been treated too harshly. It had a mostly positive response (19 Yes, 2 Meh, 4 No, lots of backed up Yes votes in the thread) but ended up being rejected for game choice, and later placed into Vault once it was established. While I don't have a strong opinion on the game even after knowing that the pitch bending I experienced wasn't the game's fault, I can definitely see the merits of it and why people are enjoying it... Also, that first song kinda slaps. The voting on the published run is, admittedly, not great, though in my experience that's pretty standard for Vault unrejections and shouldn't have too much of an impact on a tiering decision for a heavily improved run 8 years down the road.
The overall feedback across both this run and the published run is a lot more positive than negative, and the level of optimization is definitely on-point, so I'm accepting this run to Moons as an improvement to the published run. Excellent work!
Spikestuff, the OG of TASing this game, has claimed this for publication. Since the game has credits that need to be manually advanced through, I have provided an alternate input file that advances through them.
Spikestuff: Why do I have to be reminded of my past failures Samsara? :V

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #6835: Jules's GBC The Emperor's New Groove in 07:33.91
Spikestuff
They/Them
Editor, Expert player, Publisher (2254)
Joined: 10/12/2011
Posts: 6324
Location: The land down under.
Claiming this one.
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. These colours are pretty neato, and also these.
TiKevin83
He/Him
Ambassador, Moderator, Player, Site Developer (119)
Joined: 3/17/2018
Posts: 348
Location: Holland, MI
Tested this with the sync settings modified for GBP and it looks like it'll be verifiable!
Active player, Reviewer (276)
Joined: 12/14/2006
Posts: 717
Watching this compared to the published TAS, I can see some of the improvements. Quick question: at 41 seconds into the provided encode, I noticed that both you and the published run turn around to spit at the whatever-it-is. What's preventing you from being able to hit it from the left?
nymx
He/Him
Editor, Judge, Skilled player (1586)
Joined: 11/14/2014
Posts: 798
Location: South Pole, True Land Down Under
Oh...so the Emperor got his clothes back and now he thinks he can dance? :P
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
Jules
Any
Skilled player (1142)
Joined: 7/13/2015
Posts: 102
Location: California
arkiandruski wrote:
Quick question: at 41 seconds into the provided encode, I noticed that both you and the published run turn around to spit at the whatever-it-is. What's preventing you from being able to hit it from the left?
The jump to that switch needs a dash to clear it, and you can't dash and spit at the same time. So, trying to spit midair there would result in falling to your death.
Arc
Editor, Experienced player (766)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 534
Location: Arizona
Personally, I’m not a fan of the game. Sandbox Studios was a short-lived, low-quality developer. For a game released in 2000, the graphics are unimpressive (but colorful). The sound is among the worst I’ve ever heard in a game. I’ve seen the Disney movie, but it’s hard to follow what’s going on, because the levels all look similar and there’s no story explanation. The Disney movie came out at almost the same time as the games, and so you would expect that there was a strict production deadline. On the more positive side, the improvements to optimization make the movie more enjoyable to watch than before. The gameplay is somewhat interesting because it is not just a pure left-to-right platformer. The challenge of dealing with verticality, as well as maneuvering a llama instead of a person, helps the game stand out. The game is a reasonably short length so that the repetition doesn’t get too boring. Although the optimization is improved, I wonder whether there is some more work to do. I tested a turn-jump at the end of a level because it would be easy to compare times. And it looks like the level ended 3 frames earlier. Did the one jump I picked to test just happen to be an aberration? Is it a legit improvement of 3 frames? The current publication was initially rejected, but the Vault was created soon afterward, and the movie was placed in that tier. Current ratings are fairly low. With the improvements, some people might make a reasonable case for Moons. It is significantly faster than the real-time speedrun. Realistically though, I think it should stay in Vault. It is fast, but it still lacks that ‘wow’ factor (the game’s fault, not the author’s).
Jules
Any
Skilled player (1142)
Joined: 7/13/2015
Posts: 102
Location: California
Don't feel offended. I agree that this game is crappy... It would be accurate to say I made this just to get rid of an unoptimized published movie. So it's not the most passionate I've ever been about a TAS. I think that this run would have a chance at Moons if the music wasn't so awful, since the gameplay isn't the worst thing ever. Though it gets boring how every level is about hitting switches and running to the exit. 3 frames improved on a jump? I haven't checked what you did differently right now, but I'm not surprised another pair of eyes could find an improvement, this game is pretty "fluid" to TAS in that almost every non-trivial moment can vary wildly in frames. Luckily, even though it's dull to TAS, it's almost completely edit friendly (large chunks of this run were taken from my first version). So, if you did something that I didn't think of, I could implement it throughout the run without much trouble. I'd prefer to avoid another Wolverine scenario... EDIT: Okay, I did another pass and improved the run. It's 149 frames faster now. I fixed some sloppy jumps left over from my testrun, which was the bulk of frames lost, whoops<_<. There were improvements in most levels, but I couldn't improve some because of the enemies, which aren't manipulatable, so they're kind of a frame rule. Anyway, here's the file: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/65254474712194872
Editor, Experienced player (856)
Joined: 7/20/2011
Posts: 345
While it's obviously not the best music I've ever heard, I have definitely heard worse. I don't think it's as bad as people said. Anyway, the game is simple but looks like it has some weird momentum which allows me to enjoy the level of play even more. Plus it's really short, I had no problem watching the entire thing even if it is slightly repetitive. I voted yes.
Current thoughts: Hachiemon (J) for GBA.
EZGames69
He/They
Expert player, Publisher, Reviewer (3942)
Joined: 5/29/2017
Posts: 2702
Location: Michigan
I kinda like this actually, a fun little game that is satisfying to watch. The music is definitely awful I agree, but it was a cute run regardless. Yes vote.
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't 12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!" Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish [Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
Samsara
She/They
Expert player, Senior Judge, Site Admin (2121)
Joined: 11/13/2006
Posts: 2792
Location: Northern California
This game has credits. You have to keep providing input to go through them (A will advance through until taking you back to the title screen, B will instantly send you to the title screen), but they are in fact credits. The provided userfile clears the credits as soon as possible, meant to be an alternate for publication purposes. It's based on the improvement file: I was in fact verifying sync for the improvement file before I replaced it when I came across this. The input from the submission is completely unchanged. EDIT: User movie #65324994620780895 This userfile leaves the end screen and each page of the credits up longer, for a more "cinematic" publication experience, if by "cinematic" you mean "completely musicless and boring as heck". Movie file will be replaced once there's a clear consensus on the state of this game's awful, boring end sequence.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | Cohost
warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Jules
Any
Skilled player (1142)
Joined: 7/13/2015
Posts: 102
Location: California
I think pressing B immediately is better. You can access the credits from the menu without playing the game at all, so it's not like it's inherently an "ending" that must be seen by the viewer.
Samsara
She/They
Expert player, Senior Judge, Site Admin (2121)
Joined: 11/13/2006
Posts: 2792
Location: Northern California
Judges pretty much agree that the submission is perfectly fine with where it ends. I'm more concerned about the Publisher side, and with both of the seniors asleep right now I'd rather not try to make a judgement call on what they'll think. I may as well update the submission with the improvement, though. Not sure why I didn't do that already.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | Cohost
warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11251
Location: RU
I don't think I've seen such a game before, so even though there were some cases, none of them was so extreme. I think the ideal scenario here will be ending the input that makes the game reach the Congrats screen, and then for encoding, using the file that advances farther after some seconds on each screen. Even though we prefer such situations to include all the needed input in the published movie, it'd have to skip all the credits (except for the last page maybe), so it's fine to use 2 files. http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/65324994620780895 looks good for encoding, the video would just end before the title screen appears.
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.
fsvgm777
She/Her
Player, Senior Publisher (221)
Joined: 5/28/2009
Posts: 1180
Location: Luxembourg
Yeah, having two files, one used for the submission proper, and another one that can be used for encoding (which feos posted), is the most reasonable solution here. After all, it does reach an end screen (the Congratulations screen), and thus is still valid completion.
Steam Community page - Cohost profile Oh, I'm just a concerned observer.
Samsara
She/They
Expert player, Senior Judge, Site Admin (2121)
Joined: 11/13/2006
Posts: 2792
Location: Northern California
Got it! Submission file will remain the same, and the alternate file will be provided in the acceptance message. The feedback on entertainment is looking better than the previous submissions, though I'd like a little more before determining tier. 5 Yes/3 Meh is borderline to me when the thread feedback shows more positive than negative.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | Cohost
warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Emulator Coder, Experienced player, Judge (593)
Joined: 2/26/2020
Posts: 691
Location: California
I'm probably the minority here, but I don't think the music is that bad. Of course, it isn't stellar, but it is certainly better than other music I've heard, and certainly passable. The TAS's execution is fairly enjoyable anyways, yes vote.
Memory
She/Her
Site Admin, Skilled player (1515)
Joined: 3/20/2014
Posts: 1762
Location: Dumpster
I was expecting a lot worse when I was about to watch the movie, but I ended up liking it. Music isn't great but it's not egregiously bad, I've heard worse. While you could argue the game is rather simplistic, it still has a good pace for the most part and never really wore on me. This game has some blind jumps that are terrifying to watch that would probably be awful for casual play but feel really good in a TAS setting. I admit, I loved the movie this game is based on but that's like such a non-factor watching this TAS since it kinda doesn't really remind me much of it at all. Also that end screen is hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Yes vote. EDIT: Looking at the old thread... I'm not sure how the run got sent to Vault in the first place. Like only two people in the thread really expressed a negative opinion on the game prior, and then Nach suddenly decided that he didn't like the game at all and rejected for bad game choice?
[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
fsvgm777
She/Her
Player, Senior Publisher (221)
Joined: 5/28/2009
Posts: 1180
Location: Luxembourg
I quite like the overall pace of the TAS, so that it never felt boring to watch to me. The music isn't exactly the best, but far from the worst I've ever heard, though it might be detrimental to some. Overall, this gets a low-to-mid Yes vote on entertainment for me. It may have a shot at Moons.
Steam Community page - Cohost profile Oh, I'm just a concerned observer.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11251
Location: RU
My only complaint is that I can't enjoy the full tune from level one! I'd replace all the music in this game with that tune continuously playing. Other tunes end abruptly so I don't have time to understand their theme. But gameplay wise, the pace doesn't let get bored, and it's not all the same, so I vote Yes.
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.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [4272] GBC The Emperor's New Groove by Jules in 07:33.91