This topic is for the purpose of discussing #1062: AnS's NES Disney's The Little Mermaid in 06:48.40

Nice. I haven't watched Walker's run, but this run seemed really well done, and since it obsoletes Walker's run by 69 seconds, which is A LOT for these short movies, this gets an obvious Yes! Entertaining and short run, good job! :)

The movie looks really good. But when I watched it looked like the movie needed some end input. Even if you add that time I think it would be faster then the previous run.

I'm not sure the boss fights are optimal (e.g. projectiles aren't picked up the frame they are usable but then again there might be a reason for that) but I guess you tested those a lot. Voted yes.

yeah, does the invincibility period last longer than the flashing does at times? Your waiting sure seemed intentional but the reason wasn't exactly clear. Good run either way! Speedy work of this little game.

In this game it's not always so important to release an attack as fast as possible. It's more important to manipulate enemy drops and try not to slow down boss progress (every hit pauses boss motions and postpones it's actions - and by actions I mean enemy drops for my future attacks). I'll explain it in particular. In 1st boss battle only last hit really matters. First three hits don't affect time, in any case you must wait for second shark appearance. So I just make 4th hit in the first frame possible. In 2nd battle those little crabs can't be used before they start walking (you can't see this because I freese them 1 frame they try to walk), That's why main goal here is to manipulate their "sleep time". It seems current manipulation is best case of luck, but still some frames were lost by waiting. In 3rd battle it's actually better to release all 4 hits as late as possible, or boss stops dropping shells => you will lose several seconds. That's why in first part I just played shells, letting him leave quicker. 4th battle is nothing but perfect in terms of time. If I'd release any attack 1 frame earlier than I did, it would make boss to shoot stars (which can't be used as projectiles) and also it would postpone his shot by 1 second. 5th battle isn't that perfect, but it's definitely not slow. Main problem here: fishes are invincible 10+ frames after they appear (spawn from whiteball). At start of the battle it may seem I just fool around. If I didn't, some whiteballs would spawn stars (which can't be used), so again it's luck manipulation. 6th boss is just mindless battle, nothing special in strategy.

But when I watched it looked like the movie needed some end input.

Read the submission text to find this second version of FCM.

I took the time to watch the previous movie before watching this submission. Getting the 'weapon' upgrade right at the beginning sped things up immensely. This is particularly apparent in the boss battles (number 4 especially!), but also throughout the game, when attacking was unavoidable. The point total screens were also a lot faster; good find. As mentioned before, the input stops a bit early, so my yes vote should be applied to the alternative movie file you posted, and not the actual submission. Great work :)

I recommend to enable the "Input Display".

Hey, actually that was kind of easter egg! :) I had no plans on mentioning it as a feature. Oh, well.

This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [529] NES The Little Mermaid, Disney's by AnS in 06:48.40

Can you elaborate on how you abused programming errors and how you manipulated luck? I can't put them in the publication if I don't know.

OK, I'll try to explain. Main glitch - shooting wihout usual stop. In this game character can be two states - when it's turning around and when it's just swimming. When you are turning back, you still can move (change coordinates), but controls are reversed (you may see this looking at Input Display) and they affect not only coordinates but turning stats also. You may even end up facing same direction after complete 180degree turn. And of course you can't attack while in this state. Attack can be released only in normal state, attack initiation subroutine sets a bit that will be cleared only after 16 frames. That's it, you lose at least 16 frames for every attack (also speed meter drops to zero => you are to regain speed, so in sum you lose 25-30 frames per attack). As you may see now, developers made everything like this: you can't shoot while turning and you can't turn while shooting. But there is one flaw in their code. In terms of one frame turning subroutine executes BEFORE shooting one. So if we manage to start turning and shooting at the same time, first we'll initiate turning (but for this current frame character is still in normal state) and then we'll release an attack. Of course this can be done only using Frame Advance. This trick helps to save those 16 frames, but speed will be dropped, so you still lose 9-10 frames per attack (sometimes less if you don't need to move for a long distance - like in boss battles). While this can be debated whether it's glitch or not, it surely wasn't foreseen by developers of the game. Something neat - temporary invincibility in the boss battle. Boss battle officially starts only if you appear in boss room in normal state. If you manage to enter boss room while being in turning state, battle music won't start playing, and the game will think you still play on a level - up to the moment you leave turning mode. But you can stay in this mode (I mean state) you would be able to move (slightly change coordinates) in boss room before battle actually starts. And after the battle starts the game will not check collisions for a couple of seconds. Too bad you can't move this period. Now about luck manipulations. Mostly I manipulated enemy drops in boss battles. Usually they drop 50% of good stuff and 50% of trash (which can't be used to damage them). It depends on frame you enter boss romm, on your actions in boss room and even on your actions during a level. Methods of luck manipulation in this game: * because it's a free space game, there always are several routes with same time of reaching some point (boss room). I just compare them and choose one with best luck at the end * also it's very important how do you dance in boss room (if you look closely, you'll see some strange input several times) * you can control boss simply by timing your hits, but it's not always good for fastest completion

Fun looking game. The sound for the encapsulating bubble gun (or whatever it is) was pretty annoying, but other than that it was a good watch. The walrus battle was my favorite. Vote yes.

Isn't it a bit late for that?-)