Posts for Acmlm

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Posted: 4/11/2005 6:52 PM
Post subject: 44
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I used to play this game a lot on the SNES about 9 years ago, I beat it a few times and even got up to 80 lives once (there's many 1ups and 2ups if you look around enough, to make up for the fact you can die so easily, but I also once got to Chapter 7 without dying). I never went for pure speed back then, but I know for sure I'd have gotten nowhere close to 16 minutes if I tried ... running fast is too risky, and each death wastes a signifiant amount of time. The insane amount of obstacles causing slowdowns is exactly why choosing the best path can make a big difference ... I took a look at Bubsy 2 recently, it's even faster (fast acceleration, less slowdown) but also much weirder and the controls are different ... I'm sure it'd also make an interesting run, though, and I made a 1 level run for now.
Posted: 4/6/2005 1:09 AM
Post subject: 43
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I took a look at Bubsy 2 last night ... the controls are different (like much faster acceleration), you can get hit twice before dying (so 3 hits) but enemies take multiple hits too, there's more levels but they're weird, the whole game is pretty weird actually (more than the first) ... but it might still be good for a speed run just because you can move really fast and that's nearly impossible to keep up normally. Anyway, I finished my Bubsy run now and submitted it, total time is 16:32 (2:58 faster than Zurreco's).
Posted: 4/4/2005 11:13 PM
(Edited: 4/5/2005 5:17 AM)
Post subject: 42
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I've been working on a Bubsy run lately too ... I'm only up to Chapter 12 yet, but 1:56 faster so far: .smv file Most of the improvement in mine comes from taking better paths, but all the acceleration and many obstacles makes this a hard (but fun) game to make a run of. (edited: updated with Chapter 11 done)
Posted: 3/19/2005 5:23 AM
(Edited: 3/19/2005 6:55 AM)
Post subject: 41
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I tried that once, in Chessmaster: CPU gets checkmate at 00:19 Fast, funny to watch, involves some luck manipulation (but there's hardly any randomness) and the CPU does some stupid moves, but I don't think that beats the Monopoly run ... then again, I'm sure it can still be improved some more to be even shorter. As for other silly games, there's those like "I Can Remember" by Fisher-Price, Where's Waldo (that's been done already), or Solitaire (funny just because the cards would move around so fast) ... (edited: fixed link)
Posted: 3/13/2005 12:11 AM
(Edited: 3/13/2005 12:34 AM)
Post subject: 40
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
If you keep a backup copy of the .fcm before converting and editing, you can probably copy the header over to restore the info (ROM checksum, start from reset, etc.) And I've always liked FCM over FMV myself, FCEU is the most accurate NES emulator I know of ... (edited: ... after Nintendulator)
Posted: 2/16/2005 11:22 PM
Post subject: 39
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Definitely a cheap way to beat the game since you just glitchwarp from start to end, but going through various rooms' walls and ending up past Ganon was pretty funny. Also, after watching the run, if you reset the game and play, you'll end up in the Dark World and see enemies from the Light World (all messed up), still with the rain too, but there isn't much you can do there as a rabbit ... *votes Yes*
Posted: 2/15/2005 4:27 AM
Post subject: 38
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Lock $7E0410-7E041F to: 8B A0 80 EB 84 9D 6B 22 A3 CE ED BC B6 87 2E 34 (the set I got on a successful attempt) and the fisher will always be at the right position ... change only one value above and it doesn't work ... So those 16 bytes in memory are really the random values used (and work all together, they change all together too), now we'll have to find how exactly they determine the fisher's position, and how they change with each randomization (to predict when a good set will come).
Posted: 2/15/2005 1:48 AM
Post subject: 37
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Shift +/- to change the emulation speed (without Shift, it changes the frameskip instead), Pause to stop, \ for frame advance (but on my keyboard, it's Shift-\). And for some reason when I tried to watch it, it kept desyncing at the start of the second level ... (edited: just realized it's because I have the final 1.43 version, not dev, so nevermind)
Posted: 2/14/2005 6:49 AM
Post subject: 36
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
After messing around for a while and not finding much, I tried a cheat search ... $7E0410-7E041F changes at random time intervals (up to a few seconds), only while I'm outside, and seems to affect the fisher's position. I've been able to get it without going back in more than once, so that's definitely possible ... but the fastest I found was around frame 8240 (to go in), which is about 15 seconds slower than the current best, so either I missed some (haven't tried every interval) or there's something else that affects it ... maybe going in and out a few more times, but I know for sure it's not the button presses (moving around or even talking changes nothing).
Posted: 12/24/2004 8:20 AM
Post subject: 35
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
This is no good at all in Dragon Warrior 1, all text is slowed down by 3x with no possible skipping. So far, I made a Dragon Warrior 2 movie that goes from the beginning to the Tower of Wind: 0:00:06 - Start new game 0:03:27 - Intro over, I can finally move! I took the chest and equipped the sword, but maybe it's not needed ... some NPC's also got in the way 0:04:32 - Talked to the king at Cannock (1st required step for getting the prince) 0:05:44 - Spring of Bravery (2nd) 0:06:59 - Talked to the king at Midenhall (3rd) 0:07:43 - Talked to the prince, he joins 0:08:23 - Entered the cave in the shrine 0:09:31 - Got the Mirror of Ra 0:10:31 - Transformed the princess back, she joins. Went to the save point, then sold a leather armor so I could buy wings 0:11:55 - Got into the Tower of Wind
Posted: 12/23/2004 12:07 AM
Post subject: 34
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Ah, I tried that just now in Dragon Warrior 2, setting the text speed to Slow: No change at all in dialogs, but battle speed is perfectly controllable ... no auto advance, and can be a little faster than Fast. Luck can now be manipulated by waiting between full moves (just not between "attacked" and the damage, for example). Even the gold (and probably item drop) can be manipulated after defeating the last enemy, so that's definitely good!
Posted: 12/21/2004 8:34 AM
Post subject: 33
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
You get S.Missile after beating Samus, and A.Lance after beating Arthur, and you can use them in either game ... beating both unlocks Protoman, too. That was really well done, it felt almost like a real Megaman game except the levels were longer and easier (good spots to refill energy, unlimited lives) ...
Posted: 12/19/2004 6:52 PM
Post subject: 32
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
The tempo changes from 2/half to 788/quarter at some point, there's 66:66, 1:66 and 66:1 at the same time, a F key on top of a G key, a 16384th note, 35 simultaneous notes across instruments, flats and sharps together next to the key, some silly comments, and so much more ... Haha, even if all that nonsense worked, most of it would sound so messed up that no one would be able to follow anything ... although I'd love to hear it anyway.
Posted: 12/15/2004 6:01 AM
Post subject: 31
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Hmm, I gave it a try just now in Ice Hockey, one full 7:00 period, it goes like this: 6:53 - Goal (1-0) - Some dodging, making big opponents fall with my small player, getting into fights and winning them 6:06, 5:40 - Penalties for the other team - Fast, precise passes - Shot on the corner of my goal where the opponents can't reach the puck and it sits there until I touch it - As soon as the first penalty ends, I get into a fight with the same guy and he goes back in 3:46 - Penalty - As soon as the second penalty ends, I score and both players go out together 3:40 - Goal (2-0) - More dodging - I play around with my goalie (passing back and forth) then suddenly score through him 2:31 - Goal (2-1) 2:06, 1:36, 0:54 - Goals (5-1) - I do a full lap around, dodge and bump opponents, and score in the last second 0:00 - Goal (6-1) - The period ends as soon as the goal sequence finishes, no faceoff Unusual and varied enough, it has its fun parts but I was already running out of ideas near the end of the period ...
Posted: 12/14/2004 7:30 PM
Post subject: 30
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I've thought about Ice Hockey before, tried it a bit ... I can score a goal every 7 seconds (even 6 sometimes), looks really funny the first few times but it gets repetitive fast, a full run like this with the shortest period setting (7:00) would be about 180 goals. The shortest possible game would have to be 1-0 with only one faceoff per period, most of it would be simply running around for about 10 minutes and making sure the CPU never scores, maybe varying it enough can make it more interesting ...
Posted: 12/6/2004 10:47 PM
Post subject: 29
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Out of several hundred hits on the Dragonlord, I haven't seen any critical ... so if it's really possible, it must be something like 1/256, I'd have to look at the code again to confirm it. I just used normal attacks to lower the longest waits (for Hurt) a bit, also because I had to fit them somewhere anyway ... they really don't do much to the randomization, because the routine is only called a few times (once per frame before selecting, and to determine the damage, not while the text is scrolling). And about the randomization, the one I found was at $C55B and did some shifting and additions on $94 and $95 (using $95 for random), it did look like a 16bit calculation but there was no EOR (ADC #$81 instead).
Posted: 12/5/2004 6:42 AM
Post subject: 28
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Tried my runs that worked: (including test runs I never submitted) Dragon Warrior in 24:03 = 18280, 5800, 3430 Dragon Warrior in 19:31 = 7050, 8610, 12950, 9860, 6270, 14620 The Krion Conquest in 17:51 = 11050, 5860, 7770, 1780 Panic Restaurant in 15:29 = 4970, 11820 3D Battles of World Runner = 4410 Mario Bros = 9430 I got close with 18280 ...
Posted: 12/4/2004 8:35 AM
Post subject: 27
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I used FCEU's memory viewer and FCEUd's debugger, found the code that generated random values (simple subroutine doing calculations on 2 bytes, one is kept as the random value), checked how those values were used and what they needed to be. Then I made a small program that took the 2 bytes used in the calculation (I got them from the memory viewer as soon as Hurt was selected) and generated random numbers the same way, repeating until it gets the values I'm looking for ... then it showed the results like this: Frame 44: 5 damage Frame 67: 8 damage Frame 118: 9 damage Frame 123: 9 damage, wake up Frame 142: 10 damage So I had all the exact timings and their effects without having to test them all manually, which helped a lot and even showed the fastest way to beat the Dragonlord. I only did this for the Dragonlord fight where I really needed it (wasted about 1000 re-records last night without it), but this could be useful in many other situations that involve heavy luck manipulation ... As for the starting name, I tried quite a few (using a cheat to jump to Level 8) and "!" turned out to be the best, but some like "I" (and many with more letters) are also the same, there's only 16 different possibilities. (edited, just saw the above post) There's a few minor details, mostly involving luck manipulation, where I could possibly have saved a few more seconds: - Going first against more Metal Slimes and needing only one herb instead of 2 to get Erdrick's Token - Beating the first Goldman in 2 hits, no need to heal after - Dying faster after getting the harp But I actually tried and that was nearly impossible to get for what it's worth. Going up to Level 9 could be worth a try too, as I wouldn't need to use any normal attacks against the Dragonlord (used 18 in this new one), but I don't think it'd help enough to be really worth it, only close. So yeah, I'm probably done this time.
Posted: 12/3/2004 6:00 AM
Post subject: 26
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I'm now up to the Dragonlord, but I'm stuck until I can find a better way to make Hurt work like I want ... the odds for it to work (1/16) and do 12 damage (1/8) and not wake up the Dragonlord (maybe 1/2) are really low. I kept getting either 5 damage or 12 and waking up, even anywhere near 12 seemed too rare ... But everything else up to that point went great, a 19 minute run is very well possible if I can get the above to work.
Posted: 12/1/2004 5:19 PM
Post subject: 25
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
No, you control all of them in Dragon Warrior 2 (NES) too ... only Dragon Warrior 4 in the last chapter doesn't let you control the other characters. Dragon Warrior 2 might be interesting to try after I'm done, but it's definitely much longer and will take a lot more planning, so I don't think I'm up for it yet ... I started my improved run yesterday, I'm not that far into it yet but I got to Level 8 and can beat a Goldman in 2 hits (just barely), now I have to make them give enough gold and the rest will be fairly easy ... until I try to make Hurt always work and do maximum damage, but alternating with normal attacks at the right time should help. Also killed the first Metal Slime in one hit with no equipment ... I beat all 7 of them without healing (went first against 4, couldn't get the others since the odds were too low), but I still needed 2 herbs to get Erdrick's Token. Doesn't matter too much though, I'm still going to have 6 when I'll really need them at the end
Posted: 11/30/2004 6:00 PM
Post subject: 24
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Nope, hehe. I'll be shortening the Dragonlord fight a lot, now that I found a way ... the rest before that will be a little longer, but all for good reasons. After some more thinking, if I got everything planned right, I might even be able to get it under 20 minutes.
Posted: 11/30/2004 11:23 AM
Post subject: 23
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
I can use Heal before fighting the Goldman, I regain the MP after I die on the way out. Beating another Goldman would add about 25 seconds, then 3 seconds to buy 2 more keys (I'd have 5, can hold 6), around 20 seconds to get the chest ... to save just about 1 minute at the end, so that should be worth it. I actually got something planned that should save about 2 minutes and half in total, still without getting Erdrick's armor (but going up to Level 8) ...
Posted: 11/29/2004 2:56 PM
Post subject: 22
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
That'd mean killing another Goldman (after going to the Inn, as it's hard to beat one on Level 7 with no equipment and I must keep as many herbs as possible) and going all the way to Kol (without a death shortcut) to buy the item, which would add at least 3 minutes ... and only save about 1 minute at the end, so it's not worth it. One way to beat my 24:03 time by a few more minutes, though, would be to kill the Dragonlord with Hurt (11 hits and a lot of luck manipulation to make it work), which would save 5 minutes there by making the fight not last forever with 1 damage hits ... but I'd have to get there with enough MP, which would require getting Erdrick's armor (and a longer path) and going up to Level 8 or 9. That'd take less than 5 minutes for sure, but I'd have to find the shortest way to do it ...
Posted: 11/27/2004 12:56 PM
Post subject: 21
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
Interesting, this site started almost exactly on the same day I heard about Morimoto's 11 minute SMB3 run last year ... yet I've only been here for about 2 weeks, but having fun working on my own runs since then. Well, congrats for 1 year!
Posted: 11/26/2004 4:23 PM
Post subject: 20
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Acmlm
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Experienced player (527)
Joined: 11/14/2004
Posts: 169
Location: Mirabel, Québec, Canada
No, I know that, and FCEU can too ... what I meant is that a way to just replay the movie from a savestate instead (so I can re-record at any point from it instead of redoing everything) would really help, as I'd keep a backup save and only need to replay from it instead of the start ... it'd save a lot of time when working on longer movies.
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