Posts for Brandon

Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Alyosha wrote:
-- Finally a complete game WIP to look at. I'll give it a second pass before submission, at least a few levels are improvable. EDIT: new run submitted
Just seeing the run now. Great job!
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Alyosha wrote:
I decided to give this a shot. Resynced Brandon's WIP through the garden. Saved a few frames on optimized key grabs: https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638054600342744735 Seems mechanically simple but complicated to route. I haven't done this kind of routing in a while so it's a refreshing break from RNG madness.
Nicely done! Let me know if you'd like to get on a call to discuss routing sometime. I don't have my tooling setup anymore, but I'd love to strategize.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
00:00.00 ... ...
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
I migrated my TAS repository. The movie file is now available here.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
As we're all video game fans here, I thought you might enjoy this web-based game called Pixel Puzzles. It's inspired by the Pencil Puzzles section of Tips & Tricks magazine, where you fill out a grid based on the patterns provided to reveal an image like so: You can also create your own puzzles either by either uploading an image or creating it manually. I archived all of the Pencil Puzzles for the magazines I had access to. Here is one of a classic video game scene. I hope you'll enjoy!
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Yes vote. Thanks for seeing this to completion as I know it's an arduous game. Congrats!
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Bravo. I also loved this game growing up and wrote the first line of IntelliHawk with it in mind. Congrats on the run and to Alyosha for finishing IntelliHawk. I have been completely out of the loop and adelikat telling me about these developments absolutely made my day. Wholeheartedly voting yes.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Randil and I have both accepted that our schedules make it very difficult to complete this project. We invite others to use our existing work to create either warpless and / or warped runs of this game. Our only request is that we remain listed as authors if our footage is still used, and I would like it if I could encode the video for the publication. Would anyone like to work on this? scaryice, you've done some pretty amazing stuff with this game; how about you? We can consult anyone who attempts to take it up. We have two movie files in our repository: [URL=https://code.google.com/p/brandon-evans-tas/source/browse/Startropics+2+-+Zoda%27s+Revenge+%28U%29+-+Current.fm2]Current[/URL], which is our best time for our longest run (beating Chapter 3), and the [URL=https://code.google.com/p/brandon-evans-tas/source/browse/Startropics+2+-+Zoda%27s+Revenge+%28U%29.fm2]main branch[/URL], which was our attempt to implement improvements to that run. The Mercurial repository shows many notes documenting tricks we've performed and ideas we've had, and the subtitles for the movie do as well. [URL=http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/2725020793014136]Here[/URL] is the link to our submitted WIP. We have a Lua script, which I'll upload and edit into this post later. Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
It's been over a year since I've last worked on this project, and I really don't think I am going to have time to start it back up again. I invite others to continue where I left off. I only request that I remain listed as an author of the movie, and that I am the one who creates the encodes for the publication. Any takers? [URL=https://code.google.com/p/brandon-evans-tas/source/browse/Bugs+Bunny+-+Crazy+Castle+3+%28USA%2C+Europe%29.bkm]Here[/URL] is my current movie file, complete with a revision history and notes. The issue I was having that made me take a break was figuring out how to optimally manipulate the elevators in stages 23 and 24. Here are the notes I recorded on the issue:
-Stage 24: --Something fishy is going on with those elevators...it seems like when I enter doors affects their movements. --I think the issue is that they stop moving when I enter a door, and like the enemies, it takes a moment for them to start up again. --Thus, it seems better to enter a door while they aren't moving so that the next cycle's timer starts again faster. --Another, more probable scenario, is that they move based on a global timer, and it's only triggered when you're not inside of a door. -Depending on what I determine the issue is, I might have to redo the previous stage as well.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Post subject: Introducing the Address Editor
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
A while ago, I came up with the idea of taking the many address tables we have on the Wiki, mainly in the Game Resources section and on individual submissions, and creating a database out of them. The result is the Address Editor. With it, vested editors can simply fill out a form to create an address set and then add as many addresses as they want to each along with each address's properties: domain, address, data type, signed, endian, and description. Alternatively, you can create an address set by uploading a .wch file (Currently only for BizHawk). Afterwards, you can embed any existing address set throughout the Wiki using a module or download the addresses as a .wch file (Again, currently only for BizHawk). There are many implications of this change. Firstly, all of our address sets can now be viewed in one place instead of being scattered throughout the Wiki alone. This also means that these addresses can be embedded in multiple places, and when one changes, they all change. Furthermore, the way this is set up makes it much easier to associate addresses with specific games or ROMs. Best of all, the ability to convert the provided addresses into multiple formats without any manual conversion could prove useful. One idea I had for this was having BizHawk detect if a ROM you loaded has an associated address set, and if so, it would automatically load the address set from TASVideos for your use. Only time will tell if this will become a reality. For all of the reasons stated above, I strongly suggest that people use this utility whenever they share addresses on this site. In addition, I am calling on all vested editors to please make the effort to convert already existing address tables to this system. We have so many of these in our possession that we can build an impressive address database with little to no effort at all. I hope that a lot will come from this project. Big shout out to Ilari for being instrumental in the development process.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Mothrayas wrote:
Is there any reason you don't use the SNES version, unlike all the other warpless runs of Super Mario Bros. 2 JPN? There's a reason why those use the SNES version - to get worlds A-D in the run. A proper warpless submission should include those stages as well, in order to continue on with the standard/precedent set by several other publications.
Second.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
natt tested, Brandon approved.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
FODA wrote:
Ah come on, add a checkbox! :D Can you share your build?
Second.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
GoddessMaria15 wrote:
I still wonder... Wouldn't a Warped run be almost the same as the NES version of the same category...?
I think it is different enough to warrant a publication, especially in a world where we publish SMBA2.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
There's a save / restart sequence that should save time. Warp, reset, warp to world 5 from 3-1, reset, warp from 4-2, reset, warp from 5-1. That's probably a better way to get to 7-1 than the normal way. You should watch the low score TAS on YouTube.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Good enough to be published. Yes vote.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Paused wrote:
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
GoddessMaria15 wrote:
I honestly think that a 100% run should be done for this game. Without the warps, it shows more of the differences between NES/SNES and GBA versions.
100% would also mean all the A-Coins.
And Yoshi Eggs!
True. But doing the levels all over again is just weird IMO. Also, that was yer 400th post.
Dude, you're going to need to start it over again anyway. I have shown it's improvable with minimal effort; it probably can be made much faster.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Any comments on the ladder grab? Also didn't seem to help. Could my getting off the vine be more optimal or does it not matter as far as you can tell? I would love to assume that only the strategy matters for optimality and nothing else, but I don't think I can.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
I used UE. I got the same checksum according to my VBA. Weird.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
50 frames on the first screen. You need to slow down and use more re-records. Also, have you been using RAM Watch? I was surprised to see that Toad doesn't seem to get faster when holding an enemy...if this is the case, it might be better to use Luigi for 1-1 because he can get to the higher level faster. Another idea I had was getting a heart while fighting Birdo. If she works like she does for the NES and SNES versions, she throws eggs on a global timer, which means that even the potential slowdown from powering up would be irrelevant as she'd throw the egg at the same time. Being big means you can get away with taking damage if necessary, as well as do the vibe glitch (is this possible in this version?). On a side note, an optimal run of this game should definitely be published on TASVideos. I forgot how different this version was from the NES and SNES versions.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
If Woody Woodpecker's Crazy Castle is anywhere as trivial as Bugs Bunny, that'd be an easy run to make.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Aqfaq wrote:
Looks good so far. Go for it! These games are funnier to record than playback. :) Maybe I've mentioned this before, but the project-killing feature in Crazy Castle 4 was enemy randomness, which I was unable to control. The enemies will always follow you, but sometimes, very rarely, they can turn the wrong way after falling down from a ledge. I only noticed it when it caused a desynch after hex-editing. One enemy decided to turn another way for no apparent reason, everything else being seemingly the same as before. I had previously hex-edited levels together many many times without any problem, so it is a rare random event. Maybe it is different in your choice of game, though. Good luck with this! By the way, an encode that skips all the key rooms would be nice for these games.
Definitely agreed. I love running these games because they are quick puzzles without much technical precision. The enemies seem fairly stable in this game. Granted, there's not much manipulation I can do, they seem to go the same direction when I take the same path. They also only start moving when I do, freezing when I enter doors. Do you think your wobbling trick applies to this game? I don't know how to do it. Yeah, a keyless encode would be good, but it should include the doors that I enter that have different items.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
I am speed running SMB2U. Think you could make a quick YouTube encode? I won't be by a computer for a while.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Very nice, watched the whole thing. Yes vote.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (191)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 914
Location: Tennessee
Randil wrote:
I get an error when I try to upload a certain .bkm file to my userfiles page. I get the error:
<<< Can't parse movie (error from format parser) >>>
Errors from the movie parser:

error_handler:
	errstr=Division by zero
	errfile=/home/tasvideos/public_html/formats/bkm.php
	errline=77
The movie file isn't broken, I've played it back in several versions of Bizhawk without any problems.
Try again.
All the best, Brandon Evans