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It's a randomizer that will play certain parts of games over and over and over at superspeed, with small random variations added into the main movement, in hopes of achieving something that is not fully understood in the game. Usually used for intense luck manipulation.
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The movie file has been swapped so the input now ends a bit later but defeats the final boss a bit earlier. The final time in minutes and seconds was not affected.
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The only way to make the sound Stereo is to change it on the menu. I think the consensus is that you won't be penalized for it, since it makes the sound of the game so much better.
Arne, you didn't use stereo sound? :-[
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I keep asking myself, "How can Genesis music be worse than NES music?"
This version allows for even more exploits than the NES version, the run you did for which was excellent. This is even better, if you watch the run on mute.
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Mario might not be in the SMB2 runs, but he is in the SMB, one of the SMB2j, both SMB3, both SMW, both SDW, SMW2, Donkey Kong, Punch Out, the main image of TASvideos, Super Metroid, Power Blade, Ninja Five-O, and probably Contra if you look for long enough.
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There may be more warps; the two I know of are activated in very different ways.
Levels 2-5 are skipped by landing the last hit on Level 1's boss with the mouse.
Level 8 (Ice Palace) is only visited if Samson has a life potion in reserve at the end of Level 7.
Edit: and Bablo, I love you too, but I can't get married again.
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I've never succeeded at 3 items grabbed at once, but a spring + key is possible. I did it on my v2 (and maybe v3?) of SDW in Misty Star World. It's more difficult than others because picking up a springboard resets your horizontal momentum.
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Oh, so you want polar coordinates on your analog stick do you?? That would not allow for the extra range past the plastic edge of the controller. Interesting...
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It was actually not my argument, but I thought it was very convincing. (I have no clue where it came from, if someone finds it feel free to point it out)
KDR_11k wrote:
I don't think it keeps track of what gets pressed during that timeframe, it checks all directions at once.
Well, whatever way the controller checks a button press takes a finite non-zero amount of time, even if it's as small as 4 nanoseconds. If this is the case, just press "left" for 2 nanoseconds and "right" for the next 2 nanoseconds.
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Pretty neat game. I didn't like the graphics but I did like the music. The game wasn't terribly interesting but it wasn't boring either. It did seem well played, so that tips the vote scales to a yes for me.
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You're not the Tom who created Myspace are you? I sure hope not. I don't like that guy.
Anyway, make sure you have the latest version (which is 1.43 improvement-9). You can find links to the various emulators on this page:
http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorHomepages.html
This page is pretty half-assed, however. The SNES9x link is here.
If you've already got that, make sure your ROM name matches.
Those are the most common desync problems.
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DK64_Master (I think, I can't find the post right now) pointed out the idea to me of pressing left, then right so fast that the hardware recognizes both as being pressed. Whatever interval the system uses as a window of checking which buttons are pressed, use the "godlike reflexes" to press left for half that time, and then right for the other half.
Dilemma averted!
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Area B complete v2.
Getting the powerup is faster in the first level. I'm working on an order to take the levels in. I want to do all the levels where the powerup is not worth the damage-taken-to-save-time first.
Area A: Take powerup, use on boss.
Area B: Take damage, no powerup on boss.
Area F: No powerup, run through fire to save time.
Area C: Lag filled level with powerup midway. Probably saves time.
Area D: No idea if powerup saves time or not.
Area E: Powerup at end, use on boss.
Area G?: Test to see how long powerup saves time.
Before playing further, I am going to test the alpha-beta robots against bosses to see if they inflict a lot of damage.
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Area B complete. This level is about six seconds faster by my extremely rough measurements, but three seconds slower on the boss.
The previous run did this level second-to-last (and all of them in a strange order). For some reason, the punching power was doubled by that point, and so the boss was defeated faster.
(later...)
I have figured out how to upgrade punching strength. Ducking down on the right (P) platforms with 100 gold will give you a more powerful punch. I'm not sure how many times this can be upgraded, but it means I must redo the first level to see if it's faster, which I'm almost positive it is.
If anyone knows how many times you can upgrade your punch, that'd be cool.
Edit: It's one. Lame. Also, two hits and you lose your upgrade (indicated by your vest color, just like in real life). So it may not save time as much as I thought.
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Takarifreak wrote:
But don't judge the run based on one thing you don't like about the run, when all the other tricks used are 10x cooler and more than make up for the "boring" backwalking.
But see, backwalking is present throughout the run in large quantities. The other tricks are sprinkled in small doses throughout, and some are not as noticeable (if you haven't played through the game). On the other hand, everyone can see that Link is walking backwards. So I don't think this is a fair comparison.
Takarifreak wrote:
So if you guys don't like the backwalking that much, then don't watch the run. You may not like it, but it is NOT going to make this or any future run omit the use of it.
I'm not saying backwalking should be omitted, and even if I was, that would be a laughable "request". There is no solution for me. But I still will watch the entire run when it is submitted and vote my opinion. If people only watched runs in the submission queue they knew they would like, then why have the submission process in the first place?
notBowen wrote:
As far as techniques to save time go, back-walking in my opinion is a hell of a lot less disorienting than some of the stuff people do to those poor old NES games.
I disagree with this statement in the general case. While there are specific examples of some very game-breaking movement (Zelda 2, Mega Man), most games with different ways of movement to save time are affecting the visuals of the main character sprite and nothing more. In a 3D game, a different style of movement is more prone to affect the visuals of everything because of a different camera angle (see Goldeneye). Backwalking in Aria of Sorrow may be somewhat annoying, but it doesn't block out the half of the viewing area that most would consider more interesting.
I should point out that I wouldn't enjoy the run much more with forward walking / rolling. (I guess I should also point out that I've played through this game before, although it was years ago.) To me, the hugeness of the main field is anti-conducive to a speedrun, tool-assisted or not, of this game.
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Looks nice, the time you save with Grant keeps adding up. Don't worry about making savestates; those people are whiners. Everyone can make their own as they watch the run (or use fast-forward).
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It's true, I'm a troll :(