Posts for JXQ


JXQ
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Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
Tub wrote:
After all, "WTF? I've never this on my console" is exactly the reaction we want to provoke ;)
It's that reaction for a different reason, though. (Yes I saw the winking face, just thought I'd make the point)
Hoe wrote:
GBA movies were accepted and published when there was emulator enduced slow down in the games.
I thought this was a mistake, too. We still have that MZM movie that needs to be obsoleted because we couldn't be patient enough for it to be emulated right.
Spacecow wrote:
I think JXQ is just trying to eliminate competition :)
Heh, I actually have pretty much zero interest TASing this game (and most other 3D games). Guanobowl, I don't want to take away from the work you've done, as I've watched a bit of it, and I hear it is top-notch (although I personally don't enjoy watching a run that points the camera behind the direction of travel). If you want to work on an improved version, then more power to you. But it may be wise to wait until the game is emulated completely correctly and without desync to do so. This would save some headaches, and also prevent you later from thinking "Well, I should improve it again, since it's emulated correctly now."
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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I like how Baxter changes his avatar to the game he's working on. Also, as the double translation would say, "This game parace he will make an operation sweet."
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JXQ
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Is this even going to be accepted for publication? With the emulation and desync problems, there obviously are issues that need to be resolved before this can be watched without someone going "Why is the game doing that? When I played Zelda on my N64, it didn't pause for six seconds on a solid white screen every time I accessed my inventory."
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JXQ
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That's a neat utility. On a side note, after learning the FCM format a little better, I think it's dumb to have FCEU include a savestate on a movie that starts from reset. Either it's pointless because it's all changed to default values once the reset command is reached, or it's somehow used, which would compromise the integrity of the format.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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Posts: 3132
In this second case, it wasn't a bug in the submission webpage (Bisqwit showed me the code for it). It does allow 81 or 82 (I believe). My Little Samson movie that didn't work didn't have 81 or 82, it had 23, which is a press of the start button. So it never put that reset (soft reset OR power-on) in at all. I know I didn't record from "Now" or a savestate, so I think it's a bug in the emulator, although I don't know how to reproduce it. I believe FCEU still reports the file as reset/power-on based on byte 08. However, I seem to be the only person to have done this, so it's possible that it's something I'm doing as well.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Post subject: Possible bug to watch for when "Starting from reset"
JXQ
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When you record a new movie, you can record from "Start", "Reset", or "Now". The correct choice, when submitting a movie here, is "Start", which is a hard-reset, or power-on. I've had an error twice now that I haven't noticed until the run was finished. The submission php denies my file with the error message "FCM error: Movie does not begin with a reset". I think FCEU may have a problem when creating movies under certain circumstances, although I haven't been able to reproduce it yet. To make sure that your movie files are safe, use a hex-editor to check for the following: 1) Look at the values in offset 001C through 001F. Take the four bytes and read them in reverse order (this is called "little endian" order). For example, if your four bytes read B4 34 01 00, then reverse the bytes (not the half-bytes), to get 00 01 34 B4. This value is the beginning of your controller input data. In this case, 134B4. 2) Check this new offset. The value of this offset MUST be 82, which is controller code for a hard reset. Although the game may start at a reset (as this is also checked in offset 08, bit 2), the php of the site will not accept the file if the first controller byte is not 82. In both cases this has happened to me, simply inserting a reset command at the beginning of the controller input, and increasing the value in offset 0014 by 1 (which represents the length of the controller input in the file) has fixed it without desync. (0014 is also 4 bytes long and in little-endian order) I'll be keeping an eye on my movie files; if I'm able to consistently reproduce this bug then I'll let everyone know.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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This topic name made me laugh quite a lot :) Mark, miau advised you to get the emulator you want and start practicing with it. Read about how to use the emulator tools (located in the FAQ), and test out stuff like frame advance and how you want to designate your savestates. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can try some basic luck manipulation in Pokemon or whatever. It probably won't happen in a matter of minutes. Don't worry if it takes a while, as TASing any game isn't a trivial matter. But just posting "bisquik help me" without indicating what you need help with isn't going to get the info you want. Experience with the emulators will. Also I'd highly recommend that you forget everything you ever learned from MMORPGs. They are evil and will be the downfall of society as we know it. That's not a joke.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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Good: fast-paced, colorful, some interesting levels (ice, water, and cloud levels were usually fun to watch) Bad: A lot of just "hold right and hop" action, which got to be quite repetitive. For me, these cancel and I will vote meh. If the other Adventure Island games are not as entertaining as this, I don't think I will watch them.
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JXQ
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With a day to spare, Guybrush :) http://tasvideos.org/1134S.html
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JXQ
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2 more levels complete. The best comparison I have is Mazzic's v1, which wasn't as optimized as his unfinished v2 (but is more optimized than any of the submitted runs). Level 9: The fastest place to not take a hit was the first spiked pit (which made things 11 frames slower). I needed this energy to save more time on the boss. Lag was kept under control. 305 frames faster. Level A: Staying as KO (mouse) is faster than climbing with Samson by just a few frames, which is fine because KO's music is cooler and the climbing looks great. 100 frames faster.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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Yes, it's the comma button by default. Other similar information can be found in the TASvideos FAQ.
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JXQ
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Um, this game is awesome. End of story. I did not know of it. Great TAS potential which you captured here. Voting yes.
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JXQ
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I thought you built your own FCEU out of 0.98.15 to make it run on Linux.
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JXQ
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Truncated wrote:
changing into the dragon and shooting as you approached?
It would drain his energy faster, but the boss takes the same amount of time to dematerialize - but it also takes 12 frames to transform from Mouse -> Dragon -> Mouse, so that strategy ends up being slower.
jumping into the big monster and placing the bombs rapidly inside him?
Getting hit by the monster is enough damage to even kill the Golem in one hit, so I have to wait and get hit by a projectile before I do this strategy.
Why all the damage in the 7:th level?
I can lay bombs directly on the flowers, killing them immediately, which prevents them from shooting seeds later and causing lag.
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JXQ
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I have levels 1, 6, and 7 completed. You can check the RUC by clicking on the old link, or that one right there. 175 frames ahead of Mazzic's v2, which ends at the same place I am at currently. I also skipped the Ice Palace by not having a life potion in Samson's posession, which saves about 80 seconds. The Ice Palace was not a fun level to watch anyway, with all the jumping, and the annoying boss that is slower than the rest, so I'm glad it can be skipped. I took a life increaser in the first level, which cost me 19 frames. This allowed for a different strategy in level 6 by taking more hits (and switching characters less), and a faster boss strategy. 114 frames gained on that level. I tried manipulating a life increase drop in the Mouse's level, but was not successful, and the one that is already there is not worth the detour. If one could be manipulated without much time spent, the boss of the first level could be defeated without switching characters and could save 20-30 frames, plus the 19 used to get the life increaser in the first level. Feel free to comment. Seven levels to go.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
I think that's the Volume Envelope Height checkbox that can cause sound to be better, yet also cause inconsistent desyncs in some games (like Smash TV). Although I've never noticed differences in the sound with either option.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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I get it! You use the two different yet similar words whether you are referring to an entire person or not, so it's only natural to try to make a joke about a joke by dancing with semantics! Go English!
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JXQ
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If you're doing this as a non-assisted speedrun, this should probably be moved to the Speedrun section.
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JXQ
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Yes, the Japanese concept existed first. Congratulations. I'm still seeing a Power Rangers game here, since that's the concept I'm familiar with.
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JXQ
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Five dorks in colored suits that fight bosses in giant robots? You're splitting hairs here.
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JXQ
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Holy crap this is Power Rangers?? Hell YES. Does it matter which ranger you pick for each level? I see you never picked the ethnically diverse rangers. See, when they were handing out colors, the Black Ranger (who is actually black himself!!) chose to be black, because black people all love being their own color. Similarly for Asian and yellow. You see, only white americans appreciate the diversity of color. Didn't you know that? That's why the nerd picked blue, the anorexic picked pink, and the steroid user / leader picked red. Class dismissed. Oh, the run? Looked good, voted yes. My favorite level was the first, and I especially like the boss fights because the only time I've seen a more brutal slugfest on the NES is Blades of Steel.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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Kaz, where are you? Don't make me put this game on my to-do list!
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Post subject: Re: uh.. what?
JXQ
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pirate_sephiroth wrote:
Bag of Magic Food wrote:
So it's not where you go to be made to feel like a bad person?
That's church, not prison.
Well put, my friend. Well put.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ
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Actually, three people now have times of 0:24. And two of them got the time only four days after the first! Imagine that! Someone should submit a time of 1:08 on Labyrinth 3 and put "TAS strat used on console" as the comment. Cuz, clearly!
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JXQ
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Hmm, I don't know what tar liquor is. But ok! The warps are not exactly like I thought they were. I believe it's more of a path choice. Choice 1: After level 1, warp to level 6 and play all remaining levels. This is chosen by making the last hit on the first boss with the mouse. Choice 2: Do not skip ahead to level 6. Play levels 1 through 7, and as a reward, you'll automatically skip level 8 (the ice palace), and then play all remaining levels. This is chosen by making the last hit on the first boss with anyone except the mouse. However, if you play through Choice 1, obtain the password for Level 7, reset, and enter it, you will skip the Ice Palace. Further investigation is needed. Edit: Both warps are possible. Level 8 is skipped if Samson does not have a life potion in reserve, regardless of whether the first warp was taken.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)