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Based on my observations having never played the game, the game itself is a bit meh for Contra TASing. The boss fights are long and uneventful, and there are a lot of slow scrolling sections that aren't the most exciting. The entertainment provided during the forced waits was of average quality. The game length is a bit much, and the creativity in shooting things isn't really there. A huge factor in the entertainment of the NES Contra run for me was the crafting of a death beam out of the spread gun, and that sort of creative application just isn't in this game. I'm sure this run is quite technically precise, but it just doesn't show through that well.
I still think this run is of average or above average quality compared to the rest of the site. If I was judging the run based on the expectations I had of the run I'd probably go with meh, but since I'm judging the run on its own merits I'm going with Yes.
Less than I expected, still pretty good. Ignoring high expectations, it would be an easy yes vote.
Dying to save time was the correct choice in my opinion.
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Is it possible to end input sooner by standing back further from the final boss (and presumably still having the game end just as fast)? It seems like quite a shame to be just over 7 minutes.
Regardless, a solid run, and an improvement to a published movie. Easy yes Vote.
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The reading seems to suggest that it's not the strength of the preference so much as the type of preference, so the tests probably aren't accurate regarding magnitude.
I would interpret your results as:
Strong Introvert.
Strong Intuitive.
Somewhat Thinking.
No preference Judging/Perceiving.
pirate_sephiroth:
Introverted (I) 78.79% Extroverted (E) 21.21%
Intuitive (N) 54.55% Sensing (S) 45.45%
Thinking (T) 84.38% Feeling (F) 15.63%
Judging (J) 80.65% Perceiving (P) 19.35%
My intuitive score went way down with this test.
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Perhaps "TASVideos users are masterminds." is more accurate. (Noting a few laughworthy exceptions.)
When it says "Slightly expressed", I don't think that indicates much of a preference one way or another. Answering one question differently could be enough to swing you the other way, so I don't think the test is that precise that you can accurately define yourself with a 10%-20% expression in one direction. It is just meant to show preference one way of the other, so it seems that scores in that range don't have a strong preference in either direction worth noting.
These were my scores by the way:
INTJ
78 - very expressed introvert
88 - very expressed intuitive personality
50 - moderately expressed thinking personality
44 - moderately expressed judging personality
If someone cares to combine this thread with the other, by all means go ahead.
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Haha, very well done. I'm not sure how optimal the strategies are, but the route you chose appeared well optimized, and the wait times were highly entertaining.
Usually we prefer the (U) versions of games here, but both versions seem the same, and the text for this game doesn't really matter. It will probably be fine on the (J) version.
Looking forward to more. =D
I looked for a topic of that nature for about 5 minutes. In all fairness it could've been what type of cake are you. Inserting "personality" in the title would have made me not create a new topic.
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I'm interested to see how the users at TASVideos are classified according to Myers-Briggs personality type. The test attempts to indicate a preference towards personal methods of 'viewing the world'.
Personality Types:
How they focus their attention or get their energy (Extraversion or Introversion)
How they perceive or take in information (Sensing or iNtuition)
How they prefer to make decisions (Thinking or Feeling)
How they orient themselves to the external world (Judgment or Perception)
Taking the capital letter from each of these forms your personality type.
The questions are objective so in a way you're evaluating your preferences and motives. I'm just curious what sort of user base we have at this site. If you've done this before feel free to post your results, if you have a better test feel free to post that as well.
I am an INTJ - Introverted Intuitive [Thinking Judging]. I would speculate that most people that get involved with TASing would also be Introverted Intuitives. Introverted Intuitives supposedly make up 15% of the population, but I would speculate that an overrepresented proportion gather here.
A Personality TestWikipedia General ReadingIndividual descriptions of each Personality Type. Another Test (suggested by pirate_sephiroth) More Reading (suggested by pirate_sephiroth)
Approximate population in each personality type grabbed off some site.
INF_ - 7%
INT_ - 8%
ISF_ - 16%
IST_ - 20%
ENF_ - 11%
ENT_ - 9%
ESF_ - 18%
EST_ - 17%
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http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/144611116/Beginning%206427%20Fade.vbm
The 6000 rerecords were mostly due to my inefficient scripting. I just did one run through of most things to give you something to compare to. It's probably beatable by 5 frames or so.
I don't really have time to do this TAS myself with my current projects, so I'm just trying to lay some groundwork for anyone to work with.
EDIT: In response to below:
I hit the button 2 frames before 0x020330f0 becomes nonzero. I made a script that does this. Any time it is in a conversation and sees that byte, it reloads two frames previous and hits the button it needs to. I used B for midtext, and A for endtext. B is on anything less than 150, A is on anything more than 150.
Just copy and paste that byte into the basic memory watching script I wrote if you want to watch it. I think my script actually clears it in my movie before that byte can be seen, so watch your movie with it, or just play around with text.
EDIT: More:
I think there is a way to change other story characters names at the beginning if this TAS does go that route. (To maintain consistency.)
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It is worth noting that Garet's "*Hah* *Hah*" Text right at the beginning can be prompted to go faster by hitting B after the first *Hah*. The fastest way to clear it is B One frame and A the next. (B two frames in a row is the same as holding it. B on alternating frames is rapid pressing, so alternating B and A in this case allows it to clear faster.)
Autofire A and B on opposing frames causes problems in some dialogs. I'm trying to find a good way to do this.
Wall of text regarding memory:
--------------------------------
Counter until text autoskips: (150 if waiting for user input, 0 if yes/no confirmation.) The button needs to be hit about 2 frames before this becomes nonzero.
0x020330f0
0x020330f1: If Value = 3 Text can clear, if staying 0 probably waiting for yes/no confirmation:
0x020330fc: If Value = 1: Yes, No confirmation
0x02000060: If 16 it seems that we are either transitioning screens or in a dialog.
Note: Most of the time the button needs to be hit two frames before these values appear, so I'm going to write a script to do that.
As a general rule it seems if you hit A 2 frames before 0x020330f0 becomes 150, the phrase seems to clear as soon as possible.
X Position Double Word: 0x02030ec4
Y Position Double Word: 0x02030ecc
--------------------------------
Walking Straight Right and Straight Up takes exactly as long as walking Diagonally "Up and Right". The game measures this accurately enough that I wouldn't worry about any subpixel gains, you might gain a frame after hours of effort.
I made an automatic text skipping lua script that still needs some polishing, I'll probably put it up when I get it working much better.
It is worth noting that holding B doesn't "Speed up text", it only clears out time waits like Garet's "Hah ......... Hah"
Anyway regarding your test run, I'm not really sure why your rerecord count is so low unless you're only doing things one time through. 12 rerecords isn't exactly a TAS, unless you managed to reset them messing around with the file. If you're trying to be optimal that segment should take more than 100. If you're just testing things, don't worry about it obviously.
The screen you exited at 6465, I was able to exit at 6427. Part of the difference might have come from the fact that I better lined up Garet to join me, the other part was simply exiting text boxes accurately. I'm going to to to clean up my text skipping script so it doesn't take a minute to run through every conversation. It also managed to get 6000 rerecords in quite a short time, which I can clean up.
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Assembly might be a bit much if you've never done it before. We will need to use it to decode battle mechanics later though. I'm not very effective at it currently.
You should have VBA 21.
Here's a bunch of resources for SNES9x:
http://dehacked.2y.net/snes9x-lua/http://dehacked.2y.net/snes9x-lua.html
Here's the commands as applied to VBA (also the emulator if you don't have it):
http://code.google.com/p/vba-rerecording/wiki/LuaScriptingFunctions
Memory watch is mostly in the emulator. I made a post explaining an example here:
http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8169
You can use lua to read and write bytes. I use SciTE to write my lua scripts http://www.scintilla.org/SciTEDownload.html, but you can do them in Notepad if you want. Save files explicitly as "FileName.lua".
I have really generalized examples of most things you'll want to do if you want me to post them somewhere. If you want to discuss this a bit more quickly, feel free to hop on IRC and private message me: irc://irc.freenode.net/tasvideos
EDIT: Try not to double post in a short amount of time, just edit onto your previous post.
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You are able to use turbo, you just have to make sure you are initializing the dialog to close on the first frame possible.
Turbo A does this.
A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A
If the dialog is able to close on an in between frame, turboing won't close it until one frame later than you could, because it only attempts to close the dialog box every other frame.
I'm going to look into a memory location you can look for to close it effectively.
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Zero100 wrote:
1.) How can you view re-record count?
It should come up when you open the movie file in VBA. We don't really care how many rerecords a good TAS has, it's just sort of a reference value. You don't need to pay attention to it at all when TASing.
I was able to view the file taking the period off the url.
Good Things:
- You changed the message speed.
- You didn't walk all the way over to Garet.
Bad Things:
- You aren't going to be able to use turbo during conversations in the final product. Since it only attempts to close the box every other frame, you lose a frame half the time.
-This may be a game where you can turbo A and B on *opposing* frames and close the dialog optimally, which is acceptable if you're sure it closes as fast as possible every time.
What does everyone think about leaving the "speech" on? I personally like the silly voices, but I could see how it would get annoying to some.
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What appears to be the battle random number bytes:
Two byte value: 0x020023a8, 0x020023a9
Two byte value: 0x020023aa, 0x020023ab
How the encounters get set:
0x02000478 Word value: A step counter of sorts.
add X*64 every to 0x02000478 every one frame of walking. When the value crosses 65536, add 1 to Byte 0x0200047a. The run value of X is 1.5 times the walking value.
0x0200047a Byte value: When 16 = battle
Copy and paste this into Notepad and put .lua at the end of the filename to observe these via Run Lua Script in the most updated version of the emulator.
while true do
gui.text(0,0,"RNG1: " .. memory.readbyte(0x020023a8))
gui.text(0,10,"RNG2: " .. memory.readbyte(0x020023a9))
gui.text(0,20,"RNG3: " .. memory.readbyte(0x020023aa))
gui.text(0,30,"RNG4: " .. memory.readbyte(0x020023ab))
gui.text(0,40,"StepCount1: " .. memory.readword(0x02000478))
gui.text(0,50,"StepCount2: " .. memory.readbyte(0x0200047a))
vba.frameadvance();
end
X appears to be set after the previous battle, but I cannot find how it is set or where it is stored. I have gotten various values from about 18 to about 110. Lower values make the step increment at a lower rate and therefore make the battle further away. On average they are 20-50 or so, but there are some extremes. When using these values you can clearly observe the edges of encounter zones, you should probably always walk in non-encounter zones as much as you can.
If anyone could find out how the value "X" gets set, it would be very helpful.
Note: I'd much prefer you keep the characters names intact for this run. If anyone cares to read the text, it's worth the maybe 1 minute sacrificed over the run for having long names. We can probably just write a fast forwarding script for anyone who doesn't want to read the text.
Always choose the fastest text option of 'yes' or 'no'. No can probably get hit by just pressing B.
I may attempt to begin working on a battle mechanic disassembly. For now I'm just going to update my random findings here.
02000250 Party Gold
0200050f Isaac Level (1 byte)
02000534 Isaac Max HP (2 bytes)
02000536 Isaac Max PP
02000538 Isaac Cur HP
0200053a Isaac Cur PP
0200053c Isaac Attack Stat (With gear.)
0200053e Isaac Defense Stat (With gear.)
02000540 Isaac Agility Stat
020005d8 Isaac First Item ID (1 byte)
020005d9 Item Status
020005da Isaac Second Item ID
020005db Item Status
020005dc Isaac Third Item
020005dd Item Status
Status:
Quantity 1 = 0
Item Equipped = 2
Quantity 2 = 8
Quantity 3 = 16
Quantity 30 = 232
02000624 Isaac Experience Points (32 bits presumably)
0200065b Garet Level
........
02000770 Garet Experience Points
020007a7 Should be Ivan's Level (haven't checked)
........
020008bc Should be Ivan's Experience Points
020008f3 Should be Mia's Level
........
02000a08 Should be Mia's Experience Points
02000b8b Jenna Level
........
02000ca0 Jenna Experience Points
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Well first we have the 21 movies from 2004.
http://tasvideos.org/MoviesToObsoleteFrom2004.html
Then someone in IRC mentioned there were (I think) about 50 movies from 2005.
Now you want to add (almost) all the 2006 movies to that? Let's say there exists about 100.
From this page:
http://tasvideos.org/MovieStatistics.html
"Published movies: 632"
(21 + 50 + 100) / 632
"Go obsolete 27% of the site content."
It's a mild inconsistency of the past. The url still redirects here anyway. Besides when movies are redone just for the sake of being redone you get that potential drop in quality of frame war submissions you were complaining about in IRC.
No need for radical changes.
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Zero100 wrote:
I plan to playtest a bit plan routes, and crack the RNG. I'll be habitually updating, and any advice/input/help you can give would be helpful.
Thanks in advance, and do I have to okay to do this run? :D
PS: Would anyone actually watch this? :(
DOUBLE EDIT: I'll post a WIP of what I have to showcase for people to decide if they want me to continue.
No one is going to stop you from doing the run, depending on the quality after 10 or so minutes of play, we may recommend you to go back and fix things. Given the nature of RPGs, a lot of the game is simple walking and text skipping, so to get a run like this published, everything else needs to be well executed. We should see optimal outcomes coming out of the RNG manipulation.
I'd watch it. The game is text heavy, but we could probably write a lua script to fast forward through any text on viewing.
There SHOULD be information on the RNG on the internet. Look on GameFAQs and elsewhere. You may also ask for some of this information on the Golden Sun board there. As far as I know it increments due to set actions. Attack by some character adds something, defend by some character adds something, etc. You will also need to figure out the battle formulas (predicting what damage will occur), and how the steps till the next encounter are set based on the end of the previous battle.
Seemingly the TAS plan would be something like this:
1: Fight as few battles as possible
2: Collect the number of Djinn necessary to beat the final boss assuming point 1.
3: Use Psynergy Stones as Inns
4: Collect only the items you will need (Very few.)
I highly recommend viewing the Real Time run that BadPotato posted just above. The low level battle strategies and the quality of the route have been great.
If this all seems a bit beyond you, this TAS may not be for you. I wouldn't recommend playing more than 10-15 minutes without showing us the .vbm which you can upload here: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php
You need to plan your route by the time you get out of Vale presumably. You want to minimize all time expenses and get through the game with the most time-minimal boosting (gear, djinn, items.) possible.
I may attempt to help you with some memory analysis, but only on my own time if I feel like getting around to it.
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This plan seems to discourage newcomers, especially foreign newcomers. I might add that some of the best Japanese TASers do not frequent the forums.
It is difficult for many of them to translate the entire site and figure out every little detail on various pages in various paragraphs.
I'll try to outline a few things that could help with this problem.
I think new members should be limited to 1 submission a week or something to prevent multiple failed submissions in a day. If they mess something up they can contact an administrator.
The submitting page might not link to the workbench forum last time I checked. I'm not sure all of these authors find the location of their feedback. (Maybe I'm misremembering this, I haven't submitted in a while. If this isn't true, ignore.)
One of these pages needs a short checklist right at the top.
http://tasvideos.org/SubmitMovie.htmlhttp://tasvideos.org/SubmissionInstructions.html
1: Did you pick the right Rom version (U) [!] (Unless there is a good reason.)
2: Did you start from Power On? Do not start from a save state.
3: Do you beat all records in existence? (See here: http://tasvideos.org/Movies.html)
4: Is the movie done to the best of your ability? If the movie could be done visibly faster if you put in more effort, it probably will be rejected.
Modify that, maybe add a few things, and translate that into numerous languages and place it there.
Trolls will happen, I think some foreigners with language barriers are just unclear on what the standard is here.
These are suggestions. I don't think preventing new users from submitting is a good solution for the reasons mentioned above.
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I was using fba-rr-v003c yesterday for some testing, and it seemed like every time I would save, that the game would visibly advance a frame, but the frame count would stay at the same place. If I would load a state I start in the new position at the old frame number. If I would shift+(F1-F9) while paused, things would just move across the screen, but the frame number would remain at the same place. I checked the default hotkeys, and none of them seemed to overlap to cause this. I never really checked if the resulting movie sync'd.
I'm not making any TASes any time soon, but I'm concerned this may be a bug in emulation. If it is only on my end don't worry about it.
The game I was playing was Up n' Down.
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DarkKobold wrote:
This is really crying out for a rule to stop brand new registering users from submitting runs.
Limit one per week or something? I don't know. Someone should try to explain to this guy is his native language why we won't accept these movies, though because he probably can't read the discussion.
Perhaps it would be helpful to provide some sort of quick "don't submit this type of movie list" on the submission page in multiple languages. It seems most of the offenders cannot read English well. (Disregarding the occasional troll.)
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Just reading leisurely. Is the strength gain on a level random and you're having trouble manipulating it higher, or is it some set number that happens to be low?
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Bag is running my chip trader analyzing script all day. He seemed pretty confident that the RNG that affects the chip received is highly dependent on what frame the chip trader is accessed. He said going in and out of buildings alters the 'frame access' forward by about 3. So unfortunately this appears to suggest that the only real way to get chips we want is to wait however many frames the game requires. 1 frame = 1 'cycle' forward for a new chip.
Anyway, I've been looking into chips received in battle.
02004910 = 1st Chip Received in Battle
02004911 = 2nd Chip Received in Battle
0200492D = 30th Chip Received in Battle
If Chip 3 is selected, Chips 4-30 shift up one address to reflect the position they move into.
Values in these addresses:
0 = Chip in Folder Position 0 (First position)
1 = Chip in Folder Position 1 (Second position)
29 = Chip in Folder Position 29 (Last position)
If getting chips in battle is dependent on the particular frame the battle is accessed, and the folder positions are directly assigned to this battle, this will allow us to move chips around in the folder to get EXACTLY the chips we want. I'd say there is currently about a 50% chance of this being true. I'm going to write a script to output chips received upon entering a fight on consecutive frames.
If my speculations are true, this run will be pretty sick. =D
EDIT: Confirmed. Ensue folder stacking. This run is going to be quite broken.
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I felt the biggest strength of the current "all temples" run is that it preserves the game's chronology. I would personally prefer that the Door of Time glitch never appears in this run, and I would also prefer Bottle Adventure to stay out.
The glory of the previous run was that it showcased the core of the game without completely abusing sequence breaks. I don't want to see such a good core storyline run of a game turned into a sequence broken collectathon. I don't think that is what this category is about.
I'm just one person, but I do think you should collect more opinions on this before you spend too much time on a route.
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I did a bit of fiddling today. I gave Bag my chip trader lua script and excel spreadsheet that can speed through and analyze chip dispensing (not very effective at the moment, but it works for seeing possibilities. If anyone is interested in that PM me. There are only a couple regular chips it seems you cannot get from the 3 chip trader. You can only get Navi chips you already possess.
Sometimes you have to physically open your folder to refresh these:
02019009 - first chip in folder library ID (Cannon = 1)
0201900a - first chip in folder Chip Code (A=0 B=1)
I found values to remove random encounters. When these values are a multiple of 64 (it seems) a battle can possibly occur. Setting them to something arbitrary, e.g. 7, will remove random encounters.
020003f4 - step related encounter trigger
02006448 - step related encounter trigger
