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You can jump over them.
(Also, I was mistaken; you only need jet sneakers to skip miniboss 4, and if skipping miniboss 2 is possible, you will almost certainly need them for that, too.)
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player
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mklip2001 wrote:
However, I have one question nobody's addressed here. In this game, you can get other weapons in the shop. Do any of those damage bosses more, enough to save time in a run?
=(
Three posts above you, Kumquat wrote:
To my knowledge, every boss takes one damage from every kind of attack, but thrown objects and the hammer weapon do three damage to normal enemies.
Also, since this got published before my team finished our new run, should we keep going (~40 second improvement, I predict, that will be done in a few days), or should we start completely over (~2 minute improvement that will not be done for a while)?
Jet sneakers let you skip minibosses 1 and 4!
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To my knowledge, every boss takes one damage from every kind of attack, but thrown objects and the hammer weapon do three damage to normal enemies.
My team threw the first miniboss's eggs back at her to reduce lag (they would bounce across the screen otherwise). Grabbing the candle and throwing it at the boulder in channel 5 might actually waste time; I only did that because we were out of time in the contest and I thought it looked funny.
Incidentally, you can also pick up power ups (the hearts, money bags, and extra lives) and throw them at enemies.
Our run should drop below 16 minutes with all the optimizations we found at the end, so look forward to seeing that very soon!
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Congratulations on winning again, Team 2! Perhaps we would have won if I had not been so lazy and tried to do everything in the last five days; maybe next time I will spend my time more wisely.
I suppose now we will try to optimize everything and beat your contest run! From the looks of things, we will be a little faster.
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I regret having said something, but saying it again here would remind everyone of what it was.
I also regret never fixing the typo I made in my and alden's Rubik's World submission text, not adding the rest of the people who posted to the name list in it, and not thanking mz for his kind consolation gift.
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It was rude of me to basically say, "Xkeeper is going to be on our team even if you say no," even if it was just a joke, so I apologize to DarkKobold and anyone else who may have been bothered by my post.
adelikat, thank you for allowing Xkeeper to participate in the Dream Team Contest and to submit movies again. I know he really cares about this community despite how he acts sometimes, so I hope that someday he will be able to return to the forums as well.
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Acmlm, Alden, and I are signing up as a team with the tentative name "Temporarily Assigned Sobriquet".
MODERATOR EDIT: I have cleaned up this post. Discussion of banned users will be brought to personal message. -DarkKobold.
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I want to participate again, but I have a question: Is Xkeeper allowed to be on my team even though he was banned? (If not, can he be an unofficial member of my team?)
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I made a TAS for fun that does one stage for each of the five events in this game (skateboarding, surfing, street luge, in-line skating, and skyboarding).
I might submit it here one day if the concept demos section is ever expanded to include things like this, but there are a few things I would want to improve first, like getting a few more points with better Twitchy Shake usage in surfing or swerving to the music in street luge. I might also try doing different stages for each event (you can choose from three in practice mode, and I just chose the third one each time. You can also use a password to select any of the stages).
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Great job, Team 5 – you beat us by almost as much as we beat Team Tortoise! I applaud your victory because now no one expects us to redo the movie super-optimally and submit it.
Do we get to know what the other games you were considering, Truncated? I just want to know for curiosity's sake.
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Thank you for taking the time to re-encode it, Flygon, but, um, both input files produce identical movies. The old one just had input for a reset that I accidentally made while I was hex editing.
(Also, should "Halloween Spooktacular" be removed from the name now? I meant to remove it earlier, but I forgot about it.)
Thanks again, everyone! And sorry for causing trouble.
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NitroGenesis wrote:
The movie was okay. I TASed this game a while ago, but I eventually thought nobody was going to like it and quit. I could share my WIP if you want.
I was kind of worried that it would be too long, but it looks like I was wrong! (Thanks, everyone!)
How far did you get in your WIP? Did you discover anything I missed?
alden wrote:
Yes vote for reasons that will upset/offend people.
Seriously though, a fun witch. I mean, watch.
I am upset and/or offended by your horrifying pun.
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mklip2001 wrote:
Overall, the run looks well-played too. I think I saw a missed shot in one of the levels of World 2, but that's not much of an issue. It seems sometimes like you're taking damage and flipping at the same time, but the flipping animation is still slow (as opposed to the faster flip that saves 27 frames that you mention in the submission text). There may not be much that can be done about that.
I missed that shot on purpose as a sort of trick to make you think the run might have desynced if you were watching it on an emulator. In retrospect, I think it was a bad idea, but there is not a lot I can do about it now. I guess you could pretend it was intentional luck manipulation.
Edit: Wait, I missed a shot on purpose on level 1-3. Where did you think you saw a missed shot in world 2?
Am I reading the rest of what you wrote wrong, or are you under the impression that the faster flip and interrupting a flip with damage are different things?
Flygon wrote:
Mister Epic wrote:
Just a little question. Are the suggested screenshots picked automatically? Or did the author pick them?
I think he she pulled a TASVideoAgent and automatically generated them.
No, I picked them all myself. The four dark ones are another trick.
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Our mascot is Mystery Dan!
Who is he? Mystery Dan, of course!
Where did he come from? The township of Zellia, silly!
Why does he have cat ears and a tail? I blame Xkeeper and Acmlm.
The world may never know. ...Unless it reads these spoilers.
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I think making a TAS of story mode is a terrible idea – it would be much too repetitive! Challenge mode could be interesting with the right character or skillset for Emerl.
Link to video(Download the .vbm)
Here are the skill cards I used, along with a few notes about them. I only used 400 of my 500 skill points! (Damage values have been increased by ~4/7 due to Attack Support 9.)
Run Skill: Chaos Run (5 SP)
Chaos runs like a dinosaur – a dinosaur that runs slower than Emerl's default run skill! I chose this because it looks funny and adds a fun restriction. And so I can add "Colors a robot that runs like a dinosaur." to the submission text if I ever submit a run of this game.Dash Skill: Chaos Dive (30 SP)
Chaos's dash skill makes you invincible and look ridiculous at the same time! Order yours today!
Jump Skill: Rouge Flight (25 SP)
Most characters fall after the apex of their jump, but not Rouge! With her skill, you will fly for 54 frames before slowly descending, and the timer resets if you use a special attack! It also gives you very good air speed.
Also this:Air Action: Rouge Catch (15 SP)
If you are flying and you use this air action, you immediately stop flying. The only way to fly without an air action is with Rouge Flight, which I used. But even without Rouge Flight, this is probably the best air action of all – it also allows you to use your aerial special move again without landing!
Guard Skill: Chao Knight (5 SP)
I originally planned on using the default guard skill (the aptly named Guard Skill), but I switched to this just before I started recording because I thought it would look funny.
Heal Skill: Heal Skill (0 SP)
Heal Skill is SSS+ tier and should be banned from tool-assisted play.
First Attack: Girl Jab (15 SP)
Dear Kumquat, how do you tool-assist with boxing gloves on?
Very quickly is how! This is the fastest first attack besides Ultimate First Attack (or so I assume; I never actually tested them), which makes it great for interrupting opponents.
It does 5 damage.
Second Attack: Electric Stab (10 SP)
A slow but powerful attack that looks a little odd. It has a lot of ending lag that can be canceled by using your third attack.
It does 16 damage.
Third Attack: Flexible Chaos (5 SP)
Another strange-looking attack that trades speed for power. It is a little faster than Electric Stab, though.
It does 16 damage.
Heavy Attack: Magic Hook (20 SP)
Another boxing glove from nowhere, but with a twist! Get it? Twist? Because it twists around you and yeah okay that was a stupid joke.
Anyway, the heavy attack you have equipped determines your chasing jump animation (the high jump you can do after you launch an opponent away). I think Tails's looks the funniest.
It has three hitboxes that do 4, 5, and 24 damage. The third hit launches the opponent away.
If the opponent is launched into a wall and does not successfully rebound, they take 15 damage that is not modified by Attack Support. This applies to all attacks that can launch opponents away.
Upper Attack: Chao Upper (15 SP)
It looks kind of like Chao Knight, and it shares an odd property with it: you can aim it up and down. Doing so does only changes the visuals – the hitbox for this move will still be in front of you, and guarding up or down does nothing special.
It does 13 damage and flings the opponent into the air.
Dash Attack: Girl Bomber (15 SP)
Emerl's mother always told him, "If you love someone, protect them with everything you've got!"
"Even with my butt?" he would ask.
"Especially with your butt! Um, I mean, Emerl, don't use such rude language!"
It does 32 damage and launches the opponent away.
Air Attack: Typhoon (20 SP)
Emerl supposedly copied this move from Tails, but he obviously learned it while fighting on the streets. Using this boosts you upward slightly and resets the flight timer for Rouge Flight. With proper positioning, you can hit your opponent up to four times.
It does 10 damage per hit.
Aim Attack: Chaos Impact (15 SP)
Aim attacks can only be used during a chasing jump. If you time them properly, your opponent will take a lot of damage and be thrown into the ground. If not, the opponent will take a bit of damage and possible be able to counter-attack.
Chaos Impact, like many other skills I chose, looks silly.
It does 63 damage if you time it right and 16 damage otherwise.
Ground Shot: Rock Free Fall (15 SP)
With the power of Knuckles's fists (and manly grunts), Emerl can pull a giant rock out of the ground...or thin air, if there is no ground in font of him. This move is great for hitting opponents out of the air.
The rock does 47 damage and the rocksplosion does 24 damage. Both parts of the attack knock the opponent back.
Air Shot: Air Pink Typhoon (30 SP)
Amy can fly by condensing her love into a spiral of pink energy, and now Emerl can, too! Combined with Rouge Catch, you could quickly rise up to the ceiling and stay there as long as you want! Of course, there is not a lot you can do with the power of love if you are all alone...
The pink typhoon does 16 damage and flings the opponent into the air. The hammer does 4 damage and counts as a normal attack for the purpose of defending.
Ground Power: Deep Impact (5 SP)
Yes, this is truly a one-star skill.
It does 110 damage and launches the opponent away. Please note that it is not possible to have more than 100 HP.
Air Power: Ultimate Air Power (30 SP)
Whee! Thanks to Rouge Catch, Emerl can fly all over the place with this skill! Your Color 1 determines your color during this move, but the afterimages are always blue.
On the way down, it does 63 damage. While rolling forward, it does 47 damage. Both fling the opponent into the air. On the way back, it does 60 damage and launches the opponent away (though it is not possible to jump after them).
If you are knocked out by a special attack while using this attack, you will glitch up during your KO animation and be unable to move for the rest of the match. This does not count as a KO for your opponent.
Ground Trap: ??? [Amy] (30 SP)
This attack is so powerful that the developers were unable to think of a name for it. "How about 'Triple Gift'?" the newest employee suggested.
"No," the senior developer said. "We already told you, it's '???' because it's an attack Emerl made up himself, and he sucks with names."
"Oh, so he inherited his naming skills from Sonic, too?"
It does 32 damage and flings the opponent into the air.
Air Trap: Cream Air Cracker (15 SP)
Omochao is so much fun! Using him leaves you closer to the ground than you started, though, and he will only automatically detonate on grounded opponents.
Omochao is here to help by doing 79 damage and flinging opponents into the air.
Fighting Pose: Chaos Style (15 SP)
Your fighting pose determines the sounds you make when you get hit, what animation you use for everything not determined by another skill, how fast you turn, how far you can move as you turn (Tails Style is ridiculous), and your eye color. E-102 Style also makes you explode when you are knocked out. I chose Chaos Style because I like how it looks.
Attack Support: Attack Support 9 (30 SP)
As I mentioned before, this attack support increases damage output by approximatley 4/7, rounded up. (For example, with Attack Support 0 equipped, Typhoon does 6 damage per hit, Girl Bomber does 20 Damage, and Deep Impact does 70 damage.)
Strength Support: Strength Support 0 (0 SP)
Who needs defense when you have tools?
Answer: the computer-controlled Emerls.
Other Support: Speed Up Level 2 (20 SP)
Higher top speed is more important than faster acceleration, different gravity, or faster ichikoro generation.
Color 1: Amy Color 1 (5 SP)
Ah, pink. The color of love, strawberry ice cream, invisibility, breast cancer, and joke characters. And several other things, apparently including hedgehogs and robots.
Color 2: E-102 Color 2 (5 SP)
Red is my favorite color! E-102 Color 2 is actually almost the exact same as Amy Color 2; the shading on this one is slightly darker. I chose it because I already had Amy Color 1.
Color 3: Rouge Color 3 (5 SP)
Purple goes well with pink and red.
I also wrote a Lua script that displays each character's speed, position, health, ichikoro, specials, and respawn timer. It still has a few bugs, though. And it probably has a bunch of suboptimal code...
Download SonicBattleCharacterInfo.lua
Language: lua
hp = {};
ik = {};
sp = {};
x = {};
xs = {};
y = {};
ys = {};
z = {};
zs = {};
i = {};
t = {};
l = {};
c = {};
xk = {};
i['1'] = 0
i['2'] = 0
i['3'] = 0
i['4'] = 0
l['1'] = 0
l['2'] = 0
l['3'] = 0
l['4'] = 0
xk['1'] = 2
xk['2'] = 2
xk['3'] = 2
xk['4'] = 2
while true do
hp['1'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001CFF);
hp['2'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001DFB);
hp['3'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001EF7);
hp['4'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001FF3);
ik['1'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001CD3);
ik['2'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001DCF);
ik['3'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001ECB);
ik['4'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001FC7);
sp['1'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001CCD);
sp['2'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001DC9);
sp['3'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001EC5);
sp['4'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001FC1);
x['1'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001C40);
x['2'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001D3C);
x['3'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001E38);
x['4'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001F34);
xs['1'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001C6C);
xs['2'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001D68);
xs['3'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001E64);
xs['4'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001F60);
y['1'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001C42);
y['2'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001D3E);
y['3'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001E3A);
y['4'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001F36);
ys['1'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001C6E);
ys['2'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001D6A);
ys['3'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001E66);
ys['4'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001F62);
z['1'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001C44);
z['2'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001D40);
z['3'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001E3C);
z['4'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001F38);
zs['1'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001C70);
zs['2'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001D6C);
zs['3'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001E68);
zs['4'] = memory.readwordsigned(0x03001F64);
t['1'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001D34);
t['2'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001E30);
t['3'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001F2C);
t['4'] = memory.readbyte(0x03002028);
c['1'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001D04);
c['2'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001E00);
c['3'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001EFC);
c['4'] = memory.readbyte(0x03001FF8);
if memory.readbyte(0x060113CA) == 1 then
for p=1,4 do
n = 0
--[This code moves Player 1's information up (else it overlaps the frame counter and input display). Delete or comment it out if you want all four players' information to be uniform.
if p == 1 then
n = 30
end;
--]]
if sp[string.format("%s", p)] > 0 then
if sp[string.format("%s", p)] == 27 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "T/P/S"
elseif sp[string.format("%s", p)] == 30 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "P/T/S"
elseif sp[string.format("%s", p)] == 39 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "T/S/P"
elseif sp[string.format("%s", p)] == 45 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "S/T/P"
elseif sp[string.format("%s", p)] == 54 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "P/S/T"
elseif sp[string.format("%s", p)] == 57 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "S/P/T"
end;
if hp[string.format("%s", p)] > 0 then
if l[string.format("%s", p)] == 0 then
xk[string.format("%s", p)] = 378
elseif l[string.format("%s", p)] > 4 then
l[string.format("%s", p)] = 0
end;
end;
if l[string.format("%s", p)] <0> 0 then
gui.text(-13+60*p, 130+n/5, "OK!");
l[string.format("%s", p)] = l[string.format("%s", p)] + 1
end;
if hp[string.format("%s", p)] == 0 then
sp[string.format("%s", p)] = "?/?/?"
if l[string.format("%s", p)] == 0 and xk[string.format("%s", p)] > 2 then
xk[string.format("%s", p)] = xk[string.format("%s", p)] - 94
end;
if t[string.format("%s", p)] > 0 and xk[string.format("%s", p)] <3> 0 then
if t[string.format("%s", p)] == i[string.format("%s", p)] or i[string.format("%s", p)] > t[string.format("%s", p)] then
l[string.format("%s", p)] = l[string.format("%s", p)] - 1
end;
gui.text(-13+60*p, 130+n/5, string.format("%3i", l[string.format("%s", p)]));
i[string.format("%s", p)] = t[string.format("%s", p)]
if l[string.format("%s", p)] == 1 then
l[string.format("%s", p)] = -6
end;
end;
if c[string.format("%s", p)] == 0 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Sonic"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 1 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Tails"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 2 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Knuckles"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 3 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Shadow"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 4 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Rouge"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 5 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Amy"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 6 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Cream"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 7 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Gamma"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 8 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Chaos"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 9 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Emerl"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 10 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "SuperEmerl"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 12 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Phi"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 17 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "GuardRobo"
elseif c[string.format("%s", p)] == 19 then
c[string.format("%s", p)] = "Dr.Eggman"
else
c[string.format("%s", p)] = string.format("Player %s", p)
end;
gui.text(-57+60*p, 130+n/5, string.format("%s", c[string.format("%s", p)]));
gui.text(-57+60*p, 136-n/5, string.format("%3i|%2i|%s", hp[string.format("%s", p)], ik[string.format("%s", p)], sp[string.format("%s", p)]));
gui.text(-57+60*p, 142-n, string.format("X:%5i|%4i.%1X", x[string.format("%s", p)], math.floor(xs[string.format("%s", p)]/16), math.abs(math.fmod(xs[string.format("%s", p)],16))));
gui.text(-57+60*p, 148-n, string.format("Y:%5i|%4i.%1X", y[string.format("%s", p)], math.floor(ys[string.format("%s", p)]/16), math.abs(math.fmod(ys[string.format("%s", p)],16))));
gui.text(-57+60*p, 154-n, string.format("Z:%5i|%4i.%1X", z[string.format("%s", p)], math.floor(zs[string.format("%s", p)]/16), math.abs(math.fmod(zs[string.format("%s", p)],16))));
end;
end;
else
i['1'] = 0
i['2'] = 0
i['3'] = 0
i['4'] = 0
l['1'] = 0
l['2'] = 0
l['3'] = 0
l['4'] = 0
xk['1'] = 2
xk['2'] = 2
xk['3'] = 2
xk['4'] = 2
end;
vba.frameadvance();
end;
It looks like this:
But the respawn timers mess up for a few frames when you load savestates because I was unable to find the correct addresses for them. I did find something that counts upward after a character is knocked out, but it gets used for something else while they are alive.
Also, it messes up during round four because the game does not properly clear certain addresses during challenge mode.
And I almost forgot – luck manipulation during fights seem to be based primarily on your and your opponent's positions, which is why I wasted so much time against Chaos.
As for manipulating cards, I think the only ways to change what cards you get are to win a battle or quit to the menu and restart. For common cards, it stores which types of cards (like Run Skill or Ground Power) you will get and gives you cards based on which characters were present, with the character closest to first giving the first card, then the next, then the next (excluding Emerl, Phi, Guard Robo, and Eggman because they do not give out cards).
For example, if it was going to give me Guard Skill, Fighting Pose, and Heal Skill, I would win these cards from these battles:
Emerl vs Sonic vs (Blank) vs Tails
Sonic Guard and Tails Style.
Sonic vs Emerl vs Tails vs (Blank)
Sonic Guard and Tails Style.
Tails & Emerl vs Sonic & Knuckles
Tails Guard, Sonic Style, and Knuckles Heal.
I know that getting a higher rank during battle (A is never got hit, B is got hit but not knocked out, and C is got knocked out at least once) gives you a better chance at getting rare cards, and different ranks can wind up giving you different rare cards from the same battle... But that is about all I know about rare cards. I do have several savestates of rare cards being obtained or battles that will result in a rare card, though, if someone else wants to look into it.
(I hope all that made sense, because it took me a few hours to make and I was incredibly tired the whole time. I apologize if anything is unclear or if I forgot something. And thank you for reading this, even if you skipped some or most of it!)
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player
(122)
Joined: 8/11/2009
Posts: 73
Location: Texas
lumice wrote:
Do you find real life unfulfilling?
Yes, but I find fantasies to be even less fulfilling.
lumice wrote:
Do you have a tendecy to avoid problems?
Yes, and I tend to be as passive as possible when I do confront them.
lumice wrote:
Do you look for ways of escaping from stressful situations?
I guess so...?
lumice wrote:
How long is the average speedrun?
As long as the total length of all speedruns divided by the total number of speedruns.
lumice wrote:
Why do you speed run?
To entertain people. All four of the games I have worked on so far have also been to make specific people happy, and I was sort of hoping that more people would like Tails' Skypatrol if I TASed it.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player
(122)
Joined: 8/11/2009
Posts: 73
Location: Texas
Warp wrote:
How much can the RNG be manipulated? Could it be possible to manipulate it so that it gives you a scrambled cube which actually has some "pretty pattern"? That would be awesome.
That depends on how the cubes are generated. It seems likely that the game generates them by applying a randomly generated list of moves to a solved cube, so it should be possible to manipulate a cube with a specific pattern. It would just be a question of how long it would take to find one.
adelikat wrote:
Kumquat, you have convinced me that there is a lot more depth going on here than I originally gave it credit for. Not just the luck manipulation, but the process of solving it as well.
I approve of this acceptance.
Perhaps we could have avoided the initial rejection if I had spent more time making sure the submission text was clear and informative instead trying to be funny, so I want to apologize for that.
But thanks again, to you and the rest of the staff! And to all of the viewers, too, of course!
(And thanks to alden, my brother, and Steve the Smilin' Egg, as well!)
alden wrote:
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player
(122)
Joined: 8/11/2009
Posts: 73
Location: Texas
Thank you very much for giving our movie another chance!
Noob Irdoh wrote:
TASVideoAgent wrote:
Nickname: Noob Irdoh
Comment: Oh... It's an archer?
I love you, sir. And I support mmbossman's proposal of unrejection.
Um, thanks, but I am not a "sir". (Or maybe you were talking to alden, but I wrote that one, so...)
Kuwaga wrote:
I was a bit disappointed by the 4x4 solution. It seems to have used a suboptimal algorithm for solving it. I'd vote meh if I knew for sure that a faster solving algorithm has already been found, but I don't.
As far as we know, FiveStage444 is the most optimal solver currently available. The cube we solved was at least 8 turns faster than the solution for any other cube we checked, so I think we found one of the fastest ones.
Kirkq wrote:
The solution in the movie for a 3x3x3 is 20 moves. This site claims that any 3x3x3 cube can be solved in 22 moves or less.
http://cubezzz.homelinux.org/drupal/?q=node/view/121
[...]
The concept is interesting, but I feel that these automated solvers have you beat on novelty.
Yes, the upper limit is known to be 21 face turns. A quarter turn and a half turn each count as 1 face turn, but Rubik's World only allows quarter turns. The original solution to the 3x3x3 cube in this movie took 17 face turns but 21 quarter turns, and I shortened it to 20.
For comparison, the currently known upper limit for quarter turns is 29.
And I disagree that automated solvers are more novel than our movie, especially the one you linked to. Not only are the cubes in our movie spinning, but the 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 cubes were solved with fewer moves than suggested by the most optimal solvers we could find!
Also, Rubik's World has nice music.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player
(122)
Joined: 8/11/2009
Posts: 73
Location: Texas
Certainly! First, your DS's (or emulator's, in this case) nickname, comment, and language settings affect the RNG that generates the cubes. The combined length of your nickname and comment is what matters most, but the two different nickname lengths with the same total length can generate different cubes.
For example, this movie requires you to have a total length of either 29 (if your nickname is 3 or 10 characters long) or 30 (if your nickname is between 5 and 9), and your language must be English. (Nicknames that are 1, 2, or 4 characters long will not work.)
Second, advancing through any menu or message, including pausing and unpausing the game, will change the RNG. There are three messages in the beginning that you can go through back and forth very quickly, so you could manipulate quite a few different sets of cubes without the average viewer even noticing!
So, yes, it is certainly possible that someone could find a better set of cubes.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player
(122)
Joined: 8/11/2009
Posts: 73
Location: Texas
adelikat, I have decided to challenge your decision. I apologize in advance if I have misunderstood anything.
First, you claim that the currently published Solitaire and Monopoly runs are similar to Rubik's World in that they are all based on real-life games, but different in that they show something extraordinary while Rubik's World does not.
That is certainly true of Monopoly – the chances of that occurring in real life are not good at all, assuming everyone is playing fair – but I fail to see how Solitaire is any different. Yes, many deals of Klondike are unsolvable, and perhaps the one in the published movie is one of the fastest. The chances of that specific deal occurring in real life are low, but it is not easily distinguishable from other deals in a way that makes it seem extraordinary, just like any given Rubik's Cube is indistinguishable from another to the untrained eye – with the exception of obvious differences such as a cube that can be solved in one turn versus one that cannot.
Second, you mention speedcubing and a few variants, and you also say that comparing our run to the world records is trivial.
I agree – we should compare this movie to how an unassisted human would perform playing Rubik's World. But tying in to the first point, I think that just because humans can quickly solve a Rubik's Cube unassisted (with or without extra conditions) does not make our movie less impressive in the eyes of an average person. After all, the Solitaire movie is slower than the unassisted record and it was still well-received.
Third, you claim that the input is un-novel and within human abilities.
No. It is not.
While it is neither groundbreaking nor the greatest display of super-human abilities, it is still a display of super-human precision. Touching the screen in the wrong place or at the wrong time will cause the cube to stop moving completely at best and spin wildly or turn an incorrect slice at worst. And I tried to make the input a little interesting for the 4x4x4 cube and credits. Have you watched it with input display turned on?
Besides, doing everything frame-perfectly itself is super-human. And it should not matter what the input is as long as the audience is entertained and the goals are met (and acceptable).
Finally, the main reason you rejected it is because you feel that speed-solving a Rubik's Cube is not best-suited to TASing.
Perhaps it is not.
But it works well enough to entertain many people.
Air Action: Rouge Catch (15 SP)
If you are flying and you use this air action, you immediately stop flying. The only way to fly without an air action is with Rouge Flight, which I used. But even without Rouge Flight, this is probably the best air action of all – it also allows you to use your aerial special move again without landing!
Guard Skill: Chao Knight (5 SP)
I originally planned on using the default guard skill (the aptly named Guard Skill), but I switched to this just before I started recording because I thought it would look funny.
Heal Skill: Heal Skill (0 SP)
Heal Skill is SSS+ tier and should be banned from tool-assisted play.
First Attack: Girl Jab (15 SP)
Dear Kumquat, how do you tool-assist with boxing gloves on?
Very quickly is how! This is the fastest first attack besides Ultimate First Attack (or so I assume; I never actually tested them), which makes it great for interrupting opponents.
It does 5 damage.
Second Attack: Electric Stab (10 SP)
A slow but powerful attack that looks a little odd. It has a lot of ending lag that can be canceled by using your third attack.
It does 16 damage.
Third Attack: Flexible Chaos (5 SP)
Another strange-looking attack that trades speed for power. It is a little faster than Electric Stab, though.
It does 16 damage.
Heavy Attack: Magic Hook (20 SP)
Another boxing glove from nowhere, but with a twist! Get it? Twist? Because it twists around you and yeah okay that was a stupid joke.
Anyway, the heavy attack you have equipped determines your chasing jump animation (the high jump you can do after you launch an opponent away). I think Tails's looks the funniest.
It has three hitboxes that do 4, 5, and 24 damage. The third hit launches the opponent away.
If the opponent is launched into a wall and does not successfully rebound, they take 15 damage that is not modified by Attack Support. This applies to all attacks that can launch opponents away.
Upper Attack: Chao Upper (15 SP)
It looks kind of like Chao Knight, and it shares an odd property with it: you can aim it up and down. Doing so does only changes the visuals – the hitbox for this move will still be in front of you, and guarding up or down does nothing special.
It does 13 damage and flings the opponent into the air.
Dash Attack: Girl Bomber (15 SP)
Emerl's mother always told him, "If you love someone, protect them with everything you've got!"
"Even with my butt?" he would ask.
"Especially with your butt! Um, I mean, Emerl, don't use such rude language!"
It does 32 damage and launches the opponent away.
Air Attack: Typhoon (20 SP)
Emerl supposedly copied this move from Tails, but he obviously learned it while fighting on the streets. Using this boosts you upward slightly and resets the flight timer for Rouge Flight. With proper positioning, you can hit your opponent up to four times.
It does 10 damage per hit.
Aim Attack: Chaos Impact (15 SP)
Aim attacks can only be used during a chasing jump. If you time them properly, your opponent will take a lot of damage and be thrown into the ground. If not, the opponent will take a bit of damage and possible be able to counter-attack.
Chaos Impact, like many other skills I chose, looks silly.
It does 63 damage if you time it right and 16 damage otherwise.
Ground Shot: Rock Free Fall (15 SP)
With the power of Knuckles's fists (and manly grunts), Emerl can pull a giant rock out of the ground...or thin air, if there is no ground in font of him. This move is great for hitting opponents out of the air.
The rock does 47 damage and the rocksplosion does 24 damage. Both parts of the attack knock the opponent back.
Air Shot: Air Pink Typhoon (30 SP)
Amy can fly by condensing her love into a spiral of pink energy, and now Emerl can, too! Combined with Rouge Catch, you could quickly rise up to the ceiling and stay there as long as you want! Of course, there is not a lot you can do with the power of love if you are all alone...
The pink typhoon does 16 damage and flings the opponent into the air. The hammer does 4 damage and counts as a normal attack for the purpose of defending.
Ground Power: Deep Impact (5 SP)
Yes, this is truly a one-star skill.
It does 110 damage and launches the opponent away. Please note that it is not possible to have more than 100 HP.
Air Power: Ultimate Air Power (30 SP)
Whee! Thanks to Rouge Catch, Emerl can fly all over the place with this skill! Your Color 1 determines your color during this move, but the afterimages are always blue.
On the way down, it does 63 damage. While rolling forward, it does 47 damage. Both fling the opponent into the air. On the way back, it does 60 damage and launches the opponent away (though it is not possible to jump after them).
If you are knocked out by a special attack while using this attack, you will glitch up during your KO animation and be unable to move for the rest of the match. This does not count as a KO for your opponent.
Ground Trap: ??? [Amy] (30 SP)
This attack is so powerful that the developers were unable to think of a name for it. "How about 'Triple Gift'?" the newest employee suggested.
"No," the senior developer said. "We already told you, it's '???' because it's an attack Emerl made up himself, and he sucks with names."
"Oh, so he inherited his naming skills from Sonic, too?"
It does 32 damage and flings the opponent into the air.
Air Trap: Cream Air Cracker (15 SP)
Omochao is so much fun! Using him leaves you closer to the ground than you started, though, and he will only automatically detonate on grounded opponents.
Omochao is here to help by doing 79 damage and flinging opponents into the air.
Fighting Pose: Chaos Style (15 SP)
Your fighting pose determines the sounds you make when you get hit, what animation you use for everything not determined by another skill, how fast you turn, how far you can move as you turn (Tails Style is ridiculous), and your eye color. E-102 Style also makes you explode when you are knocked out. I chose Chaos Style because I like how it looks.
Attack Support: Attack Support 9 (30 SP)
As I mentioned before, this attack support increases damage output by approximatley 4/7, rounded up. (For example, with Attack Support 0 equipped, Typhoon does 6 damage per hit, Girl Bomber does 20 Damage, and Deep Impact does 70 damage.)
Strength Support: Strength Support 0 (0 SP)
Who needs defense when you have tools?
Answer: the computer-controlled Emerls.
Other Support: Speed Up Level 2 (20 SP)
Higher top speed is more important than faster acceleration, different gravity, or faster ichikoro generation.
Color 1: Amy Color 1 (5 SP)
Ah, pink. The color of love, strawberry ice cream, invisibility, breast cancer, and joke characters. And several other things, apparently including hedgehogs and robots.
Color 2: E-102 Color 2 (5 SP)
Red is my favorite color! E-102 Color 2 is actually almost the exact same as Amy Color 2; the shading on this one is slightly darker. I chose it because I already had Amy Color 1.
Color 3: Rouge Color 3 (5 SP)
Purple goes well with pink and red.
I also wrote a Lua script that displays each character's speed, position, health, ichikoro, specials, and respawn timer. It still has a few bugs, though. And it probably has a bunch of suboptimal code...
Download SonicBattleCharacterInfo.lua
But the respawn timers mess up for a few frames when you load savestates because I was unable to find the correct addresses for them. I did find something that counts upward after a character is knocked out, but it gets used for something else while they are alive.
Also, it messes up during round four because the game does not properly clear certain addresses during challenge mode.
And I almost forgot – luck manipulation during fights seem to be based primarily on your and your opponent's positions, which is why I wasted so much time against Chaos.
As for manipulating cards, I think the only ways to change what cards you get are to win a battle or quit to the menu and restart. For common cards, it stores which types of cards (like Run Skill or Ground Power) you will get and gives you cards based on which characters were present, with the character closest to first giving the first card, then the next, then the next (excluding Emerl, Phi, Guard Robo, and Eggman because they do not give out cards).
For example, if it was going to give me Guard Skill, Fighting Pose, and Heal Skill, I would win these cards from these battles:
Emerl vs Sonic vs (Blank) vs Tails
Sonic Guard and Tails Style.
Sonic vs Emerl vs Tails vs (Blank)
Sonic Guard and Tails Style.
Tails & Emerl vs Sonic & Knuckles
Tails Guard, Sonic Style, and Knuckles Heal.
I know that getting a higher rank during battle (A is never got hit, B is got hit but not knocked out, and C is got knocked out at least once) gives you a better chance at getting rare cards, and different ranks can wind up giving you different rare cards from the same battle... But that is about all I know about rare cards. I do have several savestates of rare cards being obtained or battles that will result in a rare card, though, if someone else wants to look into it.
(I hope all that made sense, because it took me a few hours to make and I was incredibly tired the whole time. I apologize if anything is unclear or if I forgot something. And thank you for reading this, even if you skipped some or most of it!)