Well when it comes to killing the bridge guard you'll first have to switch to weapon then shoot. I figure slapper can be used sooner.
Can be used sooner, but from the time it accepts your press of Z to the connection of the slap is not instantaneous like a gun. Plus the need for close range, and that the soonest possible kill will result in more than likely not the fastest escape time... yeah, just shoot the fucker I think.
Interesting route- how will the pipes be warped without a weapon switch? guard boost?
Hmm, also it's probably important to manipulate so that your team all wind up having the same zodiac; and enter battles at the right time so that the enemies that can be randomly generated have max compatibility for higher damage. I don't know which sign to go with offhand, since I can't remember what the majority of bosses/enemy leaders would have good/best compatibility with.
Also placement on the map determines turn order for units with matching speed scores, this'll probably come into play a few times when placing units on the battlefield
(Just throwing some ideas out)
The fastest way strikes me as "glitch-learn teleport/teleport behind enemy leader as a knight/attack/critical hit/instant win". For battels where you have to kill everyone, just manipulate critical hits/knockback evasion and what have you with a full team. Later, duping Excaliburs would give your whole team auto-haste so you'll actually start going first despite being underlevelled from total lack of any grinding.
same here - and im sure theres plenty of lurkers like me who give a damn as well :)
edit: I also just saw a little bit of casino royale last night - so make that 2 damns at least.
Good to see use of the on-strafe crosshair.
Pretty sneaky to use the datathief in that spot. And I agree with whomever it was that said to prepare that one box for the boost on the way out.
I'll have an encode uploaded in the next little while.
Problem with pressing B is that i will never reach the credits unless i play cradle again, so button codes would be preferred, but yeah, i'll try to include them if i ever get that far(I tend to loose motivation quickly, though this time i have experience of every level in the game and previous TAS'es to help me so it might be easier).
Anyway here's some estimations:
Runway - Prolly 35 again, seems good.
Surface - Very hard to improve as well, maybe a second faster.
Bunker - Think Simon already cut a second here, 2.3 will allow open doors in beginning saving even more.
Silo - A second or two max, not sure how much is possible, RT's run was good.
Frigate - I'll try really hard to manipulate this perfectly, so 10'ish seconds.
Surface2 - 3rd camera can gain a few seconds by shooting through woods, simon already did this.
Bunker2 - A second or two has already been done so that's what i'll aim for.
Statue - Think i already did a second faster here, maybe another sec is possible.
Archives - My 52 TAS is probably the best TAS ever done in this game, gonna be hard to do again but i'll try.
Streets - 1:54 is great, depends on decimal if 1:53 can be done.
Depot - 2.3 is a major advantage here, 3-4 seconds possibly.
Train - Not sure here, a second or two maybe.
Jungle - A second?
Control - If i remember correctly this is improvable by a few secs as well(2.3 allows for open elevator door too).
Caverns - Beginning can be faster, so 2 secs perhaps. Also 2.3 advantage.
Cradle - 33.
Aztec - Already did 1:29, just gonna do it again.
Egypt - Also did this already, 44.
Oh boy! Improvement time!?
(Wall of text)
Well, my main reason for not jumping in right away was that I was utterly SICK of the first two levels. There were also some other nuances that have been taken care of at this point on the technical side of things (one of them was just that I wasn't aware of a particular feature), but then again I haven't seen the WIP yet (on the laptop for a couple days so I'll come back monday with the verdict). I'll watch what's done so far- I'd be glad to help out too!
But.... I had some preconditions I wanted before I would even try to do an improvement by myself or otherwise.
1- glide Napalm graphics plugin; as far as I've seen testing it myself (played through the game on emu) this plugin has no graphical issues whatsoever. this is a must for any improvement.
2- 2.4 control style- NOT 2.3. 2.4 has the forward movement and side strafing on the same joystick so I can still use my dated but preferred method of Nrage input. I refuse to use the TAS input plugin.
3- Aim for ingame time. I really have a lot of things I don't like about my first run and trying to please everyone is probably the worst. I think that if I were to do a run I'd rather just do it my way and leave it at that, by aiming for ingame time, and sacrifice real-time readily and often for that purpose.
4- Avoiding skipping of cinemas. First one on Dam's kind of required for the optimal strategy (so the dual gate is open). But otherwise, since some cutscenes would be watched to an extent to use the fire weapon during cutscene glitch I think just watching them all would give the run a more "complete" feel. Not skipping the end cinemas would also allow for some nice playaround techniques without ruining the sacrifice of ingame time which the run would aim for.
5- More blatant showing off. Watching my old run, I missed plenty of opportunity for unnessecary, yet super-sweet moves. Control was fun sure, but think of the fifteen odd levels before that where I focused on being quick and almost nothing else but.
I highly doubt henrik's WIP conforms to my lofty and possible unreasonable standards here, so I might not end up being too involved this time around, unless I start this on my own and just publish it on youtube or something. Don't know if the majority of users at this site want to see the run I have in mind, beat the game as quickly as possible seems to be more the standard I guess. I'd like to see it at least so for anyone who actually cares I'll get around to it... sooner rather than later if Dam and Facility magically apparate finished on my harddrive somewhere.
Oh, now on to the actual shit I quoted, above.
Runway- You already did this looks like, but I was going to suggest 34 should be doable. I had an idea about shooting grenades though I don't remember the specifics offhand. 2.3 can get a boost to start the level by luring that guard near your starting position but I don't think this is to helpful on 00 where health is at a premium later (I remember my health bar was completely empty on the last run)
Surface- if you can get a grenade drop for the locks that might be enough to lower the time unit. better boosts than old run etc...
Bunker- Simon made 57 here without having the door opened from the cutscene, 55 is the time to aim for I say.
Silo-
Frigate- I think I failed something like 54/55 without hostages escaping? The current route is probably the best one, if you're more patient than I was in manipulating them (or just flat out lucky) I.... don't really know what the max would be. Just be aware I spent like 30k do-overs on this stage alone before I just decided "whatever, 108 is good enough"
Surface- Yeah that camera through the trees thing. No horizontal aim in the cutscenes really sucks with that one cinema of it right there.
Bunker 2- Cell door warp + better clipboard lure = 44. Math at it's finest.
Statue- Probably some nuance with the Valstrafe I dont know of but as far as my testing went that seemed to be the fastest he'd move. I just used leans because I was lazy.
Archives- I still don't understand how your 52 worked out? But hey, good luck recreating it!!
Streets- I don't remember too much in particular about this stage. Outside the Valstrafe, I don't remember thinking that too much was improvable outside manipulatimg boosts and stuff.
Depot- Easy 4/5 seconds from cutscene glitch. Going into the computer warehouse, you should be able to take out the drone without losing time since the screen's already toast and no need to shoot it. That would stop a backboost in addition to the time gained from having the door open. I don't remember if guards pull grenades on this level or not, but if you could get one, you could pitch it under the Obj A door and not have to go all the way in there to start the chain reaction. If that works out too, this could be dangerously close to under 40 seconds.
Train- Simon has 143 here, and lower should be doable. You can get the laser out right away (switch to it during the cutscene) and for warping doors later switch between the standard guns since the laser takes too long to bring out. I don't think 141 or better is out of the question.
Jungle- Probably improvable with some cleaning up of things here and there.
Control- Still not sure on the quickest Nat escape. 353 at least should be doable. Oh, and you can elimanate the main screen in the cutscene, that might help with lag earlier and stuff. Open elevator's not as big a timesave you might think, the insta-warp I found for that elevator (same as Caverns) is well... instant.
Caverns- i'm not sure what exactly in the beginning you thought could be faster? Elaboration would be nice. I honestly thought this was the best level in the whole run. I made a tiny strafing error I didn't catch until a couple months after the publish (going back up the stairs in obj. B room) but I don't think that's enough to push the time unit lower... I'm convinced I maxed this level (but only this one... lol) but hey, if you can prove me otherwise, by all means!
Cradle- We know 33 is doable. Something I feel retarded for not trying (or maybe I did and forgot) was to throw the grenade into the hut ahead of trevelyan and blow up the console and him simultaneously. I think the best way to time the explosion would be right as you hit him with the double headshot (then just warp the explosion so you don't die)
Aztec- you got 129 or something right? At least that much should be doable. I remember in my 2.3/2.4 topic at t-e.n I went over a possible cutscene glitch strategy that would get an insane quick glass door, but I've yet to actually test it via Tool assistance.
Egypt- Simon got 42 recently, depending on the needed 00 shot on the last Baron that might be dupe-able here.
ANYWAY!
I'll watch the WIP tomorrow and say what I think of it. I know you well enough to assume that it's nigh unbeatable but there's still nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism.
Oh, and to anyone else, would you actually like to see my "cinematic" run? I certainly wont guarantee immediate results but more interest would probably motivate me to slug through the first couple levels again.
I'd like to add another condition for "getting a billion dollars in the fastest time". What about if you had to it in a way which either
A: fully covered your tracks
B: legitimitley get a hold of a billion dollars
In Vidna, look for the fat guy standing beside a slot machine and he will give Vahn a few coins. Use these coins at a slot machine nearby and manipulate luck where you get three "punch" symbols lined up for a bonus game. In the bonus game, you will also need to manipulate luck where you can get perfect 10's for 1000 coins a piece. But the 10's have to be at the center and going across! It can't be at the top or the bottom.
Slot machine isn't luck based, and is in fact the best way to make money in this game, even unassisted.
I'm not so sure this game would make a good TAS, despite being awesome, simply because of it's length and how long even the simplest of attacks take to execute. Points card abuse is a good idea, but would be boring to watch.
Hooray, more reasons to rewatch movies.
Scumtron's NES Ninja Gaiden in 10:52.68
282 Kills
25.824 Kills/Min
Scumtron's NES Ninja Gaiden 2 in 09:14.32
335 Kills
36.26 Kills/Min
Scumtron's NES Ninja Gaiden 3 in 11:11.93
391 Kills
34.914 Kills/Min
Oh, those poor bosses.
I can picture Kraid, sitting in his chamber... "Ah yeah, just gonna wait for that Samus chick to come here, engage in my ridiculously simple and predictable attack pattern and earn my keep and all that. Also, Holy Shit, the planet just exploded and I am dead."
Voted no.
What I liked
-Glitch routes always fun to watch.
-Zelda telling you your worked your ass of to save six sages when all you did was run around and played with insects.
-The 6 or 7 enemies that were actually fought over the course of the run. The rest however...
(WHat I didn;t like)
-Cutscenes! not really a fault of the author but still lame to sit through.
-Travel. I swear that's all the movie is, not only is it irritating to watch since nothing interesting happens but...
-Unoptimized. I honestly couldn't see any section of travel that couldn't have been improved. A lot of the angle changes in illogical places (say the middle of a field, instead of at a "corner"), times the angle was wrong (running into/against walls, hell in the first trip to the village you lose around five seconds exiting from being very far off-right of the gate and having to correct yourself), and things that were slow and had no real reason to be? (a few twitchy moments before performing some glitches).
-Also, even though I have no idea what the route is, some things you go out of the way to get don't -SEEM- necessary, but I can;t say for sure and that brings me to my final point;
-The submission text. In the future if you plan on submitting more movies to the site, please try and explain the movie better. If explaining a complex glitch is still too tedious, at least explain why some out of the way things were gotten, and actions taken which seem pointless, so the audience isn't left wondering. All you did here was write a half page apology for inoptimal-ness and bad english.
Hmm.
The fight against Graham is pretty long... how much would collecting one more boss orb boost Julius' attack by? if it close to doubles your damage it may be worth trying to kill an extra boss first (least out of the way would be the hippogriph, I believe). Also, in that fight, if the cross can connect multiple times it may be better to use it once or twice in the first phase to cut out that last teleport (you were only one hit away from avoiding it).
Also, the fact that you get hit three times in the last fight is a bit of a letdown, is the getting hit animation really faster than flat out avoiding the attack? alternatively you could save magic for these sections and throw axes while crouching, or using the cross crash (makes you invincible, right?). Of course, that applies only if those suggestions are in fact faster... also, is the dual arm attack not manipulateable in any way? It didn't seem to follow from a pattern of X single arm attacks to 1 dual arm attack...
The rest of the run was great, very sneaky way of moving quickly, I'm just not entirely convinced that this can't be improved any further.
Death as a shortcut was considered at one point, but it takes awhile for the dying animation to go through + the lives screen... it could theoretically save time at the hammer, but there's no way to actually die while Link holds it over his head, and needed to be hit twice to die there, it's slower in practice. The other items are all gotten as a fairy so no time moving is lost, and dying is still slower than leaving the room.
Hope that answers your question.
EDIT: After going back to check, it looks like this could save 123 frames on both the glove and raft. Hammer is still no go for reasons stated, and the child won't work because of where Link starts in the room. So I guess this could be improved a tad over four seconds with a couple ugly looking deaths.
I was waiting for an improvement to this game. I didn't actually know one was in the works.
I really liked it. There was something funny that was in the other movie that wasn't in this one, but that's no big deal. Nice improve. Yes vote from me.
One thing I'm wondering though. I've never played to the point where I get the fairy spell, so I'd like to know if you're supposed to be able to go through locked doors with fairy, or if it's a glitch that needs precision frame work. Are you supposed to be able to go through them?
It's pretty tricky, you have to press and hold left or right to go towards the door for about half of a second.
While Im not too big on FF7, I do really like this game. Zack also reminded me of Zell earlier on in the game, but as the story progresses he matures quite nicely. The ending is also pretty awesome.
