Marahna is indeed a very easy stage...in the US version, anyways. The Japanese version is a nightmare. The enemies act faster, the boss ducks in and out...
For those that use iGoogle, rejoice! They've added numerous gaming themes, including Mario, Zelda, The Sims, Mega Man, and so many more. WIN!!!
http://www.google.com/help/ig/gaming/
(And yes the Mega Man one has themes related to MM9, including Magma Man and Hornet Man. No sign of Splash Woman though...damn.)
EDIT:
Here's Aitos Act 1. I managed to save 514 frames. I actually managed to save frames on the part where birds carry you over. Probably lag reduction because I spent more time on the ground. I also managed a very nice time-saver elsewhere. Perhaps one of you guys have already discovered it, but I was rather pleased, because I'd been wondering if it was possible, and I barely managed it. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it. :)
Aitos Act 1 WIP 1
Also, it turns out that it's possible to zip in ActRaiser:
Zipping example. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where I'd be able to use it. Unless you guys can think of another way to jam into walls where it would actually be useful instead, of, um killing the character.
Holy crap, I had wondered if it was possible to get up to that upper ledge at the end. Now you've proven that it IS possible! You saved 9 seconds (timer wise) from what I normally have in that section. Great boss fight as well.
As for the ZIP, nice glitch find. I can't think of anywhere it would help, since there's not a lot of moving platforms that go on the edge of ledges/ceilings, etc.
Quick question - in Filmore you build down, up, left.
On the second up road, why not go one right first, then left? If a house were built on the right-side road, it would save a build cycle...
The reason why he goes up, down, and then back up again is that it's part of the formula to avoid having a house being built in one particular spot (on the first block of road north of the temple), which if built there will always catch on fire, forcing him to have to go through more chatter and either putting it out (20 MP miracle Rain) or waiting for it to burn itself out.
Well, given that your spreadsheet only has a 20 sim buffer, I just wanted to make sure you remembered about that. Though if I'm reading the rest of it right, I guess I may be worrying too much, since you have room to spare on every area of the world.
(So like Fillmore you have 392 out of a possible 448. Correct?)
Dunnius: I would really appreciate if you would post an SMV--it's much easier to understand your strategy when I can see it in action!
On another note, I haven't changed my Fillmore strategy yet, but I realized that I could get to the upper-left lair in Bloodpool earlier without losing much time to moving the construction square or whatever you call it. Thus Bloodpool reaches its highest civilization level earlier. That makes the population grow more quickly enough in Bloodpool that, in combination with managing to get one more house in the first construction phase in Kasandora, I managed to leave Kasandora one turn earlier. I also managed to leave Marahna one turn earlier, for a total of two turns saved over my 1st WIP.
So that you guys can see what I'm doing, here's my 2nd WIP:
Note that I didn't bother to fine tune some little things like how many roads actually need to be built to get the growth we want without making excess roads. You'll notice some missed arrow shots. The action sequences are played in real time. The point is to figure out the best general strategy for each sim, since what you do in each sim has a "ripple effect" on how things go in the later sims, which makes it a pain.
And a spreadsheet of this 2nd WIP.
One thing I must comment on with your WIP2 is that you have to remember that your score in the action stages (INCLUDING Act 2) has a reflection on how big the population can get in that area. Taking that long route and fighting as much as you did in Filmoa Act II will impact the population after you leave. 50 points = 1 soul. May not seem like much, but it can add up over time.
Just reminding you.
I would rather see my run improved first before a Prof mode run comes into fruition possibly. I think 5 mins at least could be shaved off. So I'm interested seeing the results. The run is 5 years old for crying out loud.
Of course, that's totally understandable. Good to see you around still.
Also, you forgot to mention that your run was beaten by a non-TAS run. :P
(Yes, I'm enjoying saying that while I still can.)
System Error:
Look again at the rules:
"However, there are certain games with unlockable modes that can only be accessed if a save file (or an otherwise "dirty" SRAM) is present. If you really wish to submit a movie made on such mode, you will need a verification movie first. Any input file that starts from power-on (for example, a previously submitted or published movie for that game) and creates the exact circumstances for your submission to sync will generally do. Note that you don't have to optimize the verification movie: it only serves as a save or SRAM generator that makes it possible to claim the legitimacy of your effort."
So it looks like someone could submit a run of Special or Professional mode if they also submitted a movie that plays through the game to unlock the mode. Runs that start from saves have been accepted before (e.g., the Chrono Trigger New Game+ run).
The thing about ActRaiser's save file is that it works just like Symphony of the night. 99.9% of the contents of the save file don't matter. All you have to do to unlock professional/special mode is start the game, save at some point, then beat it. Mode unlocked.
The rule is (I think) more aimed at games like Chrono Trigger where stats and junk carry over to a NG+ run.
Just my feeling on things.
IMO, forget about the sims, and by association and in accordance with the no saved data rule, forget about the American version completely. Just play on the European version so you can get into Action-Mode only from the get-go. I mean really, who cares about the simulation mode? :P It's boring, it's slow, and even with all the technical stuff that can go into it, it'd still be a pain to watch compared to the action sequences.
Says the person who plays the slowest version of the game out there. :P
God walks with a limp in the European version. ^^;;
You guys have me torn over this. On one hand, it's exciting to see what can be done with this game and to see a much needed improvement to the published TAS.
On the other hand, I love being able to say I have a published record that's faster then a TAS.
BTW, when you guys are done with the normal game, make sure you do a run on Professional!/Special mode. While Professional! is faster, Special is considerably more challenging and I think would be a lot more fun to see. (And save files between the US and Japanese versions for unlocking this are interchangeable.)
The one thing that I do like about this game over the SNES one is the speed of the gameplay. For me, the SNES version just feels too slow. Granted I haven't seen a TAS of it yet, but just moving around feels clunky to me.
It's suppose to be clunky. That's so it can be Nintendo Hard.
Not to try and discredit you or anything, but this argument seems similar to the one that Resident Evil fans use that states that the clunky controls are to make the game "scarier". :X
And being Nintendo Hard doesn't necessarily make for an entertaining movie. The most prominent argument coming from prior submissions is, "This game is slow and boring." I haven't watched any of them, so I can't assess it myself.
(I would still like to see a movie get published, please don't shoot me)
Resident Evil controls aren't to make it scarier, but it's to completely FRUSTRATE THE PLAYER. GRARGH.
And SGaG on the SNES isn't interesting to watch completely because it's nintendo hard, but it's what I think a very nice experience (if you're good enough at the game). Difficult platforming, great graphics and sound...
Yeah.
The one thing that I do like about this game over the SNES one is the speed of the gameplay. For me, the SNES version just feels too slow. Granted I haven't seen a TAS of it yet, but just moving around feels clunky to me.
It's suppose to be clunky. That's so it can be Nintendo Hard.
The only time it is allowed is with the DS or PSP. You have to build some craaaazy contraption to keep the damn system still as you play it. Also, no webcams :P
You don't even need it for the PSP anymore. PSP-3000 supports interlaced composite out now, so anybody an record easily.
You know, I never understood why the space/time beam was termed a "Hardware Glitch." What does it actually is it doing?
Does it throw invalid opcodes to the processor which then proceeds to actually still do work in an undefined way rather than triple faulting?
Does it try to dereference memory that isn't actually there and so it pulls in white noise?
Does it attempt to write to ROM locations and fails with undefined results?
Does it attempt to pull items off of an empty stack and pulls off random noise instead?
Something else?
Well, obviously it doesn't write to ROM locations...that's impossible since it's "Read Only Memory" (hence the name).
What it's likely doing is modifying RAM, modifying bits to tell the game what hasn't been collected, but doesn't modify what's currently collected. I know it does more, but it's really all RAM modification.
Funny, I got a sports figure and a sports quote. Too bad it's not the same sport. ^^;;