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rog wrote:
Not sure if you still care, or if you've already figured this out, but just in case, to dump in HD, you just need to set the internal res to whatever you need (2x for 720p, 3x for 1080p), turn off render to main window, and enable auto adjust window size.
Unfortunately you cannot dump to your monitor's resolution like that, because the title bar will cause it to scale down slightly, but if you have a higher res monitor, or can otherwise hack it to scale larger than the monitor, it will work fine.
This doesn't work well with RE4. During pause screens, the window resolution changes (from 1280x720 to 1024x768). I'm using a 1080p monitor, so I know the image can fit. The 1024x768 resolution isn't too odd, since this is a standard window size, but why it changes in mid recording is weird. When in full screen however it works fine.
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ais523 wrote:
Mightn't it be possible to get the emulator to calculate the lag differences, like is done with NESbot, and do the time shifting automatically? Or is Mupen not accurate enough for that?
I wouldn't even know how to begin such a task. Someone more knowledgeable about the emulator and programming would need to pick this up. Even if the lag counter can be interpreted in Mupen, I wouldn't have the slightest idea how the data would be used on the console.
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Rena wrote:
Unfortunately modern N64 emulators don't enforce the limitations of the console, so games load and run faster than they should. That does mean a lot of the runs aren't technically valid...
It's a problem with hacks too, since you get hacks that won't work on a real console because the GPU isn't fast enough or they aren't sending it some instructions that it needs but that emulators just ignore...
Anyway this is a really cool project. All you do is send back the next frame every time you're asked for it? I would have expected syncing to be a nightmare...
I would still say most of the N64 TASes are still valid, but with certain, like load times, syncing the run is next to impossible on console. I was able to get Majora's Mask to sync up until Link turns into a Deku, but it involves a bunch of adding/deleting frames until the load times differences between emulator/console are eliminated. However, I don't see this working in the long run, and hand editing the whole thing would be a chore. I would assume, however, that all non-load screen areas will still sync up with the movements. And yes, I just send a new command every time a new request is sent to the controller. In case you wonder, it's what the middle of the 3 holes on the controller port is.
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I thought of something that may cause some problems in the future. If I get to disk 2, can Dolphin continue recording the dtm file? Technically Dolphin views Disk1 and Disk2 as separate games. There are a few things that can be done about this:
1. Dolphin might continue the dtm file and autoloads disk2 (doubtful).
2. I will have to create a save file at the end of Disk1. The end of Ch4-3 prompts a save screen before prompting the player to switch disks. I will start recording a 2nd dtm file with disk2 which load the save. The total time will be the combined frame numbers.
3. There is a way to switch disks while recording the dtm.
The problem with #2 is that TASvideos usually frowns upon game saves, especially since the save will then be used to continue the same TAS but in two separate dtms. I know some TASes use saves, but they don't use two separate input files. Also since I have already started TASing with no memory card inserted, the encoder would have to pause the game and go to the options to manually insert the memory card at some point during the gameplay. Considering that a console player could easily insert a MC during a speedrun, I don't see why I couldn't in a TAS. In fact I do it at the end of chapters to compare my times to the console versions (XBOX360/PS3). Opinions or solutions to this problem?
I personally would prefer option 2. This is still a while off, but I thought I'd put the idea out there.
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Tseralith wrote:
Also at 8:24 when you shoot the bird to get the flash grenade, you then move and shoot the two barrels after you picked up the grenade. Isn't it possible to shoot the two barrels before you move forward instead?
The only defense I have is "you try manipulating 2 flame grenades at the same place." :p I am redoing several parts of the TAS, starting with this area, and maybe even as far back as the merchant.
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Tseralith wrote:
Is it possible to manipulate the enemy you kill at the dynamite trap in 9:10? Or does he always drop a red herb?
I'm trying to manipulate something good from him, but regardless of what I do, 1/2 the time he drops a green herb. I've gotten him to drop an incendiary, but I plan on getting a good money drop or a grenade. Also hope to have that snake drop a gold egg so I can sell it for 3000ptas.
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rog wrote:
SoulCal wrote:
Still...over 200 comments on his upload but only 20 for mine, and I can't even know what people are saying about my run! :/
Nothing exciting.
I think it's exciting. At least he gave me credit, and he also translated my annotations into Japanese. He also must have followed my other WIPs, cause he added annotations from my old WIPs into this new one (like how grenade running is 4.6% faster than with handgun at 0:54).
I was able to translate some of the comments people made. They generally follow the idea of "Good job," "Finally!," "didn't know 9900ptas drops existed," or "is an American doing this?" Nothing really in the department of "he did this wrong," which some criticism is what I hoped for. Oh well. Seems like 7000 Japanese players are excited for this.
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Slowking wrote:
Well in german it says "can also be seen on []". I would guess that, since there is a lot of cross-copying between nico and youtube, they agreed to put links to each other.
But might also be what you think. Which would be sucky. I hope the japanese guy gave proper credit. We have had quite a few isntances where they didn't...
I was able to translate some of it, and he actually did give me credit for it, and he posted the youtube link to my page. Still...over 200 comments on his upload but only 20 for mine, and I can't even know what people are saying about my run! :/
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I noticed on my RE4 video on youtube, it says "As seen on: 新着投稿動画‐ニコニコ動画" and it leads to a NicoNicoDouga page. It seems like a Japanese person (probably a TASer) uploaded it there or something. I don't mind it that much, but considering it has over 6000 views on NicoVideo, and my original link only has 260...
YouTube seemed to associate that the NicoVideo link is the original video and I just copied it; not the other way around. Can anyone confirm this?
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Wak017 wrote:
Question for you...
When I check for Widescreen, it doesn't appear at widescreen. Does it only work when you dump frames?
Go to Graphics>General>Aspect Ratio>Force16:9
Then Graphics>Advanced>Widescreen Hack
And Wak, do you have the ISO for RE4? Or are you just trying widescreen for other games? Either way, here is my dtm file everyone. Anyone want to try TASing Del Lago for me? I reeeeeally could use some help with this TAS. http://www.2shared.com/file/wuRmIDBy/DelLago.html
And I've noticed two route errors on my part. When I used the key to access the church, I should have pressed Y and gone to the item menu from there, instead of mashing A. This wasted 2 frames. Next, I didn't quick turn with handgun after the merchant transaction. This wasted an additional 10 frames. On the plus side, I manipulated 2 incendiary grenades at the same location, so I guess the additional frames changed the RNG enough to allow this to happen. It would take at least that many frames to manipulate incendiaries anywhere else, so to be honest I'm fine with the errors (ironic, I know).
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Tub wrote:
Very nice SoulCal. :)
Though I wonder why you enabled the widescreen hack at all, if it doesn't work well? Does the run sync with the hack disabled, i.e. can it be disabled for the official encode should you submit the finished run later?
I TAS with widescreen off, and the widescreen hack can be enabled and the run will sync just fine. I personally think the game overall looks better with widescreen since it displays more of the environment. The only odd occurrences are the title screen and some water effects. Now only if there were a hack to extend the view by replacing the black bars at the top and bottom with more gameplay (like the widescreen hack but in a vertical direction), then we would have a 1080p view of the full screen...
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jlun2 wrote:
One of these glitches should be useful for the TAS.
Oh, btw, I think the Del Lago was shown to be killed in 1 hit by throwing a spear at its mouth when it starts to rush at you. Maybe, you should try that, since I can't find the video anywhere.
Some of those glitches are useful, so good post. I don't believe it is possible to kill Del Lago in one hit. Even if it is, you can kill him before he does that rush move anyway.
jlun2 wrote:
You are doing just fine sir! Loved every part of it. If you keep this up, I think this could be regarded as a pacifist run, no? (this is certainly not a complaint, just a friendly remark). Also liked how there were no excessive comments. they were short, clear and straightforward. You must feel a huge relief knowing read-only mode works better now :) I will definitely follow all of your future wips and can't wait to see how fast you manage to kill all bosses. Your run looks well-planned thusfar.
The now working read only mode is what encouraged me to finish this, although I will still be paranoid about desyncs so I will play the entire dtm from beginning at times. It currently takes my laptop 45 minutes to get to Del Lago, and that's only 12 minutes of gameplay. I killed a few enemies along the way so it's not a pacifist run.
Some people have commented about my decision to kill enemies or destroy barrels for grenades, and say I should do it during the cabin fight. The way I plan on doing that fight is by one-shotting every enemy with handgun, thus the enemies really won't have a chance to even get in the cabin for me to collect their items. I think I'm okay with money ATM because I won't need a rocket launcher for Chief Mendez like I thought I would. The next merchant interaction will probably be in the castle after using the cannon, which is quite a ways off. I will buy a RL and the TMP w/ stock then.
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Slowking wrote:
If it's not squashed it's not 16:9 (black bars do not count towards resolution). Make up your mind damn it! XD
So what you are saying is even without the widescreen hack RE4 has black bars? Which basically means usually it is a 16:9 image in a 4:3 frame.
But with the widescreen hack that gets even wider...
Couldn't have said it better myself, which I obviously didn't. Yeah, the black bars are always there.
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Slowking wrote:
Oh. So the image is squashed? That ecplains it. Why didn't you just cut the black bars from the video?
It's not squashed; it's what the gamecube actually outputs. I could crop them out when I did editing, but the results would be an odd resolution like 1280x600.
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Slowking wrote:
Nice. Man that widescreen is wide. I thought that widescreen hack would get you 16:9. What aspect ratio is that?
It is still 16:9, but RE4 displays a widescreen image within a 4:3 image, so the black bars at the top and bottom are part of the actual encode. You can see the additional width gained from the widescreen hack because Leon's health bar should be at the edge of the screen, and also because of the odd effects to the title screen.
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rog wrote:
There's a message saying it saved the .dtm every time you save a state :P
I perceived it as saving the savestate, although it says ".dtm". My PC didn't recognize them as Dolphin files though; I had to manually go in and say "open with Dolphin" for them to be recognized. Initially it looks like "G4BJ0X.s0X" with the .s0X being the file extension of the savestates, but either adding .dtm or saying "open with Dolphin" fixed that. So the dtm files have an extension in the file name, but it wasn't that file type. It just confused me is all, as I was seeing two copies of what appeared to be the same file in the folder. :p
BTW, when trying the "export recording" option is what causes Dolphin to crash on me sometimes. Is there a way to look at the buffer(s) or memory that Dolphin is using to remember the button presses, without saving a dtm file? This way if Dolphin crashes we can recover that data if we hadn't done a savestate.
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So I TASed an area in Resident Evil 4 for about 2 hours, just to manipulate some item drops. The moment I finally manipulate the drop I need, Dolphin crashed! However, I realized that if you go to the "statesaves" folder in the "user" folder, whichever state that you last saved to, look at that DTM file with that savestate number, and it contains the button presses before the crash. Idk if this is common knowledge among Wii-TASers, but good info regardless.
Example:
1. TASing, savestate5
2. Dolphin crashes
3. Go to User->Statesaves->G4BJ08.s05.dtm is your button file
This saved my sanity for yet another day, and hope it will yours.
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rog wrote:
Ok, i've got a problem in 235 that is completely breaking my movies. A new header is being randomly made in the middle of my .dtm files, causing a desync. Deleting the extra header does not make it sync. I have no idea what causes it. I uploaded a .dtm with an example of it, in case it's useful to anyone in figuring it out.
http://www.mediafire.com/?t5fvo2i42pugg6s
edit: Entire first 0x1000 bytes are duplicated. Deleting that however still does not make it sync.
I noticed this error, but not on dtms I record. If I go to the "savestates" folder the dtms there have the extra headers.
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rog wrote:
After closing and reopening dolphin are you playing back the movie (the one you saved at frame 200)? or simply starting the game, and loading save state 1?
I go to Emulation->play recording.
rog wrote:
If you start recording, make a save state right away, go through the menu at the beginning of the game, and make a second save state, then turn on read only mode, then load save state 1, what happens?
This works, however it is not what I want. I click the X to shut down Dolphin, it prompts me to save my dtm; which I do, and name it something like RE4.dtm and it is placed in the "Recordings" folder. If I play back RE4.dtm, then loadstate1, it will not play back from the point savestate1 is at, specifically because savestate1 was not created from RE4.dtm (which is that new error Nitsuja put in).
rog wrote:
Prior to 3.0-234, it would simply say movie ended, and it would not go any further.
This is partially untrue. Read-only mode sorta worked with older revisions. Say you have a dtm file(say 1000 frames long), open Dolphin, then play the dtm back and create a savestate at frame 500, then close Dolphin again. If you play back that same dtm and did loadstate, it would resume playback at frame 500. The "Movie End" message would appear only if you didn't create a savestate while playing it back. Don't think I'm crazy, cause I know this to be fact for older revisions. But like I said, this method forces the TASer to play back the dtm file regardless, so there's no point.
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rog wrote:
And it still works as you described in your last post?
Maybe we're having some miscommunication? I just don't see a difference yet in the 235 revision, except for the error messages saying that the dtm and savestate don't match up. I want to do exactly what I described with my frame 100/200 example above, but that doesn't seem to work.
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rog wrote:
Turn on read only if you want to play back, then load the savestate you want to start playing from.
That won't work. If I do loadstate, it gives that error that the dtm and savestate don't match up. The emulator screen then says "End Movie."
Let's say I did "savestate 1" while TASing at frame 100. I continue TASing till frame 200, then I close the emulator and save my dtm file. I want to be able to say "loadstate 1 and continue playback of new dtm at frame 100." However, since the savestate was created with the previous dtm, and not the new one, the new dtm won't do playback.
rog wrote:
If you want to continue recording from the save state, turn off read only before loading it.
This I know works. The problem is I want to Playback from this point; not just add more stuff from this point on.
rog wrote:
Read only was broken before 234. That's not how it's supposed to (or does anymore) work. You can pause while recording, turn on read only, then load your last save state, and it'll play back from that save state up until the point you were at.
If I understand this correctly, this won't do what I want it to either, since I will have to watch my entire run again to create those savestates to be associated with that specific dtm. I do see some benefit to doing this, but everytime I close the emulator (or more often, when Dolphin crashes) I will have to watch the entire run again.
And btw, I apologize if I sound uptight. I find it difficult to put my thought process down.
