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I've had Timesplitters 2 for a few years now and I still play it with friends (my favorites being team deathmatch and capture the bag with my friends and I on one team and 5star CPU robot team on the other team).
I think it would be cool to have a TAS of each mission on hard mode with 2 players; having both players run off in separate directions to complete tasks would be fun to watch. Some of the Challenges could be amusing as well.
All in all, I would really like to see a TAS of this tackled.
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errror1 wrote:
what spring glitch? are you talking about using a spring and a box to clip through a door? I don't think that would actually be quicker because summoning an object is pretty slow
If you drop a spring sideways next to an object in a certain way (starite included) and it makes contact, the object can go through metal doors and such. Like in A 1-6, you could drop the sideways spring next to the starite and it'll shoot through the door to Max.
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If certain things and glitches were going to be repeated, why didn't you go for the spring glitch in a couple of the levels. It would be faster in levels where the starite is nearby and blocked by a door.
Unless you are going for originality in ideas.
Either way, I like how this is turning out.
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FractalFusion wrote:
TRT wrote:
By the way, have you considered tackling Extreme mode as well? It would be interesting how that would turn out.
Haven't thought of it yet. However, you can't start directly from Extreme mode, and there is no way to record from a save.
I think there is a "start from SRAM" function in the "Record movie" in Desmume but I haven't fully tried it out, so I don't know if it is fully functional or not.
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Great job with this run. The 100 question test was not as fast paced as it was in some previous WIP movies, but the entertainment is much higher. I especially like the pictures that you cannot recognize until the entire picture is drawn (after which one can't help but smile).
It really does remind me of Family Feud but this one has much more done in the 4 minutes. I honestly wish the movie lasted longer :P.
Its a big yes from me.
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I was about to start on this run but it seems like it is already finished xD. It looks like it turned out great. Fast paced, entertaining, and a lot of stuff happening on the top and bottom screen at times.
Yes vote.
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Ryuto wrote:
adelikat wrote:
Hey Ryuto, please submit your Brain Age TAS, kthx.
Okay, the movie is coming soon!
I succeeded in drawing Mario, Kirby, Pikachu, Link (The Wind Walker), Fox, Donkey Kong, Luigi, and N64 controller. There are only five characters from SSB64 I didn't draw yet.
Don't tell us what to expect :P. To me, I would like it to be a surprise what is drawn. The unexpectedness is what made this video and others like "Family Feud" make me laugh and kept me entertained.
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Ok. I have a question for adelikat about the end of the movie:
Was your first priority to end input as early as possible or to have Mario touch the final button as early as possible? I noticed from the frame count excel file that even though you ended your input earlier, it caused Mario to touch the final button 1 frame later.
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That video had the same vibe as the published "Family Feud" but much more fast paced. I think I watched it 5 times to fully comprehend what happened.
I loved the randomness.
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sonicpacker wrote:
New 0 Star WIP
Sorry the sound is out of sync up until after the BitDW fight. I guess YouTube doesn't like me.
Excellent. I love the effort and work that is being put into this.
Just a question though: Would it save any frames if you did not collect coins? That way, afterwards, when you finish the level, it would not lose time counting the collected coins.
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Kitsune wrote:
Okay, so beating the game with 120 stars opens green Prankster Comets with hidden green stars everywhere.
Actually...That could probably be a 100% Luigi TAS right there.
Just use Mario up until 120 stars, beat Bowser, then switch to Luigi to get all the green stars.
I mentioned something about that in a previous post, but rather than Luigi starting at Star 121, you can start him at Star 72 (after you beat Bowser in world 6 the first time). Just save all Luigi-exclusive shortcuts for stars 72+.
By the way, those green stars are evil; many of them have a "Catch me or you die" type of position.
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Kitsune wrote:
Anyone else besides me really like the revamped Ghost House music for the Boo levels?
Edit: I've also noticed, this game is a ton easier than the first.
I liked all the music, to be honest. My personal favorites (sorry if I spoil) are the Melty Monster, Throwback, and Beat Block.
Personally, I don't think this game is a ton easier. I think it just seems like the game is easier at first. It has a steeper difficulty curve than the first game. At first, I was also breezing through levels and had a surplus of lives. But in later levels, I found myself losing quite a bunch of lives trying to get everything. I had to make a few visits to the Starship to refuel on lives.
I remember reading somewhere that certain things were addressed when making Galaxy 2, such as the overall low difficulty of the first game and the unfairness of certain levels in that game (Luigi's purple coins anyone?). In Galaxy 2, the later levels get more challenging but do not become frustratingly unfair. However, controls are more crisp so it takes away some pseudo-difficulty of the first game. Keep on playing; I'm sure it'll get more difficult soon :P.
I think I read in some sites that the difficulty increase is like that from the DS New Super Mario Bros to New Super Mario Bros Wii; its more challenging but does not leave the casual gamer in the dust (probably the reason for the Super Guide in NSMB Wii and the Cosmic Guide in Galaxy 2)
By the way, Sonikkustar, darkszero already posted a link to that video.
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Kitsune wrote:
Upon some research of the Prankster Comets, once they start to appear, one or two seem to appear for every 2 Comet Medals.
Unless you are like me, not moving to another galaxy until I find everything possible. Then it becomes one or two comets every medal :P (after prankster comets are introduced of course).
I don't know if this is a trick or not, but normally, when Yoshi eats something, it takes a few seconds for him to eat something else (it takes time for him to swallow it and star bits to appear). Sometimes, Yoshi can home in on 2 or 3 eatable enemies/fruits. When the 2-3 objects are circled, Yoshi can eat one after another without having to pause to swallow. It could be useful in areas where you need to quickly dispose of enemies.
Something else I think can be useful is the double kick; performed when you long jump the moment you spin. This technique has quite a few uses: 1) it bulldozes through enemies, which lets you continue long jumping without changing your path 2) it lets you keep momentum in your movement whereas a spin or a bounce off an enemy slows Mario down 3) it disposes of certain enemies that need two hits to kill (hammer/boomerang bros and paragoombas)
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Awesome. I also eagerly await the finished product. Keep saving those frames and keep up the entertainment and I think it would have a great chance of being accepted.
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Kitsune wrote:
I didn't know that about Luigi, however, I'm thinking it could be done. Just use Mario until you unlock Luigi, then just use Luigi for the remainder.
It doesn't work quite like that. Until you beat Bowser at the end of World 6, Luigi only appears in a handful of levels. In those levels, you get the option to play as Luigi. Every time you do choose to play as Luigi, there is a 30 second dialog as he talks to Mario. Then there is a 30 second dialog after he collects the star. Then he disappears (apparently to go to another galaxy) and you are controlling Mario again (until you find Luigi in another level)
After you beat Bowser in world 6 (you would have at least 71 stars by now), you can swap with Luigi on Starship Mario and you can stay as Luigi until you feel like swapping back (there is no dialog before or after getting the star in this case). Here, it would only take a few seconds.
Atma wrote:
Perhaps rather than being a tas that aims solely for overall speed, it should aim for fastest individual level times.
This lets you have the best of both worlds, since a faster time is probably more entertaining than the alternative.
I have a feeling that Luigi may only be viable in a 120 star and 242 star run. After Bowser is defeated in world 6, swapping for Luigi at this time would only take a few seconds and it only needs to be done once.
Maybe Luigi can then cruise on to get stars 72 to 120/242 (the stars that use Luigi-only shortcuts would be among those stars). I'm sure the time saved in the shortcuts then would more than make up for the few seconds lost swapping Mario for Luigi. This way, it would get both the fastest overall time and fastest individual level times.
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darkszero wrote:
TRT wrote:
Unless there is a shortcut that Luigi can do that Mario cannot do that makes up for the time lost by switching brothers before and after a level, I do not think Luigi would be in a speedrun of this game, unfortunately.
In the video I posted earlier, there's one shortcut that's luigi only. There may be more, given that luigi jumps further and the nature of the game.
Yeah. I saw that video. Awesome shortcuts. But I don't know if the one with Luigi saves enough time to warrant its use in a speedrun. Sure it'll be faster as an individual star. But I think (in a speedrun as a whole) the time it saves will be lost when you switch back to Mario (unless you do this star after you beat the game once). The time it takes to go into the two Launch stars is shorter than Luigi's "Hey Bro" dialogs.
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Kitsune wrote:
Well, I think there would be a Mario run and a Luigi run, myself.
How would that work out, since Luigi is unlocked fairly early in this game (with 30 stars)? Its not like in Super Mario Galaxy, where you can start a new game as Luigi. In this game, you can switch out Luigi with Mario at the start of the level; you can unlock staff ghosts if you get the star with Luigi.
After you beat the game, you can switch out Mario with Luigi for extended periods, but there isn't a newgame+ where Luigi can follow the storyline.
Unless there is a shortcut that Luigi can do that Mario cannot do that makes up for the time lost by switching brothers before and after a level, I do not think Luigi would be in a speedrun of this game, unfortunately.
Edit: Being that there is a whopping 242 stars needed to get 100%, maybe the first speedrun would be to get to world 6 and defeat Bowser as quickly as possible. This opens up the field regarding routes and deciding which stars to tackle.
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Atma wrote:
In regards to something that could be considered remotely useful, backflip > spin > walljump > spin or a variation of such (backflip > walljump > spin) is useful for getting into places or getting to things earlier than you were supposed to.
A couple of instances of this I can think of are the first level right at the very start (get ontop of the house without having to go around the planet), and another stage where you're supposed to spend time drilling through lots of columns to finally reach a pipe.
2 player in this game could possibly be used to good effect on stages where killing things is needed, assuming the second player could keep up with the first.
I did find one thing on a Bowser stage where Mario zipped ontop of lava rather than getting hurt, but I think that was a wrapping issue since I wasn't normally supposed to go to that part (it wasn't useful at all, I died).
In the incredibly unlikely event that an all star run was done, making a note of which green stars are available in which scenario would be something to do, as not all green stars are available in some, and alternatively, multiple green stars are available in others (lets you save time on the star intro scenes, up to 3 times a stage).
If I can think of or find anything useful later, I'll post it.
I think the P2 in Galaxy 2 is much more useful in a TAS than the P2 in Galaxy. I don't think there will be a problem with P2 keeping up with P1 and getting the job done killing enemies. A thing I find useful is P2's ability to kill some things that P1 cannot kill, such as cannonballs and space mines.
Also, p2 has the ability to snatch useful/important things that are off the path, especially purple coins. This can allow P1 to take quicker routes. Snatching far-off mushrooms may be useful as well.
One more thing I find useful is P2's stunning of enemies. Mario/Luigi generally have fastest movement when doing long jumps, so maintaining a straighter path is useful for more long jumps. A couple of things I find noteworthy of stunning to make a straighter path are the Giant Wrigglers, firebars, the rotating fireballs, the rolling chomps, and octoboos.
If someone is to attempt an all-star run, I think it should be approached like the 120 star run of Mario 64; individual stars are analyzed one at a time and the route is chiseled until a clean fast run appears.
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Yes, Desmume has improved alot over the past year. Even on a so-so computer or ok laptop, you can play most games pretty well.
Though I note that on some slower computers, not only are some of graphics a bit off, but the ability to slow down the game is lost; on my laptop, it can only go fast forward, normal, or frame-by-frame, but not slow (not that I need to use it).
Desmume has also become one of my favorite emulators as well.
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I've watched it 3 times already. First two times was because it was just fun to watch. Third time was to look at the run in more detail and look for any improvement that can be seen at first glance. So far, everything looks optimized.
I must say that I agree that lag reduction makes it more enjoyable (and make TASing it more enjoyable as well). There were so many other subtle improvements in the levels that I surprised that it is only a 12 second in-level improvement.
adelikat wrote:
I also assume that getting Tiny Mario and his improved walljumping into the penultimate level is impossible, or at least not helpful. Is it not possible to get him to the checkpoint, die, and then come back at the checkpoint with the wandering platform ready?
Unfortunately mini-mario is no match for that level. Even getting to the check point isn't possible IIRC. I think TRT even tested this and found it would be significantly slower anyway. I'll be honest though, I didn't look into this concept with much depth.
I haven't tried mini-Mario in that level, but I like the idea of mini-Mario walljumping to the checkpoint.
To be honest, I went through the checkpoint shortcut idea quickly pretty quickly as well when I was making the movie (few times on v0.9.4 which is laggy and few times on the actual game). I wasn't exactly able to do an accurate comparison for the two approaches, though.
By dying at the checkpoint, you gain time by skipping a portion of the platform's route. However, you lose time from map movement, the loading screen, and power-up times. In 0.9.4, this turned out to be slower. I haven't tested it in 0.9.6 yet, but I think that less lag from 0.9.6 certainly makes it an option to consider in the future.
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If memory serves me correctly, a patch was made already that makes it playable on all emulators.
This may be a nice game to run with some heavy luck manipulation. Do you have a strategy in mind when you tackle this project?
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Watched it. Liked it. Yes vote. I had a feeling an improvement over my not-so-optimized run was due especially with the approach of v0.9.6.
I remember the agony that was 8-Tower. My result looked sloppy, unfortunately :(.
Just three question though.
1) 5-2 has Mario not facing left all the way. Is that for luck manipulation?
2) 5-3 has Mario land on an upward slope. Does he lose speed for that one frame?
3) How were you able to compare your run with mine effectively (since I remember my run desyncing quite often for many people)
Anyways, this certainly deserves to be published :P.
