Posts for Takarifreak

Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I was not really impressed by TASBlock this year, and actually stopped watching live during Portal (I did go back and scrub through the remainer later). I watch both speedruns and TASs, but steer clear of the planning threads and let myself be surprised. -Total Control / ACE has run its course. We get it, you can program stuff through controller ports. Now, this CAN have some fun results, like Pokemon Plays Twitch (though this only worked because Twitch Plays Pokemon was already a thing) Mario Maker, and programming SMB1 into SMW, but the end result should first and foremost be ENTERTAINING, not simply technically impressive. This year it fell into the latter category, even with the end result of the video feed. While I was impressed on a technical level, I was not at all excited or entertained. I watch GDQ events to watch people PLAY video games, not program stuff. I do not care how much you can push the console hardware to its limits. I care about what you can do with the games itself. Less Tech Geekery, more video games. -That being said, I'm not entirely against showing Total Control, but this year it took up a significant portion of the block and took FAR too long to get to the pay off. One I was disappointed at. -I was glad Gradius made a return, and on an NES Mini, no less (despite the issues, but I think it helped to demonstrate how finely tuned timings and frame rules are, even when you have tools at your side to help). As much as part of me is glad you showed the whole run, at the same time, as an autoscroller it's simply too slow of a pace for this kind of event. You get points for the call back, but I'd steer away from auto scrollers in the future unless you can get something crazy to happen. -That being the only real technical hiccup was a plus. -Mario 64 and Portal were annoying to watch in such a small window, even though I knew exactly what was happening in Mario 64. The initial awe and end payoff after did not exonerate the poor viewing experience (and it's why I turned it off during Portal). -That being said, Mario 64 would have been GREAT to run on its own on the actual console on a full screen. This is what I'd like to see more of from TASBlock: breaking of games that is impossible to do RTA. -I would not be opposed to a sort of glitch exhibition of TAS only game breaking glitches, even if they have to be done via emulator playback (though preferably ones that have been console verified with evidence). You don't necessarily have to show an entire game to show how perfect inputs can absolutely break a game in unexpected ways and entertain people. -How close are we to console verification on stuff like PC, TGX16, Playstation, etc? I would very much like to see some of the less common consoles being utilized for a future TASBlock, if at all possible. If you want to show off something different (even if more Total control), don't start with the same old tricks; do something entirely new from start to finish. Now, I'm not trying to downplay the hardwork that went into all this by my criticisms. But in all honesty, and this opinion is solely my own, if at all possible, I'd take a look at how much of your audience has viewing expereinces with TASs, and those who haven't (otuside of GDQ). I get the vibe that you're trying to cater too much to the former and not bog them down with content they've liekly seen before, rather than entertaining the audience as a whole. This is an event where people happily donate money to watch people run video games. That's what they're entertained by. While I understand the mentality of "and now for something completely different that sets what we do apart!", I feel that the use of Total Control/ACE as a whole has overstayed its welcome, and that the basics of what makes GDQ what it is has been shoved aside in favor of a tech show off. You keep pushing to try to outdo yourselves, without realizing that you've reached a point where you are now overdoing it. "logical conclusion" or not, it's simply not what I came for. That all being said, I look forward to what you have planned for SGDQ.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I just noticed now that the encode has stereo sound, which is awesome. Makes it easier on the ears if you want to focus on half of the screen for a while. As for the whole 'SMB1 is finish too early' argument...there isn't enough time for another run to have all 4 end around the same time without extending the length of the other games (assuming it even could be done easily). The others run only 4 minutes after the completion of SMB1. Even if a replay was shown in the encode only to fill the space, the game would still be playing even after the other 3 have gone into the credits, and that would just be awkward. Besides, one of the objectives is to complete all 4 games in the fastest time with one input, not how to figure out how to end all 4 at the same time. I think watsing time to make that happen wouldn't be as entertaining. I'm not so sure I even like the idea of taking a longer route in SMB1, because it would just be extending it for the sake of doing so. Not as long as fastest time remains an objective. Now, if the objective was instead to end all 4 games around the same time, then yeah, sure, that would be cool. But it isn't. Frankly, I think the 3 remaining final bosses defeated within 15 seconds of each other more than makes up for 4 minutes of a blank corner.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I think you guys are overreacting to the camera angles. Unless you can spot exactly where the 3 frames were saved in real time, you ALREADY know what Mario is doing from the last run, so what's the problem? Do we really need our hands to be held to understand what's going on? I, for one, liked the new camera angles, specifically because I didn't know which way they were going. It felt like I was actually watching something new, but since the actual game improvement was so minor, I still knew what was going on from watching previous runs. If it had the same camera angles, I still bet some people would be saying, "it's not different enough from the last one and 3 frames is nothing" and reject it on those grounds. Some people are way too hard to please. One of the reasons I enjoy watching TAS videos is many times, somewhere during the run, my jaw drops to the floor and I just go, "WTF?" at the awesomeness. This run gave me that feeling. It was unexpected and I liked it.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I noticed the text was not skipped at the start of level 5. Was this intentional to save time since there were no equip changes needed, or just an an oversight? I don't know if in this case just veiwing the text was the fastest, but it suck out to me so I'd thought I'd ask! Also, has it been tested if it is possible to enter the egg in this version before the owl text appears? I know it is possible in the original as I've done it myself (though with little frequency, it's probably like a 1 frame window you enter the screen on or something if I had to guess). If it's possible, that might save a few extra seconds. Anyway, this run was awsome. I was floored by the out of bounds stuff in/around levels 7 and 8. Was glad to see the Eagle skipped, as I always hated him (used to sequence break and get the fire rod and kill him with that as a kid).
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Swordless Link wrote:
I've discovered something very important. If you save & quit immediately after buying something from the shop, the rupees don't go down any further than they had got to before you S&Qed.
Really? I thought that was common knowledge. I never really used it in my regular playthoughs though, since there are more than enough rupee chests in places that I never had a need to. Buying the bombs first and then the shovel will definately be quicker (rupee route wise), so that should be pretty much a done deal. It's very easy to save most of your rupees, even in real time, but you will lose that time if you get the shovel first (even though the bombs are close to the counter, the rupee count decreases even while making the purchase AFAIK). Can you get bomb refills on the way anywhere instead of buying another set, or is it just faster in the long run to waste the extra rupees?
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I'm also in favor of the freezing glitch. No time is wasted getting a sword, and it's not too anti-climatic because the game no longer accepts input, not to mention you don't have to die. What causes that, anyway?
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Game restart sequence doesn't count as a game over, in either the original or GBA port. I just finished a swordless run of my own for fun, and I used save/quit at least 100 times, and I still have a big fat "0" next to my name. Even if it did count, not using it would make the game longer and I at least would be less inclined to accept it for lack of optimization. As for the rod, I sort of agree that it shouldn't be obtained first by default, but I don't think the places that need it should be left deliberately last either, if there is a faster route. Even if one did get the wand early, that doesn't mean it MUST be used everywhere. Look at the current run...there are plenty of places where bombs are used instead of the sword. The screenscrolling glitch...meh. The only reason I would see it being "allowed" not to use it is because there isn't a previous swordless run already posted.
Post subject: Re: Bubble Bobble
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Catastrophe wrote:
In level 3 you got an 'X'. How'd you do that? The enemies died 2, then 2. If you can get letter bubbles that easily then you might want to try doing it on purpose more often. Any letter bubbles you earn during a level where they can't appear are saved until you reach a level where they can appear.
You actually just answered your own question. The 3+ simultanous enemy pop to make them appear happens in level One, and the next place where they can appear is in level 3. There is a limit to how often you want to get letter bubbles for a TAS though, since completing EXTEND brings up a cutscene. Unless the cutscene + skip to the next level is faster than the time it would take to complete said level the final leter is collected on, it isn't worth it to do so.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Would THIS be of assistance to you in planning, or are you like me and it's all greek to you? :P According to what's in there, running and jumping also affects item drops. Along with pretty much every other action in the game, really.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Another thing I just noticed...just before the flagpole on 1-1, there's a hitbox following on the bottom left of the screen that appears out of nowhere on the stairs. What the heck is that?
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Bisqwit wrote:
Wow, the hammer hitboxes are really screwy.
Yeah, I noticed that too. That certainly explains why it's been mentioned before that the hammers have horrible collision detection. And just think, in all my years of cursing at the hammers for killing me, it really WASN'T my fault! :P I didn't think the pirahna's hitboxes would be that small though. That kind of surprised me.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Mechuyael wrote:
By the way, I suppose it only makes sense, but all I could think about when watching the run was how it reminded me of Peasant's Quest.
Not really shocking, since Peasant's Quest IS a mainly a parody of this game. Anyway, this gets a yes from me!
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I don't think I can say anything else here except: HOLY CRAP.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Words cannot express my reaction to watching this. Well, they can, but they'd have to be HEAVILY censored! Wow. Just...WOW.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Yeah, the only thing I don't like about this game is that there isn't much to be skipped. I'm fairly positive the whole tripping the beast/bagging the cat is the only one that is optional (plus it takes time to luck manipulate the cat into not showing up. In light of that, I'm glad this aims for the max score. It seems just a little weird that you have to complete like 98% of the game just to beat it, so why not spend those extra few seconds to make it 100%. I can't wait to see the King's Quest I run, since there's a TON of optional puzzles in that one!
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I'm a retail supervisor. Kinda crappy at times, but it's NEVER boring, everyone has some crazy story to tell at the end of every day.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Awsome job! This is another game that's bring ripped apart at the roots with non-stop improvements in seems!
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Are you sure you have re-recording one? Check to see if it's 1.7.2 v 19.3. That's what I use and it works for me. Also, how do you check what version of the rom you're using if it isn't part of the filename?
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Try reverting to an older version of the emulator? Mine froze everytime I tried to view the bomb-boost movie, so it could be just a version bug or something. I tried looking up why it won't let you enter the color dungeon, and one FAQ started that any level you've stepped into must have the nightmare defeated. I don't know if this applies to your movie at all, but it's the only thing I can possibly think of to prevent you from entering.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
^ That movie file crashes VBA on my PC, even after multiple tries. Anyone got some screenshots of it to show what happens?
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
It made enough sense to me to follow, and I'm pretty stupid when it comes to hex values and such. I'm really looking forward to this. This is the one Zelda game I suck at the most and never ended up glitching (unlike my Zelda 2 cart, which I glitched to hell without even realizing what the heck I was doing), so these new tricks to cheat the game are quite interesting to me. I hope some of the new theories and such work for you guys. I'd love to see the game done in under 20 minutes, if this new stuff will allow for it. I still remember back when everyone was looking to get the game sub-30. Man, how things changed since, eh?
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Wow, nice. A few parts made me do a double take. In all my attempts to play this game over and over, there was a ton of tricks I never discovered (including one room in level 3 I finally noticed is bomable into from 2 different spots...never noticed the cracks before, and another 2 in level 8 I never knew existed). Although, I'm more of a 100% run sort of gal on this game, rather than a minimalist. I'm used to playing the original, where I know it IS possible to enter the Egg before the owl begins his speech (in real time), since I've been sucessful a few times doing that (only maybe 5% of the time though). Is this simply not possible in the DX version? I can see you're taking advantage of moving the few pixels forward when he lands and before he talks; is that as far as you can go? Also, is it possible to beat the level 5 boss (what the hell is his name anyway?) in one cycle at all? Not that I'm experienced with TASing or all the funky fighting techniques used, but it sort of looks like to me it MIGHT be possible with perfect timing. But hey, I'm not the expert here.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Holy CRAP, what a great find. Next thing you know, someone is gonna find a way to glicth the game so badly that it'll be beaten in 30 seconds. I don't know what's more entertaining now...beating a Zelda game 100%, or watching it be totally broken and screwed with that actually playing the game is a joke.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
Holy CRAP. That was by FAR the COOLEST thing I've seen. EVER.
Experienced Forum User
Joined: 7/20/2004
Posts: 45
I've experiences my own share of issues with fire alarms. Both Junior and Senior year in High School, there were 2 "spurts" of people sitting off the alarm...it happened maybe 10 times in about 2 1/2 weeks each time. We'd start making mental pets on what period it would happen in the next day. In college, some schmuck lit fire to one of the elevator buttons in one of the towers of my dorm building. Apparently, it melted the plastic, which singed the wires in the panel, and set the whole panel on fire. This was like, 2 am too. No one was hurt or anything; we just had to wait in the cold for over an hour before they decided to finally open up the student center to let us hang in so we wouldn't freeze. Not long after, some drunken idiots poor water on one of the alarms, which set it off...at 3 in the morning. But wait, it gets better. The thing went off AGAIN at 5 am, as a result of a short circit or something like that. Some poor people had finals that morning too, but it was for the weekend classes, thankfully.