Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
So I've made some TAS tutorial videos and added to existing ones to make a sort of TAS tutorial mini-series. I put the series on youtube and added them to this page.
This video tutorial series takes a beginner through the introductory stages of making a TAS and introduces techniques for optimizing and using advanced tools.
Now that I've managed to do the beginner videos (which are the hardest part and I've been putting off for some time now) I plan to keep adding to this series periodically with more concepts & tools and such.
I hope this help people more easily learn how to make Tool-assisted Movies for themselves, and hopefully teach the veterans a few tricks they may not have known.
Feedback is appreciated, especially from "newbies" who are trying to learn based on the videos.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
Hello scripture. What a coincidence, I just finished this tutorial video only minutes before you posted! It describes the basics of how to record a movie file and some simple tools you can use to create a tool-assisted speedruns.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
In an effort to increase security we've hooked up the site to a db of known "spam" proxies. This new functionality should prevent use of most proxy servers.
I don't expect that normal users should be interfered with by this new feature, but should you have an interruption of service due to this change, feel free to post or contact me.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
jlun2 wrote:
Brandon wrote:
I hope this run is improved on. adelikat and I both have this game, and we both have a NESBot, yet the old run desyncs as of right now. That's just sad. :(
Do the run desync at similiar points? If so, then it may be the emulator's fault, not the game. Or at least that's what I think.
Yes it desyncs in the same spot for both of us. Sadly it is about 90% into the run, and it looks easily avoidable. Looks like AnS "plays with death" with an enemy, and on the real console it isn't quite so successful :(
Movies of games that are not emulated well (have graphical or functional glitches that do not exist on the real console) should not be submitted.
This isn't an emulator, per se, but the lack of sound support is definitely an absence of functionality.
This run should not be considered until proper sound support is added. Perhaps it should be delayed until then?
This submission is pending in hopes of getting some feedback on this idea/issue.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
Here's my savestate management logic:
Slot 1: always at the beginning or slightly before a level / segment. This one is always well before any of the stuff I'm TASing so I always have a way to rewind
Slot 2: the beginning of a small mini-segment I might be doing; from one solid reliable measuring point to the next (these segements can often be very small like 1 enemy or a difficult maneuver)
Slots 3-7: various logical checkpoints along the way from one measuring point to another
Slot 8: this is always the "best so far" savestate for whatever segment I'm working on. I get to the checkpoint and save to this slot. Then I redo the segment. If what I do is faster I put that in Slot 8, else I try again. Until I'm done exhausting all ideas I have. Then slot 8 becomes the beginning of the next segment and do it all over again.
Slot 9: This is the best so far for a larger scope such as an entire level, or just a general DON'T TOUCH savestate that might be something important. I rarely use this one.
Slot 0: This is my default savestate and most frequently used. This what I use pretty much every few frames. When I get to a logical place that I might want to consistently rewind to, I save to 2-7, so slot 0 is often more of a throw away / temp storage)
My segment are generally just (often arbitrary) logical checkpoint that are reliable indicators of progress. Like maybe after having to make a series of intricate jumps upwards, I have a checkpoint that is X position = 240 that is a number of pixels once I'm on horizontal ground. Or maybe when the boss HP = 0, or a black screen after a fadeout. It would be a place where there are no conditional factors that could affect measurements so comparing framecounts of different attempts is reliable. Generally Slot 2 is the beginning of a segment and Slot 8 is the end.
Of course these are ideal circumstances. I don't have a methodical personality so I have mixed results as to what I really do.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
(3602)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
jimsfriend wrote:
When you cancel the submission for someone, it would be helpful to duplicate your reasoning stated in the submission text as a forum post (the last post in the topic). Additionally, I think you should suggest a method for the user to get in contact with you if they have any questions, since you just prevented them from doing it in the most obvious place.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
(3602)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
Chamale wrote:
I must admit that I don't follow this forum as closely as I used to, so I'll ask out of curiosity: Is there a place where this site lists all of the banned users, and their reason for banning? When I notice that someone is banned, I can look through their post history and try to learn why, but sometimes it isn't obvious at all.
There isn't such a page for a very simple reason. It is usually none of your business why someone may have been banned.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
Mukki wrote:
Perhaps allowing an author, or user, to refer questionable decisions to DarkKobold (as senior judge) would be a less arbitrary way of doing this, rather than allowing a small window of opportunity every ~2 years (though I guess that this is already theoretically the case, but I question how many users feel encouraged to do this).
That was a large reason for having such a role. That and to resolve potential clashes between judges. Which I was concerned about when adding so many new judges when we traditionally only had 1-2 active. Interestingly enough we haven't had a single judge clash.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
(3602)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
My point which seems to have went over everyone's head is that with a few loopholes, a 1-1 high score run can reach infinite points. I used the 2nd quest and deaths, and by getting the 1up from the shell chain, I could keep dying and rack up more points.
The more subtle point I was hoping to make is that score runs have a TON more entertainment potential using the 2nd quest :)
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
(3602)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4739
Location: Tennessee
Warp wrote:
The only truly "shameful" TAS that has ever been on the site (that I remember of), and for a rather long time at that, was that LoZ:OoT TAS that was slower than the unassisted record. (It's a bit embarrassing to have an officially published TAS which is significantly slower than the unassisted speedrun of the same game.)
This is happened at least 4 times in our site history that I know of.
In addition to OoT, there is Majora's Mask which is CURRENTLY published and slower than an unassisted speedrun. Chrono Trigger (the 4 hour one) was beaten by 40 minutes by a regular speedrunner (due to a new trick). And Ziplock's NES Jaws was beaten by a speedrunner (until I improved it).
