The rerecord count is much, MUCH higher than the actual number in the file. For about 80% of the run, I was using a revision of Dolphin that had a bug in the rerecord counter. In addition, the way I've been recording is to figure out the path I want take for a segment, using alot of save states and writing down frame numbers, and then starting from the beginning of the segment to run through with minimal rerecords. If I made a mistake, I would export the recording and try again. I knew this would result in a massively reduced rerecord count, but I found it necessary to avoid desyncs. Since this is my first TAS, I can't accurately gauge the actual rerecord count because I have no prior experience to base it off of. But if I had to pick a number... it would be somewhere around the same as the number of frames.
Read the movie description before making such accusations.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Umm... maybe I'm missing something, but I really don't get what's going on with this game. A quick look at Wikipedia explained some more about the game, but it's still fairly unclear why eversion is necessary.
When you everse (I think that's what they call it), the world changes a bit, including the blocks. The first time you everse, there is a block in the way that becomes passable after you everse. You also can only everse in certain spots, which make the screen slightly brighter or slightly darker when you stand in them, IIRC. You couldn't see any of this because the TAS was fast, and the time it took for things to go from cheerful to evil was fast too (while it's gradual when playing the game normally).
As for the run itself... it was kind of boring to me. Maybe a 100% run would be better? At least it will make it a bit more clear that the transition to cheerful to... whatever that was... more gradual
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
The definition for read-only toggle can be found on the desired emulator features page.
EDIT: Note that it's a toggle, not a mode. Here is FCEUX's implementation, as stated in the help file:
Read only
You can select read-only when playing a movie. You can also toggle the read-only status by navigating to File > Movie > Read only.
In read-only mode a movie can not be edited. Loading a savestate will take the movie to that point in the movie and stay in playback mode.
In read-write status, loading a state will change a movie from playback mode to record mode.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
I recall some games having variable FPS though... I think I recall Banjo Kazooie running at 60 FPS at the opening N64 logo, but the rest of the game is slower. Glover may have had something like that too. I don't remember for sure though.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Just an FYI: he first posted that video on YouTube on March 7, 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOqnD5WyQ5c
That doesn't mean it has been dumped yet, of course. I haven't heard anything about whether or not he had it dumped (and there is no comment from him on YouTube about it).
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Animated PNGs are only natively supported in Firefox and Opera, so that wouldn't be a wise choice.
There's a reason you don't see many web developers using them - the PNG group rejected the format, making it not possible to put APNG support in the standard PNG library.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Seeing how GIFs have a 256 color limit (and the dithering is especially noticeable after just a few high color images), wouldn't it be wiser to use a Javascript powered slideshow? That way you could stop on a single image, and you wouldn't have the dithering problem.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Video removed because it's too long! Didn't know YouTube did that.
You have to be in good standing and meet certain requirements (possibly described in the help section) before you can upload videos of unlimited length. Otherwise you're limited to 15 minutes.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
I wonder how many other runs get triple digit yes voting.
Super Mario 64.
'Nuff said.
That is, the current run's predecessor, which cut off a ton of time and stood out from previous 0 star runs. The current one only shaved off three frames and wasn't voted as high.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Three questions:
1) Some of the sprites have garbage pixels on their right edge. Does this happen in the original console, or is this some kind of emulation bug? (This problem doesn't happen in the PSP version, although that's not surprising even if it does in the original PlayStation.)
2) Comparing the background music to the PSP version, it sounds like many of the sound samples are cut short (like they should fade out, but instead they are just cut). Does this also happen in the original console, or is it some kind of emulation problem?
3) How much longer would the run be if the main character's name would have been kept as "Ryu" instead of "A"?
Edit: Compare, for example, the music in the TAS from about 1:46:53 forward to this.
When I played this game on ePSXe, those garbage pixels did not exist and the background music sounded like the video you linked to, not the odd result in this run's encode. So I would guess that those are issues with this emulator and/or the plug-ins used with PCSX (assuming that ePSXe does not fix actual game issues, and I doubt it would).
The music bug in particular bugs me, but at least it can be ignored for the sake of the TAS. It would be nice if the encode could be re-done if it was possible to get better quality graphics or sound though.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
I didn't mean to say you implied that speedruns were the same as tool-assisted speedruns. I'm not 100% sure why I said that...
But yes, I agree that leaderboards mean nothing given the ability to abuse that feature, since it does end up being closer to a TAS.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
All right, I see how it works now, with the replay feature there. It's similar to creating a TAS by only using the pause button in an emulator. Of course, only using the pause feature in an emulator is frowned upon, since effectively using the frame-by-frame and save state features alone would make the quality far better.
But using the pause exploit to beat high scores is rather cheap, since the high scores are there for those who play in real time. Speedrunners, who make their runs in real time, would definitely frown upon this feature. And a speedrun != TAS.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
The only thing that is different, is Mega Man 10 time trials. I don't know why they chose to change it, but I actually like it that way, since it penalizes weapon pick-ups.
they changed it so you can't abuse pausing anymore :)
abusing quick-pausing to have perfect reflexes is terribly gay and I hate everyone who does it
Yeah, I agree. Abusing glitches in games and essentially slowing the game down in order to have perfect reflexes is terrible. No one should ever, under any circumstances, do such a thing. It's a good thing you brought that point up in this community, where you will find a mass of support for your views.
Except that glitch/feature abuse sounds visually displeasing, what with entering the pause menu so often. Unless there is a playback function that removes it...
The same thing applies to attempting to get the best in-game time for a TAS of a game by entering the pause menu every other frame (or anything along those lines). The timer may say you did it super fast, but the amount of real time wasted to obtain that time ruins the entertainment.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Oh, the reason why you need to be skinny? Your girlfriend (the pink penguin) will reject you if you're too fat. EVEN IF you rescue her from the baddie. Yes, that is a very shallow penguin.
She'll reject you even though she has an eating disorder herself? Eesh, talk about conceited...
You know what's worse? The last line in the video (essentially) says "Well, let's start your second lap!" and you are thrust back to level 1.
Remember kids, if you're fat, or even normal, the girl of your dreams will never love you! No matter how many times you selflessly save her from a bad guy, you must be super skinny!
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Ok.
I watched the TAS after reading your first comment, and the only time clocks were collected (other than the final level) was when the level was completed with 11 and 3 seconds to spare. Unless I missed something.
Since each clock is 15 seconds, I think that aspect was managed properly.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
If you actually watch the run with that in mind, you'll notice that he avoids most clocks. These add time to complete the level, but the only ones that need additional time to complete are the two sidescrollers. In every other level the clocks are avoided, and even in the sidescrollers he starts avoiding them after collecting a few (and ends those levels with 11 and 3 seconds remaining). The only exception is collecting excess clocks in the final level, but that doesn't matter since the timer count down happens after input ends.
The bottles are health drinks that make Penta thin. The objective of this game is to complete each level as skinny as possible (such that the bar at the bottom of the screen is to the right of the heart above it; the heart moves farther to the right when you go to the next level). Taking a hit or eating some of the food thrown at you makes Penta fatter (you cannot die). Collecting extra health drinks does not affect the time limit, but being super skinny has benefits: moving faster and being able to shoot projectiles.
EDIT: Also, how skinny you are does not add to the score. The time left on the clock at the end of the level will also make you thinner, depending on how much there is.
Oh, the reason why you need to be skinny? Your girlfriend (the pink penguin) will reject you if you're too fat. EVEN IF you rescue her from the baddie. Yes, that is a very shallow penguin.
EDIT: Apparently she would rather be with the pimp than a fat good guy.
I learned these things from a Let's Play of the fan translation of this game: http://www.youtube.com/user/LpingWithArdwick#grid/user/2E3C91B3A1F8B2F8
Anyway, I voted yes.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
The only way you could consider a TAS invalid is if the run does not sync on hardware due to an inaccuracy in the emulator. For example, there was a Mario Land 2 TAS that was rejected because a special area of the virtual RAM that was rarely ever used was not emulated properly, and the TAS abused memory such that the game accessed that part of RAM when it normally would not.
In that case, it is the emulator's fault, not the TAS's fault. In a perfect world (i.e. not Mupen), the emulator would be fixed soon after and a new run can be made that will not fail a real hardware test due to an inaccuracy.
Naturally, using uninitialized RAM for the psudorandom number generator would make all efforts to duplicate the TAS on real hardware futile, unless the hardware was modified so the RAM would be powered and initialized to all 0's (or all 1's, which are both likely what deterministic emulators use) before turning on the console. The uninitialized RAM problem is not an emulator inaccuracy.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
The differences are found here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/n64/913960-mega-man-64/faqs/33895
The biggest differences that would matter (aside from any possible glitch changes that are not mentioned, if there are any) are the change in graphics (N64 has shorter draw distance, but anti-aliasing makes it more pleasing to look at) and audio quality (N64 has extra compression to fit it on the cart).
I personally think that the PSX version would be preferable (and some people expressed this in more detail above) since it was the original. The N64 version did not change too much, and it probably should not be used unless a good reason can be found for using it, other than practically zero load time (I don't think the load time in the PSX version was that long anyway).
Apparently somebody from Japan made a TAS of Rockman Dash for the PSX (which is the Japanese version of the game), but nobody asked any additional questions about it, so it became kind of obscure. The videos add up to an hour and three minutes, so I'm guessing the complete TAS is in the 50-60 minute range. I have not watched these videos yet, but now that I found them, I might.
I would like to see a TAS of this game too, whether using the PSX or N64 versions. I think it has potential for entertainment. The same applies for Mega Man Legends 2.
EDIT: Just watched the Rockman Dash TAS. Ingame time was 0:46:20. It's pretty well done, with nice humor added when waiting is necessary. There were some odd things though, including a few times where there was damage taken for no apparent reason (minus the few times it was done for humor).
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
Wow, that's pretty cool! The game doesn't even have issues when you warp to Dalaam like that. I wonder if the game will still work if the staff roll is started in the same manner...
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.
http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/issues/detail?id=502
It has been declared that most of the major TAS features have been added to Dolphin. It appears you need to use the settings mentioned on the second to last post on the page above. I wonder if you can't have the sound playing at all though; one of the settings says the audio output needs to be off.
This was implemented in r7186, apparently, so it looks like it will be a few days until an SVN build version is created.
<ccfreak2k> There is no 'ctrl' button on DeHackEd's computer. DeHackEd is always in control.