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Warp wrote:
Thus what the opposition is basically claiming is that all scientists are lying.
Aye. It reminds me of the Who is lying chart about the Moon Hoax. Particularly when you factor in the fact that they do not have a beef just with evolution, but with geology in general, physics (cosmology and dating methods in particular), etc.
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nfq wrote:
well, there is evidence for intelligent design too. just search on youtube or google if you don't believe me.
Yeah, because YouTube and Google are such incredibly reliable sources of peer-reviewed information. But more seriously: what evidence? Scientists have pestered IDers for testable predictions so that ID could be tested, but they failed to generate any such predictions. Moreover, the central points of ID (irreducible/specified complexity, "explanatory filter") has been shown to be useless for such purposes in any of the formulations that have been presented so far.
Here are a few relevant articles (and series of articles): 29+ Evidences for Macroevolution, An Index to Creationist Claims, Irreducible Complexity and Michael Behe and TalkDesign articles. Not that I think you will read any of them or that they will change your mind.
nfq wrote:
if you could change the world so that there are no floods, hurricanes and earthquakes, would you do it? would that kind of world work?
If I were an omnipotent being that created the universe, I could make such a world work by altering its fundamental workings so it could work. That is an unequivocal "yes" on both questions.
nfq wrote:
That is trivial. I will start by stating that I am a physicist, just so you know where I am coming from.
For starters: dropping an object and seeing it fall is not a test of the theory of gravity; you are observing the fact of gravity (i.e., that things fall if you drop them). That is a critical distinction. While the fact of gravity, and the equations describing it, must be accounted for in any theory of gravity, stating that you "observe" the theory of gravity when you drop an object is false.
Since Newton, all theories of gravity (basically, Newton's Universal Gravitation and Einstein's General Relativity, but see below) assert that (1) the motion of celestial bodies and the aforementioned fact of gravity have the same underlying cause, gravity. In modern parlance, (2) everything creates gravitational fields and (3) everything reacts the same way to such fields. (1), (2) and (3), plus a set of equations stating the precise form of the generated gravitational field, are the essence of Universal Gravitation. To say that you "observe" any of them when you drop an object is ridiculous; but from experiments and from numerical computations on the solar system, we know that they give a very accurate description of reality.
But it does not end there: Einstein went further and stated that gravitational fields are the curvature of space-time (and added equations for how it happens). This has the consequences of causing time to flow differently depending on where you are on a gravitational field, as well as altering distances; it also means that light is affected by gravitational fields. Saying that you "observe" this when you drop an object is a lie. But we know from experiments and from numerical computations on the solar system that this indeed happens; as a matter of fact, the GPS system would not work without it.
This completes the demonstration that the gravitational part of the analogy is completely wrong. Evolution is similar in that you have the fact of evolution (that populations change over time) and the theory of evolution (that random mutations create variation, natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, etc., add information from the environment by eliminating deleterious mutations, eventually causing speciation, biodiversity and so on). You can observe the fact of evolution ("microevolution", as creationists say, as well as speciations; a famous example if the Darwin finch), like you can observe the fact of gravity; but you need to gather evidence attempting to prove/disprove any given prediction of the theory of evolution so you can "see" it -- as it is the case with the theory of gravity. That the theory of evolution gives testable predictions can be seen with even a cursory glance of the relevant literature: biologists make predictions based on the theory of evolution and then test them, much like physicists do with the theory of gravity.
Re: theories of gravity: there were a lot of attempts of formulating theories of gravity between Newton's and Einstein's, and after Einstein's. But they either failed to model reality that well (so they are not theories) or are currently ranked by how closely they predict the same things as Einstein's theory when it is known to be correct (making them alternative theories that can't yet be discarded because there isn't enough evidence to tell which one better models reality).
nfq wrote:
like the global flood which i believe in.
And which is completely debunked by geology...
nfq wrote:
i don't even believe in god. i'm an atheist.[...]
the devil wrote this part of the bible
That is contradictory; being an atheist means you shouldn't believe in a "devil" anymore than in a "god". And not that it helps: if any part of the bible is written by the devil, you can't guarantee that any other part was not also written by the devil, which means you can't trust any of it.
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New WIP, improving several levels. The levels improved include: Carnival Night 1 and 2 (new times are 0:41::24 and 0:42::53), IceCap 2 (0:41::18), Mushroom Hill 2 (0:58::54), Sandopolis 2 (1:02::47), Death Egg 2 (2:08::46) and Doomsday (1:34::58) zones.
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Goemon wrote:
question. here: [snip] you stop and you spin dash but you can do this: [snip]
that save time :thumbsup:
Since this is a valid question, though one completely lacking in knowledge of the game, I will answer it anyway. The answer is nope, that doesn't help at all: while spindashing, I can't JUMP from the bouncy platform like I do in the run because each press of the jump button charges the spindash further. The time "lost" by not charging the spindash on the bouncy platform (all 7 frames of it) is more than compensated by not having to bounce several times to reach the ledge (at least 2 seconds).
Goemon wrote:
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Paused wrote:
If you are asking, I would vote on max rings.
As it turns out, it is impossible to collect all rings: there are 5 places with sets of rings in the same horizontal position, and while in 4 of these places it is possible -- though just barely -- to get all rings, there is one place where there are 3 sets of rings with the same horizontal location. It would be hard, if not impossible, to collect the 3 sets if there were no obstacles, but there are 2 large asteroids to dodge in the midst. So I went with as few rings as possible. The stage ends within 3 frames of losing the last ring; last hit is at 1:31::51, timer stops at 1:35::54. I would post the WIP, but Microstorage is down at the moment.
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Paused wrote:
Will the New Game+ use Tails?
There is certainly an argument for using Tails. Even though most of the time, he will be left so far behind that he will be present only in name; but some parts really do benefit from him.
Anyways, there is a new WIP up to the end of Death Egg 2. Up to about 0:17 of Death Egg 1 is essentially SprintGod's; and as can be seen from the WIP, it is better than the bottom route because of a more route for Hyper Sonic. The act 1 boss is kind of boring as Hyper Sonic is invulnerable. Unfortunately, I gain enough seconds in-game to cross a bonus boundary, losing them all in real time. In act 2, there is no path that gives Hyper Sonic faster; coincidentally, this is the faster path anyway. Using the Sonic + Tails path ends up being 4 seconds slower than the WIP. Unless I waste a great deal of time grabbing rings, I have to face Robotnik as regular Sonic; the lack of Tails makes this fight slower than the published run; the fight is basically SprintGod's input.
Only Doomsday zone remains. Given that the first part is basically an auto-scroller, I am thinking of trying to collect all rings. Most of the level is easily done, but there is one tricky spot with 3 groups of rings with the same x offset. Another possibility would be to finish with as few rings as possible; but since there is no end-level tally, this would only be for the 'just in time' feeling.
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Satoryu wrote:
except this run uses a No Save file.
While the Hyper Sonic run I will submit is a "no save" run, it is easy enough to hex edit it into a "with save" run to generate the required save game.
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New WIP until end of Hidden Palace. Updated Lava Reef 2, which is 2 seconds faster now. I used the 'enter the ground' glitch at the start for a speed boost at the start; some more optimizations give me enough frames to put some timed objects in a slightly better position, while others are in a far worse position (see about 0:31 to 0:34 for an example of the latter; that detour is slightly more than 2 seconds faster than waiting for the sprites to get out of the way).
I also spliced the Carnival Night 2 improvement into the current Sonic + Tails run; that and 0:15::21 improvement in Launch Base 1 (hat tip to Orkal for it -- see this video). Mushroom Hill 2 desynched because of a lag frame occurring one frame too late, which was fixed by a 3-frame pause slightly before the mini-boss of act 1. I have resynched up to the end of Sandopolis 2. Most of Lava Reef 1 is also in synch, but the boss fight (the big hand) starts slightly more to the left despite rng seed and almost everything else being equal, and desynchs the fight. The movie is here.
AndyD wrote:
should do all levels with hyper sonic imo, much more interesting than watching all those special stages
I might eventually finish doing just that. However, if I really do it, the run will be a no-holds barred, fully glitched run that will start very similar to the one I linked to above (i.e., using level select to grab all emeralds then go through the game). Even that would have a small chance of being published if submitted, because all the emerald grabbing is boring when done that way *and* it would use a cheat code. However, it might make it as a concept demo. And it may be fun to break the entire game too.
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WIP until end of Hidden Palace.
Comments: In Lava Reef 2, the object at 0:11 defied all my attempts at manipulation. I needed it to be going up, and all attempts failed. The next one I got to move right or left and change the position, but that wasn't enough; if anyone can give a hint...
Hidden Palace is basically SprintGod's, with edits to conform to the style I have been using in the TAS.
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WIP until end of Lava Reef 1. Until about 0:10, this is basically SprintGod's input. After that, some ring collecting for another show of Hyper Sonic's brokenness: despite spending time from 0:10::49 to 0:17::09 to gather rings, lose the shield and regain control, the early Hyper Sonic blasts through the level, regaining all lost time and then some.
A curiosity: the very first time I went through the level was actually slower than SprintGod's by 4 seconds; the second time through was 22 seconds faster, but still slower than Sonic + Tails and Hyper Knuckles. The third time is the WIP :-)
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A few posts ago, I had posted a video I started of a Hyper Sonic 'concept demo' to get the hang of TASing Hyper Sonic.
But after I discovered Hyper Sonic's ability to do what I am calling a 'shallow zip' (best seen just before the Flying Battery 2 boss, but seen very briefly in Mushroom Hill 2), I decided to go back and redo Angel Island in the concept demo. I am still looking for good places to do do it in Angel Island 2, but the results for Angel Island 1 are in (warning: severe emerald grabbing in the first 65984 frames; if you made a forward save state in the previous video at about this point, it is still valid). The previous version has turned out to be horribly suboptimal, as the new video shows. For reference, the level time is 10 frames slower than the Sonic + Tails version (these 10 frames may or may not be possible to improve with slightly better optimization here and there); but if I were to re-do it with Sonic + Tails, at least 3 seconds 26 frames could be saved (the glitched start and a few frames in the boss fight).
I just thought I should share how broken Hyper Sonic really is :-)
Edit: I forgot to mention: yes, it is possible to glitch into the Knuckles route at the end of Angel Island 1, but that region is incredibly deadly to Hyper Sonic: just moving around will kill you (although some progress can be made).
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nitsuja wrote:
I believe it's simply a function of a timer that starts when act 1 starts and keeps running until the end of act 2. In my run, I could have started act 2 earlier, but I purposely delayed entering the door long enough for the first timed object to not be in an inconvenient position.
Well, that did the trick. The new WIP takes the fire shield and ring monitors outside, which places the first timed object in a much better position (taking just the fire shield isn't enough, sadly). As a side effect, some other timed objects also appear in a very favorable position throughout the level. Much better now.
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The "low-glitch" has been redefined as "not teleporting from start to end of the level". That particular glitch from Flying Battery 2 is a tough one to categorize, as it is a borderline case; a good deal of the level is skipped, taking me almost to the first boss, but there is still a lot of the level left...
Anyway, here is the WIP until end of Sandopolis 2. I am pleased with Sandolopis 1, but I hate Sandopolis 2: not because the first timed object is in a terrible position*, not because I have to wait for the sand in one point**, but because it the most zip unfriendly level ever. In the portion I am walking inside the wall to avoid waiting for the sand, there are several bits of wall inside the wall which I can enter and -- theoretically -- use to zip; but it always results in death. I recommend watching the part inside the wall with the sprites layer on top, so you can at least see Sonic.
* That first timed object -- is its position determined by luck, a frame rule or something else? Fo far, I have been trying to manipulate it but not having much success.
** Even the best time hyperlaunch from the highest jump falls slightly short. And jumping even a frame earlier than the WIP also falls short.
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FuzZerd wrote:
you know you can do a slope glitch that skips a fair amount of the start of FB2
Hrm. How is it that glitch activated anyway? In the Sonic + Tails run, Tails grabs Sonic off one of those handle-thingies and glitches Sonic; in the Knuckles run, I am unsure where (or what) exactly activates it. Right now, Flying Battery 2 is looking like this. I found no useful zips with Hyper Sonic this level, and it is over 34 seconds faster than plain Sonic but still a minute slower than the glitched Sonic + Tails or Knuckles.
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marzojr wrote:
I am yet to try skipping one of the giant rings (maybe the second one) in favor of the one at the very end.
This is no longer true: skipping the second giant ring in Mushroom Hill 2 is slightly slower than doing as in the WIP. The reasons are two-fold: first, the time I "lose" grabbing the giant ring and returning to the path is roughly equal to the time it takes to go to the giant ring, lose the shield (before or after makes no difference) and return to spindash to the top of the climbing machine. I have to backtrack to about the same place as in the WIP to spindash or I will not have control during the jump: this means either I hit the red spring from below or I will have use the hyperlaunch to go around it, but losing the zip in the process.
There is also the fact that I managed to improve the Mushroom Hill 2 time by 64 frames by losing the shield earlier and becoming Hyper Sonic as soon as practical. The new WIP, showing the improved Mushroom Hill 2 is here.
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WIP until end of Flying Battery 1.
A few comments: Mushroom Hill 2 already shows the brokenness of Hyper Sonic: despite all the emerald grabbing and ring-grabbing at the end, and despite the short amount of time Hyper Sonic shows up, I still end the stage only 3 seconds slower than SprintGod's run because I can skip the climbing machine at the end in its entirety. All in all, everything else I tried so far was ultimately slower. I am yet to try skipping one of the giant rings (maybe the second one) in favor of the one at the very end. Also note that there is a ground entrance and zip with Hyper Sonic (at 0:48::11), but it happens so fast that it can only be seen in slow-motion. It is possible to extend the zip further to the right by dropping down a little (by pressing only down in the hyperlaunch), but it results in death.
But the sheer power of Hyper Sonic is shown in Flying Battery 2: this is my very first go at it, and it is still very rough around the edges. There is a lot of ring-grabbing at the start too. All told, it is probably possible to make it at a second faster that the current WIP; and despite all this it is 22 seconds faster than SprintGod's run... can you say "broken"?
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WIP until end of Mushroom Hill 1. A few comments: all other routes from the first giant ring to the second are ultimately slower. Same thing from there to the third giant ring or from the third to the fourth.
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WIP until end of Launch Base 2.
Comments: the fire shield was only to get to the big ring faster. Slowing down to hit that spring at 0:09 is about 60 frames (!) faster than not doing it. Grabbing the rings at 0:13 does not lose any time, as I would have to slow down for the spring at 0:14 anyway (I could grab only one of them, though). Charging the spindash at 0:19 any more or any less loses frames. At 0:20-0:22, going the bottom route is slightly slower. Hitting the spring at 0:39 is a lot slower. At 0:45-0:46, I go slightly higher to gain slightly more speed until the first boss. Just before 0:48, I glitch past the invisible wall due to sheer speed: as a result, Robotnik never shows up, leaving me to destroy his unattended machine.
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My gut reaction was that it probably wouldn't save any time, because of the time that the boss takes to get low enough for it, but I tried anyway. With a slightly more optimized version of the ring grabbing (saving 6 frames), it actually saves a total of 70 frames -- enough that I could grab one less ring at the end, which will save a further frame on the score tally. Moreover, I put a memory watch on the boss' Y position and determined what was the best Y position to hit him the first time and get the two hits in the fewest frames possible, so that the kill is frame-perfect.
So, thanks for the suggestion :-)
Here is the updated WIP.
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WIP until Launch Base 1.
Comments: At the beginning, going through the bottom route after turning Super is 60 frames slower and does not net me the fire shield. Hitting the ceiling at about the time the fire shield plays is about 20 frames faster than doing it otherwise because there is no drag and the ceiling does not hamper my acceleration. The slight waits before entering the tubes are to glitch out of them sooner, of course. At about 0:26, I am too fast to go down without losing speed; I had to improvise, and found another zip that saved some time. At about 0:37, it is quite faster to slow down and go the top route because Supersonic can't double-jump into the rotating cylinder from the top route like Sonic could with the lightning shield. Towards the end, at about 1:20, collecting the 3 rings loses me about 9 frames until the boss, but I save a lot more than that because I don't have to hit the boss 3 times after reverting to normal Sonic. Moreover, there is no way Supersonic can get up on those platforms. All in all, it is exactly as fast as Nitsuja's run using Tails to kill the boss.
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That did it, thanks. Here is the Sky Sanctuary map, completing the map set. Monitors seem weird in this stage, and a few bits seem to be missing; maybe they are related to the Knuckles cutscene (which I didn't wait for to make the map)?
Anyways, with the maps all done, I will be resuming the run shortly.
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The maps for Death Egg 1 (592 KiB), Death Egg 2 (721 KiB) and The Doomsday (83.2 KiB) zones are done. The only map still left to do is Sky Sanctuary (technically, so is the Death Egg 2 final bosses before The Doomsday, but they have nothing interesting).
