I though the run was going to be a test run with no improved frames in battles & such, but is not the case.
I remember when I did my first run, I did a test run on Zsnes because I could run it at 100% speed & when I switched to Snes9x, my old computer could handle like up to 60% speed and it was painful since I couldn't fast-forward to move faster and test stuff ahead...
When I did the current submission on Bizhawk, Lua scripts I made to try to find the best solution (like to escape the fastest, or steal the soonest and so on), it took many hours to run while in Snes9x it would take me barely an hour to try all possibilities. That said, currently I wouldn't want to adapt your path and "convert" it to Bizhawk, because among all things, lag was one of them that I didn't liked at all optimizing. Maybe hopefully someone else decides to take it and work over it (and co-author you, of course).
Anyway, as far as your run it seems really well done. Although I have my doubts on the seeds used when you reset, it seemed it took you many steps to get the battle to learn Goblin Punch and there was another part where (I think was around Karnak) you have to open the menu like 4 times very close to each other to avoid some battles. Other than that, it really seemed to came out really well.
The waiting on Twin Tania was great and since you don't move the cursor (more like you can't, I suppose) you shouldn't have added any lag frames, nice :)
It's funny that the current published run has the in-game timer when you reach Exdeath at the void (before all the cinematic) is about the same as your time when you actually enter the final battle (Of course you can't directly compare times, but I found that peculiar since it's almost 3 minutes of cinematic).
As a side note, have you contemplated on doing a run on the GBA version (VBA is still allowed and should run faster than Bizhawk). Or if not, maybe trace a route for it. I had my thoughts on making a run but because I would need to make a new route for it (no infinite money glitch), I discarded that idea.
Was able to make a few more images:
1. Fez
2. Theater Masks (Comedy and Tragedy)
Then there was an attempt of an illusion, but the result wasn't that convincing...:
x1, x2, x3
Interesting stuff there neo. I saw the Pyramid NPC skip (Mecha Head) happen in a stream of the 4JF long after I did my TAS, good catch!
I was wondering if you're using my Lua script & if you think it misses anything.
Also in the comparison was the testrun done in the same emulator or in Bizhawk? Because due to the difference in lag it was hard to end being faster sometimes (when you had to use the same pattern) but it didn't seem the case here. Well not that it really matters because it's obviously faster, just if it's not the same emulator used as with the dual TAS, then is even a bit faster than it seems :)
Not sure why I was thinking of Liquid Flame when you said Ifrit... You can look into my Editor for all the Enemy status. I'll list all the bosses that can be affected with Paralyze starting from Garula (since it's when you get the whip) & also include Aging (Old) after getting the Slumber Sword (Ronka Ruins).
Paralyze:
Garula, Iron Claw (plus Sergeant and Wild Nak), Ifrit, Byblos, Crayclaw, Titan, Gargoyle, Merugene (All forms), Catastrophe.
Aging (Old):
Chim. Brain, Puroboros, Abductor (Both), Gilgamesh (Dungeon), Gilgamesh (Big Bridge), Tyrasaurus, Hiryuu Plant, Gilgamesh (Zexat's Fleet), Antlion, Gargoyle, Mummy, Calofisteri, Catastrophe, Halicarnaso.
Thanks for the encode fsvgm777
Since is the puzzle mode, I see there's not much space to display TASlike moves, so the appealing lies more on the puzzle themselves. Level 9-3 (21:08 on the encode) was pretty much the only level that looked impressive in the sense that it distinguishes from other levels because of how fast you moves the pieces around.
I haven't played this version, but I have played Tetris Blast for the GB. That said, I would really like to see the Vs. Mode done on that game, it should be a lot quicker and more appealing IMO. Even including both rounds should be fast enough.
All in all, I think is an ok submission & I'll give it a weak yes for entertaining
Probably the last set of images I'll be doing because I'll be on vacations after X-mas...:
1. Donkey Kong
2. Red Hat Linux
3. The Persistence of Memory
4. Bob-omb
5. Chomp
6. GabeN (Gabe Newell)
That's Magneto from X-men, although his head looks a bit to apart from the body IMO.
1. Doge
2. The Scream
3. Kid (Bastion)
4. Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony)
5. Santa Claus
Edit:
micro500 wrote:
I see a few images not listed:
Crystal Maiden - Dota 2, 8-bit Goomba, 8-bit Mario. (There another 8-bit mario, but is different from this one)
Also I had made alternative versions of the pokemon fossils, they are a bit different from the original but that's meant to be so it looks more recognizable IMO.
Helix Fossil, Dome Fossil
As for front/back row thing, in the next run, almost all the battles will be done in front row.
How's so? Having all your members on the back saves a couple of frames (8 to be exact) when running away (as you're closer to the border). Does having them on the front save more due to the attacks connecting faster? I doubt it as there are more battles you run away from than fight & the ones you fight normally doesn't last much.
neo_omegon wrote:
When you buy at the armor shop in Karnak, pressing Up key works. This reduces the number of cursor movements and is a few frames faster.
I guess I might didn't do it on the newer TAS since I was looking at the dual TAS as reference, I also forgot you could "run" while in the airship when fighting the Ronka Airship...
neo_omegon wrote:
At the beginning of the battle against Sandworm, the timing of opening the first command window is variable. There are nearly 100 frames difference between the fastest timing and the slowest timing.
Manipulating the Sandworm was, I think, the hardest part of the game. Lots of variables to consider. I couldn't get a pattern where both counters missed due to the gap in RNG (the timing of the counters is always the same, so there's not much you can do there...)
neo_omegon wrote:
When only one character is alive if you choose !Hide, you automatically run away. This trick is not so well-known, I think, though, it might be irrelevant to speedrunnings.
Is not when 1 character is alive, is when all your party members who are alive use Hide, they will run away if it's possible to do so (If there are no deaths, then all 4 must use Hide). I know it very well but it might only be useful for the last part after Twintaina in a speedrun since all conditions are met (Hide is equipped and other party members are dead).
neo_omegon wrote:
I have a slightly different job change strategy. I'm thinking about more usage of thief. With double thief with !Mix, Gargoyles can no longer move. One less attacks of Seal Guardians are possible. Although the number of job changes is larger, the battles look good. On my job change strategy, Butz learns !Blue at Atmos. After that, Butz is always thief. Changing ability slots is slightly faster than changing jobs.
I was more focused on my last run to avoid changing jobs that I didn't learned some useful abilities on time, not sure how that pan out, so it's good you're aware of it.
neo_omegon wrote:
I wish I could make a run including these new features. Also, I'd like to perform a music game when I wait at TwinTania battle. It'll be more entertaining.
Music game? Sounds interesting
neo_omegon wrote:
But it's a long way. Optimizing extra steps and save and reset are tough work.
I had the idea to have a program that knows the route and with a set of rules could calculate the best path to take. That would take an immense amount of work so I decided to scratch out that idea. I would like to mention that when you're working on the route take into account that sometimes you want to save steps (by opening the menu while the walking animation is still going) or waste steps by waiting a frame. I did that early on to save a few steps (I think it was 4) before fighting Magissa. When in world 2, I had to open the menu 1 extra time just to be able to avoid a battle inside Exdeath's Castle and still encounter the needed battle w/o having to wander around.
Trimmed version (Blue should be ignored):
I'll give it a shot to fix tasbot
Edit: Here's the outcome, tweaked a bit the base to remove it and straighten the tube:
Remember Fry's shut up and take my money? I gave it a try to make something similar with ROB and here's the result:
Normal:
With Money:
Note: Forgot to make more space for the text, so only the second part fit well. You may want to center a bit or remove it if wanted...
I never would had though about Zeza's scene. Just tried and you do seem to cut like 6 secs on the timer, minus the transition (and heck did I disliked the time-outs...). Funny it works there but not on Moogle's Forest (at least from what I remember).
As for the Zombie Dragon, I think that since I had a different enemy formation from the Dual TAS, I didn't checked far enough to see which formations I could get depending whether or not I manipulate steps. So yea, it was a slip (and boy did it has hard to steal and also avoid his attack w/o needing preemptive)
Well, using the ability !Flee takes some time due to waiting for your turn to come up. Using !Flee while looking to the right (by pressing L+R) makes sense to be faster. However, I remember that it wasn't faster to use the command than is to run with L+R. Probably depends on how fast your character is, but with no Haste on your character (Hermes Shoes) or Quick Start (Masamune) I recall it was still a few frames faster to run away with L+R with the correct manipulation. Maybe it needs to be tested again, but that's what I recall and left in my notes.
This are the notes for the RTA route, not sure if they are the latest though:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GWyRQQHlMuwcb4EdCivePBxplgp0sZO_uoB3pe2vcHs/edit
I think you would have (w/o testing) better chances to improve the run with the notes I left in the TAS. But I guess if anyone wants to give it a try and improve the run, it doesn't hurt to take into account the RTA strategies.
You can avoid some battles on the Shipwreck and then move the enemy formation forward on Karnak Castle, so that you can get specific battle encounters later on. I think is possible to fight only 2 formations of Statue x5 and have Butz learn Combine just before Gilgamesh at Zeza's fleet, then later on have it learned on Galuf. At the Void, I think it might be faster to take 1 Ribbon instead of the Hermes Shoes, it would make 3 battles slower, but it won't detour from the path saving some time.
I do wonder how would a TAS of the RTA yields out. Obviously it won't be faster by itself than the current TAS due to the settings used to reduce luck chances, but how far it is in comparison makes me curious. There's supposedly one run like that (TAS of a RTA) but it uses and old path. Also there's no luck manipulation. You can find about it here:
http://rpgspeedruns.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_V
It might be possible to run away a few frames earlier in a few random battles. I didn't had these addresses I found after finishing the run:
7E7C5F XX Escape wait counter
7E7BDE XX Escape flag (set it to 1 to escape immediately, even from boss battles)
The wait counter goes from 0 to 19, it advances once per frame (or so) if you're holding L+R. What happens is that some times it doesn't advance in a 1:1 relation, hence you may get different results. Monitoring this should make it possible to get the best outcome (if there's one as luck manipulation is not as flexible as I initially though).
Using !Flee was slower as far as I remember because you have to wait for your turn, while pressing L+R can be triggered a bit sooner. Also, it takes away an ability slot which translates to having to open the menu to change it afterwards.
As mentioned before, I didn't had the addresses mentioned above, but the outcome I got from practice was that it was irrelevant to press L+R the minimum necessary or simply keeping them pressed as I ended using.
As far as the strats used in RTA, I was watching their runs while doing the TAS and even explaining some players about step manipulation and why/how it can get shifted. The biggest change in strats I'd say is that they get to level 14 (IIRC) before Sandworm, that allows them to skip 1 turn. However, they need +3 battles & in the TAS I don't need those levels, so is not useful. Other strats are just used because they don't rely on luck.
I told some speedrunners about getting more levels with mix in order to increase chances of connecting a magic, which they have gave it a chance. (for Catastroph & Ex-Death). Is not that reliable as their normal strat, but with a bit of luck it can be faster even with a few misses with Dark Shock...
Haven't done any drawing lately, so I might give them a try. I'm not good with real human faces though...
I did had 2 drawings from a while but was waiting to make a post when I made more, but I guess I can post them now:
1) This is fine
2) Stare Dad
I'm kind of sad that it has to use the J version of the game, but is understandable as it has many bug skips that the US version does not have, and as far as I know that the version speedrunners use (for the same reason).
Good luck on your TAS Anty-Lemon, the WIP is looking great so far :)
For the rings, all I can see is that they don't look too round in my opinion (and one of them was a bit smaller, think 2 pixels). I made some small changes trying to leave the shadows untouched as much as possible...:
Old
New
Proposal for COMIC SAAAAAAANNS!!
Answer the question correctly, in Comic Sans, clear the field and draw:
Not Completed:
Character
Text
I'm not quite convinced with the results, text looks like bold compared with the original, but that's simple because of the restrictions...
And that animated error window is priceless, loved it :D
Edit: Created logos for the other sponsors that appear on the main page
1. Something Artistic
2. Tokyo Attack
3. World 9 gaming
4. Magfest
5. Support Class
1. Donkey Kong
2. Red Hat Linux
3. The Persistence of Memory
4. Bob-omb
5. Chomp
6. GabeN (Gabe Newell)
1. Doge
2. The Scream
3. Kid (Bastion)
4. Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony)
5. Santa Claus
Edit:
Almost forgot, Clippy is back!
Edit: Added a 4th name image
I'll give it a shot to fix tasbot
Edit: Here's the outcome, tweaked a bit the base to remove it and straighten the tube:
With Money:
Note: Forgot to make more space for the text, so only the second part fit well. You may want to center a bit or remove it if wanted...
1. Fez
2. Theater Masks (Comedy and Tragedy)
Then there was an attempt of an illusion, but the result wasn't that convincing...:
1) This is fine
2) Stare Dad
New
Not Completed: Character Text
And that animated error window is priceless, loved it :D