Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
eternaljwh wrote:
A curious game, run perhaps too-fast. I'm sure knowing the game would make it a better show.
Being among the uninitiated…are destructible walls necessarily marked in any fashion?
The destructible walls usually have some visual cue, like the hedges with berries or the unique cemetery doorways will always be destructible. Others are not consistently marked, like the dartboard walls in the attic sections.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
I just tried this myself and got the same error. Unfortunately there's nothing you can do, it's just something unimplemented in the emulator. Trust me, a lot of games don't run on JPC-rr. :(
If you want a similar game to TAS I'm fairly sure Raptor: Call of the Shadows works fine, albeit slowly.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
I just remembered I did this about 2 years ago, I thought I would post it and see if anyone wants to keep going with it. Star Mines 2 is a top-down shooter where you control a small ship through some enemy-laden passages.
Link to videoGame download: http://www.jpkware.com/sm2.htmlMovie file: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/34347830050570217
The game is fairly easy to optimize, although I wasn't sure it was entertaining enough so I didn't keep going. Although there's an X and Y speed cap, there's an option to turn friction off, meaning that momentum is conserved while not thrusting, spinning, and even bouncing off walls. This opens up the potential for playarounds without losing any time. The game gets very difficult later on, so much so that I've found no footage or evidence that anyone's beaten the entire game. I can't find any level maps either so nobody knows what the final levels look like, or even how many levels there are! Found a link to the map editor on this site: http://www.jarikarjala.com/ There appears to be 12 levels and the layouts can be viewed by opening the .LVL files in a text editor.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Truncated wrote:
That map encode is the best thing ever. Makes the movie so much easier to follow.
Is it correct that the movie ends when the first phase of the last boss is done? And that the end of the second phase is potentially delayed because the movie just continues to hold the fire button, without manipulating damage rolls?
Right, input is ended as early as possible while still killing the boss. It was quite a lot of trial and error to find an outcome that isn't me dying. Movie length would probably be a few seconds longer if I optimized for the earliest boss death, although the in-game time wouldn't change at all.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
c-square wrote:
Great run!
When I read about the mouse movement, I was wondering if you had to upgrade JPC-RR to allow for it. I really hope Ilari considers putting the upgrades into the next release.
It should work in the most recent version from January 2015: http://repo.or.cz/jpcrr.git/commit/6ab255ce10b2dd10b0ac3ab2e2be708e0b26eeaa
I downloaded it from a precompiled version Ilari made but that link has been lost to the ages, sorry. I was under the impression continuous mouse movement only worked in some special version but it's functional in the official release. I don't think there's a menu option for it but you can make a script for it using the (undocumented) lua function jpc.hold_mouse_motion(x, y).
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Yeah, I've been way too burnt out lately but the first 3 levels of Episode 3 are done. In a couple weeks I'll have way more time to work on it and will pick it up again.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Jungon wrote:
Any chance there will be 100% version videos of Wolfenstein 3D? =P
It's unlikely, that would be a massive amount of work for something that in my opinion wouldn't be too interesting. Funny you should mention this on the E2 movie since a 100% of E2M8 (the one with the Aardwolf maze) would be incredibly tedious and probably impossible.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Here's an encode with the map script. I thought this might be interesting for anyone who had trouble following the action. (obviously best if you fullscreen this or watch it on Youtube)
Link to video
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
TASeditor wrote:
Doesn't all episodes in one movie work? If it works, I see no reason not to. I'd prefer it that way.
Otherwise it looked really nice.
I think it's best to do each episode separately so that they can be improved individually, although either way is acceptable, like what we did with Jazz Jackrabbit. Each episode can be started off a fresh install without requiring a verification movie or savestate, and absolutely nothing carries over between episodes, so it's like a separate game.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
It's moving along pretty well. I've just about finished up E1L4. Times so far:
E1L1: 0:15
E1L2: 0:17
E1L3: 0:16
E1L4: 0:15 (might be able to cut some frames, but still gonna be 15)
I'm surprised how much time I'm cutting off the segmented run, for example he gets a 0:30 in E1L4 and I've cut that in half. The map script helped bigtime with the door trick. I probably won't post any more WIPs unless I reach something really problematic, since the routes are already figured out and the action is so frenetic that it would be difficult for anyone to offer advice. Should take a few weeks or up to a month to finish E1.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Dimon12321 wrote:
slamo wrote:
I think backstrafing out of that room and rotating in the big room should be faster.
I think you don't need to turn around in the big room. Try to run backwards all the time until you reach an area with a dog. I'm writing from a tablet so I can't provide the map with my idea. I hope you'll catch it! :-)
Otherwise, I'll make it tommorow.
I get what you're saying, but without rotating, I would have to run backwards without strafing after leaving the key room, which is relatively slow. For a small room that would probably be faster but at that distance it's better to rotate a bit and then backstrafe.
Anyway I cut 14 frames by handling the key room better and using some better running angles (still a 0:17). Time to move on I think.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Dimon12321 wrote:
Yeah... Bullets seems to fly through the walls! I've downloaded your video and watched it frame by frame. I don't know all the game mechanics, so you can ignore some of my notes.
* When you entered the room with the key on 0:13, a dying dog blocked you for 1 frame. Isn't it better to kill the dog first, and then hit an SS twice or even kill him? (killing SS is not necessary, it depends on you)
* You took a key and was running forward for 2 frames before you start going back. Will there be enough inertia to start running back 1 frame earlier (and take the key in the prosess of stopping)?
* After that your turning was very slow (8 frames). Can it be faster? You spent only 1 frame on turning at the beginning of the level.
* On 0:14 you ran 1 frame back and then got back to the previous place. It's done for manipulations?
* You was standing in front of the switch for 10 frames before it turned. Does it work like that? If not, please edit the previous map.
Map 1 seems to be OK! Great luck to you!
Thank you for the feedback! Some of these are indeed game mechanics: dying enemies can be walked through, the movement at 0:14 is due to bumping into an enemy, and the pause in the elevator is unavoidable. The game lets you pre-rotate while the level is loading which is why the first rotation is done instantly, otherwise it has to be done at 5 degrees per frame. I've been thinking and you're right about the key room though, I suspect the turn-around there could be handled better. It's tricky because you can't strafe and rotate at the same time, but I think backstrafing out of that room and rotating in the big room should be faster.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
I'm getting the hang of RNG manipulation and updated the script to display upcoming damage rolls. It's been a huge help so far. The RNG advancing depends on how many enemies are awake and how many can see you, so moving around in a strange manner to get in and out of cover is the most reliable way to do it.
Here's what I've got for E1L2. The segmented run gets a 0:29 on this level so this is a huge improvement.
Link to video
Backstrafing is usually preferable to rotating while going around a corner.
List of extremely unlikely things that happened: Hitting the first guard from the maximum distance, killing the first SS in 2 shots, killing the SS in the last room with 3 shots from that distance, and completely avoiding damage again.
I opt to kill the first SS near the key room to get the machine gun, since he will tear through me if I try to ignore him anyway.
It's often preferable to go around certain enemies rather than stop and shoot.
Again, please let me know if you see any improvements. I won't be posting too many more WIPs and I want to make sure I get the fundamentals down before I get too far.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
dwangoAC wrote:
slamo wrote:
Got the 0:15. 32 frames saved overall on the old WIP.
Nicely done! I'm done with AGDQ and can possibly help out if there is something sane I can do. Is any of my input even left in this run? :) Thanks for all of your hard work!
Well, the rest of the run is going to be pretty insane, but if there's any particular level you want to do, just let me know. All your level 1 input is gone but you still have the setup/menus!
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Got the 0:15. 32 frames saved overall on the old WIP.
Link to video
Improvements:
Slightly better lurch.
Turning before the first hallway instead of in it.
Turning and moving at a diagonal in certain rooms. Previous research seems to contradict this and suggests moving in straight lines, but I was definitely able to save a couple frames this way. Straight lines remain the best way in very small rooms and thin hallways but for larger rooms diagonals are faster.
The biggest time save involves the guard that opens the door for you. Shooting him as early as possible while on the move lets you run right through the door instead of stopping and turning.
Opened the elevator door a little earlier. The old WIP was in the process of shooting which delayed this.
I feel pretty good about this engine now, but if anyone sees something wrong please let me know.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
I figured out the movement, turns out you don't need a controller. It revolves entirely around the jpcrr.hold_mouse_motion function, which is undocumented but still made its way into the public releases. I'm gonna use console commands to move the mouse, it will be more precise that way anyway. Here's the latest version of the script.
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/28162714919636898
Some notes about my early findings:
The "lurch" at the start of levels depends on when you start moving the mouse during the fade-in. You can even go backwards if you time it poorly. The magnitude of the mouse movement affects how far you lurch as well.
You can also lurch at an angle by moving the mouse in the x direction during fade-in.
I'm going to redo E1L1 since I found some improvements. It's possible to get an even better lurch, and rotating while the first door is opening instead of rotating in the hallway saves time as well.
Something strange I noticed in the WIP: the second guard in the final room before the elevator gets hit with 62 damage (I verified this is indeed right) at a distance of 6 or 7 tiles. According to the damage formula, this should not be possible. This needs to be looked into either as a useful bug or a misunderstanding of the damage formula. Never mind, forgot that you do double damage if it's a surprise attack...
So this is definitely good to go now, I'll start running through some levels and see how it goes.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
Here's what I've got for the script so far -
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/27792961681989279
Note that Hans Grosse will show up as a white dot since I don't have his ID yet, and I don't know if this will work with the full version (if not it should be easy to offset everything though)
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Reviewer, Expert player
(2392)
Joined: 5/21/2013
Posts: 414
I think I'm ready to try this one out now that I'm more experienced. We're going to need some sort of way of tracking enemies for opening locked doors because we have no sound cues, and a minimap script would be helpful in general, so I came up with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFgmGcWbGg
BJ is the orange one, guards are brown, and the dogs are pink. It pulls tile data from the RAM to construct the map, although it needs to be refreshed manually through the lua console for each level (having it pull it every frame is trivial to do but makes it run extremely slowly). One nice thing about the tile data is that the bytes for doors contain their corresponding index in the door openness table, which is quite handy for visualizing the doors. The object table holds all the relevant enemy information, although I only have a couple IDs so far (regular guard and the dog) so the script is not complete. The other encode displays the damage dealt at the bottom of the screen and I couldn't find that version of the script, so if anyone has that around I can patch it in.
