Posts for slamo


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Experienced Forum User, Expert player, Published Author, Reviewer (2389)
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From the ScummVM wiki (relevant bullet points were cherry-picked):
ScummVM is a project in which there is an attempt to rewrite the original executable file of a given game, based on the game's original source code or by using reverse engineering techniques to see the code that's contained in the game's executable and rewrite it in C++. This means that ScummVM's executable can be used to replace the game's original one, but of course, the game's data files (graphics, audio, game scripts, etc) are needed to play the game itself. Therefore, ScummVM is NOT an emulator of a specific operating system, as, for example, DOSBox is for DOS. ScummVM is actually a full rewrite of each game's engine, which has many advantages: * Some bugs which existed in the original game's executable (or specific scripts) may be fixed * LucasArts games have a much-improved menu and savegame system * Most game engines allow the player to save much more save games than the original interpreters did * In some games, ScummVM offers added functionality that did not exist in the original games. For example, it offers full mouse functionality in older Sierra AGI games, which had no mouse support ...and many more. The approach that is taken when implementing a game under ScummVM has some disadvantages: * Because the engine of each game in ScummVM has been rewritten from scratch, some bugs which were not present with the original game interpreter might exist in ScummVM.
So it's clear to me that ScummVM is not meant to reproduce the original experience, but rather it attempts to improve upon it. This is also the case with source ports in general. Software like this uses the original game data files but replaces the EXE, so we can't really consider it to be the original game. I think accepting movies like this and putting the name of the software in the game version is a pretty good compromise, as long as we are not explicitly passing this off as the original version. Movies like this should probably have the "Unofficial game" movie class as well if they deviate too far from the original. In the case where the original game is submitted on a proper emulator in an attempt to obsolete it, we can ask the audience which one they prefer (if there is no difference, the original game is probably preferable).
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I think the platform for this game should be Windows. While this version of ScummVM runs under Linux, it's just a replacement for the SCUMM engine and should be treated like any emulator: if the game runs authentically with the original Windows game data files, then it should be considered acceptable and should be classified as a game under the original platform. This game also never had an official Linux release, so that might be confusing to viewers looking for this game.
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I can confirm this syncs on the new libTAS 1.4.2 release. I had to turn off all OSD to get it to run.
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How major is the improvement?
Experienced Forum User, Expert player, Published Author, Reviewer (2389)
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ThunderAxe31 wrote:
I apologize for the late post... I'm wondering if this movie shouldn't obsolete the existing branch. For Gen II games, it isn't considered beaten after just beating the league, even though that DOES trigger the credits rolls. So why should FireRed/LeafGreen be allowed to beat just the first round of the league? And even in the case that it wouldn't be considered an issue, doesn't the existing published movie have too many redundant content with this submission? Even then, I think that it should be obsoleted by Round 2. Not sure if the label should stay there or be cleared.
The ending for Gen II is fine and could be considered a "best ending", although it's a case-by-case basis whether a run that completes more of the game can coexist with an any% run without obsoleting it. If the extra content of the run results in significantly different routing during the any% portion, then it shouldn't obsolete it. If the run is almost identical to any% just with more content tacked on the end, then it should be obsoleted. It's not unprecedented for this to happen. CasualPokePlayer brought up some good points about why this shouldn't obsolete any%. The route is quite different with 60 Pokemon being caught, plus there's the Sevii island section which is normally just skipped.
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I think we have a problem with the game files used in this one. So this run uses a cracked version of the 1.3 PRINCE.EXE file that skips a copy protection sequence. The copy protection is a mini-level that appears after level 1 where you have to look up a letter in the manual and drink the corresponding potion. It looks like this: Link to video Our movie rules state:
- Do not use fan translations, cracked game versions, or otherwise hacked ROM images — translators do not want you to use obsolete versions and we prefer non-hacked games. Hacked versions are labeled [h] and [t]. - Exceptions may be made for bad or cracked ROM images only if no good ROM images exist, or are not obtainable.
From what I can tell, this is a very common game and the second point does not apply here. We have certain standards for game authenticity. If the copy protection was simply a password screen, maybe we could let it slide with a warning to use the untouched version next time, but this is skipping gameplay in a mini-level that can be TASed and optimized. What is the reasoning for RTA runners using this version, and why should we make an exception here?
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I also tried syncing this and had very similar results to fsvgm777. Mostly nonsense gets typed into the parser, and I get the mismatch error if I try frame advancing past the end of the movie. Flash Player seems more stable if you turn all OSD off.
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Could you tell us which version number you used? I'm having trouble matching your game files, PRINCE.EXE specifically.
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Voted Yes. Like the other Gen-san submission, the presentation is really good for a GB game. The gameplay was varied enough to entertain me, although the last couple bosses were pretty boring.
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I voted Yes, despite the slow movement speed there was enough variety to keep my attention. The presentation is impressive, and the music is especially good for a GB game.
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I did try ReactOS for a bit. VGA with 16 colors does kind of work, but we'll need more than that to run any games. I could get 16-bit VESA modes to boot, but only in safe mode.
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Here's what I've got for a late 90s build. If you're testing on Windows, make sure you download the newest PCem Windows build in the first post because this uses a GPU that was just made single-threaded. If you're testing on Linux, you should build the latest commit. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lRd6cNJWWGYv7FjbMpbV32NPzD-9VUiu/view?usp=sharing I tested Quake, Carmageddon, and Snood and they all worked without a hitch. This config is not really suitable for casual play unless you have an insanely good PC (maybe lower the clock speed if you want), but it should be fine for TASing. The era for this config will have the bulk of newly TASable games. EDIT: I had to repackage all of these because the config files didn't work in Linux (newlines are bad and dumb). It's fixed now, the links are all the same: Late 80s Early 90s Late 90s
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If the precedent is that disc switches don't show up in encodes then we should probably stick with that. We could just have a "disc switched: path" message in the console, that should be good enough to let us know it worked.
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True, doing it that way would allow more CDs. If we need to swap to a previous CD, we can just repeat the file path in the list. Floppies could be done in much the same way, just with a different hotkey (different ones for A: and B:).
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A possible solution for the future could be to program some kind of disc swapping hotkeys into the PCem TASVideos build. Like the hotkey would be <key>+1 through 9, and the file paths for CDs 1 through 9 could be enumerated in the .cfg file.
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PCem supports that, you can right-click the screen to bring up a menu where you can change the image. However, this menu bugs out if you're using PCem via libTAS so there's currently no way to use it during a TAS. There will have to be some alternative method if we want to swap CDs during a TAS.
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I'm fairly sure we can reasonably do a 1 GB hard drive. I fooled around with it in libTAS with Quake and Carmageddon, savestates/loadstates take around 0.2 s (this is on a 10 year old laptop) and are around 10 MB. Sounds good?
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Here's what we've got for a late 80s config, thanks to Dacicus for this one. It has the same instructions as the early 90s machine I posted earlier. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19fLFt5iaRRnldGPLPtAi8YlM4mV_QOkS/view?usp=sharing We've tested this one quite a bit. EGA, CGA, and VGA video modes all seem to work fine. ZZT, which actually didn't run in JPC-rr, plays perfectly. I also tried Prince of Persia with both Adlib and Sound Blaster and they both work.
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You definitely raise some good points, and I want to clear something up. I have been under the impression, and I strongly believe this should be the case, that the 3 setups are provided purely for convenience so that it's much easier for people to jump right into a working DOS machine, rather than requiring people to use one of these setups in order to have their TAS accepted. I've even made instructions on how to make your own configuration. The 3 packages should be viewed as more of a guideline than a rule. As for suitable CPU settings, personally I think the current way it's handled with JPC-rr is fine. I guess this discussion has already been done before, so I don't want to get into it too much here, but I don't think running a game on unintended specs is "more superhuman" (at least it doesn't impress me that much), and if RTA runners want to run games on silly settings, then that shouldn't affect our decisions. I think limiting it to in-game speed settings is probably a good place to draw the line if we want the games to be run authentically.
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Here's what I've got for early 90s. It's ready to test, and it has very easy instructions to get you set up within a few minutes. If you don't have a collection of roms for PCem, you should get one and put it in the roms folder. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KF5WPXgZTHVQL4UV8EmHlxP6Fag_BTot/view?usp=sharing Games I've tested in it: Monster Bash: Runs perfectly, emulates the digital sound effects correctly with EMS active. Terminal Velocity: This one will probably end up getting TASed on the late 90s config, but it runs very nicely. DOOM: Synced the current DOOM submission in it, no problems here. One Must Fall 2097: This game's speed is tied to the CPU speed. It runs way too fast on a Pentium at default settings, but there's an in-game setting where you can lower the speed and this makes it playable.
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That chipset is compatible with: Adlib Sound Blaster MCV Sound Blaster Pro MCV I would highly recommend downloading PCem and making these configurations in that so you can see which hardware is compatible with each other. Even if you make the config in Windows it's very easy for me to use it in Linux.
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If it's mentioned in the manual along with the other controls, there's a really good argument that it's an in-game feature rather than a cheat or debug key. It's not unprecedented that such a feature would be used in a DOS run. It should be fine.
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I uploaded the last WIP for my N+ run: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/66062010127425480 I would like people to try and sync this, it's 32 minutes long and while it's not complete, it should be a pretty good test with the amount of precision the run requires. I put some info about the firmware in the file description.
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I've been steadily TASing N+ through Bizhawk. The movie is about 30 minutes long now and I haven't had any desync issues. The latest WIP I uploaded is through episode 29, although I am working on episode 37 right now. I believe this WIP was done on Bizhawk 2.4.1. I've moved it through a couple of different versions and all I have to do to resync it is to insert/remove a frame or two before certain episodes. This might not sync for others because of the firmware. I don't know what the firmware situation is, but I don't expect it to sync for other people until we know what will be an accepted firmware file, then I'll resync the run on it.
Post subject: Re: #6820: wesen's GBA Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit in 23:10.4
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nymx wrote:
If this is the case, then the fights are extended to a boring amount of time, that really doesn't add to the entertainment. I see that this movie still has potential for acceptance.
It's a trade-off: The boss fight becomes more tedious, but the jousting and flying sections become less tedious and more fast-paced. I think the entertainment should at least be comparable.
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