Posts for spweasel

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Posted: 10/8/2014 2:04 PM
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spweasel
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Joined: 1/10/2010
Posts: 59
I'm a little unclear on something. I understand that the run here is intended to be tweaked to any possible SRAM, but is the actual movie file provided the fastest possible empty-SRAM no-resets run or are there sacrifices made to be syncable with other SRAMs? I'm keen on having a "No Resets" run in the Vault, but "Any SRAM" seems like a pretty arbitrary goal when a means to clear a physical cart's SRAM exists. Either way, I think Vault is more appropriate than Moons due to it not being especially entertaining compared to the shorter published run.
Posted: 6/10/2012 7:16 AM
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spweasel
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I think this might be publishable as a "Playaround" branch, but as a legitimate speedrun, it's a no-go for me. Meh vote. Also, I don't think this gains enough extra entertainment from using the 10 HP portion of the glitch or from avoiding the Ride Armor to make those part of the goal. Making the viewer watch the opening longer than necessary and making a fairly boring passageway take longer just to add more goals to a run isn't how I personally think runs on this site should work.
Posted: 5/7/2012 5:12 AM
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spweasel
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Have to vote no for this. The gameplay itself was ok (nothing amazingly exciting, but still decent enough), but the sound renders it nearly unwatchable. Watching without sound isn't very enjoyable, either, since you end up with long stretches where nothing happens.
Posted: 10/26/2011 6:09 AM
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spweasel
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I'm going with no. This isn't different enough to publish alongside the SNES version, and this version of the game neither looks nor sounds as good as the original, making obsoleting the SNES version undesirable. I have to agree that perhaps some sort of full-game Luigi run would be worthy of publishing alongside the SNES runs. I'll shorten a needlessly long rant I had written out directed at Mistralet: 1) The GBA sounds pretty awful for the most part, especially when it is playing SNES music (since you have a point of comparison). This isn't a simple speaker issue, since it persists on every model of GBA as well as emulators. The only reason that Golden Sun sounds so good is because great care was taken to avoid the GBA's sound limitations. 2) Spikestuff is almost certainly a native English speaker as he lives in Australia and he used a mondegreen (something that people who exclusively write a language virtually never do). If a person is not familiar enough with an expression to write it correctly, they lose the right to use it to insult others. Calling out/mocking him over that mistake, while certainly not a kind thing to do, is not entirely unreasonable.
Posted: 10/24/2011 2:29 AM
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spweasel
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I'm going with a "no" for game choice, though it borders on "meh". The sound for this game is annoying, the visuals aren't very aesthetically pleasing, the boss fights are pretty boring, and the levels aren't quite interesting enough to make up for it all. Nothing against the run, I'm just not crazy about the game's entertainment value.
Posted: 10/6/2011 10:17 AM
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spweasel
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I'll be the bad guy and give this a no. Most branches for games on this site are at least conceptually significantly different from all other branches. The difference between real-time and in-game times is such a ridiculously arbitrary distinction that I can't support reinstating the "in-game time" branch. Between the main game and hacks, we already have 5 branches for Super Metroid. It really seems to me like we're at the point where any additional runs need a sufficiently unique gimmick in order to be worth publishing. Unfortunately, I tried to see how this run screamed "I aim for in-game time" and couldn't. It really, really felt like a simple fastest time run, albeit perhaps one that didn't avoid items as often (something I probably wouldn't have even noticed had it not been the fact that I was looking for it). Despite all that, I do have to admit that this is a pretty solid run (although I'm starting to find vanilla SM runs a little stale at this point). I can see the case for grandfathering the branch back into existence, but I personally think it would be better if it stays gone.
Posted: 10/5/2011 8:33 PM
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spweasel
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I'm voting no for a couple of reasons. First of all, from what I understand, this is simply a goal change, not an actual improvement. It's a little like accepting an identical run of a game that's only faster because it used the (J) version that has a faster intro screen. Second, I'm a strong supporter of the concept that null input is input, even if it's at the end of a movie. If "normal gameplay" hasn't ended, the only time that I am perfectly happy with ending the movie early is when it is being used as an entertainment feature of a gimmick run (i.e. a run that exists to set up a long self-playing ending). A large part of my reasoning behind this is what a non-initiated person would think if watching the run without any explanation. If they looked at this run vs. the previous, most people would call the previous version the faster run, and it wouldn't be immediately obvious why this one is "faster". That being said, most of the time the distinction between fastest input and fastest completion isn't necessary. It is reasonable that it be left to preference and only taken into consideration when a run uses a different goal than the previous one.
Posted: 9/3/2011 6:12 AM
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spweasel
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I voted no. Fighting games are already at a disadvantage when it comes to TASing, and this one just doesn't make the cut for me. The basic difference between a fighting game's TAS and a TAS for most any other genre is that the fighting game cannot use speed as the goal (or else it would be unwatchably boring). Platformers and such need to find creative methods to shave off as much time as possible - this creativity is a large part of what makes them entertaining. A fighting game can only be judged based on the run's flair/entertainment value. The problem is that a sufficiently talented non-assisted player can make a movie just as entertaining as the tool-assisted run most of the time. If it isn't immediately obvious that what's being done is well past the boundaries of what a human can accomplish, the run doesn't have much of appeal compared to a non-assisted run. Basically, if the run doesn't break my expectations of the game (like what the buggy Mortal Kombat runs do), I can't vote yes. I'll admit that the combos are pretty crazy, but it really just feels a little too much like an amazing player making fun of the AI and not a TAS.
Posted: 7/24/2011 11:17 PM
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spweasel
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Vykan12 wrote:
I just wish this game weren’t so faithful to Zero Mission as to take out bosses like Phantoon, Spore Spawn, 2nd half of the Mother Brain battle, etc.
To be fair, almost all of those are in the game in some capacity, it's just that the only "bosses" needed for 100% completion are Mother Brain to trigger wrecked Tourian (only kind of a boss in this game anyways) and the boss formerly known as Draygon to trigger the escape sequence. Everything else is skippable, though this run seems to indicate that beating Botwoon 2.0 is faster than avoiding it.
Posted: 7/24/2011 3:57 AM
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spweasel
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I'll vote after watching, but a couple things about your notes: Note 1 is wrong as far as I can tell. I've gotten both Missile Packs and the less-obvious Energy Tank on a return trip through the area. Note 3 isn't quite right either. While it was ridiculously hard, my brother and I just finished a 100% completion at 100% speed run earlier today. We used save states occasionally, but nothing is impossible at normal speed (the super-sort charge in Eastern Kraid's lair is probably the hardest for a non-TAS). Power Bomb pack D is in Chozodia, not the Pirate Ship. Also, you might want to credit danidub directly for the map, since he's the one who made it (with it being mirrored on Metroid Database). Thanks, this is going to be interesting. Edit: I think this is good enough as a first submission for a new category. Yes vote.
Posted: 7/19/2011 1:30 PM
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spweasel
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I still hold that this is one of the best hacks ever made, and certainly the best Super Metroid hack. A great run, with plenty of polish. Easy yes vote.
Posted: 7/9/2011 4:32 AM
(Edited: 7/9/2011 4:46 AM)
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spweasel
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Edit to be nicer: This run fails to meet current records and is less entertaining than the current runs, so I have to vote no.
Posted: 7/1/2011 3:34 PM
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spweasel
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Voting meh for game choice. The run itself is pretty fast-paced (and fairly short), but it just doesn't seem very interesting to me.
Posted: 6/26/2011 11:16 PM
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spweasel
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I think this is my favorite of the SM hacks I've seen. It looks great, and it has a great mix of old and new content. I loved all the Shinespark craziness, and the run ultimately looks fairly optimized, especially for a first run of the hack. Obvious yes vote. If I had to pick out a flaw (besides the fact that I don't like the look of the new Draygon) I'd say that the run slows down quite a bit towards the end. While I'm generally not big on hacks, this one I liked.
Posted: 6/17/2011 2:27 PM
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spweasel
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Unlike many boring platformers, this one is short and moves quickly. Moreover, it's hilariously bugged and has all the trademark humorous qualities of unlicensed games. The sound is annoying, but in a slightly entertaining way, unlike most Genesis games which just have sound that is annoyingly bad. Obvious yes vote.
Posted: 4/21/2011 5:07 PM
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spweasel
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I'm not going to lie, this run is most entertaining at 3x speed. Scary enough, the text is still mostly readable. On the one hand, this game has almost Valkyrie Profile amounts of "boring" stuff (escaped encounters, random running around, story) between actually interesting stuff (boss fights), and then even boss fights were pretty formulaic. That being said, I enjoyed this run for some reason I can't explain. While I'm not convinced that I might have voted differently if I didn't love this game, I'm going to have to vote yes.
Posted: 3/17/2011 1:06 PM
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spweasel
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On the one hand, I thought the Easy run was kinda funny. On the other hand, this just screams bad game choice like every other board/card game TAS that doesn't involve heavy luck manipulation. Sorry, this gets a no from me.
Posted: 2/27/2011 6:30 PM
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spweasel
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I'm voting no. If this is a cheat code, it should be allowed only if it significantly changes the gameplay (like alternate character runs in Castlevania games), but should be disallowed if it only serves to power up the character (like the Konami code). In my mind, there's little doubt that this isn't a glitch. It seems too intentional. So the question ultimately becomes if this is a game-altering code or if it's simply a powerup. I'm leaning towards the latter. This run mostly feels like an unhappy medium between the any% run and the 100% run. Sure, a couple boss strategies are a little different, but most of the game is virtually unchanged.
Posted: 1/25/2011 10:11 PM
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spweasel
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I thought this was kinda funny, and it seems to have a good enough quality of play. It's also short and fast-paced enough that it doesn't really get too boring. Yes vote.
Posted: 1/13/2011 9:56 PM
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spweasel
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I hate to nitpick, but the publication text isn't technically correct. Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team predates ZX by over a year by Japanese release date (at least according to GameFAQs).
Posted: 1/13/2011 6:37 PM
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spweasel
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Sorry, but I have to give this one a no. The play quality isn't bad, but I'm not sold on this being a good game for TASing. This game seems to have quite a bit of lag. While you mention it twice in the submission text (in regards to hard mode and what attack to use in 3-2), was anything else was done to reduce lag? Can anything else be done? In 2-4, there appear to be some missed punches. While it looks like it might have been done in order to land (possibly stronger?) punches later in the combo, it looks a little sloppy. Ultimately, the game doesn't seem to offer that much entertainment for a TAS. I didn't see any noticeable glitches being exploited, the gameplay isn't particularly fast (especially while in tiny-mode), it seems like a good amount of time is spent waiting for stuff to happen, and it seems laggy.
Posted: 1/12/2011 3:49 PM
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spweasel
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I voted yes because this run is quite entertaining. In my opinion, "no Side-BLJs" is a less arbitrary goal than "no sword except against Ganon" or "kills no enemies except bosses". While the 16-Star goal might have never existed if the 1 Star route had been found first, it's still historically relevant and popular as a route.
Posted: 1/12/2011 1:29 AM
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spweasel
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I'll wait for the encode, but I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. Isn't this route the fastest feasible on a console? Should we allow this for the same reason that games can have separate "any%" and "glitched" categories (I'm specifically thinking of stuff like Super Metroid with memory corruption)? The rules for this aren't any more arbitrary than those for the Legend of Zelda "Swordless" run (it's a classic category, as well as pretty well-defined). I really like the idea of SMB64 having a run less broken than the 0 Star run, but not as long as the 120 Star run. I'm not sure whether a 16 or 70 star run would be better for that. SMB64 can still afford 1 or even 2 more run categories, in my opinion. For comparison, between hacks and different goals, I counted a total of 6 SMB1 run categories on the site.
Posted: 12/22/2010 3:01 PM
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spweasel
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I have to give this a meh. It's boring as all heck, but it does obsolete an existing movie. While I don't think the original movie should have been published due to poor game choice, we can't exactly unpublish it now.
Posted: 8/14/2010 7:24 AM
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spweasel
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I give this one a yes vote, though I'm not in love with the goal. I liked the 100% item portion, but the 100% map completion detracts from the run a bit. It would be a little better if there was more to show for it than a listed 100% after the game is finished, but as it stands it seems hardly worth all the rooms that are entered and then immediately exited. Unfortunately, an in-game listed 100% is a less arbitrary goal than "all items", so it should probably be the one published. The pointless room trips don't detract enough to justify not going with the in-game 100% as a goal. Either way, this is a pretty entertaining run overall. Thanks Randil!
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