Posts for zaphod77

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Posted: 10/12/2015 6:25 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
i'm not sure how the apple version works, and if it plays faster at level 6. i know for a fact the c64 version does play faster, so playing level 6 follows guideline for play at hardest level.
Posted: 10/11/2015 6:20 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Another antipiracy trick is running timing loops. if they are faster or slower then they should me (slowROM check is one) then the game knows it's a copy. Usually the antipiracy measure pops up a warning and halts the game. very few console games, such as earthbound, are more clever.
Posted: 10/11/2015 5:51 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Wow. i didn't think there was any way to make a game truly hostile to tasing without any BS tricks. but seems they managed it.
Posted: 10/10/2015 7:28 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Pretty awesome. For your next trick, do a Big Boss rank run. :) This means a) fast enough (a given) b) Only the mandatory alerts can happen. there are supposedly 8. any alert that is not one of those fails. skipping as many of these supposedly mandatory alerts is good form. :) c) no human kills, except for bosses that must be killed to progress (shoot gunner is not a required kill, for example), and the guards guarding the silencer, if you need it. i suspect that for a pacifist run the silencer is not needed, though it my be needed to kill dogs without an alert. d) no killing of animals or vermin either, unless it is needed to avoid an alert (killing non humans does not affect big boss rank on the ps2 release that tracks it, but any kill not required should be avoided) e) use no more than 1 ration. using 0 is preferred, but using one will probably save time, so that is suggested. f) you may punch a human to avoid an alert, like was done in this tas, as long as the guard does not die. g) there is a forced alert for getting the antidote. the antidote is not mandatory. therefore it is not a mandatory alert. h) given the choice between slower time and getting an alert/killing always pick the slower time, UNLESS it forces you to go above 00:44:59 and fail the big boss rank.
Posted: 9/25/2015 2:16 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
hilarious. i actually solved that room that way my first time, and got stuck later on because i was missing the stuff in the secret passage before. great job, and something that could be done real time i think?
Posted: 9/11/2015 12:04 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Also SMB2J has infinite coins without death, because of warp zone to world 1. so we have to ban warping to previous worlds as well. PS. is there no way to go through the staircase instead of going around so you can drop into the leftmost pipe to save time? i thought entering the staircase and zipping through was possible under tas conditions? or is that only underwater?
Posted: 8/24/2015 6:02 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
I do think this is a cool idea. how i thinkit should work. 1) decide minimum standard (overworld map siz,e and number, dungeon size and number, etc.) 2) have two teams working on it. one team does the creation part, and the other does the TAS part. 3) use neither intentional shortcuts, not anti-TAS tricks beyond what commercial games have. FOr example you can have a system that bases encounters on stepcount, but nothing that attempts to counteract lucky beaks on purpose. making attack hard to manipulate is fair game. Things with a good TAS of the game will probablt have. 1) good luck manipulation to fight and/or run from battles. 2) good route planning. 3) skips that don't use glitches (skippign the torch cuz yo already know the map from DW1 TAS is a good example of suhc a skip).
Posted: 8/16/2015 11:32 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
The ruels are simple. if the game does provide any sort of game completion marker, then as long as you see the final bit of the end, and trip tht flag, it counts. SMB3 indeed has one. if you got a true ending you can start agin with an inventory full of P-Wings. but if there's no way to tell then the entire ending has to be shown for it to count i think.
Posted: 8/14/2015 12:45 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
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Actually this is difficult to handle. DUring the BLACK screen the game's boot exe is loaded. so the length of the bios screen is variable depending on the game. but with eaerlier emulators, the BIOS screen is skipped, yet the exe is loaded anyway. so it's hard to convert from with and without bios. The run should be times with bios screen skip AND without. this gives you how many frames are actually eaten by the BIOS screen, to determine obsoletion comparing to bios skipped runs.
Posted: 8/14/2015 12:35 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
I agree that the original TAS was interesting because it hid the answers inside the visible drawings. Using invisible stuff that counts and visible stuff that does not is, well, cheating. Here are good examples of what you can do with the new glitches that would be entertaining. Write one wrong answer, cross it out, write another wrong answer, cross It out, write a right answer normally. Somethinng like (OOB) hmm i wonder... oh, it's.. (normal) the answer. write a wrong answer very CLEARLY and visibly, and the right one invisibly. this gives you the obviously impossible result of the game accepting an answer that's obviously wrong as correct. Any number of other things. Combining visible ignored and invisible not ignored together when the visible ignored is a picture is definitely out of line.
Posted: 8/9/2015 9:24 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Should have heavy luck manipulation tag. Pretty much TASing this game is all about the luck. the authors notes say pretty much what needed to be manipulated. in fact, the only thing that isn't is the staff from the oasis, which can be obtained no other way. Pretty much this is only entertaining to people who have played the game, though. (like me My suggested improvement would be to manipulate the leaf on the way to the oasis to get the cane, if that's at all possible. freeing up slot 2 for use with the first 2 offers offers should increase speed. A minor improvement would be to manipulate the ankh between leaf and phoenix, or between jug and isis temple, if it can be done without losing a frame there. this may allow manipulation of the shield to also be done without losing a frame. As long as item slots 1 2 and 3 are full it costs no time to get the ankh earlier. Also, unless the LEFT difficulty switch is at position A, (which makes the thieves and scorpions faster moving) this is NOT hardest level.
Posted: 6/20/2015 2:23 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Simply put dealing damage as fast as possible is important. ad since the specials are really hard to get off under real time conditions, spamming them is interesting for a tas.
Posted: 6/19/2015 5:23 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
the longest possible route with no backtracking is the route. i was able to spot the right path at a glance. Might be more entertaining at the hardest difficulty level. i believe the action is faster at higher difficulty levels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvK0G-oVtkc c64 version. even played at wrong video standard, its' still pretty fast (it's an NTSC game) and it's less optimized.
Posted: 6/7/2015 6:19 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
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I am disappoint that the TAS didnt't actually say YES VOTE. :) Seriously though. that was hilarious. Okay, next mission is to actually insert the text "YES VOTE" into an otherwise optimal TAS without using any in game text entry screens. Ideally it would still be optimal, but i think that's asking too much. (well gradius TAS could do it with option lettering, but that's cheating. :) )
Posted: 6/2/2015 6:06 PM
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zaphod77
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i agree. that's a very worthwhile improvement. Would be a shame not to show it.
Posted: 5/27/2015 6:18 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
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Having plated the original this game is a travesty. still probably worthy of the vault...
Posted: 5/22/2015 6:53 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
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i repeat. there are only 100 levels. the game loops LONG before level 999. It just starts randomly mirroring the levels once you reach what was level 6 or 8 before. arcade goes from 999 to 8 on gauntlet 1, and 999 to level 6 on gauntlet II. Gauntlet 2 NES is not accurate because it goes from 999 to 1. :)
Posted: 5/22/2015 5:52 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Derakon wrote:
Thanks for the run, FatRatKnight, and thanks for the encode, Spikestuff! The subtitles were a big help in explaining what was going on and in particular explaining what the small detours were for. It's impressive how, uh, reckless the run can be, thanks to the health refills after every treasure room. I can't imagine that Gauntlet II will be so forgiving, whenever someone gets around to tackling it...
Gauntlet II is actually an arcade port, and thus has no defined ending. the objective is to gain the maximum score for the lowest number of coins inserted. That said clearing all 100 levels on one coin (after then it starts repeating) would be interesting. (you would need to manipulate all the locked chests to have food, if that is even possible)
Posted: 5/22/2015 9:46 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
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btw, there's even MORE BS for the honest player who isn't looking up the vault code online. The part at which people first tend to throw their controllers is the invisible world. This is because of one truly EVIL design choice. The first would 4 clue room requires a key to get the clue. there is no key reachable in that level if you don't already have one. most players will be empty of keys coming into world 4 the first time. there are no keys in ANY of the world 4 levels before the clue room. Typical chain of events. 1) miss clue room the first time. swear, reset and continue. 2) miss clue room second time. swear, reset, and continue 3) find clue room. see clue right there taunting you from behind a locked door you don't have a key for. gnash your teeth as you go hunting for a key. swear loudly cuz you can't find one, reset, and continue. 4) discover that no, you didn't miss any keys in the earlier levels, there aren't any. Swear like a mofo because you stopped recording every single password you ever got, and because of that you have to start all OVER and do all the other clue rooms AGAIN, and this time remember to save a key from world three. Possibly ragequit the game forever. Fortunately i DID have the previous password to go back to, so i didn't throw my controller. But that was one of the worst dick moves ever.
Posted: 5/20/2015 11:51 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
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under non TAS conditions it can be beaten with one elf, or with one wizard if you re really lucky (get good treasure room RNG) The elf with extra speed is the only character that can always pass the world 5 treasure rooms regardless of luck. The magic is very important for beating the game at all, and only elf+potion and wizard have good magic. the elf is also a very good fighter, even though he's supposed to be the second weakest (he can mow down grunts like it's no tomorrow). Even the valkyrie and the warrior get mauled very rapidly by the FAST enemies, so their supposed better fighting is no help. With TWO wizards, its' possible to make the treasure rooms on world 5 every time by taking turns with each room. this was how i beat it back in the day.
Posted: 5/20/2015 8:55 PM
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zaphod77
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Nice. that said i'm also curious how quickly the game can be beaten if you clear all clue rooms. you are intended to have to clear all of them to get the code.
Posted: 5/9/2015 2:47 PM
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zaphod77
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i think a movie that only blows up bridges and nothing else would do this. a task for a new bot?
Posted: 4/21/2015 6:37 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
The episodes are independent game modes. nothing carries over from one to the other, and they can be played in any order, if you have the full version. IF episode 1 had to be beaten to unlock episode 2, and 2 had th be beaten to unlock three, then a complete TAS would have to do them all. but that is not the case. so each episode is a GAME MODE. Or branch in TAS terms.
Posted: 4/6/2015 11:52 PM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
this one is less entertaining because you can't pass through walls.
Posted: 2/24/2015 1:59 AM
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zaphod77
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Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 335
Yeah the game is pretty finicky, and has been known to outright crash on real hardware. so i wouldn't fault the emulation.
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