Posts for zidanax

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Posted: 10/22/2009 4:47 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
I checked for that, but for some reason the little explosions that do so much damage to other bosses don't seem to hurt this one.
Posted: 10/21/2009 4:24 AM
(Edited: 10/22/2009 4:42 AM)
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
I'll show you guys what I have for Marahna Act 2: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/283700763/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_Marahna_Act_2_Done.smv So far, I've managed to shave off 17 frames up to the boss. The boss fight is 47 frames less than in my previous WIP. I think my lua script may have helped some with that. Those wait periods you see are what my script came up with when trying to maximize damage per cast. I suppose it's possible there's a more efficient way to use the Stardust, but it sure won't be easy to find. EDIT: although I did just save 9 frames on the part after the stardust.
Posted: 10/20/2009 4:23 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
I did test it: going to the left is faster. Take a look at the Marahna Act 2 Map here. The 3 heads are quicker to get past than the spiked platforms. Also, there's less stuff you have to hit yourself on to get past. If you take the right path, you end up having to move past some things without getting hit otherwise you'll die (and getting hit is almost always the quickest way to get past things). Also, the pit on the left side is quicker to fall down because there's left platforms next to the wall.
Posted: 10/19/2009 6:30 PM
(Edited: 10/19/2009 6:34 PM)
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Yes, Marahna Act 2 can be painful, but the main part of it isn't when TASing. It's trying to optimize the boss fight that's difficult when TASing. You don't really get anything from helping out the man in Aitos apart from the woman's (and dying man's) thanks. Or at least I don't recall getting anything we would want in our run. Yes I know it's cold-hearted. We didn't bother to look for the man in the desert in Kasandora, and now this. At least people who hadn't played this game before wouldn't notice since they can't read the messages so quickly. EDIT: wow, we posted within a few seconds of each other.
Posted: 10/12/2009 7:58 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Alright, Marahna Act 1 has been hex-edited in: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/468178683/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_Marahna_Act_1_Done.smv Unfortunately, the time to crystallization is only 4 frames less than before, not 5. I don't think there's anything I can do about that, because the time to the last hit on the boss is 5 frames less as expected.
Posted: 10/12/2009 5:43 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Um.. wow. Are you planning to add toaster support next? :P I wonder if this subtitle script stuff should be spun off into a separate thread. Maybe on the Tool-Assisted Laboratory board?
Posted: 10/12/2009 5:58 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Tracking down a bin+cue did the trick. It does seem to make a difference which BIOS you're running. It didn't sync for me with v1.0, but did for 2.0.
Posted: 10/12/2009 3:14 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
No comment on the quality, because the run desynced for me. Maybe there's something wrong on my side, but in any case it might help if you ran your ISO through this tool. For example, here's what it outputs for me: 
SCDToolz v3.55 by HopeRomz (http://hoperomz.is.dreaming.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Generated           : 10-11-2009 20:09:22
Database Name       : Earthworm_Jim_-_Special_Edition_(T-125045)(U)(00)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boot System         : SEGADISCSYSTEM  
CD Type             : EARTHWORMJM
System Name         : SEGAOS     
System Version      : 100
System Needed       : SEGA GENESIS    
Copyright Info      : (C)T-1251995.JAN
Local Name          : EARTHWORM JIM, SHINY ENTERTAINMENT, 1995        
World Name          : EARTHWORM JIM, SHINY ENTERTAINMENT, 1995        
Software Type       : GM
Software Version    : 00
Supported Device(s) : 3-Buttons Pad
Develloped by       : Interplay
Region Code         : U : USA
Reference ID        : T-125045
Time Stamp          : 02061995
Image Format        : ISO+MP3
CRC32 Checksum      : B7B76EA
Audio Track(s)      : 27
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: 10/10/2009 6:44 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
OK, here's the next one, then: http://lua.pastey.net/126324
Posted: 10/10/2009 4:55 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Sorry, I figured out the local i thing before I saw your post. That's why I edited my post above with the corrected script.
Posted: 10/10/2009 4:15 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Thanks for the cleanup. If you save state while a subtitle is being displayed, you won't get the subtitle when you reload. But that's such a small thing I'm not sure we should bother fixing it. Here's the current script: http://lua.pastey.net/126322 Awesome that we don't have to reload the script everytime we reload a state anymore. And unused lines don't need to have anything written for them anymore.
Posted: 10/9/2009 5:27 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
OK, Here's the script with some subs through Fillmore Act 2. http://lua.pastey.net/126262 Nothing in there so far is final. It's just a very rough draft. Make sure that you're using a recent svn version of SNES9x 1.51. You can go to the snes9x-rr downloads page and get either the r51 binary or the latest binary (r70 as of the time I typed this). If you don't use a sufficiently recent version the font will be too large. I don't know if you'll want to add subs, Dunnius, but in case you do: To add subs, go to the section with all the lines beginning with "S(". After the "S(", there are three comma-separated numbers to put in: first is the frame to start displaying the message, second is the Y position to start drawing the message, and third is the number of frames to display the message. Then type in three comma-separated strings, each in one set of quotes. Each string represents one line. If you don't want to display anything on a line, just don't put anything between the quotes. Don't forget to add a closing ")" after all of that. You'll probably have to mess around with how much text to put on each line since if a line is too long it just cuts off text instead of wrapping it. Make sure to have the text in the order that it'll appear in-game. I suggest you set hotkeys for reloading lua scripts. Go to Config->Hotkeys then select "Tools" from the drop-down list. You should be able to set the hotkey from there. Then when you want to mess around with a sub, make a savestate before the part where the sub actually occurs. If you want to try it again after making changes, reload the savestate and reload the script using whatever hotkey you set for that, otherwise the script might not work right.
Posted: 10/9/2009 1:18 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
I did the dancing by playing in slow motion instead of either full speed or frame advance. In SNES9x it's under Config->Speed->Set Speed. I usually did it at either 50% or 25%. Also, I'm think I'm going to go ahead and stick in subtitles to reduce the monotony of waiting in the sims. I got permission to use FatRatKnight's lua script. I've written some content, so I'm going to go ahead and time it, then put up the script so you guys can critique it.
Posted: 10/8/2009 8:14 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Since you were gone for a few days I went ahead and saw what I could do for the waiting in Aitos. I've also finished Marahna Act 1 and managed to shave off 9 frames. Here's the WIP: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/676366735/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Marahna_Act_1_Finished.smv Go ahead and critique the Aitos waiting. If you feel it needs to be changed, I'd be willing to hex in my current Marahna Act 1 playthrough, or even redo it if hexing doesn't work. A note for when you start the Marahna sim: It'd be preferable to wait until the population reaches 1900 before starting Act 2 -- I need all the life I can get for Act 2 since there's so many things where getting hit is the best way to bypass them. As for time saved so far over Ogreslayer's run: 26465 frames, or about 7 minutes and 21 seconds.
Posted: 10/8/2009 6:58 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Awesome, and I agree that the subs should be in the final encode. They really help to keep the run from getting too monotonous.
Posted: 9/30/2009 7:35 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
*smacks forehead*. Of course! I don't have to keep moving forward in that particular jump since the main direction to move is downward anyway. I even thought of that right before you actually did it. I'll see if I can optimize that. Now that we have a way to get that scroll with little delay, I guess I'll see whether or not using two scrolls gets us enough improvement on the boss. EDIT:So far, after doing a little optimization, getting that scroll delays getting to the boss by 15 frames. Let's see how the boss fight goes. Optimizing when there's more than one cast involved is gonna be a pain... EDIT: The best I've been able to manage is crystallizing at the exact same frame as before. So the actual boss fight/crystallization part was 15 frames shorter, but the 15 frame delay before the fight cancels that out. Unless I'm missing something, trying out another pattern of stardust involves a delay of at least 9 more frames up to the boss fight. But that hasn't helped either. Here's the two-scroll version of crystallizing at 120431 frames: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1315049831/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Got_Aitos_Act_2_Scroll.smv EDIT: Revisited the one-star version and managed to shave off another frame.
Posted: 9/30/2009 5:13 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
I took another look at it: yes, the flag can be obtained with just one jump-slash, but there are a few frames of delay upon landing. Admittedly that's insignificant, but what is significant is that I can't find a quick way to bypass the multi-eyed monster after the jump. Simply walking up will cause you to get hit. Trying to do another jump slash doesn't make the monster red long enough to prevent you getting hit. Heck, just standing there and slashing doesn't work since the monster starts moving again even before you do. I did think to try not getting hit somewhere earlier, but I don't really see any good places to do so, since they all involve monsters that take more than one hit to kill. Yes, there are some times where I don't get hit by those multi-hit monsters, but in all those cases the invulnerability period also lets me bypass multi-hit monsters that come a little later. Do you see a good way to get the flag without a major delay? Because I don't. Regardless of how we do this, I think we'll get a minimum 65 frame delay (about 5 frames delay upon landing + 3 slashes) reaching the boss, very likely more.
Posted: 9/29/2009 12:41 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
With enough manipulation, one cast will do the trick without waiting for very long. So trying to beat the boss in two casts would be pointless, as we'd have to wait for that second cast to finish too.
Posted: 9/28/2009 7:18 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
I've completed Aitos Act 2. Unfortunately, I didn't get quite as nice of a starfall pattern this time, so I lost 15 frames fighting the boss, but that's more than made up for by the time to crystallization being 21 frames faster. I also shaved off 19 frames leading up to the boss. So in total, I managed to shave off 25 more frames. I actually tried hexing in my Aitos WIP to see if I could get the same starfall pattern, but interestingly enough I didn't. So apparently actions outside of the levels also influence starfall patterns. I can see there's more waiting to be done in Aitos, which I'll leave to Dunnius since Dunnius is better at being entertaining while waiting in the sims. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/892863207/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Aitos_Act_2_Done.smv
Posted: 9/23/2009 1:15 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
pirate_sephiroth wrote:
Just to see how bad the interface is, try to reach the Network Connections via the menus... it's impossible. The only way is through ncpa.cpl.
Hmm? All I had to do was go the Network and Sharing Center in the Control Panel then click on "Change Adapter Settings" on the left side of the screen. Gets me the exact same thing as ncpa.cpl.
Posted: 9/22/2009 4:12 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
OK, here's the revised Aitos: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1979438563/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_Aitos_Act_1_WaitingRedone.smv Hopefully the waiting segment is a bit more palatable now. Thanks to destroying lots of stuff while waiting, my score is a little higher now. I take longer crystallize at the end, but only by 5 frames. And that's offset by two frames from remembering to do a boost jump before entering the waterfall area.
Posted: 9/16/2009 6:21 AM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Sorry I took so long. I've finished Aitos Act 1: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1879618999/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_Aitos_Act_1_Done.smv Managed to shave 159 frames off Kasandora Act 2 and 33 frames off Aitos Act 1. Mostly from trying more this time to optimize the Kasandora boss fight. It's now a few frames faster than Ogreslayer's. I checked how much time total has been saved so far: 4 minutes and 46.42 seconds. EDIT: Youtube link. Any suggestions on how to make the parts where you're waiting for/on the platform carried by birds more interesting?
Posted: 9/3/2009 11:38 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
After some testing, I think that it will be worth it to get the scroll in Aitos, barring worse stardust patterns in my final attempts on each level and Death Heim. Have you made any progress on Kasandora, Dunnius?
Posted: 8/29/2009 11:09 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Just popping in to say that your persistence is amazing and admirable. Any idea how many times you've restarted this run? :)
Posted: 8/18/2009 3:13 PM
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zidanax
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Player (215)
Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon
Well, I'm not so sure about a flashing banner, but maybe a new tab on the front page instead of having to go into the "About" section? In my humble opinion, on a lot of sites, "About" means "About Us" and has a bunch of stuff hardly anyone cares about, so they don't look at it. Maybe a tab that says something like "Tutorial"?
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