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First of all, I'm sorry for resubmitting this TAS. This time, I have a verification movie for the SRAM. [dead link removed]

Magnetica

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: DeSmuME version 0.9.6 msvc 1500
  • I'm starting the movie from SRAM, since the mode I'm playing is unlockable.
  • I'm completing the mode as fast as possible.
  • I'm trying to make awesome chain reactions.

Comments

This is my first TAS ever! It's been done on Magnetica (also known as Actionloop and Shunkan Puzzloop), which is obviously Zuma. The goal of Challenge Mode is to get to level 100, by breaking marbles and creating chain reactions. This movie features the biggest chain reaction I could make, which is 18. I could also manage to get some 10+ chains in the highest levels! To close a decade of levels, I had to shoot a rocket that appears in the last level of a decade and that pushes the marbles.

Stage by stage comments

Levels 0 to 9

That was easy. The eastiest part of the game. My biggest chain there was 15.

Levels 10 to 19

That was a bit harder, but I could manage to get a chain of 18, the biggest chain of this whole TAS.

Levels 20 to 29

This was beginning to become a little pile of mess, since yellow marbles made their entrance to the game, but I could manage to get a chain of 13.

Levels 30 to 39

Light blue marbles made their first appearance here. After I made a chain of 15, I was approaching death, until I made a chain of 7.

Levels 40 to 49

The marbles were getting more scrambled, that made the game harder, but I could manage to make a chain of 14.

Levels 50 to 59

Purple marbles made their first appearance here. The farther I get, the more you'll hear that warning music. My biggest chain there was 10. I've waited a bit before I shot that level-closing rocket, because I was preparing a good chain reaction.

Levels 60 to 69

Right at the beginning of level 60, I could make a chain of 8. Then, I was two marbles before death. This is the less entertaining bunch of 10 levels of the movie.

Levels 70 to 79

Green marbles started to appear here. It's becoming a miserable pile of scrambled mess. I could manage to get a chain of 11.

Levels 80 to 89

Those annoyingly rare white marbles made their first appearance here. I had to start over these levels at least five times, seriously! These were a big deal! The biggest chain was 10.

Levels 90 to 99

I was more focusing on finishing that darn game! The biggest chain was only 5!
Then, I skipped that useless staff credits minigame.
The end.

Other comments

I hope you enjoy this run and that it will get accepted, but vote Yes only if you like it!
Thanks for watching my first TAS!
Here's a screenshot I'd like to use if I get the opportunity to publish this.
[dead link removed]

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2842: GabCM's DS Magnetica "Challenge Mode (Hard)" in 04:22.14
Skilled player (1307)
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Neat movie. It has that speed that most puzzle games should have. I grant thee a Yes to you. :)
Joined: 4/14/2010
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Location: France
A downpour of colours, for a good visual experience. This seems to be quite hard to find the best solution. Yes vote.
Joined: 7/2/2007
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Seemed enjoyable enough. Nice work!
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Patashu
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Clarification: Was 'make awesome chain reactions' completely secondary to the goal of completing as fast as possible, or were there entertainment/time tradeoffs?
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Joined: 5/11/2009
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Sorry, I chose to vote no, just doesn't seem like a good game choice, seems slow and rather repetitive.
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: Minnesota
Lets try this a third time. A little longer of a movie would have been too boring, but 4 minutes is short enough to keep entertainment acceptable. Yes.
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
NitroGenesis
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Editor, Experienced player (551)
Joined: 12/24/2009
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Did not enjoy. It was slow to me.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
GabCM
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Location: QC, Canada
Wow! I wasn't expecting that much praise and Yes votes for my first TAS!
Patashu wrote:
Clarification: Was 'make awesome chain reactions' completely secondary to the goal of completing as fast as possible, or were there entertainment/time tradeoffs?
For the first part of the movie, it was a secondary goal that was still important, but lost his importance when I get to higher levels, because it became a faster pile of random madness.
Sticky wrote:
Lets try this a third time. A little longer of a movie would have been too boring, but 4 minutes is short enough to keep entertainment acceptable. Yes.
Good thing I didn't TAS the Quest Mode!
Femke wrote:
Sorry, I chose to vote no, just doesn't seem like a good game choice, seems slow and rather repetitive.
NitroGenesis wrote:
Did not enjoy. It was slow to me.
Femke's right here. If you think it was too slow, blame the game choice, not the optimization. I had to wait for a marble to take position before I could shoot the next one.
NitroGenesis
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Mister Epic wrote:
Femke wrote:
Sorry, I chose to vote no, just doesn't seem like a good game choice, seems slow and rather repetitive.
NitroGenesis wrote:
Did not enjoy. It was slow to me.
Femke's right here. If you think it was too slow, blame the game choice, not the optimization. I had to wait for a marble to take position before I could shoot the next one.
lol, sorry if I was too vague.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
GabCM
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For your information, the HD encode's gonna be on YouTube later today, unless YouTube destroys it like it did for my other attempts. I've used HQ4x, HQ2x and interleaving for this one.
Joined: 6/4/2009
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I don't know what I just watched. I saw balls going around everywhere. But for some reasons I liked it. Yes vote.
Warepire
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A tad slow (damn game) but acceptable entertainment wise and some very nice chains every now and then. Yes vote.
mklip2001
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It's not the most exciting puzzle game, but the puzzle action is tricky to follow, which makes the playing look even more impressive (Tetrisphere, anyone?). The last rounds also look pretty crazy, and the length is appropriate for the type of game. Good job!
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
GabCM
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Here's the HD encode. SD encodes have been changed. Now the screens are positioned vertically, like the real DS.
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How much luck manipulation's going on there? Or is it simply a case of putting every marble in the best possible position?
GabCM
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ais523 wrote:
How much luck manipulation's going on there? Or is it simply a case of putting every marble in the best possible position?
I've seen cases where pending marbles have changed completely after a rerecord, all by accident. After I saw that, I tried to rerecord in multiple ways to manipulate luck, without success. That would be a case to check out closely.
Joined: 6/23/2009
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Fun little puzzle game. Not so long that it becomes tedious. I think maybe a bit more luck manipulation would make it better, but still a nice movie.
billybobfred
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I've always wanted to see Zuma TAS'd. Got bored towards the end, but there's only so much to do in a game like this, isn't there?
I'm just a spectator. There was a time when I tried to participate, but I'm really lazy, so. she/her/hers
Joined: 7/10/2008
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Thanks for the encode, Mister Epic. This was short, but really didn't do anything for me. "Meh"'s a pretty appropriate choice: not bad, but nothing to write home about either.
TASVideosGrue
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om, nom, nom... crunchy!
GabCM
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I've found a way to manipulate luck!!!!! So I'm gonna redo the whole TAS using the luck manipulating method I found!
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Mister Epic wrote:
I've found a way to manipulate luck!!!!! So I'm gonna redo the whole TAS using the luck manipulating method I found!
I look forward to that day. Good luck.
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Excellent. I look forward to massive combos :>
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
GabCM
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I found out how to manipulate the incoming marbles to shoot, but I still don't know how to manipulate those who are coming from outside the screen. That would be another case to check.