Post subject: Sorcerer's Maze
Skilled player (1651)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy
This game would make for a totally awesome TAS. You can occasionally get the ball splitter, either by drop or by paying MP. I'm not quite sure what gains MP, but it isn't fixed per level. Anyway, here is a demo TAS of level 5. Link to video
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
Patashu
He/Him
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4042
Ooh, I love Arkanoid clones like these. Nearly infinite potential for juggling in a TAS.
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
Post subject: My last push...
Editor, Skilled player (1198)
Joined: 9/27/2008
Posts: 1085
As the Consolation Team Contest didn't quite work out the way I thought it would, here I am reviving this thread for one last push. By the way, laponge36 had submitted this for week 2, which I sadly can't view with my problems (encode requested): http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1572741131/Sorcerer%27s%20Maze%20241356.pjm If the suggested route for the CTC looks like a bad choice, there's no CTC anymore, so if you do think it's time to start at World 4, now might be a good time to do so. Though, it would appear I neglected to post my lua scripts then. I'll fix that mistake now... This one just paints a tiny box on each ball. Mousing over the box will provide basic stats on the angle and speed of the ball, though the OldScratchStuff generally dumps more addresses: Download SM.lua
Language: lua

local R1u, R1s= memory.readbyte , memory.readbytesigned local R2u, R2s= memory.readword , memory.readwordsigned local R4u, R4s= memory.readdword, memory.readdwordsigned local keys, lastkeys= input.get(),input.get() --***************************************************************************** local function UpdateKeys() lastkeys= keys; keys= input.get() end local function Press(k) return keys[k] and (not lastkeys[k]) end --***************************************************************************** local function Limits(v,l,h) return math.max(math.min(v,h),l) end local function Within(v,l,h) return (v >= l) and (v <= h) end local function HexStr(v) return string.upper(string.format("%x",v)) end --***************************************************************************** --***************************************************************************** local function GuiTextRight(x,y,t,c) --***************************************************************************** c= c or -1 x= x - #tostring(t)*4 gui.text(x,y,t,c) end local red= -0x00FFFF01 --Bypass some bug I call "80Red" gui.opacity(0.75) local BallStart= 0x00115BE4 --***************************************************************************** local function Fn() --***************************************************************************** UpdateKeys() -- for j= 0, 33 do -- GuiTextRight(66, 2+7*j,R2s(0x001137A4+2*j),-1) -- end local MouseCount= 0 for i= 0, 99 do local addr= BallStart + 0xAC*i if R1u(addr) ~= 0 then local x,y= R2u(addr+0x74),R2u(addr+0x76) gui.box(x-1,y-1,x+1,y+1,0x00FF0080,0x00FF00FF) if Within(keys.xmouse,x-1,x+1) and Within(keys.ymouse,y-1,y+1) then gui.line(x,y, x+R4s(addr+0x2C)/10 , y+R4s(addr+0x30)/10 , red) GuiTextRight(20, 2+20*MouseCount, R4s(addr+0x38)) --Position GuiTextRight(20,10+20*MouseCount, R4s(addr+0x3C)) GuiTextRight(40, 2+20*MouseCount, R4s(addr+0x2C)) --Velocity GuiTextRight(40,10+20*MouseCount, R4s(addr+0x30)) GuiTextRight(60, 2+20*MouseCount, R2u(addr+0x22)) --Speed/Angle GuiTextRight(60,10+20*MouseCount, R2u(addr+0x20)) MouseCount= MouseCount+1 end end -- If ball exists end -- For loop end -- Function gui.register(Fn) --***************************************************************************** local function OldScratchStuff() --***************************************************************************** UpdateKeys() for j= 0, 23 do GuiTextRight(9,2+7*j,HexStr((j+0x00)*2),0x00FF00FF) end for j= 0, 23 do GuiTextRight(83,2+7*j,HexStr(R2u(0x00119F0C+(j+0x00)*2))) end for i= 0, 10 do local addr= BallStart + 0xAC*i if R2u(addr) ~= 0 then for j= 0, 23 do GuiTextRight(33+23*i, 2+7*j,R2s(addr+2*(j+0x00))) end -- if bit.band(R2u(addr+2),4) == 0 then local Angle= R2u(addr+0x9A) / 2048 * math.pi local Speed= R2u(addr+0x98) GuiTextRight(33+23*i, 180, math.floor(Speed*math.sin(Angle))) GuiTextRight(33+23*i, 190, math.floor(Speed*math.cos(Angle))) -- end end end end --gui.register(OldScratchStuff) --***************************************************************************** while true do -- I did observe a glitch with joypad.set without this loop. --***************************************************************************** emu.frameadvance() end
And this one merely logs certain events (using the Output Console via print). Might not be bad to take a look: Download SM_logger.lua
Language: lua

local OutputFn= print -- print, or to a file? local R1u, R1s= memory.readbyte , memory.readbytesigned local R2u, R2s= memory.readword , memory.readwordsigned local R4u, R4s= memory.readdword, memory.readdwordsigned local keys, lastkeys= input.get(),input.get() --***************************************************************************** local function UpdateKeys() lastkeys= keys; keys= input.get() end local function Press(k) return keys[k] and (not lastkeys[k]) end --***************************************************************************** local function Limits(v,l,h) return math.max(math.min(v,h),l) end local function Within(v,l,h) return (v >= l) and (v <= h) end local function HexStr(v) return string.upper(string.format("%x",v)) end --***************************************************************************** --***************************************************************************** local function GuiTextRight(x,y,t,c) --***************************************************************************** c= c or -1 x= x - #tostring(t)*4 gui.text(x,y,t,c) end local red= -0x00DFFF01 --Bypass some bug I call "80Red" local BallArray= {}; for i= 0, 99 do BallArray[i]= {exist= false,st=0} end --***************************************************************************** local function RecordBall(ball, addr) --***************************************************************************** ball.exist= (R2u(addr ) ~= 0) ball.st= R2u(addr+0x02) end --***************************************************************************** local function EdgeCheck(case1, case2, msg1, msg2) --***************************************************************************** if case1 and (not case2) then OutputFn(msg1) elseif (not case1) and case2 then OutputFn(msg2) end end --***************************************************************************** local function MessageLog(b, ball, addr) --***************************************************************************** --Existance local temp= R2u(addr) EdgeCheck(temp ~= 0 , ball.exist, movie.framecount() .. " + Ball #" .. b .. " spawned at " .. R4u(addr+0x14) .. " " .. R4u(addr+0x10) .. " - s" .. R2u(addr+0x22) .. " a" .. R2u(addr+0x20), movie.framecount() .. " - Ball #" .. b .. " deleted." ) if (temp == 0) then return end -- Uh, it doesn't exist. Stop messages. --Status temp= R2u(addr+2) EdgeCheck(bit.band(temp,1) ~= 0, bit.band(ball.st,1) ~= 0, movie.framecount() .. " #" .. b .. " hit ceiling", movie.framecount() .. " #" .. b .. " hit paddle, (pad x" .. R4u(0x001137B4) .. ") - s" .. R2u(addr+0x22) .. " a" .. R2u(addr+0x20) ) EdgeCheck(bit.band(temp,4) ~= 0, bit.band(ball.st,4) ~= 0, movie.framecount() .. " #" .. b .. " released from paddle.", movie.framecount() .. " #" .. b .. " is stuck to paddle." ) end --***************************************************************************** local function HandleBalls() --***************************************************************************** for b= 0, 99 do local ball= BallArray[b] local addr= 0x00115BE4 + 0xAC*b MessageLog(b, ball, addr) RecordBall(ball, addr) end end emu.registerafter(HandleBalls) --***************************************************************************** while true do -- I did observe a glitch with joypad.set without this loop. --***************************************************************************** emu.frameadvance() end
And these are my current notes on memory addresses:
0x0011322E - Blocks left
0x0010B030 - Player Control

00115BE4 [size=0xAC][count=100] Ball stuff
+00,2x Does ball exist? Some sort of identifier?
+02,2x Bit-packed:
  0x0001 - Allowed to hit paddle?  0 = No (still going up from paddle hit)  1 = Yes
  0x0004 - Released from paddle?  0 = Stuck to paddle  1 = Flying free
+04,2? Ball power-up (giant, fire)
+06,2s Angle (precise to 4096)
+08,2? Fire ball related.
+0A,2s Is it fire ball?  -1 = No  0 = Yes
+0C,2? Giant ball related.
+0E
+10,4? X-pos
+14,4? Y-pos
+18
+1A
+1C
+1E
+20,2s Angle (2)
+22,2u Speed
+24,4? X-pos (2)
+28,4? Y-pos (2)
+2C,4s X-vel
+30,4s Y-vel
+34,2s Angle (3)
+36,2u Speed (2)
+38,4? X-pos (3)
+3C,4? Y-pos (3)
+40
+42
+44
+46
+48,4? X-pos (4, halfstep?)
+4C,4? Y-pos (4, halfstep?)
+50,4u X-vel, absolute value?
+54,4u Y-vel, absolute value?
+58
+5A
+5C
+5E
+60
+62
+64
+66
+68
+6A
+6C
+6E
+70
+72
+74,2u X-pixel
+76,2u Y-pixel
+78,2u X-pixel: Trail1
+7A,2u Y-pixel: Trail1
+7C,2u X-pixel: Trail2
+7E,2u Y-pixel: Trail2
+80,2u X-pixel: Trail3
+82,2u Y-pixel: Trail3
+84,2u X-pixel: Trail4
+86,2u Y-pixel: Trail4
+88,2u X-pixel: Trail5
+8A,2u Y-pixel: Trail5
+8C,2u X-pixel: Trail6
+8E,2u Y-pixel: Trail6
+90,2u X-pixel: Trail7
+92,2u Y-pixel: Trail7
+94,2u X-pixel: Trail8
+96,2u Y-pixel: Trail8
+98,2u Speed (used only for sticky ball or pre-launch)
+9A,2s Angle (used only for sticky ball or pre-launch)
+9C,2u Timer for sticky ball (or pre-launch)
+9E,2s Countdown timer?
+A0,2? Related to ball speed? Incremented by timer at +9E
+A2,2x Which wall was last hit?
+A4
+A6
+A8
+AA
edit: Oh, my post in the CTC is more informative... Copying that instead I'd love to work on this myself, but the fact I can't make lapogne36's run sync here, but DarkKobold can on his computer, kind of scares me away, probably due to the fact I don't believe I can produce a movie that will sync on anyone else's machine. Regardless, this TAS does have my support. If there's anything you want done in script form, I will attempt to work one up. I just need a request, the more specific the better, or else I'd just be aimlessly scripting around.
Editor, Skilled player (1333)
Joined: 1/31/2010
Posts: 330
Location: France
Editor, Skilled player (1198)
Joined: 9/27/2008
Posts: 1085
Amazing... So that's what I've been missing. It's no less spectacular than I imagined, that is quite certain. It was truly fascinating in a few parts, and I was surprised in a few other parts. This game really does look like a good TAS choice. You have my thanks for the encode. And sorry about going through with the contest closure, but I posted my reasons there. lapogne36, what are your plans, by the way? I don't want to put unwanted pressure on you, though. If you want to stop since I ended the contest, I will be saddened, but it's not up to me to decide what you do. But thanks for participating while the contest was still open, though.
Editor, Skilled player (1333)
Joined: 1/31/2010
Posts: 330
Location: France
Here is the second WIP, I put a lot of work into level 1-8 to find this setup. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1737792295/Sorcerer%27s%20Maze%20WIP2.pjm Link to video
Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960
Looking good! I like how this game is basically Arkanoid taken to the illogical extreme. Multiball? Feh. We split the ball every time it hits the paddle! Laser beam? Yeah, more like the Yamato cannon. And that big-ball upgrade is absurd.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Editor, Skilled player (1333)
Joined: 1/31/2010
Posts: 330
Location: France
Editor, Skilled player (1333)
Joined: 1/31/2010
Posts: 330
Location: France
Warepire
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2178
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
This gets more absurd with every WIP. Great work so far!