In this run Wolverine sacrifices almost all of his life, ignoring the attacks of most enemies all so that he could push Sabretooth off a cliff and celebrate by looking angry.

About the run:

  • Emulator used: fceux-2.1.5-win32 with TAS Edit
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Takes Damage to save time
  • Manipulates Luck
  • Abuse wall glitch
  • Genre: Platform

Comments:

Health Management:

Health management is the most important aspect of this run. At the start of each level Wolverine has 48 hp that diminished when he is hit by enemies or their weapons. While these collisions cause Wolverine to lose health they do not actually slow his forward progression at all. Because of this the optimum run of this game would be simply to "run right for justice" and neither attack, which severely slows you down, nor trying to jump over enemies, which is also slowly. The problem is that there are more enemies than that would allow so optimization of the run was dependent on avoiding and ignoring the proper enemies so that Wolverine ends each level with the minimum life possible.

Movement:

While running Wolverine has a constant velocity of 2 pixels per frame. Running speed is only affected by magnets which either slow you down or speed you up while running and moving platforms. These magnets and platforms only affect Wolverine while he is in contanct so these areas are optimized for maximum speed.
While jumping the x and y velocity are dependent on a random number generator and as such desyncs are common so fixing earlier portions of the run means redoing the rest over. While in the air the x-velocity alternates at random between 1 or 2 pixels per frame which is dependent on both the frame the jump starts and for how long you hold the jump button. The y-direction velocity follows a similar random pattern alternating between 1 or 2 pixels per frame until you reach near the peak of your jump and then alternates between 0 and 1 pixel per frame and then follows this pattern in reverse until you reach a top speed of alternating between 3 and 4 pixels per frame.
Physics for swimming is a mix between running and jumping with your x-speed being a constant 1 pixel per frame and the y-velocity based on random numbers following a similar pattern to jumping.
In addition to the randomness another aspect of movement that must be manipulated in interactions with corners. There are 3 options when jumping onto a platform and depending on the specific situation any of the 3 can be fastest.
1) The first choice is to jump over the corner and land in stride on the platform. Pros of this choice are that you always have x-velocity. Cons of this choice are that to avoid the corner you must be in the air longer and due to the randomness of jumping the extra time in the air may be slower than the other options.
2) The second choice is the collide with the corner and slide up and onto the platform. Pros of this choice is that it limits air time so the sometimes slow air travel is limited and you can land on the platform on the absolute earliest frame of all options. Cons of this choice are that you must collide with the wall so that for at least one frame your x-velocity is 0.
3) The final choice is a glitch in that on certain platforms you can get through the wall and land within the platform. When this occurs a wall ejection occurs moving you as fast as 8 pixels in a single frame. The pros of this choice are obviously that it is the fastest option to move up as it saves around 4 frames. The cons of this option is that these platforms are not that frequent.

Attacks:

In this game Wolverine has three attack options. You can punch while standing, punch in the air or kick while standing. For both punches you have the choice to extend your claws which deals twice the damage to the enemies but costs Wolverine 1 hp. You cannot move while kicking and it is both weaker and slower than punching so it is not used at all in this run. If you punch while standing you also cannot move so this technique is used only twice, while fighting Magneto and Sabretooth on the last levels as there is no destination that must be moved towards. Punching in the air is used many times in the run as it can allow for a loss of only 1 hp when any other option would cost 3 or more but has the trade-off of being slightly slower than simply running through.

Other comments

  • Overall I am quite pleased with this run. I spent quite a while trying to determine ideal path and experimented greatly with various health management options so that I feel it is quite optimized.
  • Thanks to feos, TheHepper and c-square for helping question my methods which helped find find new strategies and for the suggestions that improved run.
  • Re-record count is zero because of TAS Edit does not have a re-record count.
Thanks for watching.

feos: Encoded the latest movie from author.
Mukki: Judging...
Mukki: Hmm...it seems that this submission has not been updated yet. Anyway, updating the file with the small improvement and accepting. A fast paced run with some nice health management and good response.
Brandon: Publication underway.

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14776
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3423: goofydylan8's NES Wolverine in 08:10.94
Joined: 5/14/2007
Posts: 525
Location: Pisces-Cetus filament
I'm disappointed to not see TheHepper mentioned anywhere in the submission text.
AzumaK wrote: I swear my 1 year old daughter's favorite TASVideo is your R4MI run :3 xxNKxx wrote: ok thanks handsome feos :D Help improving TASVideos!
Experienced player (508)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
Sorry, should have spent more time writing the text to make sure I didn't forget anything. Acknowledgement of feos and TheHepper now included.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11251
Location: RU
Encoding HD.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Post subject: wolverine: youtube + video file [NEW UPDATED SUBMISSION]
Joined: 3/18/2006
Posts: 971
Location: Great Britain
Link to video video file (60fps lossless) http://www.multiupload.com/T9FYYDJBVW
  File: Wolverine (U) [!].nes
CRC-32: 1fd46615
   MD4: 937a582d2bba94e2ed98a956a6c014ac
   MD5: f939c2e33326737c325eb2a3ecb6d3a0
 SHA-1: 72279226339938a684292bf17bbaeef78b67c788
goofydylan8 wrote:
Updated File Here is the updated submission file. (Same file that was posted earlier in thread. If someone with the power could update this it would be appreciated.
Active player (372)
Joined: 9/25/2011
Posts: 652
Was it really necessary to get that burger right before Magneto? You seem to end the level with lots of life. Also, there seems to be time taken counting down your 'Berzerker' meter at the end of the Magneto level. Is there any way to get rid of some of that before you get to the end of the level?
Experienced player (508)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
You know I said to myself, I should post my last WIP there is something stupid I am missing, you should post it. But then I didn't. Thank you c-square, I now have an extra 47 frame improvement. How do I get them to change the file to the updated one or should I just cancel and resubmit? *Removed Link*
Warepire
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2174
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
Just link the improved run in a reply this submission and someone with the rights will update your submission with it. (And I mean a little more clearly than the post above)
Joined: 5/14/2007
Posts: 525
Location: Pisces-Cetus filament
Good job! The health management is great. Five months ago, I looked for interesting NES games to TAS, and this was one of the best I found, so I'm glad you did it. I look forward to your next project. antd: Thank you very much for encoding pretty much every input file you stumble upon. It makes my life way easier. :P
AzumaK wrote: I swear my 1 year old daughter's favorite TASVideo is your R4MI run :3 xxNKxx wrote: ok thanks handsome feos :D Help improving TASVideos!
nesrocks
He/Him
Player (240)
Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
The end: I'm badass. Go home now, the game is over. Level 5 reminded me of AVGN's silver surfer review, with the kindergarten halloween level theme. Damn LJN! There was a spot on level 6 I think that it looked like it was faster to jump off the ledge instead of walking to it, but then later on I realized that jumping is slower so it probably didn't make up for the time saved from falling faster. It's a good run with good music, voting yes.
Editor
Joined: 3/10/2010
Posts: 899
Location: Sweden
Uhm, the AVGN did review this game. He did not like the claws stealing hp thing.
Warepire
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 3/2/2010
Posts: 2174
Location: A little to the left of nowhere (Sweden)
Watched the run now and this is really nice, well planned and really nicely executed. Yes vote.
Experienced player (508)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
Updated File Here is the updated submission file. (Same file that was posted earlier in thread. If someone with the power could update this it would be appreciated. Thanks Warepire for filling me in on how to do this. (By the way I don't know why dehacked is claiming the movie is 8m 11.75 seconds as it is as I said above 47 frames shorter and when you run it in the emulator will come out to be 8 minutes 10.94 seconds)
Player (83)
Joined: 7/25/2011
Posts: 58
Just watched the run and it looks great! I enjoyed the stylistic choices you made to improve the run's entertainment value. Yes vote!
Active player (372)
Joined: 9/25/2011
Posts: 652
Good improvement. Is there any way you can get rid of some of that Berzerker meter before getting to Magneto? It takes some time counting that down at the end of the level.
Experienced player (508)
Joined: 11/2/2010
Posts: 359
c-square wrote:
Good improvement. Is there any way you can get rid of some of that Berzerker meter before getting to Magneto? It takes some time counting that down at the end of the level.
I can't find a way to remove the Berzerker meter in an appreciable way to make it worth-while from the time perspective. The ways to change the final level of the meter is to: attack an enemy that was previously avoided, attack an enemy that caused Wolverine pain, be harmed by an enemy who was previously attacked and finally to be harmed by an enemy who was previously avoided. The first option would remove Wolverine life and add to the berzerker level which would cause him to go "Berzerk" which is really bad for speedruns (he jumps as if you held A for the whole time so accuracy is completely out and he stops to kick and punch if you run for too long). The second option would save Wolverine life but that would just be a worse trade-off as more would be added to the berzerker level (same as before). The third option would lower the berzerker level but would take away too much life which would slow down the final battle and possibly have Wolverine die before the fight is finished. Finally the fourth option would lower would have the save results as number 3 but even more so because an extra hp of life would be lost.
Active player (372)
Joined: 9/25/2011
Posts: 652
goofydylan8 wrote:
I can't find a way to remove the Berzerker meter in an appreciable way to make it worth-while from the time perspective.
Oh well, thanks for trying. You've got my yes vote! :)
Active player (405)
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 708
This was well done and I think it deserves to be published, but I have to say I wasn't overly entertained by it. Maybe I'm just spoiled by all the great runs on this site. Maybe it'll appeal to someone who really knows the game. I'll abstain from voting.
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
I found this pretty amusing! It's quite evident how much health management plays a role here. I wish there were a little more clawing and fighting, but oh well. Also, the soundtrack really reminds me of Treasure Master (which is a good thing in this case). Yes vote.
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.
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Player (189)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 913
Location: Tennessee
I'm failing to find a good screenshot for the publication. Any suggestions?
All the best, Brandon Evans
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
Here I thought another boring Marvel title but I am pleased to see otherwise. This was actually entertaining and incredibly well thought out. Outside of the one level with too much health, this is textbook health management in a TAS. Music not bad, levels went quick and with interesting results. I found myself liking this a lot. Better then the other X-Men movie. Yes vote! Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Editor, Experienced player (607)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
Brandon wrote:
I'm failing to find a good screenshot for the publication. Any suggestions?
Maybe at around 7:40 in the encode, when Wolverine is fighting Magneto(?), is attacking with claws, and has low health. As for the run, well done! Health management and movement were both really good. Voting Yes.
Brandon
He/Him
Editor, Player (189)
Joined: 11/21/2010
Posts: 913
Location: Tennessee
CoolKirby wrote:
Brandon wrote:
I'm failing to find a good screenshot for the publication. Any suggestions?
Maybe at around 7:40 in the encode, when Wolverine is fighting Magneto(?), is attacking with claws, and has low health.
Something other than a boss fight is preferred. By the way, because of the similarities between you and Kelly's avatar, I thought someone double posted. Confusing...
All the best, Brandon Evans
Joined: 1/9/2012
Posts: 25
I think sometime about 5:44 or 5:58... or maybe even 7:55 in the encode may make a good screenshot.
Player (116)
Joined: 5/13/2009
Posts: 700
Location: suffern, ny
Pretty good! YES VOTE!
[19:16] <scrimpy> silly portuguese [19:16] <scrimpy> it's like spanish, only less cool