(Link to video)

Details

  • Made on Gens 11b
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Manipulates luck
  • Plays on the hardest level

About the run

This is an improvement of 1559 frames over mmbossman's currently published run of Vectorman 2. The improvement consist mostly of a generally higher level of optimization, and there are few points where I gain a really big amount of time in a specific place. Over 100 frames of lag where removed as well. The only new trick I found was that if you jump just as you walk of the edge of a platform, you can make a second jump within ~5 frames of the first jump without activating the booster, which enables you to do a sort of triple jump. This allowed me to make some otherwise impossibly high jumps and probably saved a couple of seconds in total throughout the run. Also, shoting diagonally upwards directly after landing makes you regain max running speed faster, but if you already have a high speed when landing you only gain a very small amount of speed, and it's therefore not always worth it due to lag.

Stage Comments

  • Stage 1 - 4 frames
Since I don't have control over my speed in this level, the only improvement that could be made was reducing lag. I can't shoot anything either because it causes a slight delay in your descent.
  • Stage 2 - 93 frames
The single biggest improvement in this level was killing the last snail in a much more effective manner, reducing the delay to almost nothing. Other than that I managed my jumps a bit better and avoided some lag.
  • Stage 3 - 80 frames
The Tripple jump came in handy a couple of times here, nothing else comes to mind as worthy of notice, just small optimizations.
  • Stage 4 - 108 frames
I make sure to space out all the shots on the heads between boosts to cause minimal delay. I also make sure to not fire any shots downwards as that slows down your downward momentum a bit.
  • Stage 5 - 51 frames
Very straightforward level. I kill the shelled enemy more effectively, and thanks to the triple jump I can clear a ledge that mmbossman lost his momentum on.
  • Stage 6 - 14 frames
Lag reduction, mostly. Going down closer to the left on my way down the mountain allows me to get down faster at the cost of some forward momentum, but it works out for the better.
  • Stage 7 - 26 frames
I get more shots in before he disappears the first time, and then I space out the rest of the shots better to not cause a delay before the last boost.
  • Stage 8 - 14 frames
I noticed that by slowing down slightly and then speeding up again, I could increase my max speed by 1/32th of a pixel per frame. This added up to a couple of frames saved over the course of the level. Other than that I manage lag and speed a bit better in general.
  • Stage 9 - 223 frames
The largest improvement by far is from the initial climb, where I break the blocks and jump upwards much more effectively. Continuously moving forward while breaking two rows of blocks turned out to be a bit faster too, even though your average speed is kept quite low from all the ducking.
  • Stage 10 - 16 frames
Same as stage 9.
  • Stage 11 - 47 frames
Going down to the bottom after breaking the first run of blocks made my progress a bit more effective than going through the middle. The triple jump helped me get up again without hitting the wall.
  • Stage 12 - 16 frames
Same as stage 9.
  • Stage 13 - 52 frames
The triple jump helped me get up at the first climb without middle landing on the second platform.
  • Stage 14 - 71 frames
When getting the rhino powerup I managed to increase my max speed in the same manner as the roller blade levels, though the increase was a bit greater in this level. I manage to navigate more tightly around corners after getting the powerup too, which saved a decent amount of time. Also, while having this powerup my speed is maintained even if I touch a wall, which is why I sometimes hug the wall when falling down a shaft while I have this powerup.
  • Stage 15 - 71 frames
Shooting the snakes at the start of the fight turned out to be redundant and also made it take longer to reappear, removing those therefore saved some time.
  • Stage 16 - 34 frames
I manage to get a shot in at the first breakable wall, making it break as soon as it comes in contact of my boost damage, which means I can avoid running into the wall here.
  • Stage 17 - 80 frames
This stage was really weird to optimize because breaking a block starts to destroy more blocks in a somewhat random chain reaction. This made it tricky to quickly destroy blocks while leaving ledges to jump up on. On the boss, I manage to get in a little extra damage while he is still fazing in and out, which in combination with some extra shots was enough to reduce the amount of boosts needed to kill him by 1
  • Stage 18 - 204 frames
The whirlwind part in particular is improved a lot here. And by improving it, I had enough time left on the powerup to skip the middile landing mmbossman had to do on a pillar towards the end.
  • Stage 19 - 43 frames
Pretty uninteresting level. Jumping continually is faster, and you can get a slightly higher speed by jumping at the right moment when going up or down a slope (this boost in speed can the be kept until you stop or do a damage boost, no matter if you keep jumping or not. I run in to a wall at one point and lose my speed, but this doesn't slow me down as I have to wait for an elevator. It was needed to do in order to get to the point where the elevator was triggered as fast as possible.
  • Stage 20 - 40 frames
Pretty much the same as the last level.
  • Stage 21 - 62 frames
Standard run and jump stuff. No significant improvement, just better jumping.
  • Stage 22 - 210 frames
The boss was quite tricky to optimize, as it's legs was constantly in the way. I managed to do more damage on average with my boosts and managed to do them more frequently. The second platform breaks when his HP hits 36, so I made sure to get his health to 37 before the last boost to minimize the amount of shots it took to kill him from the ground.

Thanks to

Thank to mmbossman and mike89 for their previous work on this game, which provided a very good baseline to work from.

Truncated: Accepted!
Dacicus: Publishing

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3483: Cpadolf's Genesis Vectorman 2 in 08:35.58
Skilled player (1670)
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
Very much yes vote. This is what I'm talking about!
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Joined: 12/4/2011
Posts: 33
Location: Australia
yes vote. really interesting game that looks well optimised :)
mklip2001
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Location: Georgia, USA
To quote the Rhino charge: "Yeah! I want more!" Nice going!
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.
XTREMAL93
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Active player (388)
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Posts: 579
Location: Azerbaijan, Baku
yes vote
Joined: 2/18/2010
Posts: 156
Location: home
That was amazing Cpadolf! Yes vote.
My user name is rather long, feel free to call me by htwt or tape.
Experienced player (822)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
Sweet! Glad to see the Vectorman games done by the same author again. Very cool cpadolf!
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Joined: 5/2/2006
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Location: Boulder, CO
Fast paced and entertaining. Big yes vote.
Has never colored a dinosaur.
Editor, Experienced player (608)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
Like Twelvepack said, this is a fast-paced and entertaining run! Yes vote.
Active player (301)
Joined: 8/8/2005
Posts: 296
Location: NSW, Australia
Awesome improvement cpadolf! Definitely didn't think there was this much left in mmbossman's run to squeeze out. Easy yes vote!
Editor, Player (67)
Joined: 6/22/2005
Posts: 1041
Archive.org collection Archive.org primary download Archive.org 10-bit YUV444 download Here are some potential screenshots. Other suggestions are welcome.
Current Projects: TAS: Wizards & Warriors III.
Skilled player (1431)
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Location: Sweden
I think the 4th one looks best.
Agare Bagare Kopparslagare
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Let me look for some snaps too. EDIT: Here!
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: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2011] Genesis Vectorman 2 by Cpadolf in 08:35.58
Editor, Publisher, Player (46)
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4K 60 FPS YouTube encodes: Link to video