(Link to video)
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  • Takes damage to save time
  • Heavy Glitch Abuse
  • Genre: Platform
  • Genre: Adventure
First of all, about not actually finishing the game... There's nothing we can do about it, we really would like to, but a stupid glitch in the final boss battle that takes you back to the beginning of the game stops us from doing so. This thread discusses the problem: Forum/Topics/12816 Either way, it's horribly disheartening to encounter this so very late into this TAS, and we decided considering we have completed the large portion of the game, it would be a shame to not submit it, even if it may be more of a shame to have that feeling that we never actually properly finished it. In the end we decided on categorising it as 'Entering the Sorceress' Lair with 100 eggs'. It's not succinct, but it has clarity.

Glitches and Tricks

  • The infamous Swimming in Air glitch, which can be activated either via the zombie glitch or managing to start the swimming animation without entering the water.
  • The Zombie glitch is where you exit the level (by pausing) just as you lose your last hitpoint. This disables all water boundaries, which comes in handy.
  • Spinning while jumping gives you a little extra height- used in Midday Gardens homeworld and Icy Peak.
  • Gliding against a wall gives you extra height (though not to the extent that it does in Spyro 1)

Level Notes

Sunrise Spring

Sunny Villa - The jumps from the sloping path may seem slow when stuck on the edge, but it's much faster than turning later and landing on higher ledge more cleanly.
Sheila's Alp - For the swimming in air glitch before the level, you may think it may be quicker to just charge straight towards the end of the waterfall, and it probably is (if it is possible). But just taking this slightly longer route to get a better angle still took Crash 30minutes of work every day for 2 weeks to finally pull off, that's how hard this quicker version of the glitch is. As Sheila, turning via adjusting the camera is very helpful.
Cloud Spires - We skip Moneybags, and get hit by a flame. Not much else to say.
Magma Crater - More damage is taken progressively throughout the level (while losing the least time possible) to set up for the zombie glitch later on, while collecting those last few gems to make our only payment to Moneybags.
Seashell Shore - A significant amount of time is saved using the swim-in-air glitch. Some time is lost in the speed swimming miniworld due to misunderstanding it's mechanics, and unfortunately we only realised this when doing the similar miniworld in Dino Mines when the TAS was almost done. Not too much time is lost, so we hope Spyro unusual swimming techniques make up for this mistake in an entertaining way.
Buzz's Dungeon - Standing right next to him means that he can't roll into the edge, and so cancels the animation, thus saving time. Thanks to Lapogne for the tip of adjusting the camera away from him so his fire wall doesn't pop up after getting hit.

Midday Gardens

Icy Peak - Whole-level skips, strange enemy positions, superhuman stair climbing, spinjumping onto massive ice crystals... This level has it all.
Spooky Swamp - We used a trick to skip the entire level, which makes the Sleepy Head egg a good choice.
Sgt.Byrd's Base - We hope this level is made a bit more interesting by flying everywhere sideways (which is a little bit quicker).
Bamboo Terrace - We make use of a skip only found two years ago that skips having to chase the thief.
Enchanted Towers - Spyro likes to live life on the edge.
Spike's Arena - Nothing much to say, magma balls/crystals fall at a constant rate.

Evening Lake

Fireworks Factory - May seem weird to do this level first, but we need to unlock Bentley first, plus we don't have enough eggs to enter Charmed Ridge get. A trick to get hit by the bomb in the miniworld to get up to the egg ledge found by Crash (on a PAL iso) proved to be impossible after several hours of attempts between us.
Lost Fleet - Even though we wait for a while, before getting the end of level egg, it's quicker to wait. The alternative to go over to the last egg first before returning to the ship is slower, we checked.
Bentley's Outpost - We follow the intended route for the level!
Frozen Altars - We were so very, very surprised when the proxy jump worked just like that on the very first attempt (you can't get the height required in less 'jumps' and falls than we did). Also, Bentley juuust about has the upper hand in his boxing match.
Charmed Ridge - Flying close to a wall also maintains height in this game, and we use it to our advantage (that particular glide is not possible from that position otherwise).
Scorch's Pit - It proved nigh on impossible to luck manipulate the first weapon to be red while also killing the crabs in the quickest amount of time. Sorry for perhaps not making it as entertaining as it seemed while we were making it. N.B. One of the hits was made ~5 frames late, as changing the frame we hit him, frame by frame, changed the amount of eggs that he spewed out.

Midnight Mountain

Crystal Islands - That thief must be blind..
Desert Ruins - We get the end level egg first, so as to avoid Moneybags, then do some acrobatics on the side of level to save some time.
Haunted Tomb - Tank trouble ahead.
Dino Mines - We follow the normal route, how boring!
We ended the movie on the first frame possible which meant that the screen going black when entering the Sorceress' Lair happened on the exact same frame as it would when continually charging.

Possible Improvements

-Egg route We are very happy with our route, and doubt that some eggs could be done faster than the ones we chose, but it is possible.
-Better gem collection before Molten Crater miniworld. Not much room for manoeuvre, but a few gems here rather than there will save a few frames.
-Manipulating the in-game character to shoot the ice wall at the start of Icy Peak. We discovered this by accident, and tried for a few hours to get him to shoot it while being right next to it simultaneously, but eventually gave up. Spyro going straight to the cannon and shooting it himself is only a little bit slower.
-Use of analog-stick for greater accuracy, especially in the non-Spyro levels.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who has contributed to Spyro speedrunning or glitchfinding, as without them this run would be quite uneventful!

Noxxa: Judging.
Noxxa: I'll have to reject this. Because of the emulation glitch, the TAS fails to complete the game, which breaks two of the rules: the movie must be complete, and play games that are emulated well. This is extremely unfortunate for the authors, but I cannot accept this TAS.
As a separate category (stopping right before the final boss), I cannot accept this either. This category would otherwise be way too arbitrary, and I cannot make an exception for this case, as it would set a very bad precedent.
This is a very unfortunate case, because other than this emulation issue, the run makes for a very nice TAS and it is clear that the authors have put a lot of effort into producing this TAS. I liked this TAS very much, personally. My compliments go towards the authors of the TAS. I hope a workaround or fix to the emulation glitch can be found, so the TAS can be finished properly.

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Spikestuff wrote:
Encoding HD now as we sit you can still watch the SD version (hope this encode can be the official version when published)
Always interested in having new encoders around, and I welcome your efforts. However, encoding, especially for an emulator as funderful as PSXjin, is a complex process. You might consider hanging out in the IRC channel and catching a few hints from the real idiotspros.
RachelB
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Finally got around to watching this. There was rather shocking number of places where very minor improvements were obviously possible. Overall, it still looked great though, and was awesome to watch, and i'd love to vote yes on it. Unfortunately though, the game was not completed, so i have no choice but to vote no.
Spikestuff
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rog wrote:
Finally got around to watching this. There was rather shocking number of places where very minor improvements were obviously possible. Overall, it still looked great though, and was awesome to watch, and i'd love to vote yes on it. Unfortunately though, the game was not completed, so i have no choice but to vote no.
I'm still trying to figure out why you didn't vote Meh instead due to emulator issues to this tas I too tried to see if it can still work but obviously I too got the exact same glitch with that emulator compared to my other emulator (psxFIN not JIN). On another topic my laptop (LOL) finally cooperated with me and actually encoded the tas after so many automatic shutdowns for some reason now it decided it should do it and it did it in a whole 9hrs 30mins of rendering it's going up onto YouTube now I'll come back around 442mins (it said 1000mins for some reason) later to share the HD tas if I don't This is my YouTube account so stick around here to view it once it goes up (uploading since 6:16pm UTC+10 aka East Australia) Update: 75 minutes remaining and it's 12:14am yea I don't know what to do I already got my April 1st 2013 tas down
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The emulator issue is really unfortunate. I really enjoyed the run that was there, and the boss fights weren't really that interesting anyway (and as I recall, the final boss in particular is a letdown). I'm going to have to vote yes despite not actually finishing the game. If it does get published it's going to need a decently sized disclaimer, but I would be fine with that.
Even the best player is limited by the speed of his fingers, or his mind's ability to control them. But what happens when speed is not a factor, when theory becomes reality?
Spikestuff
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ok the HD encode is now being processed and here it is: -video removed- Enjoy I'm going to get sleep now NIGHT :D
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Someone really needs to let the makers of the emulator know about this travesty of a glitch.
Why, oh, why do I even <i>try</i> to understand my own species?
RachelB
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Spikestuff wrote:
rog wrote:
Finally got around to watching this. There was rather shocking number of places where very minor improvements were obviously possible. Overall, it still looked great though, and was awesome to watch, and i'd love to vote yes on it. Unfortunately though, the game was not completed, so i have no choice but to vote no.
I'm still trying to figure out why you didn't vote Meh instead due to emulator issues to this tas I too tried to see if it can still work but obviously I too got the exact same glitch with that emulator compared to my other emulator (psxFIN not JIN).
Because as awesome as it was, finishing the game is kind of important. This specifically breaks two rules.
Spikestuff
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rog wrote:
Because as awesome as it was, finishing the game is kind of important. This specifically breaks two rules.
Okay Okay now I know why thanks for the clarification if only they could've tried with another person like lapogne36 the man of tassing Spyro but yea that's now my brain playing with me.... I should stop typing right now :P
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rog wrote:
Spikestuff wrote:
rog wrote:
Finally got around to watching this. There was rather shocking number of places where very minor improvements were obviously possible. Overall, it still looked great though, and was awesome to watch, and i'd love to vote yes on it. Unfortunately though, the game was not completed, so i have no choice but to vote no.
I'm still trying to figure out why you didn't vote Meh instead due to emulator issues to this tas I too tried to see if it can still work but obviously I too got the exact same glitch with that emulator compared to my other emulator (psxFIN not JIN).
Because as awesome as it was, finishing the game is kind of important. This specifically breaks two rules.
Thank you for complementing our run and offering your experienced opinion on whether it should be published, but please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the rules/guidelines in place in order to not publish movies that the author has not bothered to complete? In our case, it is an unfortunate and unavoidable problem with the emulator which stops us from completing the game, which we would obviously want to finish if the problem could be fixed. From what I have learnt about this site, the existence of TASvideos is to provide entertaining and superhuman gaming movies for the public, and from what I can gather from the comments made in this thread, our TAS thankfully fulfils these requirements. If our TAS were to be published on the site it would obviously require a large disclaimer as previously mentioned, but as our movie includes all but a small final portion of an Any% run of the game to be watched by visitors to the site, I feel it would be a shame for it to not be published for this single reason.
RachelB
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Hutch wrote:
Thank you for complementing our run and offering your experienced opinion on whether it should be published, but please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the rules/guidelines in place in order to not publish movies that the author has not bothered to complete?
I'm afraid not. One of the rules is that the game must be emulated well. This is of course quite subjective, and it is possible to publish runs that have serious emulation problems. However it really doesn't get much worse than not being able to finish the game. From the rules:
The rules wrote:
Movies of games that are not emulated well (have graphical or functional glitches that do not exist on the real console) should not be submitted.
In our case, it is an unfortunate and unavoidable problem with the emulator which stops us from completing the game, which we would obviously want to finish if the problem could be fixed.
No, it's not your fault, but neither are most rejections if you don't consider terrible submissions that never should have been submitted.
From what I have learnt about this site, the existence of TASvideos is to provide entertaining and superhuman gaming movies for the public, and from what I can gather from the comments made in this thread, our TAS thankfully fulfils these requirements.
Well, it meets some of the requirements, but not all of them. Finishing the game is a big one. Futhermore, the level of optimization isn't quite up to the usual standards. On it's own, it could probably be published despite its flaws, because it really is an great and enjoyable run. However, when there are other issues, this is only going to hurt your chances.
I feel it would be a shame for it to not be published for this single reason.
I agree, it is a shame. It's a great run.
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Thanks for taking the time to answer each of my questions :) I look forward to the decision on whether or not to publish our TAS.
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:( Oh well, thanks to everyone who watched the run and voted on it, and I hope you enjoyed it :) Edit: Just read Mothrayas' note, thanks for considering and explaining why it couldn't be accepted. All in all, although it's annoying it can't be published because of this little problem, I'm still happy to have made the TAS, and perhaps get resubmitted in the future if a workaround is indeed found.
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Hutch wrote:
:( Oh well, thanks to everyone who watched the run and voted on it, and I hope you enjoyed it :) Edit: Just read Mothrayas' note, thanks for considering and explaining why it couldn't be accepted. All in all, although it's annoying it can't be published because of this little problem, I'm still happy to have made the TAS, and perhaps get resubmitted in the future if a workaround is indeed found.
It was a pleasure tasing with you. I hope in the next few years psx-jin will get better emulation.
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Spikestuff
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Now I got a question 'cause I just thought about it for awhile. What about the PAL version of this game yes I admit Spyro is slower but can you fight the final boss?
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Leblancanator9000 wrote:
Hutch wrote:
:( Oh well, thanks to everyone who watched the run and voted on it, and I hope you enjoyed it :) Edit: Just read Mothrayas' note, thanks for considering and explaining why it couldn't be accepted. All in all, although it's annoying it can't be published because of this little problem, I'm still happy to have made the TAS, and perhaps get resubmitted in the future if a workaround is indeed found.
It was a pleasure tasing with you. I hope in the next few years psx-jin will get better emulation.
As I with you, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience :) @Spikestuff, according to Crash, the PAL version emulates even worse, and crashes upon attempting to enter Cloud Spires.