High Seas Havoc is a quite basic jump'n'run that starts of pretty easy but becomes very challenging towards the end.
Havocs abilities are:
Damaging enemys by jumping on their heads (has no effect on bosses)
Damaging enemys with his sword (can only be used when jumping)
Rolling on the floor (rarely needed)
Apart from that the game contains a power up that gives havoc a speedboost of one third of his usual speed for the rest of the level (mostly I obtain it as fast as possible).
Unlike some other games (sonic for example) horizontal momentum is not lost when hitting walls. This makes optimization easier when passing corners.
Since the game seems to have no glitches at all and the fastest routes through the level are pretty obvious, the only thing one can do in a TAS is optimization. This prooved to be a bit tricky on some occasions. Some bosses for example can be killed faster when delaying the first hit for a frame.
Time table
I will compare my run to maTOs, since it's the fastest TAS of this game I know of. He doesn't take any damage to save time, so I marked the differences which are partially due to me taking damage in italics:
Level
maTO
this run
difference
1. Cape Sealph
2015
1913
102
2. Pirate Ship
3710
3639
71
3. Otarucean 1
2343
2335
8
4. Otarucean 2
5300
5251
49
5. Burning Hamlet 1
5282
5230
52
6. Burning Hamlet 2
8572
7546
1026
7. Mt. Chester 1
4742
4564
178
8. Mt. Chester 2
5834
5743
91
9. Frozen Palace 1
5348
4954
394
10. Frozen Palace 2
6678
6362
316
11. Mt. Bernardo 1
3545
3535
10
12. Mt. Bernardo 2
8446
8224
222
13. The Final
8170
8017
153
(Times were measured from the first non-white frame to the first white frame)
Things that might look unintentional but are not:
In General:
I jump into goals, even if they are on ground level. For some reason this is faster.
When jumping up a ledge, I press against it, since this (unlike many other games) builds up horizontal speed.
2. Pirate Ship
I use the barrel at the beginning to reach the speed power up earlier. In order to do so as fast as possible I use havocs attack, which changes the collision box slightly.
When Bernardo (the boss) dies, the game waits for him to slowly swim to the left. Since he runs faster than he swims, I planed the fight to get him to the left side of the screen. For the same reason I kill him a few frames later than possible, but earn more frames from not having to wait as long afterwards.
4. Otarucean 2
I don't get the speed power-up as fast as possible, since this would make me take a longer route.
The Boss also had some strange behavior which meant that hitting him at the first possible frame for a certain hit could cause a longer invulnerability.
7. Mt. Chester 1
At 0:39 ingame time I don't go to the right as fast as possible to prevent the boulder from starting to move too early.
8. Mt. Chester 2
Jumping over the ledge at 0:26 ingame time would be 3 frames slower, so I don't.
At the boss area I don't kill the first 2 birds, since this enables me to kill the last 4 of them faster. The Boss spawns when all birds are dead/off-screen, so this is actually faster than killing all of them.
Also If you hit the boss at the first possible frame, and continue to do so, he will stay in place and do nothing, but you will have a much longer fight since for some reason his invulnerability is much longer then.
11. Mt. Bernardo 1
In the beginning of the level, when getting the speed power up, I wait for the platform on the left to flip. If I would not do this I would have to take a lower route through the level which is longer.
Watched this run, and I already see some things that could be improved. For starters don't slip off platforms rather jump down to them and manipulate the air to fall to the next one below, you could take more damage to save time. From what I see you do somewhat but very rare. Try not to bump into walls, when jumping to the edge of the top. There is points where you suddenly wait for no reason.
Other than that it's pretty solid for a yes vote.
For starters don't slip off platforms rather jump down to them and manipulate the air to fall to the next one below
I'm not sure I get what you mean. I sometimes run over a gap, land on the edge, and receive some upward push, so that I continue running on the other side of the gap. I checked whether this is slower than jumping and as far as I know it isn't. If you mean something else or there is a special part of the run where you have concerns please tell me.
Cooljay wrote:
you could take more damage to save time. From what I see you do somewhat but very rare.
I mainly use it to reach higher platforms. The problem with using it to advance in the horizontal is that in order for the knockback to push you right you'd have to slow down a lot before touching the enemy, and you have to accelerate from 0 as soon as you hit the ground. Therefore it's only rarely usable. Again, if you see a particular situation where you think this might be of use, feel free to tell me ;)
Cooljay wrote:
Try not to bump into walls, when jumping to the edge of the top.
I think I see what you mean, but I do this on purpose. If I press right when I bump into a wall I gain horizontal momentum. Therefore if I can't advance horizontaly as long as I'm not high enough, I can at least build up horizontal speed, so as soon as I reach the point where I can advance I'm as fast as possible. It doesn't look very smooth, but its fast ;)
Cooljay wrote:
There is points where you suddenly wait for no reason.
Do you mean before each boss? This is unavoidable. as soon as the screen locks at the bossfight, havocs horizontal speed is set to 0.
I hope this didn't sound like I thought my run was perfect or anything. I just wanted to reply on the constructive criticism of yours ;)
Thanks for the explanation. I was unsure whether this game affects certain mechanics. From what you have told me it doesn't. I am glad you let me know how this game works overall.
Ok, checking the run, and I'm typing what I notice as I watch it.
You mash the Start button to skip the score tallies. Mistake there. You should check to see what's the first possible frame in which skipping is possible. For instance, imagine you press Start on frames ..., 31, 33, 35, 37, ..., and the first possible instance to skip is on the 32th frame. You only press Start on the 33th, missing one frame. Worst case scenario, all these add up, so... 12 (13? does the final count?) levels, times all the things you skip (level intro, score tally for every score), which is like 4, gives 48 lost frames. (Calculations may be a bit off, but my point still stands)
Huh... Looks like you only mash the Start button on the first level.
Nice going with getting hit with the barrel to get to the boots earlier in the Pirate Ship!
After the first hit on Bernardo, you do a quick up-and-down dance. I think that distracts too much; you should only dance on long, monotonous sections. The glancing blow with Bernardo's sword swings (as seen in a suggested screenie) is a nice touch, though.
I guess you could add a small extra bit of entertainment in Burning Hamlet 1. Like try to collect as many jewels as possible along the way, or none at all. Sure beats holding right for the majority of the level. Also, when you're on the platform with the huge blaze very close to you, are you as close to the blaze as possible? That'd be a neat entertainment bit.
I think few high jumps are better than several short jumps when climbing hills in Mt. Chester.
When you take the huge shortcut in Mt. Chester 2, I think you should have jumped to fall on the gap faster. http://tasvideos.org/GameResources/CommonTricks.html#JumpingOffLedges
You wait to collect the boots on Mt. Bernardo. I'm sure you have an explanation for that. Put it on the submission's comments.
A bit after the start of Mt. Bernardo 2, you stand on a platform waiting for it to collapse. You duck, but you can only actually go right when there's enough space to fit Havoc while standing up, so that's why you don't go right even though there's some space. But the thing is, wouldn't it be fast to start moving already by doing a roll? I don't think so, but it's worth a check, no?
Other than that, it seems like a pretty solid improvement. Good work!
Oh, and one minor thing: Havoc's attack when you press jump in mid-air isn't a sword attack, it's an axe kick.
I'm Espyo from the SRB2 Forums.
Current project: A Pikmin fan engine, Pikifen
You mash the Start button to skip the score tallies. Mistake there. You should check to see what's the first possible frame in which skipping is possible. For instance, imagine you press Start on frames ..., 31, 33, 35, 37, ..., and the first possible instance to skip is on the 32th frame. You only press Start on the 33th, missing one frame. Worst case scenario, all these add up, so... 12 (13? does the final count?) levels, times all the things you skip (level intro, score tally for every score), which is like 4, gives 48 lost frames. (Calculations may be a bit off, but my point still stands)
Huh... Looks like you only mash the Start button on the first level.
Ah, seems like I didn't change it. Well this was due to me being a bit confused about the score screen. It turned out to be like this: you have a pretty huge frame-window in which can press start. If you do press start at least once until the end of that window, the scores will apear a bit faster, but the precise timing of the button press does not make any difference. So yeah, it would have been cleaner if I removed the unnecessary button presses ;)
Espyo wrote:
After the first hit on Bernardo, you do a quick up-and-down dance. I think that distracts too much; you should only dance on long, monotonous sections.
Okay.
Espyo wrote:
I guess you could add a small extra bit of entertainment in Burning Hamlet 1. Like try to collect as many jewels as possible along the way, or none at all. Sure beats holding right for the majority of the level. Also, when you're on the platform with the huge blaze very close to you, are you as close to the blaze as possible?
I am pretty sure that I am indeed as close as possible.
Espyo wrote:
I think few high jumps are better than several short jumps when climbing hills in Mt. Chester.
I am mostly doing high jumps, however I think I tested it a few times and it didn't make a difference.
Espyo wrote:
I know what you mean, and I will test it again (can't do it at the moment), but if my memory serves me correctly, I tried it and the problem was that the first frame at which I was able to jump without hitting the ceiling was already to late in order to be faster than not jumping at all.
Espyo wrote:
You wait to collect the boots on Mt. Bernardo. I'm sure you have an explanation for that. Put it on the submission's comments.
Yep, I am waiting for the platform on the right to flip. Will edit the submission soon.
Espyo wrote:
A bit after the start of Mt. Bernardo 2, you stand on a platform waiting for it to collapse. You duck, but you can only actually go right when there's enough space to fit Havoc while standing up, so that's why you don't go right even though there's some space. But the thing is, wouldn't it be fast to start moving already by doing a roll? I don't think so, but it's worth a check, no?
You are actually right I think. I even did that at anouther point in the same level. But due to strange collision boxes the difference in frames is pretty low. I think its about 3 frames.
It was about time you submitted a TAS of this game! Great first movie. The Ottifants next? :)
AzumaK wrote: I swear my 1 year old daughter's favorite TASVideo is your R4MI run :3
xxNKxx wrote: ok thanks handsome feos :D
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Nice! I had this game in mind to TAS at one point (posted in the forums) but I just lost interest after only a small test of the first few levels. It's nice to see someone finally complete (edit: submit*) this game and it looks like you did a pretty good job. I'll surely vote yes!
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.
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.
Looks almost good to me because I still prefer subtitles to be aligned with in-game HUD, but still not bad enough to redo.
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.
