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The version of FCE I have is 0.98.25. I do not know if that had the frame advance feature (and I couldn't find it in the menus), so I probably went without it. Yes, I'm being honest.
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Honesty is a good policy :) Yes, every version of FCEU since a long time ago has it, and I would highly suggest it. Here's a (kind of) description of how it works: http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/Using.html#FrameAdvance By default I believe it is \, but you can go into the Hotkeys to assign it to anything else.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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I've constantly set the emulation speed to as high as 50% and low as 6% when I did this attempt, so slowing down the frames a little bit allowed me to play that way. I don't go 100% or higher unless I am manipulating luck based on long term. Back when I did Magic of Scheherazade, I selected an animal off the roulette wheel and then set the emulation speed to 1600 to have the game "finally" tell me what its red ball landed on. It did take quite a while for that wheel to stop, so that's an example.
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Yes, but with frame advance you have much more control, since even at 6% speed you have to rely on timing your button presses. If you come to a point where you don't care about the input (like the example you give) you can unpause the emulator, hit turbo or whatever, then go back to frame advance. You certainly don't have to use it, but most TASes done well are done with frame advance. I don't mean to rag on you or anything -- you certainly seem to have the motivation and ability -- I just think that using all the tools available to you will be a major asset in getting your movies published. I'll watch your WIP when I have a chance and critique :)
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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For those of who haven't watched my latest FCM yet, let me explain that I slowed down a little bit after defeating Digger Dan (in Mars) because I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to get through the two zapping things that were close together. Whether or not this was a wise decision, it did allow me to hang on a little bit longer and still finish strong with only 1/2-unit of energy left. One of the biggest sources of improvement was part of a floor in the cement factory stage, where after I obtained a white briefcase (it was probably full of heroin) from some trenchcoat guy, I got past the first ball and chain and jumped straight down to a small room where a 1-up was held. That saved me probably 20 to 30 seconds. My other improvement, sort-of-speak, was the last boss where I made him jump at the first shot of laser, then defeating him in just two jumps after that. I figured since there were three or four jumps in my previous run, maybe this is the improvement. If it is, cool beans!
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Well, it's definitely getting better and better :) The shortcut not only makes the game faster but really helps that section seem much less monotonous. And the last boss did seem faster. I still think lots can be improved though. In particular, the intro/first level is still slower than my WIP. In yours the first level appears on frame 591, but in mine it is 501, a full second and a half just from optimal pressing of Start. You can definitely match that, don't know if it can be any faster. Your movie fades out after entering the door at the end of that section on frame 3889, mine at 3722, and taking out the 90 frames from the beginning that's 77 frames faster. You do get an extra damage boost, but your positioning is not optimal in the screens where people pop out at you. You should try to have the last one come out as close to the exit side of the screen as possible. In the first set you do this well, not so much in the following. I didn't even do this well on the last set, so with that and the extra damage boost you should be able to easily beat my time there. Oh, also on the stairs I was able to avoid having to stop in front of the bomb by jumping differently. At this point you must have a pretty thorough knowledge of how this game works, and I don't mean to belabor the point but I think you could shave easily 10 seconds off this run with frame advance if not more.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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Frame advance is the "\" button for FCEU. Learn to use it, love it, and treasure it. This movie will not be of publishable quality until you do the whole thing through in frame advance, and then probably do it again to shave off some more.
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I'll give frame advance a try, review the first level alden gave me, and I'll probably spend more time looking for glitches if I can be that lucky. My next concern is speeding up a little bit in the first Mars stage by taking damage from buzzing bombs instead of shooting them. I'm also checking to see if I can take damage from a car bullet around Cinema III in the first stage (the key is to get on the right side of the bullet to get a boost). Energy management is also a concern.
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Alden: is there a way I can record my input to the end of your first-stage WIP (picking up where we left off), making it where both of us set a faster time for this game? I think we can shave a few extra frames off.
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I'm not entirely sure what you're asking :) You can continue recording from a movie (any movie), if you pause the emulator where you want to start "rerecording", make a savestate, and then load the savestate (also make sure you are not in Read Only mode, press Shift-8 by default to toggle in FCEU). Or maybe it's something else? ;)
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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You can continue recording from a movie (any movie), if you pause the emulator where you want to start "rerecording", make a savestate, and then load the savestate (also make sure you are not in Read Only mode, press Shift-8 by default to toggle in FCEU).
That's what I meant.
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http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/91513304/Total%20Recall%20%28U%29%202.fcm I recorded this in .16 apparently, geez I need to update haha Anyway yeah, here. Started this about three hours ago. I found a nice glitch involving turbo of B and A buttons in the air, mainly when Arnold is unequipped. It can be used to A) make Arnie jump farther but slower because of lag (allowing me to make a sweet shortcut in stage 1) and B) make things disappear/not appear in the first place. This has obvious benefits when you think about it BUT it can't be used to skip screen stopping events. And if you DO use it to skip screen stopping events (by, say, preventing the gun girl from spawning in the second area with the TV), you often cannot continue in the game any more. But I figure hey, a quick tool to eliminate on-coming enemies can be useful in the stage with the homeless fellers (at the end of my movie--I got bored and stopped at this stage, and the previous two or three stages were not supreeeemely optimal) by making them disappear or in the first stage by making the cop cars to disappear (saving a frame or two of lag by causing a frame of lag, genius). I don't think I'll complete and optimize this, though it'd only take me a couple hours. Some tips: Never stop moving when you're scrolling the screen. You stopped a couple times to deal with some things that either 1) could be avoided or 2) dealt with later, in the case of those dogs in the subway- just let 'em bite you, and beat up the guard. After a few punches he'll be in a dying animation and you can't move the screen, so just press left-right-left-right-left-right one frame each until the dog falls off and then continue. Jump up on top of the subway and LET the guards kick you for a damage boost. Right yeah damage boosting, always do it. Guards in stage 4. Rising and falling maces/spiders/balls of hurt in stage 5. Glory holes in stage 1 (wait they're fists?). etc. etc. damage boost whenever possible. Frame Advance, don't use slowdown. Frame advance saves frames, and frames save lives! first screen, typing screen, and all later cutscreens can be skipped by just HOLDING start. Don't need to worry about timing them--although it'd be fantastic frame advance technique practice. Hold start, see what frame first starts the screen dimming. Then go back and use frame advance to figure out which EXACT frame to hit start to cause the screen to start dimming at the same exact frame and bam! Now you're thinking with frame advances! Use a gun in the first few stages, it's three times as strong as the fists I think. Also, enemies can be damaged whether they're flashing or not, so keep hitting them. And yeah only shoot/ punch in the air, otherwise you can't rapid but you already know that. Good luck, friend! Hope this helps. And yeah at this point I'm 3300~ frames ahead of your run, and it's not even optimized (coulda been kicked another time or two on the subway, better management of lag in the xray room, etc.). Nice glitch in the xray room by the way, with Arnie floating through the air, not sure how you did that but hey. also: why would you want to keep going from the end of his first stage if he already said that it can be improved a few more frames--the idea is perfection here, if you can do better, you have the tools to assist you in doing it ;)
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Nice! I vaguely tried a bit of turboing to try to jump farther and make the shortcut in the first level, glad it's possible (at least I assume that's the shortcut you're talking about, can't watch it now) ... Damn, this game just gets crazier and crazier.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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twisted eye wrote:
Jump up on top of the subway and LET the guards kick you for a damage boost. Right yeah damage boosting, always do it. Guards in stage 4. Rising and falling maces/spiders/balls of hurt in stage 5. Glory holes in stage 1 (wait they're fists?). etc. etc. damage boost whenever possible.
I like the idea of getting boosted from damages, but Quaid's health is limited to such number of hits. Another thing, I don't think this will save frames, but it is strategy. One of the backalleys of Stage 1 (where a homeless guy drags Quaid in) has a Soylent soda that instantly gives Quaid maximum energy. And yes, that should be plenty for damage boosts further in the game and taking the guesswork out of stopping to avoid enemies and stuff. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/629104368/TR_soylent.fcm I'm looking at speed and strategy in this game. Is it enough to set another new record?
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Problem with that is that it takes a long time to grab that soda. I don't know if the frames gained from the extra damage boosts will counteract that. It's possible, though! And as far as the boosting in the subway stage is concerned, there's a can of soda for every guy that kicks you I think, so you come out on top anyway. I wonder whether dying at the start of a level to gain some health back is fast enough to be worth it. Probably not but it might be worth looking into. The can at the start of the subway probably takes too much backtracking to save time overall. --holy CRAP. See everything I did yesterday was done with my girlfriend sleeping next to me, so I had the sound off. GOD THE MUSIC IS SUCK AND REPETITIVE IN THIS GAME. Especially the area with the hobos and the fire. Jiminy!
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There is also a hidden Soylent soda on one of the four windows above Cinema III. It could be better to take that energy gain and then jump to Quaid's apt. than to fight through a backalley and get lost. BTW, I tried out that huge leap to the edge of Quaid's apt. (1st stage) and it did work! I approve that, thank you! =)
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Now beaten in 5:31.1 - about 58 sec. difference! LOL http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1172611554/total-recall-tas-symbolic_X.fcm And this time, I did use frame advance quite a bit. If I stopped any, it was more likely my strategy of saving energy, at least to have enough to get through the falling rocks in Mars. I can't think of any other ways to shave off more frames, but this is where it gets extreme. If not, beyond that! Dunno about you guys, but I'm stuffed. I'm about ready to submit, but even if this is enough, I don't feel right until everything's okay. =/ Big thanx so far =)
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Looks much better than your last submission. The only thing I saw was that you still missed a shot at the end boss. Why?
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I missed a shot or two, to get him to jump just so I can score about 4 to 7 hits (or more) in the air as he lands back on the ground. The final boss always jumps everytime Quaid fires a laser! I guess Acclaim programmed the final boss to do that, and it can't be reversed in memory either. Heh! Let me add that some of the improvements include a slightly faster climb at the cement factory, plus a trick from Twisted Eye that I managed to learn and master at the first stage, and that I spent less time at the first stage of Mars, a few frames of improvement there. =) Thumbs up!
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Getting much better but there are still a lot of improvements that can be made just by watching--a shortcut jump in mars similar to stage one, better fighting (I have a fight with the gun girl TAS that's a couple hundred frames faster than yours; remember to follow her and punch her in the air every other frame because they all count), more damage boosting--you can take another good 5 hits at the end of the game. Little stuff like that--you're getting real close to a quite submittable work! I like the climbing of the ladders you did and some of the mace jumping--I'm not sure but wasn't your Hobo King fight faster the first time? I'll have to check but I think ducking and spam punching works.
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twisted eye wrote:
...more damage boosting--you can take another good 5 hits at the end of the game. Little stuff like that...
For that, I'll need another Soylent soda or two to better manage energy. There are still a few things that I had to avoid, so we'll take it beyond extreme.
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Wow, this is looking better and better! I say keep at it. You've already shaved off so much time that it seems there should be more to squeeze out of it.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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Twisted Eye, I noticed you were pretty quick at firing the gun at the security skeletons at the subway! But can I still put up a show by shooting the first three guards, and then punch the fourth one at the end of the stage so I can make Quaid walk through air like I been? That's where you know you're fast, but that's also where you noticed the glitch, so I am trying to get a better result just by abusing a programming error toward the end of the stage. If I can at least put up a speed/entertainment tradeoff as I shave off a few frames, would that be enough? We got options here. =) If I can get lucky, maybe I can shoot the first three guards, and then corner the last guard toward the end just to shoot him. And then as soon as he is shot, that's where I can quickly switch into fist, stand near the 1-up, and hundred-hand punch around the mark where Quaid jumps through the window and try to walk through air. Again, we got options. We know how to optimize a TAS, but this takes more time.
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I actually haven't even done any tests on whether the way I fired was the fastest way. It's possible then that punching will work either way--at which point, jumping over the gun on the ground after the previous battle will save the like six or seven frames needed to pause, switch to hand, and unpause. But that visual glitch is definitely something that should be utilized to make the movie perhaps more publishable!
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Then maybe I should try fighting throughout the Earth stages and hold the gun off until I get to Mars (Quaid always starts with a gun when getting transported there)? In that case, I seek any good tactic that would knock out that gun chick as fast as possible. At least try to get her cornered at the open door (apartment) so Quaid is right there when the game gives the hand signal to go (the hand is above the apartment's TV).