Regarding paths and triggers, I'll probably go back and redo those, although as you said turning and pressing A only saves a frame. The pathing info is helpful though, thanks!
For biking, yeah, that's true, I could just zigzag to avoid bonking, but that doesn't really work in encounter metatiles (like caves or large grass patches), since the timing for encounter frames is the same regardless of what direction you go in (a metatile takes 4 frames to traverse at max speed).
Grovyle is one of the hardest KOs in the run, probably even worse than Slaking (although the fights are very different because the challenge with Slaking is long-term setup).
It has 52 health, and a Max crit tackle (1/256) does 26 damage. Water Gun does much less because it's NVE, and Mud Shot does more because of STAB but adds seconds of text and animation time.
I'm pretty sure any two critical Mud Shots KO though. I don't think crit Mud Shot + non max crit Tackle does. Although, the second Mud Shot is free since the speed lowering doesn't happen when it KOs
When I went into the Grovyle battle in the current encode, I couldn't find any frames for max crit Tackles in more than 600 frames (I have a little GUI program in python I use for this, for simulating the RNG in battles, for encounters, etc). This happened even when using the first Mud Shot and looking for a Max crit Tackle on turn 2, or the reverse. I just got absolutely awful RNG in that fight.
It's possible that when I go back and redo, I'll get better RNG and this won't be the case.
The reason I use Strength is because I was paranoid about having enough Water Gun PP for Slaking. I might have enough left to not teach Strength at all, but it might lengthen the Magma Admin fight (Strength can just breeze through it and save PP).
IIRC, in GoddessMaria's TAS she found it was faster to do one double battle than two single battles, and having Abra in the double battle has the advantage of giving it enough levels to gain an HP with an HP Up. I'm pretty sure it's faster, but I can test it and find out. Battle intro's and outtro's take time, and it would take 6 turns instead of 3.
The reason I need 4 Pokemon with single corruptuon is a bit complicated:
- the pomeg glitch used doesn't work if you have only two Pokemon. It relies on having at least one fainted pokemon, and having the Pokemon last used in battle replaced by an empty slot (this is done by depositing Marshtomp, emptying slot 3). This means I need a fainted Pokemon (zigzagoon), Abra (for Pomeg glitch), and Marshtomp (corruption target, deposited when formerly in slot 3) at minimum.
- I also need to later deposit a Pokemon in box 12 whose nickname is bootstrap code, to redirect the glitch move animation to execute box names. Originally, this is supposed to be Abra, but:
- with single corruption, since all my Pokemon are fainted, I'm not able to deposit abra in Box 12 once I get the egg. Even if I could deposit it before I pick up the egg, I wouldn't be able to use the egg in battle since it would then take up slot 2, not slot 3. The game, seeing I have no healthy Pokemon, would send out an empty slot from slot 3, the last one used. And I can't do it after I get the egg, the game just says it's "my last Pokemon". That's why I catch the Wingull. If I heal my party, I still can't send out the egg as the game will then send out the first healthy non-egg Pokemon.
With double corruption, this is avoided since Marshtomp will be healthy when withdrawn. But double corruption takes an additional battle and 1/32 RNG for alignment. I have a branch in TASStudio set up for it but haven't TASed it to the end yet. It's likely slower simply bc of an additional battle and alignment RNG. In the original WIP I did double corruption.
I've never used userfiles before (this is my first TAS), but I can upload the WIP movie file tomorrow morning.
I can also post the Lua script.
The PyQt program I use as RNG help is at:
https://github.com/arantonitis/Gen3Tools
It's minimally documented and not totally finished but it works for encounters, damage/critical hits, quick claw, accuracy right now.
Thanks for getting back! Lately I've been working on a crazy idea I had: TASing all of FireRed inside emerald by constantly inputting map and script data using an improved version of the input code here. I've gotten a basic example working loading a custom tileset, map, and script but still need to do more research before I can actually begin TASing it. I think it could end up being a really interesting playaround.
Edit: Lua script file is here:
https://github.com/arantonitis/gen3tools/blob/master/emerald-jp.lua
211301 is just for timing purposes to show when input has completed.
~33:23:
Also another two:
~12:53
~17:58
There are also similar paths that can be shortened at around 4:38, 8:09, 8:15, 18:09, 18:17, 18:54 and 33:25.
Other things:
- IIRC, at 6:35, it is faster to talk to Norman on his right (player facing left). It's in the published TAS.
- Once you get the bike, it is possible to take advantage of sound fadeouts to reduce the length of some screen transitions. Also in the published TAS.
Edit: Another thought. Is it possible to set up ACE by writing instruction code in held mail instead of in the nicknames of a lot of Poochyena?
IIRC, it's a little faster to get closer to Brendan here.
You can talk to Mom from the left, which adds a "turn frame" but you take two less steps.
I think talking to Norman like this is faster.
You can avoid a turn frame in Granite Cave if you enter the first ladder as shown above.
Talking to the Pomeg Berry man from below saves a step.
I also noticed a few places where you make a turn and then press A on the very next frame (like turning to talk to someone). IIRC it saves a frame to approach the trigger (for pressing A) head on instead of turning into it, whenever possible. It's very small though.
Avoiding encounters on the bike: Taking a couple extra bike steps (by going back and forth) is better than slowing down/bonking, IIRC. That's what I did in my Pokemon Ruby TAS.
Regarding strategies:
- I hope you don't mind me discussing strategies.
- I am aware of the two crit max Tackles on Grovyle since you did it in an earlier WIP. If it really is 1/256 chance for both, that's brutal :( If you can get at least the first crit Tackle, you can use Mud Shot for the second. How much does crit Mud Shot do?
- I noticed you got Strength, but don't use it a whole lot, so I wonder if it's necessary to even take that route. I'm trying to figure out what it's for. It saves SE messages against Numel, but other than that, I'm not sure. Is it possible to replace the Strength on Slaking with a non-crit Water Gun?
- Would it be faster to not do the double battle (last battle before ACE) and just fight them individually? There are a lot of things going against double battles vs two single battles; that came up in the Pokemon Gen 4 TASes and a lot of it applies to Pokemon Gen 3 as well.
- Could you remind me why you need two extra Pokemon (other than Marshtomp and Abra)? If you did double corruption, would you be able to get away with one extra Pokemon instead of two?
By the way, is it all right if you post the bk2 of your WIP, and the Lua script you used? I'm interested in knowing how it works.
