Been playing around with this game, and it seems quite fun. There appears to be a whole bunch of ways to clip into objects such as:
1. Using scenery to push you out
2. Using npcs to push you out (since they can wander everywhere when aggressive)
3. Using Verne's shell withdraw ability and get pushed out with the above 2
An example of such is here:
Link to video
edit: 2 things
1. During the mission when you're supposed to retrieve the globe, you can clip into the house and skip most of it.
2. If you try this again, you cannot clip in to skip since the globe will be replaced by another object. However when RJ throws the globe out and you retrieve it during a story mission, you skip said story mission. This can be used to skip the last mission and go directly to the ending, with the cost of getting 100% impossible. Technically the 100% is the any%, but this just glitches the game display.
Link to video
2nd storyline stage broken. I'm not sure does this count as clipping, nor do you actually need to move Hammy, but I couldn't seem to land there without her.
Also doing this with Hammy is a dead end since you can't pickup things to break the sprinkler.
On a sidenote, I also found a way to skip the stethoscope in one of the earlier parts by grabbing the calculator OoB, but I need to check if said scope will be needed later just in case.
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/18706844669008296
Here's my route for the game. It skips the ending stage by retrieving the globe the 2nd time. I personally went through this game the "legit" way and the ending is exactly the same; no credits are shown. Rather than skip the dialogue, I showed it so that people can see the the end screen.
Edit:
Tricks used:
Recovering from attacks
If you were holding an item, getting hit forces you to drop it, but you'll survive. This includes normally lethal attacks such as guard dogs and the taxidermist spray.
Jumping over laser fences
There are certain laser fences (seem mostly during coop stages) that normally only Hammy could jump over. With somewhat frame precision, one can jump over as RJ. Technically not frame precise if you count getting hit, but still getting over the fence, as a success. Oh, and it seems success rate for this increases if you jump to the side of the fence.
Clipping
Get pushed out of borders by npc, scenery or objects. The last one isn't used since from testing it seems while objects can push other objects OoB, it cannot push the player out.
Quick grabbing
Running towards an object before grabbing allows you to do the "pick nothing" animation while still getting the object. The time saved is much more noticeable for heavy items or with Verne.
Skip the last level
By retrieval the blue globe again during a story mission, it confuses the game into thinking you beat the stage. While it has the unfortunate side effect of glitching the counter to say "80%", note that this is technically 100% since there's no way to reactivate last mission nor is there a way to bring the counter back up. Also beating the last level without this glitch causes the counter to say 100%
Using the mike without delay
By jumping while using the mike, you can avoid the taunt animation.
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/18775629422354891
First stage done. The reason I used (EU) rom is because I can't seem to find a (U) version that doesn't freeze on the emulator.
Anyways, movement is usually allowed every other frame, with some slight changes every now and then. Addresses annoyingly change locations every stage, so I have to refind them over and over unless the pointer(s) are found.
For first stage alone addresses are:
0223A56C - Direction
0223A584 - X
0223A588 - Y
0223A58C - Z
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/18929576146174978
Saved 18 frames due to better turning. I also found out that skipping the cutscene afterwards immediately causes more lag than waiting a bit. Oh, and jumping seems to slow you down as RJ.
2nd stage/house:
0224D1BC - RJ X
0224D1C0 - Y
0224D1C4 - Z
0224D1A4 - Direction
0227A744 - Verne direction
0227A75C - X
0227A760 - Y
0227A764 - Z
Note: Since addresses keep changing, for reference, find "X", offset -x18, x04, and x08 for direction, Y and Z respectively.
Link to videohttp://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/18968052726096213
I actually managed to record clipping into the dumpster by simply jumping on the dog, but it took longer to set up. Although if someone can find a way to do so with a shorter setup, that would potentially be faster.
Oh, and it seems I can't simply offset RJ's addresses to find Verne's so I have to refind them every stage. :/
Oh, and I found out if you were incapacitated, but had an object you can carry drop on you, you'll immediately wake back up and pick it up.
Edit: I went and checked what happens if you went back to the OoB calculator. It appears the stethoscope vanishes (causing it to be permanently lost) along with said calculator replaced with milk. The percentage for game completion skipping the scope is the same as not skipping, and if you got the calculator as intended, it would still be replaced with milk. Also the calculator OoB becomes invisible if you load the room it was in. It could still be interacted however.
Oh, and it seems I can't simply offset RJ's addresses to find Verne's so I have to refind them every stage. :/
One thing you could try is remembering the differences between the position values for the first few frames of, for example, running forward on the X axis. Then, in a new stage, you could run forward and search for all addresses that are "different by" 5 on the first movement frame, 12 on the second, and 20 on the third. Repeat this for the Y and Z axes. This should narrow down the addresses enough to help you find the new ones on every stage.
Nice WIP by the way. I liked how you stepped on the dog's legs in the Verne level, and that clipping glitch is funny.
Uh....a minor update, but it seems skipping the stethoscope might be slower due to piss poor edge collision detection:
Link to video
Kinda surprised that the "intended" method of beating the stage is now potentially faster. :P
Edit: May need to redo other stages lol
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/19133695754579065
Here's the latest WIP. For some reason it crashes the emulator on entering Hammy's stage, so I need to check if completing other stages can cause this to not occur.
Edit: Uh...This ancient emulator bug screwed me at least several frames after I found out you could use touchscreen during so called "lag frames", allowing entering stages even faster.
Edit2: I'm now doing the calculator stage first at a different time since the safe took longer due to RNG.
Minor notes:
Speed is direction + 0x6C.
Hammy's walk speed is 1.500000; run is 2.199707
Running for Hammy works like this: As soon as "x" is pressed while you move; even if you're not running (or moving for that matter) later, it counts down from 119 every 2 movement frames. X must be held on every frame to maintain speed. A separate address then counts down from 119 every 2 movement frames as well and acts as a cooldown for when you can run again. Since running makes turning difficult, it's better to activate run when going straight.
Lag frames for the stylus appears to be somewhat different than buttons. A consequence is that it allows picking/throwing objects, switching characters, and going through interfaces during certain "lag" frames.
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/19301667069510707
4 main stages done.
For Hammy's stage, even though moving through OoB causes 1 frame delay per movement frame, it ended up faster to continue running rather than making a turn first due to the run timer running out.
For the safe, I managed to manipulate the spot to be pretty much the closest along with the password 094 which took 6 steps rather than the previous WIP's 8 steps. Ideally it would be 2 steps (090) but I haven't managed to do it.
Edit:
Link to video
encoded the WIP + one more. If anyone know where the RNG address(es) are, or a phone card nearby that can be obtained, then that would be nice. In case noone knows what I mean, the scale section would potentially be faster if you immediately use a phone card to lure the man out.
Edit2: Curiously, swapping the level order so it would be Catalog, Abacus, Calculator gives the same password "094" as Abacus, Catalog, Calculator.
Changing the DS date doesn't seem to affect the RNG as well.
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/19504398734556519
I'm posting the first set of stages so far since it appears the abacus stage is sub-optimal in quite a large number of frames during the first OoB.
Edit: Frustratingly enough the RNG for the safe combination is the only thing making this hard to edit back; every other stage can easily be spliced in with very minor lag differences.
Edit2: Saved 126 frames on abacus stage alone. Also discovered with Hammy and RJ (but not Verne), you can preserve the walking speed in midair by letting go of forward input. I believe it may be possible to save more frames, but using a different behaviour pattern for the dog caused me to drop the abacus too far into the room when I go OoB.
Edit2: Saved 126 frames on abacus stage alone. Also discovered with Hammy and RJ (but not Verne), you can preserve the walking speed in midair by letting go of forward input. I believe it may be possible to save more frames, but using a different behaviour pattern for the dog caused me to drop the abacus too far into the room when I go OoB.
Upon further testing it applies to Verne as well. Also even more annoying it that this applies every time I'm midair while moving, so I ended up improving at least 2-8 frames every stage including the transitional ones.
I'm once again stuck manipulating the calculator lock combination, but I have a feeling I can delay entering the stage to manipulate as well rather than playing it a different order.
Edit: Delay entering the stage doesn't seem to work.
Hey good news! While messing around, I discovered that as soon as the item objective is done, you can immediately press start, exit the stage and the game would count as if it's done! This means I can immediately go to a different house, thus making manipulating the combination lock a bit easier! :D
Edit: Oh yea, and it doesn't work on the first 3 story related missions. Also, it can't be done on the last raid before a story one, or the game won't proceed. In other words every 5th item.
Edit2: This also crashes the game if certain stages are done.
Edit3: It ended up crashing even if I did the bugged stage at a different order. It didn't crash however if I did the bugged stage first.
Edit4: This messes with the percentage counter, which means I can get a very low percentage doing this, and 100% be simply not doing this trick + not skipping last stage. lol
Because the test run was sorely out of date, I updated it and shortened it by ~8 mins.
The game only registers the completion as 36% even though the only main thing I really skipped was the walking back to the stages 12 times and the last stage.
Oh, and only the last stage can be skipped using other missions; none of the other story ones were able to be broken that way.
Funfact: The only time luck was ever needed was the safe combination; everything else was deterministic. lol
Oh, and it costs ~50 frames to move from one number to the next for the safe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9HAk1IhBV0
2nd storyline stage broken. I'm not sure does this count as clipping, nor do you actually need to move Hammy, but I couldn't seem to land there without her.
Also doing this with Hammy is a dead end since you can't pickup things to break the sprinkler.
Link to video
Apparently clipping out by climbing like that is possible. No need to lure the cats anymore. :D
Edit: This also breaks the Science kit stage since it works on the Sofas in the same room as the kit. lol
TAS done, here's the final times in frames
Calculator - 2572 (note stethoscope doesn't unlock with glitch)
Catalog - 2574
Cowbell - 2755
Abacus - 3017
Scale - 3697
Batteries - 2352
Science kit - 2647
Pessimos toy - 2842
Lamp - 2880
Celestial globe - 4313
Saw - 2786
Flashlight - 3033
Toolkit - 3054
Chair - 3548
Lightbulbs - 3781
"The End" screen shows at 66270 frames. I can technically press Start and get rid of it, but since there's no credits, I decided to at least show it so people won't complain.
I want to fix something a bit before submitting though. I missed a rather large time saver on the calculator stage.
Edit: I also messed up the cowbell stage, and every single walk to next house section. >.>
Edit2: I think Hammy's abacus stage can be improved using that clipping trick on the bush as well. It only saves a tiny bit of time getting to the abacus, but then I get stuck trying to find a way out of the room. :/
you can put it on the movie file,or not,let the encoder do what he wishes
I want all good TAS inside TASvideos, it's my motto.
TAS i'm interested:
Megaman series, specially the RPGs! Where is the mmbn1 all chips TAS we deserve? Where is the Command Mission TAS?
i'm slowly moving away from TASing fighting games for speed, maybe it's time to start finding some entertainment value in TASing.
I did it. This probably also means the calculator stage is now the fastest. This is going to be "fun" manipulating it to occur twice.
Edit: 65091 frames now. Since the calculator was done at the end of the first set, I couldn't use it again. Doing the battery stage ended up fastest taking account time to get there.
Just so I don't jump the gun on the final time (again), I'll check the run a bit before submitting.
"The End" screen shows at 66270 frames. I can technically press Start and get rid of it, but since there's no credits, I decided to at least show it so people won't complain.
If there's no more "ending" content after the "The End" screen, that should be a good place to end the run.
Nice to see you've finished this!
Apparently clipping to get the globe early makes another spawn later when it's needed.
I did it. This probably also means the calculator stage is now the fastest. This is going to be "fun" manipulating it to occur twice.
Edit: 65091 frames now. Since the calculator was done at the end of the first set, I couldn't use it again. Doing the battery stage ended up fastest taking account time to get there.
Just so I don't jump the gun on the final time (again), I'll check the run a bit before submitting.
