New Route, New clips, New run!
Super Pitfall is a rather poorly programmed platforming game offering many opportunities for glitch abuse. The current run beats the game in under 5 minutes.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: FCEUX 2.2.2
  • Beats the game as fast as possible.

Comments

Well this run came a long way very rapidly, being now over 1:30 faster then the published run. After Arc mentioned several new potential clips, I started from scratch and after staring at the map for a while discovered a new key first route that saves additional time as well. Brute forcing wall clips made them much faster, and as well as allowed for getting the key falling straight through the floor.
Big thanks to Arc for really putting a lot of thought into routing and different clip potential that I initially wrote off as being too slow, which in turn forced me to learn to automate rerecords for the first time. I think this run contains around 500000 rerecords now.
Also thanks to mklip2001 and jlun2 for suggesting time saving improvements that made it into the final run.

Other comments

It was quite fun to make this run and make new discoveries. Most of my runs up to now were just applying known improvements or very linear games, it was nice to take a really fresh look at a game.
I don't think there is a faster route, but possibly with more cpu time slightly faster clips can be found, but not by much.
I had also found a time saving trick in the first waterfall that could be used to improve a real time run, but it didn't make it into the final run.

Tompa: Replaced the movie file with a 165 frames faster version.
Tompa: And claimed for judging.
Tompa: More games to reach sub 5 is always great, nice run. Accepting as an improvement to the published run, let's aim for the Moon this time!
fsvgm777: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #4761: Alyosha & Arc's NES Super Pitfall in 04:42.04
Joined: 4/3/2005
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Location: Spain
Big props to get it back to under five minutes! Yes vote
No.
Samsara
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What the hell has this game become? Voted yes, what an amazing improvement! It's really interesting how the litany of new routes and faster wall clips actually make this 12 seconds faster than the ending warp run.
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mklip2001
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Nice! This is what this game needed. The route is surprising enough to make this game actually entertaining, IMHO. I especially like the key grab and how much you shoot the girl before you somehow save her unharmed. Thanks for putting me in the acknowledgements, though all I did really was suggest a way to end input earlier that I guess saved half a second at most.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Active player (257)
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Even stronger yes vote. This game has come a long way. The old run (the current publication) and this run are worlds apart in terms of route/tech. Love how this turned out.
Somewhat damaged.
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jlun2 wrote:
Well, my thoughts is that given how the existing movie has over 27 votes with an average of 5.9, chances are, an improvement won't exactly propel this game to a higher tier, so might as well go all out speed based. :P
Well, thanks for potentially proving me wrong. lol That was a lot better than I expected. Yes vote.
NitroGenesis
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I like all the clippings and the improvement is impressive, but this game is downright painful to watch, so I voted no.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
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NitroGenesis wrote:
I like all the clippings and the improvement is impressive, but this game is downright painful to watch, so I voted no.
No it was me!
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.
PCachu
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This game accomplishes one task previously thought impossible: it makes you wish for the music from the Atari 2600 version.
ventuz
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Couldn't vote for first submission, because first clipping looked like could have been faster. Now this submission, 100x better with brute force and all new routes.
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I like the new route and wall clips! Not knowing the map, I kind of lost my bearings while you were climbing up through walls, only to see you pop out right where you needed to be and grab an item. Good work, guys; yes vote!
Arc
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Joined: 3/8/2004
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Location: Arizona
Alyosha did a magnificent job here. Our spontaneous teamwork dynamic worked very well. There are so many 'wow' moments for a sub-5-minute movie. I think it's a masterpiece. The evolution of the clipping glitch opened the floodgates of creativity. -clipping downward through the floor instantly (!!!) -clipping all the way through a wall -clipping into the edge of the waterfall (not seen) -clipping through the warp zones (!!!) -clipping through the spade wall -clipping through the triple wall -clipping out with the girl -clipping into a wall in mid-air (!!!) One more question has come to mind now: did you compare this route to the medicine with the upper route?
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How does clipping downward through the floor even work? What kind of flawed mechanic is that?
Joined: 4/18/2015
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Location: Canada
It was really fun watching you guys quickly break this game! Voted yes
Joined: 1/27/2014
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Wow. The iconic opening music is reduced to just 7 cycles. The secondary theme has almost as many full cycles - 6 :) I was curious which was predominant since so much has been skipped out of the first part. I was not disappointed. Fantastic job.
Joined: 6/5/2005
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Easy yes vote. In all my years following this site I can honestly say the best runs come out of collaboration!
I like stuff...
Arc
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I just tested and the upper route to the medicine is about 40-50 frames faster. So that will have to be edited in.
Alyosha
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Arc wrote:
I just tested and the upper route to the medicine is about 40-50 frames faster. So that will have to be edited in.
please replace the movie file with this one: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/24216125938239888
jlun2 wrote:
How does clipping downward through the floor even work? What kind of flawed mechanic is that?
It seems to be functionally the same as the wall clip. It can even happen when you are just normally walking along, its pretty random. As far as I can tell these glitches come from a memory address not being reset after an interrupt call.
Arc
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165 frames saved, impressive. Beautiful work. Updated vid: Link to video
Joined: 1/27/2014
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Fantastic work. Is there anyway to avoid dropping down at the end before you enter the wall and jump up?
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Super Pitfall, more like Super Pitifully Programmed. :v
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
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Congratulations! While this game is in no way familiar to me, I'm glad to see a fruition of those tricks Arc has been posting over the last months on his channel.
ars4326
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You guys have made quite the improvement to this, and it's been a pleasure watching the series of finds and improvements implemented to bring this down to a much, much lower time than the original submission. Easy yes vote. Keep running forward on the 'first 500', Alyosha :)
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2897] NES Super Pitfall by Arc & Alyosha in 04:42.04