Game objectives
- Emulator used: lsnes rr-B23
- Aims for fastest time
- Takes damage to save time
- Manipulates luck
- Uses warp
About making the run
I played this hack for the first time over a year ago and I enjoyed it very much. After couple of weeks of playing the hack I wanted to see if anyone has made a TAS of this fantastic hack and I couldn't find any.
I have had a little bit of experience with TASing before, but have never completed any. I started to plan on how to make a TAS of this Hack and what kind of TAS should I make. After some planning and testing I found out
that a warped any% run would be easiest and wouldn't take too much time to make and could be rather interesting to watch as well. Routing this run was easy after I did some testing, but learning all the technical stuff about the game and efficient use of TASing tools took some time and I certainly still have lot to learn. Making of this video took about 6-7 months on and off, longer than I had anticipated but I'm pretty happy how it turned out.
About the run
What warp?
In this hack there is a( special) secret area( which is actually pretty hard to find since it doesn't even show up with the X-ray Scope) where you can "acquire" the "Secret Key"(done by saving the animals there).
"Acquiring the secret key" allows player the access to MB straight away from the Warp Station. This warp is used in this run and it probably at least halves the time that this run would otherwise take to finish.
"Secret key" also enables a very fast escape by allowing access to Samus's ship in an alternate place that would "normally" be inaccessible. "Secret key" has other uses as well but they are not present in this run.
Wave Beam?
There are two places where you can find the Wave Beam upgrade in this hack. The first one that I'd assume that almost all players would get( without knowing the special feature and/or location of the other one) is very easy to find and pick up. That one doesn't have any special properties in it(regular Wave Beam upgrade). But the second one that is well hidden( The one that I get in this run), gives you entirely different kind of Wave Beam(?). On a side note, If you have already picked up Wave Beam, then you find Super Missiles(iirc, but not Wave Beam at least) there instead. I can't be sure about whether this "special" upgrade is intentional or not, but I believe it is intentional(its not buggy or anything). This upgrade allows me to skip lots of items I would have to otherwise collect around the Planet Sporespawn and speeds up upcoming boss fights quite a bit too.
Game mechanics
There are also few differences in Escape2 and vanilla SM when it comes to game mechanics. I used every bit of information about the SM mechanics I could find here and some other sites as well, but I also had
to test lots of stuff myself because of some unique mechanics in this hack that aren't documented for TASing or otherwise helpfully anywhere that I could find. I hope I didn't miss any obvious tricks or anything that
I could have used to go even faster!
Btw. This run is also a low% run as well as an any% run(afaik).
I think the audience would like the new tricks and game play mechanics in this video that aren't present in any other TAS of SM or SM Hack. Also I'd like to suggest to anyone who is going to play Escape2 for the first time not to use "Secret Key" or that "special upgrade", because it would pretty much ruin lots of the surprises and overall the great experience the hack has to offer.
There is not much room for improvements that I can think of in this movie, but one thing that almost certainly has a bit of room for improvement is the lag reduction in the MB room, MB2, MB3 and maybe after it. The lag is quite random( unpredictable) in there in my experience that I can't be sure if some different strategy might be faster.
Suggested screenshot: f50534
I would like to thank the author of this hack Hiroishi, tasvideos.org for all the information, SM TASing and speedrunning communities and also Perkule for finding and informing me about that "special upgrade". Oh and I almost forgot, big thanks to Ilari for making this awesome emulator!
Nach: This is a nice run with mostly positive feedback, although the mood regarding the run appeared to be not so enthusiastic about it compared to what we normally expect for hacks. While this hack appears to be from the better quality ones, much of its areas seem to be copy & pasted from the original game with minor changes. Some of the level design is also questionable. Coupling all that with only mild recognition online of this hack, I don't think it rises to the level that screams quality and distinguishes itself as being a well designed game apart from the original, while still making use of its potential. Hacks need to be of the highest quality and provide a TASing experience beyond our typical entertainment levels, since I don't find this to measure up to the high bar we now expect from Super Metroid related runs and hack quality, rejecting.
