Tool Assisted Tool Assisted Submission Text Extraction
Title
One day, Donald found a map inside one of uncle Scrooge's old books.
Then, he and his nephews got on a plane to search for "The Great Duck Treasure."
Mexico
Mexico: Here Donald will get "Some Information."
I assume you already know what a TAS is, but here's the basics just in case.
First of all, to keep track of our speed and position we watch memory adresses.
Pretty confusing in real time, isn't it? But TASes are played frame by frame.
We no longer rely on reflexes to dodge bullets, or jump over bottomless pits.
But if a mistake is made, and we know how to fix it, save states are there for us.
Do you want to know more? Please visit
http://TASvideos.org
Duckburg
Duckburg: Here Donald will take the "Hero Key."
Even being the smallest stage of the game, quite some time was saved here.
Duckburg: 27 frames saved. Total : 186 frames ahead.
Mexico
Mexico: Here Donald will get the "Red Plunger."
I don't fully understand this address, but it was helpful to create this TAS.
It controls some of Donald's actions, like recover from damage animation.
The Belly Slide is also controlled by this timer making it easier to start a new one.
In the previous run it was not found, so there's less trial and error now.
In this stage Donald must do something he doesn't do very often; go to the left.
Not really a big deal, but I don't know why Donald moves so fast to the left.
Avoid this green block was not so hard...
...but this one still needs to be shot.
Hit boxes are really useful sometimes, like when Donald goes underground.
How to go underground: press Up+Down on ladders.
Trivia: Donald made his debut in the 1934 short film "The Wise Little Hen."
Mexico: 168 frames saved. Total : 354 frames ahead.
Duckburg
Duckburg: Here Donald will take the "Bubblegum Ammo."
One of the new tricks, the "Long Jump," adds a lot of speed to Donald's jumps.
But some times you can only do a normal jump as it needs some room to perform.
You must press C+Down to Belly Slide, jump and then hold C+Down.
There's a long zip-line section coming, and the only thing to do is hang on...
Um... what about that hit box again? It'll sure make it more entertaining.
Ah, I've got something else to show; the long jump seems to have a buffer.
Donald jumped from the last zip-line with a speed of 19.
Now it's back to a normal zip-line jumping speed of 15.
There are two more stages with zip-lines, and I'll try to use that "buffer" again.
Are you wondering why this ladder was not used to go underground here?
It's not possible to reach the start of this stage doing the Ladder Trick.
Not really useful, but he can go to the zip-line section while down there.
Trivia: Donald's full name is "Donald Fauntleroy Duck."
Duckburg: 149 frames saved. Total : 503 frames ahead.
Transylvania
Transylvania: Here Donald gets the "Real Treasure Map."
Jump just to shoot an enemy was one of many mistakes of the old run.
Now I'm trying to plan farther ahead and shoot whenever I have to jump.
Pausing before a chat is older than the old run, but it's still useful.
There are places where it would just waste time to avoid damage...
...but waiting here saves 15 frames compared to taking damage.
The Long Jump is even more effective underwater.
Here's a place where it's easy to avoid taking damage but it's not worth it.
If you import the old run into BizHawk, you'll get a desync at this point.
There is much more lag in this stage now, but I tried to reduce it when possible.
The strategy used in this section comes from the RTA World Record of Quack Shot.
The RTA runner jumps inside this wall and Donald zips to the end of this area.
The drawback; he dies in the process... Still, faster than the old strategy.
Boss: Dracula.
Trivia: In the Kingdom Hearts series, Donald has the highest Magic stat.
Transylvania: 603 frames saved. Total : 1176 frames ahead.
Maharajah
Maharajah: Here Donald will get the "Sphinx Tear."
As you can see, I won't collect all five Peppers here, just four of them.
Why not? Well, the Peppers are not so useful here as they were in Duckburg.
And in Egypt they are pretty much useless since the last one is almost at the end.
More hit box fun, for every one!
In most places jumping around ledges is slower than falling off of them.
Shooting makes Donald's hit box smaller, but it was overlooked in the old run.
Not using the Peppers in Maharajah forced me to find better ways to kill some foes.
Boss: Shere Khan.
Trivia: In Finland, Donald's comics were banned due to "inappropriate clothing."
Maharajah: 83 frames slower. Total : 1093 frames ahead.
Egypt
Egypt: Here Donald will get the "Scepter of Ra."
And here we are with a strategy that will put these Peppers to good use at last.
The Long Jump was found here during a "play around" to enter this door.
By the way, you can not enter this door before the flag is set, not matter what.
Here you can jump at the top of this ladder, but in Mexico you can not.
I almost forgot to say it, but shooting after a Long Jump makes it even faster.
So, if you see me shooting for no apparent reason, it is to gain that extra boost.
It's also kinda late to say it, but it's not possible to slide on steep slopes.
And without a slide, it's impossible to start a new Power Walk, unfortunately.
How to Power Walk: Press C+Down then Up+Down+Right+A+C
Wow, Egypt is a huge stage! The Hideout is longer, but there we have a boss...
If you go slower at the end Donald starts a death animation but doesn't lose a life.
Trivia: Donald has black eyes and suffers from color blindness.
Egypt: 696 frames saved. Total: 1789 frames ahead.
Southpole
South Pole: Here donald will take the "Viking Key."
Another small stage full of improvements; a lot more damage was taken, for example.
The trick to collect the Viking Key and call the Airplane was also improved.
South Pole: 113 frames saved. Total : 1902 frames ahead.
Viking Ship
Viking Ship: Here Donald will take the "Green Plunger."
Plungers... not the best ammo of the game, then, why is it the most used one?
The reason is pretty simple; it's not possible to manipulate enemy drops.
Gunshots interupt some of the other sound effects, but the opposite is also true.
Remember the speed buffer? It's impossible to use it here, but I'll keep trying.
Some platforms drop your speed to zero. You must slowdown a bit to avoid it.
Hit boxes, again?
I have been saving Popcorn Ammo for some time and it's time to find out why.
Boss: Viking Ghost.
Viking Ship: 220 frames saved. Total : 2122 frames ahead.
South Pole
South Pole: Here Donald will take the "Viking Diary."
The Long Jump buffer, as one would expect, doesn't work with Green Plungers.
In any case, it's a good idea to grab the Plunger as high as you possibly can.
Why? Well, that's the height you're going to release the Plunger no matter what.
I'll freeze his hit box at the position he will release it as an example.
If I jump, take damage or go all the way down, Donald appears at the green square.
How to Get Low: Press Up+Down on Birds.
Here comes a barrage of Long Jumps! I'll shut up for a while, enjoy.
New South Pole skip strategy, and again, it's from the RTA World Record.
South Pole: 203 frames saved. Total : 2325 frames ahead.
Hideout
Hideout: Here Donald gets back the "Viking Diary."
That's right, Donald won't get the "Map" back as Pete has promised...
...otherwise it would be possible to go back to "Duckburg," for example.
Like in South Pole, Donald releases the Plunger as high as he grabbed it.
It's possible to shoot upward and keep all your speed while doing so.
This is a pretty basic trick, but I just found it at this point in the run.
How to Shoot Up: Press Right+A+B+C then Up+Down+C
The physics of these mine carts and how it messes with Donald's speed is crazy.
Thanks to faster movements, one phase of these moving platforms is now skipped.
Something I have tried for quite some time in the old run, but couldn't make happen.
There are Big Bad Pete faces everywhere. I wonder what "B.B.P" stands for though...
The muscle bound thugs are invincible, so it's faster to just take damage.
Boss: Big Bad Pete.
Hideout: 321 frames saved. Total : 2646 frames ahead.
The Island
The Island: Here Donald finally beats "The Guardian."
When a video of a guy beating him in one phase was shown, little detail was given.
It was all figured out and explained much later, after the old run was published.
Now, imagine how frustrating it is to know that your TAS is not on par with an RTA...
Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying "TASes must be better," no, it's not it.
But since it uses all sorts of tools, it should at a very least be faster.
Here comes the last zip-line of the game. It's now or never for that buffer...
It worked! Long Jumps do have a buffer if you can grab a zip-line afterwards.
Earlier I said; "to the left is faster," but how much faster is it anyway?
It's so fast I can reach the last platform before it goes to the right this time.
Here's an estimate of the maximum speeds: to the Right: 31, to the Left: 37!
What lies ahead is a good example of how TAS and RTA can benefit from each other.
Boss: Guardian.
Credits
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
mklip2001 For bringing this game to my attention.
Mitjitsu For pointing out the Final Boss Glitch and sugesting the use of sub pixels.
sicanjal For figuring out the Final Boss Glitch.
PPLToast For his Wall Trick in Transylvania.
FatRatKnight For his tutorial about sub pixels.
marzojr For sharing his memory addresses.
Reeve For support on the forum and suggestions of possible improvements.
Evil_3D For support on the forum.
Tool Assisted Submission Text by Dooty
Thank you for watching, and see you next time!
So I'll claim and spend a shit-ton of time on this replicating the lua (like the Speed/Positioning part).
