(Link to video)

FINAL INPUT FRAME: 24,104


very fun and simple to make
shoutouts to atroz for helping me with this
thanks to him and a little ingenuity
shaved 555 frames off my previous draft
almost all of those frames were saved in seahorse fight
compared to rta timing: ~6:20

GAME OBJECTIVES:

  • swim around
  • defeat ursula
  • live happily ever after with eric

EMULATOR USED:

  • bizhawk 1.11.9.1

MOVIE OBJECTIVES:

  • fast
  • manipulate boss rng

BOSS NOTES:

  • all bosses move and/or summon spawns on a timer
  • boss timers are affected by damage dealt to the boss
  • rng is easily manipulated with directional inputs during the right frames
  • some bosses it is faster to wait to deal damage as to not wait even longer for more ammo

SHARK:

  • 4 hp
  • spawns fish (no rng)

EELS:

  • 3 hp (2x)
  • spawns crabs (crab placement is rng)
  • crabs spawn when previous crabs leave screen
  • manipulate crabs to spawn them closer together
  • it seems the eels will move if you have not hit them for some time
  • i thought it would be fast to keep the eels in place but this fight proves otherwise
  • eels have very short iframes

WALRUS:

  • 4 hp
  • spawns shells or ice blocks (rng)
  • shells enable faster damage to walrus compared to ice blocks
  • was able to get all shells and no ice blocks

SEAHORSE:

  • 5 hp
  • spawns fish or spikes (rng)
  • cannot deal damage to seahorse with spikes
  • atroz gave me lemons
  • i made lemonade

URSULA:

  • 5 hp
  • spawns fish or seahorses (rng)
  • neither enemy spawn is faster or slower for dealing damage to ursula in this tas
  • can cause enemies to appear early by shooting extra shots

BIG URSULA:

  • 7 hp
  • spawns fish (fish coming from the right or left is rng)
  • the rng in this fight has no effect on time

CAN THIS TAS BE IMPROVED?:

  • the boss fights are the only critical parts of this game
  • i think the rng manipulations here are pretty solid
  • but there will always be something i'm sure i missed

screenshot frame 23,017

feos: Updating the movie with an 81-frame improvement, and accepting. Even though the NES run looks quite nice to me, it has a clear Vault rating, and this game feels like a downgraded NES one, so it will also go to Vault.
Fog: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #5400: StarvinStruthers's GB The Little Mermaid in 06:42.23
mklip2001
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Not bad! This seems to be basically the same as the NES run but with worse graphics and sound. Your boss fights seem pretty good to me, but I'm not really familiar with the game's randomness. The NES run has a couple tricks to keep momentum, like quick turnarounds (I think it's because of Left + Right). Does anything like that work in the GB version? It looks like you lose time every time you want to change direction.
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.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
mklip2001 wrote:
Not bad! This seems to be basically the same as the NES run but with worse graphics and sound. Your boss fights seem pretty good to me, but I'm not really familiar with the game's randomness. The NES run has a couple tricks to keep momentum, like quick turnarounds (I think it's because of Left + Right). Does anything like that work in the GB version? It looks like you lose time every time you want to change direction.
oh so in the nes version you press left and right at the same time to lighten the hit of horizontal turning? i dont recall even trying that but that could work out a notable trick while turning in this game is to not turn into a wall unless you're going to move vertically after the turn if you plan to move horizontally after the turn and you aren't turning directly into a wall you can get a lot of horizontal distance during the turn if you hold that direction this was a trick that atroz did in rta at a specific spot because he thought it to be faster when i implemented the trick in the same spot he did it.. i ended up saving 8 frames so with that in mind.. when i did the final draft i went through and made sure not to turn into any walls and saved some frames that way
mklip2001
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Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
Honestly, I'm not sure if L+R is what does that in the NES run. I thought it did. I believe there's a Tricks page for the NES run, and you should see if those tricks work on the GB version too if you haven't already. Nice Kid Dracula icon, by the way.
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.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
mklip2001 wrote:
Honestly, I'm not sure if L+R is what does that in the NES run. I thought it did. I believe there's a Tricks page for the NES run, and you should see if those tricks work on the GB version too if you haven't already. Nice Kid Dracula icon, by the way.
lol tyty do you know where this page of tricks might be?
mklip2001
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Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2224
Location: Georgia, USA
In general, you would want to look at the pages at http://tasvideos.org/GameResources.html However, I don't see one for The Little Mermaid there. I looked at the previous publications for the NES version as well. McBobX's current run mentions a strategy change on the Walrus fight, but I don't know if that applies to this run. The previous publication by AnS has comments here: http://tasvideos.org/1062S.html He mentions a trick involving pressing A at the right times to pick up objects without slowing down. Perhaps something like that is useful here, I'm not sure. I'm sorry I didn't catch this run on a forum thread earlier; I've only been able lately to watch the submission queue these days. In any case, you did a good run, and until someone actually demonstrates significant improvements, I'd say this should be published.
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.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
mklip2001 wrote:
In general, you would want to look at the pages at http://tasvideos.org/GameResources.html However, I don't see one for The Little Mermaid there. I looked at the previous publications for the NES version as well. McBobX's current run mentions a strategy change on the Walrus fight, but I don't know if that applies to this run. The previous publication by AnS has comments here: http://tasvideos.org/1062S.html He mentions a trick involving pressing A at the right times to pick up objects without slowing down. Perhaps something like that is useful here, I'm not sure. I'm sorry I didn't catch this run on a forum thread earlier; I've only been able lately to watch the submission queue these days. In any case, you did a good run, and until someone actually demonstrates significant improvements, I'd say this should be published.
yo thanks man i may look into it in the future but i think i've had enough with this tas for now i've got a project i want to get started and also a background project that im working on the background project is fairly simple but i have to make stage maps as i go because there are no maps i can find on the interwebs and the stages dont always have a direct path so there's some exploring to do and different route options thus needs a map and with 80 stages its gunna take a little while also for the record i dont recall picking up any items and getting slowed down but i may have overlooked that and i did the walrus fight like 5 different ways and they always ended on the same frame but if there is something im missing there, then definitely could be improved
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Posts: 11264
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http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/37291400092696783 I improved leaving the room before the first Ursula fight by 2 frames. Would you like to resync the latter part and have the movie replaced?
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.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
feos wrote:
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/37291400092696783 I improved leaving the room before the first Ursula fight by 2 frames. Would you like to resync the latter part and have the movie replaced?
no i'm also not even understanding how to get this bk2 to be rewritten i can get it to play on bizhawk no problem but when tastudio is involved i get a big red X over the piano roll no idea how to steer around this.. oh well not at all worried about 2 frames in this game
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11264
Location: RU
That's odd, I have it working well at importing this movie with a fresh unzip if 1.12.0. Does this one work? https://yadi.sk/d/mPlX52lx3EekHt
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.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
feos wrote:
That's odd, I have it working well at importing this movie with a fresh unzip if 1.12.0. Does this one work? https://yadi.sk/d/mPlX52lx3EekHt
ok a couple things 1. that worked.. idk why i have troubles with rewriting bk2 sometimes 2. nice strat.. i tried capturing the lower guy to use to hit the higher guy and it lost frames.. didn't think to try your trick 3. i tried several quick ways that might put the fights back together but no complete luck 4. i dont mind fixing this up i just dont want to do it today lol maybe i'll fix soon.. i will let you know if i have given up hope also 5. oh FRIG bizhawk 1.12 is out i should get that here is a question.. do i need to run the prereq everytime i update bizhawk? i assume no but im unsure
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11264
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When a new prereq is out we usually report that, and if it's not installed, bizhawk will warn you, so don't worry.
StarvinStruthers wrote:
3. i tried several quick ways that might put the fights back together but no complete luck 4. i dont mind fixing this up i just dont want to do it today lol maybe i'll fix soon.. i will let you know if i have given up hope
If you can't resync it, I'll accept the current run, just take your time and make sure it does or does not sync.[/quote]
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.
Spikestuff
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StarvinStruthers wrote:
but when tastudio is involved i get a big red X over the piano roll no idea how to steer around this.. oh well
(Late Response) Basically. Load your bk2 into TAStudio. If you get the big red X close out of TAStudio. Relaunch TAStudio with no bk2/tasproj file attached. Within TAStudio load the tasproj up.
StarvinStruthers wrote:
also 5. oh FRIG bizhawk 1.12 is out i should get that
Yes.
StarvinStruthers wrote:
do i need to run the prereq everytime i update bizhawk?
No.
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account. Something better for yourself and also others.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
feos wrote:
When a new prereq is out we usually report that, and if it's not installed, bizhawk will warn you, so don't worry.
StarvinStruthers wrote:
3. i tried several quick ways that might put the fights back together but no complete luck 4. i dont mind fixing this up i just dont want to do it today lol maybe i'll fix soon.. i will let you know if i have given up hope
If you can't resync it, I'll accept the current run, just take your time and make sure it does or does not sync.
[/quote]
Spikestuff wrote:
StarvinStruthers wrote:
but when tastudio is involved i get a big red X over the piano roll no idea how to steer around this.. oh well
(Late Response) Basically. Load your bk2 into TAStudio. If you get the big red X close out of TAStudio. Relaunch TAStudio with no bk2/tasproj file attached. Within TAStudio load the tasproj up.
StarvinStruthers wrote:
also 5. oh FRIG bizhawk 1.12 is out i should get that
Yes.
StarvinStruthers wrote:
do i need to run the prereq everytime i update bizhawk?
No.
word thanks yall i will try this next time i boot up bizhawk spike and feos.. i think this submission needs to be taken down there is ~1sec of time save i overlooked in the very first fight i need to remake/resync the entire run basically
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No known improvements isn't our requirement. We just want it not to be sloppy, and this run isn't. You can leave that one for future and have this published, since that would indeed require redoing the entire run.
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.
Player (172)
Joined: 8/15/2015
Posts: 56
Location: USA
new tas final input frame 24,023 most frames saved in shark fight a few frames saved in first ursula fight http://www.mediafire.com/file/691tl2dbqmn2u61/mermaidTAS4.zip
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. ---- [3356] GB The Little Mermaid by StarvinStruthers in 06:42.23