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jlun2 wrote:
For Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (GBC), there's a glitch where if you use a card combo out of battle, you can death warp anywhere any time. The previous run, due to lack of cards, the combo chosen causes the screen to flicker a lot. Like, from using the bug, to the rest of the game: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/698993369321308240/1003722532307881984/SPOILER_HP1_Flicker.gif Warning: Flashing lights, do not click if sensitive. How long is this sequence? I'm ~15 minutes in to an hour long run, so 45 minutes of flicker. Choosing a different combo loses ~5 frames per use (so around 45-60 frames lost since I will death warp multiple times) , but does not cause the game to look like that. The current run has 4.8/10, clearly Vault material. Is this tradeoff fine?
Sounds fine... even tho I don't know how much time it will cost overall.
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.
Wobmiar
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So I just finished a TAS of FEZ of the category 0%. The principle is that you play the game normally, then open menu, and click reset run. The run starts when you click "reset run". For encode, just starting from a savestate is absolutely possible. Could that run be accepted?
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Samsara
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Wobmiar wrote:
So I just finished a TAS of FEZ of the category 0%. The principle is that you play the game normally, then open menu, and click reset run. The run starts when you click "reset run". For encode, just starting from a savestate is absolutely possible. Could that run be accepted?
Given that you've said this is the only way of being able to run this category, I see nothing wrong with it in theory, but in practice I need to understand more about this before I know for sure. Can you explain exactly how this process works?
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warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Wobmiar
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So it's due to a glitch that if you start a run while entering a loading zone, the next run will start in that room (that's the tldr). If you play without speedrun mode, you can just use saves, but with speedrun mode you can't save the game, thus the only way is to enter a zone and click "reset run" when you enter it. In zero %, the route is any% (I use the any% TAS inputs) up until entering Moon (last zone). Then you reset, and you enter the room instantly, with 0 cubes and the timer is reset at 0 seconds. The interesting thing about that run is that, especially for a TAS, I have early control of Gomez (the player character) while the cutscene is going. Meaning the whole room is very janky, a lot is off screen, the perspectives change a ton and the route is thus slightly different (and very fun). So the movie would start at clicking "reset run" instead of game launch. However, the whole movie file syncs from game startup too, it's just that everything before "reset run" is the same as any% lol. EDIT: I encoded the TAS, so I will soon share it on Discord to give you a better idea on how it looks like :)
I like colors
nymx
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I've been reviewing the rules and I see that "Board Games" are now allowed. There is a game that I TASed for fun, over a year ago. When I was done...it puzzled me, since it didn't turn out as I expected. The game is Yahtzee, and my wife is an expert at the game. I asked her to confirm my moves and she told me that something is not getting calculated correctly in the game. So, my question is...would a Yahtzee game, submitted as Max Score, be accepted...even though the game breaks in calculating it? I'm getting 1535, when we know that the max possible score is 1575. So, my guess is...that the developers couldn't confirm their game to this extreme.
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
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nymx wrote:
I've been reviewing the rules and I see that "Board Games" are now allowed. There is a game that I TASed for fun, over a year ago. When I was done...it puzzled me, since it didn't turn out as I expected. The game is Yahtzee, and my wife is an expert at the game. I asked her to confirm my moves and she told me that something is not getting calculated correctly in the game. So, my question is...would a Yahtzee game, submitted as Max Score, be accepted...even though the game breaks in calculating it? I'm getting 1535, when we know that the max possible score is 1575. So, my guess is...that the developers couldn't confirm their game to this extreme.
We don't care too much how faithfully a videogame adaptation reproduces mechanics of the original board game. Submit away and we'll see what happens.
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.
nymx
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It seems that a submission of Yathzee (Yes, it is spelled that way in the game), has more things to consider than I originally thought. DrD2k9 and myself have been discussing some of these situations. Some deal with the correct ROM usage, the breaking score situation (not an issue anymore, but ensuring that Max Score was technically achieved), and the decision on whether sound or no sound should be used. (Sound causes the game to freeze, when it speaks...but no sound is boring IMO). I have uploaded two WIPs for consideration: No Sound version: https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638024475294705722 Sound version: https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638024474244653247 Website for the "Perfect" score situation: https://www.gusworld.com.au/blog/2016/10/09/whats-the-maximum-score-you-can-get-in-yahtzee/
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
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ROM version is not critical if gameplay is the same, and if there's not one known to be explicitly official and clean, just use whatever has the least overhead not related to the game itself. Audio is harder to tell, because it's still not music, and the voice is honestly kinda annoying. Overall it's better to embed all the info (and the videos) right in your post - commenting on userfiles is much harder to track.
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.
nymx
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Ok...I'm bringing over my "userfile" information to this post, in consideration to feos's concern. The ROM I chose was picked among 3 different sources: *This WIP uses a version that was extracted from the companion disk, issued from a magazine called "Magic Disk 64". Loads directly to the original game content. ROM Name: Yathzee.d64 *Another ROM, Yathzee_1992_CP_Verlag.d64, has a trainer screen...which leads into the original content. *A final ROM reviewed, comes from "Magic Disk 64"...which has a selection screen to get to the game. In terms of speed, the obvious choice is to use Yathzee.d64 (Option 1)...but as for authenticity, what would make more sense for a publication on this site? Ok, so feos has addressed this and I'm going with the version that has the least overhead. I personally like this, because trainer screens and menu operating disks take away from the experience. Also, it obviously destroys a true representation of time. Now, I'm in agreement with the digitized voice being horrible, but it does represent a time when synthesizers were coming of age. To be done, via code only, I think is more impressive...but we have gone way past that time and it does seem annoying by today's standards. Here are two encodes to show the speed difference with "Sound" and "No Sound". So...considering this was a game from 1991, which would make a better showcasing? With Sound https://youtu.be/2zjU33yRgBo No Sound https://youtu.be/JlM9NLZKodI
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
MrTASer
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I was trying the MAME Hawk for TASing 1943 a bit, but I only got the Europe version to load on the emulator. Whenever MAME Hawk gets available for submission, is it allowed to submit europe versions of games?
My TASing channel ; My MUSIC channel ; My SoundCloud ; My HomePage ; Music Composer ; Mr.TASer#5922 VCop 2 TAS completed, but in a completely different way ; And SMB - GAGOTO (WL) TAS COMPLETED TILL W-4 ; Some more...
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MrTASer wrote:
I was trying the MAME Hawk for TASing 1943 a bit, but I only got the Europe version to load on the emulator. Whenever MAME Hawk gets available for submission, is it allowed to submit europe versions of games?
If it's the only version that works then yes. But how does it all work on actual MAME?
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.
MrTASer
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feos wrote:
If it's the only version that works then yes. But how does it all work on actual MAME?
Couldn't open any of the roms
My TASing channel ; My MUSIC channel ; My SoundCloud ; My HomePage ; Music Composer ; Mr.TASer#5922 VCop 2 TAS completed, but in a completely different way ; And SMB - GAGOTO (WL) TAS COMPLETED TILL W-4 ; Some more...
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They work fine for me (and this is not the right thread for MAME problems).
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.
Dimon12321
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Some games for Nintendo 3DS let you buy in-game stuff for Play Coins, some of which may simplify game completion. The emulator, Citra, lets you set any amount of coins. Is it considered the same as using in-game cheat codes?
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the final movie.
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Dimon12321 wrote:
Some games for Nintendo 3DS let you buy in-game stuff for Play Coins, some of which may simplify game completion. The emulator, Citra, lets you set any amount of coins. Is it considered the same as using in-game cheat codes?
Sounds similar to Arcade coins, though rules on their usage vary per class.
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.
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For the GBA game Monster House, after examining the savefile along with the game flags, 100% is technically impossible. The game, through normal play, reaches 97% (98% from an extra bottle, unobtainable). There exists 2 items however, that have no cap on the amount of percent it counts to the game counter, so with glitches, it's possible to reach the 100% goal and unlock this screen at start: Save file format: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1geZ1gV5U3fqSEEmVxeVEbIDEfK8GEVM2xRUdVjIM_DI/edit?usp=sharing Would grabbing everything normally, then dupe the last requirement be fine for 100% completion? Or would it be a new category in playground? Additionally, that screen disappears after beating the game, since the counter resets to 0%. Would resetting the game before going to the final boss to show it off be fine?
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Wiki: MovieRules#Standard wrote:
Full completion requirements such as completing levels, collecting items, or incrementing a progress counter must be met through gameplay means only. Requirements may not be bypassed through heavy glitching or memory/save corruption.
  • Glitches and memory corruption may still be used as long as they do not directly affect requirements.
I'd leave it at maximum normally obtainable percentage.
Additionally, that screen disappears after beating the game, since the counter resets to 0%. Would resetting the game before going to the final boss to show it off be fine?
Sounds like a decent speed/entertainment tradeoff.
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.
ikuyo
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I've just finished a TAS of The Lost Strawberry but I have a kind of important question: The game has a very weird artstyle which is not helped by the honestly hideous color palette it uses by default. I can change the palette from the PICO-8 pause menu, but doing so would obviously be slower for no gameplay benefit so I choose not to do it. However, I'm bothered by the fact that the game is hard to follow (and at times hard to look at) in its default palette. I have yet to test if the TAS will sync if starting from a previous visit to the pause Menu done solely to adjust the palette, then reset. Could this be discussed with the publishers in case of a potential publication?
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ikuyo wrote:
I've just finished a TAS of The Lost Strawberry but I have a kind of important question: The game has a very weird artstyle which is not helped by the honestly hideous color palette it uses by default. I can change the palette from the PICO-8 pause menu, but doing so would obviously be slower for no gameplay benefit so I choose not to do it. However, I'm bothered by the fact that the game is hard to follow (and at times hard to look at) in its default palette. I have yet to test if the TAS will sync if starting from a previous visit to the pause Menu done solely to adjust the palette, then reset. Could this be discussed with the publishers in case of a potential publication?
IMO it's very kind when a few frames are spent on making the game look or sound more appealing. It makes it easier to fully enjoy both the game and the movie. But yeah if we have to, a better palette movie can be a secondary publication file and a secondary encode.
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.
Darkman425
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This is gonna be a weird one. So, there's this game that I want to TAS for speed called GG Aleste II/Power Strike II (Game Gear). It's a shmup with the unfortunate issue of (very slow) infinite score leeching so speed is a more appropriate goal. The problem is that the only speed leaderboards for the game that I know of are on the Aleste Collection, which have replays but only has a Japanese release on Switch and PS4. I couldn't find many runs of the game to completion for that version online so I can't be certain of an exact fastest possible completion time, though I think I have a rough idea of the best time. Am I still expected to know these times for beating all known records if it requires either buying the collection (possibly twice if the systems have separate leaderboards) or knowing some folks who can check and verify those times for me?
Switch friend code: SW-2632-3851-3712
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Darkman425 wrote:
This is gonna be a weird one. So, there's this game that I want to TAS for speed called GG Aleste II/Power Strike II (Game Gear). It's a shmup with the unfortunate issue of (very slow) infinite score leeching so speed is a more appropriate goal. The problem is that the only speed leaderboards for the game that I know of are on the Aleste Collection, which have replays but only has a Japanese release on Switch and PS4. I couldn't find many runs of the game to completion for that version online so I can't be certain of an exact fastest possible completion time, though I think I have a rough idea of the best time. Am I still expected to know these times for beating all known records if it requires either buying the collection (possibly twice if the systems have separate leaderboards) or knowing some folks who can check and verify those times for me?
The point of it being known is that it's out there available to anyone who does basic research. Basically, something easy to find. If it's hard to find, then it's obscure. In which case if it's discovered, we'll just politely ask you to check if there are some useful strats in there. And yeah it should be possible to verify validity of those records anyway. If we can't reproduce some trick, we won't consider it a deal breaker for your movie. And we definitely don't have the rejection bias anymore.
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.
ikuyo
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I'm currently working on a maximum score TAS of Sayonara Wild Hearts. During an specific level, I ran into issues attempting to recreate an specific source of points the RTA runners obtain. I was able to produce a frame-by-frame replica of a video by an RTA runner demonstrating the trick, and despite matching inputs as closely as possible, TAS does not get the points: https://youtu.be/mAxT4yj5JRQ SWH has to be TASed from a Linux user-port of the Mac App Store build, which is not available on Steam. This had to be done since the Windows build requires Direct3D to run, which blocks it from being user portable. The official Steam Windows port released two months after the Mac, iOS and console ports. As such, there's a chance they could contain different code. Would the fact that TAS cannot obtain this source of points hurt its judging due to suboptimality? Is the fact that the trick has been done on the Switch version going to hurt the argument for potential version differences? Furthermore, since SWH is an unity game, reverse engineering the code is reasonably easy. Are there any issues with me using reverse-engineered code to potentially prove this discrepancy in behavior between versions? Would it be required to argue that the suboptimality comes from version differences?
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ikuyo wrote:
Would the fact that TAS cannot obtain this source of points hurt its judging due to suboptimality? Is the fact that the trick has been done on the Switch version going to hurt the argument for potential version differences?
As long as it has been tried and it didn't work, it's fair to not have it in the run. A movie is only suboptimal if it can be significantly improved with little effort. Does that tech also not work on the original Mac version before porting? Or that requires actual Mac?
ikuyo wrote:
Furthermore, since SWH is an unity game, reverse engineering the code is reasonably easy. Are there any issues with me using reverse-engineered code to potentially prove this discrepancy in behavior between versions? Would it be required to argue that the suboptimality comes from version differences?
Figuring out the real reason is always good, but not required.
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.
ikuyo
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feos wrote:
Does that tech also not work on the original Mac version before porting? Or that requires actual Mac?
I'm unable to test this as I don't have a Mac computer. It's worth mentioning that the Mac App Store build has received updates, with version 1.02 (the one I'm using right now) being updated in 2020. Steam version was never updated.
Post subject: libTAS MAME Autofire
Player (203)
Joined: 12/5/2022
Posts: 20
Location: Canada
Hi, I want to know the feasibility of being able to submit an input file (movie) that utilizes the autofire plugin of MAME for libTAS. The consequence of using it is the file would not playback on full default settings, and 2 or 3 small configuration files must be downloaded before being able to sync. However, getting these files in their right place is as easy as downloading them and placing them in their correct directory. It'd work similarly to an NVRAM file. The reason I ask is because manually tapping the button even frame by frame is frankly horribly inefficient to me, its not the accuracy that matters in shmups but rather the movement and positioning of my shots, so with what I've mentioned above, would this be permitted if the process is as easy as I've made it out to be?