Topic by Highness

Posted: 4/15/2005 8:33 AM

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Highness

Player (70)

Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden

LOL! :) Well.. Zelda 3 for SNES might be in for a good death count. Since there the Save and Quit thingie count as death. Or is that only if you make them inside palaces?

Posted: 4/15/2005 11:03 PM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

I was wrong when I said that Gods was a well programmed game. Lots of lag is caused by only a handful of monsters. Also, I found some more (useless) bugs. Current completion time including major mistakes is 13 min 18.90 s Under 13 minutes is possible and will be submitted when I've done it.

Posted: 4/16/2005 12:05 AM

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Xerophyte

Joined: 5/17/2004
Posts: 106
Location: Göteborg, Sweden

Good game, bad port. Pity there are no rerecording Amiga emulators around yet. Also, WIP looks very good, although I'm not sure I personally enjoy the death-as-shortcut notion very much.

Posted: 4/16/2005 1:17 AM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Thank you Xerophyte. In Gods, you are awarded a huge amount of different bonuses that depend on your timing, score, health and number of lives. For example, there is a place where you can get only if you have at least 3 lives and 80 000 points. Here are some bonuses you get through the whole game... Speed bonus: proceed quickly to get money bags here and there Health bonus: in certain places, if you have full health, you are awarded an extra gem Help Bonus: a) enter a certain place with certain (small) amount of health to get healing b) enter a certain place with certain (small) amount of lives to get an extra life Special bonus: accomplish some stuff here and there to get these, usually gems Ignoring these would be devastating for the speed. Loosing lives is great because you gain them back if used correctly. There are still lots of things happening during the 13 minutes, so there is no reason to make the movie any longer by avoiding damage. Sorry, I am going to waste 9-10 lives there. :)

Posted: 5/3/2005 9:11 AM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Submitted :)

Posted: 8/28/2005 2:20 AM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

I can't keep secrets. Here's Gods played through in 11 minutes and 7 seconds: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/gods-1107-demonstration.gmv I managed to do a crazy thing in the end. If you have seen the current published movie, you may want to fast forward to the final level. I think 10:41 is quite possible after some optimization. Gotta test some more... Oh, try starting a new game after the playback has stopped for some secret extra super fun! ;) EDIT: I added some screenshots for enthusiasts to enjoy. Believe me, all these images are from the actual game! http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/new_decorations.jpg http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/hearts_do_no_damage.jpg http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/abstract.jpg http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/surreal_space_shooter.jpg http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/oops,_this_is_not_gods.jpg http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/announcement.jpg Then some savestates... I guess this is some kind of a "flash" animation: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/gods_flashy.gs1 This is even funnier: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/gods_blob.gs2 This must be the immortality thing they talk about: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/immortal_gods.gs3 Here you can shoot hearts: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/gods_shooting_hearts.gs4 The game gets pretty chaotic because of that "crazy thing". It seems that almost anything can happen. There seems to be a huge amount of different outcomes depending on the player movement. EDIT-2: Just to let everyone know, I found a way to complete Gods under 10 minutes. :)

Posted: 11/8/2005 5:18 PM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Hah, I did not expect to find a new glitch in Gods. By grabbing the ladder and pressing left or right immediately (Stupid player!) causes a graphical anomaly. It looks quite funny. Here's a short demonstration movie: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/ladder-glitch.gmv Also, I did not know (until now) that it is possible to quit the game by pressing A, B and C simultaneously when the game is paused. Two useless discoveries in an hour, wow!

Posted: 11/8/2005 7:57 PM

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Truncated

Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (969)

Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden

What about the next version of Gods, are you getting any closer to completing it? I really liked the previous movies.

Posted: 11/8/2005 11:16 PM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Thanks. I guess everything is ready to be recorded, but I don't want to hurry with this. The completion time will possibly be under 7:40. (To demonstrate, I perform one obvious improvement in the end of the movie below.) I tested the newfound ladder trick with longer ladders and, lo, the graphics got really messed up. Here's the messy movie: http://www.freewebs.com/aqfaq/ladder-trick-mess.gmv The trick works like this: 1) stand near a ladder 2) press up for 4 frames ---> hero starts grabbing the ladder 3) press left ---> hero starts turning left Now, the hero has grabbed the ladder and started turning at the same time. If you then start climbing down, the hero moves down, but his animation is screwed. I guess he is virtually/visually turning while climbing. If the ladder is long enough and you keep climbing, the game runs out of images (of the hero) and an overflow occurs. Something like that. OK, we have graphics messed up. What then? I ran out of ideas...

Posted: 11/12/2005 2:22 PM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

I examined the Gods rom with a hex-editor. In the middle of the mess, I detected words: Cripal Source Code Any idea what that means? EDIT: Heh, I tested using a savestate cracker and managed to find a way to edit the hero's horizontal position. Now I can move to strange places. Fun, but useless. EDIT: Heh, first boss killed and level completed. 108 frames faster than before. EDIT: Ooh, 2nd boss killed and level completed. At this point, I'm 299 frames faster compared to the current published movie. It did not take that long to make this movie afterall. Hopefully I can finish this during the weekend.

Posted: 12/30/2007 12:35 AM

Post subject: Gods Without Hints

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Recently, I surprised myself and improved Gods. Total improvement is 132 frames. More info on my userpage: http://tasvideos.org/Aqfaq.html I also made an another kind of movie, which is 2 frames faster. It is based on the idea that if I turn off the hint messages in the beginning of the game, I may gain back the time, if the displayed messages cause enough lag during the run. Afterall, it takes only 4 frames to turn off the hints. It is always a good idea to test changing some options even if they seem irrelevant. Here's how the frames added up: - 4 (lost time turning hints off) + 2 (reduced lag in the end of level 1) + 2 (reduced lag in level 2) + 2 (reduced lag in level 2) - 2 (falling physics fluctuated unluckily near the end of level 2) + 4 (reduced lag in level 3) + 2 (reduced lag in level 3) - 4 (had to delay a bit to activate the ending glitch) Total improvement: 2 frames Here it is: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1257299063/gods-no-hints.gmv I can't tell whether this movie should be published instead of the 2 frames slower one. It is surprising to see the player turning off the hint messages in the beginning, but overall the movie becomes harder to follow (because the hints give info about room names, gained bonuses etc.) and maybe a bit less entertaining (because some of the hints are funny). Interestingly, the severe glitch seen in the end of the movie messes up the game so that hint messages are displayed even though they were set off. Your bomb has been removed. : D Also, now that I'm at it, here are some RAM addresses for Gods:

Boss HP: 00FFEF1E
Jump potion duration: 00FFF19E
Invulnerability duration: 00FFF1B4
Money: 00FFF298

Some enemy HP values:

1: 00FF26FB
2: 00FF3D7B
3: 00FF05CC
4: 00FF3BD6
5: 00FF0608
6: 00FF3B4B
7: 00FF3A33

Posted: 3/22/2008 12:44 AM

Post subject: Quadruple post

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Haha, I just watched my current Gods movie, got a stupid idea and made a new version... 2 frames faster! :D It is an unnoticeable improvement in the first level by doing some trivial tasks in different order. I seriously did not intend to play Gods anymore, but the improvement just happened. It is strange how this kind of stuff happens so easily after having a long break from the game. The improved version took me only about five minutes to make. Maybe I'll wait another few months and then replay the movie again with fresh insight. It seems that I have finally learned to not submit a movie too early. Edit: Haa, found yet another improvement in worl 2-3! It saves around 20 frames! How did I miss all these things earlier...

Posted: 3/23/2008 6:09 PM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Damn, nothing happens...

Posted: 3/24/2008 8:43 PM

Post subject: Re: Quadruple post

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maTO

Skilled player (1486)

Joined: 4/28/2005
Posts: 240
Location: Finland

Aqfaq wrote:

Edit: Haa, found yet another improvement in worl 2-3! It saves around 20 frames! How did I miss all these things earlier...

You are crazy! :) Sorry but I haven't watched your Gods earlier, because I never thought a game with a boasting name could be any good. But you have done so much work with Gods, so it must be good. Waiting for your next update.

Projects: Warlock, Ren & Stimpy (impr) / Generations Lost (impr.)

Posted: 3/26/2008 8:26 PM

Post subject: Re: Quadruple post

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

maTO wrote:

You are crazy! :)

Thanks! :)

maTO wrote:

I never thought a game with a boasting name could be any good.

Yeah, I guess the name refers to the gods in the ancient Greek mythology. I bet the game would have succeeded a bit better with a more "pop" name, like Hercules or something. Everyone would remember the Hercules for Sega Genesis. Other good names for this game would have been The Ancient Hero, Troy, Achilles, The Gladiator, Iron Mask, Turkish Superman, The Immortal, Clumsy Adventures, Greek Mario from Hades, Asterix Deluxe, Assassin's Greek, Muscles & Mythologies, Ancient Laser Monsters, Doom, The Monster Killer Guy Whose Quest is Not to Save a Girl, The Minotaur Invasion of Lesbos Island... Any of these would have been better than... Gods. :(

Posted: 3/26/2008 9:04 PM

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moozooh

Senior Moderator

Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5770
Location: Away

I think the prize for the most underwhelmingly trivial name is forever behind Alien Soldier, an otherwise excellent game from pretty much every standpoint.

Warp wrote:

Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.

Posted: 3/27/2008 3:46 AM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Truncated wrote:

One thought I had: did you time the difference in taking a hit in the shortcut VS killing one of the monsters before the level ends? You said they were stronger, but you have to wait for some time to enter the shortcut too.

Hahah, guess what, young Truncated from 2005. Your idea works afterall, because shooting from ladders takes only 8 frames, while shooting on ground takes 10 frames. So, with ladder-shooting, it is indeed faster to kill one of the monsters in the end instead of the monster at the shortcut. Thanks for the tip, I managed to improve world 1-1 by 6 frames. :) 6 frames is technically 3 in-game states, because every frame is duplicated, so you can see that the improvement is very subtle. Gods is full of this kind of situations where some completely different strategies take almost exactly the same time. Third strategy in world 1-1 is to die at the first key. It will be 24 frames faster until the beginning of level 1-3, thanks to less time wasted in lives bonus countdown. However, I have not managed to do it AND avoid spawning the enemy in the end of world 1-2, so I need to bump to that enemy and waste health, which causes serious problems in world 1-3. Oh, but I found yet another improvement. I'll explain it here for your amusement. I still need to wait for the world 1-1 shortcut to open, so I thought about ways to use that waiting time. I then realised that using this waiting time to switch the inventory slot (twice) will save time later. That is because when I buy an invulnerability from the shop, the merchant puts it in the first item slot. In my current fastest movie, I need to switch the slot three times to use the invulnerability, but in my future movie, I will need to do it only once, thanks to the well used waiting time at the shortcut. Got it? It is a rather surprising timesaver: Switch item slot (twice) in world 1-1 to use an item faster in world 1-3 (more than a minute later). Also, the waiting time at the shortcut seems to be the only possible place to switch the item slots for free. This item handling detail saves 8 frames. Cool, huh? So far, I've found almost 3 seconds of improvements over the current publication. I'm not sure when I complete the new version, though.

Posted: 4/3/2008 4:21 AM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Currently, there are about 18 different tricks/glitches that I've found in Gods. Here is a list of them: Fast Turnaround Fast Shooting Health Bonus Score Overflow Misplaced Death Animation Obscured Climbing Animation and Total Graphics Overflow Falling Mechanics Fluctuation Bomb Jumping Bomb Climbing Chaotic Overflow Glitches Fast Item Usage Item Annihilation Using "Wrong" Keys to Open Doors Misplaced Sound Effect (Some) Damaged Enemies Cause Less Collision Damage Absent Boss AI Skipping Event Triggers Gameplay Demo Desynch Wandering Shopkeeper & Game Freezing + some level specific stuff + some minor oddities I could write a wiki page explaining all of these briefly, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea. Afterall, Gods is not that popular game. I would like to hear opinions: wiki page or forum-exclusive?

Posted: 4/3/2008 4:27 AM

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mmbossman

Experienced player (822)

Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong

I think forum would be just fine, unless a sudden explosion of Gods competition starts up.

Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page

Posted: 3/11/2009 11:44 AM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

Here is my first Lua script ever:

input.registerhotkey (1, function ()
	gens.emulateframe ()
end)

The "Lua Custom Hotkey 1" needs to be set to the same key as frame advance. The purpose of the script is to advance 2 frames each time the frame advance button is pressed. It helps in Gods, because the game progresses in 30 FPS.

Posted: 3/11/2009 4:58 PM

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nitsuja

Emulator Coder, Skilled player (1301)

Joined: 12/21/2004
Posts: 2687

You can turn on "Input Settings > Frame Advance skips lag frames" for this. (Assuming Gods has "red frames" normally.) Just for fun, here's a way to make it always emulate 2 frames at a time regardless of hotkeys:

local oktocall = true
gens.registerafter(function()
  if oktocall then
    oktocall = false
    gens.emulateframe()
    oktocall = true
  end
end)
-- you'd want to turn the speed down to 50% with this, for when you're not using frame advance

Posted: 3/11/2009 6:41 PM

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Aqfaq

Editor, Expert player (2461)

Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!

nitsuja wrote:

(Assuming Gods has "red frames" normally.)

Gods is interesting, because red frames are never displayed, not even in situations where the game actually lags or loads something.