It all started innocently enough with a funny idea in the forum. One thing lead to another and here it is.
This SMV will successfully play and beat both Mega Man X and Mega Man X2 in a reasonably fast manner. The rerecord count is probably slightly inflated because the emulator loved to desync on me.
Both games:
  • Does NOT aim for fastest time. Given the choice between showing off a bug and doing something as quickly as possible, I'll show the bug.
  • Finish both games at the same time. I succeed to within a 1 frame margin of error.
  • No death
  • Does NOT manipulate luck. Consider the Storm Eagle battles to be textbook examples of why anyone should use luck manipulation during a TAS.
X1:
  • Only takes necessary damage during the battle with Chill Penguin in order to make him attack the nearest wall rather than me.
  • Collects all capsule upgrades except the hadoken. Collects whatever heart tanks and sub tanks I feel are appropriate.
X2:
  • 100% run, mostly inspired by Blechy's run. Also gets Zero's parts.
  • Zero/Shouruken bug executed. Severe sigma taunting results.
  • Takes damage to save time, or where it otherwise would adversely affect X1.
Use Snes9x 1.43 FINAL for playback.
Making this movie wasn't as hard as I thought. Some source editting to snes9x to accept "joystick" input from a non-joystick source was the key to making the movie. The other issue was adding Frame Advance, Save State, Load State, and Next/Prev State to joypad buttons and analog sticks.
Using tee to split the real joypad input into two emulators, the rest fell into place. To guarantee emulator sync, the movie had to be constructed entirely using Frame Advance with a low CPU load (or snes9x running at SCHED_ISO priority).
As a final note, if you want to see both games side-by-side, I'm making an MKV available for bittorrent download. This is NOT to be considered the published movie - the quality is significantly lower, but still viewable. Clicky!

My SMV cleaner ate the last frame from the SMV. As a result, X1 will end playback with the last dialog box stuck on-screen. My bad.

Bisqwit: Replaced submission file with the updated one. This extends the movie's length by 1 frame, but will still read as 41:41. Let this be a lesson to DeHackEd.

Post-Publishing Comments

Here's a short list of tricks I used to abuse the games
  • There are times when the game will ignore certain buttons. Pressing Dash in the air without a usable midair dash will be ignored. Most motion will be ignored when firing the double X-Buster. Wall climbing ignores some frames as X kicks against the wall.
  • If one game lags, it ignores some input frames (usually 1)
  • When you slide down a wall, you face in the opposite direction of the button you hold to cling to the wall. If you release all directional buttons at this time, you will fall down with your back to the wall. This can be used to get X facing in oppositie directions.
  • X1 can switch weapons using L and R during some cutscenes, but X2 can only switch when you have full control of X.
  • You can't switch weapons if there are outstanding shots on screen. This includes some hit sprites and explosions.
There is a new bug list in the forum thread for this submission on the second page.

Former player
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 1107
I think 2 runs for the same game would be very interesting, like Super Mario World for example where one run starts from a save state and is always several levels ahead of the other run. Maybe ALttP would also be good, but it might be too hard because you're not going in the same direction most of the time. Another possibility is a single fcm that completes both the first and second quest of LoZ (the second quest movie would start from a savestate of course). As for 2 different games, I'm too lazy to check if anyone already suggested this, but SMB and SMB3 would be good.
nesrocks
He/Him
Player (241)
Joined: 5/1/2004
Posts: 4096
Location: Rio, Brazil
Getting back to topic, this movie was very thrilling to watch :) Getting back to getting out of the topic, my idea for the dual movie was to make a run for 2 games that wouldnt be cool to watch separately and make a single movie with them. Or at least one of them. I tried doing Totally Rad + Ye Ar Kung Fu. But as i mentioned earlier, something didnt work as expected.
Former player
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 1107
make a run for 2 games that wouldnt be cool to watch separately and make a single movie with them That's an interesting idea, maybe it could be something like Mario Bros./Donkey Kong.
Former player
Joined: 10/29/2004
Posts: 79
 
  ☆☆☆☆      ☆☆☆☆     ☆☆☆☆
 ☆      ☆    ☆      ☆    ☆      ☆
☆            ☆        ☆   ☆       ☆
☆    ☆☆☆  ☆        ☆   ☆       ☆
 ☆      ☆    ☆      ☆    ☆      ☆
  ☆☆☆☆      ☆☆☆☆     ☆☆☆☆     will vote Yes !
This site always has fantastic movies !! This is a very creative run.
Mr. and Mrs. Rerecord: Why do we fall ? So that we might better learn to pick ourselves up.
Active player (432)
Joined: 4/21/2004
Posts: 3517
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Let me be the first one to be a bit negative for this run. When I saw this for the first time, yes it was extremely impressive and obviously, something completely different. But by recent years, my mind has stucked so much with speed and all that I could not completelly watch it for the third time... Dont get me wrong Dehacked, as everyone have said it, its a breathtaking run, but it does not "click" for me after viewing it for the third time.
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
Cooljay wrote:
Mayor Haggar and Cody are such nice people for the community. Metro City's hospitals reached an all time new record of incoming patients due to their great efforts :P
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Former player
Joined: 11/6/2004
Posts: 833
I can accept this standpoint. But there are known tool-assisted runs that don't aim for time, yet are perfectly entertaining. I burst out laughing many times while watching the Super Baka/Crazy God Technique movie for SMB1. I can't believe someone who prefers speedruns can't appreciate something as wacky as that.
Joined: 5/3/2004
Posts: 1203
I voted yes and think the run is great, though I have some misgivings about the run, too. My main problem with it is that the first half is way more entertaining than the second half, so the video ends up being a bit of a letdown. Once you start dicking around without aim in either of the games (the painfully boring revisitation of Chill Penguin in X, the final battle in X2, etc.) I can't help but thinking you could have planned it better, but were tired of making the video and didn't care to. It wasn't at all entertaining or meaningful to me that you beat both games at the same time, since it required such poorly executed and contrived play to pull it off.
Joined: 8/25/2005
Posts: 4
Location: Araraquara - SP - Brasil
Congratulations! There's a very nice job! And, just like Darth Vader used to say: "Most impressive!"
Just wanting to be a Tool Assisted Superplayer.
Post subject: Game Genie?
Joined: 8/25/2005
Posts: 4
Location: Araraquara - SP - Brasil
On the Boomer Kuwanger stage, at Mega Man X 1, in the elevator part, I've seed that you don't loss energy when you touch the wall spikes, but you aren't invincible at that moment, you get hurted, but don't loss energy. Did you used a cheat or something? Or there is something that I don't read yet? Thanks.
Just wanting to be a Tool Assisted Superplayer.
Post subject: Re: Game Genie?
Editor, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
Jonnes wrote:
Did you used a cheat or something? Or there is something that I don't read yet?
If he used cheats, you couldn't view the movie because you would need to enter the same cheats for the game to act in expected way. http://tasvideos.org/Rules.html
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Former player
Joined: 11/6/2004
Posts: 833
Game Genie codes don't work in SMV movies. The code would need to be entered before beginning playback. It's a bug in the game. I describe it on the second page of this thread. Short version: trying to climb the spikes will cause a zero damage hit. Just be careful that you don't get close enough to get hit from mere physical contact. (There's a workaround for that to)
Post subject: Re: Game Genie?
Joined: 8/25/2005
Posts: 4
Location: Araraquara - SP - Brasil
Bisqwit wrote:
Jonnes wrote:
Did you used a cheat or something? Or there is something that I don't read yet?
If he used cheats, you couldn't view the movie because you would need to enter the same cheats for the game to act in expected way. http://tasvideos.org/Rules.html
I'm using the AVI file.
Just wanting to be a Tool Assisted Superplayer.
Joined: 8/25/2005
Posts: 4
Location: Araraquara - SP - Brasil
DeHackEd wrote:
Game Genie codes don't work in SMV movies. The code would need to be entered before beginning playback. It's a bug in the game. I describe it on the second page of this thread. Short version: trying to climb the spikes will cause a zero damage hit. Just be careful that you don't get close enough to get hit from mere physical contact. (There's a workaround for that to)
Ok, now it seems to be cleary for me, thanks! I will pay more attention to that tips.
Just wanting to be a Tool Assisted Superplayer.
Joined: 11/17/2004
Posts: 42
Just watched this for the first time. I'm not worthy. I'm wowed the same as I was the first time I saw that SMB3 video circulating the internet. I hope more people make movies like this, and I also hope yours is long remember for being first. 10/10
Former player
Joined: 6/27/2004
Posts: 550
Location: New York
Just watched this last night. I think these videos started to get somewhat stale for me several months ago, but the amount of originality and creativity which comes from this run is just incredible. In my top 3 movies list, no question about it. Congratulations on making something so incredibly innovative and amazing.
Joined: 1/1/2022
Posts: 1716
Hello there I must apologize for my lack of Knowledge. I downloaded the Avi, (That Thing was HUGE). I can hear the music but cannot See the Video. Would you please tell me Exactly Where I can get the Codec for I cannot find it.
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Former player
Joined: 11/6/2004
Posts: 833
FAQ (as linked at the top of this page) -> Codec Problems
Joined: 6/4/2005
Posts: 130
Location: Ontario, Canada
Should this movie not be in the hacked/concept demos section? I know it isn't technically either, but for visibility's sake and sorting's accuracy I think that that's where it belongs.
Sir_VG
He/Him
Player (39)
Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1911
Location: Floating Tower
Less Ashamed Of Self wrote:
Should this movie not be in the hacked/concept demos section? I know it isn't technically either, but for visibility's sake and sorting's accuracy I think that that's where it belongs.
I see what you think such, given the joke SMB1 walkathon, but look at the run from a SMV point-of-view. You can play it with MMX or MMX2 by itself. All we're doing is using the same video for both runs and playing them in the AVI at the same time. So I see the logic of putting it in the SNES section. But I'd see the logic of putting it in the concept demo section too...
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Joined: 2/27/2006
Posts: 29
Seeing as how this game isn't really a speedrun (there are faster runs of both games) and although it is one of the most impressive things i've ever seen in my life, it really is more about novelty than most other runs on the site. I vote for putting it in the "concept demos" section.
Active player (432)
Joined: 4/21/2004
Posts: 3517
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
AngerFist wrote:
Let me be the first one to be a bit negative for this run. When I saw this for the first time, yes it was extremely impressive and obviously, something completely different. But by recent years, my mind has stucked so much with speed and all that I could not completelly watch it for the third time... Dont get me wrong Dehacked, as everyone have said it, its a breathtaking run, but it does not "click" for me after viewing it for the third time.
I must deeply apologize for this statement to DeHackEds run. Why? Its simple, when I began working on the quadrun, I never imagined it to be astronomically hard. Then I realized how incredibly difficult it must have been for DeHackEd so forgive me for my ignorance back then and I enjoy a lot more viewing your run now that Im aware of what it takes to produce such a run like this :)
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
Cooljay wrote:
Mayor Haggar and Cody are such nice people for the community. Metro City's hospitals reached an all time new record of incoming patients due to their great efforts :P
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
I've asked the question passively enough, but I feel I should be direct about it. Bisqwit, do you feel this run should be in the "concept demo" category? If not, why not? Others are free to respond with their opinions, but I specifically am curious about Bisqwit's position on this issue.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Editor, Active player (296)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 7469
Location: Arzareth
No, I don't feel like a change is necessary.
JXQ
Experienced player (750)
Joined: 5/6/2005
Posts: 3132
JXQ wrote:
If not, why not?
Though I now understand why the term of "concept demo" isn't defined to allow flexibility, I can't see what isn't a demonstration of a concept for this run.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
Mitjitsu
He/Him
Banned User, Experienced player (532)
Joined: 4/24/2006
Posts: 2997
Personally I don't see how this can be anything other than a concept run, the normal section should mainly be kept to games that start with no SRAM and complete the game in the fastest possible time, clearly this doesn't remotely fit that catagory. I don't see how this is any more different than the AIR hack, this is nothing other than a demonstration.