Topic by Zurreco

Posted: 8/5/2005 5:06 PM

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Zurreco

Former player

Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA

Gimme a few weeks, and you can have your SRAM. However, I am 99% sure that dan_ and BoltR have savestates of 100% games at Chaos, so you might as well just nab those from them.

hi nitrodon streamline: cyn-chine

Posted: 8/5/2005 6:00 PM

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The idea of an official SRAM bank for games like this is the best idea, I think. This would work for many games, as long as the "new game" doesn't allow you to hold onto things that were obtained in the initial run through the game. Remember that hard mode run through one of the Megaman Zero games that was refused because hard mode requires the game to be completed once? That could be accepted with this. It would also open the door for some alternate mode runs in games that have been published previously -- Castlevania: Circle of the Moon without any DSS cards, anyone? That would be impressive, in my eyes.

Posted: 8/5/2005 6:24 PM

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TNSe

Emulator Coder

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway

I dont think SRAM is the way to go. Continuing on existing movies via/Reset is the way to go...

Posted: 8/5/2005 7:15 PM

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Zurreco

Former player

Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA

That would cause some problems with people who are trying to replay the movies. Not everyone is a pro with emulator playback yet. As soon as you press play, it will hop to said savestate that has beaten the game, soft reset, and then start anew, yes? Why not just have a savestate that occurs right after the reset? That way, not only will we not have to deal with the annoying input for the soft reset (bind all necessary buttons to one key advance a frame, reassign keys), but it will be a smoother transition.

hi nitrodon streamline: cyn-chine

Posted: 8/5/2005 8:21 PM

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Makou

Joined: 4/11/2004
Posts: 104

Well, there's an issue here that I don't think anybody is considering. Though I've never done one myself, I would imagine completing a tool-assisted speed run takes quite a long time for some games (such as this one) as-is, playing through it normally. The playthrough-softreset-playthrough method would force anyone who wants to display an "extra" mode to complete the game normally before they even start their intended run. So I ask you: Is that fair? This has already been mentioned, and it's worth repeating: There is already a question (and much disagreement) of when a movie should be started and ended. The soft reset method jams yet another set of possibilities into the mix: When do you start and end a movie recorded with a soft reset?

Posted: 8/5/2005 8:26 PM

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TNSe

Emulator Coder

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway

That is why you supply a savestate they can load, to skip the first part. The first part is there only for validation... To make sure run is untampered with.

Posted: 8/5/2005 8:57 PM

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Makou

Joined: 4/11/2004
Posts: 104

So where does this savestate end? Can every savestate created for this purpose be regulated to start the game at the exact same point for every game? And there is still the issue of where to start the recording -- as soon as the savestated is loaded? as soon as the soft reset has ended? at a point calculated for where the game 'starts' after the reset?

Posted: 8/5/2005 8:58 PM

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Zurreco

Former player

Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA

Makou: a savestate will be verified by a few trustworthy people, and that will be used as a starting point. That savestate will come from an already beaten game, which means that everything will be unlocked already. So no, no one will be playing the game through and then soft-resetting to play it all over again. That is unecessary. The problem resides in whether you can complete the game so as to unlock everything and then soft reset -> savestate and use that as a base. Will that savestate affect the SRAM enough to unlock the hard and julius modes? In theory, the answer should be yes. If that can be verified (ie have someone beat the game and soft reset, make a savestate, delete their SRAM, and then try to access the bonus stuff), then that savestate would be used for any bonus modes. Otherwise, that savestate will be meaningless and you will have to start these movies with a soft reset on frame 1, which is a bit of a hassle. If it does work, though, then the normal methods of beggining a movie with 'power on' (soft reset shoots all the way back to square one, so soft reset is the same idea as power on) and ending it with the last needed input would define the parameters of the movie.

hi nitrodon streamline: cyn-chine

Posted: 8/5/2005 8:59 PM

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TNSe

Emulator Coder

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway

The movie can end whereever. The actual run would start from the 'soft reset' button in the movie file. End would be done as normal, when input ends. So length would be from 'soft reset' to end of input.

Posted: 8/6/2005 7:11 AM

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Bag_of_Magic_Food

He/Him

Active player (277)

Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712

The frame before reset, the frame of reset, or the frame after reset?

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Posted: 8/6/2005 9:15 AM

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adon

Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 13

the frame after the reset would make the most sense, i guess, as it would be pretty much the same thing as starting from power on.. unless the restart actually happen on the very frame you softreset, then that frame would be the best

Posted: 8/6/2005 9:22 AM

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Truncated

Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (968)

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

Am I missing something, or wouldn't reset be unneccesary if we supplied SRAM? It just seems a whole lot easier than using a savestate.

Posted: 8/6/2005 4:41 PM

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daniayaw

Former player

Joined: 7/29/2005
Posts: 459
Location: Brazil

so.. can i post my savestate? them u can analyse o.o

<small>My big signature was cleared by admin; i should read <a href="http://tasvideos.org/ForumRules.html">forum rules</a>. But... who does?</small>

Posted: 8/6/2005 4:44 PM

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TNSe

Emulator Coder

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway

The first frame after the soft reset. Anyway, I am talking about *MOVIE STATES*, not save states, not SRAM. You would continue from *MOVIE STATES* that start from a hard reset with everything cleared, like now.

Posted: 8/6/2005 5:14 PM

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Wren

He/Him

Joined: 4/11/2005
Posts: 196
Location: Michigan

I suggest we start up a new group of special Moderators. The goal of which is to make them designated SRAM creators. I'm sure bisqwit has an idea of certain people he can trust to do the job. Provided they are willing to create the occasional SRAM. I think this would solve the trust issue.

<i>A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.</i>

Posted: 8/6/2005 5:45 PM

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TNSe

Emulator Coder

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 453
Location: Norway

There is no need for this if an appropriate MOVIE STATE is used to base movie on.

Posted: 8/6/2005 8:29 PM

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Zurreco

Former player

Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA

TNSe: will said movie states actually contain enough information to allow for hard modes to be accepted? I thought that, in order to activate hard modes, your SRAM had to have a specific line check that you have at least one game cleared. If you load a movie state AFTER the reset, it theoretically won't contain anything that will adjust the SRAM, since it is essentially like turning on a clean ROM. I don't have the best handle of how everything works, but it sounds like this would be the case. To me, anyway.

hi nitrodon streamline: cyn-chine

Posted: 8/7/2005 6:36 AM

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