Here we are again in Super Demo World! This time almost a minute faster than before!
Emulator used: SNES9X-144 Improvement 7
- Completes game as fast as possible
Last time I sacrified something entertaining for lag, but then I realized the things I thought were entertaining really were very skippable. Thus, some of the improvement came from reducing lag. There is a large amount of lag in this game because of the large number of objects in most of the levels.
- Abuses programming errors
Several flying techniques are not possible in real time, including frame-precise diving to gain maximum altitude.
Jumping at maximum speed into the bottom of a mid-level pipe allows you to begin flying after exiting the top.
Hopping along the ground at perfectly timed frames will keep your speed after falling out of flight. This is handy to keep speed when flying is no longer possible.
During flight, pressing X or Y will result in spinning and then flying in a random direction. I manipulate luck to make sure that I face the way I want to be facing. Also, fast flying requries that the direction of flight is released on a specific frame.
I grab stars on the levels I do in an effort to reduce fadeout time.
- Takes damage to save time
I got 99 stars this time. Had I not, I could have saved a total of five frames.
I also improved other intangibles of the run, including hitting more enemies, getting more total coins, one more extra life, and a higher score.
Comparison to the first run:
I saved one frame on the title screen.
As fast as the first run.
6 frames gained due to optimizations when getting the shell and jumping the pipe. More entertaining use of the shell, thanks to Fabian's 120-exit WIP.
2 frames lost from fadeout lag.
As fast as the first run, but 4 frames lost in fadeout lag.
4 frames gained from optimizing flying, and 3 more gained during the fadeout.
6 frames gained by cutting corners closer during flight. 2 more frames gained during fadeout.
7 frames gained by eliminating even more lag, but 2 of these frames are lost in the fadeout.
I flew over the top of this level to greatly reduce the lag during the brick area. Although I don't hit as many enemies, I still manage to get a 1-up, and saved 165 frames!
Most of this level was hex-edited from the previous run, simply because it's a pain to get the P-switch tosses to go where I want them, and it's an autoscroller. Getting the stars cost me 3 frames, and I lost four more due to fadeout.
Another level where I altered my strategy to battle lag, avoiding most of the enemies early on instead of hitting them with my cape. This level ended up 94 frames faster, and I gained 2 more during fadeout.
The flying on this level was improved, since I now understood fast flying. I also hit more enemies than before, without slowing down. This level was finished 135 frames faster than the last run, and I gained 3 more during fadeout.
I tried for a long time to reduce the lag here, and the strange solution was to fly above the level, so that even though the Chucks were visible, Mario was not. Because of this and flying faster, I gained 156 frames, 2 of which were lost getting stars.
Little optimizations here and there improved this level by 41 frames, and 1 more frame was gained from fadeout. Also, to those who may not have noticed the first time, turn on controller input (default key is comma for SNES9x) for a fun little extra.
Well, I didn't get to fly through the whole level like I hoped, but I was able to fly from much earlier. Altogether this level is 1891 frames (~31.5 seconds!) faster.
I'm very happy with the improvements done to this level - 721 frames (~12 seconds) gained altogether. 3 more frames were gained during fadeout.
A slightly different run, combined with different enemy behavior, allowed me to get to Bowser 75 frames quicker. The battle with Boswer went much better - the earliest frame I could end the run also hit Boswer at the earliest frame possible, saving 22 final frames.
Frames gained: 3323 (55.38 seconds)
Difference in fadeout: 2 frames less
Thanks to everyone who helped in the SDW forum, specifically: Fabian, Gwing_02 and VIPer7.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
I would encourage everyone to vote by the guidelines, as we are supposed to. That means that even if you don't agree with the fact that this game as a hack is given special exception, that doesn't change the guidelines. If you don't agree with a hacked game being submitted, then don't watch the run. Also please consider this run as its own game, not as a comparison to runs of other games on the site. I also appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.
Enjoy the run!
I would vote the new screenshot to be from BackDoor Star World, when flying under everything close to the lava while holding the key.
New description if published:
This is the second run of Super Demo World, the site's first accepted hack, done as fast as possible, by warping through the star world.
This game is a very well done and thorough hack of Super Mario World, adding an entire new set of levels, a new world map, and even ASM-coded several other interesting features into the game's engine, such as a blue block that can only be broken with firepower. The layout of the game takes full advantage of both the mechanics of Super Mario World and the additions of Super Demo World, and the levels can get extremely complicated.
This second version improves the last run by nearly a minute, adding many optimizations, small and large.
More details can be found in the author's comments.