Jabo's graphics plugins are really inaccurate for this game. glN64 actually gets the colors right and it doesn't have problems with extra outlines around things. The biggest problems (with apparently all graphics plugins) were the boulder in 4-1 missing, the questions in the mathfun event not showing up, and (probably the worst one because it happens in many levels) textures not repeating properly. Look at the difference between this and this.
The first one is the error. Instead of repeating the entire texture, the end of the texture continues across the surface creating plain lines rather than repeated textures.
That's pretty bad.
True, no argument there. But does it really make the game unplayable? Funny looking at times (watch Marina run from the big invisible rock of doom!)...but most of the game is that way anyways!
I am just a silhouette, a silhouette of a memory of a solitary night .. nothing more.
I think I've gotten as far as I'm able/willing to in modifying the glN64 plugin.
The result is that
- the indoor textures in Mischief Makers wrap correctly
- the boulder in level 4-1 of Mischief Makers is visible
- the plugin reclaims texture memory at a reasonable rate (based on time of last use)
- very old video cards should get more accurate results than before (on all games)
I'll make the plugin available now in case someone wants to try it out:
plugin dll (mirror)
source code (mirror)
EDIT: But don't use this for games besides Mischief Makers. I haven't tried it on a lot of them so chances are good that it makes the graphics worse in some other game(s).
Now back to repeatedly failing to luck-manipulate as many white balls as possible to appear in the Ball event of The Day Of...
EDIT2: I think I'll have to start the run over again...
Joined: 8/16/2006
Posts: 24
Location: New Brunswick
hmm, this topic hasn't been active for some time, but I'd thought I'd stop in and ask a few questions/ see whats up with this run...
first off, I wanna say that the WIP was excellent and I hope this project hasnt been put away for a rainy day, second, nitsuja, you might want to check out SDA... three people are currently running the game, and a lot of new techniques are being discovered that will likely make for a few improvements here and there and as I'm running the game, a few questions have popped up that I can't seem to find the solution to... if nitsuja or anyone else can effectivly answer these questions, awesome... if not, well, thats ok too, guess I'll just have to let yous all know if I find the answers
1: Does anyone know what causes Marina to sometimes throw quite a bit faster than normal? I know pressing B twice speeds up the throw but when throwing something like the Mech at the end of Clance War (3-2) Sometimes the 2/3/4th Grab and Throws can be executed a whole lot faster than normal...
2: In the final battle, to dispatch of him quickly, one of my damage stages requires me to smash him into the ground 3 times without throwing him up... but sometimes he jumps away (obviously slower and more common) but on rare occassions on the third shake, he hits the ground and immediatly goes into his next stomp.... its much faster but has only happened to me a few times...
3: Do the different variations of the Boost Grab make differences in a perfectly executed situation, or are they just helping deal with the human error involved?
I know its a fairly lengthy post, I appologize....
again, thanks for any help anyone can give :)
Exactly why I haven't gotten further than I was before, because those new techniques mean I have to start over again...
Well some directions are faster than others (it's faster the closer it is to straight down), and the B-button-twice trick makes a bigger difference than normal if you tap it really fast the first time, then hit it a second time as soon as possible, and keep holding that second press until the throw is completely finished. Also, it makes a difference if you are on the ground at the time, throwing when in the air is much slower.
I know the boss/miniboss health in this game is not usually something simple like "3 hits left until the next phase"; each hit can do different amounts of damage depending on the speed (of the boss) at time of impact, the location (on the boss) of impact, and possibly other factors, depending on the battle. So maybe you timed your double-B taps exceptionally well on those times it took fewer hits, or did something else a little different about your throws. Also, this game is not above generating random numbers to decide how a boss/miniboss will behave, so it could simply be chance.
Could you describe the differences between how to do them? I would say they are the same, but I can't for the life of me figure out how you get 13.95 in 3-1, so I suspect I'm missing something about how to gain height faster than normal when doing a boost grab.
Joined: 8/16/2006
Posts: 24
Location: New Brunswick
Thank you for the quick reply ^_^
Sorry about that >.< I dont usually play with emulators, so most things are figured out on a console level, with human error involved... I guess it makes figuring things out a little slower
Sweet, if I can get that going good, it'll help a lot
Yeah, I'm aware of how the minibosses/bosses take odd damage steps sometimes.... I am REALLY hoping its a timing thing and not a rondom occurance though :P
From my messing around, I've found that (again, with human error involved) upC B repeat tends to get you more height, but slightly less distance whereas B (upC B) (starting with a grab) lacks A LOT of height but you gain distance... also, over at SDA Cape has a different way of doing them... something that makes the D-pad influance speed and momentum... I havent got it working well yet, so I can't really say exactly whats going on with those....
In 3-1, I wouldnt give TOO much merit to that... I believe I used Project as the emulator and the screen actually went up WITH me so I could see as I was going over the wall(one you bomb)... I've tried it on console, but obviously, I cant get Boost Grabs well enough to even make it partway up from the beginning... but as for when I did go over, I started with a slide jump, upC B style boost grabs (upC at the peak of my jump for the extra height)... but like i said, the game was doing things it shouldnt have and I would be concerned as to whether the tower was actually as high as it should have been... if you wanted to test for yourself, I'm pretty sure i was using project... but if it didnt have anything weird with the tower, my advice would be to grab cancel a little later and get more height out of your c boosts? hope that helps...
Joined: 8/16/2006
Posts: 24
Location: New Brunswick
Well, I hope I am a fairly credible souce then...
In order to OHKO Tarus, when he jumps straight up (to make the rocks fall ) grab a large rock, throw it stright up, grab that same rock and toss it back at Tarus... if all went well, he will go flying across the screen and the battle will be finished... none of this magic "Throw into the ground" stuff though... there are 4 ways to throw him, and as far as I have seen, none of them result in enough damage to even come close to a one hit...
I've gotten around 12 seconds with this (12.02 I believe) so I'm pretty excited to see what nitsuja does with this information ^_^
Joined: 8/16/2006
Posts: 24
Location: New Brunswick
If I'm not mistaken, he's waiting to see what we all do after we are finished our speed runs... not that I blame him for waiting... who would want to start a run only to have to restart it every week or so due to some "amazing new find" ... not to mention some of the luck involved in this game must be a little more than frustrating for him... I think so far his Wormin' Up and Cerberus Alpha were beaten... Worm by half a second(not quite... around .4) and Alpha by 4 seconds... all because of newly discovered tricks that make them a whole lot faster and easier... as is in the past few months, we (the non-tool-assisted runners) have knocked about 2 1/2 minutes off of the 'best overall time' and although most of what we have done to knock that total down wouldn't have changed the TAS... some techniques would... and if I were in his shoes, I'd be waiting for all of this as well....
of course, I could be way off base and he's got some other reason(s) for not doing the run... in which case, ignore me :)
Joined: 8/16/2006
Posts: 24
Location: New Brunswick
Well, if I'm not mistaken, everyone is just finishing everything up now... I'm going to get below 33 minutes (10 seconds left) and then stop hunting for time saving techniques. The fellow doing the single segment is shooting for below 36 minutes, then I think he is pretty much done as well... but of course, I can't speak on his behalf, so I could be wrong. Either way, what I am trying to say is, nitsuja should be able to resume this game shortly should he wish to.
Is this project still active? I was highly anticipating this (and I understand that they require a ton of work!). But seeing as there hasn't been a post in this topic in over 3 months, I'm a little worried.
It has been a while since anyone has posted here. I'm just wondering if any Progress has been made on this as of late?
Really been looking forward to this. ^^
If you really want it to be available for anyone who cares, then post it or a link to it here instead of just saying you know something. It's bad forum etiquette to publically announce that you are holding some piece of information hostage pending further communication.
Also, I have no update, but I wouldn't want to continue something like this without first ensuring I have at least memory watch + cheat search.
EDIT: My apologies if you took offense to that. I meant that saying "I have lots of info" is less helpful than saying what your info is. Also, the way I read your post, you were implying that you would ONLY give your info to the person doing the run if someone offers to do the run... So if nobody speaks up and says "I'm working on it now" then you'll keep it secret from everyone forever. That's obviously not what you meant considering your response, but if it had been (and that's really what it sounded like), it would be accurately described as holding your information "hostage" until your demand is met that someone offers to do the run.
I saw the WIP and it looks AMAZING. Cerberus Alpha was ridiculously fast.
I would really like it if you finish the WIP and later do a V2. My eyes were glued to the screen the whole time and I really wanna see the movie finished.
Joined: 8/16/2006
Posts: 24
Location: New Brunswick
Well, I also consider it rude to just come on and write to my hearts content about whatever nonsense that might or might not benefit a tas run of this game - so I just make it known that my information is open to anyone who cares... also, I've never held information hostage, and must admit, the statement is pretty offensive (to me) considering I've done nothing but offer everything up to anyone whos ever cared... but either way, I'm not here to fuss whether I am or am not ignorant...
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=jVeysey
I believe that would link someone to my youtube profile which is contains videos of every level in mischief makers and each one is also the best time I have ever managed on a console... if anything in those videos is unclear, I'd be more than happy to explain whatever it is in question