Posted: 5/1/2006 9:47 PM
Post subject: Monster in my Pocket
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FlowingMindspin
He/Him
Joined: 1/9/2005
Posts: 16
This was one of my favorite rentals when I was a kid, and it seems like a pretty straightforward game to TAS. I've been lurking on these boards for a good while now and I've dabbled in TASing but I could never find a good game to start off with. This game seems like it may be the one. I did some searching and saw that someone managed to complete the game in 20:20, though they took damage/died a lot. My plan is to only take damage where it is otherwise unavoidable or saves time (like the spiked passageway in the final level and the octopus boss... it's much quicker to withstand his attacks than to dodge them). If you don't see any progress from me right away it's because my computer access is sporadic at best, but I really do want to attempt this. If for nothing else, I just want to say that I CAN make one of these things, and make it well. Just wanted to get the word out, I guess. Here I go...
Posted: 5/1/2006 10:58 PM
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Truncated
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (969)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3107
Location: Sweden
Arcade TAS of 2023 Sega TASer of 2021 Sega TAS of 2021
I think the biggest timesaver during the levels is minimizing lag. Either by choosing routes that have less enemies or killing them (without stopping). The bosses can be improved radically from what the previous submission had.
Posted: 5/1/2006 11:32 PM
(Edited: 5/3/2006 12:09 AM)
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FlowingMindspin
He/Him
Joined: 1/9/2005
Posts: 16
Yeah, I don't really know why he fought the bosses the way he did-- it looked like how I used to do them on my actual NES when I was about 10 years old. Other timesavers were mentioned in the original thread for the old movie: not stopping to kill enemies, not taking unnecessary hits, running down the railing instead of jumping... and just better route planning in general should work wonders. I guess I'll just have to take it one step at a time. Shouldn't be too hard of an undertaking, though. The only thing that does worry me, though, is the boss battles-- I have no doubt I can improve them from the previous attempted run, but I don't know if I can do them as well as other players have done them in other games. I guess I'll just have to practice, eh?
Posted: 5/2/2006 5:34 AM
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Rick
Former player
Joined: 6/25/2004
Posts: 607
Location: Maine
Wow, I thought you were all long-gone and stuff. Cool to see ya again. Good luck on startin' up the TAS too. Only time I ever saw this game was on Nick Arcade. Let's see what you can pull off 'ere.
http://wiki.rustedlogic.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor The Cutting Room Floor wiki.
Posted: 5/2/2006 7:54 PM
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FlowingMindspin
He/Him
Joined: 1/9/2005
Posts: 16
Haha, wow, small world isn't it Rick? I quit frequenting the NES forums quite some time ago... got tired of all the drama all the time, etc. I'm married now... lots of stuff has happened. Good to see you, though. Hope you're well. And thanks for the encouraging words as well. :) edit: toyed around with the first level today, it's pretty easy. I can improve it a few frames as it stands, then it's time to attempt the first boss-- this is the part that worries me. :( Running down the railing full speed turns you into a killing machine that can destroy enemies by running into them. Pretty sweet, and a lot faster than what was in the previous movie. The hardest thing so far has been avoiding lag, and I think I've found an optimal route for that in the first level. Using a watch I've figured that I've saved 10 seconds (give or take a second) so far just up to the first boss. Woohoo for that, I guess. :)
Posted: 5/3/2006 1:41 AM
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FlowingMindspin
He/Him
Joined: 1/9/2005
Posts: 16
Up to the start of the 3rd level and I'm about 25 seconds ahead of the previous attempt. The boss battles so far were a piece of cake, thank goodness. Just in case anyone's interested in my progress, here's a link to the movie thus far: http://noreality.silius.net/flowingmindspin-mimp.zip
Posted: 5/4/2006 12:33 AM
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FlowingMindspin
He/Him
Joined: 1/9/2005
Posts: 16
Just completed level 3 and I'm about 18 seconds ahead of the previous attempt. I decided to make this a no damage run... I think it just looks cleaner that way. As a result, I lost some time in level 3 (mostly on the boss), but I think my movie looks much cleaner and precise. Having a blast, too. :)
Posted: 7/7/2006 9:41 PM
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Diman
Player (57)
Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 312
Location: Sweden
FlowingMindspin wrote:
Yeah, I don't really know why he fought the bosses the way he did-- it looked like how I used to do them on my actual NES when I was about 10 years old.
Yeah me and my friend really sucked didn't we? The movie we made did suck! But that was back then when we where bad. Now I'm at least better to make TASvideos. So I have done a WIP how you can play. Don't get me wrong, its not something wrong how you play, this is just an alternative how you can play instead. I use 2-player and I use a key to make the run faster. If ya like it you can continue it. ; ) http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1333/Monster%20In%20My%20Pocket%20TAS%20Diman%21.fcm
Posted: 4/13/2008 11:18 PM
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Rad_Hazard
Joined: 6/21/2006
Posts: 35
I'm sorry for bring up such an old topic but I felt it would be better to keep all information in one place, right? Would anyone be interested in a run of this game? Any discussion about it I could find via the search feature seems quite old, the rejected run and this thread being all that I could find. I had this game as a kid and know it quite well. I found several time saving techniques in my first two walk/plays' through and am planning to implement them in my next run. Run # 1 clocked in at 17m50s and run # 2 at 16m44s. I have started a third run and want to share the first level to see what you guys think. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/584082848/Rad%20Hazard%27s%20Monster%20in%20My%20Pocket%20-%20WIP.fcm If you would like to see my first two runs I will upload them but they were really just test runs to learn some of the advantages frame advance and save states can bring to the table in the game. One of the most important time saving abilities is turning around to be able to attack faster. The time between attacks, while always facing the same direction, is about 21 frames. However, if you press the opposite direction to which your character is facing 11 frames after attacking you will drop out of the cooldown animation and be ready to attack much earlier. This is particularly useful on the boss fights. Another useful technique is taking damage to be knocked forward instead of backwards to save time. When you take damage you become invincible for a while as well as being knocked backwards. If you simply turn around the frame before you know are going to take damage you can be propelled forward instead of backward to save time. I lurk a lot and have not seriously attempted a run worthy of submission on any game before but I would be willing to give it a go on this game if there is a chance I could get it approved.
Posted: 4/14/2008 2:29 AM
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Chamale
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Player (178)
Joined: 10/20/2006
Posts: 1352
Location: Canada
I watched it, and it seems interesting enough for publication. However, are you sure 1 player is faster? 2 players would be much faster for boss fights.
Posted: 4/14/2008 2:46 AM
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Rad_Hazard
Joined: 6/21/2006
Posts: 35
I guess I was just going with 1 player for simplicity as I am still honing my TAS skills, you are right, 2 player would be much faster. Diman's 2 player run was very good, would I be allowed to continue his run like he suggests or would I have to make my own?