Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/870136404/Crystalis-TheAxeMan-toDraygon.fm2
Here is the run up to the tower. Load up one of these lua scripts first though.
http://runeaxetas.googlecode.com/files/crystalis-fastforwardgrind.lua
This script just fast-forwards the grinding parts, about 5 minutes total. You need to be running FCEUX 2.1.5 or later. Before that there was a bug in the lua functions controlling speed.
http://runeaxetas.googlecode.com/files/crystalis_watch_onefile.lua
The next script is a sort of commentary/author notes. The text comes up in a separate window. That's good because it stays there so you can read it but bad because it's less convenient to read than on-screen display. In addition to text I threw in a lot of features I used for making the run like hitboxes and on-screen display of some counter and RNG values. The script will turn these on at certain points where I thought it would be interesting and you can also turn them on and off yourself. You can jump back and forth between comment spots and also do frame-by-frame rewinding. Just run the script at the start of the run and hopefully it should be self-explanatory.
I hope this is interesting to at least a few people. I'm very visual so I think it's neat to see all this stuff. I also want to show how things are done to get people into TASing and to help current TASers get better. So please check it out and let me know what you think.
http://runeaxetas.googlecode.com/files/crystalis-all_lua.zip
This a zip with those lua functions plus the lua I actually used when making the run. There is even more there than the watcher script. More displays, a data table and macro/bot functions. Grab this and start working on the improvement. :)
That's very nice of you! If the game were a bit more famous, I'd say this should go to tutorials section.
I wish people shared their sources more often. And by source I mean all significant information they used in making the TAS. While some people consider input file (final movie) an open source material, it lacks insight, so I would compare plain FM2 to obfuscated open-source code where all comments were deleted and all labels renamed to numbers. Sure, it's not a binary executable, yet not an open source code.
I just finsihed watching this. It's astounding, absolutely epic... and incredible. The game is a great game, a game worthy of being cherished. Your TAS is so deep, so insightful. It's beyond a TAS that is a technical achievement. It's a TAS that has soul. It took a little more effort to set it up so that I could read your text commentary, and use the lua script, but it was totally worth it.
...Wow. It just was so great. Thank you so much. By the way, I really liked your FF TAS, as well.
It's difficult for me to see the commentary given the fact I have a mac. Will you or anyone else be able to encode the movie with the commentary at least by the time this run gets submitted? I also would find that stuff interesting.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
It should be possible to turn the comments into subtitles and put that in an encode. Some of the comments go in to a lot of detail and are a little long to show onscreen. Maybe someone knows a way to make a video of that window and show it side-by-side the game like some niconico videos do. I don't know if anyone has ever tried encoding extra graphics drawn on top of the game like those used for hitboxes. Is there an equivalent of WINE on a mac? I've used FCEUX in Linux on WINE and it was pretty decent.
The watcher script is really meant to be interactive. The idea is to get people to go beyond just watching the video and really think about the game and TASing in general. But it's also a guided tour that I hope makes it easy to get started. Just like what la mammal experienced. So thanks for the feedback, I wanted to make sure my scripts worked for other people. Now to finish the run.
The watcher script is really meant to be interactive. The idea is to get people to go beyond just watching the video and really think about the game and TASing in general. But it's also a guided tour that I hope makes it easy to get started. Just like what la mammal experienced. So thanks for the feedback, I wanted to make sure my scripts worked for other people. Now to finish the run.
You succeeded brialliantly in my opinion.
This reminds me though, the hitboxes didn't look right for me. The graphic inside the hitbox was offset by about 8 pixels or so, which caused the upper part of it to be clipped off by the top of the hitbox. I thought it might be because I configure FCEUX to show all 240 scanlines, but when I changed that setting back to normal the graphical glitch persisted.
Anyway, enough of that derail. I want to also mention that I think it would be really nice to have the comments translated into some other languages. This TAS presentation seems like it might have some sort of universal quality to it. What do you think?
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
The offset graphics inside the hitboxes seems to be a glitch with FCEUX 2.1.5. In 2.1.4 it looked normal.
If anyone is interested in translating those notes I think it would be great. As an American, I barely even know English so I wouldn't be much help. But everything is in plain text in that lua file and all the comments are in a big table so it should be relatively easy if someone was motivated.
As an American, I barely even know English so I wouldn't be much help.
Nahhh, you have humility, but really, your commentary was definitely well-written. It's not easy to explain all that stuff in a way that gets across clearly.
The run...it's simply amazing.
Your commentary? Clear, concise, correct...there's nothing wrong with it at all.
Speaking of the commentary, I thought I'd hate it in the other window. Watching the run I actually prefer it this way - it gives a log that can be read at any pace, and a backlog to read potentially missed entries. Very nice.
Amazing dedication. You are an hero.
Joined: 7/29/2004
Posts: 136
Location: Temple City, CA
Axe, I just wanted to give a personal thanks to you for the work you put into this game. It has always been a game near and dear to my heart and this run was amazing. Truly was one of the best things I've had the pleasure of watching in a long time.
"How can you prove you exist? Maybe we don't exist..."
-Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX)
In Crystalis, you must obtain Kensu's love pendant and bring it to him on Joel to obtain the Glowing Lamp required to fix the Broken Statue so that you can use it at the altar to calm the Angry Sea and finally enter Swan. Without doing this, it is impossible to reach Swan.
If you cheat by using Ghetto Flight or Wild Warp, you can find Kensu in Swan. Using Paralysis to track him down, he teaches you change; however, if you haven't given him the Love Pendant, he will demand you find the Love Pendant first.
Now wait.
It's only possible to get to him in Swan by giving him the Love Pendant.
Why is this event programmed to require giving Kensu the Love Pendant? Shouldn't bypassing Joel completely bypass the Love Pendant quest?
(Notwithstanding that this should have been posted in the Crystalis thread)
It's impossible to know what the devs were thinking. My best guess is that this is some leftover code from before they'd decided on the current quest order. They just left it in because it wasn't doing any harm, and taking it out could potentially have introduced bugs somehow. That kind of thing happens a lot in videogame development, since they don't write the game content in the same order in which it is played.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Anything specific to a given game should be posted in that game's thread, as a general rule.
Examples of other stuff that was "left in" a game but in a normally-inacessible way: the "Hot Coffee" thing in GTA San Andreas, the option to not defect in Deus Ex, the Crystal Palace zone in Sonic 2, etc. Check out The Cutting Room Floor for more details.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
bluefoxicy wrote:
In Crystalis, you must obtain Kensu's love pendant and bring it to him on Joel to obtain the Glowing Lamp required to fix the Broken Statue so that you can use it at the altar to calm the Angry Sea and finally enter Swan. Without doing this, it is impossible to reach Swan.
I didn't think this was true and just checked to make sure. After beating Sabera on Evil Island and getting glasses and broken statue you can access the secret passage in the shed in Joel. That takes you to a windmill where Kensu is sleeping. After waking him up with the alarm flute he complains and then disappears, leaving the Glowing Lamp. You don't need to have the Love Pendant.
More interestingly, when I was playing through to test this I saw something funny happen on blowing away a wall. I pushed to the right at the edge of the screen and my guy disappeared. I think I may have gotten out of bounds but I need to investigate. I was playing on nestopia so the emulation could have been different.
Oddly enough, the scenario of giving Kensu the Love pendant in the lighthouse is exactly what is needed in the GBC version. He then teaches you Change in Swan just for tracking him down without any item requirements.
(sadly in the GBC version there is no ghetto flight that I could find. I did find some other oddly programmed things though...)
Stumbled upon this by accident yesterday: the Stom skip.
If you warp to Leaf after the game moves you into position for the fight, Tornel's victory dialogue pops up and you get the Teleport spell—and it's 105 frames faster, at least in the short term. I couldn't say how an additional warp boot use would affect a run as a whole. Also, warping out after Tornel's pre-fight speech but before the game finishes moving the player character gets some odd results which might be worth a look under the hood.
Are there any other instances of scripted sequences moving the character while leaving you able to warp? Or any other spots where a warp might similarly confuse the game?
The only other place I know of where this might be of use is after giving the Medicinal Herb to the Dolphin. The game disables you from using the Teleport spell, but still allows use of Warp Boots. Unfortunately it's of no use in real time since it's not significantly faster due to the extra menu required.
Stumbled upon this by accident yesterday: the Stom skip.
Heh, I actually found that a couple months ago but I didn't post it because I was planning on secretly doing some runs to beat Dragondarch's time. Unfortunately my NES conked out on me and I haven't bothered to replace it yet, so I put any runs on hold.
I didn't find anywhere else to use it, though.
Stumbled upon this by accident yesterday: the Stom skip.
Heh, I actually found that a couple months ago but I didn't post it because I was planning on secretly doing some runs to beat Dragondarch's time. Unfortunately my NES conked out on me and I haven't bothered to replace it yet, so I put any runs on hold.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Nice find! Strange that it has to be Leaf but it seems otherwise the game doesn't clear the flag that says you are fighting Stom. Each time I use warp boots saves a menu visit so yeah, losing one would cost another second or so. Less than 100 frames though. Another cast of teleport also means 20 MP. There is only one point where I let my MP get that low but something else to plan for.
Dragondarch wrote:
The game disables you from using the Teleport spell, but still allows use of Warp Boots.
Actually, the published run uses teleport there. The trick is that you need to hit a different button from the one you use to dismiss the last menu. So to use teleport you need to have it equipped, hit B when the dolphin thanks you and then A for teleport. All the frames in between are lag and the controller input is not polled so the game can't tell that you pressed the button on the first frame otherwise.
The game disables you from using the Teleport spell, but still allows use of Warp Boots.
Actually, the published run uses teleport there. The trick is that you need to hit a different button from the one you use to dismiss the last menu. So to use teleport you need to have it equipped, hit B when the dolphin thanks you and then A for teleport. All the frames in between are lag and the controller input is not polled so the game can't tell that you pressed the button on the first frame otherwise.
That's not what I'm referring to. What I'm doing is giving the Herb to the Dolphin, and after the dialog disappears and he starts moving, I can go into the menu, equip Warp Boots, and warp out at my leisure (Nothing frame perfect about it). I just tried to use Teleport (both having it equipped beforehand, and entering the menu separately after giving the Herb to the Dolphin) and it works exactly like you describe.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Now that I think about it, the routing around Stom is centered around the timing of the levelup before Mt Sabre. So the time impact is really based on how it affects the spawning counter. The counter runs while you fight Stom but not while in the menu or warping so counter time is not the same as clock time.
