• Movie plays back on: FCEUX 2.2.0
  • Emulator originally used: FCEU 0.98.16
  • Aims for fastest completion-time.
  • Takes damage to save time.
  • Abuses programming errors in the game.
  • Genre: Platform.
About the game:
The adventures of Captain Comic is a simple platformer. You play as Captain Comic, a man in a spacesuit, carrying a lasergun. The goal in the game is to collect the "Crown of the Ages",the "Mystical gems of Lascorbanos" and the "Thousand Coins of Tenure". The game is not as linear as you might think, there are actually quite many routes you could take to beat the game, but the route used in this movie is the fastest one.
Notes about the run itself:
  • In the beginning of the run, I don't kill any enemies because I don't have my weapon yet. I pick my first "weapon-upgrade" (the first one you pick up allows you to fire you gun) on frame 710, so until then, I can't fire my weapon.
  • The blue shield you see around frame 2400 is a Shield upgrade. This heals my HP if I'm hurt.
  • Around frame 2440 I pick up a weapon upgrade that makes my shot go up and down: This is good, because it allows me to hit enemies that normally are to close to the ground to hit. Plus, it looks a little cooler than the normal shots. :)
  • Around frame 3800 I pick up a key. I need this key to open up the door below me.
  • The weapon-upgrade I pick up on frame 7036 allows me to have two shots on the screen at the same time.
  • The item I pick up on frame 10572 is the "Mystical gems of Lascorbanos". This is one of the three items I need in order to beat the game.*The item I pick up on frame 13029 is the same as the one I picked up around frame 2440, the one that made my shots wobble.
  • On frame 15387 I pick up the Power boots. These make me jump higher.
  • The item in the room around frame 15700 is the "Corkscrew". I skip this item, because it only makes my shots wobble, and it wastes time to take it. I'll make my way without it.
  • On frame 18441 I pick up the "Teleport Wand". This item allows me to teleport some distance in the direction I'm running at. You will see me use this item not long after get it. It's then used here and there throughout the run, sometimes just for fun, and sometimes to save some time by not having to waste time on jumping.
  • On frame 19006 I pick up the "Thousand Coins of Tenure". Now only "The Crown of the Ages" remain.
  • Around frame 27000, in the same room as the crown is in, I use abuse glitch that FODA found. By teleporting my way forward at the exact right frame, I end up inside the wall. While inside the wall, I jump my way up to the next floor and pick up the last item, "The Crown of the Ages", and beat the game.
About the game's physics:
One thing that should be noted is that I've never experienced any lag in this game, not one single frame, so lag-reduction is not an issue in this run. Another thing that should be mentioned is that both jumping and teleporting using the "Teleport Wand" is exactly as fast as running normally. So it it doesn't matter how much I jump/teleport, I neither save or loose time doing this. These factors makes improving this run difficult. The only way to improve this run by any significant amount (timewise) would be to either find a new glitch or find a better route.
Comparing this run to FODA's test-run.
FODA made a run of this game some time ago, which you can find here: http://www.angelfire.com/ex/uobt/videos/captaincomic-v4.zip This movie beats his by a mere 52 frames. Although this is very small improvement timewise, There are quite a lot of differences between our movies. The major difference between our movies is that I try to kill as much as possible in my run, and I don't get hit as much as FODA does in his run. It was really hard to gain any time over his run, even though his run was just a testrun, but by skipping the "Corkscrew"-item and making some jumps a little better I save some time.
Thanks to: FODA, for his very good test-run, and finding the wall-glitch.

adelikat: Limited potential game optimized well. Unfortunately, the result isn't quite interesting enough for the viewer. Rejecting.

adelikat: Accepting for publication to the Vault

Brandon: Publication underway.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #1315: Randil's NES The Adventures of Captain Comic in 07:30.82
nesrocks
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It's interesting that you worked on this game, since it has a very similar glitch to that of super mario land 2 where if you go outside the game's boundaries you see an ocean of glitched blocks. Unlike in sml2 though, i coudl'nt find any block that did different than just block me. When i decided the route for this game i remember drawing a map of the dungeon part and measuring how many screens of distance there was. It actually is just a really long room, with doors warping from one part to the other. I'm sure that route inside the cave is the best. The reason i didn't make this TAS is because i thought it wouldn't be very interesting for other people to watch, but looking at this short well optimized movie makes me vote yes. I hadn't realized anything until now, but where did they get the idea to mix classic music and space suits? 2001: A Space Odyssey, or is the idea older than that?
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Thanks for the Yes-vote, FODA! :) At first I didn't think this would make a good TAS either, but by looking back on this, I think it's quite entertaining, I just hope you viewers agree. :P And I also agree that the music is really... Well, mostly bad. Some songs are okay, but mostly it just sounds too awful...
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I thought this was a good watch, since it was only seven and a half minutes long. After the movie ended, though, there was a bit of text, and I had to hit a button for it to change to 'THE END.' I don't think that one button press should really be added to the run, though, the text is a good enough end screen.
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Um, yeah... The game was pretty linear: walk, walk, shoot, shoot, walk, shoot, walk, jump, walk, shoot, jump... It's only 7.5 minutes, but I gotta vote meh. I just wasn't very entertained. The warping at the end was kind of cool, other than that bleh. EDIT: Oops, voted yes. You win this time Randil.. :)
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ARGH, the music was like super badly midi-fied classical pieces, those killed the whole experience of the game! But anyhow, I thought the run was pretty good despite the music... almost made it look like a autoscroller. Enough to get my YES vote
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OOohh, it's THIS game. I used to have this for PC, although that version had a few differences, like position being restricted to units of half terrain-blocks, and not having that the upgrade that gives you corkscrew temporarily. Looks like it's flawlessly played, but still not very interesting except for nostalgia. I think what this movie needs is an interesting glitch.
Twisted_Eye
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There is one in the last second of the movie, though, that zipping up to the crown business, that was pretty interesting!
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Voted meh - Looked like it was played perfectly (assuming no major new finds), but there just wasn't enough variety for way too much of the game. The teleporting is interesting, but it just comes too late in the game.
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I disagree. I had never even heard of this game and i found this movie entertaining. Short but sweet. Constant movement with jumps and perfect shots seamless in motion. The teleporting added a great twist and variety to the run. Also, the Mozart was very nice :) EDIT -- Yes vote
Joined: 5/22/2006
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voted yes... i'd never played this one before, so i can't comment on your route choice but you played it flawlessly and the music choice while jumping around in a space suit was rather entertaining.
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I've never played the game and I watched the movie before reading the comments. It sure looked a lot more trivial than it actually is. I guess that's a good thing? The teleport added a bit of interest to the whole thing. It's too bad it came into play so late. In terms of entertainment this movie is mediocre at best, but it does appear optimized.
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Thanks everyone who voted on this movie. As I've read from all your comments, the general opinion seems to be "very well played, but pretty dull game". I can see what you mean, so I was wondering, is this game doomed to be a boring run, or do you think it would be much more entertaining to go for a pacifist run? Other than that, I don't see how to change this run in any way, unless someone finds another useful glitch. Though I'm still glad that some people enjoyed this movie, that's what makes me motivated to make new TAS:es, so thanks! :)
adelikat
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There is no question that it is optimized but it doesn't seem that optimizing this game is very impressive. I find it a bit too simplistic and a not very entertaining. The teleporting this was cool, but that was about it. I vote a weak no. I don't think that there is much you can do to make it more "entertaining". Pacifist seems like a bad idea.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
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adelikat wrote:
There is no question that it is optimized but it doesn't seem that optimizing this game is very impressive. I find it a bit too simplistic and a not very entertaining. The teleporting this was cool, but that was about it. I vote a weak no. I don't think that there is much you can do to make it more "entertaining". Pacifist seems like a bad idea.
Yeah, I understand your point. I guess this game isn't extremely fun to watch being played. As a judge, do you think you could reach a verdict on this run? You have a lot of experience with TAS:es and I trust your decision. I would understand if this gets rejected, looking back at the feedback that it got. I would just get happy if this movie is given a decision, whatever it should be. :)
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I'm with the "meh" crowd. This game was well played I think, but it's very...boring to watch. The music...wow. I couldn't even use the run as background music when I draw...heh. But again, love the way you shoot and keep things out of your way. Well executed run.
Soft Blue Dragon
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Randil wrote:
I would just get happy if this movie is given a decision, whatever it should be. :)
Well, if you hadn't optimized it so well it would be an easier decision :p As is, it is a borderline movie. In these cases I usually reject unless it gets a lot of support from viewer which this movie has not. So I will reject this run.
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om, nom, nom... blech, stale!
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2198] NES The Adventures of Captain Comic by Randil in 07:30.82
nesrocks
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As I've mentioned 6 years ago, the game has a weird bug when you exit the screen, it shows a lot of garbled blocks. I didn't find anything there, but if someone wants to test this game, that is something to look into. I don't really remember, but I would say the way to get to the garbled blocks screen is to teleport to a platform that is too high on the screen... Or maybe the platform to the left near the rocket.
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FODA wrote:
As I've mentioned 6 years ago, the game has a weird bug when you exit the screen, it shows a lot of garbled blocks. I didn't find anything there, but if someone wants to test this game, that is something to look into. I don't really remember, but I would say the way to get to the garbled blocks screen is to teleport to a platform that is too high on the screen... Or maybe the platform to the left near the rocket.
Where are all your promised atari tases btw?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
nesrocks
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It took quite a few years to become available, no? Time has passed and TASing has changed too much for me, I don't have the wilpower to do it anymore. I'm trying to focus my life on other stuff.
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"Unofficial game" needs to be added as a tag to the publication. I like how Color Dreams threw Mario's jump sound into the game. It does ruin the atmosphere in the space levels though.
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FODA wrote:
As I've mentioned 6 years ago, the game has a weird bug when you exit the screen, it shows a lot of garbled blocks. I didn't find anything there, but if someone wants to test this game, that is something to look into. I don't really remember, but I would say the way to get to the garbled blocks screen is to teleport to a platform that is too high on the screen... Or maybe the platform to the left near the rocket.
I found myself curious about this too. It's hard to imagine there isn't some way to exploit that unintended door (the one near the rocket) to gain an edge or break the game somehow. But I suppose it depends on how tightly coded the game otherwise is. BTW I enjoyed the movie/run. It makes me glad that TASVideos has the Vault since I think it'd be a shame to have left this one unpublished. I love humorous or astonishing runs as much as anyone -- sometimes I'll turn to my wife and say "Oh no! Own goal?!" to crack us both up -- but for me, perfect play is entertaining enough in and of itself.