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1st Nesvideos Dream Team Contest Competition "Gaiden"

from 2006-01-06 to 2006-01-20 (2 weeks)
Contest organized by Brushy

Contest rules:

  • The game to TAS is Super Mario Land 2 (GB) (rom Super Mario Land 2 - 6 golden coins (V1.0) (UE) [!].gb) (information revealed only on contest start day 2006-01-06)
  • Normal difficulty
  • Movie must obey the rules of this site. No cheats and debugging and so on.
  • Everybody in the team must participate in movie making by recording something.
  • No outside help is allowed (but common knowledge is usable).
  • Movie must be submitted to the contest on 2006-01-20 (2 weeks after the start).

Game Boy - Super Mario Land 2 TAS by RED TEAM RULES

RED TEAM RULES IS:
  • BagOfMagicFood
  • FODA
  • Randil
  • Shinryuu

The movie

  • Abuses programming errors
  • No deaths
  • Manipulates luck
  • Aims for fastest completion
  • Takes damage to save time
emulator used: VBA-rerecording-17.1
NOTE: this is the very same video we submitted to the contest, not the planned improved version (which was never made).
This is the winning movie for the competition out of a total of 1 submitted movies (all teams). It's actually very precise and we think that it can't be improved by much, despite the apparently crazy routes.
Our team managed to work together very well, with FODA testing some routes and glitches, BagOfMagicFood doing research on tricks and optimizing the run, while Randil and Shinryuu experimented with the game's physics and did good optimization too. This was throughly a good experience although it was very time taking since we only had 2 weeks to do it!

The pipe glitch:

  • Found at David Wonn's site, this glitch enabled us to cut several minutes of our first route test run (32 minutes long) when used correctly. We've found a lot of bricks with unusual behavior, some would lead to secret exits, some would do damage, some would give several coins per second while some would reset the game and some would even give illegal opcodes which automatically closes the rom! This was very tricky and we started the final version only a couple of days from the end of the contest because of all the experimenting with this glitch and finding better ways to use it. The glitch consists of getting in a pipe and exiting the level so that mario is still going down when he leaves. This way, when you enter another level, mario will still be going down for 1 frame, enough to push him inside the floor. For some reason, there are blocks below on most levels and they even work for boss levels.

The 100 enemies starman:

  • This run kills 99 enemies before entering wario's castle to save a few frames on those ball bosses. We found that feature to be pretty neat :)

The "hit on a passing block rule":

  • If mario jumps just past a block above his head, he is pushed forward 1 extra pixel.

The movement rule:

  • Mario moves 1 pixel then 2 then 1 then 2 and so on while running.

The jump height rule:

  • Mario's jump can be higher if the "A" button isn't held past a certain point (26 frames). If the "A" button is kept on hold for 1 extra frame, the jump height is shortened considerably.

The fall off a ledge rule:

  • If mario is too fast, when he falls off a ledge he will do a little hop up and then start falling slowly. To avoid this, release "B" before the ledge to get low speed enough, so he falls at a considerably higher speed.

The horizontal speed while in the air rule:

  • When in the air, if mario goes below a certain speed, he can't achieve max speed again unless he reaches ground to get running speed.

Bisqwit: Removing Shinryuu from the author list (his own request).

adelikat: Turns out that the pipe glitch can be used to this extend only by using exploiting a bug in emulation rather than a bug in the game itself. This is in violation of the guidelines that state that the games must look like they were done on authentic hardware. As a result this submission must be rejected.
This may turn out to be a good thing since a correctly emulated version will use the glitch to a lesser extend which will probably make it more entertaining to the general audience.


Joined: 5/17/2007
Posts: 393
Location: Sweden
First time I played this game I was 4 years old, but its alot more fun to play then to watch realy...
"No love for the game gear"
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Joined: 8/1/2004
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Location: Seattle, WA
Phil wrote:
Zurreco wrote:
Also, I've seen plenty of bad runs submitted after years of effort
Which ones?
I don't think it would be too kind to point out which runs I have personally deemed as "bad" runs. That being said, just know that I feel this way about some runs.
hi nitrodon streamline: cyn-chine
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Joined: 3/16/2004
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I only know Morimoto's SMB3 that took years to do and it was good. One of the runs that inspire me to do those runs. I don't understand you...
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 380
Location: Finland
I don't see how the amount of time spent can be used to judge anything. Author may be congratulated for the effort they've invested in their run, but that shouldn't make any difference to the final call about publishing it. If you can make perfect runs in fast time (work hours), good for you. Still I'm usually kind of curious how each run was made and what kind of effort was put into it, so I hope this won't affect future submissions since you are in no way required to give out these statistics. I haven't voted since I haven't watched this run recently.
"Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home." ( Pratchett & Gaiman: Good Omens )
mwl
Joined: 3/22/2006
Posts: 636
Voting yes as a "concept demo." The three-minute ALttP run is boring to watch, but it gets the job done. It shows how to complete the game in an unexpected way, and this is no different. As long as there is another "no severe glitch" category, it really can't hurt to put this run on the site. Plus, a SML2 run is long overdue.
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
I have to vote no... that Pipe Glitch ruined the whole thing for me.. it was more or less.. "Ho hum, they're doing it again.." the entire time.. and as a result, waiting for the rest of the levels to be played normally.. just lost their luster. :( Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Player (206)
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Posts: 5712
dude, you should have redone this to try those optimizations I was telling you about. I can't approve of this
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
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Joined: 6/7/2005
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Location: New York
I was very excited to see this movie, I can see that it was planned quickly and done quickly on some level. It is a great movie and I enjoyed watching it, but under the circumstances of it's completion, being able to see places of obvious lost time, I'm gonna have to go with a "meh" on this one. I haven't tried TASing this moving myself, so I could be wrong. I guess we will see when the improved version comes out? I don't know, but for this one I am sticking with what I feel. Great work for a contest that apparently only a few people took seriously. Such a shame too cause it's a cool idea.
Soft Blue Dragon
nesrocks
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@ Bag: I thought you were going to improve it, but you never did. The wario fight can't be improved, the level must be played slower to get the improvement there.
DonamerDragon wrote:
I can see that it was planned quickly and done quickly on some level (...) being able to see places of obvious lost time
can you especify please where you had that feeling? I can tell you, you've got the wrong impression. really, no offense, but people assuming things just because of how long it took to make the movie is kind of pissing me off. I need to cool down.
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So play it slower to get the improvement!
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
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-I'm German so don't be rude to my english skills lol- I can vote although I'm a "newbie" O.o? I voted YES. The movie is a bit boring but has some nice parts in it and you can call it "Super Mario Land (Pipe Glitch) / (Glitchy)" (as a specific TAS for the game), can't you? At least I would suggest that.
Chamale
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Not a bad idea, MUGG. After all, some runs do have "warp glitch" runs alongside "normal" runs.
Player (105)
Joined: 6/7/2005
Posts: 290
Location: New York
FODA wrote:
DonamerDragon wrote:
I can see that it was planned quickly and done quickly on some level (...) being able to see places of obvious lost time
can you especify please where you had that feeling? I can tell you, you've got the wrong impression. really, no offense, but people assuming things just because of how long it took to make the movie is kind of pissing me off. I need to cool down.
Aye, for sure. I did specify that I could be wrong about these too dude. things that stick out to me are: Very obviously the path sticks out to me, why did you go from Pumpkin Zone to Turtle Zone back to Pumpkin Zone and to Mario Zone? You did the pipe glitch in Mario Zone, why not just use pumpkin pipe glitch in Mario zone to mario zone pipe glitch until you are done with Mario zone, then go to Turtle Zone using mario zone pipe glitch one time...after that I can understand going all the way back to Pumpkin zone. next is getting the last two coins. do you HAVE to fight both of those bosses for their coins? Now it seems like Space zone must be done normally, so why not have that one be the one you play normally to get the Wario castle entry animation..which seems from this run has to happen for the game to keep going.. this then brings me to enemy gathering. Does it really take long to defeat those balls in wario castle without the super star? I mean you killed that first one really fast to get the super star, and it looks like you went pretty out of your way to defeat those enemies to get the superstar, and then on top of that going a little slower might manipulate the wario battle better? I didn't see you guys using that "jump and get pushed forward an extra pixil" a lot..granted through the entire game seems like would save maybe a few frames...and also granted that I may not have seen it being done even though it actually was. man explanations for all of these would be totally awesome because I'm curious. :)
Soft Blue Dragon
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Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
I liked this movie since I played this game a lot and it seems you abused it very well (even the parts where you're not skipping levels entirely ;) I also vote yes for a 1.2 run!
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Sir_VG
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Voting yes on the idea that this run does NOT obsolete a "properly played" run. Kinda like having that Pulseman "low glitch" run done, except this is the opposite.
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
nesrocks
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First of all, I got pissed because you decided your vote before you got an explanation. You assumed it was badly planned, which it wasn't. But I got better things to worry about at the moment. Now for the explanations: Very obviously the path sticks out to me, why did you go from Pumpkin Zone to Turtle Zone back to Pumpkin Zone and to Mario Zone? You did the pipe glitch in Mario Zone, why not just use pumpkin pipe glitch in Mario zone to mario zone pipe glitch until you are done with Mario zone, then go to Turtle Zone using mario zone pipe glitch one time...after that I can understand going all the way back to Pumpkin zone. Because the pipe glitch level in pumpkin zone is the first one. The pipe glitch level in mario zone is the second one. That means doing pumpkin zone first = play an entire level once. Playing mario zone first = playing an entire level twice. Levels are long, and it's faster to play a full level only once and go back to pumpkin zone a little (notice that the path to pumpkin zone is NOT that much longer than mario zone) is faster than playing two ENTIRE levels before being able to use the pipe glitch, and then having to walk back a little for mario zone. This wasn't just guessed, it was tested and calculated. edit: I may have misunderstanded your question. Do you want to know why didn't we use the mario zone pipe glitch to beat turtle zone? Because, believe it or not, it's faster from this point to go to pumpkin zone's first level (which has a pipe very early on it), than going to mario zone's second level (which has a pipe in the middle of the level). The fact that the map route looks wild, but is the fastest only shows we knew exactly what we were doing. If it was an obvious route nobody would complain and you'd be happy with a slower movie. next is getting the last two coins. do you HAVE to fight both of those bosses for their coins? Now it seems like Space zone must be done normally, so why not have that one be the one you play normally to get the Wario castle entry animation..which seems from this run has to happen for the game to keep going.. I don't really understand the question. Yes you need all 6 coins. Then Wario's castle is accessible. You do understand that the pipe glitch doesn't work on all levels? We used it on every level that it works. When it doesn't work you die by falling through the bottom of the screen. The screen doesn't even scroll down to follow you. This then brings me to enemy gathering. Does it really take long to defeat those balls in wario castle without the super star? I mean you killed that first one really fast to get the super star, and it looks like you went pretty out of your way to defeat those enemies to get the superstar, and then on top of that going a little slower might manipulate the wario battle better? Did we really get out of our way to kill the enemies? aside from a little lag it has caused (few frames), we didn't. If it is faster to not worry about the starman, it will be by a mere couple of frames. I didn't see you guys using that "jump and get pushed forward an extra pixil" a lot..granted through the entire game seems like would save maybe a few frames...and also granted that I may not have seen it being done even though it actually was. It only works on blocks. Mario needs to barely hit his head on the block after passing under it. Name a single place where we forgot to do that please (frame number). _______________________________________________________ By the way, that reminds me what was the deal with the door opening animation (which lasts about 10 seconds): there's a possibility (I don't remember if it was tested, but I don't think it was), that if you take the last coin by beating a boss level through a glitch instead of normally (like we did for the first 4), the door animation may be skipped. If that's true, we would have to use a completely different map route (SLOWER, and I mean a lot slower), to accomplish that. I'm not in the position right now to say that it would be faster, and my guess is it wouldn't, but it certainly is something to be tested if someone would think about improving this. Remember, that new route would have to not be 10 seconds slower than the route in this movie.
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Wow I guess I was tired when I wrote this if you misunderstood all but the last question....you covered most of the bases anyway and I understand better now. As for the route, I don't think you got it still, but in thinking about it I think I see your logic anyway. If all of this is the case you're not going to be able to avoid getting "meh"s for this run. It just looks sloppy to people who have not tested your tactics. IE me and apparently a few other people. I wasn't the only one to vote meh. Thank you for clearing everything up! [EDIT by Bisqwit: Removed full quote of the preceding post. Please quote only the portions that are relevant for your post. Foda's post is very well viewable just 15 centimeters above, it does not need to be repeated in its entirety.]
Soft Blue Dragon
nesrocks
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why do you think we didn't get the best route still? because it doesn't look like it? beats me, it is the fastest route, sorry.
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sometimes when I try to get a 1 pixel boost it seems to me as if it was a 2 pixel boost... And I think that it not works on blocks only but also on other solid sprites. Or am I telling bullsh**? EDIT: I got pixel boosts at the roots in the first level of the tree world
nesrocks
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MUGG wrote:
sometimes when I try to get a 1 pixel boost it seems to me as if it was a 2 pixel boost... And I think that it not works on blocks only but also on other solid sprites. Or am I telling bullsh**?
no, you're not. still, where did we miss?
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You told the boost only works on blocks... Ok I just posted to get confirmed... *looks at your run to look for missed boosts*
nesrocks
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Just a word, the walls are made of blocks (sprites), even though it's not necessarily a square.
Editor, Expert player (2330)
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ok my fault missed boosts: 1920 ~2120 54.050 ~60.000 x 3 btw you could have done it more entertaining in the hippo level if you would have integrate the water imo (or did you go sure to avoid lag?) isn't it faster to kill the bird with 4x fire and a jump`?
nesrocks
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1920 ~2120 The first level was played by either bag, randil or shinryuu (not me), and they are pretty picky with lag frames. If it wasn't an entertainment trade-off thing, it was because of lag. Or maybe it was overlooked, which I really doubt. 54.050 lag again (the bird above the screen should be kept out of the screen) ~60.000 x 3 huh? these are moving plataforms that you have to wait. also, didn't we do that there? it's gray boiling lava below in case it's hard to tell, it's not ground. btw you could have done it more entertaining in the hippo level if you would have integrate the water imo (or did you go sure to avoid lag?) it was to avoid lag (near the water is VERY laggy). isn't it faster to kill the bird with 4x fire and a jump`? for some reason that escapes me now, no. but i've done a quick test now, and i confirm that it make no difference (the jump does same damage as the fireball on that boss).
Dwedit
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Watching this one, I'm just wondering where the memory block containing those destroyable bricks is, and how exactly the game initializes that memory. I'm wondering if the bricks are indeed initialized by the game filling up the memory, the GB Bios doing it, or the emulator filling it up. I think the memory block containing all that stuff may be in the SRAM area, and the bottom area with the Next Level tile might even be the Z80 stack! I bet predefined save games would mess all that stuff up. Or worse yet, Mario spin jumps on bricks that are actually your save data, and destroys it! Voted Meh, too much walking back to pumpkin zone.