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Joined: 12/5/2007
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This is yet another RPG that so far I haven't seen anyone tried yet. I read about the strategy of beating Water World Mooroon (chapter 1), but I never got the time to play through the chapters beyond that. There are two different types of battle, one where enemies move around and the other where it's classic sort-of (surprised by the enemy and choosing what to do [battle, run, use item, ect.]). There are 25 ability levels, but for each chapter, the game caps your level until you beat a chapter... Chapter 1 - LV 5 Chapter 2 - LV 10 Chapter 3 - LV 15 Chapter 4 - LV 20 Chapter 5 - LV 25 ...and so forth, but it depends on how long the game is. It may take at least an hour and a half to beat the game and run through its strategy.
Joined: 10/3/2005
Posts: 1332
Emptyeye nailed it, single-segment, in an hour and 20. I haven't seen the SDA run, so I can't comment.
Joined: 7/18/2007
Posts: 8
Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
I haven't played the game, but I've seen the run, and did some research on MoS. It seems you can sequence break in the second area, as Supica and Gun Meca are optional, as you can get your way through the desert without having Supia guide you. A TASer might be able to reduce the time by a fair margin, as it doesn't look like many attacks 'lock on' to Isfa, and thus can skip getting the armour bonuses. I could be wrong, though.
It's good? You've got to be jackin' me, Steve.
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I've been on a roll, and I actually got up to that point. I got as far as the fortress in Ch. 2. I read the strategy guide and it said to use a Horn to wake up one of the statues going into the boss. Obviously, I didn't know if I had to get one from a town or even had to go back in time like I did to get Faruk.
heoandreo wrote:
It seems you can sequence break in the second area, as Supica and Gun Meca are optional, as you can get your way through the desert without having Supia guide you.
I see there's a speed run, but it's not TASvideos related because it was not yet published here. I'm looking to study this game first so I can memorize everything I need to do and it will take time. Then I'll see how fast I can I get to Sabaron. ;) And now I update. The SDA video was lagging at the beginning where the player spent too much time selecting message speed and difficulty. If that part was TAS'ed, that would have saved a tremendous amount of time. The player also killed more time entering "Marc" as a name. A faster time can really be set for this game. How many of you want to see this as a TAS done the right way? I'll aim for about 1 hour and 10 minutes at the most. It'll take a few days, but leave it to me!
Experienced player (828)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
symbolic X wrote:
How many of you want to see this as a TAS done the right way? It'll take a few days, but leave it to me!
These two statements don't match up. You cannot make a TAS of an hour and 20 minute movie "the right way", in a few days. To do it "the right way", a month or so would be a good starting point.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Banned User
Joined: 12/5/2007
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Okay, but still. To say the least, I once stayed up all night doing a WIP of Godzilla 1.
Former player
Joined: 10/6/2007
Posts: 330
Location: B.C Canada
He may be overestimating the time, but still, you can't make a good run in a few days. Also, you may want to tell us what rom you used so we can see it.
Former player
Joined: 5/4/2005
Posts: 502
Location: Onett, Eagleland
I loved this game as a kid! I hope this goes through, I'd love to see a run of this game.
I think.....therefore I am not Barry Burton
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Joined: 12/5/2007
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It didn't say it was clean, but it will be Magic of Scheherazade, The (U).nes And this will be the emulator I will use. I think I came up with a pretty good strategy. I want to go into the Casino at Poponoll and walk out of there with 999 C. Hopefully, that can more than enough to get the things I need for the adventure. But it is 5 chapters so it will take strategy, luck manipulation, and time. Also, I'll be looking to put the carpets to good use so I can breeze through most of the worlds. update: Okay, I am almost done with Chapter 1. I didn't spend a lot of time in the casino to manipulate luck and build 999 rupias, but, I did score about roughly 600 to get the carpets, enough mashroobs for magic attacks, some bread to recover me, and finally the horns i need to awaken the statues in every boss stage. I thought I can close my notebook lid, keep the program running (pray FCE Ultra does not hang), and pick up on this tomorrow =)
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another update, I have completed chapter 3, emulator's still running good. I think I killed a little bit of time messing with the stores, but my overall objective is to make sure I have plenty of mashroobs and MP to defeat some tough bosses. I use casinos to get more rupias and avoid getting thrown in debt from some old man. Furthermore, I am playing/pausing that SGA run and studying as much as I can from it so I can determine what all I can work around to superiorly progress in the game. So far, I think I have saved at least 2 minutes, if not, more than that. Based on player decisions from the SGA and the frequent use of slow-downs/rerecords, I know this game can be beat in less than 80 minutes. Wish me luck! I'll be there at the end soon. =)
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Joined: 12/5/2007
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And another update stands. The other night, I compared my status to the one that the SGA player was in going to the 4th boss. An Alalart "Solar Eclipse" appeared for him after a few battles, but that never appeared on me! After I changed my class to Fighter at some point to have Rainy join me, I was stuck in that class for the remainder of the unfinished run. As I attempt to make another TAS of this game from a clean start, not only I am looking to correct several mistakes I made, but I am also looking to follow this piece of procedure that I suddenly ignored:
Fly back to Farvil and change you class back to Magician. While you are here, max out your bread and mashroob supply.
For some reason, I thought I would trust the Alalart Solar Eclipse, but that is one big reason I only got as far as the boss in Chapter 4. From there on, I couldn't do anything, so I had to forfeit the first. I send a big FUH-Q to that lousy solar eclipse because for a TAS'er, it means nothing until it appears at the right time. It did for that SGA guy, but my God... =/ The more I learn, the better this TAS can be. Should I give up? Not yet. Wish me luck, guys! And thanx for the big support. =)
Joined: 8/13/2007
Posts: 29
You should try to find the condidions for the eclipse, maybe it is set by one event, or it could just be randomness. (which could be abused perhaps?)
Banned User
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More than likely the randomness possibility of a solar eclipse during the game, meaning anytime/anywhere. And I have no clue what memory addresses in the game would set it off. I ain't abusing it, though, or I could void the speedrun due to cheating. My progress so far is that I am currently in Chapter 3 beyond present as a time door placed me in the future. I manupulated more luck at a casino in Nubia where the bet was 90 rupias for two plays in a row. To make it as entertaining as possible, this was one thing that the Casino Kid himself couldn't do. The first play was a pig that gave me 360 rupias, and then another 90-rupia play that doubled me to 180. Again, I wanted to avoid town stores that would put me in debt, so that's why I chose casinos. I just had Pukin join the team and now I'm stocking up on some bread and mashroob at their cheap price. I also avoided going to a Magic University in Kasimeel to where they gave away such "armor". I thought I would make the run a little more interesting and challenging that way. Maybe that's what tasvideos.org wants?! Hmm... lol =)) And guys, don't worry about Chapter 4 where I got stuck. I'll be plotting a "plan B" I can use in case if the solar eclipse doesn't show up going into the boss. Another thing I notice. This is like Metal Gear almost. The similarity is that based on the direction the character is heading, the screen doesn't move with it; it just stands still. Another similarity is that both games involve use of weapons. A difference, though, is that the types of weapons in the form of guns, explosives, rockets, and missiles are only found on Metal Gear; as to nothing but rods and swords are used in MOS. A bigger difference is that MoS involves use of magic spells; there is nothing magical in a game of Metal Gear, that's all real. But either way anyone would put it, Solid Snake gave good advice in MG Solid: "If you lose, you're worm food", and that would go for either of these two games. Ya dig? ;)
Banned User
Joined: 12/5/2007
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I update again. I did research on a magic spell that could greatly reduce enemy encounter rate for a period of time. If this works, I might start using it a lot to try and save more time. And I am at the beginning of Ch. 4 once again. This time, I'll see what I need to do and what comes up.
Skilled player (1652)
Joined: 11/15/2004
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No WIP to view?
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
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I am nowhere near the end of Chapter 5, but I'll have the WIP ready after then. Heck, if I dominated EmptyEye's run by at least 3 minutes, I might just submit the whole thing altogether! But to answer your question, sorry, not yet. I notice a glitch in the game, and I think I been abusing it several times. The hero changes color between normal and pink after taking a hit. Suddenly as I jump, sometimes the character would stay pink. I think even in Ch. 3 going into the area where the time door was, I took a hit. After the character appeared at the time door, the hero character froze at pink. Then when Coronya said "A, use the magic of Oprin", that character figure was pink, too. If this is a common glitch, heck yeah! We can simply throw in the attribute "abuses programming errors in the game"! =)
Former player
Joined: 5/4/2005
Posts: 502
Location: Onett, Eagleland
Wow, all this talk is making me want to play through the game again normally, would like to see the WIP asap =).
I think.....therefore I am not Barry Burton
Banned User
Joined: 12/5/2007
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All I can give you guys is my failed first attempt when I had problems seeking the solar eclipse. Incomplete 1st attempt, still working on a second attempt, and I think I'm finally getting better at it. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1852974946/MOS-attempt01-obsolete-%5Bincomplete%5D-symbolic-X.fcm Remember the ROM name and emulator version I described when putting in my effort. If the movie was de-synched due to ROM and emulator versions, don't say I didn't warn you. Update: I finally beated Ch. 4! And the solar eclipse never came the whole time, so that's when I had to take a carpet ride back to Farvil in the 3,000-year-ago stage to be a magician. And yes, I had to use loans as an excuse to rob 400 rupias from Farvil. Plus, yeah, I did something unexpected. Really unexpected! I can't wait to finish this run so I can put it to rest... =/
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Another update, but this time with some information. The Ramipas spell does not completely eliminate the encounter rate (leaving off screen), but it greatly reduces it for a period of time. However, using it in the event of a TAS takes guts, because it will delay the run with an interruption saying "The magic effect has worn off." When that happens, extra frames are wasted. If you decide to start using this spell after possessing it, make sure you have enough MP and determine how many screens you can go through until you get the magic-effect-wear-off phrase; what you want to do is avoid that one phrase at any cost! Probably cast the Ramipas spell for every 4 or 5 screens you make your way through in a chapter. I just picked up the sword in the 3000-year-ago part, and now I start making my way to Pao in the present.
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I update. Unfortunately, this was my 2nd time that I did not have my save states lined up right. I think I was overconfident. My technique was to at least save the beginning of each chapter in space 9 and 10 while the other eight I can do what I please. But I overwrote 9 and 10 by mistake. After I got the Legend sword from the palace of 3,000 years ago, I wanted to warp back to Pao but I didn't have at least one carpet on me, making me have to walk back... No way, I have to abandon this 2nd attempt. I'll put up a 3rd attempt pretty soon, but until then, this will give me a chance to take a break from it, re-draw my strategy, manipulate luck some more, and overall to go out and enjoy a little life and reality. Sorry that it came down to this.
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Okay, I'm looking to begin my 3rd attempt at TAS'ing this game. But I will make it more challenging just to try to save more frames. Attributes:
  • Aim for fastest time
  • Abuse "pink character" glitch
  • Manipulate luck in menu-battle evasions, animal roulette, and bets ranging from 70 to 90 rupias per play
To start the game, I look to get 999 rupias from the casino as quick as possible. This will be tough because bets are generated between 10 and 90 rupias at random, so it's important to get the highest bet and aim for the highest multiplier on the wheel (x5). I will lay off the bread until I reach chapter 4. I will max out on Mashroob before each boss battle and I will buy 7 carpets which should hopefully be enough carpets for the entire game. Otherwise, I'll make sure I have enough carpets for the whole game. If for any reason that my carpet supply disappeared, then it looks like the ROM I been using is screwed up. New update: random bets of rupias are determined in memory address 04D5 - takes a value from 1 to 9 and multiplies it by 10.
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
My suggestion, to save a lot more exhorborant time, is to simply run through this game normally, using save states. This way, you will be a bit more familiar with exactly what you'll need and then you'll know precisely how many flying carpets you need, and definitively how much money is required at each point. This way, things will look a lot smoother. Also backing your savestates into a different folder every now and then helps. ^^ I know I did that anally with Shinobi for fear I'd screw everything up. 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.
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Dammit! My discovery of the casino's memory address change did not work like I thought it would. Just what I expected. The FCM movie does control the character, BUT, it does not control the aspects of the game based on exact betting in the casino even on memory address change. As I recorded the FCM, I had 51 rupias on me. I changed the memory address as soon as I entered the casino making the dealer say "The bet is 50 rupias" based on $04D5=005. When I stopped the movie to play it back and see what happened, dealer said "bet was 80 rupias"? What's up with this jerkoff?! I thought the memory address change would play a terrific role in luck manipulation during an FCM movie. But obviously, FCE Ultra ignores that circumstance and can easily desync the FCM big time. A lesson is learned here. Manipulate luck, don't be overconfident, and know your emulator!
HHS
Active player (286)
Joined: 10/8/2006
Posts: 356
Memory tampering is not recorded by any emulators that I know of. Even if it was, it wouldn't be allowed here since it would obviously be cheating.