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Run Saber (SNES) beaten in 54960 frames, 15min 16.00sec
Run Saber is a pretty blatant rip-off of Strider, by Horisoft, but it's still a lot of fun for that. Basic plot (far as I can tell) is that aliens have taken over the Earth, and the Run Sabers, two genetically enhanced soldiers, are the planet's only hope. This TAS, using Alow (the male Run Saber) clears the game in 15min 16sec, with input ending at frame 54960 and the final hit connecting 4 frames after.
My goals were, in order of priority:
  • Aims for fastest time
    • Contains speed/entertainment tradeoffs (boss fights)
  • Takes no damage
  • Plays at hardest level
  • Manipulates luck (enemy locations)
Recorded using ZSNES 1.51. Significant options:
  • New Graphics Engine Disabled
  • Windowing Enabled
  • Offset Mode Enabled
All the stages are the same concept (Point A to B, kill or avoid everything in your way) so no need to discuss them.
Future optimization possibilities:
  • Use two players? I don't see this helping too much except at the final two boss fights, due to invulnerability time on bosses.
  • Use of bombs? Very doubtful; they take 300 frames to execute and you can't do anything during.
  • Take damage to save time? Also doubtful; hit-stun is pretty long.
  • Go for pure speed on bosses, never mind entertainment?
  • Jump from ledges instead of walking/sliding off more often?
Stage by stage optimization possibilities:
Stage 1 (Taj Base):
  • Nothing comes to mind
Stage 2 (Tong City)
  • Get the last hit on Red Saber while he's on the ground
Stage 3 (Jodvalley)
  • Better manipulation of enemy placement over the spike pit and vines early in the stage
Stage 4 (Grey Fac)
  • Nothing comes to mind
Stage 5 (Bruford)
  • Nothing comes to mind
Thanks to:
  • Dromiceius, who pointed out that you can dash
  • Dyce, for his Run Saber FAQ on GameFAQs
  • VolcanoStormWind, who pointed out that you can dash along ceilings.
  • Nach, for finally updating the ZMV checking script for v1.51.
  • Everyone who offered critique in the Run Saber thread in the SNES forum
(Google Video link coming soon.)
Nach: As much as I liked the video, I feel this can be greatly improved. Jumps need more precision, such as when you jump high onto one platform, only to jump again onto another, don't jump so high on the first jump. Also it seems you stuck around to battle certain enemies which you could run by. Lastly, while trying to make the bosses entertaining, I did find some fights had less than direct attacks, where some just barely missed, these have to be improved. All in all, I think it needs to be redone with more accuracy.

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Posted: 2/17/2008 7:13 PM
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TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15582
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #1861: BigBoct's SNES Run Saber in 15:16.00
Posted: 2/17/2008 7:47 PM
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Nach
Emulator Coder
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Looks like an interesting run. :) Fun facts: 
Enhanced ZMV Parser 1.24      Copyright (c) 2005      ZSNES Team

Valid enhanced ZMV detected.
Filename: /home/nach/.zsnes/Run Saber (U).zmv

ZMV Version: 151
ROM CRC32: 8708E5BB
Movie timing is NTSC (60FPS).
Uncompressed ZST size: 267099
ZMV starts from power-on with clear SRAM.

Anonymous movie.
Total frames: 54960
Estimated duration: 15:16.000
Re-recorded 5345 times.
Frames dropped by re-recordings: 395243
Frames advanced step-by-step: 621 (0%)
Average recording FPS: 16.75
Key combinations used 0 times.

0 internal chapters.
0 external chapters.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Posted: 2/17/2008 7:49 PM
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AnotherGamer
Former player
Joined: 2/2/2005
Posts: 198
Oh yes, please do use a format that nobody else does, that makes plenty of sense.
Posted: 2/18/2008 2:25 PM
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Nach
Emulator Coder
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
While I did find parts of this video entertaining, it needs to be redone, see my comments in the submission.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Posted: 2/18/2008 2:28 PM
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mmbossman
Experienced player (828)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
GBx TAS of 2008
And preferably with an emulator that people actually use. This will help greatly with the amount of feedback you receive, because most viewers are just active enough to find a ROM. Asking them to go and get an entirely different emulator is asking quite a bit.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Posted: 2/18/2008 2:33 PM
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Nach
Emulator Coder
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Feel free to ignore the peanut gallery ;) I'll publish any run I feel is good enough (provided I can encode it).
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Posted: 2/18/2008 2:36 PM
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mmbossman
Experienced player (828)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
GBx TAS of 2008
Nach wrote:
Feel free to ignore the peanut gallery ;) I'll publish any run I feel is good enough (provided I can encode it).
I didn't say it wouldn't get encoded, but knowing the amount people bitch about smaller stuff, I figured if he wanted feedback an emulator switch might be good. But if you're willing to judge a submission with only 3 or 4 votes, I won't complain:)
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Posted: 2/18/2008 2:38 PM
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Nach
Emulator Coder
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Well, I judged it with zero votes. Of course some more votes would help me making a decision when I feel it's borderline. I'd also love to be able to publish a vid for this site using my recording format. So I look foward to it.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.
Posted: 2/22/2008 2:30 PM
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Xkeeper
Banned User
Joined: 12/23/2004
Posts: 1850
mmbossman wrote:
And preferably with an emulator that people actually use. This will help greatly with the amount of feedback you receive, because most viewers are just active enough to find a ROM. Asking them to go and get an entirely different emulator is asking quite a bit.
I would've loved to see this attitude back when FCEU began to be used over Famtasia. (I, personally, welcome ZMV with open arms, because I loathe SNES9x.)
Perma-banned
Posted: 2/22/2008 2:36 PM
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mmbossman
Experienced player (828)
Joined: 11/18/2006
Posts: 2426
Location: Back where I belong
GBx TAS of 2008
*Sigh* Once again, I have no problems with ZSNES. I've never used it because I like SNES9x. But for someone who is new at TASing, I believe that feeback from many different viewpoints is important. And it's tough to get feedback on a movie if very few people watch it. Maybe I'm wrong and lots of people will be proactive and download ZSNES in order to watch a revised version of this run.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
Posted: 2/22/2008 2:40 PM
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Xkeeper
Banned User
Joined: 12/23/2004
Posts: 1850
Judging from the number of people who have no problem at all downloading another version of the emulator to watch a run they are interested in, I do not expect that to be much of a problem. The problem will also solve itself if enough ZMV movies are submitted.
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Posted: 3/24/2019 11:00 PM
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TASVideosGrue
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Joined: 10/1/2008
Posts: 2785
Location: The dark corners of the TASVideos server
om, nom, nom... blech, stale!
Posted: 3/25/2019 12:41 AM
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Patashu
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Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4043
A 11 year delayed rejection? What happened here?
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Posted: 3/25/2019 5:45 PM
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Noxxa
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Location: The Netherlands
Exotic platforms TASer of 2018 Exotic platforms TAS of 2018 Exotic platforms TASer of 2017 Exotic platforms TAS of 2017 Exotic platforms TAS of 2017 Exotic platforms TASer of 2016 Exotic platforms TAS of 2016 Gameboy TASer of 2013
Patashu wrote:
A 11 year delayed rejection? What happened here?
The submission was edited, which triggered a delayed TASVideos Grue reaction (who did not exist yet at the original time of rejection).
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.