I'm wondering if someone could do a concept demo of the e-reader levels from SMA4e (including unreleased japanese ones).
I know a link to a [.sav] file with all the levels.
Would a TAS of this kind be allowed and/or is it allowed for me to post a link to the [.sav] file?
Joined: 2/28/2006
Posts: 2275
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The new dot code stages are saved on SRAM? Curious...
If they're better then the normal boring stages of course a TAS would be acceptable... they're official levels created by Nintendo. Whether it's legal or not to post that SAV file, that's a nice question... but I think you should do anyway. Moderators will edit your message if it's not allowed. In that case you should PM the interested people.
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Bisqwit wrote:
Some of the levels (mostly the jap-only ones) are quite cool and I think a TAS might be accepted.
The [.sav] file link is below, you should use with one of the following:
1212 - Super Mario Advance 4 - Super Mario Bros. 3 (U) (v1.0)
OR2161 - Super Mario Advance 4 - Super Mario Bros. 3 (U) (v1.1) I forgot which one I used so try both.
EDIT: Confirmed that [.sav] only works for v1.1.
Link to [.sav] file:
http://forums.no.intro.free.fr/showpost.php?p=10287&post%20count=25https://wfs.bc.edu/phillijv/SMA4_eReader_J_US.sav
EDIT: Link changed so can download without signing up for that forum.
EDIT2: See pages 3-5 for the link to a more "blank" .sav file.
It works. You can't use the ZIP file 1212 - Super Mario Advance 4 - Super Mario Bros. 3 comes in. You have to extract the file first. It will still say "saved data is corrupt" but it will say everything is OK, and go into the game.
EDIT: The sav dosen't work for 1212
See Youtube page (GIRfanaticTAS) for all runs and stuff.
Just tested, the [.sav] only works with version 1.1. I edited my above post.
And I made a test video file, but it desyncs at the title screen...
Okay, I got the movie file to work.
I'm starting to make a TAS attempt myself. I'm partway through the first level.
Joined: 8/15/2005
Posts: 1942
Location: Mullsjö, Sweden
First of all, don't use turbo in the beginning. You could easily have pressed one frame too late.
The Left+Right backwards running works in the GBA version, so it should be used as it is faster.
It is also quite suboptimal... And I can't understand your goals for the TAS, and why the coins should be collected.
I uploaded the savefile to Savefile, and also fixed the name of it so it fits with the rom.
This is not intended as a pure speedrun.
Since few people have gotten to play the e-reader levels, and even fewer have seen the japanese-only ones, I decided to do this as a concept demo kind of thing, like what Genisto did to his Air TAS.
This run is intended to show the full extent of the e-reader levels, and I get all the A-coins and e-coins. Unfortunately, whoever uploaded the [.sav] file in the first place already collected some of the e-coins, including the one in #3 Vegetable Volley and #4 Doors O' Plenty.
Unlike A-coins, e-coins can NEVER be gotten twice, once you get it, it disappears from that level permanently (unless you delete the level [don't know how] and re-scan it. [also don't know how].)
And the L+R backwards running works in GBA version? I never knew that.
EDIT: ARGH, my file with my emulation stuff got deleted! Now I have to re-do some of my levels! Fortunately, I remember where I downloaded my ROM and emulator, so I just have to get those and the movie file. Whew!
EDIT 2: Tompa, I think you might have the wrong SMA4 ROM. The name of the ROM and the [.sav] file should be "2161 - Super Mario Advance 4 - Super Mario Bros. 3 (U) (v1.1)".
bad looking avi version.
I kept turning down the bitrate trying to make the file size small. I finally hit 170mb and decided to give up. I forgot that 150mb of that is uncompressed pcm audio. Opps. So you now have a bad looking audioless avi. Enjoy!
Joined: 8/15/2005
Posts: 1942
Location: Mullsjö, Sweden
Version 2163 worked fine for me at least ;D.
Yeah, you can do the backwardsrunning in the GBA version as well, just allow left + right and you'll be able to do it. Speeds up things a lot.
@Tompa:
I'm thinking, since some people don't like the left+right running, I'm only going to do that in one level which is almost designed for that.
Level #21 is called "60 Seconds" where you MUST run full-speed the whole time to beat it and the time limit is only 60 seconds. I'm thinking that I'll do L+R there.
And in your previous post, what did you mean by "don't use turbo in the beginning"?
I actually started getting into these levels myself last month. I'm considering making my own new, "clean" save file for doing runs of the e-Reader levels, but there are a few things we need to take into consideration:
1. You can only store 32 levels on one game, and there are 37 levels that I have found. Fortunately, 5 of them are mere remakes of Super Mario Brothers 1 levels in the updated Super Mario Brothers 3 engine, and there's nothing too interesting about collecting their Advance Coins except that you have to remember that shells can collect coins in 1-3. You might be able to get away with having those five levels completed with their Advance Coins already collected and just start right away on the all-new levels, but it might still be fun to see them played sometime regardless. This is all assuming that you can't record a movie of the two ROMs, the game and the e-Reader, linked together, which just sounds messy no matter how you do it.
2. A majority of the e-Reader levels weren't released in North America thanks to the e-Reader being a flop. Luckily, I've found scans of all the Japanese level cards, which have been made compatible with the (U) version; but naturally, they all have garbage titles in the English text, and I'm not sure if mixing them in with the actual American levels wouldn't confuse the game somehow in the long run. This is one thing I'll need to test more.
3. I've heard rumors that there's at least one more level that hasn't been scanned and distributed yet, but it's very rare. Something about "B-Dash" or whatever. Let me know if you've heard anything.
4. I only know how to link the Super Mario Advance 4 ROM and the e-Reader ROM in NO$GBA. Can its save files be made to work with VisualBoyAdvance? I mean, I think there's a way if there are already VisualBoyAdvance saves with the levels on them, but I need to check for sure soon.
5. As far as I can tell, you can only store a level permanently (that is, be able to load another level without losing the current one) once you've beaten it. This means you wouldn't really be able to have a "clean" level card, since you'd have to have either the M or the L filled in showing which brother you completed each level with. Would it be acceptable to just complete all the levels once with only Mario, dodging all the special coins and perhaps getting as few points as possible? I just don't want a situation where somebody says "Hey, that's not fair, that run started with extra stuff! They should have used my save file instead!" Perhaps the level data should be hacked to be cleaner instead?
6. More on that point, should it be unacceptable to add in power-ups and switch effects with the other e-Cards, even if the switches might make it harder or more interesting? (Actually, I haven't tried any of the switches yet, so I don't even know for sure if any of them work in World-e.) I suppose there's nothing wrong with playing the Mushroom House mini-games for power-ups, since you have to earn their unlocking by collecting coins and then actually earn the power-ups and use up valuable time doing that. Probably not worth it, but hey.
7. Would this be considered pirating, since the levels are actually downloaded into the save space rather than unlocked?
Please tell me all your thoughts so I'll know what I'm getting into!
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
I actually started getting into these levels myself last month. I'm considering making my own new, "clean" save file for doing runs of the e-Reader levels, but there are a few things we need to take into consideration:
1. You can only store 32 levels on one game, and there are 37 levels that I have found. Fortunately, 5 of them are mere remakes of Super Mario Brothers 1 levels in the updated Super Mario Brothers 3 engine, and there's nothing too interesting about collecting their Advance Coins except that you have to remember that shells can collect coins in 1-3. You might be able to get away with having those five levels completed with their Advance Coins already collected and just start right away on the all-new levels, but it might still be fun to see them played sometime regardless. This is all assuming that you can't record a movie of the two ROMs, the game and the e-Reader, linked together, which just sounds messy no matter how you do it.
2. A majority of the e-Reader levels weren't released in North America thanks to the e-Reader being a flop. Luckily, I've found scans of all the Japanese level cards, which have been made compatible with the (U) version; but naturally, they all have garbage titles in the English text, and I'm not sure if mixing them in with the actual American levels wouldn't confuse the game somehow in the long run. This is one thing I'll need to test more.
3. I've heard rumors that there's at least one more level that hasn't been scanned and distributed yet, but it's very rare. Something about "B-Dash" or whatever. Let me know if you've heard anything.
4. I only know how to link the Super Mario Advance 4 ROM and the e-Reader ROM in NO$GBA. Can its save files be made to work with VisualBoyAdvance? I mean, I think there's a way if there are already VisualBoyAdvance saves with the levels on them, but I need to check for sure soon.
5. As far as I can tell, you can only store a level permanently (that is, be able to load another level without losing the current one) once you've beaten it. This means you wouldn't really be able to have a "clean" level card, since you'd have to have either the M or the L filled in showing which brother you completed each level with. Would it be acceptable to just complete all the levels once with only Mario, dodging all the special coins and perhaps getting as few points as possible? I just don't want a situation where somebody says "Hey, that's not fair, that run started with extra stuff! They should have used my save file instead!" Perhaps the level data should be hacked to be cleaner instead?
6. More on that point, should it be unacceptable to add in power-ups and switch effects with the other e-Cards, even if the switches might make it harder or more interesting? (Actually, I haven't tried any of the switches yet, so I don't even know for sure if any of them work in World-e.) I suppose there's nothing wrong with playing the Mushroom House mini-games for power-ups, since you have to earn their unlocking by collecting coins and then actually earn the power-ups and use up valuable time doing that. Probably not worth it, but hey.
7. Would this be considered pirating, since the levels are actually downloaded into the save space rather than unlocked?
Please tell me all your thoughts so I'll know what I'm getting into!
From what I know...
1. Sounds OK to me.
2. The jap scans do work with the us cart, it's just the level names that display glitched text. The levels themselves work fine.
3. As far as I know, the rumor is false.
4. Yes, [.sav]s made with NO$GBA do work with VBA.
5. Uh...could you restate this?
6. The switches work. I think this is acceptable.
7. Uh....
Just to let you know, I'm doing a run starting with a [.sav] file. From what I know, it's not possible to make a movie showing you link up everything, especially because you are using NO$GBA and not VBA.
Regardless of anything, I'm going to finish my current WIP.
After submitting, if someone has a clean [.sav] file, I might cancel my first one and start a new run with that.
I think a clean file should have all 32 levels (except SMB1 remakes) on it.
It should also have no A-coins or e-coins collected.
Unfortuantely, for this run, 3 of the US e-coins have already been collected.
If I could make my own [.sav] file, it would be like that. Unfortuantely, neither my e-reader ROM nor my SMA4 ROM load properly in NO$GBA. I also can't load 2 different ROMs in NO$GBA, but I know it's possible.
Yeah, getting NO$GBA to play two different ROMs at the same time is a little tricky. Maybe I will go ahead and try to make a new save file of those levels, and what you're working on now could be the practice run.
Zowayix wrote:
5. Uh...could you restate this?
Oh, well, mainly I'm wondering if anyone cares whether the levels were pre-completed with Mario or Luigi, and if anyone cares if the game starts with a very high score or many extra lives or power-ups or a powered-up character or anything like that. I'm thinking I'll make the most bare-bones version of the level card file first, and then we could add stuff onto it from there if it seems okay. But starting with as little as possible makes sense if we're trying to make this seem like a first-time run of every level, with the compromise that every level has had its goal reached once so it doesn't have to be re-scanned.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
