"Your mission: Save the captured princess Lala from the Great Devils evil empire!!! You are the only one who can save Lala." By collecting every heartpiece in the room a treasure chest opens with a pearl inside. If you collect this pearl a door will open and you advance to the next level. This game contains 50 of these levels.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: FCEU 0.98.23 (works also on other versions)
  • Completes game as fast as possible
  • Uses no passwords
  • Manipulates luck (enemy movement)
  • Abuses programming errors

Comments

Deign and Nitrodon told me that Zugzwang, who is/was making a speedrun at SDA, had posted a movie of the first three levels. He used a different strategy on level 3-2, and if TASed, his strategy was 7 frames faster than the currently published TAS. The improvement comes from using an egg to ride to the other side of the level instead of walking around it. I had obviously already tried this in previous versions, but the way I did it didn't work out.
Luckily, this new version isn't entirely due to this improvement... I also found another improvement myself! In level 2-5, there was a small wait before getting the heart in the lower left corner. This wait is now avoided by shooting the enemy nearby. I however had only 1 shot left to complete the rest of the level, so I lost a few at the end for manipulating enemy movement, but it was still 9 frames faster!
9 frames from my improvement, and 7 from Zugzwang's improvement makes 16 frames in total. However, due to unfortunate lag, that couldn't be avoided, I lost 2 frames in other levels. In the end, this movie is 14 frames faster than the previous version!

Easter egg

You only have to press a direction in Lolo every 8 frames for Lolo to move. This allows a lot of freedom to put in other input, without affecting the Lolo TAS. This particular movie file will not only complete Adventures of Lolo (U).nes, but it will also complete Defenders of the Crown (U).nes!
I picked Defenders of the Crown because I like the game, and there is no TAS for it was or will be made. I know the game if a poor TAS choice, but I think the few people who did play the game will enjoy it. For the others it might be a nice thing to know that this movie file also completes another game (without of course slowing down the Adventures of Lolo TAS in any way).
The Defenders of the Crown TAS is completed (for as far as I know) in the least turns possible. It isn't possible to complete it in this few turns in normal playing, due to the luck manipulation involved. The Defenders of the Crown TAS obviously isn't perfect, since Adventures of Lolo was obviously sometimes in the way (especially when I had shots there I couldn't fire yet). I am also not sure about the catapulting and if I really needed to shoot that much there (probably not). In any case, besides those small things, it's a very fast completion of the game, enjoy!
Also note that this isn't a dual TAS of anything and isn't supposed to look good together. The games are completely different, and this was only done to add a funny easter egg. Maybe it even shows that dual TASes of completely different games with different lengths are pointless :).

Thanks

I thank: - Zugzwang for the level 3-2 improvement - Deign for hexediting - The people who found improvements to previous versions of this TAS: Nitrodon, AnS, BagofMagicFood and Hanzou.
Enjoy!! (for those who are still watching new Adventures of Lolo submission)

NesVideoAgent: Hi! I am a robot. I took a few screenshots of this movie and placed them here. Oh! I also corrected the ROM name.
  • You indicated Adventures of Lolo (U).nes
  • I updated it to Adventures of Lolo (U) [b1].nes

adelikat: Accepted as an improvement to the published movie.

adelikat: Processing.

Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
OK The video is here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQObbyfHnsI Dont look if you dont to find it yourself! :) I would imagine one reason why this is better is because I am able to block 4 enemies successfully with 1/2 pushes as opposed to the current video which blocks only 3.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
That's quite a strange route for that level indeed! Funny how such a different route turned out to be a tile faster. I'll look into Lolo again in a short while (I checked out 6-1 a bit now, but couldn't get it faster thurfar than your latest version... pushing the block at the left further up to also block the medusa at the right seems fun, but ends up giving trouble unfortunately); currently occupied with some other stuff, but once again, very nice improvement.
Active player (283)
Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341
Zugzwang wrote:
1-3: I looked for a long time for a way to get the skeleton to go back down once he reached the top left corner to no avail. There is a vid on you tube where a guy made it go back down. Unfortunatelyit looks like it requires the upper heart to be taken first. This is a bummer because I believe there is about 14 steps of waiting in this level.
I just looked into this by completely deciphering the Leeper's AI. It is possible to make him go back down after reaching the top left corner, and if there were a way to make Lolo move 7 steps even one frame faster than usual, you could do it without too much waiting.
Active player (277)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
Interesting, how did you decipher the AI? Do you mean you looked at the actual code of the game to see what triggered Leeper's movements, or did you just try lots of experiments? I remember the first FDS Eggerland had very different AI for all its enemies, and it would be nice to know what would make them move the best way for making a new time attack.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Very cool! I found that the top heart had to be taken before he would go back down. If you get to bottom right heart then the top heart (without pause) he has passed the upper left corner (too late). If you go out of order then you use too many steps. So your saying its possible, by some movement you make, that the leeper will go back down. So what is the "condition" that makes him do so? Is it possible to delay the movement of the leeper by pausing frames at the start of the level? That would attain you 1 frame ahead. Perhaps that last question is stupid. Remember I know knothing about TASing :)
Active player (283)
Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341
Zugzwang wrote:
Very cool! I found that the top heart had to be taken before he would go back down. If you get to bottom right heart then the top heart (without pause) he has passed the upper left corner (too late). If you go out of order then you use too many steps.
I'm not entirely sure what you're suggesting here. It doesn't seem to fit with what I know, so maybe we're talking about completely different things.
So your saying its possible, by some movement you make, that the leeper will go back down. So what is the "condition" that makes him do so?
His movement stack must be empty, and you must stay above him until 1/2 step below the top of the map.
Is it possible to delay the movement of the leeper by pausing frames at the start of the level? That would attain you 1 frame ahead. Perhaps that last question is stupid. Remember I know knothing about TASing :)
That won't really do anything. The leeper will never stop moving until it falls asleep. If you mean pausing before anything moves, the leeper will start moving as soon as you do.
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Nitrodon wrote:
I'm not entirely sure what you're suggesting here. It doesn't seem to fit with what I know, so maybe we're talking about completely different things.
We are talking about two things because you know more than I do. As I wrote, I cant make the leeper go back down unless I take the top heart. (in realtime) You figured out a way you can make the him go back down regardless. I guess I was in doubt that it was possible.
His movement stack must be empty, and you must stay above him until 1/2 step below the top of the map.
The reaon I wanted to know the "condition" is to see if I could replicate it. I tried a few more routes, but still couldnt find anything in realtime. bummer.
That won't really do anything. The leeper will never stop moving until it falls asleep. If you mean pausing before anything moves, the leeper will start moving as soon as you do.
I was considering the latter. I thought that would probably be the case. I'm happy I brought this levels possibility to light. Good luck with finding another improvement!
Active player (283)
Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341
Leepers and skulls will react to Lolo only when their direction stack is empty (don't worry about this) and one of two conditions hold. 1) They are not facing toward Lolo. (That is, Lolo is on or behind an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the direction the enemy is facing.) 2) They hit a wall and can turn either both directions or neither direction. Here is what happens to the leeper in 1-3: 1) He moves 3 steps up, 2 right, 5 down, then turns toward the right. His direction stack is empty at this point. 2) He moves 4 steps right and runs into the heart. 3a) Lolo was at or behind the leeper's X coordinate (and above him) while the leeper was moving right in step 1 or 2. The leeper moves 6 steps left, then turns and starts moving up. 4aa) Lolo was at or behind the leeper's Y coordinate while the leeper was moving up, before he reached the first fork. Go back to the middle of step 1. 4ab) Lolo was at or behind the leeper's Y coordinate while the leeper was moving up, before he reached the point 1 step below the top of the room. The leeper moves up to that point, right 1 step, up 1 step, then starts moving right along the top of the room. 4ac) Lolo was at or behind the leeper's Y coordinate while the leeper was moving up, before he reached the point 1/2 step below the top of the room. The leeper moves up to that point, then right one step. 4ad) The leeper moves up to the top left corner, then moves right along the top of the room. 5aca) If Lolo is at or above the leeper's Y coordinate, the leeper will move up 1/2 step and then move right along the top of the room. 5acb) If Lolo is below the leeper's Y coordinate, the leeper will move down 1/2 step, move left 1 step, then move down. 3b) Lolo was ahead of the leeper's X coordinate whenever the leeper was moving right in steps 1 in 2. The leeper moves all the way left, then all the way up, then moves right along the top of the room.
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Thanks for going into that much detail Nitrodon although I still can't manage to do it. As far as I can tell you need to be ahead of the sleeper before he forks right the second time. This makes him keep going up. Then pause so that he passes lolo and you are meeting the conditions at the top? Bah. too many things to consider and perform. I'll have to wait till I see the TAS of it then replicate it ;) Yay. On positive note, I can confirm what I thought about 8-5. Sorry Baxter beat you to it! By doing the second half of the level identical to before but the begining with the up-dodge fot the knife guy it saves 1 step. It also saves a little more time because I dont have to wait for the knife men to pass when pushing against them. The Current TAS is 177+ to the chest this is 172 now a 5+ step improvement The total now is -14 3/4+ steps This video I took at 4am. My wife woke up to ask me what I was still doing awake. HA, so I kept some of the attempts because of the silly comentary we had. Yes... I might be crazy. The improvement is the last take. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78sRPY8NwTU
Active player (283)
Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341
That's because it's impossible without losing a huge amount of time. If you could cheat and teleport 1 pixel ahead (relative to your normal walking speed) somehow, it would be possible, but you can't, so it isn't.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Zugzwang wrote:
Yay. On positive note, I can confirm what I thought about 8-5. Sorry Baxter beat you to it! By doing the second half of the level identical to before but the begining with the up-dodge fot the knife guy it saves 1 step. It also saves a little more time because I dont have to wait for the knife men to pass when pushing against them. The Current TAS is 177+ to the chest this is 172 now a 5+ step improvement The total now is -14 3/4+ steps This video I took at 4am. My wife woke up to ask me what I was still doing awake. HA, so I kept some of the attempts because of the silly comentary we had. Yes... I might be crazy. The improvement is the last take. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78sRPY8NwTU
Wow, very nice (and very funny movie too :)! Seeing it being played in realtime, and seeing some errors, and then success has a certain charm to it. Very impressive that you keep finding improvements in realtime, although it does make me think every time how much easier you could have made it for yourself using an emulator (and frame advance+rerecords). I'm really sorry I haven't had the time to look into it yet... but I'll be sure to post whatever I find, or even if I would have a finished version of the TAS, here first before submitting.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Finally! I managed to improve a level of my published TAS also :) I improved level 6-3 by 7 frames (7/16th of a full step). The strategy at the beginning is exactly the same, but at the end, instead of using the leeper to block the medusa at the top, I used it to block the medusa at the bottom again, and use the green block to block the medusa at the top. I'm quite happy the new version will include at least one improvement of my own :) I'll finish up the TAS with all new improvements by Zugzwang and this one of my own shortly, and will post it here. Then I'll let it sit here for a month or so, and check some levels again. If I, or someone else hasn't found another improvement then within that time, I'll submit.
Zugzwang wrote:
7-3: Question, with perfect accuracy is it possbly to: get left heart go up middle get right heart shoot upper right fire guy shoot block madussa shoot upper left fire guy AND get chest before upper right hatches I know I cant do it realtime but its frame close
I had already tried this before, and was sad this didn't work. Lolo is just a fraction of a second too late :(
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Nice! That made my day :) Crazy, I had actually found the solution you mentioned but: 1. Couldn't replicate it consistentently in realtime. 2. Dismissed it for being slower. I was sure that the time you wait in your current solution was much shorter than the time it took to manuver the block into place. So much for assumptions. I do like to be proved wrong ;) I looked again at 8-5 with your begining but not pushing the right man down. I push it down 1/2 a step (1+ step total) then have to push the forth block 1/2 step further (1+ step) then the fifth a half step further (1+ step) but then need to wait 2+ steps before my last pass downwards. Unfortunatly I have to use a single frame earlier in the level to aviod the knife men. So it seems to be 1 frame longer! It's a real bummer because its a beautiful solution. You may want to double check though because it was my first attempt at using my emulater to test it out. Again, nice job, I'm spent for improvements so I'm very happy you found one :D
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Ok I lied :) It came to me while I was driving home, and It actually worked. It only took me about 20 minutes to do, then I spent another 2 1/2 hours trying to improve further. 8-5 is now at just over 168 steps. Wow thats 9 steps over the Current TAS As much as I disliked it, I realized to improve further Id have to rethink the level again. It ended up easier than I expected. Its stupid late now so Ill post it tommorrow.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTCwcwjzyCE The idea was to avoid going back and forth on the second pass down. Also I believe not ending on the right side of the screen may save steps. I do have to give two away getting the last heart differently and one at the very end for timing.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Zugzwang wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTCwcwjzyCE The idea was to avoid going back and forth on the second pass down. Also I believe not ending on the right side of the screen may save steps. I do have to give two away getting the last heart differently and one at the very end for timing.
Wow, very nice. I wonder why we (or anyone else) never thought of going up there before blocking that second don medusa.
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Baxter wrote:
Wow, very nice. I wonder why we (or anyone else) never thought of going up there before blocking that second don medusa.
I'm not exactly sure what part your talking about. Do you mean blocking the right don madussa in that order? I did figure out that particular move order at the begining saves 4 steps over bringing down each block individually I could probably write a paper on this stupid level :( Although it may still be possible to improve I'm going to call it quits with this level. :) This solution was very satisfying to find. It has tons of split second timing. There is about a frame pause before coming bake up on the first pass down. More than say four frames and the don madussa will catch you on the second pass down, but more than say two frames and youll get caught on the third pass the way up. It was a nice lightbulb moment to push the third block further than nessasary, leave the heart, then finally get it (with protection) on the last pass down. Sweet. Edit: I realized this morning that the way I get the second to last heart is optimal. If, in a seperate solution, I were to get the heart and go straight up to get the last box, I wouldnt be doing the boxes in combination (which saves two steps) So I would be gaining two steps but giving two away because its an inferior route. So the solution I have actually only uses 1 step for timing and I feel even more content ;)
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
I completed the fm2 movie file, which includes all the latest improvements: 6 improvents found by Zugzwang, and one by me. Note: 1 full step is 16 frames Level 3-1 46 frame improvement (Zugzwang) Level 3-2 43 frame improvement (Zugzwang) Level 6-1 16 frame improvement (Zugzwang) Level 6-3 7 frame improvement (Baxter) Level 8-4 16 frame improvement (Zugzwang) Level 8-5 138 frame improvement (Zugzwang) Level 9-3 41 frame impovement (Zugzwang) This version was quite lucky with the random length of dark screens (varies sometimes by a frame), which also saved 2 or 3 frames. In the end, this version is now 309 frames (a little over 5 seconds) faster than the published run. At this point, I didn't find any improvements that weren't mentioned in this topic before this post. I did know what caused me to not notice the 9-3 improvement before it was mentioned by Zugzwang... going all the way down while waiting at the start manipulated the movement of the second leaper coming out. This is why I misunderstood the improvement at first, since the key to the improvement was not moving all the way down (which Zugzwang couldn't know). I'll leave this movie here, and will check out some levels again, and if I, Zugzwang, or anyone else doesn't find an improvement in the next few weeks, I'll submit this movie. Also, the published movie was labelled "v10"... and while it probably is the 10th version, I have only made 9 submissions, so for consistency, I named this movie v10 (which would correspond to the number of submissions). Edit: The fm2 still also completed Defenders of the Crown.
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
Incredible! 2-3 Go up and take one step right then go left, you'll get the rest :) I'd never seen it because I dont use your solution for this level. Ill go back over the levels we dont do the same and take a tenth look. ;) Edit: Sorry I just realized (two minutes later) its faster stepwise but may not time right with the don medussa
Active player (283)
Joined: 3/4/2006
Posts: 341
You can't glitch past the Don Medusa unless it's moving to the right.
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Zugzwang wrote:
Incredible! 2-3 Go up and take one step right then go left, you'll get the rest :) I'd never seen it because I dont use your solution for this level. Ill go back over the levels we dont do the same and take a tenth look. ;) Edit: Sorry I just realized (two minutes later) its faster stepwise but may not time right with the don medussa
Yeah, it's like Nitrodon said, the time frame for moving past the don medusa is really short. I do have to wait a few frames to move past him, but pushing the block at the start even one tile to the right and you will be too late to move past the don medusa. I have already tried this before, but the time frame for moving past it is too short :(
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
I found another 2 step improvement in 8-4 That level is now 114 steps to the chest Get the rightmost heart last. See if you can find it :p
Skilled player (1402)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Zugzwang wrote:
I found another 2 step improvement in 8-4 That level is now 114 steps to the chest Get the rightmost heart last. See if you can find it :p
Hmm, I'm not sure if we use the same strategy. I made a 4 step improvement, (2 steps faster then your version). I still have to do more testing though... Edit: made like 5 different versions with the same amount of steps now... maybe I'll try again later.
Player (57)
Joined: 8/15/2008
Posts: 34
Location: Sacramento, CA
HA not sure what the hell I did. So i said to myself wow he must have found an improvement on the variation I didnt try. Checked it and sure enough 112. So I wentback to my own and... WTF... 112. So the variation I counted was in err two steps bummer, its all you. Ill see I cant squeeze out any more steps. Of course the solution involves pushing the block from upper left to upper right then going around and pushing down. :)