This game is a sequel to an Atari(numbers) game. It has been published on several consoles, including Sega Genesis. There are some differences in gameplay, biggest being you can skip two bosses in the SNES version. Pitfall hasn't been TASed before, who knows why, but it certainly deserves a TAS, so here it is.
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Abuses programming errors
  • Genre:Platformer
  • Takes damage to save time
Should work with any version of Snes9x. Check WIP1 timing and Sync samples with sound CPU.
After finally finishing my Sky Blazer TAS, I decided to grab one of my other WIPs. This came to mind first since I just verified an SDA speedrun of the same game. I had everything planned, knew the mechanics well and I had the first stage done. It took me four days to finish the rest of the game.
It wasn't terribly hard to get this movie optimized. Also it can be optimized only to a certain point, because every second frame doesn't accept input at all. One could call it a frame rule, because this movie couldn't be improved by 1 or 3 frames, but 2 or 4, for example.
You may notice I whip the air often. Its purpose is to cut the high jumps or to prevent falling animation. The boss fights may look a bit bad, but it was necessary to waste time in order to manipulate the bosses' actions.
I hope you enjoy the TAS.

DeHackEd: Replaced submission at request of mmbossman. New video is against (U) version of game. ROM name may need to be changed. 118 frames shorter now.

NesVideoAgent: Hi! I am a robot. I took a few screenshots of this movie and placed them here. I'm not sure I got the right ROM though. (I tried Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure (U).smc, which was the closest match to what you wrote.) Well, here goes! Feel free to clean up the list.

mmbossman: Good acrobatics, nice pacing, and a fun movie. All this leads to an easy acceptance. Thanks for making the changes to make this sync with the (U) version too!
ShinyDoofy: Processing...


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2146: Bablo's SNES Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure in 11:19.37
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Yet another good SNES submission. Why the Japanese version?
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Dunno, I often tend to download the Japanese version instead of USA. They're the same anyway, so it shouldn't matter.
<adelikat> I've been quoted with worse
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Bablo wrote:
They're the same anyway, so it shouldn't matter.
The movie desynchs with the (U) version, so they are not exactly the same. There might be no other difference than the intro timing, but I don't know for sure. (To me it seemed that the Japanese version has faster intro. Just a guess based on how the movie desynched.) Maybe the version shouldn't matter that much, but ignoring the versions can cause problems in the future, when comparing movies to each other. Even minor graphical differences have caused interesting discussion here. I would recommend editing the file to pass the (U) intro, just for fun and testing. Playback with different versions can sometimes result in surprising findings about the game. Oh, my initial reaction is that this (SNES) version is better suited for TASing than the Genesis version, in many aspects.
Bablo wrote:
I often tend to download the Japanese version instead of USA.
That's interesting.
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Aqfaq wrote:
The movie desynchs with the (U) version, so they are not exactly the same. There might be no other difference than the intro timing, but I don't know for sure. (To me it seemed that the Japanese version has faster intro. Just a guess based on how the movie desynched.) Maybe the version shouldn't matter that much, but ignoring the versions can cause problems in the future, when comparing movies to each other. Even minor graphical differences have caused interesting discussion here. I would recommend editing the file to pass the (U) intro, just for fun and testing. Playback with different versions can sometimes result in surprising findings about the game.
I was able to hex-edit it up to the last boss succesfully, with a cost of 3-4 frames. The boss fight I wasn't able to get to sync, so I'll re-do it when I time to do it.
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Some of the auto-scroll section was pretty tedious, as well as waiting for the some of platforms to appear. The wall jumping while waiting for a few of them helped though. Other than that, good run. I never did beat this game back in the day, the ending made me chuckle
i see...
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I haven't watched this, but I've been trying to get a hold of Bablo to get some clarification. Last I heard from him, he had hexed this run to sync up until the last boss with the (U) version, but hadn't completed it. Since this movie currently is against the rules of the site for using the (J) version, I'm going to have to reject it, since a (U) version exists. However I'll hold off on the rejection for another few days in case Bablo would like to get a hold of me so that we can update the submission file.
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That's dumb. You should be able to submit movies for the Japanese versions.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
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Quoting from the rules:
Use the (U) version of a ROM unless there is a good reason not to (as an example a shortcut/trick which only works in a different version, or superior music), or the version does not exist. If you decide to start to a run using a version other than (U), make a post on the forum detailing why — this is to prevent future complications. It is generally safe to use (JU) (generic NTSC) or (JUE)/(W) (worldwide, autoadjusting) versions, as this usually means no separate (U) version has ever been released.
English is the lingua franca of this community, so it's polite to submit movies using the English versions of the games, when possible. Now, I'd add a caveat to the above -- if language is basically irrelevant (e.g. in a game like Gradius), then I don't see why a Japanese ROM couldn't be used. I haven't watched this movie, though, so I couldn't say one way or another.
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Derakon wrote:
English is the lingua franca of this community, so it's polite to submit movies using the English versions of the games, when possible. Now, I'd add a caveat to the above -- if language is basically irrelevant (e.g. in a game like Gradius), then I don't see why a Japanese ROM couldn't be used. I haven't watched this movie, though, so I couldn't say one way or another.
Everything is still in English, even on the Japanese ROM. But since it seems to be necessary, I'll try to get around to fix it for the (U) ROM. I had a few attempts, but the randomness is screwed.
<adelikat> I've been quoted with worse
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This run is good, can't you just make an exception and accept it? Then if an equivalent (U) run is ever made it can obsolete this or something (given that it's not 30 minutes longer). I feel we might lose a good run :\
Gone.
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Bablo wrote:
Derakon wrote:
English is the lingua franca of this community, so it's polite to submit movies using the English versions of the games, when possible. Now, I'd add a caveat to the above -- if language is basically irrelevant (e.g. in a game like Gradius), then I don't see why a Japanese ROM couldn't be used. I haven't watched this movie, though, so I couldn't say one way or another.
Everything is still in English, even on the Japanese ROM. But since it seems to be necessary, I'll try to get around to fix it for the (U) ROM. I had a few attempts, but the randomness is screwed.
From what you had told me on IRC, I gathered that you were able to hex edit your current run so that it synced with the (U) version up until the final boss. Even if you aren't able to get that part to sync, it shouldn't be difficult to simply redo the final boss and submit that, even if does end up a few frames longer. The reason for the (U) preference on the site isn't because of the language, it's to provide a hierarchy for which ROMs should be preferred over others, to hopefully avoid arguments and pissing fights such as those brought up by Bionic Commando. I'm in no hurry to reject this simply due to a version difference, if Bablo is willing to make the effort to provide sync stability with the (U) version.
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mmbossman wrote:
The reason for the (U) preference on the site isn't because of the language, it's to provide a hierarchy for which ROMs should be preferred over others, to hopefully avoid arguments and pissing fights such as those brought up by Bionic Commando.
But I liked those arguments! They shed light on things.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
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hello crc miss mastch but works fine with the usa version
Run..Run...Run.....
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Activision guys should pay you for this TAS, you make their game look awsome!
Post subject: Movie published
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1253] SNES Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure by Bablo in 11:19.37
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maybe it should be put in the description that the CRC might not match but it doesn't desync either!
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This is bad ending, right? There was supposed to be some other one, IIRC.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
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There is some other ending if you collect all the letters (P-I-T-F-A-L-L). I'm not sure what the other ending would be like though.
<adelikat> I've been quoted with worse
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Heh, I like how the "dad" is drawn in Atari 2600 graphics.
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PITFALL HARRY DIED FOR YOUR SINS!
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I've watched lots and lots and lots of TASes. Particularly of platformer games. I've got to say that this was without a doubt one of the most entertaining runs of a game that I've seen in quite a long time. That said there was the occasional second or two where it felt non-optimized. I have a feeling that the next TASer who comes along to improve on this run will find quite a large number of small improvements to make. Also, there should be a P-I-T-F-A-L-L run. . . although the 'good' ending is almost the exact same. -AHMAD
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