Emulator details

  • Emulator: PCSX-RR v0.0.9
  • Options → CPU → Put the check in "Resident Evil 2/3 Fix"
(If you don't put the check in the fix, music will become too fast.)
Plugins
  • GPU:TAS Soft Graphics Plugin 0.1
  • SPU:TAS Sound Plugin 0.2 (Movie sync mode)
  • Bios:Sony PlayStation BIOS (U)(v4.1)

Game objectives

  • Aims for fastest time
  • Recorded from Power-On
  • Manipulates luck
  • Genre: RPG

About the game

SaGa Frontier is a RPG by Square, released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment in North America(SCEA) on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series and the first to be released on the PlayStation.
The plot of SaGa Frontier take place a science fiction/fantasy setting called the Regions, a group of worlds with varying degrees of culture, unique races, technology, and magic. The game allows the player to follow the exploits of one of seven protagonists, each with his or her own storyline and goal. The game's Free Scenario System offers a large amount of non-linear gameplay, allowing the player to freely travel between many of the Regions, interact with other characters, and take part in turn-based combat.If certain conditions are met within the battle, party members on either side can create combination attacks for added damage.

About the run

I beat the chapter of Lute

Route

Yorkland → Manhattan → Koorong → Shingrow → Koorong → Scrap → Koorong → Devin → Shrike → Koorong → Owmi → Nelson → Mondo Base

Shingrow

Obtain 'HyperScale'.

Scrap

Riki, Mei-ling and T260 join the party.
Obtain some equipment in the Junk Store.
Infinite Items in Scrap Junk Store
Go to the junk store in Scrap and agree to pay 300 credits to search for 3 items. After doing this, talk to the owners again and pick Selling, then go to the bottom selection 'Hyperion Bazooka' and hit circle. Then hit cancel and go into the room with the junk, you'll be able to get 7 items instead of 3. Moreover, the obtained item changes by credit on hand. After picking 7 items, talk to the owners agian, hit selling, highlight circle on 'Hyperion Bazooka' and hit circle. You can do this as many times as you like.
Actual procedure
Sell 'HyperScale' → Pay 300 credits → Sell 'RepairKit' → Highlight circle on 'Hyperion Bazooka' and hit circle
Obtain the following equipment.
CyberSuit×3 Thunderbolt×2 MirrorGlass×2 LethalGun×4 ExcelShield×3

Devin

Receive 4 pebbles.
Buy 'VictoryRune' for Mei-ling.

Shrike

Roufas and EngineerCar join the party.

Owmi

talk with the Capt.Hamilton.

Mondo Base

Change the formation and equipment. (Bold-faced type = Changed point)
MemberEquip1Equip2Equip3Equip4Equip5Equip6Equip7Equip8
T260Armor
Vest
Armor
Vest
Nakajima
Board2
ThunderboltThunderboltLaser
Knife
Samurai
Sword
Mec
Body
EngineerCarLethal
Gun
Eagle
Gun
Mirror
Glass
Mirror
Glass
Laser
Scope
Machine
Vulcan
Pepair
Pack
Mini
Plant
Capt.HamiltonLethal
Gun
Lethal
Gun
Osc-
Sword
Excel
Shield
---Cyber
Suit
RoufasLethal
Gun
AGUNI-
SSP
Excel
Shield
----Cyber
Suit
Mei-ling--Excel
Shield
AGUNI-
CP1
Cyber
Suit
---
To obtain some techniques and items, I fight against 'Giant' twice.

1st

VS Giant (HP 10552)

The 1st turn:
Defense(Roufas),
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar),
SunRay(Mei-ling)+SharpShot(Captain)
The 2nd turn:
Same as the pre-turn.
The 3rd turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar),
AnyGun(Captain, Roufas & Mei-ling)
After the battle:
Captain: Learns 'CrossShot',
Roufas and Meiling: Learn 'Twogun'
Obtain 'PowerBelt'.

Captain: Put on 'PowerBelt'. Add 'CrossShot' to the Equip Ability

2nd

VS Giant (HP 10552)

The 1st turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)+CrossShot(Captain),
Defense(Roufas and Meiling)
The 2nd turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar),
AnyGun(Captain, Roufas and Mei-ling)
After the battle:
Roufas and Meiling: Learn 'Twogun'
Obtain 'PowerBelt'. 

Change the equipment.(Bold-faced type = Changed point)
MemberEquip1Equip2Equip3Equip4Equip5Equip6Equip7Equip8
T260Armor
Vest
Armor
Vest
Nakajima
Board2
ThunderboltThunderbolt--Mec
Body
EngineerCar--Mirror
Glass
Mirror
Glass
Laser
Scope
Machine
Vulcan
Pepair
Pack
Mini
Plant
Capt.HamiltonLethal
Gun
Lethal
Gun
Osc-
Sword
Excel
Shield
--Power
Belt
Cyber
Suit
RoufasLethal
Gun
AGUNI-
SSP
Excel
Shield
---Power
Belt
Cyber
Suit
Mei-lingLethal
Gun
-Excel
Shield
AGUNI-
CP1
Cyber
Suit
---
Roufas: Add 'CrossShot & Twogun' to the Equip Ability.
Meiling: Add 'CrossShot, Twogun & VictoryRune' to the Equip Ability.

VS Spriggan

Spriggan shifts to the next form when its HP becomes below the half. (Excluding 'Tamashii')

Spriggan 'Kyoten' (HP 35000)

The 1st turn:
VictoryRune(Mei-ling)→Roufas,
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Roufas)+CrossShot(Captain)

Spriggan 'Douchi' (HP 35000)

The 2nd turn:
VictoryRune(Mei-ling)→Captain,
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Captain)+CrossShot(Roufas)

Spriggan 'Iryoku' (HP 25000)

The 3rd turn:
Defense(EngineerCar),
VictoryRune(Mei-ling)→EngineerCar,
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Roufas)+CrossShot(Captain)

Spriggan 'Choshin' (HP 55000)

The 4th turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Meiling)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Captain)+CrossShot(Roufas)
The 5th turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Captain)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Roufas)+CrossShot(Mei-ling)

Spriggan 'Tamasii' (succeeding HP of 'Choshin')

The 6th turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Captain)+CrossShot(Roufas)
THE END

Movie of this run
Reference
Saga Frontier (Blue) (JPN) in 18:43.60 (Played by knbnitkr)
(Using system data. NOT from Power-On)
Saga Frontier (Asellus) (JPN) in 43:56 (Played by gure)
(Using system data. NOT from Power-On)
Saga Frontier (Riki) (JPN) in 38:02 (Played by gure)
(Using system data. NOT from Power-On)

I hope you enjoy my run.

Nach: We now have Rules regarding BIOSes, and how to make submissions for runs for emulators that use BIOSes. This run adhears to them. Accepting.

Aktan: Processing.
Spikestuff: Sync Note: In order for this to run on pcsx-rr you must compress the bin/iso to the bz format. And for those figuring out the bios it's SCPH7001.

Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Since we're dumping PSX in bizhawk using native resolution, even for 3D elements (increased internal res is imply not an option there), I think we can avoid increasing internal res in old PSX emulators too. So what you will need is figuring out native in-game resolution and dumping at that.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
When I dumped at 320x240, the line disappeared. I'll try this.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
What are your video settings in the emulator?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Please enable dithering. Also if the game ever outputs at higher resolution, that will be cropped. It's safer to make the window 640x480 and then crop the black area afterwards. And if there are segments with higher resolution, they need to be cropped differently.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Yes, I understand. I'll try.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
When I dumped with that setting, a blue line appeared at the top side in the last scene.(It's hard to see.) https://mega.nz/file/mTpxkCrb#0zAsJj2WyFO7nJg2E8e-HYPuOyZLYd5rB0OEEvzVAMY It didn't disappear when I changed the window size setting. The other scenes are fine.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
End the video after this screen (when the text disappears, before the new song stars): For the logo, spread the text a bit, it's too squished together. You can add your favorite character in the corner if you want. I'd also make the link white so it stands out more. Replacing "you are" with "this is" would feel more neutral. Overall, here's some logos that the publishers have used, that might give some insight on the style: http://tasvideos.org/SiteHistory/EncoderLogos.html Subtitles look good.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Thanks, feos. I'll try them.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Sorry I meant "This is a Tool-Assisted Speedrun", not "This is watching a Tool-Assisted Speedrun". Also if you plan to encode movies that don't aim for speed (like playarounds), then the logo will need to say "Superplay" instead of "Speedrun".
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Nice. I think this is good to go now.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Thanks. I will encode the whole thing once.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
BTW I got informed that if you load a state, dithering is missing for 3 frames. So it has to be compensated somehow. One solution is dumping 3 extra frames for the end of a segment (without state load), and appending the next segment starting with 3 frames after the save load. Does this make sense?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Yes, I understood as below. Don't use the starting 3 frames after the state load, use the extra dumped 3 frames from the previous part.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
I've encoded the whole thing. Please check. https://mega.nz/file/DfA2HB7A#GEKOvAlWWrUteD8Z4mI-wkPcMPLfC83WkXMsxCSD3OI Change audio to vorbis (and change the container to mkv) Change video encoding setting to --qp 5
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Are you using TAS Encoding Package?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
I' m sorry, I didn't use it as is. I used only the parts needed for Youtube encoding from encode.avs and global.bat.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Why not? The video looks good to me, but I'd need to see your scripts to be sure.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Interesting idea with double quotes in subtitles!
Language: avisynth

"SaGa Frontier "+Chr($22)+"Lute"+Chr($22)
I'll use your encode officially, but I'm still interested in seeing the encoding commands too.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Joined: 9/4/2021
Posts: 45
Location: Japan
I used the "UTF8 text indirectly" example on this page. http://avisynth.nl/index.php/Subtitle The encoding settings are as below. Some settings might be meaningless.
x264.exe --keyint 600 --bframes 0 --ref 4 --qp 5 --rc-lookahead 60 --partitions all --direct auto --me tesa --merange 24 --subme 11 --psy-rd 0.3:0.0 --trellis 2 --no-fast-pskip --colormatrix bt709 --output output.mkv as_input.avs
Site Admin, Skilled player (1236)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11268
Location: RU
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.