Post subject: Puzzle de Pon R
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How much interest would there be into this game? Here's a sample video of it (unassisted): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6_C6zsgil0 It is like Puzzle Bobble (in fact, this is its prequel, to say so). 39 levels in which you have to free a block from the bubbles. If there are any objections about this game choice, please tell me now, and not after I submit a run. If there are no objections about this game choice, I'll start TASing in a few days.
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I think this could potentially be a good run, if you manipulate it right and go fast enough. I'd say go for it. Even bad games have turned out good in the past.
See Youtube page (GIRfanaticTAS) for all runs and stuff.
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You should read through the Puzzle Bobble threads for inspiration: Submission for the SNES version Thread in the SNES section Judging from the YouTube video you showed, the gameplay would be fairly repetitive, even if you could manipulate the game to give you the color you need every time. I'm not certain this is a very good game to TAS.
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I always felt Puzzle de Pon was the superior series despite being less known. The thing about my Puzzle Bobble attempt was that it was 100 goddamn levels long. 39 levels is much more manageable, and the zodiac pices add a touch more variety when compared to the simple "clear away the screen" goal.
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
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I just saw your Puzzle Bobble submission, I would have voted yes but I wasn't registered yet. Good to know I shouldn't waste time TASing this btw, I'll look for some other game :\
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Player (102)
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Noooo I just said NOT to let that submission thread deter you! I'd like to see a run of at least one of these games. Getting the game to do what you want it to do 100% of the time is completely impossible when playing normally.
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
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josh l. wrote:
Noooo I just said NOT to let that submission thread deter you!
I'm just being realistic. That submission got 68% of yes votes and didn't get published, and you're way more popular and liked than me. If I make a similar movie I would get even fewer votes and face an instant rejection.
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Took a look at this one quickly, it seems that the first two bubbles are pre-determined by the stage, anything afterwards can be luck-manipulated.
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I took a look at the unassisted video, liked it and thought how sexy a TAS could be. ^.^
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I would like to see this as well... I for one thought the Puzzle Bobble submission was awesome, and if this is shorter and more "publishable" than all the better.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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WIP 1 (Aries) Duration: 2388 frames Rerecords: 811 What happens in this WIP?
  • I enter service mode
  • I set difficulty to level 8 ("plays at hardest difficulty")
  • I exit from service mode
  • I start a 1P game
  • I play the first three levels
This movie heavily relies on luck manipulation in order to get the most appropriate balls all the times. From my tests it seems that the RNG doesn't depend on the keys you press, but only on the frame number. Therefore, delaying a shot for one or more frames may result in a better next-next-ball (since the next-ball has already been generated). However, sometimes the "random" generator is forced to output some colors until a certain condition is fulfilled (you deleted some balls, you did at least N shots, etc), so the "optimal" strategy might include some seemingly useless passages. I will try to minimize them as much as I can, but there's nothing to do if the game is set to work in a certain way. Also, in before "why didn't you disable the how to play while in service mode?" --> "because it is faster to just skip it with one button press when the time comes" Well, let me know what you think and if I should do all the 39 levels of this :)
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Love it! Good luck becoming the sun god.
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Thanks! Here is a low low quality encode for everyone who wants to give it a look without FBA.
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WIP 2 (Cancer) Duration: 9100 frames Rerecords: 2248 This wip covers the levels from 1 to 12. The luck manipulation goes on, still in the limits set by the game (e.g. in a level I can't get neither green nor yellow bubbles for a while). I think this is coming out quite well. Encoded version if you don't have FBA. If there is something wrong with this movie, PLEASE TELL ME NOW, I don't want to submit this just to see it rejected :( The feedback so far has been positive, can I get some criticism too? Or can I assume this is liked and I should go on?
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On the last stage of Aries, you spend some shots clearing out the small red area in the center instead of clearing the large red section on the left. Why not take out the red and white sections immediately and drop the constellation? It seems like manipulation of stars will be a big part of the gameplay. How frequent/hard to manipulate are they? For example, at this point you only have yellow balls supporting the constellation: If you could get another star, then the level would end right there. Of course, "starring" your way through every level would be rather dull, but it seems likely it'd be faster than taking all those segments out one by one. Right here, you're spending a star on red: Wouldn't it be better to use it on orange or purple instead? The star does basically the same thing that a normal red ball would do. In general, I suspect even if the gameplay is optimal, you won't be able to convince people it is unless you can describe exactly how the RNG works. "I fiddled with it until I got a result that seemed good" doesn't seem to fly very well these days, especially when by your own admission you occasionally have to spend shots to no purpose. :\ Edit: however, there's clearly some potential for solutions that come out of left field. I found several of the levels to be entertaining; if you can do more levels in a way that doesn't involve just clearing out layer by layer until the last supports are exposed, I think you'll have a solid movie on your hands.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
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Oooh, finally some good questions :)
Derakon wrote:
On the last stage of Aries, you spend some shots clearing out the small red area in the center instead of clearing the large red section on the left. Why not take out the red and white sections immediately and drop the constellation?
Because it is faster to shoot without angles. Removing that part allows me to get direct shots. Also I manipulate better balls for the next stage by ending on that frame.
Derakon wrote:
It seems like manipulation of stars will be a big part of the gameplay. How frequent/hard to manipulate are they?
They can't appear in all the levels, and yeah, two stars would be awesome in that level, but it's not possible, unfortunately.
Derakon wrote:
Wouldn't it be better to use it on orange or purple instead? The star does basically the same thing that a normal red ball would do.
Yes, it would be much better. But red balls can't be manipulated that soon. Thanks for your observations. Now I wonder if I should cancel this before someone finds some actual mistake in my manipulations :(
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nineko wrote:
Derakon wrote:
On the last stage of Aries, you spend some shots clearing out the small red area in the center instead of clearing the large red section on the left. Why not take out the red and white sections immediately and drop the constellation?
Because it is faster to shoot without angles. Removing that part allows me to get direct shots.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but your current method uses one angled shot and three straight shots (one to finish clearing the center, two more to drop the constellation fragment). Is that really faster than two angled shots? That would mean that an angled shot is at least twice as slow as a straight shot, which seems implausible. For the rest, fair enough.
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You're probably right. This TAS is cancelled.
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:( The 1st ingredient of a good TAS is perseverance (which is probably why I have failed at making any more) Oh well, puzzle bobble will have its day eventually!
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
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nineko wrote:
You're probably right. This TAS is cancelled.
Don't do that D: I enjoyed the run so far...
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Well, if people are interested I might finish this just to upload it on my youtube channel. Thanks guys you make me feel a bit better.
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