This is NES "Low %" Metroid, which beats the game collecting only the morph ball. The submission improves the published run by 36.7s (2204 frames) using a new route and better optimized platforming, boss fighting and lag reduction.

Goals

  • Collects only the morph ball
  • As fast as possible
  • Emulator: FCEUX 2.1.2, Old PPU

Intro

Well, I meant to do this run shortly after I finished the 100%, but got busy/lazy. Sgrunt's submission got me off my butt -- thanks. I knew it could be improved using a different route, though prior to starting I estimated the improvement at only 10-15s.

Details

Here's a summary of where time was saved compared to the published run. In summary, most time is saved by general optimizations. The new route loses 1 second getting to Kraid and 2 seconds fighting Kraid (no missiles), but saves many more seconds later due to the availability of missiles in Norfair and Ridley's areas.
Note that since different routes are used, I compare using the total time spent in each area, rather than in strict sequential fashion. The various areas are listed in the order they're first visited in my run. The times listed here are close, but not necessarily exact.
LocationPublishedSubmissionDifference (f)
Brinstar1572615288-438
Kraid's Lair41814242+61
Boss: Kraid452585+133
Norfair60725829-243
Ridley's Lair62705837-433
Boss: Ridley715371-344
Tourian51464653-493
Boss: Zebetites14101174-236
Boss: Mother Brain13001105-195
Escape11181095-23
Lag22281598-630
The key to the route is to sacrifice some time to kill Kraid first. This gets Samus a hefty stock of missiles, which makes the loooooong journey to Ridley, and the Ridley fight itself, much faster. The 2 main reasons are that missiles can kill at a distance, and can kill any non-boss/invincible creature in 1 hit. The former gives more options for refill collection and lag reduction. The latter lets Samus take shorter paths, with less lag because she can blast her way through just about anything. This is especially true in Ridley's lair, where in the 2 previous runs Samus is all but helpless -- unable to take damage, unable to kill anything -- and ends up losing a lot of time dodging enemies, not to mention lag.
The rest of the improvement was just optimization -- minimizing jumps and stops, maximizing damage boosts and luck manipulation. To avoid endless explanation, a lot of the tricks of the game are already described at the Metroid Tricks Page, the Metroid Any% run, and the Metroid 100% run.
One new discovery I found making this run was that vertical climbs are infinitely less tedious if you just focus on the small jumps where Samus must cross a significant horizontal span. The key is to hit the previous platform close enough to the edge (actually, off the edge) that the jump button can be held for 1 fewer frame. For all other jumps, apart from killing enemies and getting drops if they're needed, it doesn't really matter what Samus does.
Thanks to Sgrunt for describing a technique for manipulating monster appearance of which I wasn't aware -- having a dead monster leave an uncollected drop when the next screen is loaded is the same as having the monster still alive. This was very valuable to know in several rooms throughout the run.
I highlight many other interesting strategies in the subtitles, which is hopefully a more accessible way for people to understand what's going on than describing them at length here. I hope the encoders will include them if possible. If you find the subtitles distracting, you can always shut them off.

Nach: Accepting as excellent improvement to existing run. May I also say that this run is very nicely optimized, with high attention paid to every detail.


Lord_Tom
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Joined: 5/25/2007
Posts: 399
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andrewg wrote:
I'm curious... can't 1 block gaps be walked over with samus and save time by not jumping? I thought I remembered this being the case.
Hmm, no. Maybe you're thinking of SMB? ;)
Solon wrote:
I laughed like a maniac at the fourth wall break in the subtitles.
Anyone know what this refers to? I'm stumped... Thanks for the feedback, all! Given that people seem to like the subtitles, I might try retroactively doing them for some of my older runs.
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Breaking the fourth wall is essentially when an actor/character is aware that they are part of a scripted event, and make it known to the audience. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall Amazing run and a large improvement. The subtitles really added to the awesomeness.
They're off to find the hero of the day...
Joined: 9/13/2008
Posts: 30
Aktan wrote:
Here is an encode with softsubs as the commentary: http://www.archive.org/download/LordTomsNesMetroidIn1108.78/metroid-tas-lordtom.mp4 http://www.archive.org/download/LordTomsNesMetroidIn1108.78/metroid-tas-lordtom.mkv HQ Stream with softsubs: http://www.zexsoft.com/aktan/?LordTomsNesMetroidIn1108.78/metroid-tas-lordtom_512kb&LordTomsNesMetroidIn1108.78/metroid-tas-lordtom_s Edit: Added HQ Stream. Edit 2: Fixed HQ Stream link to have softsubs.
Do I have to do something special to watch these in VLC, or would I need a special codec or something? It looks glitchy when I try to open in VLC. EDIT: Nevermind, I upgraded from 0.8.5 to 1.0.3, it fixed the issue.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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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. ---- [1443] NES Metroid "low%" by Lord_Tom in 11:08.78
Joined: 1/16/2010
Posts: 3
Great movie! I have a question though. When you reset back to the beginning, and reach the spot where the road to Kraid is below you, can't you shoot the blue door with a missile when you first jump? Because you need to stop a bit at that door. Then again, I may be wrong.
Lord_Tom
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That door can be shot with a missile, which in the short term would save about 5 frames. However, the enemy placement on the next screen makes it necessary for Samus to morph to bounce over the crawler, so I take the morph delay while waiting for the door to open; I don't actually otherwise slow down there. Unfortunately, there's not much Samus can do to manipulate the enemy placement without losing time or using more missiles. Apart from this, using a missile on the door would require another missile refill, and I REALLY squeezed the last half of the run for missile refills to get exactly enough to avoid losing time in Tourian.
GGG
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I uploaded the movie to dailymotion for enjoyment by http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbyaqu_nes-metroid-low-in-1109-by-lord-tom
sgrunt
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I have added your DM link to the publication. Thank you!
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Lovely. Every movie should have an explanatory subtitle track like this, too!
Joined: 11/9/2008
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Location: New Orleans, LA U.S.A.
schneelocke wrote:
Lovely. Every movie should have an explanatory subtitle track like this, too!
i agree! increased my enjoyment level tenfold
__--N0ISE
Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 340
This is cool, but i was very disappointed that missiles were used. :) When I saw one item run, i thought "how the heck is he gonna complete the game without missiles?" THen i saw a boss die, and missiles getting used afterwards. "Oh...." I guess beating the game sans missiles is impossible?
Lord_Tom
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Location: New England
Indeed - the zebetites (pillars before mother brain), the red doors in Tourian, and mother brain itself all require missiles as far as anyone's ever been able to determine.
Joined: 1/13/2007
Posts: 340
Isn't goign left from start on ridley faster with missiles? If it's slower, why?