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http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/158982100/Hexen-v1a-ep2-4puzzlesdone-new.m64
This is the latest version of our test run.
This post is to officiall announce I am abandoning this project. At first glance the N64 version of this game seemed to be good. The more I TAS it, the more I see it is not.
Comparing to the PC version:
1) Lower FPS
2) Poor video frame updating. Even on low graphic resoltion, I have seen it go 18 input frames before updating the screen. This is both terrible for optimzing a TAS and bad for the viewer.
3) Lag
4) Poorer handling with strafing and whatnot
5) Insanely long transitions when going through a portal or between episondes. It is a 20-30 long screen and happens many times per episode. This is unacceptable.
Running it at lower graphics resolution helps with the lag & video rendering but is ...well crappy graphics. Using nice graphics resolition, means poor video rendering, longer portal transitions, and a bad emulation glitch in one room of episode 1.
All of these things combined make the entertainment value of this version of the game to be much lower. I no longer thing it would represent TASvideos well.
Should the PC version become TASable, on the otherhand, I would be very intersted in watching/TASing it.
I apologize okaygo for crapping out on you :)
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/893648594/Dragon_Warrior_4_%28U%29.fcm
Project over.
In v2 I dealt with ridicouls amounts of desyncs and now in this version as well. I check constantly to make sure it stays in sync but yet it does so anyway. This would have been a complete chapter 2, with top notch luck manipulation and a change in strategy that saved some good time.
But instead it desyncs in the level ups after the chameleon fight. This is typical as it badly emulates level ups. An .fcm will often desync there and it often crashes if you press the wrong buttons.
I checked this level up after the I TASed it and finally got a desync free level up. I went on to TAS the rest of the chapter only to find it desyncs now.
Unless this kind of thing can be corrected somehow, I don't intend to ever touch a TAS of this game again. This is isn't worth it.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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klmz wrote:
It seems that I misunderstood what "shortcut" meant and made this run. Too bad. Maybe a speedrun for the (U) version next time.
Yes, it is generally agreed that title screen, screen transitions, and anything that doesn't constitute as "actual gameplay" don't count. Perhaps the rules could be clarified.
EDIT: Is the ONLY difference between U and J the screen transition?
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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I'd like to be extra clear:
You can use J, U , or E roms. But the E rom must be run at 50fps or else be rejected. The better movie will be decided by its final time in seconds.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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klmz wrote:
moozooh wrote:
klmz wrote:
Just open the Blue Shadow ROM with FCEU 0.98.16 and load the published movie, then look at the "Length: 00:11:15". Isn't it longer than 00:09:48?
It's longer just because it plays slower. If you discard the difference in playback speed, it's 9:22.
Then just play my movie in 6400% speed, isn't it 00:00:09?
Isn't this an argument against YOUR opinion? What we are trying to say is the published movie if faster in terms of number of frames. This difference is a result of more optimized gameplay than your movie. This is more important than the final time real time length. This real time length discrpency is simply from playing the movie faster or slower.
You made a worse movie that plays back faster. This does not consitute an improvement.
Also this argument is moot because you are failing to understand that there is a problem with the Blue Shadow publication (which could have been avoided had we not made this mistake). While it says it is an E rom, it was played and recorded at 60 fps. Your FCEU gives you a final time of 11:xx because it assumes the movie should be played back at 50fps even though that is an incorrect assumption.
An E rom that plays at 60fps should not have been published on the site. A mistake was made. But we can't correct this mistake by putting up a movie that is clearly inferior gameplay.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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klmz wrote:
The Rule wrote:
The PAL/NTSC settings must be correct
If you are running a NTSC game (U or J), you must set your emulator to record in NTSC mode. Likewise, if you are running a PAL game (E), you must record your movie in PAL mode. Any other setting will get your movie promptly rejected.
For this reason, PAL games are not allowed for Famtasia submissions, because it can only record in NTSC. If you are obsoleting a movie that was recorded with the wrong settings, that movie's completion time will be increased 20% when comparing them to adjust for the fact that PAL games run at 50 Hz and NTSC at 60 Hz.
This rule only comes into effect on NES games and possibly Genesis games that have badly programmed region lock-out.
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A different version of the game does not constitute a new game (except in some rare circumstances). Comparing to the published , it is 1571 frames slower. And on top of that you say the intro in your submission is 10 seconds faster in your version. This movie is slower, and that is evident when watching the movie.
I vote no for failing to improve upon the published movie.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Hmm, I guess I like this one better than the previous. I vote yes for this movie to obsolete the published movie.
I enjoyed the 2-player fights. I guess I agree with most of your decisions in this movie. This one kept my attention much better.
Good job.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Wow.
Yeah, I didn't know you could skip that animation, that makes the game a lot more playable (in a non TAS sense as well) for me. This .fcm posted here isn't my optimized version but that one was lost :( I finished in 1:29 by optimizing the battles.
Playing as black is a good idea, I didn't think of that actually. Well, I really didn't put much thought into the game because there was no interest in the game. I am not so sure it is a very publishable game either, hence why I didn't submit my movie back then.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Well I've started up a v3 of this game. here is Chapter 1 completed 299 frames faster. Also Ragnar has 4 more strength points, that should come in handy.
I used the memory watch,macro editor and bascibot to achieve incredible luck manipulation. All frames were saved by better luck manipulation but also reducing "delay frames". Often criticals and other events are manipulated to have no delay whatsoever! This is by using strategic button presses to manipulate luck rather than delay frames and by using basicbot to brute force these outcomes rather than doing it "by hand".
Even using these new tools, this is a long and tedious process, so it will take some time before I am done with this movie. Also, it is sort of a side project, and not on my priority list.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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I find this type of game problematic for a good TAS. For reasons pointed out by Upthorn. It does have some cool tricks though, but nothing extraordinary. And even though it was short, I was quite bored before the movie was over.
The tech quality seems good and all but I voted No, sorry.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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I vote yes. I was entertained.
While it is called tetris, it is nothing like actual tetris games. It is unique. And it is different enough from the current run to deserve to be published along side.
Emulator Coder, Published Author, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player
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Chamale wrote:
I noticed this movie has no Movie End text. Is this a habit of the particular encoder, does FCEU not record "movie end" in the AVI, or is this some new tasvideos policy?
Bisqwit is the encoder in this case.
There is no requirement to have the "movie end" message, though it is nice to have on movies that end input really early (monopoly, gradius, etc).
FCEU for windows does not record the movie end message
Bisqwit is a linux guy and can certainly put it in if he likes (and usually does). Either it was a personal preference at the time or just an oversight.
