Alright! First off!
- I used SNES9X v1.43+ for windows. Started using it on the old emulator so I finished it. Judging, the new one should work fine.
- Use WIP1 Timing
- Allow Left+Right / Up+Down
- Volume Envelope Height Reading
- I used no passwords
- I used a couple glitches in the game to my advantage, the only one noticable is the fight with Dark King. (Not sure if that is a glitch or an easteregg)
- I takes hits and use death of one player to save time.
- My aim this time was to beat the game as fast as possible, entertainment value in an RPG comes from sheer speed I think...
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is one of the easiest Final Fantasies to play. Player 2 even has an autoplay mode if you wish (though I don't recommend unless you've never played an RPG). Benjamin, our hero, must hunt down the four elemental crystals and go to the Dark King before his prophesy is fulfilled.
This movie was a lot harder to make this time and took much more time. I probably worked on it for close to two months. The hardest part was making the battles faster! Before I was going for number of turns and seeing how much damage I could avoid getting. Then I realized that healing only takes 140 or so frames, versus all of the long attacks I was letting the enemies hit me with.
The only real thing I changed in my path through the entire game was getting cure before the skull dungeon. This saved me a mere half turn on the Skull Rex, but someone mentioned it probably makes the movie look smoother.
I really didn't start saving time until I got the Knights Sword. That thing was a time saving gold mine. First off, it only took 30 frames to get, in the first run I simply jump over the chest! Second it made me more powerful, so I could swing my sword which takes significantly less time then any magic attack (except Exit). Third, it made me faster! All the way until Pazuzu's tower I was saving turns on every battle. Then they just became too fast. The final blow though for speed was when I got Phoebe again. She is slow! Any chance of going before all monsters was ruined because a monster would go before Phoebe.
The second item I got was a shield..I can't recall it's name now but I got it just in the hope that it would save me more then 30 frames in "miss" manipulation, and it probably did.
I changed my strategy for a lot of boss battles. This is the first time I've actually been able to use memory reading at all. I kept it up seeing how much HP the bosses had and how much I was taking. Pazuzu had something like 15 HP left the last time I beat him! Figuring I couldn't take anymore HP from any one attack I opted to use much faster attacks instead.
There's one annoying glitch in this game that one should keep in mind when playing. If you use the Dragon Claws and at any time during a battle their effect is unleashed (instant death, poison, paralyse, etc.) all magic used after that will take a little less then half normal for the rest of that battle.
I also managed to go through the game using only the seeds I got waaaaaay back in the game. I didn't even have to visit the old lady this time to get more seeds. I still had 3 to spare!
I actually ended up on level less this time! The first time I ran this I got to level 23. This time only to level 22. Why? For many battles in Pazuzu's tower the only way to go first was to use Exit, which when used gives no experience. This also explains what happened last time I fought the Dark King. I actually did that battle slower then Hero did, he also finished the game at level 22. My theory was wrong, so I will just let you all watch what happens when you have a little fun with a glitch. ;)
All in all I saved 29764 frames or 0:08:16.07!
when I started this run I did not think I would get below 1:50:00, but I did! Just barely too. My first goal for the movie was to get below 400,000 frames (1:51:06.67), the the battle with Zuh brought me below 1:50:00 (The last battle before the Dark King!)
The movie is 393600 frames long or 1:49:20.
If anyone can beat this, I welcome them to try and to put the effort into it that I did. With ~68000 re-records this was a challenge!
I hope everyone enjoys, the difference is noticeable!
- OKAY, IMPORTANT:
Sorry about the resubmission guys, I wish I had caught Nitrodon sooner who actually figured out exactly how the Dark King cure glitch works! With his help, which I am very grateful for, he helped me save another 29 seconds. I won't spoil the surprise, you'll just have to watch for yourself. ;)
THANKS NITRODON!
Bisqwit: Submission renumbered, editing to update links. Please do not make duplicate submissions, it's hassle and wastes resources.
Better if you ask to change the submission file.
Bisqwit: Accepting, and taking for encoding. Congratulations on having the courage to go for a new run at this long game. :)