Has anyone here actually started doing a SMRPG timeattack? I started one yesterday, but I will probably not be able to finish one anytime soon, as I can probably only work on it for maybe an hour per day, and I've never done a timeattack before so I'll probably be going pretty slow at the start. However, I've played through this game dozens of times since I was a kid, and I know just about every trick out there (at least as much as most of the faq-writers on gamefaqs, since I've read through most of them at some point).
As I've started though, I've realized that this is going to be hugely complicated for the sake of planning ahead. There are two things you have to balance in how fast you are able to get through the game: skipping things that build up your character's power, and beating each boss as quickly as possible. I was also initially a bit worried that I might get myself into a situation where no matter how many times I restore state, the boss kills me, but after thinking about it I realized that given the fact that the game is beatable with Mario at level 3, I don't think that would be an issue. What is more of an issue is that if I end up skipping too much stuff, I will end up taking more time to defeat bosses, wheras if I spend more time building up, I can defeat bosses more easily, but it takes longer. I'm hoping to strike as good a balance as I can, but it's going to take a lot of both long-term and short term planning.
After viewing the 3:55 movie, I'm convinced it can be done in FAR less time, because there are a number of tricks I don't think he utilized to their potential or not at all, even besides the fact that it wasn't tool-assisted.
There are a few things I still want to know about the game that I haven't seen covered in any FAQs or guides, or maybe just not the ones I've read. I'll throw some of these out there to see if anyone knows...
1. How much damage does a pure water do to Zombor if you use it against him? Is the damage affected by "attack up" status (Geno Boost, Energizer, Power Blast, Quartz Charm, etc)?
2. Does item-induced "attack up" status stack with the Geno Boost? (Same applies for "defense up"). My guess is no, but I can't quite remember if I've ever tested that for sure.
3. Is there a list of the exact magic/attack power/ defense power of every boss in the game anywhere? It would be helpful for planning's sake to know these things in advance so I can prepare better for each boss.
4. Does anyone have savestates from the game throughout different points? They would be helpful so I can test different things in advance, again for the sake of planning ahead.
5. At what points are random events seeded? In particular:
- Who an enemy attacks, what type of attack the enemy uses, how much damage the enemy does, whether attacks hit or miss
- Whether the "lucky" egg game is for EXP or coins
A aesthetic question: in the 3:55 recording, the author states that he doesn't use the get-a-star-and-die technique on purpose. Would people consider it "cheap" or otherwise degrade the quality of a time-attack if I did this? For the record, I am thinking about only doing it once in Land's End/Belome's Temple, since at that point you can get two stars in a row and die at Belome rather quickly, whereas the stars in Bandit's Way and Kero Sewers are not really worth doubling. I am undecided on the one in The Sea as well.
Josh: in response to your last question here, I assume he doesn't get Bowser or Geno's best weapons because in order to get them, he would have to go through the two "battle" doors of the six in Bowser's keep, which are the two longest.
