I finally got around to compiling FCEU on my Mac so I could try some TASing. And, after about an hour and a half of work (not counting the time I spent figuring out how to use FCEU in general), I have
this to show. Two hours for about 75 seconds worth of footage? Sounds about right. :)
This is my first-ever TAS, but I think it's pretty awesome. Y'all're welcome to disagree, of course. I'd love to hear any feedback you have. Here's the things I've noticed that need improvement:
* I don't think I start the game on the first possible frame
* I let some enemies go right before the boss
* There's a few missed shots (some of these, like stray shots when using the R subweapon, are unavoidable)
* I used the wrong weapon for the boss; B probably would have been better
You can turbo the fire button with many of the weapons (fully-upgraded V is a notable exception).
The
guide to doing memory watch is written apparently with the Windows (GUI'd) version of FCEU in mind; I'm working off the commandline here, so I haven't the faintest clue how to go about determining, say, what the boss's HP are. While I'm happy that the boss dies so quickly, it's pretty much certain he could die even faster.
I watched bliltzag's movie, and he's a lot more efficient about killing enemies than I am, but aside from nailing those last two waves before the boss, it doesn't seem to make much difference, and I like my approach better (especially making use of the subweapons). His bossfight is also slower; I think the laser weapon worked against him as its firing point is a bit offset from the center of the ship, making it harder to score hits.