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Player (206)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
Could you change the values to make all the teleporters reveal themselves?
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Probably. If I had any idea how a hidden teleporter and a normal teleporter was stored in the ROM. But I don't and I don't have the skill to find out either. Of course, if you knew how the hidden teleporters were stored, it would probably be easier to just check in which levels and where they are placed instead. Edit: Oh. You mean the values internally in the console unit. I don't know. That would depend, I guess.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
To clearify what I ment earlier.. Coulden't you search those values? Like in Zsnes, or is it Snes9's cheat searchx? Can't remember which of the two emulators it is. Then perhaps you can search the entire game for similar changes and fix those values?
Former player
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 375
On a completely unrelated note, the fastest way to get to that teleporter as the Kid involves duck/walking off the ledge so when you bump it, you can start moving to the right before you bump it, so you can get on the flag's ledge, as well as jump straight again to ledge-hop the teleporter without a running start.
emu
Active player (385)
Joined: 1/2/2007
Posts: 188
Location: Germany, Munich
I would try to improve the published run, unless someone else is already working on it. Here is a WIP until the beginning of The Valley of Life. Despite the lack of tools (like frame advance) Truncated had when he made his run, it is extremely hard to not even fall back. Josh's wip was very helpful gaining another second, which adds up to about 300 frames now. Due to skycutters constant speed and well handling of Truncated's micromax I don't expect a lot of additional improvements from now on. edit: uploaded youtube video (1st part of probably 3) edit: current status: at bagel brothers
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 8/12/2007
Posts: 102
Looks good so far, nice work.
Joined: 3/6/2005
Posts: 15
Location: Sweden
Each block has a header in which the first bit determines whether the block is hidden or not.
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
I was playing arround with this game and happened to find a much faster strategy for Blue Lake Woods I http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1201160077/Kid%20Chameleon%20%28JUE%29%20%5B%21%5D.gmv I don't know if Emu is still working on the short run, but if he is I might try my hand at the most levels run.
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
emu: I missed your post, saw it now. The movie looks well made, let me know if you need any help. RandomPie: Cool strategy, I think this can change the way a lot of levels are played. More!
emu
Active player (385)
Joined: 1/2/2007
Posts: 188
Location: Germany, Munich
That is a great find! I never considered airwalking as an alternative to smaller decelerating jumps. Ducking seems to help on other places, too. I was going to resume working on it after I return to munich (I usually don't tas, when I am at my parents), so I'm still stuck at the bagel brothers. But with these techniques I will have to restart again. I am glad for every help I get, so it is better if WIPs are posted more frequently. @TheRandomPie_IV: If you like, we can make it coop, or if you prefer to work alone, I'll leave this project to you. @Truncated: You and Josh did already help me a lot. I would have missed many things without your runs. You should also know, that if you still want to improve the movie yourself, I won't hold you back. You are more experienced with the game and put more work into it. In this case, I would love to help you as much as I can.
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
@emu: I think I'll just work on the long version. I'll certainly share anything I find, and I'll be only too happy to look over WIPs. Any advise you/Truncated could give, especially regarding helmets for later levels would be most welcome as well.
emu
Active player (385)
Joined: 1/2/2007
Posts: 188
Location: Germany, Munich
I might as well post what I got so far: bagel brothers Until the first hit to the first head (bagel brothers), I was 648 frames ahead, but lost some frames, which I would have had to redo. (I also notice now, that I missed the jump at a cannon block wall in HWP1, which wastes 2 frames) This becomes unnecessary, as the run will be restarted now anyway. @TheRandomPie_IV: I didn't know you work on the long run. Did you already make up your mind about the goal (most flags, most levels)? Josh the FunkDOC was working on a similar run, but I could not get access to his wip (the only source I had was a edited file truncated posted earlier in the thread). In case I find something useful, I'll let you know. Can't wait to see your run. Good luck edit: As I don't tas when I am at my parents, I will restart working on it by the end of the month, when I return to munich (I'm back in IRC then, too^^)
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
emu: I have all of Josh's old files, I can put them up if you (or anyone) is interested. RandomPie: Most levels visited without revisiting levels was decided upon as a sensible goal when Josh did his movie, but it's not up to me to decide how you should do your movie. I'll be happy to help with helmet selection later, but it helps to have a movie before that.
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
I think I'll probably keep Josh's goal. I also don't intend to minimise score countdowns if it costs in level time. Here's a WIP up to the first elsewhere. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1172224094/Kid%20Chameleon%20%28JUE%29%20%5B%21%5D%20Long.gmv
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
I'm in a rush, but http://tasvideos.org/KidChameleonTricks.html has been updated with new info on the different modes of transportation. More to come.
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
Under Skull Mountain is done (Here). Not a huge improvement over Josh's WIP here, 2 frames on Elsewhere 1 and one on USM1 and then nothing 'till USM 3 (for 293 frames total). Somewhat interestingly it seems both the top and bottom routes on USM3 take exactly the same number of frames to end the level, but because the top route destroys all the stuff at the top of the screen, the turning everything into grey blocks fadeout thing is a few frames shorter.
emu
Active player (385)
Joined: 1/2/2007
Posts: 188
Location: Germany, Munich
On a side note: I'm back in munich, so I can restart working on kid chameleon. However, I'm moving in another apartment, where I won't have internet for a while (the secretary could not even tell me if it is a matter of days or months). Maybe I can exchange info at the university though. @RandomPie: Impressive and useful stuff, as always :)
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
I stumbled across a method of decreasing your deceleration while running (eg. on hills/landing after an enemy bounce), so here's a new WIP up to the first elsewhere, 22 frames faster than before.
emu
Active player (385)
Joined: 1/2/2007
Posts: 188
Location: Germany, Munich
Damn, why didn't we see that earlier? Great find! Luckily, I only had the first level done, which makes restarting a little easier ;P I hope to find something new in exchange ^^
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
New WIP, this one completes both Hills of the Warrior. Quite a lot has been redone for this, BLW 1 is two frames faster thanks to an improvement from emu and I managed to take 3 and 2 frames of HWP 1 and 2 respectively. I'm very pleased with how HotW 1/2 turned out and I managed to improve Josh's times by a fair amount.
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Nice that you redid and improved the early levels by a few frames, but remember that you have about 80 levels before you. Redoing every time someone finds a stray frame will be very exhausting. Hills 1 and 2 were great. :) Damn you go fast after bouncing on 3 enemies. I'm thinking in Elsewhere (around frame 9800), have you tried running off the ledge in the start instead of jumping? Or isn't there enough time to gain height then?
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
Unfortunately the ledge isn't long enough to gain full running speed and as you then can't gain enough height to land on the ledge 3/2 of the way through it works out slower. The redoing isn't too bad as, apart from HWP 2 and Elsewhere 3, everything hexes back very reliably; and as the slope ducking resets your sub-pixel back to 0 I can often get away with only doing small sections of the levels. This is especially convenient as I just realised that you can effectively jump faster by adding in a one frame press of left, causing your velocity to reset sooner... On the plus side I found a really neat strategy for the start of Windy City that should save a fair bit of time.
Joined: 3/6/2005
Posts: 15
Location: Sweden
I've found yet another map of this game on a new wiki http://images.wikia.com/kidchameleon/images//7/71/Map_2400.jpg There is also http://www.opusgames.com/games/kidcam/kidcam.html by one of the beta testers, if you didn't see it already. Also, this wiki seems to be quite new. I should help out with that some time, as I'm a big fan of the game myself. Interesting also that there is a hidden skycutter in Hills of The Warrior I. Probably won't be of any use, as you would probably have to lose it on Crystal Crags or possibly Crystal Crags II. EDIT: Wiki URL http://kidchameleon.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
Wow, thanks for that. Skycutter certainly warrents some testing I think. HotW 1 and Sinister Sewers would be slower, but Elsewhere 3, CC 1 and Windy City would be faster, I really coundn't say for sure, but I would guess HotW 2 would be slightly faster with skycutter also..
Active player (487)
Joined: 2/19/2007
Posts: 114
It seems taking Sky Cutter in HotW 1 is actually far faster than using cyclone. At the berserker pickup in Crystal Crags 1 a not-fully-optimised test run clocked in 9 seconds faster than my best cyclone run. Some of the gain obviously comes from score tallies, but some rough and ready calculations suggest a good 5/6 seconds of in level gain. For those interested, my cyclone run up to about half way through Crystal Crags 1 is available (here). If nothing else, Sinister Sewers is worth a watch; but I've also improved most levels in my old WIP (everything except HWP 2, USM 2 and HotW 1) thanks to a few optimisations from emu and a faster method of jumping.
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