Emulator details

  • Emulator: PCSX-RR v0.0.9
  • Options → CPU → Put the check in "Resident Evil 2/3 Fix"
(If you don't put the check in the fix, music will become too fast.)
Plugins
  • GPU:TAS Soft Graphics Plugin 0.1
  • SPU:TAS Sound Plugin 0.2 (Movie sync mode)
  • Bios:Sony PlayStation BIOS (U)(v4.1)

Game objectives

  • Aims for fastest time
  • Recorded from Power-On
  • Manipulates luck
  • Genre: RPG

About the game

SaGa Frontier is a RPG by Square, released in Japan on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment in North America(SCEA) on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series and the first to be released on the PlayStation.
The plot of SaGa Frontier take place a science fiction/fantasy setting called the Regions, a group of worlds with varying degrees of culture, unique races, technology, and magic. The game allows the player to follow the exploits of one of seven protagonists, each with his or her own storyline and goal. The game's Free Scenario System offers a large amount of non-linear gameplay, allowing the player to freely travel between many of the Regions, interact with other characters, and take part in turn-based combat.If certain conditions are met within the battle, party members on either side can create combination attacks for added damage.

About the run

I beat the chapter of Lute

Route

Yorkland → Manhattan → Koorong → Shingrow → Koorong → Scrap → Koorong → Devin → Shrike → Koorong → Owmi → Nelson → Mondo Base

Shingrow

Obtain 'HyperScale'.

Scrap

Riki, Mei-ling and T260 join the party.
Obtain some equipment in the Junk Store.
Infinite Items in Scrap Junk Store
Go to the junk store in Scrap and agree to pay 300 credits to search for 3 items. After doing this, talk to the owners again and pick Selling, then go to the bottom selection 'Hyperion Bazooka' and hit circle. Then hit cancel and go into the room with the junk, you'll be able to get 7 items instead of 3. Moreover, the obtained item changes by credit on hand. After picking 7 items, talk to the owners agian, hit selling, highlight circle on 'Hyperion Bazooka' and hit circle. You can do this as many times as you like.
Actual procedure
Sell 'HyperScale' → Pay 300 credits → Sell 'RepairKit' → Highlight circle on 'Hyperion Bazooka' and hit circle
Obtain the following equipment.
CyberSuit×3 Thunderbolt×2 MirrorGlass×2 LethalGun×4 ExcelShield×3

Devin

Receive 4 pebbles.
Buy 'VictoryRune' for Mei-ling.

Shrike

Roufas and EngineerCar join the party.

Owmi

talk with the Capt.Hamilton.

Mondo Base

Change the formation and equipment. (Bold-faced type = Changed point)
MemberEquip1Equip2Equip3Equip4Equip5Equip6Equip7Equip8
T260Armor
Vest
Armor
Vest
Nakajima
Board2
ThunderboltThunderboltLaser
Knife
Samurai
Sword
Mec
Body
EngineerCarLethal
Gun
Eagle
Gun
Mirror
Glass
Mirror
Glass
Laser
Scope
Machine
Vulcan
Pepair
Pack
Mini
Plant
Capt.HamiltonLethal
Gun
Lethal
Gun
Osc-
Sword
Excel
Shield
---Cyber
Suit
RoufasLethal
Gun
AGUNI-
SSP
Excel
Shield
----Cyber
Suit
Mei-ling--Excel
Shield
AGUNI-
CP1
Cyber
Suit
---
To obtain some techniques and items, I fight against 'Giant' twice.

1st

VS Giant (HP 10552)

The 1st turn:
Defense(Roufas),
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar),
SunRay(Mei-ling)+SharpShot(Captain)
The 2nd turn:
Same as the pre-turn.
The 3rd turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar),
AnyGun(Captain, Roufas & Mei-ling)
After the battle:
Captain: Learns 'CrossShot',
Roufas and Meiling: Learn 'Twogun'
Obtain 'PowerBelt'.

Captain: Put on 'PowerBelt'. Add 'CrossShot' to the Equip Ability

2nd

VS Giant (HP 10552)

The 1st turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)+CrossShot(Captain),
Defense(Roufas and Meiling)
The 2nd turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar),
AnyGun(Captain, Roufas and Mei-ling)
After the battle:
Roufas and Meiling: Learn 'Twogun'
Obtain 'PowerBelt'. 

Change the equipment.(Bold-faced type = Changed point)
MemberEquip1Equip2Equip3Equip4Equip5Equip6Equip7Equip8
T260Armor
Vest
Armor
Vest
Nakajima
Board2
ThunderboltThunderbolt--Mec
Body
EngineerCar--Mirror
Glass
Mirror
Glass
Laser
Scope
Machine
Vulcan
Pepair
Pack
Mini
Plant
Capt.HamiltonLethal
Gun
Lethal
Gun
Osc-
Sword
Excel
Shield
--Power
Belt
Cyber
Suit
RoufasLethal
Gun
AGUNI-
SSP
Excel
Shield
---Power
Belt
Cyber
Suit
Mei-lingLethal
Gun
-Excel
Shield
AGUNI-
CP1
Cyber
Suit
---
Roufas: Add 'CrossShot & Twogun' to the Equip Ability.
Meiling: Add 'CrossShot, Twogun & VictoryRune' to the Equip Ability.

VS Spriggan

Spriggan shifts to the next form when its HP becomes below the half. (Excluding 'Tamashii')

Spriggan 'Kyoten' (HP 35000)

The 1st turn:
VictoryRune(Mei-ling)→Roufas,
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Roufas)+CrossShot(Captain)

Spriggan 'Douchi' (HP 35000)

The 2nd turn:
VictoryRune(Mei-ling)→Captain,
Thunderbolt(T260)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Captain)+CrossShot(Roufas)

Spriggan 'Iryoku' (HP 25000)

The 3rd turn:
Defense(EngineerCar),
VictoryRune(Mei-ling)→EngineerCar,
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Roufas)+CrossShot(Captain)

Spriggan 'Choshin' (HP 55000)

The 4th turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Meiling)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Captain)+CrossShot(Roufas)
The 5th turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Captain)+Crosshair(EngineerCar)
 +CrossShot(Roufas)+CrossShot(Mei-ling)

Spriggan 'Tamasii' (succeeding HP of 'Choshin')

The 6th turn:
Thunderbolt(T260)+CrossShot(Captain)+CrossShot(Roufas)
THE END

Movie of this run
Reference
Saga Frontier (Blue) (JPN) in 18:43.60 (Played by knbnitkr)
(Using system data. NOT from Power-On)
Saga Frontier (Asellus) (JPN) in 43:56 (Played by gure)
(Using system data. NOT from Power-On)
Saga Frontier (Riki) (JPN) in 38:02 (Played by gure)
(Using system data. NOT from Power-On)

I hope you enjoy my run.

Nach: We now have Rules regarding BIOSes, and how to make submissions for runs for emulators that use BIOSes. This run adhears to them. Accepting.

Aktan: Processing.
Spikestuff: Sync Note: In order for this to run on pcsx-rr you must compress the bin/iso to the bz format. And for those figuring out the bios it's SCPH7001.


sgrunt
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/28/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
adelikat wrote:
sgrunt wrote:
I have found that using the BIOS now listed in the submission text causes the run to sync (the advice about the RE1/2 fix is still completely irrelevant). Is that permissible?
I'm curious about this as well. What is this BIOS, how does it differ from the usual BIOS, and should it be permissible?
It's my understanding that most other runs don't use a BIOS file at all - you'd need to ask someone who's actually created such a run.
adelikat wrote:
Also, is the RE1 hack confirmed to be moot? If so it should be removed from the submission text. If it is necessary, then arukAdo's points need addressing.
It's moot - PCSX disables it automatically when starting the movie.
adelikat wrote:
sgrunt wrote:
There's an "ending", but no credits sequence. It goes back to the "where is your data stored?" menu.
This is normal for this game? It really has no ending sequence?
The game's divided into chapters related to individual characters. This run completes one such chapter. I suspect there is a credits sequence after all of the chapters are completed, but not knowing the game I don't actually know if that is the case.
Publisher
Joined: 4/23/2009
Posts: 1283
sgrunt wrote:
It's my understanding that most other runs don't use a BIOS file at all - you'd need to ask someone who's actually created such a run.
This is wrong. The internal PCSX BIOS is very buggy. Most runs are done with SCPH-1001.
sgrunt wrote:
It's moot - PCSX disables it automatically when starting the movie.
While it does auto turn it off, it does have an effect (aka I think a bug with PCSX). If it is off before you start PCSX and don't ever turn it on, the music is indeed 2x too fast.
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
adelikat wrote:
sgrunt wrote:
There's an "ending", but no credits sequence. It goes back to the "where is your data stored?" menu.
This is normal for this game? It really has no ending sequence? I'm prepared to accept this movie based on entertainment value & viewer response. But I want clarification on these issues first.
There is really no ending sequence in this game. Credit doesn't come out even if all of the chapters are completed. It comes to be able only to go to the bonus stage. This is an unusual game. The story of each chapter (of hero) is concluded. If one of each chapter is completed, this game becomes "THE END". For instance, it is the same as "You only have to complete one hero's chapter." in Romancing SaGa #2453. As the evidence, in the chapter of Blue, the character of "THE END" comes out after defeating the last boss. Moreover, the run in each chapter is general in this game in Japan. (look at the Reference) Therefore, it is necessary to record each hero in this game. By the way, I am making the movie of Blue's chapter now.
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
About the RE2/3 fix Without putting the check in this fix, the music is indeed 2x too fast. This problem happens by both "SCPH-1001" and "Sony PlayStation BIOS (U)(v4.1)" . This problem can be solved by the following three methods. 1.Put the check in RE2/3 fix 2.PSX System type → PAL (But this game is NTSC type) 3.Use a ROM of JPN version The problem of music doesn't happen if one is selected from among these. By the way, 1 tends to reduce lag more than 2. 1, 2, and 3 are independent respectively, and the movie file made in the another way causes desync.
Joined: 7/10/2007
Posts: 280
knbnitkr, if you are making a movie of the same Blue run you already have posted on youtube, I would recommend against it. You might run into an obstacle when asking for publication since you start from known system data.
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
Tristal wrote:
knbnitkr, if you are making a movie of the same Blue run you already have posted on youtube, I would recommend against it. You might run into an obstacle when asking for publication since you start from known system data.
I know. The movie which I am making now is "Recorded from Power-On".
adelikat
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3574)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4754
Location: Tennessee
No where in the rules does it state you must use a certain BIOS. However, maybe it should. I know nothing about the BIOS used in this movie. Why was it used? Is it more/less accurate? How can we be sure it doesn't allow things that shouldn't be possible?
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
adelikat wrote:
No where in the rules does it state you must use a certain BIOS. However, maybe it should. I know nothing about the BIOS used in this movie. Why was it used? Is it more/less accurate? How can we be sure it doesn't allow things that shouldn't be possible?
A certain BIOS is absolutely necessary in case of this game. Because Internal HLE BIOS is very unstable (as Aktan says). The following problems happen when Internal HLE BIOS is used. 1.The desync happens frequently. 2.Causes garble. 3.When combatting, causes freeze. Especially 3 is a fatal problem. Therefore, I used steady another BIOS.
Experienced player (961)
Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 939
Location: Castle Keep
Nobody use Internal HLE BIOS, we all use SCPH1001, do you have tryed with it ?
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
arukAdo wrote:
Nobody use Internal HLE BIOS, we all use SCPH1001, do you have tryed with it ?
I tryed with SCPH1001 as you said. Then, desyncs happened in the third turn of the first Giant fight... orz Sorry. I will fix the movie file and submit it again.
TASVideosGrue
They/Them
Joined: 10/1/2008
Posts: 2786
Location: The dark corners of the TASVideos server
om, nom, nom... juicy!
Publisher
Joined: 4/23/2009
Posts: 1283
knbnitkr wrote:
arukAdo wrote:
Nobody use Internal HLE BIOS, we all use SCPH1001, do you have tryed with it ?
I tryed with SCPH1001 as you said. Then, desyncs happened in the third turn of the first Giant fight... orz Sorry. I will fix the movie file and submit it again.
I'm not sure you needed to remake and resubmit. There wasn't a rule that says the BIOS SCPH-1001 is required for all TAS. I think that's up in discussion still, and you did indicate what BIOS you used. Your BIOS is still a legit PSX BIOS, so I see no problems with it, really.
Experienced player (961)
Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 939
Location: Castle Keep
knbnitkr wrote:
I will fix the movie file and submit it again.
Hmmm you should have wait adelikat answer, maybe its not needed Apparently its the first time we have movie with other bios, maybe it is ok... was just asking if you have tried with "default" bios (1001) Plz uncancel and wait the boss decision :p
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
Aktan, arukAdo, thx. I keep movie as new and wait decision. I have already started to make the movie of Blue's chapter with Sony PlayStation BIOS (U)(v4.1). Therefore, I hope for the use of this BIOS to be permitted.
Experienced player (961)
Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 939
Location: Castle Keep
I have another concern, minor, just for the form. Does accepting this mean theres going to be 9 (or more ?) category, each playing a chapter seperatly, then one with all of them ? Sry if i look jackass, just asking for clarity sake
sgrunt
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 10/28/2007
Posts: 1360
Location: The dark horror in the back of your mind
arukAdo wrote:
I have another concern, minor, just for the form. Does accepting this mean theres going to be 9 (or more ?) category, each playing a chapter seperatly, then one with all of them ? Sry if i look jackass, just asking for clarity sake
Excellent point. Having three runs for a game is unusual; having four is practically unheard of and frowned upon. Any more than that is just too much, and also goes against the tenet of keeping the number of branches of a game minimal. This also ties in with earlier concerns that one chapter might not be considered to "beat the game". On reflection, I believe that this run shouldn't be published in favour of a unified run for all of the various chapter of this game, which would avert all of the above issues.
Experienced player (961)
Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 939
Location: Castle Keep
I want to add here that i liked the run, it was boring for a good chunk of it, but latter on in fights it was good and cute. I want to hear input from judges, if for exemple, this could be accepted on the ground that you cant submit each chapters separatly, and that this one would be the shortest/glitchest or whatever it does the best. If it imply having 9 movies, most obviously i would vote no, but i hope the site rules are enought flexible to prevent this outcome.
Joined: 1/10/2010
Posts: 59
As a semi-regular of the GameFAQS SF message board, I can say that this is a very interesting run which looks legitimate. The BIOS issue needs to be sorted out, but it doesn't look like there is any intentional abuse going on. I strongly doubt that we would get runs for any characters but Lute and Blue - the other characters aren't very speed-run friendly. Lute just needs to pick up characters and hit the final dungeon, and Blue just needs to do a couple side-quests that are fairly short (and he can teleport around without using ships). Other characters have much longer stories. A run of all 7 characters just isn't feasible and isn't likely to be better than just watching all 7 in sequence. The system data can start you with higher stats and somewhat better abilities, but it also gives a higher BR (harder enemies and bosses with twice or more their minimum HP). The whole run would also most likely be the longest on the site by a fairly good margin. It also deserves pointing out that the Romancing SaGa run doesn't run every characters' route, either. I haven't played the original version of RS, so I don't know if you can continue with a second quest on the same savedata, though, so I don't know if it's quite the same situation. Forcing a complete run of all characters just seems kinda arbitrary to me, since the reward for beating all the quests is more of an easter egg than an actual goal/ending sequence. There are two ways of handling this in my opinion - either only allow one run (which would only allow a Lute run), or allowing up to seven or eight and only having maybe 3 total submitted. Only allowing a "complete" run, though, will probably prevent this game from ever getting a run up. Not to mention it raises the question of whether or not the movie should end on the final system data screen, after the system data is saved, or if something should be done in the developer room. Speaking of run endings, having the credit sequence be the run ending is a bad idea for two reasons. First, only a couple quests actually have dedicated credit sequences. Second, the credits actually run in Blue's quest before the final dungeon, while the quest actually abruptly ends in the middle of his final battle.
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks for the informative post, spweasel! Based on what you've mentioned, I would be most in favor of just having one run. If people were really clamoring for runs involving more characters, then we would have seen more discussion on this submission by now. I think that this run is good enough to warrant an acceptance (if you set aside all issues involving multiple runs or BIOSes).
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Joined: 7/10/2007
Posts: 280
I'm curious to know if all the people arguing for one run have never played this game. Seriously. This game is DESIGNED to have seven different stories. This isn't like the later Megaman X games where you are taking a different character through the exact same stages; there are seven distinct plots here. I'm frankly appalled.
Active player (376)
Joined: 11/13/2009
Posts: 14
Location: japan
I think that this game should be published in either of the following two forms. 1.Each character is separately recorded. 2.The fastest running in all the characters(7 characters) is assumed the record of this game. I do not think that I should complete it of all the characters. There is no credit even if all the characters are completed in this game. If you assume that it is necessary to complete all the characters, you come to have to complete all the characters in all the games that can select the character at first. For instance, Romancing SaGa(8 characters), Romancing SaGa3(8 characters), even mega-man X4(X or Zero) and SMB The Lost Levels(Mario or Luigi). Moreover, I think the movie should end before the final system data screen. In Blue, T260 and Emilia, the character of "THE END" is displayed before final system data screen. Moreover, in Red, Asellus and Riki, the last movie is inserted before final system data screen.Only Lute, suddenly become system data screen.
Joined: 8/13/2005
Posts: 356
Location: Canada
I could see Blue and Lute both being published. The other ones would take a lot longer and we would also start to see a lot of overlap between the different stories. A full run would be (A) ridiculously long and (B) um, pretty awful. For now, I'd say to judge this one for what it is. It completes the game using one of seven possible characters. If the Blue run is submitted then we can talk about whether it should be rejected, obsolete the current run, or be published beside it based on their respective merits.
Experienced player (961)
Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 939
Location: Castle Keep
Regards to information provided here (thanks for those quick replyes), i can safely assume this will not be an issue, and that judges can do their jobs by rejecting multiple runs (i mean... dont overflood categories) Ill vote yes based on that ground I still look forward to what happen here for the bios issue, im assuming its a bit slow because the staff have to compose a new rule, and the technical implications are not so easy to determine, i would recommand doing your second run with the standart bios tought (1001).
Joined: 12/28/2004
Posts: 210
I gotta say, out of all 4 of those runs the Asellus run was my favorite by far.
Post subject: Re: BIOS Issue
Emulator Coder
Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers
Does this game play on a real system that uses this BIOS? Is the BIOS official? If the answer is yes to both, I see no reason why we shouldn't allow this run to be published based on the BIOS used.
Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.