As always, I have provided a release package on my sourceforge project. It includes the movie file, spreadsheet, and Ram Watch file.

This is a 527 frame improvement to my canceled submission due to skipping the cut-scene before the Joker as pointed out by RT-55J. This movie is 1238 frames (~20.6 seconds) frame faster than the published movie.
I had wanted to do a TAS of this game ever since it was featured in a AVGN review. It looked like it could make for an interesting TAS. The previous publications showed that it could be a very entertaining TAS and a very challenging game to TAS. I like a good challenge so I wanted to see what I could contribute to TASing this game.

Level by Level Notes

Level 1

I improved the level by 147 frames. One noteable improvement was at the beginning. I was able to time a jump that would make it over the first barrier, instead of having to wall jump past it. Lots of other situations were improved as well. I had to lose 17 frames to the boss, due to him jumping much higher than in ventuz's movie. I tried everything I could to manipulate a different patter, different frames, different lag, changing parts of the level, having more/less batarangs but he wouldn't budge. My total improvement for this level was 130 frames. While this is a 3:50 long movie it represents a LOT of work. This is a game that has a combo of difficult to optimize mechanics, and complex level design. It is a grappling game which is always complicated, it has lots of lag prone areas, and worst yet, speed is retains through screens. Also, the boss fights are very difficult to TAS. There are very large complicated areas that have few clear checkpoints for comparison. Not having solid places to compare make it very difficult to test small improvements.

Level 2

The total improvements to this level were 186 frames. There was no single large improvement here, just lots of small 1-15 frame optimizations throughout. The boss was improved by 4 frames (ventuz's boss fights were very impressively optimized).

Level 3

The first half of this level is a simple "Run to the right for justice" levels which was a breath of fresh air after two miserable levels & boss fights. Then 2nd half required the usual tediousness. I was able to save 244 frames in this section. A lot came from always taking damage against the enemies in order to get past them quicker. A big chunk was saved at the wall jump at the end. I turned left, and grappled, then released in order to stop momentum immediately. This allowed me to jump left and wall jump must faster. I saved 1 frame on the boss but then the white screen happened frame ruled it away. Doh.

Level 4

Ugh, this one sucks the most. I was able to improve the level portion by 180 frames. There were numerous small improvements as usual. The joker fight really really really sucks to TAS. Seriously. I unfortunately had to lose 29 frames compared to the published movie. The reason is twofold. One is I had less HP due to taking more damage in the level to save time. (I am confident I saved more time in the level than I would on the boss). The 2nd is bad randomness that kept me from getting a good combo at the beginning of the fight. I sank about 10 hours into TASing this fight, as I didn't want to accept a 29 frame loss. But alas, it must be. Oh well, my total improvement at the movie stop is 711 frames.

Thanks

  • Sonikkustar for encouragement, ideas, and WIPs
  • Randil and andymac for their WIPs
  • Ventuz for his previous movies
  • RT-55J for pointing out the cutscene skip

DarkKobold: Claimed for judging.
Flygon: Added YouTube module.
DarkKobold: Congrats on another pub in 2010. Accepting as an improvement to the pub'd movie.
Jess: Published and Seeding!


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2955: adelikat's GB Batman: Return of the Joker in 03:41.13
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
I'll still be HD encoding this, because of that dang water segments.
Experienced player (961)
Joined: 12/3/2008
Posts: 940
Location: Castle Keep
Would be hard to vote no on this, nice improvement.
ALAKTORN
He/Him
Former player
Joined: 10/19/2009
Posts: 2527
Location: Italy
I think it looked improvable in one place, but I've never played the game so I'm certainly wrong voted yes
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
SD download HD download YouTube Yes voted, as a well deserved improvement over a previous TAS.
Skilled player (1828)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Nice job! Yes vote from me.
Editor
Joined: 3/10/2010
Posts: 899
Location: Sweden
Good run, so it's a yes vote.
Editor
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 1466
Location: Not playing Puyo Tetris
TASVideos math: adelikat = Yes
When TAS does Quake 1, SDA will declare war. The Prince doth arrive he doth please.
Joined: 5/2/2009
Posts: 656
hegyak wrote:
TASVideos math: adelikat = Yes
this
My first language is not English, so please excuse myself if I write something wrong. I'll do my best do write as cleary as I can, so cope with me here =) (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ
ventuz
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Player (126)
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Posts: 940
nice job.
Skilled player (1652)
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy
If you hit L+R+U you can skip the last boss, making your hours of work on him useless. Just kidding. Nice job, yes vote.
Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.
mklip2001
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Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
TASes of this game always look great with the fluid swinging action. Also, they make a mockery of the tank in Level 2, which I always had difficulty fighting when I was younger. The improvements in this run are darn spiffy too. Yes vote. Also, for what it's worth, nice rerecords per frame ratio. That's a lot of work for a short run.
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.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1708] GB Batman: Return of the Joker by adelikat in 03:41.13
Joined: 5/19/2010
Posts: 259
Location: California
Gonna miss seeing the Joker's dance, but nicely done.
#3201