This run improves the current published one by 645 frames (~10.7 seconds)

Aglar's Comments

Finally we have produced something! We started this in late 2009 and thought it'd be a rather small project, but that turned out to be not exactly true and it has now basically taken much longer than both of us or anyone in the community who has sort of followed this could've imagined - andit's not over yet. After some time we decided to do both this run and the warpless one, with the intension of working on them simultaneously and submitting them at the same time when done. This was something that we had to give up in the end though. The warpless run gave us so much trouble that we decided to release the warped run first as opposed to letting all you wait an unknown amount of time for both runs.
I think this started to become a huge project when I found that defeating Birdo with a shell saved time in level 1-1, something that further evolved into even better strategies in that level and also opened our eyes for the possibility that this game might have quite some unexplored secrets. Since then we've found numerus of new tricks and strategies, mostly for the warpless run though so you won't see them here:).
I was mostly the one who took care of the optimization part of the run as I quickly got a good hang of how the subpixels work and in the end I think all the input in this run are from me. However, without Andrewg the run wouldn't have been close to as fast as it ended up being (the final strategy used in level 1-1 was his idea which i'd never thought about) and his discoveries play an even bigger role in the warpless run. I think we complemented each other really well!
I'd like to thank all the previous autors of this game who've pushed it to such a great standard that the only way of keep up with it is learn very well how the game works, just being lucky won't work. I also thanks Glitchman for finding that you can fall through the floor using a vegetable. I also thank the ones the Andrewg thanks (He wrote his comments before me).

Andrewg's Comments

I had a really fun time working on the Super Mario Bros. 2 TAS. As I currently hold the record console time for the game, it was interesting to discover new tricks and glitches in the game. Aglar is a great guy to TAS with, his optimization skills are far beyond mine and he's a really creative guy.
Together, we managed what I'd say is far beyond either of our initial expectations for a TAS of this game. I thought maybe we would save a just time in level 1-2 with the discovery of a new glitch - the "carpet glitch", which was found to save time, discovered by CtrlAltDestroy. He and Guanobowl actually mentioned several things that we were able to duplicate and or just find with complete luck. The fact that we saved time in nearly every level shows the amount of time and effort we spent with this. The real rerecord count for this TAS is probably close to 200k.
I was also really curious of all the glitches mentioned in the Mario 2 thread when I first started this TAS, so I set out to see if I could "solve" each of them. I think I figured out all that were mentioned now, or at least how to duplicate them or use them to our advantage.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this. 1-1 especially was a level where I enjoyed experimenting and testing my crazy ideas. :) Somehow, my ideas actually worked!

People I'd like to thank:

- Adelikat for initially helping me with understand how this game worked a bit better and sending me more info on the game.
- CtrlAltDestroy & Guanobowl - as I actually ended up doing more experiments because of all the tricks and glitches you guys mentioned in the Mario 2 thread.
- Previous runners - for various info I gained reading through submissions and watching older TASes, especially "Sleepz" whom seemed to find quite a few improvements in 2004 or so.
- Aglar for putting up with my procrastination on both the warp and warpless runs. I got very frustrated at points because optimizing in this game is extremely difficult.

Frames saved level by level

LevelFrames savedTotal frames saved
1-1461461
1-2129590
4-22592
6-14596
6-342638
7-11639
7-26645

Level-by-level comments

1-1: Huge time saver, and if you checked the fm2 that was posted in the game thread last year you've already seen this - or have you?
1-2: Used the carpet glitch that most people know about by now, it ended up saving 119 frames. The Birdo fight was done 10 frames faster.
4-2: The vine glitch resulted in this small improvement.
6-1: Tight subpixel management saved 1 framed going down the platforms before the sand digging area, and 3 frames were saved from jumping up the sand area better.
6-3: New strategy for Triclyde saved a bunch of frames.
7-1: Lag reduction.
7-2: Lag reduction and throwing the last vegetable at Wart better.

New glitches used in the run (spoiler alert)

Carpet glitch in 1-2:

If there are two carpets on screen at once, it is possible to make them move at extremely fast speeds.

Carry an enemy to the next room:

Drop the POW-block and pick up an enemy just as the block hits the ground, you know it works if you get the "pick up" animation without picking up the enemy, then enter a new room and you'll be holding it.

Getting pushed down while on a vine/ladder (in this run, ladder):

Normally if you're on a ladder and a bomb falls down on you, you'll catch it while still climbing, however if you're already holding a bomb as in this run and another one falls at you it'll push you down the ladder.

Vine glitch in 4-2:

If you're on the very left side of the vine when entering a new screen you'll start a little more to the right in this screen.

DarkKobold Claiming for judging
Flygon: Corrected YouTube module size to the agreed upon standard for NES games.
GabCM: Added comparison link
DarkKobold: This is a no-brainer. New glitches, slight optimizations elsewhere... Obvious accept.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2981: Aglar & andrewg's NES Super Mario Bros. 2 in 07:41.16
Skilled player (1606)
Joined: 6/11/2006
Posts: 818
Location: Arboga, Sweden
If epic could be measured in distance, this one'd go all the way to the farthest reach of the universe, then back to the other end, and return to us. Very nice!
Warp wrote:
omg lol this is so fake!!!1 the nes cant produce music like this!
Editor, Skilled player (1441)
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 2113
Amazing run overall. There was so much new and unexpected stuff added to a movie I already considered impressive. Obvious yes vote, yo!
Tompa
Any
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Joined: 8/15/2005
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Location: Mullsjö, Sweden
Amazing run indeed. Nearly 11 seconds of improvements is a crazy amount of time! A huge yes vote on this and I can't wait for the warpless run.
adelikat
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Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3576)
Joined: 11/3/2004
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What cardboard said
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Editor, Experienced player (860)
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Encoding in HD + SD.
Skilled player (1410)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Cool movie, voting yes.
Active player (426)
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 1047
Location: California
Holy motherfuck, sick improvements! Edit: Would someone be willing to make a comparison encode with the obsoleted movie? I think that would look pretty cool as well as showing everything this submission has to offer.
Joined: 4/29/2006
Posts: 70
sonicpacker wrote:
Holy motherfuck, sick improvements! Edit: Would someone be willing to make a comparison encode with the obsoleted movie? I think that would look pretty cool as well as showing everything this submission has to offer.
I can do it if someone can teach me how to line 2 clips next to each other in .avs
Mitjitsu
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Very impressive.
Player (138)
Joined: 9/18/2007
Posts: 389
This TAS is great!
Undie wrote:
sonicpacker wrote:
Holy motherfuck, sick improvements! [...] Would someone be willing to make a comparison encode with the obsoleted movie?[...]
I can do it if someone can teach me how to line 2 clips next to each other in .avs
Nothing more simple than that, it's just StackHorizontal(clip1,clip2). You'll have to load the clips with DirectShowSource or AviSource. (and you got a pm)
Active player (279)
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Posts: 791
Sometimes a dream can come true. Yes vote.
Editor, Experienced player (860)
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Joined: 7/10/2007
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Great stuff, eagerly awaiting warpless run.
Joined: 6/4/2009
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Location: 33°07'41"S, 160°42'04"W
Thanks for the encode, Nahoc. I made two screenshot suggestions from the Youtube encode: (of course they need to be remade properly if someone likes them) As for the run, great improvements to the last one. And I loved the last one. So I love this one even more. Yes vote.
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
To no surprise, someone voted no... definitely curious as to why as this run had EVERYTHING! 1-1 alone was truly epic! And 1-2? Seriously, the encode should kill the music briefly and play Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride when Toad rocks the Carpet of Awesomes. Thoroughly entertaining through and through! A definitive Yes vote and a candidate for TAS of the Year! [Yes, I said it! Of The Year!] Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Warepire
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That was way more time than I thought could be squeezed out of this game. Voted yes.
Editor
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Location: Sweden
Duh, yes vote.
Editor, Experienced player (570)
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I made sure to watch the currently published run first so I would notice the improvements. The improvements were great and the glitches were interesting and entertaining. A well deserved Yes vote!
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin wrote:
A definitive Yes vote and a candidate for TAS of the Year! [Yes, I said it! Of The Year!]
I agree. This might win!
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Resounding yes.
Morrison
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Posts: 195
Location: USA
Those new tricks surprised me! Well played. Looking forward to warpless.
twitch.tv/Retrogaming2084
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Well, this is probably the most entertaining Mario submission I've seen in a couple years aside from SM64 any%. Not one, but several large improvements. Huge thumbs up, guys.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Patashu
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Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4045
IMO the screenshot should be glitching through the bottom of the world in 1-1.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Joined: 4/8/2009
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Really nice tricks in the first two levels. I like it a lot, good stuff.
Joined: 11/4/2007
Posts: 1772
Location: Australia, Victoria
Made encode 4 megabytes smaller than Nahoc's while being 100% lossless still (Including audio), uploading soon. Also uploading my own HD encode soon.