Post subject: Jurassic Park
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Now, I was intent on keeping this secret, as I was working on an optimised TAS of this game for April Fools. Unfortunately, discoveries made while working on it means it will take much longer to actually complete a full game TAS. For most sections of the game, you need to collect or destroy a number of eggs situated throughout the levels. I found a place in the 2nd level where I could glitch an egg to be collected twice, although I didn't take advantage of this fact, and left it as a funny marker where I collect the Card Key and it shows 0 eggs needed, but still one egg on the screen. I found that in my realtime playthroughs before, so I left it in as a funny demonstration. However, I found a second place in the 4th stage where I could repeat this glitch, and after a bit of exploring I found I could glitch most of the eggs on the first stage in the same way. This means I could get to one egg, glitch that until I get to 0 eggs needed to collect, pick up the Card Key that spawns from the final egg, and progress the shortest distance to the next area. Once I get back online I'll post my old WIP. It might be faster to do things normally in some areas (first part of level 2) but on larger maps glitching will be faster. Ammo conservation is more of an issue but I'm sure I'll manage
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Can this glitch be done on the NES version? I'm TASing that version due to less lag, and also, in that version, landing is 2x faster than walking, so jumping like mad is the way to go. =p Edit: BTW, that version is slightly slower due to more boss battles, but at least is in color.
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NES version I've not played, so I don't know the differences. From my experience, every other JP game was very different to each other (SNES and Gens are different, certainly). GB version is the one I'm familiar with, and has some pretty rocking music. Another glitch which I've come across in realtime, but yet to duplicate in TAS is that I can remove the T-Rex completely after its first appearance, and it does not return for the rest of the battle. I do this with some enemies to reduce the lag a bit, so I have a rough idea how it might work. I've done it in two different ways in realtime though - either by shooting the T-Rex so it backs off, or moving slightly to avoid its bite attack and then not moving so it backs off anyway. It is, I assume, something to do with how you move when he does back off, but I've yet to find the correct positioning. The T-Rex is the only true boss battle you can count in this game. The first stage boss isn't really a boss, you just move to avoid the stampede of Triceratops. Its boring because jumps and weapons are disabled, so I can't make that part very entertaining. Everything else is the egg collect-a-thon, or a few other things (getting TNT to destroy the raptor nests in Stage 4, for example).
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You want to know the difference? ok: Nes: *In color *T-rex appears twice; both time need to be killed; 30 hits to kill in the first battle, 60 for second *Triceratops appears twice. *The code used for level skip is different *Longer intro *"Cutscene" before boss battles absent GB: *Monochrome *T-rex is not a boss battle; appears only once *Triceratops appears only once *Level skip code different *Shorter intro *Cutscenes before a boss battle
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http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/926888559/Jurassic%20Park%20%28U%29%20%5Bo1%5D.vbm Here's my old WIP as promised. Would be nice to get some feedback. Note this uses the [o1] rom since the [!] apparently does not exist.
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Sorry for the late response! I just watched it, and the first stage looks almost exactly the same as my old NES version WIP. I think that since the games are just ports of each other, the mechanics should be the same. So jumping continuosly maybe the fastest way to go. Edit: Ok, I've seen the run a second time, and it is not so entertaining due to lack of color, and lag. Is the lag becuase of the rom version? Anyway, great wip, I'll see if the glitch you showed is possible in the NES version.
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Ok, I think I found a good version of the rom. I will not tell you where I found it, but I can tell you the name. Jurassic Park (U) [!] Checksum: a40a Good luck with the run!
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None. I figure with you doing the NES version, I can get FE6 out the way, and maybe pick this up another time.
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Ok, it's been long enough since I did a TAS. I did my first attempt on VBA, but with GB emulation being more accurate with BizHawk, so I understand, I'm gonna restart on that. First major change is going to be taking advantage of the glitch I discovered in the old WIP. Basically, by scrolling an egg just slightly off-screen as it is destroyed, I can cause that egg to reappear to be destroyed again, as many times as I need. It works better when scrolling left-right rather than up-down, so not every egg would be ideal for this, but it will save a lot of time trekking across the map as I can just pick on the first viable egg and farm it to clear the section. Second thing is to try and cause the T-Rex to vanish in the Stage 2 boss fight. My basic understanding of how this would happen is by causing so much lag that it can't spawn at all. The most powerful ammo also causes a lot of lag when fired, and I can have up to 14 shots of it by the time I get to the T-Rex (plus other forms of ammo), so I should have more than enough to at least test it being possible - I did pull it off on a real PAL cart, so I have every confidence. I may be able to avoid picking up the 10-shot batch which is slightly out of the way, and cause it to happen with just the 4-shot batch that is nearer in Stage 2, but that will require some testing. This run is gonna look very different to the WIP because of these changes, and with Grant going around the levels a lot less, it does risk the TAS being a bit less interesting to watch, but it does make it significantly faster to boot. At least there'll be more to show off than the NES version, plus that means more time to enjoy the rockin' chiptunes.
Post subject: Stage 1-4 complete (with encode)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GECv2hgHwIc WIP: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/11366043971660940 Figured I throw an encode together of the current progress. Yes, I figured it was better not to waste my work on the glitchless run and get it finished, so here's Stages 1-4.