Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Hello people! I've been watching timeattack movies for about 9 months now. Thanks to all players for great entertainment and art you have made! The only movies I haven't watched are those that are not published yet. But let's get to the point. Highness wrote: "Gods. Not exactly a top game. But I'd still watch it if it was done." True, Gods is not a TOP game, but I have decided to launch an attack on it. I'm doing the USA version (more enemies) on Genesis (no introduction text between levels etc.) I have just started this project and it may take a couple of months or even a year to complete, but the result is going to be as close to perfect as possible. No serious stuff is recorded yet, but the route is starting to look promising. (Eh... not really...) :)
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Hello there. I remember Gods, though I only played it for the PC. Damn that was a frustrating game. You could only jump forward, never straight up, and while on moving platforms you had to walk forward to stay on them. Perhaps that was fixed in the console versions. The nonsensical puzzels probably weren't though. Let us know if/when you need any help. And welcome to the forums, too. Hope you'll have a nice time. Oh, and make backups.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
YAY!!! Aqfaq, I hope you are pulling this off fast. I wanna SEE IT NOW!!! =) I hope you are going to use frame advance that can be found in Gens Movie Test9c. This is going to be great. And please do post some teazers or WIP's while we are waiting for the final product. Cheers!
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
I tested it again just to see how it was. It's better than I remembered it. Most of the unsanitizing "features" seems to have been removed. So does the only thing I remember liking about the original game too, though - the intro music. Tip for Aqfaq - remember that everybody's first movie is bad. Do a first version to learn how it works and don't submit it. Use it as reference for your next version.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Yeah. Or DO submit it and have others comment it and help you out!
Player (206)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
Yeah, because nobody pays attention to WIPs, but everybody pays attention to submitted movies that are obvious candidates for rejection, right?
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Post subject: Thank you all!
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Thanks for your advice and support! When I have made a version that contains no mistakes that I can detect myself, I'll submit it. This game is pretty well programmed. I have found only 2 major flaws. 1. The bomb weapon (that can be found in worlds 3-1 and 4-1) produces a quake that throws your character into the air. If you shoot continuously after the explosion, your character won't fall down and you can "climb" through air and eventually walk over ceiling just like in SMB2. I am just going to test if this can be used to make a very effective shortcut. (probably not) 2. If you shoot continuously after you kill the final boss, the game won't end and many weird things happen: you can resurrect the final boss as many times as you like, get into a shop, teleport back to world 1-1 etc. That is just crazy... Obviously, all this seems to be just useless and very funny. :) Ok, back to testing...
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Have you checked http://www.gamefaqs.com? Perhaps there are some good guides that contains useful glitches? Or perhaps David Woon's page. Doesn't have the url by hand right now. But I'm sure someone else have it. Try to read alot about the game before pulling it off on your own.
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
OH YES! I found a glitchy shortcut to the final boss. I use bombs to climb through wall. I can end the game 2 mins faster now! Well, progress is fast in the beginning. :)
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
One question here... The shortcut I use skips half of the world 4-1 + whole worlds 4-2 and 4-3. Then I kill the final boss and there should appear this text: "GAME COMPLETE", but because I skipped some worlds, the text reads: "WORLD ONE COMPLETE" (That means world 4-1!) Then the game ends and the OUTRO BEGINS. So, how is it: 1) I complete the game legally, because I kill the final boss and the end animation begins. or 2) I don't complete the game, because there is wrong level-ending-text. How does that sound? I think there is no problem. There is a similar situation in Walker Boh's Wizards & Warriors movie. (although it may be backwards)
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
If you killed the final boss and got the outro demo I'd say you're home free. That you get the wrong text is not a good reason to skip a cool glitch. How about letting us see what you have recorded so far?
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Yeah, I definitely must send something soon to get some feedback. There may be some basic amateur mistakes that I don't see.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
I can host your files on my server if you wish. And I think this is one of those games that should have two diffrent runs. One that uses warps and one that doesn't. :)
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Yes, the warpless movie would be very different, because world 3-1 is one of the largest ones and it can be made very short (no glitches needed, there is a real shortcut). I have now made a demonstration of what the first minute of the movie may look like. It is sent to Highness via E-mail.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Got the mail. Here's the link for you who wanna see it. I haven't looked at it my self yet. http://highness.no-ip.com/Aqfaq-Gods-WIP.zip
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Thank you Highness! This short movie demonstrates some of the main things that are required to play Gods fast. Here are some explanations: 0:11:34 You must pull the 1st lever twice to open the shortcut. 0:17:50 If you don't kill this creature, it will shoot and cause 1 damage point. That little amount of health is needed and I have not found a faster way to save it. 0:18:17 You must pull 2nd lever twice (with the key) to open the shortcut. The last 3 monsters in world 1-1 are tough and take many shots to kill, but that is not the only reason why I choose to walk over them... 0:40:40 Here our hero dies just after taking the key. Dying is very effective in Gods: you get fully healed, you are invulnerable for a while and you get teleported to the latest checkpoint. 1:03:40 This monster must be killed if you don't want to walk on it when you come out of the room. 1:06:21 If you are not accurate, the vase will be picked up instead of the key. Again, I walk on THIS monster because it is tougher than it's sisters, but just like before, this is not the only reason I walk on it. 1:23:03 I'm not sure, but I think the game stops to load something for a couple of frames here. 1:25:34 Many good reasons to die here. Do you have a better idea? 1:30:20 The help bonus (extra life) won't appear if you have 3 or more lives left. The help bonuses are the main reason why dying can be more useful in Gods than in some other games! Sorry, the demonstration ends here. This movie is NOT part of the final version, but it may be close. Or is it awful? What do you more experienced people think? Feel free to ask anything and give comments.
Former player
Joined: 5/22/2004
Posts: 462
From what I saw, this movie looked good. This game, however, was just as bad as I remembered it :P Keep up the good work; it looks fine by me.
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Watched now. Very good so far. The only thing I'm puzzled about is that you seem to shoot randomly some times when you don't really need it? Or am I mistaking here?
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Got a new mail from Aqfaq with various images. I decided that I'm to lazy to put a single link to everything. So instead I made a directory with listing so that you guys can go in and brows on your own. The WIP run is still on the same url as before though, http://highness.no-ip.com/gods/
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
Didn't see anything immediately wrong, it looked very good actually. One thought I had: did you time the difference in taking a hit in the shortcut VS killing one of the monsters before the level ends? You said they were stronger, but you have to wait for some time to enter the shortcut too. Have you planned where to lose your lives and get new ones? Dying seems so good that you'll want to be sure you are doing it in the most beneficial places. How about collecting money and what and when to buy from the mercant, do you have a plan?
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Thank you all for your comments. To Highness: Every shot I make saves health or prevents death. Also, it is good to kill as many enemies as possible to gain extra lifes based on score points. I am not shooting any enemies that I can't kill. To Truncated: Good thinking, but I think killing one of the end monsters would give the other monster enough time to shoot twice at you causing death. Now they both shoot only once. Anyway, we are talking about a couple of frames here. And yes, I have planned how to collect and use money: always buy invulnerability that costs 5000. (The funny thing here is that our hero is on quest to gain immortality among gods and is immortal almost half the movie.) If possible, never collect money 5650 or more, because then you can't leave the shop so quickly. That is because if you don't have enough money to buy anything, you are automatically moved over "exit". To Dan_: You are right, Gods is a very bad game. :)
Player (71)
Joined: 8/24/2004
Posts: 2562
Location: Sweden
Splendid. I'm waiting for the final product now. :)
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Prepare to wait a long long time. I already found some mistakes on this demonstration movie. I have to start from the beginning. Hehhehee, I tested playing to world 2-3 and it seems that the final product may contain more deaths than any other movie. Does anyone know which movie has the highest death count at the moment?
Editor, Reviewer, Experienced player (979)
Joined: 4/17/2004
Posts: 3109
Location: Sweden
I'm interested in seeing/hearing what errors you made. The Blaster Master video has 4 deaths. Previous versions of Rygar had some deaths. 4-5 maybe, I can't remember exactly. The current ones have none though. Other than that I cannot really think of any.
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Turning 180 degrees can be made faster the other way around, facing the wall. Actually, you can skip that part of the turning animation where the hero is facing the wall. Also, I think the shop scene can be made faster. The current route I am about to test has 6 deaths under 4 minutes. :)