HAMMER TIME!

I decided to optimize a highly optimized run even more, and since I just longplayed this game, I thought that it would be suitable.
This TAS beats Randil's published run by 334 frames or 5.72 seconds due to several mini optimizations and a few new boss tricks.
  • Used FCEUX 2.1.4a
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Manipulates luck
  • Abuses a programming error (walk on air)
  • Contains speed entertainment tradeoffs, just like Randil's TAS

The Speed Entertainment Tradeoffs

  • Same as Randil's movie, I tried to make the bonus stages entertaining by killing the same amount of enemies that he did, however this wasn't always possible because new strategies in stages equals a different RNG and thus more or less enemies spawn. I hope this makes sense and you guys understand. I still think the bonus stages are entertaining so it all evens out in the end.

General Tricks

  • When Harry is about to fall off a ledge, there is 1 frame of his idle position, in which you can attack or jump in. If you attack, the game resets your yspeed, and when your attack is finished, Harry's idle animation appears again and you can repeat over and over. This doesn't save time in much places because of the slow attacking speed.
  • Harry's movement pattern is 1-2-1-2-1-2. If you jump on a frame where you have moved 2 pixel, your jump will be a half of a pixel longer. Used throughout the run.
  • Randil did not use the eggroll that you get if you get a good score on the bonus levels. I use it.
  • When you land from a jump, you lose 2 frames. There are less jumps then in Randil's TAS in this movie.

About the movie

  • It's slightly faster to jump off ledges then to walk off of them, because if you walk, Harry enters his idle position for 1 frame. This saved maybe about 30 frames throughout the run.
  • There is a mini 6 frame improvement in the first level. I didn't kill some enemies so the game couldn't spawn more.
  • The first major improvement came from the first boss where I used the earthquake shatter to damage the boss more.
  • I optimized fighting that guy who is creating sludge blocking my path at the beginning of level 2.
  • Better ladder positioning helped me save a few frames in level 2.
  • I saved some frames during the text sequences between levels. I don't know why.
  • I lost some frames in level 3 because of a frame rule that made more enemies spawn causing lag.
  • Frames were saved at the end of level 3 because I damage boosted off the cello player instead of smashing him, thus avoiding the 2-frame landing delay.
  • There was some lag reduction in the beginning of level 4.
  • I improved the miniboss in level 4 a bit.
  • Instead of zipping through the box it is a bit faster to hop over them.
  • I take damage more in level 5 to skip a waterfall by grabbing a health regenerator.

That's all. Thanks to Randil for his published run.
Enjoy! :)

Mukki: Judging...
Mukki: Nice improvement. Accepting as an improvement to the currently published movie.
Brandon: Publication underway.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #3189: NitroGenesis's NES Hammerin' Harry in 07:11.39
NitroGenesis
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YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Lex
Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Great run! I watched it, enjoyed it, and voted yes.
Joined: 2/6/2011
Posts: 130
A kid with a hammer running around as fast as he can... what can go wrong with that?. Yes vote.
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Nice improvement, I like the new boss strategies. Yes vote!
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Good job! It looks better than the currently published run (probably because it's faster). Yes vote.
NitroGenesis
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Thanks for the feedback guys! This wasn't an easy game to TAS so I'm glad you enjoy it.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
NitroGenesis
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No one likes this movie? :(
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Lex
Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
What? As is evident from reading this thread, the opposite is true.
NitroGenesis
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Nobody cares about it, I mean.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Lex
Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
To be fair, there are tons of great runs on the workbench right now. Just because the majority of posters aren't entirely focused on this run doesn't mean they don't care about it. This game is relatively simple and relatively unknown in comparison to Majora's Mask or Pokémon Ruby. I'd never heard of this game before this submission, to be honest. I'm not saying it's a weak TAS or a super-simplistic game which requires no tricks! I'm just saying it makes sense that this run isn't getting a ton of attention. You clearly did a great job with this TAS, and you can revel in the feedback you did receive, which is 100% positive, a seeming rarity these days.
NitroGenesis
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Oh well, since this is an improvement to a published movie I thought it would get more attention. Oh well.
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Lex
Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Did you play this game before you saw it on TASvideos? Also, are you more interested in watching TASes of games you've played than TASes of games you've never played? I am, for sure. I imagine it's similar for others. This topic has probably been discussed to death, but it relates to your concern about this TAS being relatively unpopular.
NitroGenesis
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Lex wrote:
Did you play this game before you saw it on TASvideos?
Yes But anyway, I'll stop this discussion and let my run stay here to ignored. :p
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Lex
Joined: 6/25/2007
Posts: 732
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
If I was in your position, the main person I would be interested in impressing would be Randil. He was impressed. You have achieved success.
Post subject: Stuff For Publication
NitroGenesis
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Thank you very much Mukki :) Screenshot I like (optimized) Archive Torrent Description: Hammerin' Harry is a pretty simple platformer. Armed with a big hammer, you make your way through 5 levels, and the first 3 levels have bonus levels as well. At the end of each level there is a boss, and in some levels, there are also mini-bosses. In short, this game is a "normal" platformer, you won't have a hard time figuring out what's going on. [user:NitroGenesis] improves on the previous movie by 5.72 seconds thanks to more optimized jumps and faster bossfights. For more info, we recommend reading the [3189S|submission text.]
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Post subject: Re: Stuff For Publication
Brandon
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NitroGenesis wrote:
Thank you very much Mukki :) Screenshot I like (optimized) Archive Torrent Description: Hammerin' Harry is a pretty simple platformer. Armed with a big hammer, you make your way through 5 levels, and the first 3 levels have bonus levels as well. At the end of each level there is a boss, and in some levels, there are also mini-bosses. In short, this game is a "normal" platformer, you won't have a hard time figuring out what's going on. [user:NitroGenesis] improves on the previous movie by 5.72 seconds thanks to more optimized jumps and faster bossfights. For more info, we recommend reading the [3189S|submission text.]
Well, you made this really easy for me. I'll do this very shortly.
All the best, Brandon Evans
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [1830] NES Hammerin' Harry by NitroGenesis in 07:11.39
Joined: 1/8/2011
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Great TAS! I wonder if it's possible to get this run under 8:30.
Samus plays the SA-Xaphone
NitroGenesis
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The TAS is under 8:30...
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
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He probably meant 7:00.
Post subject: 512 encode (need someone to upload to archive)
Kaylee
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I have made a 512kb encode of this run, as this page says it doesn't have one, but unfortunately, I do not have the permissions at this time to add it to the current library on archive.org, so here is a download link, and hopefully someone with those permissions could put it up there.