I am Raglan, Lord of Darkness king of Destruction. Well, you will not be for too long now that Sky, the son of the Sky-lord, decided to do something about it.
Game Objectives
- Emulator Used: Snes9x 1.43 v17 svn146
- Takes Damage to Save Time
- Manipulates Luck
- Heavy Gltch Abuse
This run uses the good rom of Sky Blazer in an attempt to improve the currently published run that uses a beta 2 rom. There's slightly differences in the game engine between the two versions and I'll try to describe them now;
- The loading times are longer.
- Sky lands one frame later after a jump.
- The conversations can be skipped faster.
- There's more lag during some stages.
Stage by Stage
The first difference, the longer loading times can be noticed right at the start of the game, my first input can only be given 91 frames later than it's possible on the beta rom.
Intro Stage
Taking damage on the first stage is not meant to save time, but to avoid wasting more time on the cutscene with Ashura. 89 frames slower.
Faltine's Woods
Eventhough this stage was redone 3 times, it's still slower than the current run, I'd say it's another difference on the engine, but it may sound like a lame excuse. 16 frames slower.
Temple Infernus
Finally a faster stage, thanks to a better positioning at the end of the boss fight. 22 frames faster.
Cliffs of Peril
Okay, there's no excuse to be slower on an auto scroller stage, but I couldn't avoid that extra frame of lag. 1 frame slower.
Tower of the Tarolisk
The different height of the last two spiked platforms made me lose a lot of time on this stage. 225 frames slower.
Gateway to the Eastern Plain
I think I can't brag about those frames saved on this auto scroller because I don't know how it was faster. 10 frames faster.
Petrolith Castle
It's not possible to jump while Sky is crouched under those crushing ceilings on the final version of the game, so, another slower stage. 14 frames slower.
The Falls of Torment
Better luck with those green slime balls to get what I wanted and this little stage is now a little faster. 38 frames faster.
Lair of Kharyon
Unlike on the current run, I don't get a magic replenishment after the previous stage, so I have to deal with what I have left, also one of the eels are on a different location. 85 frames slower.
The Sand Rivers of Shirol
Another stage that will not give me any magic refill at the end, so I must grab what I can before the next stage. 48 frames slower.
Gateway of Eternal Storms
I don't think it's fair to compare time on this stage as it's a completely different stage, and again, I'll not have any free magic refills at the end. 187 frames slower.
Storm Fortress of Kh'lar
Another stage that have a different layout, I don't know why they excluded the center platform on the boss fight, but it really pissed me off. 418 frames slower.
Fortress Shirol
Auto scrollers are supposed to last the same amount of time no matter what, and this one fortunately followed the rule. 0 frames faster/slower.
Caverns of Shirol
This stage have just one name on the final version, but they also eliminated a really useful glitch; the Zipping Left Through the Roof. 228 frames slower.
Dragonhil Forest
Finally a stage that's untouched on the final version, and since the same strategy was used, I got the same result. 0 frames faster/slower.
The Great Tower
Only the first part of this stage is different now, but I still don't get why they insist in making my life a lot more difficult. 286 frames slower.
Shrine of Destiny
The exact same input from Gateway to the Eastern Plain was used here, so what I said there still stands, it's just one frame slower than it was there. 9 frames faster.
Raglan's Citadel
The programmers reserved a really good surprise for me after so many difficult and slower stages; it's not needed to skip the conversation of the Old Man with the Sorceress anymore and the input can be ended a lot sooner. 2326 frames faster.
More Differences
I've spent quite some time to optimize this run, but overall it's slower than the previous run for a myriad of reasons, so only comparing time stage by stage doesn't make much sense. Here's a chart with the frames spent on loadings and talkings, it shows how different the two versions are;
| Loading | Talking | Total | Version |
|---|
| 8732 | 9878 | 18610 | Beta 2 |
| 10308 | 6574 | 16882 | Final |
Possible Improvements
What kind of improvement is that when there's still possible improvements left? well, I only found the speed address of Sky when the run was completed, so it may be possible to save time watching this address, and of course the use of a different rom made it quite difficult to keep the previous run's pace, but now with the same version it will be easier.
TAS Movie Editor helped me immensely in the creation of this run.
Memory Addresses
- 7EF340, 2u = Sky's Speed
- 7EF830, 1u = Ifrit's Health
- 7EF821, 1u = Beholder's Health
- 7EF97x, 1u = Evil Wall's Health (x = E,D,F)
- 7EF83x, 1u = Kharyon's Health (x = C,D,E,F)
- 7EF824, 1u = Harpy's Health
- 7EF821, 1u = Kappa's Health
- 7EF821, 1u = Great Dragon's Health
- 7EF820, 1u = Ashura's Health
- 7EF83E, 1u = Raglan's Health
Suggested Screenshot
suggestions?
Nach: Since the old run was made with a beta version, and a final version exists, I'm disqualifying the old run. Therefore I am accepting this run as an improvement to an existing run.
