Went ahead and made a slight test with THPS2 for N64 since I couldn't get a PSX emulator working with re-recordings.
The run is a bit sloppy at parts and can be improved. I just wanted to show what it might look like. Any route planning and ideas are welcome.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1931814151/THPS2%20%28USA%29%20Highness%20test1.m64
Edit:
Oh and here is a save state file so you don't have to watch those boring 1500 frames of disclaimer in the beginning Save State
Well, this was interesting. I don't agree with the route planning at all, though. You backtrack way too much! :P
But yeah, a 100% run would definitely be enjoyable.
Nah.. I know that the route is a bit sloppy. I just wanted to see what I could do with it. And it's also my first time recording with Mupen, and it's a bit of a hassle for me. Not used to it etc.
Feel free to pitch in. I would love to get ideas for this project. I don't even know how to perform all the tricks, so I think when I get around to know the game better I could make a whop-ass run.
Another thing I was wondering about is how to upgrade the stats. And also if it would be worth it to tweak the board to have softer trucks etc.
In the school level for example I think I need either better Ollie stats, and/or speed stats. Perhaps even some landing to make those leap of faith things.
I've been looking at the school level and it seems a bit harder to plan the route there. And there will be some more backtracking needed to get all the goals and cash in one heat for this level I think, if at all possible. Some of cash things are way out of the track. Might get tricky to grab it all in one go. All the goals I already know is possible, but to bring the money along?
I might go ahead and experiment some with that level to get a feeling for how the planning can be done around it. I already jotted down some ideas earlier that I want to fiddle with. I'll keep you posted.
Edit:
Got these RAM-addresses from Nahoc in the IRC-channel.
00AB7C84 is speed in competitions.
00AB7B74 is speed in every other levels.
After reviewing the stats of every skater I think it would be very wise to go for Jamie Thomas as the skater of choice. This is because Jamie can handle the big drops since he has the best landing stats available from start out of all the skaters. He is also on par concerning speed, which is set to 6 from the beginning.
Because of these starting stats it is possible to kiss the rail at the first half-pipe in the hangar, ollie, grab the cash, and make the landing without bailing.
In the test I did playing with Tony Hawk I had to take an alternative route in order not to bail upon landing. In that play I go up on the lamps close to the ceiling, then I have to land in a grind over the half-pipe in order to keep my points and not bail.
With Jamie I would not need to get up there at all. Just grab the cash as you're coming down from the start.
Not sure what stats to upgrade after the hangar yet. Speed is of course very favorable throughout the entire round. Any thoughts on stats-distribution would be very helpful.
I might go ahead and record a test run of the hangar with Jamie to see how it compares to Tony's run.
Edit:
Tub told me on IRC that he had a 100% speedrun for THPS2 on his hard drive. Didn't get a response from him after he said that, so I went ahead and found it by googling instead. The download link can be found on this board: http://forumplanet.gamespy.com/tony_hawks_pro_skater_2/b50195/9425240/r9425252/ along with some comments. Good to analyze routs and ideas. Thanks for sharing Tub!
Not sure what stats to upgrade after the hangar yet. Speed is of course very favorable throughout the entire round. Any thoughts on stats-distribution would be very helpful.
I think you'll need some Air for two cash pickups in New York, the one outdoor cash icon in Skatestreet Ventura and for reaching the ziplines in Bullring. Unless higher values make your jumps any faster, just grab as much as needed for the tricks.
I'm not sure about Hang Time. If it just causes you to float in the air like a racoon plumber, then avoid it. Dito Ollie, lower stats might be faster for the quick rail to rail jumps. (grinding was faster than rolling or jumping, right?)
Spin seems to be useless. You don't need to cram more spins into each jump, since scoring is not a problem. Even in the competitions, spreading the cash across two runs seems faster, so you'll just score while you're at it.
Balance? Probably not.
You can buy 9 stat points after the first level. Enough to max speed and spread 5 points between air, ollie and landing. If you're lucky, you won't need to visit the stat screen ever again after that.
The run you linked is 22:32, it had later been improved to 21:57 by the same runner. Since neither of us found any working public mirrors, I'm sending it directly to highness now.
I only tried it at the school level to max speed + hang time. And it is enough to get over the roof gap at the secret tape to reach the cash.
Thanks for the second video that you sent on IRC. I will host it later as soon as I've downloaded it, and re-uploaded it to my server.
Cheers for the ideas so far.
Edit:
Uploaded the 100% goals+cash speedrun by Dr. Zaius which I got from Tub earlier. You can find it here
Found a possible route improvement for New York in THPS2.
http://youtu.be/riBOeEHnDx4
Played by hand on an N64 with capture card delay, so obviously with TAS movement, it should come out faster. The clip through the fence is really simple (just grind the rails), and obviously by getting a good clip quickly, you can beat the train. Basically the route should be the same except substituting out the Subway Tokens for the SKATE Letters and clipping through the fence.[/url]
Nice. Also what I wondered is if it would be possible to get all gaps etc in a single go for a real 100% run. Or maybe that should have its own category? :)
