Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 98
Well, the only thing I noticed was how when you switched between the two paths on the world map, you could go to the level instantly instead of having to wait for the thing to go to the next level. During that part, couldn't you just switch between the two paths and make it just a bit faster? P.S. I realized it might be that at that point there was no thing to go to the next level... Hmm...
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Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 343
You guessed it, I can go instantly to the next level only because there is no animation this time. Otherwise, I need for the animation to wait, even if the level has already been unlock. So yeah, it's faster to complete one path and then go instantly on the other one.
Joined: 7/26/2006
Posts: 1215
STBM wrote:
So yeah, it's faster to complete one path and then go instantly on the other one.
But no matter which path you finish first, there won't be an animation, and all paths need to be drawn eventually, so... Wouldn't that mean you can play however you want because any order is equally slow?
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bkDJ wrote:
But no matter which path you finish first, there won't be an animation, and all paths need to be drawn eventually, so... Wouldn't that mean you can play however you want because any order is equally slow?
I didn't think of that, but yes that's right. So I was wrong, it's not necesseraly faster. :p EDIT : Does anybody who knows a little bit about creating action replay code (I think it should be ok) can tell me if it's possible to create an AR code to make the camera move faster ? (so I would be able to see where the goos I throw goes) ? Or hack Dolphin to display the whole level ? I tried to create an AR code, but after making Dolphin crashed 8 times, I think I should ask for help...
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Joined: 3/20/2008
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Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Looks good... However a lot those cursor playarounds get really annoying to watch after a while :/ Especially when you just bounce the cursor all over the screen after the tank gets filled.
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Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 343
I redid AGAIN the game from 1-1 to 1-6 (Tumbler), I saved 34 frames. Small Divide : I tried to breack the goos (as I do in Ode to a bridge builder), but it's actually slower than just build the bridge (only 4-5 frames of difference), as the bridge is very small. Hang Low : I tried to build the tower and then make them bounce as we do for the OCD -> Actually slower, as you need to raise up the camera at the beginning (you can wake up the goos during that time...) Impale Sticky : More accurate throws saved 22 frames. Ivy Tower : I don't know how I saved 3 frames there... Miracle. Tumbler : Strategy of which goos to throw changed -> 9 frames saved. I still need to know if somebody has an idea about how to aim with better precision when you don't know where the goo is going (as in Tower Of Goo, where the camera is too slow to follow the goo you throw). Also, is there anykind of possibility to hex-edit on Dolphin ? The movie files are obviously not text file, so I don't really know...
Vykan12 wrote:
Looks good... However a lot those cursor playarounds get really annoying to watch after a while :/ Especially when you just bounce the cursor all over the screen after the tank gets filled.
Noted. I'm trying to avoid doing that from now. On this WIP, I actually tried to write stuff, but I obviously failed. Oh well, need to practice :/
Joined: 7/26/2006
Posts: 1215
STBM wrote:
Also, is there anykind of possibility to hex-edit on Dolphin ? The movie files are obviously not text file, so I don't really know...
You can hex edit the files. The format is described here, but it hasn't been updated now that the wiimote rerecording works. You'd actually have to look at the code change that made it possible to see, I guess. If I have time this weekend I'll do the research and make a tool that turns input data into a csv file (and vice-versa) so you can do editing in Excel or something.
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Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 343
That would be awesome ! EDIT : I can't seem to open those files with any text/hex editor, so yeah... I think your link is outdated :p
Active player (322)
Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 343
Han ! First desynch with Dolphin ! :( I got backups for each level, so that's fine, but... meh, I just wasted two hours and a half :p EDIT : I desynched 4 times on this level (Fistys Bog). Anyway, finished the first chapter for good this time. Time : 06:35:13 - 23713 frames, which means an improvement of 397 frames (6s37) over my first try.
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Joined: 1/15/2012
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More than 6 seconds improved on Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 DONE : Link to video Very hard world as the only optimisation I could do on many levels was just... boosting. Which isn't great, but hey ! It looks good ! To see more details about time/strategy, look here Please comment !
Editor
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 1466
Location: Not playing Puyo Tetris
STBM, that was awesome. Launch them into space, and let god sort it out.
When TAS does Quake 1, SDA will declare war. The Prince doth arrive he doth please.
Active player (322)
Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 343
Thanks ! :D I just made a 15-hours of TASing today... It was raining, and my friends are on hollyday, so I had time to spent :p I'm at the "Information Superhighway", which are really easy level for TASing. and then there's only a few level left... :) ! I will take my time though, to optimise... Three points has to be noted : 1- The "Early Whistle Glitch" doesn't work on the wii version 2- If there is a certain number of goo on the level (I think 30 or more), the game starts to LAG, which can handicaped a lot (for example, there's a glitch which is WAY less efficient than on PC at the Red Carpet level... too bad). 3- On the "Product Launcher" level, on the PC version you were able to wake up the goo really fast with only one explosive goo, and also light a goo when it wasn't on a structure... All those things has been patched, and the wii version is the patched version, which makes this level way longer than on the pre-patch PC version :( But the run is still going well, with good times and nice to watch :p EDIT : I made another 10 hours rush and finished the game in 32:17:56 – 116276 frames. Now I'm trying to see where I can improve it (I only found 2 frames to be saved)... And I found a desynch. I don't know how, I check every level when I finish them... Too bad. I really need hex editing now :p
Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 98
With Whistler, some of the goos went off a bit and took a while to get to where you wanted them to. I'm pretty sure you could manipulate them by either changing the position of the whistle, making them go a different direction, or maybe stopping the whistling for a few frames would change the RNG.
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Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 1029
I think Whistler can also be improved by carrying the unused two clear goo to the pipe manually (or throwing it). Or does the pipe not accept them, or does the time spent not whistling make it slower?
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ais523 wrote:
I think Whistler can also be improved by carrying the unused two clear goo to the pipe manually (or throwing it). Or does the pipe not accept them, or does the time spent not whistling make it slower?
I didn't even though of it... The pipe does accept them, will work on it !
sudgy wrote:
With Whistler, some of the goos went off a bit and took a while to get to where you wanted them to. I'm pretty sure you could manipulate them by either changing the position of the whistle, making them go a different direction, or maybe stopping the whistling for a few frames would change the RNG.
I tried to manipulate that whistle (17 sec is a good time eh ?), but the RNG of the movement of those goos... seems very random (haha). But yeah, I need to redo this level as I didn't use the water goo, so I will try to see how it works. Beside, I learn tons of stuff about the physic motor of this game, especially in the Winter world, so I think I can improve some level here :p EDIT: New glitch I already saved 5 seconds on 4 levels :p
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Posts: 343
I won't be able to TAS anything until the end of July. Here is a .dtm file WIP of 1-1 to 2-7. To read the file, you need the build of Dolphin rbc61dbdf58a8bb088109839c5f25e7183830b166 merged with TAS-input by rog. You can get it here : 64 bits and 32 bits . Settings can be found here (edit : disable panic handler), and be sure that /User/Wii/title/ is empty (no saves).
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Posts: 343
I can't do better at the Whistle Level. I did improve it by a few frame, but it can't be seens with human eyes. Also, I keep desynching again and again (5 - edit: 6 times now - times in a row) on the "Second Hand Smoke" level, it's starting to pisses me off :( :p
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Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 343
Hum... I learn some stuff since I made this TAS, especially about the "spirit" of TASing. I think you can improve something like 7 seconds in this TAS just by optimisation - 3 seconds would come from the Alice And Bob And The Third Party level, ~1 second would come from Impal Sticky (I think, maybe less) and 3 other seconds (180 frames) could be randomly saved from other levels - this is pure estimation. I don't want to redo a whole run though - especially because of the Alice & bob level which is really terrible in TAS - but I can help anybody who would like to improve it :) Unless everybody is waiting to make the 4 player run ;p