Post subject: Mario Tennis - Power Tour
Buddybenj
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Joined: 1/12/2013
Posts: 166
Location: USA
I have started a TAS of Mario Tennis - Power Tour (UA) (M5) for the GBA! I'm excited to do it. But i have a question. Should i use the game mode easy or medium? Or should i load from an SRAM and use hard? I feel i should use medium because it's the hardest of the two but considering hard would be possible from SRAM i don't know. Any input would be nice! I will be posting WIPS and hopefully testing some cool strats! Thx for any help. P.S. If you want to work on it with me just post it or PM me (but if you haven't made many TASes yet I suggest watching adelikat's TAS tutorial, it's really good).
Projects: Interested in TASing N64 Mario Golf. GBA Mario Tennis: Power Tour is on hold.
Noxxa
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Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4090
Location: The Netherlands
The most hassle-free option is to just go with medium difficulty in this case. Most runs of newer Castlevanias and Mega Man games (with an unlockable hard mode) do this.
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Buddybenj
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Joined: 1/12/2013
Posts: 166
Location: USA
OK. Sounds good. So the branch will just be "normal mode".
Projects: Interested in TASing N64 Mario Golf. GBA Mario Tennis: Power Tour is on hold.
Buddybenj
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Joined: 1/12/2013
Posts: 166
Location: USA
And I will be doing doubles I think because I hear it is slightly faster.
Projects: Interested in TASing N64 Mario Golf. GBA Mario Tennis: Power Tour is on hold.
Editor, Experienced player (570)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4037
Actually, if you're going for fastest time with no restrictions (also known as any%), you don't need a branch at all. It can always be explained in the submission and publication texts why you chose normal mode. Good luck on your run!
Buddybenj
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Joined: 1/12/2013
Posts: 166
Location: USA
Ok. So if I'm doing any% I wonder if easy is faster (however it take a frame more to select). In that case I might want to specify. Idk, I'll see. Thanks for the support.
Projects: Interested in TASing N64 Mario Golf. GBA Mario Tennis: Power Tour is on hold.
Editor, Experienced player (570)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4037
Right, that's something you'll probably have to test. Generally it's best to go with the hardest difficulty available from the start, but if normal mode would make the game much slower or something, then easy mode might be better.
Noxxa
They/Them
Moderator, Expert player (4126)
Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4090
Location: The Netherlands
Even for any%, generally you'll want to pick medium difficulty. Only pick easy if the difference with medium is just numbers like enemy hit point counts and would only pad the run. Note these rules/guidelines on the matter:
Wiki: Vault wrote:
Technical requirements <snip>
  • The guidelines for difficulty settings, and password use still apply.
Wiki: Guidelines wrote:
Select your goals well <snip>
  • Where a game has multiple difficulty levels, it is preferred to play on the hardest difficulty level (for more interesting gameplay) unless the only difference between difficulty levels is enemy/boss hit points, in which case the easiest difficulty levels are preferred in the interest of speed. If the difference in difficulty is inapplicable for your run, for example, you trigger the end game sequence right from the start, then selecting the hardest mode is unnecessary.
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.