Posted: 11/23/2014 7:11 AM
(Edited: 11/23/2014 5:51 PM)
Post subject: Weird input glitch when recording
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byrz
Active player (388)
Joined: 10/17/2012
Posts: 39
Location: Finland
First edition TAS of 2014
I TAS Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2 with dolphin 4.0.2 64-bit. I have found a really annoying and frustrating glitch while recording .dtm-files. Basically, this only happens when I'm recording inputs, the emulator forces specific input frames to do no input to the game at all. It seems somewhat consistent: it happens at the same frame on every separate .dtm-file for the same game. This is extremely frustrating in Monkey Ball, it either forces you to slow down for a frame (making optimizing impossible) or use my way "around" it: pausing the game and let the glitch frame happen in the pause menu. This costs 2 frames and looks nasty on the final TAS, but I (or the whole community) haven't found any other way around it. Of course, if I'm lucky enough, the glitch frame can happen during level transition, when it would not be an issue. It happens the same way to every Monkey Ball TASer, 32-bit or 64-bit. The glitch does not happen at all outside of recording inputs, so it's not an issue in the game. Consistent glitch frames I have found that happen every time: SMB1 NTSC: frame 5249 SMB2 NTSC: frame 13653 Example of two SMB2 TASes where I had to pause to get around the glitch, around 3:41 on both videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th1MQDnxe3I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr_GmvSzlmE I just want to know if there is a way to get rid of this annoying glitch, the whole Monkey Ball community is just sad because of it.
Posted: 11/23/2014 7:15 AM
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got4n
Experienced player (589)
Joined: 2/5/2011
Posts: 1417
Location: France
TAS of 2017 First edition TAS of 2017 PSX TAS of 2017 Rookie of 2013
Maybe it's a lag frame?
Current: Rayman 3 maybe? idk xD Paused: N64 Rayman 2 (with Funnyhair) GBA SMA 4 : E Reader (With TehSeven) TASVideos is like a quicksand, you get in, but you cannot quit the sand
Posted: 11/23/2014 7:52 AM
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AntyMew
It/Its
Encoder, Player (35)
Joined: 10/22/2014
Posts: 425
Perhaps it's related to this? Also, honestly, two frames lost every once in a while isn't nearly as bad as you talk it up to be. :P You could easily go back and hex edit those two frames once the bug is fixed
Just a Mew! 〜 It/She ΘΔ 〜 ███████
Posted: 11/23/2014 8:59 AM
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byrz
Active player (388)
Joined: 10/17/2012
Posts: 39
Location: Finland
First edition TAS of 2014
Anty-Lemon wrote:
Perhaps it's related to this? Also, honestly, two frames lost every once in a while isn't nearly as bad as you talk it up to be. :P You could easily go back and hex edit those two frames once the bug is fixed
It might be a similar issue, good to know it is known. Monkey Ball TASing is a highly optimized frame war, I have redone a whole TAS to save 3 frames. So, 2 frames is a big amount for me. The pausing also makes it annoying to TAS when I have to do the pause trick every time I redo the part, my TASing style includes redoing split second parts up to a thousand times, no joking. I will try hex editing afterwards if the glitch get fixed but Monkey Ball usually desyncs if you hex edit an earlier part so I don't have my hopes high up.
Posted: 11/23/2014 9:59 AM
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AntyMew
It/Its
Encoder, Player (35)
Joined: 10/22/2014
Posts: 425
I don't doubt that many rerecords in a 3D game, especially in Super Monkey Ball. I understand where you're coming from, I just get the feeling it's not worth worrying about too much when it isn't a flaw in the gameplay. And the pause really doesn't look nasty, at least entertainment-wise; if I weren't actively looking for it, I wouldn't have given it a second thought ^.^
Just a Mew! 〜 It/She ΘΔ 〜 ███████
Posted: 11/24/2014 1:31 AM
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RachelB
She/Her
Player (132)
Joined: 12/3/2011
Posts: 1579
Does this happen in latest version? 4.0 is ancient.
Posted: 11/24/2014 5:03 PM
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byrz
Active player (388)
Joined: 10/17/2012
Posts: 39
Location: Finland
First edition TAS of 2014
RachelB wrote:
Does this happen in latest version? 4.0 is ancient.
I went ahead and tried with Dolphin 4.0-4250. It does happen, first frame I found it happen is input frame #1569 in SMB1 NTSC. I tested doing multiple separate recordings from scratch and it always happens at the same frame. I can also confirm that specific frame is not a glitch frame with 4.0.2, so the frames happen at different times on different emulator versions.