This is an improvement of 40:31.88, or 145913 frames. This improvement is the result of 3 new glitch findings, effectively cutting out almost all of Chapter 3, the end of Chapter 6, and the beginning of Chapter 7.
I've made 4 different encodes to give as many people as possible the best viewing experience possible. The main encodes I've made public on YouTube include my audio commentary within them.
Overlay w/o Audio Commentary:
No Overlay w/ Audio Commentary:
No Overlay w/o Audio Commentary:
(Allows for a 2 second intro already)
To sync the run:
- Emulator used: Dolphin 4.0.2 with a/v sync build: [dead link removed]
- Idle Skipping Off
- Dual Core Off
- DSP LLE Recompiler
- dsp_coef.bin and dsp_rom.bin dumped from Wii (instead of provided files)
- No Memory Card
Objectives:
- Aims for fastest time
- Manipulates luck
- Takes damage to save time
- Abuses programming errors in the game
- Genre: RPG
I use the Japanese ISO with the MD5 checksum: 6ac3e517074b515948c4e0f28f01d9ef.
It also syncs on the MD5: bec52fb8c1912bc6f801b6281422
Game Overview
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an RPG developed by Intelligent Systems and is the second game in the Paper Mario series following Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64. It incorporates a world made of paper and turn-based battles, much like its predecessor. In it, Peach asks Mario to help find a treasure hidden in Rogueport. When he arrives, she is missing, as usual, and he must collect 7 Crystal Stars to save her and open the Thousand-Year Door to collect the treasure.
Game Addresses
Note: Addresses are different in the Japanese version than the English version.
| Name | Offset |
|---|
| X Coordinate | 0xAFF6EC |
| Y Coordinate | 0xAFF6F0 |
| Z Coordinate | 0xAFF6F4 |
| Base Speed | 0xAFF7E0 |
| X, Z Speed | 0xAFF7EC |
| Mario's Angle | 0xAFF800 |
| RNG | 0x4181A0 |
| Mario's Hitbox | 0xAFF814 |
Improvements
Shadow Siren Respawn
After the Shadow Sirens fight in Chapter 2, I can fall out of bounds to the left, respawning me all the way next to the right loading zone. This saves time over walking over to the right.
Yoshi Skip
In my last TAS, I return to the Glitz Pit after defeating Macho Grubba because I need Yoshi in order to reach Chapter 4. Well, not anymore. After leaving encounters, there is a 1 frame window in which you can jump. I can trigger a battle while Mario jumps off of a pile of trash in the sewers, which is just high enough off the ground to let Mario clip up top with a double jump. This glitch is performed twice because I get rejected from the pipe the first time on purpose in order to talk to Darkly and gain access to Twilight Town. This also means the ticking is shortened by about 15 minutes!
Pirate's Grotto Early
Using a Goombella Buffer right after getting Bobbery, I maneuver out of bounds over to the right. I can get into the wall with paper mode because of paper mode's smaller hitbox. Since I'm inside the wall, I can use Bobbery and have him clip up top on the statue. Because he's inside of the wall, he can trigger the explosion of the entrance. I use a paper mode cutscene walk to skip an odd-looking cutscene with invisible characters.
Mega Rush Strats Revised
Instead of getting 3 Mega Rushes in the last TAS, I get 2. This is faster because I can still defeat the late-game bosses by dealing a few extra Power Bounces in a turn. I also get the Mega Rushes at different times. This is faster because instead of reloading the room to get both at the same time, I grab one on the way to Chapter 7 and grab the other on the way to Chapter 8. I grab the first Mega Rush in the same spot as the last TAS as I make my way up eastward to the glitch below, Teleporter Room Early. The second Mega Rush I grab from a Hammer Bro battle when going westward, which is faster when going down to The Thousand-Year Door.
Teleporter Room Early
The first mechanic of this glitch requires Mario to hold Bobbery over his head until he explodes. When he explodes, I hold down R. This causes Mario to walk as fast as normal but while in paper mode. In doing so, I can also open doors while in paper mode. This causes Mario to remain outside of the building when entering. Now the camera is rotated 90 degrees. From here, since I'm still outside of the building, I can perform a Flurrie Superslide, just like during Ultra Hammer Early. Because the camera is rotated, Mario moves down on Z-axis, relative to the screen's rotation. This means that I slide down into the Teleporter Room. Currently, the game doesn't think I'm in Chapter 7, so I have to read a note that makes the game think Mario is in Chapter 7. This skips grabbing the sixth Crystal Star, the Peach and Bowser intermissions, Fahr Outpost, and the General White Hunt. Just like Ultra Hammer Early, this is a Japanese-only glitch because of the superslide mechanics.
Author's Notes and Theoretical Improvements
I've absolutely had a blast TASing this game. People ask me how I feel about having to work on this game three times over. Quite frankly, I've enjoyed it. The experience I've had working with the people in the community has been great. We've broken the game down further and further. To think that the first TAS was over 1 hour and 15 minutes longer is absurd. That isn't to say that we're done.
I'd like to point out the fact that this TAS incorporated two of the three theoretical glitches listed in my last TAS submission. The only one left from that list is Riddle Tower Skip. This would cut out the second half of Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, and Chapter 6. This would save over an hour. We've tested many different glitch mechanics and scenarios. We've used Cheat Engine to test theories. We're still working on performing this glitch. Is there hope? I would say yes. Only hard work and time will tell, though.
In addition to Riddle Tower Skip, we've also theorized a Chapter 6 skip. There is only one room in Chapter 8 that you need the Ultra Boots from Chapter 6 for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUj7WRW3o-o We've discovered you can land on the seam and go underneath the spikes. We don't have any way to jump high enough while using Mowz to trigger a Mowz glitch, like what was used to land on the seam in the first place. This would save around 15 minutes. The route would require me to go to Chapter 5, the Grotto, and then perform Teleporter Room Early.
Suggested Screenshot
596038 (Frame not VI)
Special Thanks
Almo, Andrick, Zeph, Nathanisbored, Cronikeys, Dsydude - Routing, glitch-hunting, etc.
TiWill_14 - Finding Ultra Hammer Early and Pirate's Grotto Early
SolidifiedGaming - Helping find Yoshi Skip and finding Teleporter Room Early
Until next time!
GoddessMaria: Excellent work with a excellent improvement, Malleoz!
RGamma: Cancelled by author. Improvement soon to come.
