• New stage 1-3 zip at 4:31.
  • New stage 2-4 zips at 12:20.
  • Stage 3-4 starts at 16:48.
"U? We have everything."
Overall, this version is an improvement of 4363 frames (72.72 seconds). I saved 66.43 seconds on stage 3-4 with a different route and a door glitch that allows the player to bypass the boss. Alyosha made a few extra zips in stages 1-3 and 2-4 to save another 6 seconds. We examined the strength upgrade options and determined that it is still optimal to get two strength upgrades.
After the player does the door glitch, the game thinks that Pit is entering from the left side of the door instead of the right. Thus, it sends him to the next room to the right. I believe that if going right would take Pit out of the map boundary, then the game ejects Pit to the end of the stage. On stage 3-4, it activates the three treasures cutscene instead of going to the score hall. I tested the glitch on stage 1-4, but it doesn't work. Pit gets stuck in the score hall forever.
If you try to go straight right from the start of 3-4, the game doesn't eject Pit from the dungeon. It ejects him on the far left one floor lower, like so:
Credits:
  • BadBrakes discovered the 3-4 glitch.
  • got4n posted a video of the glitch in the thread.
  • Blechy posted insightful tips in the thread.
  • Kyrsimys for earlier work.
  • Sleeper.shi for earlier work.

ars4326: Claimed for judging!
ars4326: Replaced movie file. Previous time: 19:53:20 (71710 frames). New time: 19:53:15 (71707 frames).
ars4326: Hi, Arc and Alyosha. Impressive finds on the new zips (especially 3-4!), which added additional entertainment value to this run. It's also good to know that you both went back through to check whether foregoing the upgrades saved additional time (which, unfortunately, they didn't). All in all, outstanding teamwork on implementing these new optimizations!
Accepting as an improvement to the published run!
fsvgm777: Processing.


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15577
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #4819: Alyosha, Arc & Randil's NES Kid Icarus in 19:53.15
Skilled player (1827)
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
Haha, amazing! That was hilarious. Great job, easy yes vote from me.
Joined: 3/9/2009
Posts: 530
I'm disappointed you didn't take the chance to be an eggplant.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Emulator Coder, Expert player (3821)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2829
Location: US
This is really cool! Well done Arc, under 20 minutes! New finds like this keep TASing fun, at least for me. I remember back when I was working on this that the level 3 boss caused me a lot of trouble. He has a couple different patterns and if you get a bad one it costs a lot of time. There were even some improvements I had to leave out because I just couldn't get the right pattern, but now, that difficult boss is skipped! So, I'll go over this and implement the improvements I know are there. I think this can stay on the workbench though, it shouldn't take long (level 1 and 3 will be identical still, only level 2 will change.) Also it might be faster now to only get one upgrade, so I'll test that too.
mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
Wow, WTF. That's incredible. Can this side-wrapping glitch be used more often to save time in 1-4 and 2-4? It seems like it should make a big difference. And, as Alyosha mentioned, maybe it's now worth it to get fewer strength powerups.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Arc
Editor, Experienced player (826)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 534
Location: Arizona
I tried the glitch at the end of 1-3, where there's a four-block high wall, but I couldn't get it to work there. (Usually it's on three-block high walls.) It might be possible, though. I don't see anything to improve in 1-4. In 2-4, the glitch is used in the lava room, but it looks like it can be used in the two previous rooms as well (the shop and the spikes). I assume that's the improvement Alyosha is talking about for level 2. The idea of skipping a strength upgrade occurred to me as well, but I didn't investigate it. It might be faster.
Editor, Skilled player (1439)
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 2108
That new 3-4 was pretty damn cray. Yes vote.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Emulator Coder, Expert player (3821)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2829
Location: US
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/25216805130435765 Here is the improvement file, it contains the zips Arc just mentioned in his post above. Saving about 5 seconds Not having to worry about that boss sure does make things easier. So now it's time to see if skipping an upgrade is faster. My gut feeling would be that it is, especially since I can also zip through 2-1, since I don't need to collect points.
Editor, Expert player (2478)
Joined: 4/8/2005
Posts: 1573
Location: Gone for a year, just for varietyyyyyyyyy!!
Apparently, Seven Years in Tibet was about Arc.
Arc
Editor, Experienced player (826)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 534
Location: Arizona
My story is Seven Years in Corporate... That 1-3 zip is a dazzler. I don't have exact frames on these timings: The 1-2 strength upgrade takes ~13.75 seconds. The 1-4 boss with one upgrade takes ~4.75 seconds. Estimated ~9.5 seconds without upgrade. The 2-1 strength upgrade takes ~11.75 seconds. The 2-4 boss with two upgrades takes ~3 seconds. Estimated ~4.5 seconds with one upgrade, ~9 seconds without upgrades. The second upgrade is clearly not needed (spending 11.75 seconds to gain only 1.5 seconds on the fight). (Edit) The first upgrade also seems unnecessary. ~10.75 extra seconds are presumed for the two fights. The two upgrades take 25.5 seconds. Stage 4 input will have to be fixed again in any case; the WIP is not ready for publishing.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Emulator Coder, Expert player (3821)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2829
Location: US
I completed the boss fight with 1 upgrade, it takes ~1020 frames from first frame to last in the room. Compared to ~770 for the original movie Currently the movie is almost done and I don't think many more frames will be added. 1 upgrade run: 71200 current: 71700 I expected more savings honestly EDIT: well bad news, I had always assumed the final weapon in the game has set damage, but it seems like that is not the case. It is effected by upgrades you get as well. The last boss takes significantly longer with only 1 upgrade, quickly eating up all the savings I had and then some. Final time is 72000 frames. Well at least that question is answered. I'll go back to my other file and give it a check for any additional frames to save, but it looks like it will be pretty much the final version.
Arc
Editor, Experienced player (826)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 534
Location: Arizona
Ah, I assumed the same about Medusa. Evidently she has 150 HP. And we can fire only once per 32 frames. 2 upgrades = 50 shots = 1600 frames = 26.67 seconds 1 upgrade = 75 shots = 2400 frames = 40 seconds 0 upgrades = 150 shots = 4800 frames = 80 seconds 13.33 seconds faster on Medusa. Skipping the second upgrade saves 11.75 but loses 13.33 + 1.5 = 14.83. Looks like my calculations match up with your tests. 3-5 seconds slower with only one upgrade. Two upgrades needed. My bad.
Editor, Experienced player (570)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4036
The new skip is pretty cool! Will be watching for the final optimized movie, I'm sure it'll be Yes-worthy though.
Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Emulator Coder, Expert player (3821)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2829
Location: US
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/25237270562478222 cleaned up some missed shots and saved a couple frames. Please replace the movie file with this one, I think it should be final now.
Arc
Editor, Experienced player (826)
Joined: 3/8/2004
Posts: 534
Location: Arizona
Updated YouTube with the 19:53.15 file. Nice job trimming those six seconds. Link to video New stage 1-3 zip at 4:31. New stage 2-4 zips at 12:20. Stage 3-4 starts at 16:48.
ars4326
He/Him
Experienced player (777)
Joined: 12/8/2012
Posts: 706
Location: Missouri, USA
Very nice improvements on this one, guys! I replaced the file w/ Arc's improvements. Previous time: 19:53:20 (71710 frames). Updated time: 19:53:15 (71707 frames).
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." - 1 Corinthians 2:9
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15577
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [2947] NES Kid Icarus by Alyosha, Arc & Randil in 19:53.15