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Oh hey look it's Devil's Castle Dracula 3. It was the last Vaniacastle game on the NES, and it's subjectively the best one. It's also a broken mess.
This run is an improvement of 47669 frames over scrimpeh's old run completely due to a glitch in level 4 that lets you skip directly to the final level.
  • Takes damage to save time, sometimes.
  • Uses stairs to walk to Dracula
This run is done on the US version, as this glitch causes the game to crash on the japanese version. Also Noxxa did the inputs for the last phase of Dracula because I got annoyed so he gets credit too.

Glitches

Subweapon Cancelling

Like the japanese version, you can cancel animations for subweapons. The only way this is done in the run is by activating a subweapon the frame before a character lands from a jump.

Crouch Cancelling

By attacking a certain frame before you land from a long fall, you can completely skip the crouching animation associated with it, which saves some time.

Stair Displacement

The big one. By swapping from Trevor to Grant right before you enter the next screen on some stairs, you'll displace Grant from the stairs and allow him to climb in the air. This glitch is used in level 4 to skip directly to the final level.

Q/A

Q: Why do you do such weird stuff out of bounds.
A: Positioning stuff to get to the right room. If I didn't do what I did I would have missed it.
Q: Where are Grant's throwing knives?
A: The English version nerfed Grant so his knives are now just a dagger that he can stab with. Yes, it sucks.
Q: What difficulty is this on.
A: English.
Q: I hate the english version do this again on the japanese version with higher quality music?!
A: Glitch don't work on the japanese version so no.
Q: What's next?
A: An old project needs fixing.

Samsara Buttin' In

Hi there. It's me, your buddy Samsara. After arandomgameTASer redid earlier parts of the run, I stepped in and redid the 2nd and 3rd phases of Dracula. So don't feel weird that my name is now there. Okay bye.

Thanks

Thanks to scrimpeh for his fantastic Grant run, it was used as a guideline for the first few levels. Also thanks to the RTA runners of this game for discovering a large scale application of the stair glitch.

Suggested Screenshot

Frame 43845 http://imgur.com/178lToJ
GoddessMaria: Judging!
Samsara: Setting to "delayed", pending an improved file.
Samsara: File replaced with a 971 frame improvement. Resetting to New as well.
GoddessMaria: Re-judging...
GoddessMaria: Alright. Since this is using a glitch to reach the Final Stage early on, it shall now be treated as a separate category from the published movie featuring Grant instead of an improvement. This movie overall was very entertaining to the audience and this also does really exceptionally well in the technical department. Very nice work from the three authors!
Accepting as a new category for Moons.
feos: Pub.

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Posted: 9/4/2016 2:50 AM
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TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #5213: arandomgameTASer, Samsara & Noxxa's NES Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse "Grant path, warp glitch" in 15:22.01
Posted: 9/4/2016 3:01 AM
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Fortranm
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This comes out of no where. It's amazing to finally see an application of the stair glitch. How is this route discovered? This run probably shouldn't obsolete scrimpy's run on JPN version. Maybe it should be branchless since this is technically the any% route?
Posted: 9/4/2016 3:09 AM
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arandomgameTASer
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Fortranm wrote:
This comes out of no where. It's amazing to finally see an application of the stair glitch. How is this route discovered? This run probably shouldn't obsolete scrimpy's run on JPN version. Maybe it should be branchless since this is technically the any% route?
Just RTA peeps messing around with the glitch I guess. They've been doing runs of it for about a year now. Dunno about the branch, up to whoever judges it.
effort on the first draft means less effort on any draft thereafter - some loser
Posted: 9/4/2016 3:20 AM
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Dwedit
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I'd say call it "Gltiched".
Posted: 9/4/2016 3:34 AM
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Spikestuff
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Dwedit wrote:
I'd say call it "Gltiched".
Reminder: The term "glitched" in branches (on its own) have been abolished since 2013.
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
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Posted: 9/4/2016 3:39 AM
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BigBoct
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Remind me, is "No Major Glitches" a valid category for us? If it is, I would relabel the current Grant run (this one) with that label and publish this alongside it.
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Posted: 9/4/2016 3:42 AM
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Spikestuff
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boct1584 wrote:
Remind me, is "No Major Glitches" a valid category for us?
Forgoes time-saving glitches is the tag. Could call the older one "in bounds"... unless that goes out of bounds (haven't seen the older one for some time).
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
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Posted: 9/4/2016 4:21 AM
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Invariel
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Posted: 9/4/2016 7:20 AM
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feos
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Finally used! By how it looks, probably memory corruption might be done faster, but I don't want to dig into this.
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Posted: 9/4/2016 8:37 AM
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phunqsauce
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I'm so glad to see this finally on the workbench! After messing around with this for a while in real time I'm glad to see TASers tackle this. It was a thing of beauty and a definite yes vote from me! I'm sure some will challenge the entertainment value of this run but I think the variety and hilarity in the glitchiness is enough to keep people interested. Good job!
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Posted: 9/4/2016 5:53 PM
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AKheon
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That whole section from 9:30 onward should be framed and put on a wall in an art gallery. Possibly with the title "Stairway to Glitch Heaven". Voted 'yes'.
Posted: 9/4/2016 6:15 PM
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scrimpeh
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Alright, I did not see this coming. The reason I never did a run of this route was that I'm convinced that you can activate ACE in the Japanese version right in the clock tower. Despite Mothrayas' and my best efforts, it was impossible to find a way that wouldn't result in the game crashing. Regardless, I'm very glad that there's finally a showcase for the craziness that the stair glitch brings. This run looks well optimized too, and the old Grant run was certainly in need of an update. Yes vote.
Posted: 9/4/2016 7:39 PM
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Please stop doing that on the clock pendulums. You are making me very nervous.
Posted: 9/4/2016 7:59 PM
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Sir_VG
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I was wondering when a run featuring this glitch would show up on here. Too bad it's the English version. :( (Yes I read that it doesn't work correctly on the Japanese one.)
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Posted: 9/4/2016 8:59 PM
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Alyosha
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That was crazy! 8D very nice and glitchy run.
Posted: 9/5/2016 2:58 PM
(Edited: 5/6/2017 4:32 AM)
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Zakatos
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So Grant Danasty reveals himself being the real explorer of the Chaotic Realm.
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Posted: 9/5/2016 10:56 PM
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TheAxeMan
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Invariel wrote:
Now I know TheAxeMan's secret identity.
:) Very cool glitching. It feels like there should be a faster way to use it. Is there any chance for a more powerful ACE from this?
Posted: 9/6/2016 3:34 AM
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Dwedit
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Maybe I've just been spoiled to death by submissions with huge novels for submission texts that describe everything in exquisite detail, but I am really lost as to what is going on in glitchland. Anyone care to explain it?
Posted: 9/6/2016 3:42 AM
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arandomgameTASer
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Dwedit wrote:
Maybe I've just been spoiled to death by submissions with huge novels for submission texts that describe everything in exquisite detail, but I am really lost as to what is going on in glitchland. Anyone care to explain it?
From what I can gather, entering the room at about 12:26 in the encode with full health confuses the game on where you're supposed to end up after you die. All the stuff before that is done to actually get there, since swapping between Trevor/Grant disaligns you and makes the game move you a bit. (The same sort of idea can be used with Sypha's ice spell) It's a weird glitch, I don't really get it tbh.
effort on the first draft means less effort on any draft thereafter - some loser
Posted: 9/6/2016 7:09 AM
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Fortranm
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Around 7:39, would it be faster if you make a jump to the left instead of activating the scripted walk as soon as possible?
Posted: 9/6/2016 5:42 PM
Post subject: new encode is up
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Samsara
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Random and I redid some parts of the run and saved a little over 16 seconds. I replaced the file and I'm in the process of making a new encode. EDIT: New encode. Link to video
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Posted: 9/6/2016 7:12 PM
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scrimpeh
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The new Dracula fight looks much better now, good job. Two miscellaneous notes on the updated version: 1. What's up with that glitched set of tiles in the lower left corner? I've never seen that before. Can you walk on it? 2. I wasn't aware Drac's second form could drop a heart. I would've used it in the old run, had I known about it. You learn something new every day.
Posted: 9/7/2016 12:16 AM
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arandomgameTASer
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scrimpeh wrote:
1.What's up with that glitched set of tiles in the lower left corner? I've never seen that before. Can you walk on it? 2. I wasn't aware Drac's second form could drop a heart. I would've used it in the old run, had I known about it. You learn something new every day.
1. Just a graphical glitch from all the glitching around we did to get there. 2. That heart is from the candle right next to Dracs, not from Dracula himself.
effort on the first draft means less effort on any draft thereafter - some loser
Posted: 9/7/2016 1:35 AM
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Dwedit
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Why is grant jumping before hitting the candles in mad forest? (edit: Duh, you can't stab while walking)
Posted: 9/7/2016 2:22 AM
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Invariel
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I maintain my "yes" vote. Nice job.
I am still the wizard that did it. "On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." -- Satoru Iwata <scrimpy> at least I now know where every map, energy and save room in this game is
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