This time, Knuckles is going to hunting the Chaos Emeralds dispersed in the floating island to use his unlimited power to destroy Eggrobo and Mecha Sonic forever.
Emulator and tools Used
Gens Re-Recording 11b + Camera hack + Solidity and Terrain dysplay
Knuckles when collect all Emeralds he can reach his super form, double the running, spindash, glide and climbing rate.
Running Speed
2048 subpixels (8 pixels) per frame
Running Braking rate
192 subpixels (3/4 pixels) per frame per frame
Running Deceleration (vertical, holding forward, at or below Running Speed)
8 subpixels (1/32 pixels) per frame per frame
Max Spindash Speed
3840 subpixels (15 pixels) per frame
Gliding X Acceleration
12 subpixels (3/64 pixels) per frame per frame
Double the following values
Running Acceleration, Air Acceleration, Climbing Rate
Hyper Form
By gliding into a wall when either his horizontal or vertical velocity exceed a certain value, Hyper Knuckles can cause an earthquake which destroys all enemies within rendering range of the camera. This will also enter any active star rings for bonus stages within rendering range.
Horizontal Underflow
An explication by Marzojr
This run uses almost all of the known glitches and abuses: the only exception is the underflowing of the horizontal coordinate; this is the technical form of saying "teleporting from the start to the end of a level" for this game.
And since when Knuckles can do a level-wrap on the 80% of the zones and skip totally Marble Garden and Ice Cap, I decided to ban this glitches for the opportunity to show new zips, strategies and trying to show more entertaining this run.
0:10.06/4984 and 0:13.19/5177 With a good possitioning I can zip and jump in this loop to save time.
0:39.58/10894 Spin Dash in this position is required to do a perfect pixel acceleration in the next loop at 0:41.02 to have a max speed acceleration of +4295 spx.
Angel Island ACT 2
0:12.55/13650 Entering the bonus stage for resetting the boundary and taking the Sonic's path to have +2 Chaos Emeralds, This benefits me later in Marble Garden.
0:50.12/25535 Glide clip in these spikes for switch to Knuckles path again and finish the zone.
Hidrocity ACT 1
0:08.58/28390 Using the loop and good positioning for zip and enter on the terrain at 0:09.39 to go to the first giant ring room faster.
0:30.30/33119 With a good running speed and positioning I can enter in this wall and zip to get ejected with +8180 spx acceleration to pass through this part faster.
0:36.30/33479 Is possible to glide clip here, but is more slower.
39482 At the end of the boss battle this position is required for the first zip in ACT 2
Hidrocity ACT 2
0:04.48/40785 Enter in the terrain here for a faster start.
0:33.30/42507 This is one of the few places where Knuckles can do the stair clip, this is good to use the ground to go down to the giant ring room and grab the last Chaos Emerald.
0:42.59/46506 Using again the stair clip for zip to Knuckles path and glide clip at 0:45.44 and go to the boss area more faster.
Marble Garden ACT 1
This is where the fun begins, using super Knuckles to go through the zones faster.
0:17.45/49905 With a good speed and position is possible ignoring this spring and enter on the ground, zipping and finish the ACT 1 normally for no skip the ACT 2
51295 Using the singpost to appear the monitors, lightning shield and monitor rings to have super form earlier in ACT 2, and the flame shield for a good position at the beginning.
Marble Garden ACT 2
Using the Sonic's 100% TAS route because is the most optimal but adapted for Knuckles.
0:31.10/54237 With one-frame jump-climb is possible to go up the sky and take this shortcut, same at 0:40.12/54779.
Carnival Night ACT 1
Using the Upthorn's route and improved some places and level in general, the big improvement is in the boss battle, using a more efficient strategy for 1 Player battle for perfect-frame hits the boss.
60348 Enter in the terrain for a faster ACT 2 start.
Carnival Night ACT 2
Probably the most questionable ACT because can be finished with 3 big zips, but still not underflow, so abusing of this zips is available and can finish this ACT in 27 seconds IGT.
Ice Cap ACT 1
I grabbed the giant ring and used the slope glitch to pass through the zone and fight with Sonic's boss, because his path in the next ACT is more faster than Knuckles one.
67199 Enter in the terrain here for a faster start in ACT 2.
Ice Cap ACT 2
Same route as Sonic 100% TAS but changed a little and adapted for Knuckles.
Launch Base ACT 1
0:04.15/72755 Perfect glide clip in this object saves a lot of time and going to the giant ring room faster.
0:12.58/73278 Enter in this especific frame for manipulates the elevador and skip the spining animation and exit the elevador more faster.
0:24.19/73959 Using this useful series of zips to go through this ACT faster.
0:48.13/75397 Improved the super Knuckles' boss battle version, saving some seconds then Upthorn's TAS.
Launch Base ACT 2
0:00.10/77428 Jump to adjust Y sub-pixel for a fast start.
0:24.54/78912 Jumping in this specific frame the spikes above don't crush me and I can fall down, this a useful shortcut.
0:40.02/79820 Falling in this especific position I can jump at 0:40.33 without lost speed
0:45.12/80130 Perfect positioning here to enter in the wall at 0:45.44, same as at 0:47.23
Boss battle is the same as Upthorn's TAS, nothing changed.
Mushroom Hill ACT 1
The difference in this ACT than Upthorn's version is: I grab all 5 giant rings and showing a new strat for Knuckles with butterbots to go Sonic's start more faster, This will be useful for a future Knuckles Any% TAS, the rest of the ACT is played normally.
Singpost: Monitor ring and flame shield is required for the next ACT route.
Mushroom Hill ACT 2
0:06.12/112246 It is possible glide through the spikes down on the floor and do a zip to the giant ring room later on the level, but sadly the path switcher changes in this room and is impossible for Knuckles doing this trick because the wall on the giant ring entrance got blocked, Is for that reason I taked Upthorn's route and improve it.
0:08.07/112361 Thanks to the S&K TAS authors for this zip, is very useful to save time.
0:41.59/123464 Knuckles with a good position gliding, he can hit earlier and this cause the hit points got bugged and can hit the boss 6 times in 6 frames,Leaving only 1 hit in the auto scrolling part instead of 2, this save time.
Flying Battery ACT 1
Using the tube glitch to pass through the level, is very insane to explain this glitch for me, That's why I left an explanation that Marzojr did.
The glitch works like this: in the normal course of things, the FBZ mesh (and the AIZ hollow tree, for that matter) sets the 'standing on object' status flag and an object control flag that disables zipping. The former is standard for objects you can stand on, and it prevents the player from going into a falling state when there is no terrain underneath them; the latter is done so that the object can control how the player moves and not care about walls. The object also puts you on the animation mode for that pseudo-3d rotation when you enter the mesh.
You trigger the glitch by entering this state and causing the object to be unloaded right after. The object does not clean up after itself, so you are left with those bit flags enabled. This is accomplished by scrolling the object offscreen; this happens when you enter the object in forced spin mode (from entering the tunnel offscreen). Also, you are stuck in the pseudo-3d animation now until something clears this mode (not a lot does; an example is super transformation).
In boss battle; I activate the gravity glitch in gapsule's corpse for a faster ACT 2 route.
Flying Battery ACT 2
Using the gravity glitch like in Knuckles/Sonic 100% TAS not much to say, improved the Knuckles version.
Sandopolis ACT 1
Used Upthorn's route, improved and changed a bit, luckily for the improvements in this ACT, the mobile objects are better synchronized, saving more time.
0:27.08/138956 Taking this lower path save some seconds instead to go the upper path.
0:41.08/139796 Glide clip here and grab the giant ring is more faster to go down directly.
Manipulates the Signpost time a little to have a better cordination with the objects in ACT 2 for a very faster start.
Sandopolis ACT 2
This is the most noticeable ACT with improvements, WST showed me a start of TheYogWog in this level, the rest of the improvement are creativity.
0:26.10/146118 Waiting a little here to have a better sync with the object at 0:28.23 and do a stair clip to save time.
0:36.12/146720 Taking the upper route instead of the lower as in the published S&K TAS, is more faster, probably the most noticeable route change in this ACT.
Lava Reef ACT 1
Used Upthorn's route and improved it, save some seconds in comparison and better boss battle.
Signpost: Used the monitor ring to enter in the floor for a faster start in the next ACT.
Lava Reef ACT 2
This level is 50% creativity and 50% TASing, spindash through object and stair clip are the very useful tricks here, saving a lot of time.
0:22.54/155866 Waiting for the iwamadoki explodes and do the stair clip.
0:28.43/156215 Waiting for mobile tank to do a first-frame spindash through him and enter in the terrain and save time.
Hidden Palace
Hold <> in the first-frame avaidable to have +128 spx acceleration in the begining and saved 1 frame compared to the S&K published TAS.
Sky Sanctuary
1 frame saved here in the second battle againts Mecha Sonic, taking damage in his last rolling movement and do a first-frame last hit.
0:20.41/159149 Hit Mecha Sonic 1 frame later because if I defeat him at 0:20.40 he change his attack pattern in the second battle and I lost a lot of time.
Special thanks
Upthorn: For his old 100% TAS
Kiske: For his help on Angel Island 1
WST: For his help on Hydrocity 2 and his S&K TAS
Marzojr: For his Help on Flying Battery 1 and his 100% run
TheYogWog: For his Boss battles in his Ring-Attack and faster start in Sandopolis 2
Fog: Alright, lets get the positives out of the way with this submission. The technical qualities of this run are superb, with nice improvements using new tricks, as well as a new route compared to the old submission. The run was rather entertaining with how the zips work, and the audience was mostly in agreement. However, there is one glaringly obvious issue that this submission has...
The goal choice.
This run aims for a 100% completion of the game, but forgoes using a glitch in particular called the horizontal underflow glitch. This acts in a similar manner to the zip glitch that was being used in the run, but can skip entire levels. While I do understand the reason behind not using the particular glitch, it is still nevertheless a major omission to the run which can save around five minutes compared to this current submission.
Why is the goal choice a major issue?
The issue arises because this run aims to improve upon the previous submission, which used every possible trick known to the author at the time to beat the game 100%. This run could not possibly be published alongside the current 100% publication, as it beats the time of the previous publication. Thus, this submission would be obsoleting the previous publication, and retain the same 100% branch. Taking this into consideration, we need to do a direct comparison to the previous publication, despite the previous submission being more than 10 years old. Looking at the goal choices, we immediately see some differences, with the most prominent being avoiding the use of the horizontal underflow glitch and the skipping of acts/stages. Although the underflow glitch is obviously not in the previous submission, it is the belief of this judge that were such a glitch had been available when the original submission was created, it would have been used.
Now for the actual glitches being used in this submission, there is a zip glitch which effects look similar to those of the horizontal underflow glitch. While not the same glitch, to the untrained eyes of regular viewers, the effects are similar enough that using the zip glitch while banning the horizontal underflow glitch. With this in mind, the lack of a major glitch makes the submission goals feel rather arbitrary in comparison to the currently published 100% run. This feeling has been pointed out multiple times by various comments on the forums for this submission, and I have to agree with them. Even with all of the new tricks and strategies used in this run compared to the previous, the total amount of time saved is only around 30 seconds. While normally this would be fine and dandy, the fact that a glitch exists which can save a lot more time and is actively avoided makes the time saved almost meaningless.
With all of that said, I still have to stress that this was a great run, but the goal choice makes it something that we can't accept. It'll most definitely get a place in Gruefood Delight, but it won't be published here.
Rejecting for poor goal choice.
Fog: Removing myself from this, putting back into new.
feos: Wow, this was a blast to handle. So many aspects that I don't even know where to start.
Firstly, let's take this branch in isolation. 100% is a standard type of goal no one uses to disprove. Knuckles is a standard type of goal for Sonic games no one uses to object, especially with how many unique abilities Knuckles has. But what about "no horizontal underflow"? Arguably, it's a "low glitch" kinda goal. It's nowhere close to glitchless, but it trades off some time for entertainment. The result is probably not ideal or 10 out of 10, but it still looks impressive, entertaining, and most importantly, it adds uniqueness to this run.
This aspect is among of the most important ones when publishing a new branch for an already heavily branched game. Interestingly, that particular decision seems to belong to nitsuja. His main argument there is this:
Quoting nitsuja
I suggested those mainly because they would force this run to be different from the existing Sonic+Tails run, not because I thought it would please people that wanted a glitch-free run. TASes that are largely identical to other TASes (that they are not attempting to obsolete) tend to be poorly received, after all. And I was curious as to what a run that has Hyper Sonic going all-out through the levels would be like.
And indeed this added variety compared to the any% runs of "Sonic" and "Knuckles". Due to the lack of that variety this run was rejected:
Quoting Samsara
As a lot of people have said, the horizontal underflows and the zips remove most of the point of the run. While yes, it's fast and it avoids rings, it removes the central point of the run. The (starred, I might add) S3&K "max rings" submission is an absolutely fine example of a run that satisfies its point and differentiates itself from other published runs.
This addresses the suggestion that the 100% run of Sonic, that also avoids horizontal underflow, was a weak decision to begin with, setting a weak precedent for this run. Judging by the above, it was the best decision of those that were available, and it was no mistake.
Secondly, some people complain about the borderline for glitch abuse as arbitrary. Like, it uses some glitches, but not others, while they look the same to the uninitiated. I can confirm that whenever the camera starts scrolling by itself, when the character outruns it and it tries to catch up (which is called a zip), this run (and the similar ones) loses some of its charm. I'd personally prefer a run that doesn't zip either. And probably doesn't do the slope glitch. And probably avoids some other glitches for good measure.
The "no zips" run by Aglar showed a high demand for such a run, given how broken the any% runs are, and how trivial they might look to those uninitiated people. In this post adelikat refers to the suggestions and states, that the "low glitch" goal for Sonic games doesn't necessarily have to be just "no zips", or any other strictly defined thing. Runs of various "low glitch" goals might compete with each other and the audience could decide which one looks best.
So if we accept this run, we should not demand all the runs aiming to obsolete it to also avoid horizontal underflow. It can avoid any combination of glitches, as long as that combination can be clearly defined and verified, and as long as it looks solid to the viewer.
Hooray, an existing definition accepted by the community! Right? Wrong. There's no way to find a clear borderline between the glitchy nature of some routine and its intended path. See this post for a super detailed explanation of all the problems.
So in the end, there's only a limited amount of conditions that can make sense as a "low glitch" goal, and probably none that would satisfy the "glitchless" goal requirements.
Thirdly, I want to mention the branch name here. I believe than "no horizontal underflow" is just a speed/entertainment tradeoff, just like avoiding the subweapons in my Darkwing Duck pacifist, where it's not mentioned in the branch. "No horizontal underflow" isn't mentioned in the aforementioned Sonic 100% run either, even though it's an essential part of it. So I'm removing that part of the branch here as well.
When I saw the title "No horizontal overflow" I imagined that I would not abuse the trick between walls. The name is clear in definition, do not break the limits of the beginning of the level to exit at the end of the level, but do it almost the whole level (sometimes) is almost the same only in the opposite direction.
Personally I expected to see more movements on the part of knuckles than to see him constantly traverse the walls. I do not even know if this movie is optimal, I think it could have optimized the previous movie forgetting the "No horizontal overflow" since I think I have seen some improvements.
Some Zamasu's quotes:
- When I was invited to this place, I thought you would teach me about justice. However, does the justice of the gods not only pass by to observe?
- Every time I am attacked, I enjoy my immortality.
If a 100% run was made using the horizontal overflow glitch, how much time would that save compared to this current submission in theory?
With underflow I think +4 min IGT and more RTA time I guess, keep in mind that MGZ2 and IceCap can be skipped and Knuckles can do underflow in the following zones.
HCZ2, MGZ (skip act2), CNZ1, skip ICZ, LBZ1, MHZ1, FBZ1 and 2, SO1, LRZ1 and 2.
This movie is like a "Mario warpless" but in a Sonic game and 100% completion, It would not make sense to do a 100% underflow TAS (for me), because for the time and effort invested in that movie and would be literally like this. (down)
Link to video
So yeah, I'm working on the Any% version too, the difference is abysmal.
I hope you understand
Although zipping and horizontal overflow are not the same thing, they do appear the same from someone who isn't as familiar with the sonic games, such as myself. I think what people expected to see here was a glitchless TAS. The Sonic 1 no zips TAS is the best example I can come up with. While it accomplishes its goal of being a zipless run, people were still upset by the terrain ejection because it looks like zipping and it can skip large parts of the level. I feel like this TAS does basically the same thing as that one. It accomplishes its goal in a very entertaining way, but I think most people would prefer to have three branches: any%, glitchless, and 100%. I think this TAS is very entertaining, so I voted yes. But I would prefer to see a TAS that doesn't use glitches than a TAS that uses some glitches but not others.
Uhm... the main idea of this run is following the branches of this run: Marzojr Sonic 100% no underflow, really deserve to be rejected for following these branches?, I'm not trying to obsoleting Upthorn's run because would be exactly equal to any% TAS, only including chaos emeralds (a judge can consider this). The sonic 100% TAS had good acceptance, come on.
The movie in general have a possitive aceptance (79%) and have seen some movies published not very entertaining lately (for me) , and this run I do not think this run deserve this fate, I do not say it because it is mine, because it is very solid in general, showing new glitches, strats, etc.
Can a judge reconsider this please?
Although the underflow glitch is obviously not in the previous submission, it is the belief of this judge that were such a glitch had been available when the original submission was created, it would have been used.
I disagree with the judgement made here. A later Sonic run was made, which knew full well of this very glitch, and chose not to include it. The front description of the publication specifically mentions that this glitch wasn't used. There is evidence that, albeit the two runs were from different authors, the glitch would not be included even if it were known then. The fact it was published has set a precedent that was expected to be followed. Whether this precedent is to be concluded a mistake is another issue to discuss, and I will not attempt to tackle that point in this post.
Secondly, both runs (referring to the old Knuckles run and this TAS) omit the same glitch, whether or not the perceived reasons are identical. Since there aren't any clear indications that the old run is better optimized in various parts than the new one here, no techniques used to speed up the old run was omitted in this one, and there are no other known records that beat this run, it fulfills the obsolete requirements to replace the old run. I concede that this by itself is not something that should guarantee publication, but I feel it is still a strong reason to do so.
Overall, I feel the decision for rejection is hinged on the presence of this one glitch. Neither Knuckles runs use it, so no clear change there. The later Sonic run knew of it, and chose not to include it, indicating it may be an undesirable viewing experience to have it, and provides a precedent. From where I stand, the basis of this rejection is on rather weak ground, so I ask for further clarification or reconsideration of this judgement.
I haven't carefully compared the pertinent runs, but I wanted to voice my reaction to this judgement. I hope my disagreement is understood.
To be fair, I myself have come to consider the "no horizontal underflow" goal choice a bit arbitrary, even in the context of the old 100% Sonic run. Were I to do the run today, I would instead require that Super or Hyper transformation should happen in every stage where it is possible (i.e., there are enough rings). Back then, mike89 was (rightly) very vocal against the rule, because the motivation behind the rule (showing more of the levels) ends up not happening in spite of the rule whenever zips allow skipping parts of the level (or going above the level in other cases).
I did, however, set the precedent, for good or ill.
I made a post recently on the generic S3&K thread about the difficulty of doing so. TL;DR version is: for every underlying mechanism behind glitches, you would have to ban some instances of it working as intended but not others, as well as banning some pathological cases but not others. There is also the fact that it is a much bigger effort all around because the run is much longer.
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WST wrote:
Pokota wrote:
Why not just go 100% glitchless?
Wow, your avatar is so cute :3
Not as cute as mine.
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself.
It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the
kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional
functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success."
- Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Joined: 4/17/2010
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I'm watching all the 4 runs side by side now: Sonic 100%, Knuckles 100% old, this run, and Knuckles any% WIP.
What I'm noticing is, in this submission and in Knuckles any%, Knuckles is disappearing in some places, making the camera scroll to catch up (I only watched up to Hydrocity, it happened twice so far). How is that effect called and what exactly happens there? I know that in any% it's the underflow thing, but what is it here? And what amount of it is used in any%?
EDIT: Nevermind, they all seem to have that glitch. It probably consists of several glitches: outrunning the camera, moving behind the BG and moving entirely outside the level border.
Anyways, that's what I dislike about these 100% runs. They avoid the setup that makes it look completely trivial (and incomprehensible without the camhack), but they still use the ones that looks like that banned setup.
But it's the bonus levels that make me vote No on this run: they completely kill the pace. And as was pointed out in the Sonic 100% submission thread, if you can't enjoy it without the cutsceneless encode, they you can't vote Yes. But still, such an encode for this run would make perfect sense.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
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marzojr wrote:
To be fair, I myself have come to consider the "no horizontal underflow" goal choice a bit arbitrary, even in the context of the old 100% Sonic run. Were I to do the run today, I would instead require that Super or Hyper transformation should happen in every stage where it is possible (i.e., there are enough rings).
So in practice, is it possible to get that instead of the bonus levels in more levels than in existing Sonic 100% and Knuckles 100% runs?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
What I'm noticing is, in this submission and in Knuckles any%, Knuckles is disappearing in some places, making the camera scroll to catch up (I only watched up to Hydrocity, it happened twice so far). How is that effect called and what exactly happens there? I know that in any% it's the underflow thing, but what is it here? And what amount of it is used in any%?
This trick is called "Zip" you can got an acceleration of 8180 sub-pixels and get out the walls with these speed, the max speed of the camera is 6144 spx in Sonic 3 and 4096 spx in Sonic 1/2, giving that effect that the camera is slower sometimes.
And the underflow glitch consist in: you need to go with a celeracion of 4300+ spx on the left side of the level, if you are successful you will be teleported at the end of level, is not necessary to use the zip to do it ( example: you can see Chemical plant 1, Knuckles in Sonic 2 TAS)
In my opinion: If you see that the movie is very little entertaining or things like that, you can leave it in Vault in case someone in the future wants to improve it. (like a 100% glitchess for example), but well, it's your decision.
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Thanks. Can you clarify what marzo meant about Super and Hyper transformation being possible in more places?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
If my english is correctly he means about doing the Super trasformation if is possible to save time like the newgame+.
I think Marzo would be better if he clarified it.
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Evil_3D wrote:
And the underflow glitch consist in: you need to go with a celeracion of 4300+ spx on the left side of the level
Actually, the speed should be over 4096, but as it’s deadly hard to perform HU at speeds 4096-4300 and usually requires explicit calculations (or positioning before taking boost), ~4300 is usually considered the minimum by most TASers.
You can see HU done at a lower speed in my currently published Amy@S3K TAS (which we are working on to improve) — FBZ1. Another example is the rejected submission of Sonic Boom.
S3&A [Amy amy%] improvement (with Evil_3D & kaan55) — currently in SPZ2
my TAS channel · If I ever come into your dream, I’ll be riding an eggship :)
To clarify what I meant: the rule I would use nowadays would require you to turn super or hyper on any level where it is possible to collect 50 rings and you have the required emerald set. I would probably not add bonus levels to the run, and would require in-level rings and big rings.
Now that I think of it, 100% and maximum ring goals complement each other well in that they both require level exploration and this makes the run automatically avoid most of the things people complain about without being too arbitrary. Turning super or hyper on every possible level would even occur automatically (unless you are Sonic and grab a shipped before grabbing 50 rings).
Hmm. So maybe 100% + maximum rings.
Edit: regarding underflows: I did some with ridiculously low speeds (around 4100) for the MZ2 (S1) level wrap with Tails and Knuckles (before the final iterations in the actual runs), and like WST said, it is awful. For what it's worth, raw speed is not the only way to level wrap: you can also level wrap with speeds less than 4097 if using a different process; examples are wheel glitch in CNZ1 and the "super Sonic" glitch in OOZ2 (S2).
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So internally it works like this? You grab 50 regular rings, then the big ring, and automatically turn super/hyper instead of entering the bonus level? I really don't know the game that much.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
feos: In Sonic 3 and its derivative games, a big ring sends you to an Emerald stage, except if you've already cleared all seven (14 after starting Mushroom Hill during Sonic 3 & Knuckles) Emerald stages, in which case it simply awards you 50 rings. You still need at least 50 rings to activate super/hyper.
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Probably emerald stage is what I confused with the bonus stages? The former doesn't look avoidable at all?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
