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Maniac Mansion improved by 52 seconds! That's better than what I was expecting.
When I began, I expected improvements solely from the precision allowed by FCEU's frame counter and a few minor things I found when I made my legit speedrun of the game. But then I realized a route improvement (getting the silver key) and another major glitch.
Major glitches and tricks used:
  • Glitch: switched kids while in the kitchen so that Edna would disappear.
  • Glitch: went downstairs after giving the can of Pepsi to the green tentacle so that the wax fruit wouldn't be needed.
  • Trick: only used the Hunk-o-matic machine once instead of twice.
  • Trick: went for the hamster in order to cut off Ed's speech. (Note: it's possible to use the kid-switching trick to freeze him, but he'll still come after you when you go for the hamster. That's why I had to sacrifice Razor.)
  • Trick: minimized the time that the pool was drained so that a cutscene with purple tentacle was avoided.
  • Glitch: cut off Ed's speech on the stairs by using a command (get vase).
  • Trick: used the 0000 code to open the inner door to the lab.
  • Glitch: managed to get into the lab entry room guarded by purple tentacle before the early cutscene that occurs there. This does not allow me to get by purple tentacle though, because the room doesn't change (which is the key to the enemy-freezing glitch.) What it did enable, though, is that Ed would respond to the doorbell's ring. Normally when the time is too close to the arrival of the package, Ed ignores a kid ringing the bell.
  • Glitch: used Ed's response to the doorbell to freeze purple tentacle. In case you are unfamiliar with the glitch, here's a brief outline. First enter a room containing someone unfriendly. Either switch kids or have a cutscene occur before being captured. After switching back to the first kid, the unfriendly person/tentacle will be frozen. (An exception is the green tentacle at the stairs.) The 'New Kid' command is disabled in the lab entry precisely because of this glitch, but the programmers seemingly forgot that cutscenes also make the glitch work.
  • Glitch: didn't get the radiation suit.
The game is unique for its humor, music, and gameplay.


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #591: Arc's NES Maniac Mansion in 08:21.05
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Weird game. Really!
Joined: 3/5/2005
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Location: Italy
great run, i love maniac mansion (and his run)
<Neclea>Gavin Ward <Sprint>WHAT? WHERE? <oldskoolgamer101>What a stupid name! oldskoolgamer101 was kicked from # soniccenter by Sprint [ says you , kimpy ]
Joined: 6/4/2004
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Good, fast movie, as always. However, in light of what people are saying about the Battletoads run, should "all endings" runs be considered for this game? By "all endings", I mean all results which would lead to a different ending (therefore, getting Weird Ed or Green Tentacle to help doesn't count): *Calling the Meteor Police, hitting the switch. (Already done, obviously.) *Put the Meteor in the Edsel and start it. (Excellent, also done.) *Start the Edsel beforehand, feed the Meteor to the Plant. *Retype the Manuscript/send it in, give it to the Meteor. *Kill one of the kids and proceed as usual (fastest way would be drowning in the pool, then getting the items from their grave).
Arc
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Well, as I see it, most timeattack movies are entertaining because of their pursuit of perfection. There are only a few games that are both popular and intriguing enough to be entertaining timeattack movies with some sort of limiting condition. Examples: the Mario and Metroid series. MM isn't really popular enough for multiple movies. More people are interested in the hamster scenes than the endings anyway, and there's a supplemental movie for that already.
Joined: 8/1/2004
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Good stuff. Voting yes
Joined: 3/8/2004
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Location: Denmark
Very professionally done. I can't see it getting any better. Yes.
"We observe the behaviour of simple folk, and derive pleasure from their defects." -Aristotle - Book of Humour
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Arc wrote:
Well, as I see it, most timeattack movies are entertaining because of their pursuit of perfection. There are only a few games that are both popular and intriguing enough to be entertaining timeattack movies with some sort of limiting condition. Examples: the Mario and Metroid series. MM isn't really popular enough for multiple movies. More people are interested in the hamster scenes than the endings anyway, and there's a supplemental movie for that already.
I disagree with that. Maniac Mansion may not be one of the most well-known games as far as the NES is concerned, but as a game in general, it's probably among the most popular and widely-known ever released. As such, I don't think having multiple (different) movies would be a bad idea, and especially not when you consider that the NES version is pretty much the only one that you can easily make movies for at all (there's ScummVM which allows you to play the PC/Amiga/... versions, of course, but I don't think that one has any movie recording capabilities).
Post subject: Re: #591: Arc's NES Maniac Mansion in 08:21
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 757
NesVideoAgent wrote:
</li><li> Glitch: didn't get the radiation suit.
o.o??? How the hell did you manage that? Or does the game just glitch automatically when you try and pick up the Meteor after Dr. Fred asks for help? and POOF, you were "suited" for t\he job? Regardless, a definite Yes vote from me :) Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin Just another random gamer ---- <OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Arc
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Posts: 534
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Good question, Mr. Flewin. Evidently the only purpose of the radiation suit is to protect the kid from that charge that the Meteor shoots at you, not the Meteor itself. You can see that the cutscene occurs one frame before that charge hits Dave. I think that the graphic changes from not-wearing-the-suit to wearing-the-suit because the new graphic includes the kid holding the meteor...the programmers must have assumed that no one would be able to avoid getting the suit. Anyway, I'm cancelling this, because it can be done about 20 seconds faster.