Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
To tell you the truth, I haven't looked at your run yet. Probably owing to my preference of playing back the movie file on the emulator and my lack of the japanese rom.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
You actually have a choice in the matter?
That said, I really don't know which would be faster. Right now I'm inclined to believe that doing it before the charge beam would be faster, but both routes should be tested.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
JXQ wrote:
Other changes don't seem to favor either version as far as I can tell, but I can't find one that favors the Japanese version in terms of making an entertaining movie.
If you ask me, the Japanese version has better sound...
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
*resurrects an old topic*
While working on a non-assisted speedrun of this game, I did look at Namflow's latest TAS a couple times for tips. I successfully finished my run with a time of 44:15 by SDA standards, losing around 6 to 7 minutes on the TAS by refusing to die. That said, while I was looking at the TAS I was thinking to myself there was room for improvement in it.
One thing I noticed about the TAS was that there were a lot of places where he didn't jump to attain maximum vertical speed before going down a shaft. I'm not sure if this matters or not, but it definitely stuck out. Another thing I thought about this morning was that the tank's 'death cinematic' is faster than Jason's, even when Jason falls into water/lava. It's a whole lot easier to kill Jason, but I think some time might be gained if the tank took more damage while going through the levels and killed itself a few times.
At the moment, I have no plans to implement this myself. I don't really like FCEU all that much, I find it difficult to use when I'm used to VBA and Snes9x. That, and finals are coming up real soon.
EDIT: Watching the TAS again, here are some other things I've thought of:
* The current TAS goes straight from H-missile to triple missile in a single pause. I think it would be faster to go from H-missile to lightning in one pause, and from there to triple missile in the next pause.
* One of the rooms in level 3 he travels along the ground alot, when travelling on the platforms above would prevent some enemies from spawning. This *might* reduce lag.
* When first initiating the walk-across-water glitch in level 4, it would be faster if the enemy shot him instead of walking into him.
* The current run lags during the level 6 boss fight when it is paused. It's possible to pull off this boss fight without it lagging, and I've actually done that non-assisted before.
* Many other minor optimizations could be made, like not hugging the corners of the platforms when hovering to level 4, and instead going to the right and getting some horizontal speed.
Also, Giga wonders if this game has been fully explored for left+right and up+down glitches.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
Interesting.
Currently the only place I can think of where this *might* be useful is in Sector 3. Someone should find out if it is possible to skip the fight against the Security Robot by going up before it drops down.
Even if it allows you to get past the the Tro Trap and continue with the game normally, you'll have problems with this room in Sector 1 if screw attack doesn't give you space jump:
Besides, the technique is real slow. It'll be faster to kill Yakuza anyways.
Oh well. It should be tested in Sector 3 at least.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
Laziness and procrastination are setting in again. The real part that gets me is that, after Arachnus, the boss fights really aren't going to be all that different until I get to Yakuza. :\
I'll see if I can get something up today.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
Zurreco: I left that missle pack for later. It'll be a whole lot easier to grab with wave beam, gravity suit and power bombs.
Qlex: If it's at all possible to shoot diagonally into the atmospheric stabilizer without getting hit, it would probably require 2 or 3 jumps to do so. I think it's better to throw myself into it the way I do.
KDR_11k: Not after a wall jump. I press up to come out of it when I can, but when I can't then I shoot.
Experienced Forum User, Published Author, Former player
Joined: 7/15/2004
Posts: 124
I've put up the first WIP file. I'm sure y'all have been wanting to see my progress so far. My original post was edited to include the website.
Here are some comments I have, with the relevant frame counts:
15388-15636: This vertical shaft was scaled exactly 32 frames faster than my 0 percent run.
17021-17147: Managed to cut off 2 frames here.
20793-20820: Cut off another 2 frames here.
25485-25525: I delayed 4 frames here to manipulate the boss door. Easy to do since there are no other random factors coming up. As an additional plus, delays at the computer are difficult to notice and do not count towards my in-game time.
26537-26622: I don't know how, but this part was 1 frame slower.
26797: Up to here, I am exactly 37 frames ahead of my 0% run(35 if you don't count luck manipulation). The two runs separate here, so I'll no longer be comparing them.
29000-29500: pwnage
33333: I figure it is fastest to get this missile tank now. It is best to get this while on my way up because it is easier to go up than down. Because the 2 platforms just outside are close together, I would get less benefit out of using high jump there than I would by using it to grab that other platform from the left.
38087: I delay 4 frames here to manipulate the first atmospheric stabilizer. It's impractical to manipulate anything else from here.
40332: Again, getting this now is more of an up vs. down issue. Going up is easier, remember.
41300-41334: I tried angling my missiles and getting them in, but I was unable to do so. Besides, the missiles start off so slow, I think it's better to get in this thing's face.
43434: It's actually faster to have this stabilizer going in the opposite direction when you come in, but the 2 frames for luck manipulation cancel out the 2 frames I would gain here.
44855: The next time I come through this room, I'll be building up a shinespark along the bottom. Since I'm already up here anyways, it's better to get the missile now.
46373-46891: It's 12 frames faster to run through the water the entire way. But I needed to delay 12 frames to manipulate the boss door. So instead of making a (very noticeable) pause, I took this alternate route.
Besides, the technique is real slow. It'll be faster to kill Yakuza anyways.
Oh well. It should be tested in Sector 3 at least.