emu
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I tried most bosses of the (J) Version and compared their health with the numbers of the FAQ of Minty Fresh Death ( http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/file/dynamite_headdy_b.txt) and got always the same numbers (except for TwinFreaks, where I were something around 30, what will pretty surely be 34 (2x17 of the (U) Version), but try counting, while fighting this boss :) ) I did NOT compare: Sky Battleship, Wheeler Dealer, Baby Face, Gatekeeper, Nasty Gatekeeper, Dark Demon, Hitmen (secret final scene), Boss (secret final scene) because I hate their levels (Scene 6,7 and final scene). However I don't expect any difference here, too. I tried bombing MonsMeg three times, but the bomb does not destroy him/her at once. Damage calculation was the same (24HP (start) - 8HP (bomb) = 16HP). I assume that Nasty Gatekeeper won't be destroyed by one bomb, too. I agree with Arrow, about doing the bonus levels, if the digits have to be obtained that way. However my ability to judge this is influenced by that fact, that I really like this game. I would have even wanted to see an all SBP run, but I understand, that most people would get bored. @Arrow Awesome, maybe a Dynamite Headdy-veteran like You can be helpful. EDIT: Ok, I checked on Gatekeeper and Dark Demon just to see that I was wrong. They actually do have less HP in the Japanese Version. While they both have 17 HP in the (U) Version, in the Japanese Version they have 9 HP (about Gatekeeper I'm not sure, might also be 8 HP, but more likely 9HP). %&§!#%&!! One time ever, that I'm so sure about something and than I was wrong :). Still I'd prefer the U Version. Maybe someone else checks for the flying scene and final secret scene bosses. I could not find a state save for the secret scene. EDIT: I finally tried the flying scenes, too. But the numbers are not very meaningful, since I miscounted very often and the HPs seem to vary very much (for example Baby Face's first form sometimes needed 33 another time 42 hits to split, Wheeler Dealer can be hit even when he is already beaten, because he first goes in the middle of the screen and then in the background, the Battleship won't fall until the dark clouds are passed). In the Japanese Version the wire needs more than 800 frames longer to fetch the battleship (the only thing that is for sure). Before falling it flashed ("got hit") 92 (J) and 107 (U) times respectively. Wheeler Dealer flashed 72 (J) and 110 (U) times. Frames to kill Baby Face (grandpa spilt): 7325 (J), 6981 (U). Conclusion: There would be several tests needed to see if there is a HP variation in the two roms. If this is not the case, it might still be that the flying scenes need to be a lot luck manipulated. PS: I forgot to mention: While testing the HP of Dark Demon and Nasty Gatekeeper, the GK reacted differently after loading states, but the DD did not change his pattern. -> GK can be manipulated, DD not (maybe with different frame numbers, I think after the Finagler chase (Far Treck), You can control Headdy -> You can determine the start frame of Finale Analysis)
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Well, I've finished making a half-assed slog through the (J) version to see how it was. At the end credits it does indeed come up with "You got X/4 Secret Numbers" and despite trying all possible combinations, I was unable to cheat my way into the bonus boss battle - so unfortunately that's out. It may be different in the (U) version but I doubt that. There's much more text than I remember so it's unlikely (J) ends up being faster overall. It is extremely likely at this point I will be going along with (U).
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emu
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At the end credits it does indeed come up with "You got X/4 Secret Numbers" and despite trying all possible combinations, I was unable to cheat my way into the bonus boss battle - so unfortunately that's out. It may be different in the (U) version but I doubt that.
Finally this mystery is solved. Thanks for the work. The question is now, if the bonus stages should be done. But I think tas rules won't like this. In the meanwhile I did a little homework: - The HP differences of (J) and (U) were edited in my last comment. - About the frames after the boss: The autorunning to the right spot does not cost extra time. However, if he has to come from the right side one frame is wasted in turning around to face right -> always run left pass the spot after piece collection, so he reaches the spot from the left -> no turning around. Upthorn was right about the pieces. Score calculation is not triggered, when they are of the screen. But collecting just very few seemed to cause a delay of one frame. Thanks to upthorn for his movie. It made figuring out these things much easier and faster.
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The (J) Nasty Gatekeeper will die to a single bomb, though I don't think the reduced HP of most of the bosses in (J) make up for all the added dialog and such. I'm sure there will be places where taking damage will save time - I can take a few good knocks against DD so that I can Hammer head him, I'm sure. I'm not sure about Stair Wars - I'll have to look into it. I'm not sure if it's possible to manipulate him or if his pattern is just chosen when you enter the level. I'll go check that now. EDIT: Yep, he can definitely be manipulated into 100% charging!
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emu
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I'm sure there will be places where taking damage will save time - I can take a few good knocks against DD so that I can Hammer head him, I'm sure.
imo the battles with baby face, Dealer Wheeler and maybe Dark Demon will most likely include damage taking to save time. Did You already start the tas?
I'm not sure about Stair Wars - I'll have to look into it. I'm not sure if it's possible to manipulate him or if his pattern is just chosen when you enter the level. I'll go check that now. EDIT: Yep, he can definitely be manipulated into 100% charging!
That's good news and a big time saver. But I hope that doesn't mean, that You are already in Stair Wars without uploading parts of the movie before. If we find mistakes so late afterwards a lot of work would be wasted. Just in case You didn't know: You can upload movies here: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php
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If the choice is between one with easy bosses and lots of dialogue, and one with hard bosses and less dialogue, I think the answer should be obvious.
Player (82)
Joined: 9/16/2006
Posts: 63
emu wrote:
But I hope that doesn't mean, that You are already in Stair Wars without uploading parts of the movie before. If we find mistakes so late afterwards a lot of work would be wasted. Just in case You didn't know: You can upload movies here: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php
Haha, nope. Thanks, though. I just used level-select to zip ahead and check to see if it'd work.
Truncated wrote:
If the choice is between one with easy bosses and lots of dialogue, and one with hard bosses and less dialogue, I think the answer should be obvious.
Aye. Work will begin shortly using (U).
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Player (82)
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Huzzah! Mad Dog is down! Mad Dog is down! http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3388/Trask-DynamiteHeaddy.gmv Feedback greatly appreciated. :)
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emu
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Good movie. You seem to understand most physics of the game. However it is yet not optimised. I have not much time, because my lectures will start in some minutes. Your movie is 5 frames behind mine (Headdy contacts floor in practice area at frame 2900 (me) and 2905 (You)), maybe You did not hit Trouble Bruin at the first possible moment. But You are 283 frames ahead ofupthorn (score calculation after Mad Dog 16404 (upthorn) 16121 (You)). I don't know how good the first movie of a game has to be, but the better it is, the longer it won't be obseleted. Possible improvements: -Not optimised use of Hangman (he can boost your horizontal speed). -Path planning (upthorn did some fancy hangman jumping, maybe that's a good route). -Precise Jumping (after getting super head: better jumps over the edges, clinging to the right wall while falling stops your horizontal movement after wall -> time wasted in accelerating). -The secret pass I mentioned earlier in the small Headdy passage: after the first long fall You can enter the wall to the left. Maybe it saves time (maybe not) However, I might be wrong and scene 2 is not more improvable. I don't want to slow You down, but prevent the movie from being rejected after all the work.
upthorn
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For me it's pretty hard to tell when dynamite headdy is optimized, but Emu seems to know what he's talking about. What I noticed was that you seemed to throw your head unnecessarily quite a lot. I know it doesn't slow you down, but it makes the run look more sloppy. Only throw your head in order to hit an enemy, or manipulate luck.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
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Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't expecting it to be perfected yet and I'm sure I'll be much more used to the physics once I've gotten some more playtime in. Will take a look at the possible improvements and be back when I have my next WIP. :)
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emu
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that's the spirit! I'm really looking forward to this movie! I'm currently working on small tas to show what I mean, since it is hard to explain here. I'm at the point where I get the super head and I am already 100 frames ahead by trying over and over with frame advance. However I also take damage (actually the main time saver). When it's done I'll upload it. I try to do this in the next hour. I'm trying hard, but I can't do it faster.
emu
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Here it is. The first levels of Dynamite Headdy until the Flying soldiers of Down under. I stopped there, as I realized I had do redo my strategy to reach the next soldier earlier. Plus I was not satisfied with the fact, that even jumping in the pit could not prevent losing time. I needed a little longer, because I was jogging and now I definitely need a shower. So I try to comment things later. It's still not perfect, but helps to show what I meant (plus improvement of 282 frames = 4,7 sec). Activating "show input" in general options enables You to see what is pressed. PS: I took the beginning from my earlier Headdy movie. Sorry for the numerous senseless shots at Troulbe Bruin. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3390/Dynamite%20Headdy%20by%20Emu%20%28UE%29%20%5Bc%5D%5B%21%5D.gmv
emu
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Ok, here is quick overview about the most important time savers: - made with frame advance and 1000 rerecords (the other 4000 were cut off) - the first hangman was tough: You need a horizontal boost, therefore You have to backtrack a little to the left, so hangman pulls You to the right, the second hangman didn't save very much, but the third did (found this route by trying. I don't know if there is a better one) - getting hit by the red soldier saves a lot of time (I'm sorry, but there are just to many occasions, where damage taking saves time, so I propose a non-"takes no damage"-movie). Since Headdy is always falling into the other direction than he is facing, going backwards into the soldier is faster. He turns around on the third frame after pushing in the other direction, the later the better) -after the next two hangmans You have to jump over a pit. Triggering acceleration at last possible moment where he still lands on the platform gives him the most speed - with super head: using the second and third hangman is faster than jumping -touching the right wall when descending seems to slow you down - a big problem is that super headdy is too fast for his head to return properly, so planning where to shoot (diagonally up when jumping, diagonally down when falling) and shooting the closest part of the cage (sometimes the corner) saves recovery time of the head - the cactus seems to be hit twice, when hit very early - small headdy's path is faster compared to upthorn's fight with the snake (which seems to be actually pretty optimised) - Oh, me and my big mouth! The secret path needs actually some 30 frames more than Trask's route, so I chose his one. - Shoot Hangman at the first possible moment and jump, so he already covered some distance - Despite the narrow passages Headdy can jump for some frames. So jump to shoot here, too - when falling go left and right on the first moment when he does not hit the corner anymore. So Headdy already has a horizontal speed, when entering the passage I'm only human, so I make mistakes, too. Beside the improvements I didn't see these are the parts which I think are the most improvable: -finding a better route on the beginning -descending to the cage -shooting the cage -shooting the cactus and horse and landing afterwards -horizontal speed after the first long drop (small Headdy) -shooting at Mad Dog in the beginning (saving frames here would be good, since I cannot hit him one time, because I do not have enough time (only some 5 frames perhaps)) -finding a way to overcome the invisible wall in Down Under -finding a way not to have to jumo into the pit -strategy for flying soldiers PS: When uploading a new movie, what happens with the old one? Can or should I delete the old one? Or is this not necessary due to their small size?
upthorn
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emu, on the top right corner of posts you have made, next to the button, there should be a button. If you press this button, you can change the text in posts that you made earlier. This way, you can add more information to posts, instead of having to post multiple times in a row. Also, in responce to your question: When uploading a new movie to dehacked's microstorage, the old one can still be accessed at its old URL. If you really want it deleted, you can probably ask dehacked to remove it.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Joined: 1/6/2007
Posts: 14
I finally got around to watching the WIPs. Emu's looks great so far. I can't really think of anything to recommend trying that might save time, although it did occur to me that getting around the invisible wall in Down Under/not having to jump in the pit might not even save any time since you still have to wait for the platform to align at the end. Upthorn's run - although far from optimized, you have a lot of interesting tricks here that never would have occured to me, like jumping over the statue thing on Terminate Her Too (after the tank), and falling into the pit after defeating Armordillo to get to the upper platform quicker on Towering Internal. And I really liked your route on Mad Mechs! Just a couple suggestions: On Terminate Her Too, you only have to hit three of the Happy Campers to be able to reach the ledge before the tank (maybe even less for a TAS). Also, the tank should be manipulated so its first shot is a straight one (not bouncing). On Flying Game, there's no reason to wait for the Rocket Head. The Sky Battleship can't be defeated until the cloud cover passes, so your choice of head doesn't matter. Take the Air Head since it's first, and then switch to Rocket Head after the Battleship. Do some experimenting on Clothes Encounters. I've been able to defeat Wooden Dresser without having her switch to the ballerina costume. It involved waiting around for a long time before I knocked the last piece of the dragon costume off, and then she jumped into the air and landed again with her heart still vulnerable, giving me just enough time to kill her before she jumped again. It was slower than the normal way, and I wasn't able to consistently reproduce it, but it might be possible for you to manipulate this to happen without as much waiting.
upthorn
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Arrow wrote:
On Terminate Her Too, you only have to hit three of the Happy Campers to be able to reach the ledge before the tank (maybe even less for a TAS). Also, the tank should be manipulated so its first shot is a straight one (not bouncing).
I know about the happy campers, I just didn't even stop to think about it until a long time after I'd already stopped the run. About the Tank. The problem is not that the first shot isn't straight, it's that the tank isn't in a position where the first shot can land on the driver. This didn't seem to be possible to manipulate, but my testing was far from exhaustive.
Arrow wrote:
On Flying Game, there's no reason to wait for the Rocket Head. The Sky Battleship can't be defeated until the cloud cover passes, so your choice of head doesn't matter. Take the Air Head since it's first, and then switch to Rocket Head after the Battleship.
Since the level is autoscrolling, slow going, anyway, I wanted to kill all the enemies in it. Rocket head helps with that. Also, rocket head moves a lot faster than the other two (this is specifically impressive for the circle formation). Also, though the sky battleship can't be defeated until the cloud cover passes, this isn't because the sky battleship is invincible beforehand, it's just because of how many shots it takes to kill. Having rockethead helps a lot with that, because it's the only head which can shoot forwards while moving backwards (necessary at several points to hit sky battleship without getting hit by a projectile).
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
emu
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@upthorn I'm sorry for having posted several times in a row. I will edit instead. Thanks for the information about uploading. I don't want to delete the files, but I did not know if I had to in order not to use too much webspace. I did some more route planning. Here is the movie until the middle of the wooden dresser fight. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3398/Dynamite%20Headdy%20by%20Emu%20%28UE%29%20%5Bc%5D%5B%21%5D.gmv
although it did occur to me that getting around the invisible wall in Down Under/not having to jump in the pit might not even save any time since you still have to wait for the platform to align at the end.
Unfortunately you're right. I didn't consider this in my test run. After using a rather fast route, there are still about 85 frames missing to get to the spot at the earlier alignment. Possible time savers are: - somehow trigger the start of the floor movement later - optimise the fight with the flying soldiers - overcome invisible wall - find better way than jumping in pit (stops motion for some frames) However, imo even achieving all this things will not save 85 frames. So we would have some free time in this level to do other stuff (fetching SBP and life, destroying everything, …) The fight with Trouble Bruin is a little tricky. Dolls and mainly Headcase are often in the way. Also when you are pulled below the floor you can't shoot him for a while. Optimising this battle is important, since on some occasions one or two frames were missing to hit him early. The battle is short enough, so head renewing is not needed. A lot of planning will be necessary for the last shot: Three factors are important: -after explosion Headdy needs to be low enough, since he bounces some two or three times, the higher he falls, the higher he bounces, thus wasting time -after the explosion Headdy has to be far one the right side, because after the bounces he will slowly jump right. If he covered already some distance he leaves the level earlier -I don't know what the third is (maybe luck or the whole situation together), but something more seemed to affect the end. If I had hit him one frame earlier or later, he would have left the level some 50 frames later. The fight against Puppeteer and Jim needs some planning, too. Some things to know: Since hitting the Puppeteer is harder (and You get a SBP:) ), I suggest, like in upthorn's movie, to hit him first. A good strategy was to jump between them, to minimize head recovery time (main issue). For the tas you have to keep in mind that You can prolong your hangtime by being hit midair. After some frames you will still be able to shoot your head. After the fight you can see, that I try to have max speed when leaving the level. However it seemed not to affect the time the curtain begins to fall.
Do some experimenting on Clothes Encounters. I've been able to defeat Wooden Dresser without having her switch to the ballerina costume. It involved waiting around for a long time before I knocked the last piece of the dragon costume off, and then she jumped into the air and landed again with her heart still vulnerable, giving me just enough time to kill her before she jumped again. It was slower than the normal way, and I wasn't able to consistently reproduce it, but it might be possible for you to manipulate this to happen without as much waiting.
Thanks for your info about the wooden dresser strategy. I know what you mean, I remember such behaviour little bit, but as you can see in my test run, I could not trigger it. I start to believe, that this only happens when she has that ballerina dress, since it is one of her attacks to jump and fall on you. By undressing her right before the jumps you can already hit her, but she comes again, still vulnerable. I guess the dragon has to jump too, to trigger this, but until now she doesn't want to jump :) Maybe someone can check on this. I found another little improvement for the Level Toys in the Hood: In my test run I don't use the first hangman after getting the superhead, because I though the boost would not be enough to reach the grass. After watching upthorn's movie I saw, that it is possible, when you don't touch the wall too much, since it slows you down.
Joined: 1/6/2007
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upthorn wrote:
About the Tank. The problem is not that the first shot isn't straight, it's that the tank isn't in a position where the first shot can land on the driver. This didn't seem to be possible to manipulate, but my testing was far from exhaustive.
Are you sure? I'm almost positive you can hit him with the first cannonball. Maybe hit it from farther back? Regarding the Sky Battleship, it seems to me that since you probably only deal damage to it on certain frames anyway, you'd be able to dodge whatever projectiles you need to and still hit it without missing a beat using Air Head. I just don't see the 3 seconds you waste waiting for the Rocket Head possibly being gained over using the Air Head. I'll have to test this out.
Thanks for your info about the wooden dresser strategy. I know what you mean, I remember such behaviour little bit, but as you can see in my test run, I could not trigger it. I start to believe, that this only happens when she has that ballerina dress, since it is one of her attacks to jump and fall on you. By undressing her right before the jumps you can already hit her, but she comes again, still vulnerable. I guess the dragon has to jump too, to trigger this, but until now she doesn't want to jump :)
I know it occurs normally during the ballerina phase, but I've definitely made it happen during the dragon phase as well. If I remember right, I knocked the last piece of the costume off when Wooden Dresser was just beginning to move across the screen. She continued to strut all the way across "naked", then jumped up, landed (heart still vulnerable), and I was able to kill her right before she jumped again. I'll mess around and see if I can get it to happen on the emulator. Also, I found a couple ways to avoid the invisible wall on Down Under by jumping into the pit... I think it ends up being a little quicker, although I'm not sure if it will save enough time to beat the platform rotation at the end of the level. I'm sort of new at this whole TAS thing, so I'm still trying to figure out how to make recordings. I'll post some examples as soon as I get it worked out.
upthorn
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Arrow wrote:
upthorn wrote:
About the Tank. The problem is not that the first shot isn't straight, it's that the tank isn't in a position where the first shot can land on the driver. This didn't seem to be possible to manipulate, but my testing was far from exhaustive.
Are you sure? I'm almost positive you can hit him with the first cannonball. Maybe hit it from farther back?
The problem, as I recall, was that the tank was too far back for the cannonball to fall on the driver. Since it doesn't move until after the first cannonball is off the screen, destroying it was faster. It's entirely possible that this can be manipulated not to happen, though.
Arrow wrote:
Regarding the Sky Battleship, it seems to me that since you probably only deal damage to it on certain frames anyway, you'd be able to dodge whatever projectiles you need to and still hit it without missing a beat using Air Head. I just don't see the 3 seconds you waste waiting for the Rocket Head possibly being gained over using the Air Head. I'll have to test this out.
Well, the idea was that, when I went back to do a fully optimized run, I'd try to manipulate the headcase into having Rocket Head at the start. I think I remembered incorrectly my reasoning behind needing rocket head at the boss fight. The laser passes through enemies (so you can hit all 3 turrets with one shot) and if you hit each spot the first possible frame (claw, turrets, jaw), rockethead is the only one which can move up and down fast enough to hit each of them the first frame they become vulnerable again. That doesn't actually speed much up, though since the same effect can be achieved by staggering them so the hits are over the course of about 16 frames, instead of 8.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
emu
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Ok, I continued the test run. Now the movie is at the beginning of Stair Wars. I actually managed to kill Wooden Dresser before the ballerina dress (with a lot of luck and tries). I will comment everything later, first the movie file: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3427/Dynamite%20Headdy%20by%20Emu%20%28UE%29%20%5Bc%5D%5B%21%5D.gmv btw: I hope, Trusk didn't start yet, because I found an improved general strategy for some hangmans and possible improvement for Mad Dog. More soon… :) EDIT: Now, the comments: General: Hangman: There are several hangmans, which must be used to proceed, but don't give the perfect boost in the direction you need (for example when you first have to pull them to you, or to reach higher platforms). But when passing the hangman You can often grab him from many direction (example: you pull yourself up with a hangman, then when you can shoot again, you shoot down-left -> head grabs hangman from top right while the body is below the hangman -> Headdy gets pulled right and up). I did not use this in Toys in the Hood. So I guess some more frames can be saved. Mad Dog: In my run, before he jumps up, I jump, too, but don't shoot because Mad Dog would be out of reach. However, some seconds before I walk for some frames. Maybe the jumping (which means jumping whenever Headdy lands) can be started some frames earlier, thus be able to hit him one more time. Not tested, just an assumption. Luck manipulation: As far as I could figure it out, frame number and jumping with shooting upwards manipulate luck (amongst others). The run: Clothes encounter: As seen in the movie, Wooden Dresser can be destroyed before the ballerina dress. However, it is not easy to pull off (I hit her the last possible frame). Like the final shot in Backstage Battle, the shot for the dragon head (I assume it is this shot) needs to be at the right moment, not the earliest moment. Maybe the heart has to become vulnerable, when she starts to make the walking animation. Other things to mention: To shoot clothing off, beau first has to point at them. It seems, that the first one can only be right foot or body (manipulated by shootjump). The order of the rest can be frame manipulated. The shorter the way for beau the faster it is. Little guessing game: What rhythm do I knock before score calculation (hint: next level :) ) Terminate her too: Not easy level. You have to think in advance, what point to reach to proceed (horizontal movement, vertical movement, shoot something, health calculation, etc…) -The first damage taking saves only some two or three frames -hitting poles early is more important than proceeding right -bug: if you hit the last pole very early, the wheel bogs/sinks into the floor, thus sometimes being too low to jump off (seen in movie) -on the second hangman the described strategy (see above) is used -not running far one the edge of the screen seems to make Headcase appear 5 frames earlier -I do not take the hammerhead, because it needs extra time and sometimes creates bad stairs, but there are many possibilities, so I'm not very sure -like Arrow said: three Happy Campers are enough and manipulated tank to shoot straight first (jumpshooting) -jumped on weird looking thing as seen in upthorn's movie -not jumping for banana, because pit jump delays two frames and treatmill speeds Headdy up Mad Mechs1: -I use upthorn's route, since it seems to be the fastest, however, not at the last wheel, which actually costs me some 10 frames :) -> I recommend his way Mad Mechs2: -also here, I use a similar route, but with slight variations. The blue crosses are the glitchiest things in the game that I encountered so far. They boost you to the screen edge and teleported me a half screen up, which does not help very much, since I needed horizontal speed at that moment :) Heathernapped: Arrrgh, … after uploading I realized, that I wasted some 80 frames, because I didn't cancel beau with start, but with C… This will be changed in my next upload after defeating Spinderella Summary: Not an easy scene, thus not perfect, but hopefully helpful.
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No, have been too busy lately to start. Great finds, emu. Thanks again for the help. :)
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emu
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Posts: 188
Location: Germany, Munich
Internet was broken, so I couldn't upload for a while, sorry. The tower secene is done with the biggest improvement until now, saving 6612 frames (110 sec). Most of which were gained by manipulating TB (~4400) and defeating Spinderella before getting spinned to the background (~1600). I will comment everything later. file: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3525/Dynamite%20Headdy%20by%20Emu%20%28UE%29%20%5Bc%5D%5B%21%5D.gmv PS: No need to watch the flying game. I'm just doing some testing at the moment. Now, I definitely understand, why upthorn didn't like this level. EDIT: Ok, now for the comments: General: New shooting direction: Fighting ArmorDillo I "discovered" that for some two or three frames you can shoot diagonally up while crouching, thus giving you a better angle. However I doubt this will be helpful anywhere else :) Heathernapped: included the cancelling by pressing start Go Headdy Go: It seems not to matter when you touch the steps, so no improvement here Stair Wars: Tricky level. I had to redo the whole stage, as I realized that forcing TB to the right speeds up the fight. Here are the things I found out so far (not very sure about): -hitting TB earlier makes him open the eyes earlier, however not speeding up the battle -going left forces TB to the right shortening the time between attacks -> speeds up battle (~270 frames total) -going right when he charges to the left seems not to affect the moment of return -the frame, he opens his eyes after returning to the right determines, if he will ram you or cut pieces out of the tower -time of final hit determines the falling apart of TB -when standing on a platform which is high enough, you don't need to jump to exit the level ->strategy: go left around the tower. if it is not possible go right, when he charges at you and then left when he returns the right. manipulate the frame of the eyes opening by walking a little bit less left. hit him as fast as possible for the final shot and ascend as fast as possible. again: I'm not sure if these facts are right. it's not easy to test everything. Towering Internal: -used the pit jumping trick of upthorn saving some 30 frames -since your horizontal speed is limited due to the tower rotation, hangmen only boost you when it doesn't interfere with the tower rotation (vertical movement and at direction changing) -boss fight's seem to be triggered when contacting floor -> be as high as possible when hangman pulls you up to the boss platform, so you have the least possible upward speed ->earlier landing - wrecking balls: with hindsight, I think I chose the wrong battle strategy. Focusing on one ball at a time minimizes invincibility time. So this part might be improvable. -ArmorDillo: Again, I think I used the wrong strategy. The second time I fetched the Ticker Head was most likely not necessary. Killing him off right away is probably faster. -using upthorn's pit jump at the end triggers a little bug, that keeps the screen to low, to exit the level right away. Jumping before the hangman corrects the mistake without losing time, I think Spinderella: Proudly I present my second "on-last-frame-destroy-boss-before-she'd-wasted-lots-of-time"-hit :) Trying which way is faster I went for the way seen in the movie. So it seems not to depend on which arm starts hitting the ground first. Afterwards I don't think it would have been necessary to be hit the first time, but I was so happy, to have beaten Spinderella before ground spinning, that I didn't care anymore. That's also why I didn't destroy Bino, however I don't think it is possible do beat him without wasting time. I guess the flying scenes will take a lot of time, because they are real pain in the ….. and I will have important exams in a month, so I can't promise that I can supply you with the next levels in the next time. But I think it is enough material to start the first levels of the TAS. Good luck Emu
Player (82)
Joined: 9/16/2006
Posts: 63
Excellent stuff, emu. Thanks so much. I've got a lot of things on my platter to deal with right now so unfortunately I won't be working on this any more just yet but I expect to be back on the job within a few weeks!
End of Line
Joined: 11/11/2006
Posts: 1235
Location: United Kingdom
While I'm waiting for updates, I decided to have a little bit of fun in the training rooms of this game. Particularly, the Beau room. Not optimized or made to be fast at all, but someone might find it interesting anyway. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/3644/Dynamite%20Headdy%20TARGET%21.gmv Edit: Also I don't know whether you noticed, but your run seems to use input for player two, too. Not that its important or anything. Maybe your key bindings are set for both p1 and p2? :)
<adelikat> I am annoyed at my irc statements ending up in forums & sigs