Long-time listener, first-time caller here. So I've created a timeattack for the NES classic Jackal. I used FCEUltra in windows XP.
I've experimented some and produced this run. One-player, aims to be as fast as possible. No bugs that I know of. No deaths (damage=death). Abuses luck in a few spots, mostly bosses.
I take my jeep on a joyride through six areas of some foreign country ruled by a crazy dictator. Some of my comrades in arms have been taken hostage, but since this an as-fast-as-possible timeattack they're on their own (almost all of them). My jeep is initially armed with a grenade launcher which gets upgraded to a missile launcher right away. The missiles can fire in any direction, but either the jeep has to be facing that direction or at least turning in that direction. There is also a gun which always fires north. Both are useful in a timeattack as both can be fired at the same time and while moving.
I've done my best to make things interesting. I power up all the way, which wastes a small amount of time in the first level, it may be possible to do better with one level lower. Also, I actually deliver one of the POWs to the rescue chopper (lvl 4), he has to jump out while I'm moving. In stage 5 I get a hidden 1-up, it's right in the way. The whole way I try not to destroy too much of the dictator's inept army, maybe it will make it easier to rebuild. However, many foot soldiers and tanks are in the wrong place at the wrong time. I use both weapons as needed and every shot hits (I'm pretty sure). I definitely showed off a bit in some areas where I could have more easily been just as fast, and I think the result is pretty entertaining in places.
The levels are pretty straightforward and diagonal movement is a composite of vertical and horizontal, so it's easy to see that most of it is fast as possible. Sometimes there is a slight slowdown from too many sprites, but this is hard to avoid. Unfortunately, fully powering up hurts in this area. The bosses are the other potential improvement, most of the work went into them. Missiles refire after the last one explodes, so closer=faster. However it is only possible to get right up to the tanks on lvl1 and the chopper on lvl4. It might be possible to beat me on the chopper, I had trouble avoiding the shots when I tried to get too close. Abused luck to get it to come down where it did. Also, it might be faster to beat the lvl 5 boss going right to left, I thought of it too late. Finally, on the last boss first form, those tanks are very annoying, it might be possible to abuse luck to get them out of the way. I did abused luck to make the gun chopper less bothersome. Once you destroy the building all these annoyances are gone. I am probably most confident on bosses 2 and 3. Laser beams (lvl 3), were pretty annoying since you cannot go through all three without stopping. Also I had to slightly quiver to shoot a homing missile near the end of lvl 6.
I everyone enjoys this, I have to say that this battle made my blood boil!
Bisqwit: In April, I received a Jackal submission
from Robert Bible. The movie length was 9:46.
I rejected it, because
1) it didn't look impressive and
2) it desynced somewhere.
I had already forgot this submission by now.
Now, your submission is almost 1.5 minutes faster.
Let's see what it's made of...
Though I'd played the game, the humor in your description caused me to want to watch it. It was well done, though like you said I wonder if the bosses could be done faster- for example, with the first boss(the tanks) you destroy some way quicker than the others, and also some come from a more easily accessable point. Or sometimes you use a missle to hit an incoming projectile(you do so sometime during the 2nd boss I think)- rather than that, could you shoot the missle from a different angle so that you don't even have to worry about the projectile? Holding my vote for now.
My favorite part was definitely watching it after reading your description:
The whole way I try not to destroy too much of the dictator's inept army, maybe it will make it easier to rebuild. However, many foot soldiers and tanks are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Keeping that in mind, every time you ran someone over I imagined you yelling back "Sorry!" Other than that, I'd say it's quite entertaining, including in the spots where it was tough to make it so. With those groups of 3 lasers for example, I liked how you ducked back after we asked ourselves if you'd make it past the third.
Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA
I got a real kick out of the foot soldiers that fell victim to your wheels.
Overall, the movie was really well done. The only time I saw a need for improvement was at the 2nd boss (statues) where you could have maybe shot one of the middle heads while moving closer to head #1 and then later at the final boss, where is seemed like you could have used the chaingun while launching missiles. I might be wrong in both instances.
I have to say, I really enjoyed this movie. I liked how you more or less ignored the army of enemies which were wandering around you, unless you got in your way, and when they did normally your shot took out multiple enemies in one blast.
I do have a few questions though. Are the bosses, at the end of the first, second and last levels invincible to machinegun fire?
Also during the second boss battle would firing missles diagonally when moving from statue to statue speed it up, or would waiting for the impact acually take more time?
Joined: 3/13/2004
Posts: 1118
Location: Kansai, JAPAN
I guess I don't know this game very well. Why pick up the POWs? Does that increase your offensive capabilities?
As far as slowdown is concerned, you night consider a few more kills. Since you can fire while moving, a well-placed rocket or two might reduce the number of sprites on screen, avoiding the slowdown dilemma.
Otherwise, looks like fun. Makes me wonder where the Ikari Warriors time attack is....?_?
Nice run, fun to see this type of game for a change. I was about to ask about the boss-battles too, but it has already been done.
About the POWs:
GameFAQs Jackal FAQ by Brian P. Sulpher wrote:
o----------o
| P.O.W.'s |
o----------o
These guys are housed in buildings along the war lines. You can pick them
up as you go along in your Jeep (they all fit somehow). They have no real
purpose till later when you get them to the helipad pick-up location,
garnering some extra points for your score.
o------------------o
| Officer P.O.W.'s |
o------------------o
These guys are housed by themselves, and they have an added bonus as well. Whenever you get one, you upgrade your weaponry (from grenades to Missiles to Missiles with horizontal splash damage to Missiles with horizontal and vertical splash damage). They also appear as a slightly differently coloured than their regular P.O.W.'s counterparts.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
To answer some questions..
Why pick up the POWs? Does that increase your offensive capabilities?
Yes, this is what powers up the missile. First one changes grenade to missile, second adds horizontal explosion and third adds vertical explosion. So full powerup with three. There are regular POWs and flashing (officer?) POWs, the regular ones are packed several to a house and just give you points, the officers each have their own building and up your weapon.
a well-placed rocket or two might reduce the number of sprites on screen, avoiding the slowdown dilemma.
Actually, because the rocket creates multiple sprites for the 4-way explosion, it's often the culprit for slowdown. I use the gun as much as possible to avoid this, but there may be places where I can gun down some enemies or use a rocket to kill others before they start following me.
with the first boss(the tanks) you destroy some way quicker than the others, and also some come from a more easily accessable point.
The boss tanks don't wait for you to kill the earlier ones before they come out, they will gang up on you if you let them. So I can waste some time on the earlier ones and have fun racing their bullets, and I make sure to kill the last one as fast as possible.
Or sometimes you use a missle to hit an incoming projectile(you do so sometime during the 2nd boss I think)
If you are talking about the 2nd boss, it is hard to see watching full speed, but I actually use the gun to shoot down the homing missiles that the heads spit out. All of my rockets hit, each head takes 3 shots. The gunshots come in between rocket shots, so this doesn't slow down the killing at all.
Well, I'm glad that everyone enjoyed this, it was a pretty fun ride.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Are the bosses, at the end of the first, second and last levels invincible to machinegun fire?
The first lvl boss tanks are not, I use it on them where possible. Since gun always fires up, it's useless on the ones that come from the bottom. Also, I am right next to the other ones when I shoot so you don't really see it, but you can tell because it would take 2 missiles otherwise. Second-lvl boss heads are invincible to gun, but I use the gun to shoot down their homing missiles so that my rockets can do damage. Last boss first form is also invincible to gun.
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Also during the second boss battle would firing missles diagonally when moving from statue to statue speed it up, or would waiting for the impact acually take more time?
I'd thought about this, and because the missile refire rate is based on how long it takes for the missile to explode, you want your missiles to have short tragectories. In the time I have to wait for the missiles to explode I am able to move enough that I can go from statue to statue with no extra waiting.
