Lock $7E0410-7E041F to:
8B A0 80 EB 84 9D 6B 22 A3 CE ED BC B6 87 2E 34
(the set I got on a successful attempt)
and the fisher will always be at the right position ... change only one value above and it doesn't work ...
So those 16 bytes in memory are really the random values used (and work all together, they change all together too), now we'll have to find how exactly they determine the fisher's position, and how they change with each randomization (to predict when a good set will come).
*update*
Here's another update folks!
This one goes up to the golden ship, right after defeating Castoth. He gave me a LOT of trouble :) Timing was frame-by-frame... a frame slower would have meant having to escape his laser-madness (note that he's invincible while lasering).
I know that a lot of places aren't perfected to the frame, but this is a test run. It will NOT be published later, since after finishing this test run, I will do the "real" one. You can still note all the little "problems" you see in this run, as they will help me to do a perfect time-attack later on.
Enjoy!
- Halamantariel
Link: http://www.parelestia.com/iog_any_percent.zip
Rom version: Illusion of Gaia (U).smc
Some of the ones he killed were to get the Str upgrades.
For optimization, what's the least amount of Str upgrades you can get and still beat the boss before he gets all laser eyed?
Build a man a fire, warm him for a day,
Set a man on fire, warm him for the rest of his life.
I just checked that up ... and without collecting a single STR upgrade before fighting Castoth, I do the exact same damage (2 points per hit).
I was very surprised to find this ... Apparently I don't need to kill a single enemy (except for those who block my way and those who unlock paths)
Thanks for asking the question, Omni! I'll have to restart my run from scratch .. :S
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Yes, I think you should keep going on this run and make a second version when you're done. The end result will almost definitely be better. Perhaps the strength upgrades will come into play later, you can compare the effects. Then again, it probably won't be too tough to redo everything since you'll just be running by everything.
I believe boss damage in this game only varies based on the character you use: 1 damage each hit from Will, 2 from Freedan and 3 from Shadow.
Axe, you get all the upgrades you miss automagically when you defeat the boss. So if the boss damage varies like that, then it's probably wisest to beat nothing.
Build a man a fire, warm him for a day,
Set a man on fire, warm him for the rest of his life.
Yes, you do get all the upgrades you could have picked up before that boss when you kill it. Just look at my health bar after I defeat Castoth: The exact frame I kill it, my health gets 5 updates at once (increasing to 6½ points, was 4 points). I verified how many health upgrades I could get before getting to Castoth, and I counted exactly 5. This means that yes, we get all the upgrades we could get when we defeat bosses. At least, it's true for Castoth. I'll see later if it does the same for each and every boss.
I like what I see so far. I just want to mention that the free upgrades are nice, but if a strength upgrade isn't too far (vague, I know) off the trail, and you have to kill some creatures on the way to wherever your headed, it might be a good choice to grab it. Just a thought... I can imagine how hard nailling down the best route for grabbing/ignoring them can be.
So far, I don't need to pick up a single upgrade since the damage done to Castoth is the same with the STR upgrades than without any STR upgrades. This means that the best route I should take for the first "part" of the game is simply a run-through.
I hate double posting ... but since nobody replied for a long time on this topic ... I'm going to double post :)
*update*
In the first version of my movie, I went to pick up all the STR upgrades I could so that I could beat Castoth with the fastest time possible. However, I found out that I didn't need a single STR upgrade since in both cases, I dealt 2 HP of damage per hit to Castoth. Plus, after beating a boss, I receive all the upgrades (health, str and def) that I could have picked up before beating that boss. At least, that's the case for Castoth.
Enough talking! I redid the whole movie from start to end of Castoth! Here's the new movie: ***LINK***. All in all, I saved 7542 frames. The "old" version was 20:57, the new one is 18:51. I saved 2 minutes and 6 seconds.
Enjoy!
*EDIT*: After thinking this out ... the "new" time attack may be my final run, no more a test run. So when posting comments about it, think of it as a final run. This means that after finishing this, I will submit it.
After getting the leg of Yak you run forward for a split second.
When you charge for the Phycho Dash for a long time (near frame 56xxx), you pause in front of one of the statues, could that have been avoided by starting your turn on the one before sooner?
At frame 63xxx after you finish running that long way you could have taken the diagonal and saved some time if I'm not mistaken.
Most of the places where you run backwards to slow down faster you can also run to the side (or up or down) and same some time.
Looks great though.
Build a man a fire, warm him for a day,
Set a man on fire, warm him for the rest of his life.
**EDIT: READ AT THE END, THERE'S AN UPDATE!**
This is because I grab the leg of yak while running. The action of running then continues after the long text message, and it takes me only 6 frames to change directions and running again. This is faster than stopping in front of the container and returning afterwards.
These "pauses" are in fact a collision with those "statues" and I can't help it. Collision with these statues occur twice in this room. If you try and play that part frame by frame, you'll see what I mean.
If you mean right after the "switch" (orange thingy), yes I think it could have saved some very small time, but still ... you're right. I'll have to redo the run from this point. Thanks for pointing this one out! :)
I did it where it helped me save some time.
---------------
** UPDATE! **
I redid the corner turn Omni spoke of, around the little orange switch, and rerecorded the rest of the movie since I don't know how to hexedit a specific section of the movie yet. Here's the link to the new and improved movie, which stops right after beating Castoth (the same point as in the other movies): *** LINK *** (note that the URL always stays the same, so you can't download old versions, except for the old, old version in which I fought with enemies to get STR upgrades ... I'll delete this one in a few days.)
All in all, I saved 2 frames compared to the movie where I didn't "cut the corner right". My theory is that it didn't save any frames at all, and that the 2 frames I saved were in the Castoth fight, in which I managed to NOT get hit at all (Hey! My run is now a zero-damage run!), and that saved me 2 frames where I couldn't attack at all.
All this re-recording for saving 2 frames .... but hey! I'm really proud of making this a zero-damage time attack! I'll try to keep this up until the end... (I know this post is awfully long ... sorry for that)
Joined: 7/17/2004
Posts: 985
Location: The FLOATING CASTLE
Excellent. Everything seems to be optimized very well. However, is there anywhere you could go faster by taking a hit? Those invincible bugs in the first dungeon? Also, is the psycho dash really faster for the dart-spitting head on top of the block thing? Could you take a hit and place the block without killing it?
I forget exactly when you get your damage restored, is it on entering the dark space or do you have to talk to the scary Gaia head? I'm sure that on beating a boss and some other times you get your hits back as well. Great job regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more... though the plot sequences coming up next are going be really really slow. Hopefully you'll find some entertaining way to pass the time, and the graphics and sound are great, it will help things out as well.
For the bugs in the first dungeon, only the second one (the one I skipped) was skippable (is that a word?). And no, I can't take a hit and go through it, because taking a hit pushes Will away and I can't walk through it before the "invincible timer" goes down.
About the dart-spitting head on top of the block, no, I can't walk through it. It acts like a wall. You can't get hurt by touching it, only by it's darts. So the Psycho Dash is definetly faster.
Damage is restored when a) Talking to Gaia or b) Getting a health upgrade.
And by the way ... I'd definetly prefer NOT taking any damage at all. In my opinion, a zero-damage run is a lot better, at least for this game.
After some testing, I found out that I could go through the first invincible bug by swinging the "sword" (it's a flute, actually) while running at it. However, by doing that, I still have to wait for the bug in the stairs to go away since I can't go through it from any angle whatsoever. I just have to wait for him to go away.
In the current movie (link in an earlier post), you see that I can't go a single frame faster while waiting for the third bug (the one down the stairs). In fact, I don't even appear to wait. I guess that was just a lucky coincidence :)
All in all, no, I can't go faster in this section. Not even a single frame.
dont know if this was said, but i remember reading you saying the str upgrades were useless because you still did 2 damage to the boss..
im pretty sure the reason is because your getting the upgrades with Will and using the knight for the fight... did you try getting the str upgrades with the knight? useless or slower?