This is improvement of 527 frames over the rejected Code Name: Viper in 11:06.48 by ECCO and non-submitted TAS of LiuCong

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Bizhawk 2.3.1 with TAStudio
  • Takes damage to save time
  • Uses hardest difficulty
  • Heavy luck manipulation
  • Aims for fastest time

ThunderAxe31: Judging.
ThunderAxe31: File replaced with a 101 frames improvement.
ThunderAxe31: File replaced with a 22 frames improvement.
After almost 14 years of attempts, we finally have an enough optimized TAS for this game.
The movie doesn't feature much diversity and is consistently slow-paced, so I'm accepting it for Vault.
feos: Pub.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #6308: XTREMAL93's NES Code Name: Viper in 10:56.62
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So... I've found this old TAS and compared it side-by-side with yours. I'm assuming it's from this submission, as it matches the author's real name. Not sure why the timing appears to be 8 seconds faster. Is this because the Japan version was used? In any case, the jump trick used at 6:09 allows to save a bit of time compared to your submission. Link to video
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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ThunderAxe31 wrote:
So... I've found this old TAS and compared it side-by-side with yours. I'm assuming it's from this submission, as it matches the author's real name. Not sure why the timing appears to be 8 seconds faster. Is this because the Japan version was used? In any case, the jump trick used at 6:09 allows to save a bit of time compared to your submission.
In this submission input ends a little early. To get the full ending you need to press 'A' at the last mission clear screen. After submission 1454, ECCO submitted submission 1460 with full input
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Ok, but what about the jump trick that ECCO used at 6:09? It seems that you missed it while you were trying to improve it. Edit: to be more accurate, the trick can be seen exactly at 6:10.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
XTREMAL93
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ThunderAxe31 wrote:
Ok, but what about the jump trick that ECCO used at 6:09? It seems that you missed it while you were trying to improve it.
Damm, how did i miss it)) Give me time, i will check it. Hope it will not ruin my run. Btw, how many frames can save this trick?
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XTREMAL93 wrote:
Btw, how many frames can save this trick?
It would save exactly 21 frames, not taking in account possible RNG changes. By the way, I see that you mashed A button against dialogues. This results in wasting frames there and there, since mashing means that the inputs have 50% changes of being pressed 1 frame later. Instead of mashing, you should make every input manually, by going with trial and error. So I've tried fixing the inputs for all dialogues, and I saved 24 frames until the level 3, where the movie desynced, at frame 10983 specifically. You can get the movie file from there: User movie #54046853712001065 Note that there is no need to cancel this submission, as we can replace the submitted file, after that you're done with the fixes.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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XTREMAL93
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ThunderAxe31 wrote:
It would save exactly 21 frames, not taking in account possible RNG changes. By the way, I see that you mashed A button against dialogues. This results in wasting frames there and there, since mashing means that the inputs have 50% changes of being pressed 1 frame later. Instead of mashing, you should make every input manually, by going with trial and error. So I've tried fixing the inputs for all dialogues, and I saved 24 frames until the level 3, where the movie desynced, at frame 10983 specifically. You can get the movie file from there: User movie #54046853712001065 Note that there is no need to cancel this submission, as we can replace the submitted file, after that you're done with the fixes.
Thanks, will fix it too
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Here is update. More RNG, more optimization, less frames) Please replace it. http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/54078945208671378
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It seems that you also made the last level slower. Can you please take a look at it and try to fix it? I kept your old movie file on my pc. Do you need me to upload it to userfiles?
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
XTREMAL93
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I tried to fix it too, but unsuccessfully. In any case, gimme file, maybe I need more time
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my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
XTREMAL93
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Can u check it? level ends when timer 237, but it is longer then current submission http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/54123712792749600
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XTREMAL93 wrote:
Can u check it? level ends when timer 237, but it is longer then current submission http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/54123712792749600
It seems that when you arrive at the stuatues part, the game slows down. It's basically "invisible lag". Try to change the moments when you jump and when you shoot. Don't look at the game timer, but look at the frame counter of the emulator.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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OK, I did it again, just need littlle fixes and upload. Can you say more about "invisible lag"? I was surprised that there are no lag frames in this game
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Indeed. BizHawk detects lag by seeing if the game is reading the joypad inputs during a frame. Most games don't read the joypad inputs when they are going through heavy load on the emulated console processor, however some games (like Code Name Viper) do that in almost all frames, even when they can't make it in time to execute the main game routine in one frame. So the emulator won't report the actual lag frames, despite the fact that the game is actually slowing down. The only solution is to figure out what inputs you need to make different in order to avoid slowing down the game program execution.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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There most certainly is a memory address that works as a lag flag regarding in-game physics. Every time lag occurs and this (to be found) flag is set, you can do this:
Language: lua

event.onframeend(function() emu.setislagged(memory.read_u8(YourAddress) > 0) end)
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Thank you for your cooperation, XTREMAL93. By the way, it would be nice to have a bit more details in your future submission texts.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
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Thank you for useful advices. I am a bit lazy too write long description and my English is not so good( So feel free to edit the text of my submissions by yourself ;) Some pics Look up Make 'em dance like Michael Jackson
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Do you konw why the ECCO's submission been rejected?
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I can figure it out by reading the judgement message.
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't 12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!" Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish [Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
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EZGames69 wrote:
I can figure it out by reading the judgement message.
So you didn't find someting, too, just like others?
EZGames69
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You mean the broken link to the faster run?
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't 12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!" Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish [Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
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Yes, of course. And adelikat admit it.