Post by GlitchMan

Posted: 7/16/2011 5:10 AM

Quote

Sonikkustar

Skilled player (1325)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 1354
Location: U.S.

What value is the camera position exactly GlitchMan? I think that you might be onto something.

Homepage SVN

Posted: 7/29/2011 3:08 PM

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GlitchMan

Experienced player (633)

Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443

Sonikkustar wrote:

It is located at $FFF700. It is also displayed when using the in-game debug mode at the top left corner where your score is supposed to be. I also found something else in this game that could be useful. When Sonic has 32 or more rings and he gets hit by something, the sprite limit from the rings that spilled can be used to stop other sprites from appearing that could get in your way. The ring count is located at $FFFE20. You can make Sonic have any number of rings you want and make Sonic lose rings where sprites would normally appear and not show up. You could play around with it a bit and see what you come up with.

Posted: 10/12/2011 2:54 PM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

Is this game hex-friendly? I might go on some frame hunting in the earlier levels when I have the time and mood.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/12/2011 4:13 PM

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Mitjitsu

He/Him

Banned User

Joined: 4/24/2006
Posts: 2997

Aglar wrote:

It certainly is.

Posted: 10/12/2011 4:31 PM

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marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

I would say that up to Labyrinth zone the game is hex friendly; then, after Labyrinth zone (but before Scrap Brain zone 3), the game is hex friendly again; then Final zone is hex friendly. Labyrinth zone and Scrap Brain zone 3 have water, and this causes differences in lag that can cause desynchs. If you are using my Sonic HUD, then I can help in this regard -- I have a script for saving/pasting levels (which I only tested in Sonic 1 and hacks) which does all of the lag management, but it depends on files from the Sonic HUD for its UI. Edit: note: the UI for the resyncher conflicts with part of the UI of the HUD itself, so it is best not to use both at the same time.

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/14/2011 11:14 AM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

Tasing this game is quite addicting, but also tedious in its places. My times for the first world are:

Green Hill 1: 0:24:25 - Some different jumps and faster loop
Green Hill 2: 0:13:07 - New setup for the zipping (my first zip in a Sonic game ever)
Green Hill 3: 0:30:45 - Time gained at the boss, in order to deliver the final blow as fast as possible your y-subpixel value, when landing on the platform, must be < 80

http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1263748122/Sonic%20The%20Hedgehog%20%28W%29%20%28REV%2001%29%20Aglar_world1.gmv Thanks to Sonikkustar for the his previous work that provided great help! Apparently, it's random how the animals that you set free are jumping and I lost some time here. Would the priority be to beat the level as fast as possible or wait some frames before hitting the button to get the best randomness? I like the former best (even if it's not enough for gaining an extra clock-second) as it's more consistent with the in-game time goal for the run.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/14/2011 3:50 PM

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marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

You can also add small pauses to manipulate the animals; randomness there (the direction where each animal faces) is determined by how many times the v-int code has executed when the animal lands on ground. You want to watch the byte at $FFFFFE0F; if bit 4 is set (bits go 0-7), then the animal will go right; otherwise, it goes left. In your case, the problem comes from a pair of bunnies at the end that go to the wrong direction and cost you time. I will be writing a script to optimize it; but on your case, if you do a pause on frame 7481->7482 and release on 7485->7486, then pause again on 7730->7731 and release on 7732->7733, the bunnies will turn on a better way and the end of act will trigger 14 frames earlier. There may be a better combination, I don't know yet. Edit: I almost forgot: that is a nice job there. You made me smile in a couple points.

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/14/2011 7:22 PM

Quote

Sonikkustar

Skilled player (1325)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 1354
Location: U.S.

Thats pretty awesome Aglar, but it also kinda demotivates me to finish my run now unfourtunately. :( Anyways, nice work!

Homepage SVN

Posted: 10/14/2011 7:22 PM

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marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

Here is the script. It is not terribly optimized, and does a lot by chance; it also does not save its history, so you will want to leave it running as long as you can afford -- for example, overnight. That said, it is a suitable baseline for a better script :-) There are two important parameters: "maxpauses" and "counter". "maxpauses" control how many pauses you want, and ranges from 1 to 16 in the script. Each pause can last from 2 to 16 frames, randomly chosen. "counter" controls how many tries with that maximum number of pauses before incrementing the number of pauses. I arbitrarily set "counter" to range from 0 to 256 (256 tries), but you can tweak that. At any point, you can press stop and it will load the best state found so far (i.e., the one where the animals are all off-screen at the earliest frame). Since it doesn't save its history, it is best to leave it running overnight and see what it came out with. Download optimize-animals.lua

Language: lua
local init_state = savestate.create()
local best_state = savestate.create()
local init_frame = movie.framecount()
local best_frame = 0

-- Save initial state
savestate.save(init_state)

local iter = 29
local function redraw(msg)
	iter = iter + 1
	if iter == 30 then
		iter = 0
		gui.drawtext(80, 100, msg)
		gens.redraw()
	end
end

local function find_animals()
	for addr=0xffd040,0xffd040+0x3f*0x40,0x40 do
		if memory.readbyte(addr)==0x28 then
			return true
		end
	end
	return false
end

local function enum_animals()
	local animals = {}
	for addr=0xffd040,0xffd040+0x3f*0x40,0x40 do
		if memory.readbyte(addr)==0x28 then
			table.insert(animals, addr)
		end
	end
	return animals
end

local function check_animal_presence(list)
	local remove_queue = {}
	for i,m in pairs(list) do
		if memory.readbyte(m)==0 then
			table.insert(remove_queue, 1, i)
		end
	end

	local todel = remove_queue[1]
	while todel do
		table.remove(remove_queue, 1)
		table.remove(list, todel)
		todel = remove_queue[1]
	end
	return list
end

local function check_animal_states(list)
	for i,m in pairs(list) do
		local rout = memory.readbyte(m+0x24)
		if rout==0x12 or rout<=2 then
			return true
		end
	end
	return false
end

-- Estabilish baseline
-- First, wait for animals to appear
while true do
	gens.emulateframeinvisible()
	redraw("Baseline: Waiting for animals to appear...")
	if find_animals() then
		break
	end
end

gens.redraw()
local animals = {}

-- Now, wait for them to land
while true do
	gens.emulateframeinvisible()
	redraw("Baseline: Waiting for animals to land...")
	animals = enum_animals()
	if not check_animal_states(animals) then
		break
	end
end

-- Now, wait for them to go all away
while true do
	gens.emulateframeinvisible()
	redraw("Baseline: Waiting for animals to go away...")
	animals = check_animal_presence(animals)
	if #animals == 0 then
		break
	end
end

gens.redraw()

-- Save baseline (current best)
best_frame = movie.framecount()
savestate.save(best_state)

gens.registerexit(function()
	savestate.load(best_state)
	gens.emulateframe()
	savestate.load(best_state)
	gens.redraw()
end)

-- Rewind
savestate.load(init_state)

local npauses = 0
local pause_seed = 0
local pause_len = 2
local last_pause = init_frame
local function add_pause(count, max)
	if npauses >= max then
		return
	end
	if pause_len ~= movie.framecount()-last_pause then
		return
	end
	joypad.write(1,{start=true})
	for i=0,pause_len do
		gens.emulateframeinvisible()
		joypad.write(1,{start=false})
	end
	joypad.write(1,{start=true})
	gens.emulateframeinvisible()
	joypad.write(1,{start=false})
	npauses = npauses+1
	pause_seed = math.random(0,math.floor(256/max))
	pause_len = math.random(2,16)
	last_pause = movie.framecount()
end

for maxpauses=1,16 do
	local animals = {}
	local state = 0	-- 0: waiting for animals to spawn; 1: waiting for animals to land; 2: waiting for animals to go away
	
	for counter=0,256 do
		npauses = 0
		last_pause = init_frame
		local msg = string.format("Please wait... 0x%04X", counter)
		add_pause(counter, maxpauses)
		-- First, wait for animals to appear
		while state == 0 do
			gens.emulateframeinvisible()
			redraw(msg)
			if find_animals() then
				state = 1
				break
			end
			add_pause(counter, maxpauses)
		end
		-- Now, wait for them to land
		while state == 1 do
			gens.emulateframeinvisible()
			redraw(msg)
			animals = enum_animals()
			if not check_animal_states(animals) then
				state = 2
				break
			end
			add_pause(counter, maxpauses)
		end
		-- Now, wait for them to go all away
		while state == 2 do
			gens.emulateframeinvisible()
			redraw(msg)
			animals = check_animal_presence(animals)
			if #animals == 0 then
				state = 0
				break
			end
		end
		gens.redraw()

		if best_frame > movie.framecount() then
			-- Save best
			best_frame = movie.framecount()
			savestate.save(best_state)
		end

		-- Rewind
		savestate.load(init_state)
	end
end

savestate.load(best_state)

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/15/2011 8:37 AM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

Sonikkustar wrote:

Of course I didn't intend stealing the run away from you, only to see if I could optimize some movements a little further - which eventually could be hexed into your run. But when one level was done, another one easily got done as well and now I'm actually somewhat interested in completing the run. Hope you're ok with that, otherwise we can discuss it over PM. Regarding the script, I don't know if I'm just untalented but I couldn't get it to fully work. I started the script at frame 7479 (1 frame before hitting the button) and let it run for like 5 minutes (just for test), then I stopped it and played back the run. When it got to the animal situation, the pause button was used for manipulation (which shouldn't be the case I guess) and the animals left the screen much later than what was shown after I'd stopped the script.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/15/2011 1:07 PM

Quote

marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

The script does use pause for manipulating the animals, and you started from about the place intended (which I now realize I forgot to mention... sorry). What is odd is that I have built-in checks to use the best time -- if that is without any pauses, then that is what the script should eventually use. Out of curiosity: what version of Gens are you using (just to rule out differences in Lua)? In any case, I will go about the code and see if I spot any mistakes. Also, something to try, just to be sure: after running the script, and while recording, could you try doing a manual savestate, advancing one frame then loading this state (another just in case)?

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/15/2011 1:53 PM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

marzojr wrote:

11b

marzojr wrote:

Yeah, the problem remains. I improved GHZ2 by 2 frames so if you want to do some testings that should be performed on this gmv: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1214893835/Sonic%20The%20Hedgehog%20%28W%29%20%28REV%2001%29%20Act2improved.gmv - here I loaded the "best time" but you can see that they leave long after that. (Rerecords became a little to high when I hexed in the rest, I really only used 2/3 of that) And about the testing algorithm itself: What really (pretty much always) determines the final animal time are the last couple of bunnys. Ideally the last 4 (maybe 5) bunnys should jump out of one of the edges of the cage and then of course leave the screen in the direction where the distance to the edge of the screen is the shortest. Maybe you can adjust the script to set more priority of this?

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/15/2011 4:44 PM
(Edited: 10/15/2011 5:54 PM)

Quote

marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

So, I decided to go over the code and I found out a few things that may help. Manipulating early enough can alter the explosion pattern (if the last 3 bits of $FFFFFE0F are not zero, no explosion object is loaded*); otherwise, 1 explosion is loaded that frame. Each explosion loaded affects the RNG (used once per explosion to determine position of the explosion). This goes on as long as byte $FFD8A4** is $A. After 60 frames generating explosions, 8 animals will be generated in preset positions. These animals will start jumping 98 frames after this, and each will jump 8 frames after the other. Byte $FFD8A4** will change to $C and a 150 frame timer will be set. Edit: each of these animals use the RNG once to determine what type of animal they will be. During this time, animals are generated quasi-randomly: if the last 3 bits of $FFFFFE0F are not zero, no animal is loaded***; otherwise, 1 animal will be loaded that frame. Each animal uses the RNG once to determine its position, then once more to determine the type of animal. Each animal generated in this phase will jump 12 frames after being created. After the 150-frame timer expires, byte $FFD8A4** becomes $E and the capsule waits until all animals are offscreen. When it does, $FFD8A4** becomes 0 as the object checking it is deleted. Finally, as each animal land, byte bit 4 of $FFFFFE0F determines the direction that the animal goes, as I said earlier. So yeah, there is quite a bit to manipulate: you can turn the last bunnies into birds or even prevent them from loading with pauses in the right place. * Yes, it is possible to cause the capsule to explode without any explosions; it just suddenly appears broken after some time. ** This may change in different levels, because the object is dynamically loaded. If you use the Gens 11b with the Sonic TAS tools, turning numlock on will show the object's base address. In this case, you will look for the switch's address; it will show as something like $D880. Add $24 to it and put it in a RAM watch as $FFD8A4 to have the address to watch. While at it, the word at offset $1E from the object's RAM is the timer used between phases. *** It is possible to get down to 8 animals only, but this isn't all that useful -- most of them will get out much earlier than those generated afterward. But you can prevent the later ones from spawning; any bunnies that are created when the capsule timer is 142 or more are a waste.

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/15/2011 5:47 PM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

Now I wonder what to do. It would suck to optimize animal cage situation right now and later in the run find out that one of the early levels can be improved so it must be manipulated again. The best thing would be to TAS all levels of the game and take care of all of them at the end. However since the water levels had some lag issues it might be troublesome as well. TASing the first 3 worlds before taking care of the cages shouldn't be any problem though I guess.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/15/2011 6:01 PM

Quote

marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

I am working on a better script that, instead of brute forcing, predicts what the animals are going to be given the current RNG. Right now, the script is limited to the initial 8 animals generated; I am still writing code to predict what each of the subsequent animals will be as they come. At its current state (i.e., only the initial 8 birds) I was already able to remove 32 frames (real time) with a few pauses by just picking the pauses that let me have the list with the highest proportion of birds in the slots with highest delay.

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/15/2011 10:35 PM

Quote

Patashu

He/Him

Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4042

I thought the sonic run focused on in-game time over real time, as evidenced by ignoring the huge amount of time tallying up a time bonus takes. Why can't we ignore this too?

My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu

Posted: 10/15/2011 11:19 PM

Quote

marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

Patashu wrote:

Because it looks unpolished :-) Besides, the primary focus is in-game time, but that does not mean that real time can just be ignored; this is a TAS after all. Anyway: the predictor script is finished. Just load it when getting near a capsule (preferably just before hitting it). It displays the sequence of animals with timers until they are released; the information is only displayed until you can no longer change it anymore. The faster an animal is, the greener is his color; the slower said animal is, the redder. This is calibrated so that flickies (the fastest of them all) are full green while seals (the slowest of them all) are fully red. In yellow is a timer; it says how many frames before you can have an effect on the animal pattern (until the explosions are finished) or whether or not an animal will spawn (after the explosions are done). When the timer reads 1, you hold the start key and do a frame advance; then advance one frame without pressing start and then advance another frame unpausing. This will give a new pattern (if done while the explosions are still happening) or will delay the next animal spawn (delaying enough animal spawns will prevent the spawns; so if you get a near-perfect pattern except that it ends on a slow animal, you can force it not to spawn). You want to get fast animals (generally birds) in the last places in both lists. This generally more than makes up for the pauses that it takes. You can still try to manipulate the way an animal will go when he lands by adding pauses; this script does not cover this. You can manipulate this with pauses; it may take anywhere from 1 to 14 frames in a pause to convince an animal to change the direction he goes -- and it has to be done before he lands. Here is the script: Download predict-animals.lua

Language: lua
-- Function to find the capsule'e switch
local function find_capsule()
	for addr=0xffd040,0xffd040+0x3f*0x40,0x40 do
		if memory.readbyte(addr)==0x3e and memory.readbyte(addr+0x24) > 2 then
			return addr
		end
	end
	return nil
end

-- Names for animals.
local animals = {[0]={"Rabbit"  ,{146, 109,   0, 255}},
                 [1]={"Chicken" ,{146, 109,   0, 255}},
                 [2]={"Eagle"   ,{219,  36,   0, 255}},
                 [3]={"Seal"    ,{255,   0,   0, 255}},
                 [4]={"Pig"     ,{183,  72,   0, 255}},
                 [5]={"Flicky"  ,{  0, 255,   0, 255}},
                 [6]={"Squirrel",{ 73, 182,   0, 255}}}
-- Map between zone ID and animal names.
local typelist = {[0]={[0]=0, [1]=5},
                  [1]={[0]=2, [1]=3},
                  [2]={[0]=6, [1]=3},
                  [3]={[0]=4, [1]=5},
                  [4]={[0]=4, [1]=1},
                  [5]={[0]=0, [1]=1}}

-- Adddress of capsule switch in RAM.
local capsule_switch = nil

-- A few important RAM locations.
local v_random    = 0xFFFFF636
local v_zone      = 0xFFFFFE10
local v_vbla_byte = 0xFFFFFE0F

-- Internal variables.
local seed = 0
local last_seed = -1
local last_vbla = -1

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 random number generator.
local function GetRandom()
	local d1 = seed or 0x2A6D365A
	local d0 = d1																	-- move.l	d1,d0
	d1 = SHIFT(d1, -2)																-- asl.l	#2,d1
	d1 = d1 + d0																	-- add.l	d0,d1
	d1 = SHIFT(d1, -3)																-- asl.l	#3,d1
	d1 = d1 + d0																	-- add.l	d0,d1
	d0 = OR(AND(d1, 0x0000FFFF), AND(d0, 0xFFFF0000))								-- move.w	d1,d0
	d1 = OR(SHIFT(AND(d1, 0x0000FFFF), -16), SHIFT(AND(d1, 0xFFFF0000), 16))		-- swap	d1
	d0 = OR(AND(d1 + d0, 0x0000FFFF), AND(d0, 0xFFFF0000))							-- add.w	d1,d0
	d1 = OR(SHIFT(AND(d0, 0x0000FFFF), -16), SHIFT(AND(d1, 0xFFFF0000), 16))		-- move.w	d0,d1 \n swap	d1
	seed = d1																		-- move.l	d1,(v_random).w
	return d0
end

function predict_animals()
	-- Try to find a capsule switch
	capsule_switch = find_capsule()
	if capsule_switch == nil then
		-- If it was not found, so update variables and leave
		last_seed = memory.readlong(v_random)
		last_vbla = memory.readbyte(v_vbla_byte)
		return
	end
	
	-- Update random seed to RAM value
	seed = memory.readlong(v_random)
	
	-- Capsule switch's routine counter
	local rout = memory.readbyte(capsule_switch+0x24)
	
	-- V-Int counter, used for pseudo-random numbers
	local vbla  = memory.readbyte(v_vbla_byte)
	
	-- Special cases:
	if rout == 4 then
		-- Switch not pressed
		gui.drawtext(4, 4, "Capsule not broken yet.")
		last_seed = seed
		last_vbla = vbla
		return
	elseif rout == 0xE then
		-- All animals spawned and moving to leave screen
		gui.drawtext(4, 4, "Waiting for animals to leave screen.")
		last_seed = seed
		last_vbla = vbla
		return
	end
	
	-- Sometimes, the V-Int counter does not update; doing this "manual"
	-- update corrects the issue, which causes misprediction.
	if last_vbla == vbla then
		vbla = vbla + 1
	end
	
	local row = 0

	-- Draw container box.	
	gui.drawbox(0, 0, 207, 21*8, {  0,   0,   0, 128}, {255, 255, 255, 255})
	
	-- Get animal list for current zone.
	local zone  = memory.readbyte(v_zone)
	local types = typelist[zone]
	local countdown = 0
	
	if rout <= 0xA then
		-- Explosions are being generated. There are two parts to this:
		
		-- Part 1: counting the explosions
		local explosions_left = 0
		
		-- Time left for explosion generation
		countdown = memory.readword(capsule_switch+0x1E)
		local dt = 7 - AND(vbla, 7)
		
		for i=1,countdown+1 do
			-- Has an explosion been generated?
			if AND(vbla, 7) == 0 then
				-- If yes, we need to account for it: each explosion needs
				-- one random number.
				explosions_left = explosions_left + 1
				local rand = GetRandom()
			end
			-- Fake frame advance.
			vbla = vbla + 1
		end
		
		-- If we have explosions left, we have opportunities for manipulating
		-- the animal pattern.
		if explosions_left > 0 then
			gui.drawtext(4, 132,
			             string.format("Next oportunity to change\nanimal pattern: %d frame%s",
			                           dt, (dt == 1 and "") or "s"), {255, 255,   0, 255})
		end
		
		row = 4
		gui.drawtext(4, row, string.format("Explosions left: %d", explosions_left))
		row = row + 16
		gui.drawtext(4, row, "Initial animals:")
		row = row + 8
		
		-- Build sequence of random numbers to be used for the initial batch
		-- of animals. Do this so we can print them in ascending order of delay.
		local randseq = {}
		for i=1,8 do
			local rand = GetRandom()
			table.insert(randseq, 1, rand)
		end
		
		-- Part 2: Initial animals
		for i=1,8 do
			-- Random number determines kind of animal.
			local rand = randseq[1]
			table.remove(randseq, 1)
			local ty = types[AND(rand, 1)]
			gui.drawtext(12, row, string.format("%-8s in %3d frames", animals[ty][1],
			                                    countdown + 90 + 8*i), animals[ty][2])
			row = row + 8
		end
	end
	
	if rout <= 0xC then
		-- Single animals are being generated.
		
		-- Part 3: Pseudo-random animal generation
		row = 4
		local saverow = row
		row = row + 8
		local timer = (rout == 0xC and memory.readword(capsule_switch+0x1E)) or 150
		local animals_left = 0
		local dt = 7 - AND(vbla, 7)
		
		for i=1,timer+1 do
			if AND(vbla, 7) == 0 then
				-- First random number is used to determine the position
				-- offset from the switch.
				local rand = AND(GetRandom(), 0x1F) - 6
				local pos = (seed > 0 and rand) or -rand
				-- Second random number determines animal type.
				rand = GetRandom()
				local ty = types[AND(rand, 1)]
				if countdown + i - 2 > 0 then
					gui.drawtext(116, row,
					             string.format("%-8s in %3d frame%s", animals[ty][1],
					                           countdown + i - 2,
					                           ((countdown + i - 2) == 1 and "") or "s"),
					                           animals[ty][2])
					row = row + 8
					animals_left = animals_left + 1
				end
			end
			vbla = vbla + 1
		end

		-- If we have animals still to be generated, and we are not in the
		-- process of making explosions, we have an opportunity to change
		-- if the next animal will be loaded or not.
		if rout == 0xC and animals_left > 0 then
			gui.drawtext(4, 132,
			             string.format("Next oportunity to prevent\nanimal spawn: %d frame%s",
			                           dt, (dt == 1 and "") or "s"), {255, 255,   0, 255})
		end
		
		-- If there were any animals left, say so
		if animals_left > 0 then
			gui.drawtext(108, saverow, string.format("Animal spawns: %d left", animals_left))
		end
	end
	
	last_seed = memory.readlong(v_random)
	last_vbla = memory.readbyte(v_vbla_byte)
	return
end

gens.registerafter(predict_animals)
savestate.registerload(predict_animals)[/lua]

With proper modifications, this could be used for Sonic 2 too.

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/16/2011 9:02 AM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

I tested it a little and I'm having trouble with the initial animals, where it seems you need to manipulate all at once - if I've understood it right. Have you gotten a good result out of this? If a rabbit jumps out from the middle it takes about 83 frames for it to leave the screen (after it lands) while it takes 56 frames for a flicky to do so. If a rabbit jumps out from one of the edges and then goes in the best direction it takes 74 frames for it to leave the screen while it takes 49 frames for a flicky. So the maximum difference, given that you manipulate them to go in the best direction after they land is 34 frames which means that to make sure a rabbit doesn't waste time the last 9 animals should be flickys (5 from the initial list and 4 from the spawning list). Most likely it'll be enough for the 7 last animals to be flickys though. Maybe this could be of use for an eventual bot using the script.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/16/2011 11:34 AM

Quote

FuzZerd

Player (51)

Joined: 4/10/2009
Posts: 226

very excited about this script work. can't wait to see how the capsules turn out. also aglar, why did you roll off the hill near the start of act 1, shouldn't that slow you down slightly? the improvements are pretty awesome, it's amazing how fast GHZ is getting.

Posted: 10/16/2011 12:47 PM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

Rolling made me keep the 1536 speed one more frame when hitting the uphill. Landing in an uphill while rolling apparently make it count as flat ground for a frame.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/16/2011 3:22 PM

Quote

marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

Yes, the initial animals must be manipulated all at once; they are all generated in the same frame (it can be either with the last explosion or up to 6 frames after it), the last ones being created first. For the new movie, I got the best results so far by taking the first 3 opportunities to manipulate the initial animals (frames 7484, 7493 and 7501) then letting it run with no further manipulation; this results in all animals being offscreen by frame 7804, with the last bunny going offscreen with the last flicky -- compared to frame 7829 without any manipulation (the old number (32 frames) was for the old movie). There are better manipulations possible (manipulating the initial animals for the first 6 times instead), but the added frame count for the pauses offsets the gains. Hm. Since I know the animal speeds, and can compute their initial positions, I could theoretically compute how long they would take to go offscreen; that would require simulating their movement out of the capsule so I know when they hit the ground (as terrain is somewhat uneven) to know when they start moving offscreen (so I know the direction they take). That would even allow me to compute (albeit approximately) the total time it takes. This will take some research, and would require converting some more functions from ASM to lua, so it will take some time.

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/17/2011 9:17 PM

Quote

marzojr

He/Him

Experienced player (760)

Joined: 9/29/2008
Posts: 964
Location: 🇫🇷 France

After converting the functions from ASM to lua and debugging, it turns out that the predictor is not good at estimating the exact time when an animal leaves the screen ("exit prediction") except for the initial batch of animals or for when the animal is on the move. One reason I can for this is object placement: animals loaded in slots after the capsule will load one frame earlier than those loaded before the capsule; this 1-frame difference can change the direction that the animal will travel, and this will affect exit time. Another factor (which I account for) is that an animal loaded after the capsule will take one extra frame to register as missing. I have no idea what other factors are at play; but the fact is that the exit prediction is off by up to plus/minus 3 frames in my tests. The wait until the animals are spawned/start moving works perfectly, only the endpoint prediction that fails -- unless the animal is already on the move. The only ways out of this are simulating the object placement or emulating all frames until the animals leave. I be looking into the latter; in any case, here is the current version of the script: Download predict-animals-v2.lua

Language: lua
local v_objspace = 0xFFFFD000
local c_objsize  = 0x40

-- Object SST constants.
local obRender      = 0x1
local obX           = 0x8
local obY           = 0xC
local obVelX        = 0x10
local obVelY        = 0x12
local obFrame       = 0x1A
local obHeight      = 0x16
local obWidth       = 0x17
local obTimeFrame   = 0x1E
local obRoutine     = 0x24

-- A few important RAM locations.
local v_random    = 0xFFFFF636
local v_zone      = 0xFFFFFE10
local v_vbla_byte = 0xFFFFFE0F
local v_collindex = 0xFFFFF796
local v_lvllayout = 0xFFFFA400
local AngleMap    = 0x00062900
local CollArray1  = 0x00062A00

-- Function to find the capsule'e switch
local function find_capsule()
	for addr=v_objspace + c_objsize,v_objspace + 0x40 * c_objsize,c_objsize do
		if memory.readbyte(addr) == 0x3e and memory.readbyte(addr+obRoutine) > 2 then
			return addr
		end
	end
	return nil
end

-- Function to enumerate all animals that matter for the capsule
local function enum_animals()
	local animals = {}
	for addr=v_objspace + c_objsize,v_objspace + 0x40 * c_objsize,c_objsize do
		if memory.readbyte(addr)==0x28 and memory.readbyte(addr+obRoutine) > 0 then
			table.insert(animals, addr)
		end
	end
	return animals
end

local function speed2color(speed, min, max)
	local green = math.floor(((speed - min) * 255) / (max - min))
	local red   = math.floor(((max - speed) * 255) / (max - min))
	local blue, alpha = 0, 255
	return {red, green, blue, alpha}
end

local minspd, maxspd = 0x140, 0x300

-- Names for animals.
local animals = {[0]={"Rabbit"  , speed2color(0x200, minspd, maxspd), -0x200, -0x400},
                 [1]={"Chicken" , speed2color(0x200, minspd, maxspd), -0x200, -0x300},
                 [2]={"Eagle"   , speed2color(0x180, minspd, maxspd), -0x180, -0x300},
                 [3]={"Seal"    , speed2color(0x140, minspd, maxspd), -0x140, -0x180},
                 [4]={"Pig"     , speed2color(0x1C0, minspd, maxspd), -0x1C0, -0x300},
                 [5]={"Flicky"  , speed2color(0x300, minspd, maxspd), -0x300, -0x400},
                 [6]={"Squirrel", speed2color(0x280, minspd, maxspd), -0x280, -0x380}}
-- Map between zone ID and animal names.
local typelist = {[0]={[0]=0, [1]=5},
                  [1]={[0]=2, [1]=3},
                  [2]={[0]=6, [1]=3},
                  [3]={[0]=4, [1]=5},
                  [4]={[0]=4, [1]=1},
                  [5]={[0]=0, [1]=1}}

-- Adddress of capsule switch in RAM.
local capsule_switch = nil

-- Internal variables.
local seed = 0
local last_seed = -1
local last_vbla = -1

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 random number generator.
local function GetRandom()
	local d1 = seed or 0x2A6D365A
	local d0 = d1																	-- move.l	d1,d0
	d1 = SHIFT(d1, -2)																-- asl.l	#2,d1
	d1 = d1 + d0																	-- add.l	d0,d1
	d1 = SHIFT(d1, -3)																-- asl.l	#3,d1
	d1 = d1 + d0																	-- add.l	d0,d1
	d0 = OR(AND(d1, 0x0000FFFF), AND(d0, 0xFFFF0000))								-- move.w	d1,d0
	d1 = OR(SHIFT(AND(d1, 0x0000FFFF), -16), SHIFT(AND(d1, 0xFFFF0000), 16))		-- swap	d1
	d0 = OR(AND(d1 + d0, 0x0000FFFF), AND(d0, 0xFFFF0000))							-- add.w	d1,d0
	d1 = OR(SHIFT(AND(d0, 0x0000FFFF), -16), SHIFT(AND(d1, 0xFFFF0000), 16))		-- move.w	d0,d1 \n swap	d1
	seed = d1																		-- move.l	d1,(v_random).w
	return d0
end

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 function to find the nearest tile.
local function FindNearestTile(objRender, objX, objY)
	--	move.w	d2,d0
	--	lsr.w	#1,d0
	--	andi.w	#$380,d0
	--	move.w	d3,d1
	--	lsr.w	#8,d1
	--	andi.w	#$7F,d1
	--	add.w	d1,d0
	local index = AND(SHIFT(objY, 1), 0x380) + AND(SHIFT(objX, 8), 0x7F)
	-- Later:	moveq	#-1,d1
	local tilenum = memory.readbyte(v_lvllayout + index)		-- lea	(v_lvllayout).w,a1	\n	move.b	(a1,d0.w),d1
	if AND(tilenum, 0x80) ~= 0 then		-- bmi.s	@specialtile
		-- @specialtile:
		tilenum = AND(tilenum, 0x7F)		-- andi.w	#$7F,d1
		if AND(objRender, 0x40) ~= 0 then		-- btst	#6,obRender(a0)	\n	beq.s	@treatasnormal
			tilenum = tilenum + 1		-- addq.w	#1,d1
			if tilenum == 0x29 then		-- cmpi.w	#$29,d1	\n	bne.s	@treatasnormal
				tilenum = 0x51		-- move.w	#$51,d1
			end
		end
		
		-- @treatasnormal:
		tilenum = AND(tilenum - 1, 0xFF)		-- subq.b	#1,d1
		if AND(tilenum, 0x80) ~= 0 then		-- ext.w	d1
			tilenum = OR(tilenum, 0xFF00)
		end
		tilenum = OR(SHIFT(AND(tilenum, 0x7F), -9), SHIFT(AND(tilenum, 0xFF80), 7))		-- ror.w	#7,d1
		--	move.w	d2,d0
		--	add.w	d0,d0
		--	andi.w	#$1E0,d0
		--	add.w	d0,d1
		--	move.w	d3,d0
		--	lsr.w	#3,d0
		--	andi.w	#$1E,d0
		--	add.w	d0,d1
		return OR(AND(tilenum + AND(2 * objY, 0x1E0) + AND(SHIFT(objX, 3), 0x1E), 0xFFFF), 0xFFFF0000)
	end

	if tilenum > 0 then
		tilenum = AND(tilenum - 1, 0xFF)		-- subq.b	#1,d1
		if AND(tilenum, 0x80) ~= 0 then		-- ext.w	d1
			tilenum = OR(tilenum, 0xFF00)
		end
		tilenum = OR(SHIFT(AND(tilenum, 0x7F), -9), SHIFT(AND(tilenum, 0xFF80), 7))		-- ror.w	#7,d1
		--	move.w	d2,d0
		--	add.w	d0,d0
		--	andi.w	#$1E0,d0
		--	add.w	d0,d1
		--	move.w	d3,d0
		--	lsr.w	#3,d0
		--	andi.w	#$1E,d0
		--	add.w	d0,d1
		return OR(AND(tilenum + AND(2 * objY, 0x1E0) + AND(SHIFT(objX, 3), 0x1E), 0xFFFF), 0xFFFF0000)
	end

	-- @blanktile:
	return 0xFFFFFF00		-- movea.l	d1,a1	\n	rts
end

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 secondary function to find the floor.
local function FindFloor2(objRender, objX, objY, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)
	local angle = initangle
	local tileaddr = FindNearestTile(objRender, objX, objY)		-- bsr.s	FindNearestTile
	local floordist = 0
	local tile = memory.readword(tileaddr)		-- move.w	(a1),d0	\n	move.w	d0,d4
		-- andi.w	#$7FF,d0	\n	beq.s	@isblank2	\n	btst	d5,d4	\n bne.s	@issolid
	local tileid = AND(tile, 0x7FF)
	if tileid ~= 0 and AND(tile, solidbit) ~= 0 then
		-- @issolid:
		local colptr = memory.readlong(v_collindex)		-- movea.l	(v_collindex).w,a2
		local block = memory.readbyte(colptr + tileid)		-- move.b	(a2,d0.w),d0
		if block == 0 then		-- beq.s	@isblank2
			-- @isblank2
			return 0xF - AND(objY, 0xF), tileaddr, angle
		end
		
		angle = memory.readbytesigned(AngleMap + block)		-- lea	(AngleMap).l,a2	\n	move.b	(a2,d0.w),(a4)
		block = SHIFT(block, -4)		-- lsl.w	#4,d0
		local xcopy = objX		-- move.w	d3,d1
		if AND(tile, BIT(0xB)) ~= 0 then		-- btst	#$B,d4	\n	beq.s	@noflip
			xcopy = -objX-1		-- not.w	d1
			angle = -angle		-- neg.b	(a4)
		end

		-- @noflip:
		if AND(tile, BIT(0xC)) ~= 0 then		--- btst	#$C,d4	\n	beq.s	@noflip2
			angle = -0x80 - angle		-- addi.b	#$40,(a4)	\n	neg.b	(a4)	\n	subi.b	#$40,(a4)
		end

		-- @noflip2:
		xcopy = AND(objX, 0xF) + block		-- andi.w	#$F,d1	\n	add.w	d0,d1
		local colhgt = memory.readbytesigned(CollArray1 + xcopy)		-- lea	(CollArray1).l,a2	\n	move.b	(a2,d1.w),d0	\n	ext.w	d0
		tile = XOR(tile, flipmask)		-- eor.w	d6,d4
		
		if AND(tile, BIT(0xC)) ~= 0 then		-- btst	#$C,d4	\n	beq.s	@noflip3
			colhgt = -colhgt		-- neg.w	d0
		end

		-- @noflip3:
		if colhgt == 0 then		-- tst.w	d0	\n	beq.s	@isblank2
			-- @isblank2
			return 0xF - AND(objY, 0xF), tileaddr, angle
		elseif colhgt < 0 then		-- bmi.s	@negfloor
			-- @negfloor:
			local dist = AND(objY, 0xF)		-- move.w	d2,d1	\n	andi.w	#$F,d1
			if dist + colhgt < 0 then		-- add.w	d1,d0	\n	bpl.w	@isblank2
				return -dist-1, tileaddr, angle		-- not.w	d1	\n	rts
			end
		else
			local dist = AND(objY, 0xF)		-- move.w	d2,d1	\n	andi.w	#$F,d1
			return 0xF - (dist + colhgt), tileaddr, angle		-- add.w	d1,d0	\n	move.w	#$F,d1	\n	sub.w	d0,d1	\n	rts
		end
	end

	-- @isblank2:
	--	move.w	#$F,d1
	--	move.w	d2,d0
	--	andi.w	#$F,d0
	--	sub.w	d0,d1
	--	rts
	return 0xF - AND(objY, 0xF), tileaddr, angle
end

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 function to find the floor.
local function FindFloor(objRender, objX, objY, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)
	local angle = initangle
	local tileaddr = FindNearestTile(objRender, objX, objY)		-- bsr.s	FindNearestTile
	local floordist = 0
	local tile = memory.readword(tileaddr)		-- move.w	(a1),d0	\n	move.w	d0,d4
		-- andi.w	#$7FF,d0	\n	beq.s	@isblank	\n	btst	d5,d4	\n bne.s	@issolid
	local tileid = AND(tile, 0x7FF)
	if tileid ~= 0 and AND(tile, solidbit) ~= 0 then
		-- @issolid:
		local colptr = memory.readlong(v_collindex)		-- movea.l	(v_collindex).w,a2
		local block = memory.readbyte(colptr + tileid)		-- move.b	(a2,d0.w),d0
		if block == 0 then		-- beq.s	@isblank
			-- @isblank
			floordist, tileaddr, angle = FindFloor2(objRender, objX, objY + delta, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)
			return floordist + 0x10, tileaddr, angle
		end
		
		angle = memory.readbytesigned(AngleMap + block)		-- lea	(AngleMap).l,a2	\n	move.b	(a2,d0.w),(a4)
		block = SHIFT(block, -4)		-- lsl.w	#4,d0
		local xcopy = objX		-- move.w	d3,d1
		if AND(tile, BIT(0xB)) ~= 0 then		-- btst	#$B,d4	\n	beq.s	@noflip
			xcopy = -objX-1		-- not.w	d1
			angle = -angle		-- neg.b	(a4)
		end

		-- @noflip:
		if AND(tile, BIT(0xC)) ~= 0 then		--- btst	#$C,d4	\n	beq.s	@noflip2
			angle = -0x80 - angle		-- addi.b	#$40,(a4)	\n	neg.b	(a4)	\n	subi.b	#$40,(a4)
		end

		-- @noflip2:
		xcopy = AND(objX, 0xF) + block		-- andi.w	#$F,d1	\n	add.w	d0,d1
		local colhgt = memory.readbytesigned(CollArray1 + xcopy)		-- lea	(CollArray1).l,a2	\n	move.b	(a2,d1.w),d0	\n	ext.w	d0
		tile = XOR(tile, flipmask)		-- eor.w	d6,d4
		
		if AND(tile, BIT(0xC)) ~= 0 then		-- btst	#$C,d4	\n	beq.s	@noflip3
			colhgt = -colhgt		-- neg.w	d0
		end

		-- @noflip3:
		if colhgt == 0 then		-- tst.w	d0	\n	beq.s	@isblank
			-- @isblank
			floordist, tileaddr, angle = FindFloor2(objRender, objX, objY + delta, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)
			return floordist + 0x10, tileaddr, angle
		elseif colhgt < 0 then		-- bmi.s	@negfloor
			-- @negfloor:
			local dist = AND(objY, 0xF)		-- move.w	d2,d1	\n	andi.w	#$F,d1
			if dist + colhgt < 0 then		-- add.w	d1,d0	\n	bpl.w	@isblank
				-- @maxfloor
				floordist, tileaddr, angle = FindFloor2(objRender, objX, objY - delta, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)
				return floordist - 0x10, tileaddr, angle
			end
		elseif colhgt == 0x10 then		-- cmpi.b	#$10,d0	\n	beq.s	@maxfloor
			-- @maxfloor:
			--	sub.w	a3,d2
			--	bsr.w	FindFloor2
			--	add.w	a3,d2
			--	subi.w	#$10,d1
			--	rts	
			floordist, tileaddr, angle = FindFloor2(objRender, objX, objY - delta, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)
			return floordist - 0x10, tileaddr, angle
		else
			--	move.w	d2,d1
			--	andi.w	#$F,d1
			--	add.w	d1,d0
			--	move.w	#$F,d1
			--	sub.w	d0,d1
			--	rts	
			return 0xF - (AND(objY, 0xF) + colhgt), tileaddr, angle
		end
	end

	-- @isblank:
	--	add.w	a3,d2
	--	bsr.w	FindFloor2	; try tile below the nearest
	--	sub.w	a3,d2
	--	addi.w	#$10,d1		; return distance to floor
	--	rts	
	floordist, tileaddr, angle = FindFloor2(objRender, objX, objY + delta, solidbit, delta, initangle, flipmask)		-- beq.s	@isblank
	return floordist + 0x10, tileaddr, angle
end

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 function to find distance to the floor.
local function ObjFloorDist(objX, objY, objH, objR)
	--local objX = memory.readword(obj+obX)		-- move.w	obX(a0),d3
	--local objY = memory.readword(obj+obY)		-- move.w	obY(a0),d2
	--local objH = memory.readbytesigned(obj+obHeight)		-- moveq	#0,d0	\n	move.b	obHeight(a0),d0 \n	ext.w	d0
	--local objR = memory.readbyte(obj+obRender)
	--objY = objY + objH		-- add.w	d0,d2
	-- lea	(v_anglebuffer).w,a4
	-- move.b	#0,(a4)
	-- movea.w	#$10,a3
	-- move.w	#0,d6
	-- moveq	#$D,d5
	local floordist, tileaddr, angle = FindFloor(objR, objX, objY + objH, BIT(0xD), 0x10, 0, 0)		-- bsr.w	FindFloor
	if AND(angle, 1) ~= 0 then
		angle = 0		-- move.b	(v_anglebuffer).w,d3	\n	btst	#0,d3 \n beq.s	locret_14E4E \n	move.b	#0,d3
	end

	return floordist, tileaddr, angle		-- locret_14E4E:	rts	
end

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 function to make an object "fall".
local function ObjectFall(objX, objY, objVX, objVY)
	--local memory.readlong(obj+obX)		-- move.l	obX(a0),d2
	--local memory.readlong(obj+obY)		-- move.l	obY(a0),d3
	--local memory.readwordsigned(obj+obVelX)		-- move.w	obVelX(a0),d0	\n	ext.l	d0
	objX = AND(objX + SHIFT(objVX, -8), 0xFFFFFFFF)		-- asl.l	#8,d0	\n	add.l	d0,d2
	--local memory.readwordsigned(obj+obVelY)		-- move.w	obVelY(a0),d0	\n	ext.l	d0
	objY = AND(objY + SHIFT(objVY, -8), 0xFFFFFFFF)		-- asl.l	#8,d0	\n	add.l	d0,d3
	objVY = objVY + 0x38		-- addi.w	#$38,obVelY(a0)
	return objX, objY, objVX, objVY		-- move.l	d2,obX(a0)	\n	move.l	d3,obY(a0)	\n	rts
end

-- Lua version of the Sonic 1 function loc_912A.
local function animal_fall(objX, objY, objVX, objVY, objH, objR, objNVX, objNVY, vbla)
	--	tst.b	obRender(a0)
	--	bpl.w	DeleteObject
	objX, objY, objVX, objVY = ObjectFall(objX, objY, objVX, objVY)		-- bsr.w	ObjectFall
	if objVY >= 0 then		-- tst.w	obVelY(a0)	\n	bmi.s	loc_9180
		local floordist = ObjFloorDist(SHIFT(objX, 16), SHIFT(objY, 16), objH, objR)		-- jsr	ObjFloorDist
		
		if floordist < 0 then		-- tst.w	d1	\n	bpl.s	loc_9180
			objY = objY + floordist		-- add.w	d1,obY(a0)
			objVX = objNVX		-- move.w	$32(a0),obVelX(a0)
			objVY = objNVY		-- move.w	$34(a0),obVelY(a0)
			--	move.b	#1,obFrame(a0)
			--	move.b	$30(a0),d0
			--	add.b	d0,d0
			--	addq.b	#4,d0
			--	move.b	d0,obRoutine(a0)
			--	tst.b	(v_bossstatus).w
			--	beq.s	loc_9180
			if AND(vbla, BIT(4)) ~= 0 then		-- btst	#4,(v_vbla_byte).w	\n	beq.s	loc_9180
				objVX = -objVX		-- neg.w	obVelX(a0)
				objR = XOR(objR, BIT(0))		-- bchg	#0,obRender(a0)
			end
		end
	end
	-- loc_9180:
	--	bra.w	DisplaySprite
	return objX, objY, objVX, objVY, objH, objR, objNVX, objNVY, vbla
end

local function simulate_animal_delay_fall_escape(obj, objX, objY, objVX, objVY, objNVX, objNVY, objWait, vbla, capX)
	local objH = 0xC
	local objR = 0x85
	local objW = 8
	local initvbla = vbla
	-- If we have a real object:
	if obj ~= nil then
		objX    = memory.readlong(obj+obX)
		objY    = memory.readlong(obj+obY)
		objVX   = memory.readwordsigned(obj+obVelX)
		objVY   = memory.readwordsigned(obj+obVelY)
		objNVX  = memory.readwordsigned(obj+0x32)
		objNVY  = memory.readwordsigned(obj+0x34)
		objWait = memory.readword(obj+0x36) - 1
	end

	-- Simulate wait if needed
	if objWait > 0 then
		vbla = vbla + objWait + 1
	end
	
	-- Simulate falling
	while objVX == 0 do
		vbla = vbla + 1
		objX, objY, objVX, objVY, objH, objR, objNVX, objNVY, vbla =
		      animal_fall(objX, objY, objVX, objVY, objH, objR, objNVX, objNVY, vbla)
	end
	
	-- Compute time to get offscreen
	local le = SHIFT(capX - 160 - objW, -8)
	local re = SHIFT(capX + 160 + objW, -8)
	
	-- Lets use relative position here.
	objX = SHIFT(objX, 8)
	local lastvbla = vbla
	if objVX > 0 then
		vbla = vbla + math.abs(math.floor((re - objX + objVX - 1) / objVX)) + 1
	else
		vbla = vbla + math.abs(math.floor((objX - le - objVX - 1) / -objVX)) + 1
	end
	
	return objVX, vbla
end

function print_animal_objects(vbla)
	local animal_list = enum_animals()
	if #animal_list > 0 then
		row = 4
		gui.drawtext(4, row, "Spawned animals:")
		row = row + 8
		gui.drawtext(12, row, "Animal   Wait D Exit at")
		row = row + 8
		local capX = memory.readword(capsule_switch+obX)
		local list1 = {}
		local list2 = {}
		for i,m in pairs(animal_list) do
			local ty    = memory.readbyte(m+0x30)
			local delay = memory.readword(m+0x36)
			local vx, endvbla = simulate_animal_delay_fall_escape(m, nil, nil, nil, nil, nil,
			                                                      nil, nil, vbla, capX)
			local dir = (vx > 0 and ">") or "<"
			local endpt = movie.framecount() + endvbla - vbla + 1
			table.insert((delay == 0 and list2) or list1, {endpt, function(rw)
					gui.drawtext(12, rw,
							     string.format("%-8s %4d %s %7d", animals[ty][1], delay, dir,
							                   endpt), animals[ty][2])
				end})
		end
		
		table.sort(list1, function(item1, item2)
				return item1[1] < item2[1]
			end)
		table.sort(list2, function(item1, item2)
				return item1[1] < item2[1]
			end)
		
		for i,m in pairs(list1) do
			m[2](row)
			row = row + 8
		end
		
		gui.drawtext(12, row, "========= Free =========")
		row = row + 8
		
		for i,m in pairs(list2) do
			m[2](row)
			row = row + 8
		end
	end
end

function predict_animals()
	-- Try to find a capsule switch
	capsule_switch = find_capsule()
	if capsule_switch == nil then
		-- If it was not found, so update variables and leave
		last_seed = memory.readlong(v_random)
		last_vbla = memory.readbyte(v_vbla_byte)
		return
	end
	
	-- Update random seed to RAM value
	seed = memory.readlong(v_random)
	
	-- Capsule switch's routine counter
	local rout = memory.readbyte(capsule_switch+obRoutine)
	
	-- V-Int counter, used for pseudo-random numbers
	local vbla  = memory.readbyte(v_vbla_byte)
	
	-- Sometimes, the V-Int counter does not update; doing this "manual"
	-- update corrects the issue, which causes misprediction.
	if last_vbla == vbla then
		vbla = vbla + 1
	end
	local savevbla = vbla
	
	-- Special case:
	if rout == 4 then
		-- Switch not pressed
		gui.drawtext(4, 4, "Capsule not broken yet.")
		last_seed = seed
		last_vbla = savevbla
		return
	end
	local row = 0

	-- Draw container box.	
	gui.drawbox(0, 0, 223, 28*8-1, {  0,   0,   0, 128}, {255, 255, 255, 255})

	if rout == 0xE then
		-- All animals spawned and moving to leave screen
		gui.drawtext(128, 12, "Waiting for animals\nto leave screen.", {255, 255,   0, 255})
		print_animal_objects(vbla)
		last_seed = seed
		last_vbla = savevbla
		return
	end
	
	-- Get animal list for current zone.
	local zone  = memory.readbyte(v_zone)
	local types = typelist[zone]
	
	if rout <= 0xA then
		-- Explosions are being generated. There are two parts to this:
		
		-- Part 1: counting the explosions
		local explosions_left = 0
		
		-- Time left for explosion generation
		local countdown = memory.readword(capsule_switch + obTimeFrame)
		local dt = 7 - AND(vbla, 7)
		
		for i = 1, countdown + 1 do
			-- Has an explosion been generated?
			if AND(vbla + i - 1, 7) == 0 then
				-- If yes, we need to account for it: each explosion needs
				-- one random number.
				explosions_left = explosions_left + 1
				local rand = GetRandom()
			end
			-- Fake frame advance.
		end

		-- If we have explosions left, we have opportunities for manipulating
		-- the animal pattern.
		if explosions_left > 0 then
			gui.drawtext(112, 180,
			             string.format("Next oportunity to change\nanimal pattern: %d frame%s",
			                           dt, (dt == 1 and "") or "s"), {255, 255,   0, 255})
		end
		
		row = 4
		gui.drawtext(4, row, string.format("Explosions left: %d", explosions_left))
		row = row + 16
		gui.drawtext(4, row, "Initial animals:")
		row = row + 8
		gui.drawtext(12, row, "Animal   Wait D Exit at")
		row = row + 8
		
		-- Build sequence of random numbers to be used for the initial batch
		-- of animals. Do this so we can print them in ascending order of delay.
		local randseq = {}
		for i = 1, 8 do
			local rand = GetRandom()
			table.insert(randseq, 1, rand)
		end
		
		local capX = memory.readword(capsule_switch+obX)
		local capY = memory.readword(capsule_switch+obY) + 0x20
		-- Part 2: Initial animals
		for i = 1, 8 do
			-- Random number determines kind of animal.
			local rand = randseq[1]
			table.remove(randseq, 1)
			local ty = types[AND(rand, 1)]
			local objX = SHIFT(capX + 0x1C - 7 * i, -16)
			local objY = SHIFT(capY, -16)
			local delay = countdown + 90 + 8 * i
			local vx, endvbla = simulate_animal_delay_fall_escape(nil, objX, objY, 0, -0x400,
			                                                      animals[ty][3], animals[ty][4],
			                                                      delay, vbla, capX)
			local dir = (vx > 0 and ">") or "<"
			gui.drawtext(12, row,
			             string.format("%-8s %4d %s %7d", animals[ty][1], delay, dir,
			                           movie.framecount() + endvbla - vbla),
			             animals[ty][2])
			row = row + 8
		end
	end
	
	print_animal_objects(vbla)

	if rout <= 0xC then
		-- Single animals are being generated.
		-- Part 3: Pseudo-random animal generation
		row = 4
		local saverow = row
		row = row + 8
		gui.drawtext(124, row, "Animal  Spawn D Exit at")
		row = row + 8
		local animals_left = 0

		local countdown = (rout < 0xC and memory.readword(capsule_switch+obTimeFrame)) or 0
		local dt = 7 - AND(vbla + countdown, 7)
		local timer = (rout == 0xC and memory.readword(capsule_switch+obTimeFrame)) or 150
		
		local capX = memory.readword(capsule_switch+obX)
		local capY = memory.readword(capsule_switch+obY) + ((rout < 0xC and 0x20) or 0)
		for i = 1, timer + 1 do
			if AND(vbla + countdown + i - 1, 7) == 0 then
				-- First random number is used to determine the position
				-- offset from the switch.
				local rand = AND(GetRandom(), 0x1F) - 6
				local pos = (seed > 0 and rand) or -rand
				-- Second random number determines animal type.
				rand = GetRandom()
				local ty = types[AND(rand, 1)]
				if countdown + i - 2 > 0 then
					local objX = SHIFT(capX + pos, -16)
					local objY = SHIFT(capY, -16)
					local delay = countdown + i + 12
					local vx, endvbla = simulate_animal_delay_fall_escape(nil, objX, objY, 0, -0x400,
							                                              animals[ty][3], animals[ty][4],
							                                              delay, vbla, capX)
					local dir = (vx > 0 and ">") or "<"
					gui.drawtext(124, row,
							     string.format("%-8s %4d %s %7d", animals[ty][1], delay-14, dir,
							                   movie.framecount() + endvbla - vbla + (rout < 0xC and 1 or 0)),
							     animals[ty][2])
					row = row + 8
					animals_left = animals_left + 1
				end
			end
		end

		-- If we have animals still to be generated, and we are not in the
		-- process of making explosions, we have an opportunity to change
		-- if the next animal will be loaded or not.
		if rout == 0xC and animals_left > 0 then
			gui.drawtext(112, 180,
			             string.format("Next oportunity to prevent\nanimal spawn: %d frame%s",
			                           dt, (dt == 1 and "") or "s"), {255, 255,   0, 255})
		end
		
		-- If there were any animals left, say so
		if animals_left > 0 then
			gui.drawtext(116, saverow, string.format("Animal spawns: %d left", animals_left))
		end
	end
	
	last_seed = memory.readlong(v_random)
	last_vbla = savevbla
	return
end

gens.registerafter(predict_animals)
savestate.registerload(predict_animals)

Marzo Junior

Posted: 10/19/2011 3:51 PM

Quote

Aglar

Expert player (3630)

Joined: 11/9/2007
Posts: 375
Location: Varberg, Sweden

New WIP: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/535041267/Sonic%20The%20Hedgehog%20%28W%29%20%28REV%2001%29%20WIP_Aglar.gmv MZ2 suited me as a TASer really well. I didn't improve time to 0:33 but I'm still pleased with the result. I'll check more into the last part of this level later, and also try to have more style during waiting periods. I need to do something about the rerecord count as well, since this wouldn't look too nice in the statistics.

feos wrote:

Posted: 10/21/2011 4:00 AM

Quote

GlitchMan

Experienced player (633)

Joined: 8/28/2008
Posts: 443

I just found glitch that can be really useful for glitching into walls and zipping through the level. When the screen scrolls upward the sprites disappear below him and when he takes damage he falls right through the platforms. I made a WIP of Marble Zone. It saved time on Act 2 and Act 3 (Act 2 is beaten in 15 seconds and Act 3 reaches the boss area at 12 seconds): http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1241470559/GlitchMan-Sonic%20the%20Hedgehog%20%28J%29-MarbleZoneshortcuts.gmv

Forum Sega Genesis Games Sonic the Hedgehog Game: Sonic the Hedgehog

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Sonic the Hedgehog Game: Sonic the Hedgehog