Any special strategies for this game? I guess we should use the "rush-and-destroy" strategy, aiming for fast completion. I've seen a walkthrough at GameFAQs that specified minimum S-rank times (envolving a bit of luck manipulation). Can anyone beat the strategies there or they're optimal?
EDIT: The latest WIPs are at the end of the thread.
Be careful about the walkthrough, as it allows to complete the missions (and the AI of the game is still random) but not necessarily in the fastest way...
Anyway, I'd be glad to see a run for this game... I know it a bit so I can maybe help...
Not to mention the walthroughs don't take into consideration perfect luck (I'm not sure how much luck manipulation is in this game, but I'm sure there's at least a fair amount).
I'd also like to see a run of this. It'd be interesting to say the least.
When I played, I would reset every time a unit didn't move where I wanted it to, but I doubt there are other things decided by luck (damage is a set formula). Now my Cleanup video doesn't desync! Yay!
Oh, I see. Well, that may pose a problem when it comes to submit, since that's a hacked ROM if I'm not mistaken.
Also, I could've sworn that you could skip the screens telling you what day it is...
Other than that, looks good.
Here's the quickest way I know of to complete a (hypothetical) map of infinite size:
Choose Colin. Until your cash hits $200000, use only your regular power, and build only the units you need to expand at the beginning, then hold your opponent at any bottleneck. Once you have the necessery cash, start building a bomber/fighter/T-copter/Mech/Neotank army, but continue to use your normal power for a net profit. Once your cash maxes out, your bomber's and fighters are A)Unstoppable and B) disposable, and with your Super power only AA units and Bombers will try to attack your mechs. Compund interest is your friend.
Of course, this takes so long to set up it's only worth it to set up on a very large map.
Trying 127.0.0.1...
telnet: connect to address 127.0.0.1: Connection refused
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host
Joined: 8/15/2005
Posts: 1942
Location: Mullsjö, Sweden
Why do you have the battle scenes on...? It will be a lot faster without. I really suck at this game so I am for no use. But my brother is quite good and it sounded like he wanted to see this one. So good luck =).
But in this case there's still something concrete to go by when fastest time isn't a goal: number of turns.
I don't know if I agree it'd be boring without animations, though. I remember thinking that about the Fire Emblem run, but seeing a run with animations off convinced me it's really not so bad.
You can press End by typing ^ A, instead of vvvvv A. You don't do that in your first ending, at least. I see you wait three frames at each CO conversation. I assume you lose time on it...
The improvements, especially on moving speed, were pretty nice.
I played the heck out of the orginal Advanced Wars, but AW2 I thought the storyline was corny and the graphics seemed ugly by comparison. The new, more powerful tank didn't make the game more fun, but it did add complexity. I loved the original because it reminded me of chess: there were just a few units for each aspect of warfare, and the number of possible positions is enormous. Despite have relatively few pieces, chess and go are two of my favorite games. Their complexity may make them unsolvable, so I assumed that AW/AW2 would also be unsolvable, meaning that you could never be sure if you had played a perfect game. Despite my dislike for AW2, I think they're both great candidates for TAS because they may always be improvable, leading to innovation for years to come (much like chess and go). The only problem is that the campaigns are so long. Do you have an estimate of how long the run is going to be? It may be necessary to watch on fast forward.
TASing or playing back a DOS game? Make sure your files match the archive at RGB Classic Games.
It will be long, for sure. There are 30 missions. If we assume 5 minutes per mission, we already have 2.5 hours. I know that estimate is off, though.
BTW, I'm working on Andy's Time. Proceeding in the fastest manner possible through a 7-day level is harder than I thought it would be.
It's even harder than harder, because my luck manipulation attempts are leading me to nothing. I'm close to assuming the AI calculates it's "randomness" for the next move while it's moving, and that would mean that I have to luck manipulate 2 days before the actual fact happens.
The RNG is at 03001fd4-03001fd7. It seems to advance 3 times each frame whenever you can press A to select a target for an attack (and at no other convenient times from what I see). You can also advance the RNG by drawing paths as in my Fire Emblem run.
I don't see what needs manipulating in Andy's Time, but perhaps your strategy is better than mine for a TAS. My strategy involves blocking the enemy base on day 4 after building two recons.