Post subject: Puzzle Bobble, aka Bust-A-Move
Player (102)
Joined: 3/25/2004
Posts: 189
Location: Austin
Kinda surprised this hasn't been done yet, though I know Upthorn has it in his list of planned movies. I went ahead and made a test run of the first 20-someodd levels, simply using frame advance to affect the colors of the bubbles. I don't have the wherewithal to find memory addresses and all that, so there may be ways of affecting randomness that I've missed... Still, think this would be worth finishing? The run: http://ohnolookoutitsaraygun.com/SuperHappy-PuzBob.zip Note: I'm using the Japanese ROM named "Puzzle Bobble". Also, I used v1.51 of snes9x, so the video may not work with earlier versions.
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
Post subject: Re: Puzzle Bobble, aka Bust-A-Move
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota
I was entertained by this movie, I say go ahead. How many levels are in this thing? If there are more than 50, I believe you should probably choose a different game type, if possible, unless you found ways to entertain the viewer.
josh l. wrote:
[...] Also, I used v1.51 of snes9x, so the video may not work with earlier versions.
It does not work with earlier versions, only v1.51.
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Player (102)
Joined: 3/25/2004
Posts: 189
Location: Austin
Yeah, I'm not sure... Unfortunately, there aren't any FAQs for this version of the game. Puzzle Bobble games typically have 30 stages, though I think there may be a bit more in the SNES version. There can't be more than 50, though. I hope not!
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
Former player
Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Finland
I've played through it once or twice. IIRC there are 100 levels in the game, the last one being a boss. I'm not entirely sure about that, though.
Joined: 3/15/2007
Posts: 131
I've been tooling around with this game for a while now, and this would be a great candidate for a TAS. With some luck manipulation, each level could be ended in under a minute (less in many cases).
Player (121)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
Yeah this game is cool, I liked the movie so far and it looks pretty optimal. I agree with Kyrsimys, pretty sure there's 100 levels and the last one is a boss that you have to hit w/ bubbles after clearing away the board. So it would be long, but I'd sit through it. A couple of RAM values: 7E0214 -- current bubble color red 8 orange 10 yellow 12 green 14 blue 32 purple 34 white 36 black 38 7E0218 -- next bubble color; only updates once the next bubble is barely visible though 7E08BA -- direction pointed, 4 is all the way left, 124 is all the way right, 64 is straight up 7E0AAE -- # bubbles shot during whole game Not useful for luck manipulation yet though. It appears that the only thing that affects the color is when you shoot a bubble. The direction you point does not seem to affect it as long as you shoot on the same frame. Interestingly, the color of the bubble shot does not seem to matter; if you shoot two bubbles, write down the frame you shoot the second one, then go back and shoot the first bubble at a different time, but the second at the same time, the next color will be the same (but not the middle one). However, it is also tied to the number of bubbles shot, because if you shoot two random ones and then a third at the same time as the original's second one it will not load the same color.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Player (102)
Joined: 3/25/2004
Posts: 189
Location: Austin
Hmm... sounds like I'm manipulating luck as good as I can, then. So this should end up pretty perfect, provided I I didn't make any mistakes or use a bad strategy, though the strategy is pretty straightforward for most of the levels. But man.. 100 stages! No many people will sit through that. But I'll finish it anyway. Kinda surprised there's a boss, actually. Puzzle Bobble games never have bosses... Up to stage 42... http://ohnolookoutitsaraygun.com/SuperHappy-PuzBob-42.zip
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
Joined: 3/15/2007
Posts: 131
any reason you're using the (J) version of the game or is that just the name of the input file? Speaking of, which rom are you using? I've tried six and none of them have worked for me. EDIT: I feel dumb for not having upgraded to 1.51
Joined: 5/2/2006
Posts: 1020
Location: Boulder, CO
Npw that is some fast progress... 42% done after a few days. I look foreward to the final product.
Has never colored a dinosaur.
Player (121)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
This might be useful... 7E09FC determines whether the "guide" is displayed, 1 is yes, 0 is no So if you set a cheat for that always to be 1, the guide is always displayed. Does not affect the rng so I think you can record with it on and it would play back w/o desync (I ran your whole movie with it on w/ no desync). There are a couple of levels you could do faster I think, I will post with specifics later... Keep up the awesome work! ps the guide still comes up after level 50 with this cheat, where normally if you continue the guide does not...
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Player (102)
Joined: 3/25/2004
Posts: 189
Location: Austin
That's a nifty trick, alden. If I do another pass at this, which I probably might. For now, http://ohnolookoutitsaraygun.com/SuperHappy-PuzBob-complete.zip All 100 stages! Yikes.. 100. Stages 5, 11, and 19 are rounds I may need to try new strategies on. 34, 58, 61, 65, 70, 84, 99 are all rounds that had tougher strategies, though I think I did all right. Round 69 was the hardest. I'm not sure if I did all right on that one. Rounds 45 and 96 are basically the same, yet it took me longer to do 96, due to bad luck. =| Aside from that, it was a pretty straightforward game, pretty much all luck manipulation. Not sure if I should submit it before doing another pass. I don't know when I'll be able to do it again, but it's not a particularly difficult game to TAS, so it's not that time-consuming.
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
Player (102)
Joined: 3/25/2004
Posts: 189
Location: Austin
Hina98 wrote:
any reason you're using the (J) version of the game or is that just the name of the input file?
I just like the name better. I never really understood Taito America's need to be hip and contemporary with this game. Bust a Move! Yeah. Word up.
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
Player (121)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
haha that's why I've always liked "puzzle bobble" too... will watch tonight! awesome
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
upthorn
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Active player (391)
Joined: 3/24/2006
Posts: 1802
I actually started a test TAS of this about a year ago, but couldn't find the RAM address for next color, so I gave up. I believe the SNES version has 100 levels, but that's the U version. I don't know what the diferences between U and J are, though.
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Player (121)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
Finally got around to watching ... but the guide cheat did in fact make it desync, but not for a really long time :( I think it's really well made and I found it entertaining, perhaps only because I've played the game so much. My only question is that a few times it looks like you shoot a "useless" bubble that seems like it could be eliminated. One example off the top of my head is round 7, where you shoot yellow, purple and orange. The yellow one doesn't do anything so it looks like you should have tried to do just purple orange (or orange then purple). My guess is that it was longer to manipulate the right colors than to just shoot the useless one? It doesn't seem to slow down the movie, but was always noticable (at least to me) since you are able to manipulate the right colors 99% of the time. The boss fight was nice, I remember that taking me forever... In general I was surprised by how few really long puzzles there were, it seems that almost all of them have a quick solution if you rely on luck. Anyways, great job and hope you submit this! (or a revision if you're up to it... I don't envy that task though ;)
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Player (102)
Joined: 3/25/2004
Posts: 189
Location: Austin
alden wrote:
My only question is that a few times it looks like you shoot a "useless" bubble that seems like it could be eliminated. One example off the top of my head is round 7, where you shoot yellow, purple and orange. The yellow one doesn't do anything so it looks like you should have tried to do just purple orange (or orange then purple). My guess is that it was longer to manipulate the right colors than to just shoot the useless one?
Sometimes that's pretty much the case, yeah. Especially at the beginnings of rounds if I needed two specific kinds of bubbles to start out with. But there are also times when certain colors won't appear at all until certain conditions are met, in which case it's actually impossible to complete a round without shooting extra bubbles.
http://girlyyy.com/ The El Viento TAS is the only decent thing I submitted here.
Player (121)
Joined: 2/11/2007
Posts: 1522
josh l. wrote:
But there are also times when certain colors won't appear at all until certain conditions are met
Really? Do you know why, or is it just something that happens? Sounds annoying ;) Too bad, but like I said, didn't really detract from the run for me since it doesn't happen that often.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs