Topic by devindotcom

Posted: 8/15/2010 4:43 PM

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Sonikkustar

Skilled player (1326)

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

Nice! Im really looking foward to this run. ;)

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Posted: 9/13/2010 1:47 AM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

Here is part 1 of the Aitos simulation; ready for Act 2. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/623920915/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Aitos_Sim_Part1_Done.smv The path that I found will end up saving over 300 frames. One of the main improvements is that I skipped the message about the volcano erupting by changing the order that the monsters' lairs are sealed. When the last lair is one that contains an item, it skips the message telling you to do Act 2. Bloodpool and Kasandora already did that, but Fillmore and Northwall are not able to do that because of the bridges. It might save frames in Marahna. To manipulate luck in Act 2, this time subtract frames from the simulation. I ended the sim one frame before a lag frame caused by the laggy volcano eruption. Also, make sure to test if getting that extra magic scroll is faster. Take your time. I have lots of testing to do in Marahna, so don't feel rushed.

Posted: 9/15/2010 5:01 AM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Here's Aitos Act 2 completed. 44 frames saved--7 frames saved up to the beginning of the boss, 37 frames saved in the boss fight. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1417627259/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Aitos_Act_2_Done.smv EDIT: Whoops, I forgot to use neo_omegon's trick at the end of the Act. 14 more frames saved. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1296345182/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Aitos_Act_2_Done.smv

Posted: 9/21/2010 7:49 AM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

Here is the Aitos sim completed. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1326075451/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Aitos_Sim_Done.smv For the 2 simulation sections, a total of 328 frames saved with the new path.

Posted: 9/23/2010 3:22 AM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Marahna Act 1 done: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1586845684/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Marahna_Act_1_Done.smv Total of 2118 frames saved so far.

Posted: 10/15/2010 2:09 AM

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Sir_VG

He/Him

Player (40)

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1913
Location: Floating Tower

PJ managed to get the wall trick to work in Marahna Act I at the end of the 1st section. Would it be faster then going down and around? Video from his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJFvq0flnO8

Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing

Posted: 10/15/2010 2:25 AM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

That is awesome! If it saves time (I think it will) then go ahead and redo Act 1, Zidanax. I am still testing routes in the simulation. The best route I found so far will definitely save over 300 frames. Sealing the east lair last ended up saving frames, and it made the last construction phase faster by 162 frames! I also found a faster route at the beginning which saved around 45 frames. It involves sealing the central lair one cycle later.

Posted: 10/16/2010 12:00 PM

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Sir_VG

He/Him

Player (40)

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1913
Location: Floating Tower

I remember reading that if you're up high on the boss screen when it's over, you save time on the warp animation. Somehow PJ managed to climb the wall on the left side in Bloodpool Act II and get quite a ways up. Probably doesn't save a lot of frames, but thought I'd point it out. Mind you this is on Professional!, but it still should apply just the same. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT0IsCb6SgY (Go about 5:49 in)

Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing

Posted: 10/30/2010 5:03 AM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

I'm just about done researching the Marahna sim. I decided to test PJ's shortcut, and it appears that it will save about 200 frames, though it can be more if the statue thing can be manipulated to shoot to the right the first time. This also includes an improvement I found by accident. At the top, jumping instead of walking to the right saves over a second. Also, I am not certain, but I think the x position off screen may change the fadeout timing.

Posted: 11/15/2010 11:32 PM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Sorry I've been away so long. Here's the revised Marahna Act 1: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/747451686/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Marahna_Act_1_Done_with_new_trick.smv 123 frames saved using that new trick. It's not about 200 frames because Dunnius didn't notice that jumping to offscreen causes death. Dunnius and I checked for places before Marahna Act 1 and we don't think there's anywhere else this trick would save time. You need a wall that goes all the way to the top of the screen and that doesn't have a ceiling with it. A very rare thing indeed. PJ noted that although there's a place where you can use the trick in the beginning of Northwall Act 2 it doesn't really save time because of the time it takes to get hit in the right place. I tried it myself and a reasonable effort still left me 700 frames behind. The problem is that you have to get hit by one of those eyes, and you have to lead them to the right wall in that first section, which takes awhile. So I think Marahna Act 1 is the only place that this trick saves time. Frankly, I'm relieved. EDIT: changed SMV url

Posted: 12/20/2010 1:05 AM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

Here is the completed Marahna sim: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/476765389/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Marahna_Sim_Done.smv I ended up saving 356 frames with the revised path and random lag reduction. It was a real pain to remove the random lag frames. There is a total of 2597 frames saved over the previous WIP so far. Zidanax, if need to do luck manipulation, you can wait the necessary frames in the sim.

Posted: 12/21/2010 4:19 AM

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DarkKobold

Skilled player (1652)

Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 2202
Location: Killjoy

So close, yet so far....

Sage advice from a friend of Jim: So put your tinfoil hat back in the closet, open your eyes to the truth, and realize that the government is in fact causing austismal cancer with it's 9/11 fluoride vaccinations of your water supply.

Posted: 12/22/2010 8:54 AM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Northwall Act 1 Done: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/757536462/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Northwall_Act_1_Done.smv Unfortunately my luck with the stardust wasn't quite as good this time (it should be mentioned that I was exceptionally lucky with the Northwall Act 1 boss last time) so I've actually lost 19 frames overall in this next segment. Yes, I messed around quite a bit to whittle it down to that.

Posted: 12/23/2010 12:42 AM
(Edited: 1/3/2011 6:31 PM)

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

It is possible to save most of the lost frames by waiting in the simulation instead of the action. However, this is somewhat difficult because you will have to do some waiting before Marahna Act 2 as well as between acts (which is limited to 8 frames due to a message coming up). I am currently researching the Northwall simulation, so there is no hurry. Also, I noticed that you didn't jump into the entryway to the boss chamber in both acts. I am not sure if it would be faster to do so. And at the end of Northwall Act 1's boss, I am not sure if it is faster to end out of the water being that it is just barely higher up. Minor edit: I changed the number of frames between acts to the actual number.

Posted: 12/30/2010 8:47 AM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

The reason I sometimes don't jump into the boss room is luck manipulation. Sometimes the boss doesn't do what I want it to when I jump in, but does when I just walk in. I tried waiting before entering Marahna Act 2. In fact, I tried several different waiting times, but I would either get a worse Marahna Act 2 boss fight or a worse Northwall Act 1 boss fight. In any case, after much messing around I managed to shave off 27 frames: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1938525599/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Northwall_Act_1_Done.smv There is still some waiting before the Northwall Act 1 boss, though not as much as before. Yes, the waiting is necessary in order to get favorable stardust patterns.

Posted: 12/31/2010 7:08 AM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

I appreciate the difficulty it takes to optimize this. Thanks to that last improvement, I decided to try moving the waiting to the simulation after Marahna Act 2 since it would fit. I had to insert an extra waiting frame in order to make it sync up before the boss, and so it waits the maximum possible between acts. The boss battle appeared to be unaffected, and I managed to save 6 frames comparing from the beginning of the Northwall sim, adjusting for the difference of the construction counter (this is different from the comparison of the crystalization due to random lag). I don't know if the RNG of the boss is affected which could possibly lead to a faster pattern. So if you feel like checking, that is okay because I am almost done testing the simulation. Here is the WIP: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1825663860/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Northwall_Act_1_Done_Sim_Waiting.smv Happy New Year!

Posted: 1/3/2011 3:49 PM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Ack, I'd forgotten about the few frames of wait time available after Marahna Act 2. Thanks for remembering. It looks like that starfall pattern in Northwall Act 1 is almost identical, so I think we're good for doing the Northwall sim.

Posted: 1/26/2011 12:27 PM

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DLH112

Joined: 2/22/2006
Posts: 43

It's been a few weeks now, and you seemed so close to the end D:. any progress since getting to the northwall sim?

Posted: 1/26/2011 7:30 PM

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dunnius

Active player (428)

Joined: 9/7/2007
Posts: 329

And now we are one step closer to the finish. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1691472165/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Northwall_Sim_Done.smv The Northwall sim is improved by 37 frames, most of it due to a new route. Building over the blue dragon lair causes the construction to be faster by 29 frames. I also noticed that I had made a mistake previously by letting the second bridge get built, losing 3 frames. But since it had to be built this time, it didn't cause an improvement. I also noticed that if the magic scroll is not picked up before the final lair is sealed, it repeats the message about the scroll. However, this is 4 frames slower (2 screens) so it is not done. The previous WIP also did not do that. I discovered that some frames can be saved by getting the pointer to the final lair sooner. Back when I was writing the lua script, I found a memory address that counts up to when the pointer changes squares. I haven't figured out how it works completely, but I was lucky to save 4 frames. There is still about 9 more frames that can be saved, but it will have to wait until the game mechanics are figured out. It is too difficult to mess with right now. There is a total of 2649 frames saved over the previous WIP, and now there is over 14 minutes saved from the published run. I had been distracted by the SDA Charity Marathon. This TAS got mentioned in the setup before the ActRaiser race. It looks like it will be cut from the archive, but I saved it from the commentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CME-NIh2SwI

Posted: 1/27/2011 7:46 AM

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Sir_VG

He/Him

Player (40)

Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1913
Location: Floating Tower

Yeah, PJ and I had to mention the TAS just because we know you guys are awesome and are working hard on it. It's too bad it didn't show up on the AGDQ video, but I didn't have control over that. ^^;; Can't wait for the finish! You guys are awesome!

Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing

Posted: 1/28/2011 1:27 PM

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DLH112

Joined: 2/22/2006
Posts: 43

Can someone help me out to watch this? when I try to watch the WIP it desyncs right at the beginning(clearly doesn't press start as soon as possible or scroll through opening text very fast), and never leaves the name entry screen. (this is on 1.52) I've tried like 10 versions of 1.51, but they all say the movie isn't compatible with the version. The newest 1.52 is the only one it plays on at all, and it gets that desync.

Posted: 1/28/2011 4:49 PM

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BigBoct

He/Him

Editor, Former player

Joined: 8/9/2007
Posts: 1692
Location: Tiffin/Republic, OH

It synced fine for me using ROM ActRaiser (U) [!].smc with CRC32 EAC3358D and SNES9X v1.51+ v6 SVN113 with CRC32 1F56F25F on snes9x.exe.

Previous Name: boct1584

Posted: 1/29/2011 2:59 AM

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DLH112

Joined: 2/22/2006
Posts: 43

thanks :D that worked :].

Posted: 2/1/2011 2:27 AM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Northwall Act 2 done: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1126388661/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Northwall_Act_2_Done.smv I gained a fair bit of time in the stage itself, but unfortunately my luck with the boss was worse this time. Instead of coming straight down the first time, then swooping down the second time, it comes straight down both times. The amount of waiting required to change this is sufficient to cancel possible benefits. Even after modifying my lua script to attempt to account for the lag during spell casts (stardust causes more lag than usual here), my best time results in only 18 frames saved in the whole Act.

Posted: 2/2/2011 11:06 PM

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zidanax

Player (217)

Joined: 2/12/2006
Posts: 373
Location: Oregon

Dunnius showed me an improvement to my time. Watching it, I realized that I'd forgotten to take into account the amount of lag incurred by the first cast, even if minimizing lag means doing a little less damage. Dunnius had done a good job with the first cast, so I worked on squeezing more frames out of the part after that. Together we managed to improve my previous attempt by 151 frames, so that in spite of the worse positioning of the boss, relatively little time is lost in the boss battle. Including the stage itself, 169 frames have been saved in Northwall Act 2. http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/1666314324/ActRaiser_%28U%29_Zidanax_and_Dunnius_v2_Northwall_Act_2_Done_v2.smv

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