I figured out how the boss invincibility in this game works:
The boss invincibility is @ RAM address 04F0 and the value goes down 20 every four frames. It also acts as a life meter for the boss. If that value is anywhere above 20 the boss is invincible. It keeps going down 20 until it goes under 20.
You see the frame counter @ RAM address 004F? If it passes a number divisible by 4 the boss invincibility/life meter counts down.
The frame counter runs throughout the stages and it doesn't accept frames of lag.
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Oh god i remember when i was dealing with that a couple years ago on my megaman 3 rom hack, when i first was looking into how the boss invulnerable time worked. That was the most wackiest freaky thing i ever seen. That format was super freaking weird, cause none of the other NES mm's did it. How their HP is shared by the invulnerable time in those multiples of 20.
I just said "screw it" and coded it to be based on mm4-6 where it's just a simple normal countdown timer of like 6 frames for normal enemies, 30 frames (hex) for bosses.
Oh god i remember when i was dealing with that a couple years ago on my megaman 3 rom hack, when i first was looking into how the boss invulnerable time worked. That was the most wackiest freaky thing i ever seen. That format was super freaking weird, cause none of the other NES mm's did it. How their HP is shared by the invulnerable time in those multiples of 20.
I just said "screw it" and coded it to be based on mm4-6 where it's just a simple normal countdown timer of like 6 frames for normal enemies, 30 frames (hex) for bosses.
That sounded like the easiest thing to do. It shocked me when I found out why the boss invincibility seemed kind of off. Sometimes I get 25 frames and other times 28 then I tested the frame counter and it turned out the boss invincibility doesn't have its own invincibility counter. This means that whenever I complete a stage the amount of time saved will be based somewhat off the frame counter (the amount of frames would probably be a multiple of four). This also means that I would have to allow for lag since the in-game frame counter (004F) doesn't count frames of lag.
Another thing I noticed is that Mega Man's plasma cannon and similar shooting weapons are 4.00 pixels instead of 4.33 (hex) like Mega Man 4-6.
Also, here is the climbing part of Spark Man's level with Rush Coil (just another time saver idea):
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/416401614/Rockman%203%20-%20Dr%20Wily%20no%20Saigo%21%20%28J%29-06rushcoil.fm2
Sorry if it has been mentioned before, but I can't find it anywhere.
So my question is: I've seen that Rush sometimes just disappears without bringing up the weapon select screen, so how to cancel him?
I found out that everytime Mega Man is in the air and he teleports back in from the menu screen, the falling velocity increases by 1/4 pixel (0460 is the on-screen pixel value 0440 is the sub-pixel value). If he continuously does this, it keeps increasing by 1/4 of a pixel (40 in hex). However it goes away if Mega Man's teleporting animation goes away and his normal sprite appears on screen (the fastest he can fall is F9 and if the falling velocity any faster than that it automatically goes back to F9).
So I am a noob to TAS'ing and I have been planning (and trying) a video for a while now. What I would like to do is a "No Damage" "Mega-Buster Only" Run of MegaMan 3(Rockman... its whatever).
I started making the video quite some time ago and being a noob it got screwed up so I scraped that one.
Anyway on to my question I know the game inside and out, and I see 1 formidable problem to overcome and I am hoping someone can come up with a solution for me.
It is completely possible to beat this entire game without getting hit, using only the mega-buster (and rush) up until you get to sparkmans stage for the MegaMan 2 bosses. The First ladder has a "Robot Spider" on it and I cant really seem to find a way to pass it without using a sub-weapon or getting hit.
Any Ideas? thanks
So I am a noob to TAS'ing and I have been planning (and trying) a video for a while now. What I would like to do is a "No Damage" "Mega-Buster Only" Run of MegaMan 3(Rockman... its whatever).
It is completely possible to beat this entire game without getting hit, using only the mega-buster (and rush) up until you get to sparkmans stage for the MegaMan 2 bosses. The First ladder has a "Robot Spider" on it and I cant really seem to find a way to pass it without using a sub-weapon or getting hit.
Any Ideas? thanks
For that ladder enemy (and Gamma's two forms), you will probably have to bend your criteria to "uses no weapons, unless absolutely neccessary".
Sort of like in Megaman 9, where certain obstacles (blocks that can only be destroyed with Trident, laser that can only be blocked by Concrete) require mandatory special weapon usage.
That being said, unless you find some glitch that makes the buster uber-powerful or removes boss invincibility periods entirely (like Commando Man in MM10 or X3's Crush Crawfish), it probably won't be very entertaining to watch.
for that ladder enemy (and Gamma's two forms), you will probably have to bend your criteria to "uses no weapons, unless absolutely neccessary".
That being said, unless you find some glitch that makes the buster uber-powerful or removes boss invincibility periods entirely (like Commando Man in MM10 or X3's Crush Crawfish), it probably won't be very entertaining to watch.
Thanks for the advice, I think I can stylize it enough to make it entertaining, maybe not but we'll see.
I had an idea for a run on the game that I thought might be fun to watch: no damage, must kill every enemy and collect every item. I know it's feasible, but there are a couple areas that bug me in terms of actually doing it in a timely fashion, namely those egg sections in Gemini Man's stage and its corresponding Doc Robot stage. All those eggs are individual enemies, so it'd take a lot of time to clear them out. I don't know if that would kill the run by making it boring, so please tell me if my idea is bad.
I had an idea for a run on the game that I thought might be fun to watch: no damage, must kill every enemy and collect every item.
There is a problem… well, two problems… well, three, with killing all enemies.
― Enemies are autogenerated by screen scrolling. Scroll back, and forth, and enemies reappear.
― There are enemy launching automatons, such as the bees in Hardman.
― Some enemies are invulnerable.
But I would indeed, probably, like to see such a run.
There is a problem… well, two problems… well, three, with killing all enemies.
― Enemies are autogenerated by screen scrolling. Scroll back, and forth, and enemies reappear.
― There are enemy launching automatons, such as the bees in Hardman.
― Some enemies are invulnerable.
But I would indeed, probably, like to see such a run.
Excellent points. Allow me to clarify my thoughts on each:
1.) Scrolling generates enemies. In such a case, killing that enemy one time should be enough. The only section I can think of where it would be an issue is on Needle Man's stage, where there's a dead-end lower path with a Met and a large weapon refill. It would be silly to have to keep going back every time you kill the cannon, so going down once and killing the Met ought to be good enough.
2.) Enemy spawners, like those bees and the penguin generators in Gemini Man, can be handled with the following logic: if you kill the generator, everything it might have generated dies too. If it has time to actually spawn something, kill the thing it spawns. Simple.
3.) Honestly, I can't think of any completely invulnerable enemies in Mega Man 3, though I will admit that it has been a very long time since I've played it to completion. The way I would handle it, though, is to treat them as a stage hazard, like those robot pirahna plants in Hard Man's stage. If it can't be killed, you can't kill it, so clearly it wouldn't count towards the run.
What about the rat (or whatever they are, the things you occasionally see climbing ladders in other stages) generators in Gemini Man? They spawn monsters infinitely and you cannot destroy the generators.
Also, do the walls you can destroy with Hard Knuckle count as enemies?
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
What about the rat (or whatever they are, the things you occasionally see climbing ladders in other stages) generators in Gemini Man? They spawn monsters infinitely and you cannot destroy the generators.
Also, do the walls you can destroy with Hard Knuckle count as enemies?
Hmmm... those infinite spider rat thingies are a problem. I figure they qualify as "kill one and be done" type enemies. Watching Aglar's TAS, he seems to only encounter each once anyway, so that helps.
The hard knuckle walls don't count as enemies, but most block your way to items, which also have to be collected for the run, so I'll have to take out a few. I'm not sure if they can be glitched through, but if they can that would definitely help the run.
Edit: another thought. Since they can't be killed and shooting them just makes the run more annoying in terms of lag, those cloud bullet thingies in Snake Man's stage should probably just be skipped outright.
Well, I decided to take a crack at Top Man using the restrictions I placed on myself. I gotta say, it was fun, but very challenging to get through. Here. If someone can have a look and tell me how awful it is, I'd appreciate it, but be gentle; it's my first time.
http://www.mediafire.com/?uwdtcuddbkpvkaw
This was done with the US version, so do whatever you have to if you're using the J version of the game.
Edit: Now on YouTube for added convenience!
Enemy spawners, like those bees and the penguin generators in Gemini Man, can be handled with the following logic: if you kill the generator, everything it might have generated dies too. If it has time to actually spawn something, kill the thing it spawns. Simple.
Is this why you didn't bother attacking the bobcats' yarn balls, because they blow up with the bobcat anyway? Or is it because you would get fleas the instant after you destroyed them, then more yarn balls the instant after you destroy those?
Mister Morn wrote:
The only section I can think of where it would be an issue is on Needle Man's stage, where there's a dead-end lower path with a Met and a large weapon refill. It would be silly to have to keep going back every time you kill the cannon, so going down once and killing the Met ought to be good enough.
I think this should make you have to plan your route so that you're never forced to leave an enemy intact just because you didn't have the right weapon to reach it. In this case, I think you could carry Magnet Missile to attack through the floor.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude