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Introduction

This is an improvement to the pulished sidestroller movie of Happy Lee.
It is:
  • 88 frames measuring from touching the axe
  • 106 frames faster measuring the length of the input file
I stop input at 24556, I hit the axe at 24574
The entire improvement comes from using the ullet ill glitch in 8-3 as demonstrated y andrew_g ack when the pulished movie was still in queue. I managed to improve on andrew's movie enough to avoid the fireworks at the end saving more time.
I found a frame improvement in 8-4 ut then lost it due to ad randomness with the flying fish segment.
Other small improvements were found ut they were all a pixel or less and nowhere near enough to conquer the dreaded 21 frame rule.
In addition I tried to improve the movie stylistically as much as possile. In doing so I prioritized in this fashion:
  • Coins
  • Points
  • Close calls
I got 17 more coins and 1750 more points than the pulished movie (for whatever that is worth).

Thanks to

  • Happy Lee for his previous movies that are very tightly optimized.
  • andrew_g for the 8-3 trick.

Additional comments

My main reason for doing this was my disappointment that Andrew or Happy Lee othered to employ the 8-3 trick in the movie (especially since it is proaly the most creative improvement to the sidestroller to date). So I set out to improve it. I was also interested in tinkering with SM1 since it is one of the few games I grew up with that I haven't attempted to TAS yet.
Overall it was a fun project, and opened my eyes to how much complexity there is in this seemingly simple game. It is a shame that there is the 21 frame rule or else I think there would have een far more opportunities for frame optimization and competition among TASers.

Categories

  • Emulator: FCEUX2.1.0a (actually the latest SVN of 2.1.1-interim)
  • Category: Avoid pressing B!
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Auses programming errors in the game
  • Fails to color a dinosaur
adelikat: Oh noes, I've een osoleted!

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Posted: 7/16/2009 9:14 PM
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adelikat
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3573)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4754
Location: Tennessee
TASer of 2010 NES TASer of 2010 DS TASer of 2010 Arcade TAS of 2010 NES TASer of 2008 NES TAS of 2008 Funny TAS of 2008 TASer of 2007 NES TASer of 2007 Funny TAS of 2007
1) I could still find a frame earlier than the "completion time" that I could stop that the user still couldn't press left to stop it. 2) What if the user hits stop movie before it is over? oh no! I don't see a difference here.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Posted: 7/16/2009 10:32 PM
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mklip2001
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
Personally, I like the idea of ending input as soon as possible, since it makes it look like you're showing off. "Look, I'm so good that I don't even have to touch the buttons to finish the game!" Aglar's Gimmick run, for instance, is a prime example of an awesome early input end. However, if stopping input early makes the movie look sloppy, then it's no fun (like in Xipo's submission for Mega Man Power Battle). As for user intervention by hitting Left or whatever, I agree with adelikat's point #2 above this. A user already know that they're playing a TAS movie when they watch this via emulator, so I think they can be responsible about this stuff. In any case, if all options are equally entertaining, then stop the movie early. Here, the movie is not made more entertaining by extending input.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically. Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.) Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html) Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature! Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Posted: 7/17/2009 1:29 AM
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Bag_of_Magic_Food
He/Him
Player (206)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
But, but what if I happen to be leaning on the keyboard just then, and... Ah no one cares.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Posted: 7/17/2009 11:01 AM
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HappyLee
Expert player (2566)
Joined: 12/23/2007
Posts: 830
NES TASer of 2012
I broked this record. It's 75 frames faster. See here: http://tasvideos.org/2335S.html
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Posted: 7/17/2009 11:16 AM
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pirate_sephiroth
Active player (312)
Joined: 2/28/2006
Posts: 2275
Location: Milky Way -> Earth -> Brazil
New systems TAS of 2009
how could you put 75 frames in less than 1 second? Isn't it 57 frames?
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself. It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success." - Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Drama, too long, didn't read, lol.
Posted: 7/17/2009 11:33 AM
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andymac
Experienced player (623)
Joined: 11/30/2008
Posts: 650
Location: a little city in the middle of nowhere
1 frame != 1/100 seconds 0.57 seconds is approximately equal to 34 frames
Measure once. Cut twice.
Posted: 7/17/2009 11:46 AM
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pirate_sephiroth
Active player (312)
Joined: 2/28/2006
Posts: 2275
Location: Milky Way -> Earth -> Brazil
New systems TAS of 2009
oh, yeah yeah right
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself. It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success." - Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Drama, too long, didn't read, lol.
Posted: 7/17/2009 11:56 AM
(Edited: 7/17/2009 12:02 PM)
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HappyLee
Expert player (2566)
Joined: 12/23/2007
Posts: 830
NES TASer of 2012
24556-24481=75 Am I right?
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Posted: 7/17/2009 12:01 PM
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HappyLee
Expert player (2566)
Joined: 12/23/2007
Posts: 830
NES TASer of 2012
Is there a mistake? FCEUX tells me that this movie length is 00:06:49.26 .
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Posted: 7/17/2009 1:05 PM
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ShinyDoofy
Former player
Joined: 12/5/2007
Posts: 716
The site and FCEUX calculate a movie's length differently. The Windows build goes by 60fps, the site goes by the NES' "real" framerate, i.e. ~60.0988. The latter is also used for the Linux build iirc.
Posted: 7/17/2009 1:52 PM
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HappyLee
Expert player (2566)
Joined: 12/23/2007
Posts: 830
NES TASer of 2012
So, which is right, how to count that? If I record a movie with FCEUX, will it be faster than recording with FCEU?
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Posted: 7/17/2009 2:05 PM
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andymac
Experienced player (623)
Joined: 11/30/2008
Posts: 650
Location: a little city in the middle of nowhere
no, you'll still get the same number of frames, and nes frames are always 60.0988 in a second no matter what emulator you use.
Measure once. Cut twice.
Posted: 7/17/2009 2:09 PM
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TASVideosGrue
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Joined: 10/1/2008
Posts: 2785
Location: The dark corners of the TASVideos server
om, nom, nom... blech, salty!
Posted: 7/17/2009 6:21 PM
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Sir_VG
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Player (40)
Joined: 10/9/2004
Posts: 1913
Location: Floating Tower
Heh. Still lampshading the run right to the end!
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
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