The definition of ALL (100% run) would be all 8 heart tanks, all 4 sub tanks, all 4 armor capsules, the golden armor upgrade chip, and all 4 Ride armor suits. That's a lot, with some serious backtracking dependencies. Route planning alone would be brutal.
(And Zero's saber. That's possibly backtracking as well)
Brutal, but isn't what this site is all about? It sure would be entertaining, for the hardcore MMX fan, anyway.
Though, to be fair, the X2 run that gathers all the upgrades is, oddly, FASTER (presumably) than a run would be missing one. Simply due to being able to get the Shoryuuken and one-hit bosses after that. And, since all the items were on the trail, more or less, there's little backtracking needed, so it's all real smooth. That won't be the case with X3, so a full-item run would likely be considerably longer.
Still like to see it though. I'd be interested in what route would be taken.
Earlier in this topic there's actually 2 videos posted that I did of this game, one of which gets everything and completes the game in 46 minutes, and another one with a couple of changes and stuff, which actually never got further than Toxic Seahorse, because I realized that if I were to continue, I might as well try to make a really good movie instead.
If anyone would want to do this, I could plan out a route and such for the person, but I'd probably not do it myself since I'm actually doing a couple of other things right now.
A really good video with some good planning and execution would probably take around 41-43 minutes, so the movie wouldn't be too long anyway. I'd very much like to see one being made.
DehackEd wrote:
The definition of ALL (100% run) would be all 8 heart tanks, all 4 sub tanks, all 4 armor capsules, the golden armor upgrade chip, and all 4 Ride armor suits. That's a lot, with some serious backtracking dependencies. Route planning alone would be brutal.
(And Zero's saber. That's possibly backtracking as well)
Actually, only 2 stages (or 1) has to be backtracked to.
I'd also like to see a 100% run. Maybe I can work on it.
Graveworm wrote:
Actually, only 2 stages (or 1) has to be backtracked to.
You only need to backtrack once (Tunnel Rhino's) to get all items. However, there's the minute-long ship-and-block scene in Blast Hornet's (if Gravity Beetle is not defeated) and there's one item near the beginning of Beetle's stage which requires Blast Hornet to be defeated. Makes backtracking look good (I almost never say that).
A possible route would look like this:
Tunnel Rhino
Blizzard Buffalo
Neon Tiger
Toxic Seahorse
Gravity Beetle
Blast Hornet
Gravity Beetle (revisited)
Vile (via Volt Catfish)
Volt Catfish
Crush Crawfish
Tunnel Rhino (revisited)
and so on.
Spoony_Bard wrote:
Though, to be fair, the X2 run that gathers all the upgrades is, oddly, FASTER (presumably) than a run would be missing one.
I think so too, although it's closer than it seems. Five capsule visits total almost 2 minutes, while the boss battles aren't on the scale of X3 and the final boss has miniboss recovery. The 100% run might have been slower if it weren't for the X-Buster upgrade. That's 8 seconds for Violen, 3 for Serges, 5-6 for Morph Moth (x2), 3 for Magna Centipede (x2), and a few seconds for other bosses, and that's not counting charged Speed Burner or Strike Chain. It seems that an X-Buster-only run is faster than a no-items run.
You only need to backtrack once (Tunnel Rhino's) to get all items. However, there's the minute-long ship-and-block scene in Blast Hornet's (if Gravity Beetle is not defeated) and there's one item near the beginning of Beetle's stage which requires Blast Hornet to be defeated. Makes backtracking look good (I almost never say that).
That's what I meant, but I guess you knew that.
FractalFusion wrote:
A possible route would look like this:
Tunnel Rhino
Blizzard Buffalo
Neon Tiger
Toxic Seahorse
Gravity Beetle
Blast Hornet
Gravity Beetle (revisited)
Vile (via Volt Catfish)
Volt Catfish
Crush Crawfish
Tunnel Rhino (revisited)
FractalFusion-thanks for the info-very helpfull :)
I have a question though-how did you get to be such a wiz?
I mean how can you beat the game in like less than an hour....
It is relatively easy to beat this game in under an hour if you try hard enough, even in real-time on a console.
Someone actually did this in 44:39: http://speeddemosarchive.com/mmx3.html
The reason why I had 38:15 was because of tool-assistance.
Why and How wrote:
One important thing to remember is that we are not competing in terms of playing skill, nor do we claim to. Indeed, we use tools to eliminate such human limitations.
Tool-assistance does not make movie-making easier. It is a process of using innovation to make the game as entertaining as possible (usually in the form of speed). Perfection also counts.
Question here, and I'll keep searching. Has anyone done or submitted an X3 run where items and upgrades are 100%? This means all 8 heart containers, all upgrades from blue machines, all 4 robots, Zero's cape, and maybe even gold armor. It may take time to get it all, but as much as I once played this game, I am sure it can be possible.
i would like to see a 100% TAS of X3. but i'm having trouble thinking of things the TAS could do differently from a nonTAS. there are somethings a TAS can get without needing the up Air Dash, like the E tank in Buffalo's stage, and the Buster capsule, but i don't know if the existing route could be changed any.
There was supposed to be an upgrade found at Tunnel Rhino's stage, that is placed on X's head. Every time he first appears at a stage - his forehead lights up, screen darkens, and displays a series of squares in green-grid (like the 5x3 grid in Super Metroid almost) that indicates the entire stage + some of the hidden items. I would try to get that last, hopefully after beating Dr. Doppler - because that wastes a lot of frames every time it is summoned.
If I had to start this attempt, I would simply start with the Toxic Seahorse stage because there is first of 8 container hearts which are easy to grab. Other stages are tougher to go through and may require ride-armor robots to do such dirty work. An example: a container heart is buried under several mega-blocks of ice in Blizzard Buffalo stage; it took a ride-armor to penetrate deep and get that.
As far as Toxic Seahorse goes, of course I noticed a way to defeat him faster using a special technique demonstrated in a TAS attempt by FractalFusion. But Seahorse does nothing but jump around and it could take a few full-powered mega-busters to defeat him.
Toxic Seahorse supplies Acid Burst for X, which can then be used as one of Tunnel Rhino's weaknesses.
I would think that a 100% TAS would have as its top priority reducing revisits to the stages. Given the complicated dependency chains here (most of the upgrades require other upgrades to get), figuring out a route will be nontrivial. But the more time you spend planning the route now, the less time you'll spend re-doing your run just because you realized something halfway through.
A quick look through a GameFAQs guide shows the following. Some of these may not apply in a TAS.
Blizzard Buffalo:
* Heart tank requires a ride armor
* E-tank requires leg upgrade
* Has the leg upgrade (no requirement)
Tunnel Rhino:
* Heart tank requires Triad Thunder and the arm upgrade
* Head upgrade requires Triad Thunder and the arm upgrade
Gravity Beetle:
* Heart tank requires killing Blast Hornet.
* Frog ride armor requires leg upgrade
Blast Hornet:
* Heart tank requires leg upgrade
* Chimera ride armor requires Tornado Fang
Crush Crawfish:
* Heart tank requires a ride armor
* Hawk ride armor requiries Triad Thunder and arm upgrade
Volt Catfish:
* E-tank requires a ride armor
* Armor upgrade requires Gravity Well and arm upgrade
Neon Tiger:
* Arm upgrade requires Tornado Fang and leg upgrade
Toxic Seahorse:
* Kangaroo ride armor requires Frog ride armor
Anything not listed (E-tanks, heart tanks) can be gotten without special upgrades.
In short, you need to get the leg upgrade to get the arm upgrade, and the arm upgrade to get the head and armor upgrades. You need the Frog armor to get the Kangaroo armor, and a bunch of tanks require ride armors as well (Chimera and Hawk will probably be the favorites for dealing with those). IIRC you also must get the Chimera armor to be able to use any armor, even though the Frog and Hawk armors don't have it as a prerequisite.
As a first pass, I'd say the following:
Tunnel Rhino (get Tornado Fang)
Blizzard Buffalo (get leg upgrade)
Blast Hornet (get heart tank, Chimera armor)
Neon Tiger (get arm upgrade)
Gravity Beetle (get Gravity Well, heart tank, Frog armor)
Volt Catfish (get Triad Thunder, E-tank, armor upgrade)
Crush Crawfish (get heart tank, Hawk armor)
Toxic Seahorse (get Kangaroo armor)
Blizzard Buffalo (get heart tank, E-tank, exit)
Tunnel Rhino (get heart tank, head upgrade, exit)
Doppler stage 1 (get golden armor)
This uses just two stage revisits. It's also possible to backtrack in Blizzard Buffalo after getting the leg upgrade to grab the E-tank; I don't remember the stage layout at all well enough to know if this'd be preferable to getting it during the revisit.
I've basically ignored boss weaknesses here on the theory that dealing 4-5 damage per strike vs. 2-3 damage (with the X buster) doesn't make all that much of a difference compared to avoiding a stage revisit. However, it may be possible to keep the number of stage revisits the same while nailing weaknesses better. Tunnel Rhino in particular will be annoying with his lengthy invincibility. Fortunately Neon Tiger is hit before Gravity Beetle.
Again, this is just a rough first-pass route; I haven't put much thought into it at all.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Also it might be worth considering how far into the levels the upgrades/items are. The heart tank in Buffalo Blizzard's stage is pretty close to the beginning, but the subtank (I think) in Volt Catfish's stage is pretty close to the end.
Not sure how much this matters, but something to check out.
Do not try to bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.
What Truth?
There is nospoon. Then you will see it is not the spoon that changes, it is only yourself
We already had a set route, though it was long ago.
There are a few things. First, no item in this game (except Golden Armor) requires leg upgrade; with well-placed wall-jumps, it is possible to make the necessary jumps to reach the items.
Second, the ice blocks in Buffalo's stage can be broken with Tornado Fang, Tunnel Rhino's weapon.
Third, the Kangaroo ride armor item can be reached with just charged Frost Shield and arm upgrade (it produces an ice block that rises in water).
Fourth, yes, normally it is beneficial to reduce revisits, but if Gravity Beetle is not beaten, there is a ship-and-block sequence in Blast Hornet's stage that takes at least a minute. Since beating Blast Hornet is necessary for Gravity Beetle's heart tank, it is better to revisit to get it.
The route was:
Tunnel Rhino
Blizzard Buffalo
Neon Tiger
Toxic Seahorse
Gravity Beetle
Blast Hornet
Gravity Beetle (revisited)
Vile (via Volt Catfish)
Volt Catfish
Crush Crawfish
Tunnel Rhino (revisited)
I also once noticed that X is able to defeat Toxic Hornet with the Gravity Well.
Ok, now you're mishmashing names here.
If you mean Blast Hornet, then yes. Gravity Well is Blast Hornet's weakness.
Weakness Order, FYI:
Buffalo
Seahorse
Rhino
Catfish
Crawfish
Tiger
Beetle
Hornet
however, Gravity Well is too slow to use on Hornet.
concerning the route, the only real change that could be made is to swap Buffalo and Tiger. but i don't think Ray Splasher or the crappy buster helps any in Buffalo's stage, and Frost Shield helps a lot on Tiger's miniboss.
I would think that a 100% TAS would have as its top priority reducing revisits to the stages. Given the complicated dependency chains here (most of the upgrades require other upgrades to get), figuring out a route will be nontrivial. But the more time you spend planning the route now, the less time you'll spend re-doing your run just because you realized something halfway through.
A quick look through a GameFAQs guide shows the following. Some of these may not apply in a TAS.
Blizzard Buffalo:
* Heart tank requires a ride armor
* E-tank requires leg upgrade
* Has the leg upgrade (no requirement)
Tunnel Rhino:
* Heart tank requires Triad Thunder and the arm upgrade
* Head upgrade requires Triad Thunder and the arm upgrade
Gravity Beetle:
* Heart tank requires killing Blast Hornet.
* Frog ride armor requires leg upgrade
Blast Hornet:
* Heart tank requires leg upgrade
* Chimera ride armor requires Tornado Fang
Crush Crawfish:
* Heart tank requires a ride armor
* Hawk ride armor requiries Triad Thunder and arm upgrade
Volt Catfish:
* E-tank requires a ride armor
* Armor upgrade requires Gravity Well and arm upgrade
Neon Tiger:
* Arm upgrade requires Tornado Fang and leg upgrade
Toxic Seahorse:
* Kangaroo ride armor requires Frog ride armor
Anything not listed (E-tanks, heart tanks) can be gotten without special upgrades.
In short, you need to get the leg upgrade to get the arm upgrade, and the arm upgrade to get the head and armor upgrades. You need the Frog armor to get the Kangaroo armor, and a bunch of tanks require ride armors as well (Chimera and Hawk will probably be the favorites for dealing with those). IIRC you also must get the Chimera armor to be able to use any armor, even though the Frog and Hawk armors don't have it as a prerequisite.
As a first pass, I'd say the following:
Tunnel Rhino (get Tornado Fang)
Blizzard Buffalo (get leg upgrade)
Blast Hornet (get heart tank, Chimera armor)
Neon Tiger (get arm upgrade)
Gravity Beetle (get Gravity Well, heart tank, Frog armor)
Volt Catfish (get Triad Thunder, E-tank, armor upgrade)
Crush Crawfish (get heart tank, Hawk armor)
Toxic Seahorse (get Kangaroo armor)
Blizzard Buffalo (get heart tank, E-tank, exit)
Tunnel Rhino (get heart tank, head upgrade, exit)
Doppler stage 1 (get golden armor)
This uses just two stage revisits. It's also possible to backtrack in Blizzard Buffalo after getting the leg upgrade to grab the E-tank; I don't remember the stage layout at all well enough to know if this'd be preferable to getting it during the revisit.
I've basically ignored boss weaknesses here on the theory that dealing 4-5 damage per strike vs. 2-3 damage (with the X buster) doesn't make all that much of a difference compared to avoiding a stage revisit. However, it may be possible to keep the number of stage revisits the same while nailing weaknesses better. Tunnel Rhino in particular will be annoying with his lengthy invincibility. Fortunately Neon Tiger is hit before Gravity Beetle.
Again, this is just a rough first-pass route; I haven't put much thought into it at all.
True, but this is 100%, meaning he HAS to get it, otherwise you can't get the gold armor, thus not truly 100%.
But thanks for the video. That was cool to see.
The gold armor upgrade should also include all four special chips from pink machines. There should be a pink machine at Toxic Seahorse and Toxic Hornet stages. The Gold Armor upgrade should be at Dr. D's first stage.
Yes, I think we're aware of that.
And my suggested route was predicated on the requirements listed in a GameFAQs FAQ, which is why I said at the top "some of these may not apply in a TAS." In any event, people much more familiar with the game than I have posted a route, so why not just use that one?
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
The gold armor upgrade should also include all four special chips from pink machines. There should be a pink machine at Toxic Seahorse and Toxic Hornet stages. The Gold Armor upgrade should be at Dr. D's first stage.
there's that mysterious Toxic Hornet again...
the pink capsules are completely useless in that the Gold Armor gives you all of the upgrades at once, whereas with the pink capsules, you can only be equipped with one part at a time.
The gold armor upgrade should also include all four special chips from pink machines. There should be a pink machine at Toxic Seahorse and Toxic Hornet stages. The Gold Armor upgrade should be at Dr. D's first stage.
It includes the capabilities, but you have to NOT get any of the individual chip upgrades, but you DO need the actual armor upgrades.
True, but this is 100%, meaning he HAS to get it, otherwise you can't get the gold armor, thus not truly 100%.
But thanks for the video. That was cool to see.
I know that this is 100% you're talking about, I was just proving you can get "leg armor required" items without it.
Currently working on:
-Possibly the Wily Tower (Mega Man the Wily Wars)
