My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/FZeroX.html
ILs by 'linner' and 'muumu'
Verifier Responses
Some more IL improvements were sent, and here are the results.
Decision: Accept
Reason: They're long-needed improvements to the old F-Zero X records on the site. It's nice to have up-to-date records for a racing game.
ILs by 'linner' and 'muumu'
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Hi Mike,
These are my comments to all of the runs.
F-Zero X verification
Run content
BB1
Much faster than the old record because of a much faster strategy. It’s still far from optimized I’d say but given the difficulty of this strategy this run is still acceptable. A perfect run would be 5+ seconds faster but I know from experience that this is very hard to achieve.
BB2
Excellent run, close to optimized.
BH
Small improvement over the old run but the old run was already very good on this long and tedious track.
DF1
Very small improvement over the old run. A few tents max of possible improvement left here.
DF2
Good run with a new strategy. Some small mistakes but this is much better than the old record. The trick here is really getting the most speed out of every jump. If you’re a bit slow on the first one coming out of the tunnel this will directly influence the floating after it which will be slower. That’s where the time could be gained in any improvements. Under a minute is possible but would be extremely hard to achieve
DF3
Excellent run, close to optimized.
MC2
Small improvement of the old run. This run is ok but nothing special. The first jump could have been faster with a railslide before it which is really worth it as this will heavily effect the time of the opener lap.
PT1
Small improvement over the old run. This run is ok but nothing special either. The speed gained from the big dive could have been better on all 3 laps (more importantly the speed that you can keep after the corner).
PT2
Good run. Some small mistakes here and there but nothing significant. A good improvement over the old run.
RC2
Excellent run :).
RR
Ok run that’s still a significant improvement over the old record which was really ancient (2001). Doesn’t use the fastest strategy for the final lap which could cut maybe a second off the time.
S1
Very good run with a difficult strategy. The layout of this track is very simple but getting a good time with this strategy certainly isn’t. Good improvement over the old record.
S2
Awesome :).
SA
Very good run. I’m still not convinced it is faster to not boostslide before the small jump but for this strategy the run is nearly flawless.
SB
Much faster strategy used. This run could have been one or two seconds faster with better dives (especially keeping more speed after the landing of them) but given the huge improvement over the old run this is acceptable.
SO1
Awesome.
SO2
Excellent run with very nice dives at the end of each lap.
SP
Nice improvement over the old run. This is still not quite close to optimized but that’s understandable given the difficulty of this track.
WL1
Ok run with a much more difficult but faster strategy (and much more fun too ).
WL2
Excellent run on this crazy track. Anything under 37 seconds is just awesome.
Video Quality
This is my main concern regarding this submission. This quality varies a lot between the video files I got to see and some different file formats where used like .flv. This could be just the verifiers version of the videos but for the final submission the encoding would need to be redone to SDA’s standards.
Verdict
Accept to all of them if the video quality is set to SDA’s standards.
These are my comments to all of the runs.
F-Zero X verification
Run content
BB1
Much faster than the old record because of a much faster strategy. It’s still far from optimized I’d say but given the difficulty of this strategy this run is still acceptable. A perfect run would be 5+ seconds faster but I know from experience that this is very hard to achieve.
BB2
Excellent run, close to optimized.
BH
Small improvement over the old run but the old run was already very good on this long and tedious track.
DF1
Very small improvement over the old run. A few tents max of possible improvement left here.
DF2
Good run with a new strategy. Some small mistakes but this is much better than the old record. The trick here is really getting the most speed out of every jump. If you’re a bit slow on the first one coming out of the tunnel this will directly influence the floating after it which will be slower. That’s where the time could be gained in any improvements. Under a minute is possible but would be extremely hard to achieve
DF3
Excellent run, close to optimized.
MC2
Small improvement of the old run. This run is ok but nothing special. The first jump could have been faster with a railslide before it which is really worth it as this will heavily effect the time of the opener lap.
PT1
Small improvement over the old run. This run is ok but nothing special either. The speed gained from the big dive could have been better on all 3 laps (more importantly the speed that you can keep after the corner).
PT2
Good run. Some small mistakes here and there but nothing significant. A good improvement over the old run.
RC2
Excellent run :).
RR
Ok run that’s still a significant improvement over the old record which was really ancient (2001). Doesn’t use the fastest strategy for the final lap which could cut maybe a second off the time.
S1
Very good run with a difficult strategy. The layout of this track is very simple but getting a good time with this strategy certainly isn’t. Good improvement over the old record.
S2
Awesome :).
SA
Very good run. I’m still not convinced it is faster to not boostslide before the small jump but for this strategy the run is nearly flawless.
SB
Much faster strategy used. This run could have been one or two seconds faster with better dives (especially keeping more speed after the landing of them) but given the huge improvement over the old run this is acceptable.
SO1
Awesome.
SO2
Excellent run with very nice dives at the end of each lap.
SP
Nice improvement over the old run. This is still not quite close to optimized but that’s understandable given the difficulty of this track.
WL1
Ok run with a much more difficult but faster strategy (and much more fun too ).
WL2
Excellent run on this crazy track. Anything under 37 seconds is just awesome.
Video Quality
This is my main concern regarding this submission. This quality varies a lot between the video files I got to see and some different file formats where used like .flv. This could be just the verifiers version of the videos but for the final submission the encoding would need to be redone to SDA’s standards.
Verdict
Accept to all of them if the video quality is set to SDA’s standards.
Quote:
sorry about taking so long. here are my notes on the run.
video and audio quality is acceptable unless otherwise noted.
no cheating detected.
bb1: This skip is insane. You can almost see it done in the current run, but for whatever reason, never did it. Almost 6 seconds improvement.
bb2: same skip, just done faster. 1.1 seconds improvement.
bh: exciting stuff, going off the track for split seconds. 0.2 second improvement.
df1: The video quality is obviously smoother, which almost makes it seem like an emulator run, but I guess it could be this was captured with s-video in extremely high quality, so if no one else finds it suspect, I won't worry about it. It just stands out because it's such higher quality than the other levels. 0.016 second improvement.
df2: video seems a little dark. More new skipping and big air time. I wish there were comments to explain how these are done. nearly 3.66 second improvement.
df3: It seems like you might be able to jump down to the lower track, but I can't get it to work well enough where I stay on the track and don't lose speed. 0.4 second improvement
mc2: 0.023 second improvement.
pt1: a couple of times he hits the wall losing some fractions, but gains a lot of speed from his air time. 0.24 second improvement
pt2: video quality issue: the moving parts are deinterlaced incorrectly, so there's very visisble lines throughout the run. nice run though. 0.43 second improvement.
rc2: hit the wall a couple of times with the side and lost some speed, but those walls are just so tight. nearly a 0.1 second improvement.
rr: the obligatory rainbow road. the runner does very well avoiding those mines. 0.9 second improvement.
s1: 0.4 second improvement due to some extra air speed.
s2: manages to do the skip each time. nearly 2 second improvement.
sa: video seems a little dark. 0.3 second improvement.
sb: air time skips are crazier. 1.5 second improvement.
so1: video quality issue: more deinterlaced lines, but not as noticeable. 1.6 second improvement from more air time.
so2: nearly a 1.2 second improvement, and I'm not really sure how, just tighter execution.
sp: video seems a little dark. 0.16 second improvement, very nice finish.
wl1: nearly 0.9 second improvement. crazy looking second lap.
wl2: 0.8 second improvement.
Accept all, improvements all around (why else would they be submitted?)
video and audio quality is acceptable unless otherwise noted.
no cheating detected.
bb1: This skip is insane. You can almost see it done in the current run, but for whatever reason, never did it. Almost 6 seconds improvement.
bb2: same skip, just done faster. 1.1 seconds improvement.
bh: exciting stuff, going off the track for split seconds. 0.2 second improvement.
df1: The video quality is obviously smoother, which almost makes it seem like an emulator run, but I guess it could be this was captured with s-video in extremely high quality, so if no one else finds it suspect, I won't worry about it. It just stands out because it's such higher quality than the other levels. 0.016 second improvement.
df2: video seems a little dark. More new skipping and big air time. I wish there were comments to explain how these are done. nearly 3.66 second improvement.
df3: It seems like you might be able to jump down to the lower track, but I can't get it to work well enough where I stay on the track and don't lose speed. 0.4 second improvement
mc2: 0.023 second improvement.
pt1: a couple of times he hits the wall losing some fractions, but gains a lot of speed from his air time. 0.24 second improvement
pt2: video quality issue: the moving parts are deinterlaced incorrectly, so there's very visisble lines throughout the run. nice run though. 0.43 second improvement.
rc2: hit the wall a couple of times with the side and lost some speed, but those walls are just so tight. nearly a 0.1 second improvement.
rr: the obligatory rainbow road. the runner does very well avoiding those mines. 0.9 second improvement.
s1: 0.4 second improvement due to some extra air speed.
s2: manages to do the skip each time. nearly 2 second improvement.
sa: video seems a little dark. 0.3 second improvement.
sb: air time skips are crazier. 1.5 second improvement.
so1: video quality issue: more deinterlaced lines, but not as noticeable. 1.6 second improvement from more air time.
so2: nearly a 1.2 second improvement, and I'm not really sure how, just tighter execution.
sp: video seems a little dark. 0.16 second improvement, very nice finish.
wl1: nearly 0.9 second improvement. crazy looking second lap.
wl2: 0.8 second improvement.
Accept all, improvements all around (why else would they be submitted?)
Quote:
BB1: Amazing. Very difficult strat pulled off really good. A/V looked fine.
BB2: I didnt know this strategy yet. It's good and executed well. A/V ok.
BH: Very optimal sliding. A/V ok.
DF1: Very optimal as well. A/V ok.
DF2: One of the harder stages imo pulled off great. A/V ok.
DF3: Very good as well. A/V ok
MC2: Nothing to ad really, it's good. A/V ok.
PT1: My favorite stage. And he totally owned it. A/V good.
PT2: Good. The video quality seemed a bit stange though, there's some sort of horizontal lines across the screen.
RC2: Very good. A/V good.
RR: Very optimal. A/V good.
S1: New strat for me, looked very good. A/V good.
S2: very good execution. A/V good.
SA: Good. A/V good.
SB: Wow, by far the most spectacular run of the bunch. The video quality is a bit lower than the rest though.
So1: Good run, same video problem as PT2.
So2: good run of an annoying level. A/V good.
SP: great run, video is a bit darker than the rest of the videos.
WL1: Amazing, did not expect this. A/V good.
WL2: Great. A/V good.
Overal the level of play was much higher than I expected. The only problem is some minor video stuff, but nothing to serious.
Accept.
BB2: I didnt know this strategy yet. It's good and executed well. A/V ok.
BH: Very optimal sliding. A/V ok.
DF1: Very optimal as well. A/V ok.
DF2: One of the harder stages imo pulled off great. A/V ok.
DF3: Very good as well. A/V ok
MC2: Nothing to ad really, it's good. A/V ok.
PT1: My favorite stage. And he totally owned it. A/V good.
PT2: Good. The video quality seemed a bit stange though, there's some sort of horizontal lines across the screen.
RC2: Very good. A/V good.
RR: Very optimal. A/V good.
S1: New strat for me, looked very good. A/V good.
S2: very good execution. A/V good.
SA: Good. A/V good.
SB: Wow, by far the most spectacular run of the bunch. The video quality is a bit lower than the rest though.
So1: Good run, same video problem as PT2.
So2: good run of an annoying level. A/V good.
SP: great run, video is a bit darker than the rest of the videos.
WL1: Amazing, did not expect this. A/V good.
WL2: Great. A/V good.
Overal the level of play was much higher than I expected. The only problem is some minor video stuff, but nothing to serious.
Accept.
Some more IL improvements were sent, and here are the results.
Quote:
works in vlc on XP
not sure if you wanted me to verify them as well, but they look good.
not sure if you wanted me to verify them as well, but they look good.
Quote:
Hi Mike,
I've watched the two additional F-Zero X runs.
Fire Field
A big improvement in strategy, playing quality and time over the previous run.
Mute City 3
Like Fire field a big improvement in strategy, playing quality and time over the previous run. There is a faster even more difficult strategy out there but this already totally destroys the old run.
No sings of cheating detected and some clear horizontal "interference" lines in the video indicating this is done on a real N64. (This is always present in the N64 video signal for some reason).
Verdict:
Accept
I've watched the two additional F-Zero X runs.
Fire Field
A big improvement in strategy, playing quality and time over the previous run.
Mute City 3
Like Fire field a big improvement in strategy, playing quality and time over the previous run. There is a faster even more difficult strategy out there but this already totally destroys the old run.
No sings of cheating detected and some clear horizontal "interference" lines in the video indicating this is done on a real N64. (This is always present in the N64 video signal for some reason).
Verdict:
Accept
Decision: Accept
Reason: They're long-needed improvements to the old F-Zero X records on the site. It's nice to have up-to-date records for a racing game.
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