My feelings on The Demon Rush
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Ben 'simmeh' Boven's worst ending run on normal difficulty
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's a good first run. There's some room for improvement, but the strategy is solid.
Ben 'simmeh' Boven's worst ending run on normal difficulty
Quote:
ogre battle 64: i resent this run for being long and boring, but that has nothing to do with the runner of course
this game needs cutscene skipping and faster map movement like woah, it's even worse than i remembered
stages are typically about making a beeline to the boss and going for the leader with animation off
item duplication trick is the biggest time saver, he sells stuff for money and raises levels
i think he should have gone for more combo magic for splash damage
a lot of execution could be better, segment 5 is one that stands out in particular, but that's not really that big a deal here
i don't think he uses the fastest menu speed either
the planning seems relatively well-done for the bigger issues, he dismisses guys to save cutscene time for example
i don't think he needs to level as much as he does, but whatever
also i don't understand his segmentation at all, he could use more and save time
could also save some time by better map micromanagement
anyway it's still a meh or a weak accept, i don't mean to sound negative
this game needs cutscene skipping and faster map movement like woah, it's even worse than i remembered
stages are typically about making a beeline to the boss and going for the leader with animation off
item duplication trick is the biggest time saver, he sells stuff for money and raises levels
i think he should have gone for more combo magic for splash damage
a lot of execution could be better, segment 5 is one that stands out in particular, but that's not really that big a deal here
i don't think he uses the fastest menu speed either
the planning seems relatively well-done for the bigger issues, he dismisses guys to save cutscene time for example
i don't think he needs to level as much as he does, but whatever
also i don't understand his segmentation at all, he could use more and save time
could also save some time by better map micromanagement
anyway it's still a meh or a weak accept, i don't mean to sound negative
Quote:
Verifier: also, I finished watching the Ogre Battle 64 run
Verifier: video/sound is okay for the most part, there's a tape flicker in part 2, a couple of sound hiccups in part 5, but part 6 has no sound at all for some reason
Verifier: the general strategy of "overlevel one guy and give him a spellbook for killing everything in one move" works perfectly, even if it is super boring to watch
Verifier: seems like he didn't want to segment a lot, but really, he even admitted to Magnus's random placement of attacks in defending HQ could be manipulated to have battles end faster
me: so is your verdict for ogre battle 64, accept but more segments would be better?
Verifier: yeah, pretty much
Verifier: he might've gotten away with SS on this one except that it's super long
Verifier: video/sound is okay for the most part, there's a tape flicker in part 2, a couple of sound hiccups in part 5, but part 6 has no sound at all for some reason
Verifier: the general strategy of "overlevel one guy and give him a spellbook for killing everything in one move" works perfectly, even if it is super boring to watch
Verifier: seems like he didn't want to segment a lot, but really, he even admitted to Magnus's random placement of attacks in defending HQ could be manipulated to have battles end faster
me: so is your verdict for ogre battle 64, accept but more segments would be better?
Verifier: yeah, pretty much
Verifier: he might've gotten away with SS on this one except that it's super long
Quote:
First off I will say that I would accept this run. Secondly I will say there is potential for a lot of time to be saved. Let me start with the good stuff, with some criticism to follow, and some positive reinforcement to finish.
- Didn't see any inconsistencies or other indications of cheating.
- Hail Bruce! I was surprised that his insane damage stayed at 1-shotting strength throughout the run (except for Danika but that would require a lot of pumping). A caster with a drakonite tome is clearly the best way to wipe out enemy units.
- I was surprised how easily the dupe glitch was implemented. I remember carefully following a 13 or so step process and being relieved when I had succeeded dupe'ing whatever it was. Seeing it casually used to dupe not 1 but 3 different items was a treat.
- Menu navigation, overall, was quite good. The menus in this game can be described charitably as 'inefficient' and uncharitably as 'fucking unwieldy'. I will also admit I didn't know you could use the Z button to select things while assigning a destination, although many times it would be just as fast if not faster to just move the cursor to the HQ.
Now onto some criticism. The runner mentions several improvements that could be made, but these two stand out the most:
"[1] - More complex route planning .. I just sent my unit straight at the enemy headquarters .. time might be saved if you micromanaged the unit around enemy units.
[2] - More segments. .. would allow for a lot of time to be shaved off, .. would also cut down on errors heavily."
- I think there are many places where multiple battles could have been completely avoided at the cost of adding 1 or 2 more destination waypoints. To be blunt, it strikes me as lazy to simply send the unit towards enemy HQ and watch. I do understand that assigning actions is a little clumsy in this game but it is far from unusable in a speedrun.
- I think this run would benefit greatly from more segmenting, particularly if more waypoints are added to avoid enemy units. It would iron out most small mistakes with menus and ensure Magnus eliminates unit leaders in as few battles as possible. My biggest gripe about this is that there are plenty of chances to save, so why not?
- I don't know if this is a problem unique to my computer or the verification copy of the run but the last segment had no sound. Video quality could have been better but I wouldn't call it unacceptable.
I've entertained some.. creative.. thoughts about a super hawkman being used to assassinate some of the leaders at enemy HQs, particularly on scenes with rivers and other hindering terrain preventing a more direct route coupled with leaders who aren't hiding behind another unit. In theory I estimate about a minute to encounter and recruit (with a lot of luck) and 2 minutes to pump with statuettes. I think it would save more than 3 or so minutes by not only cutting down on travel time but avoiding many, many battles. This is, again, in theory, and theories can be treacherous things.
I also briefly thought about the Figurine of Sleipnir (birthday gift at age 50) but walking around on the world map for 32 in-game years is far more likely to cost more time than it would save. I actually walked around until I got Noish's Promise (Age 99) and I recall it took about 3 hours, and that was after I had unlocked a nice long route to walk along on the world map. Using that as a frame of reference I think a burden of about 1h:30m to be saved falls on the figurine, a burden I don't think it can bear.
Overall, a solid strategy implemented with few mistakes that results in a fast time. Especially when compared to the length of your average playthrough (around 40 hours?). I accept this run (assuming the sound isn't missing in the final segment), but I encourage the runner to improve his time with more waypoints and more segments. Unfortunately, by the sound of things that won't happen anytime soon ;).
- Didn't see any inconsistencies or other indications of cheating.
- Hail Bruce! I was surprised that his insane damage stayed at 1-shotting strength throughout the run (except for Danika but that would require a lot of pumping). A caster with a drakonite tome is clearly the best way to wipe out enemy units.
- I was surprised how easily the dupe glitch was implemented. I remember carefully following a 13 or so step process and being relieved when I had succeeded dupe'ing whatever it was. Seeing it casually used to dupe not 1 but 3 different items was a treat.
- Menu navigation, overall, was quite good. The menus in this game can be described charitably as 'inefficient' and uncharitably as 'fucking unwieldy'. I will also admit I didn't know you could use the Z button to select things while assigning a destination, although many times it would be just as fast if not faster to just move the cursor to the HQ.
Now onto some criticism. The runner mentions several improvements that could be made, but these two stand out the most:
"[1] - More complex route planning .. I just sent my unit straight at the enemy headquarters .. time might be saved if you micromanaged the unit around enemy units.
[2] - More segments. .. would allow for a lot of time to be shaved off, .. would also cut down on errors heavily."
- I think there are many places where multiple battles could have been completely avoided at the cost of adding 1 or 2 more destination waypoints. To be blunt, it strikes me as lazy to simply send the unit towards enemy HQ and watch. I do understand that assigning actions is a little clumsy in this game but it is far from unusable in a speedrun.
- I think this run would benefit greatly from more segmenting, particularly if more waypoints are added to avoid enemy units. It would iron out most small mistakes with menus and ensure Magnus eliminates unit leaders in as few battles as possible. My biggest gripe about this is that there are plenty of chances to save, so why not?
- I don't know if this is a problem unique to my computer or the verification copy of the run but the last segment had no sound. Video quality could have been better but I wouldn't call it unacceptable.
I've entertained some.. creative.. thoughts about a super hawkman being used to assassinate some of the leaders at enemy HQs, particularly on scenes with rivers and other hindering terrain preventing a more direct route coupled with leaders who aren't hiding behind another unit. In theory I estimate about a minute to encounter and recruit (with a lot of luck) and 2 minutes to pump with statuettes. I think it would save more than 3 or so minutes by not only cutting down on travel time but avoiding many, many battles. This is, again, in theory, and theories can be treacherous things.
I also briefly thought about the Figurine of Sleipnir (birthday gift at age 50) but walking around on the world map for 32 in-game years is far more likely to cost more time than it would save. I actually walked around until I got Noish's Promise (Age 99) and I recall it took about 3 hours, and that was after I had unlocked a nice long route to walk along on the world map. Using that as a frame of reference I think a burden of about 1h:30m to be saved falls on the figurine, a burden I don't think it can bear.
Overall, a solid strategy implemented with few mistakes that results in a fast time. Especially when compared to the length of your average playthrough (around 40 hours?). I accept this run (assuming the sound isn't missing in the final segment), but I encourage the runner to improve his time with more waypoints and more segments. Unfortunately, by the sound of things that won't happen anytime soon ;).
Quote:
Segment 6 has no sound. Hopefully this is an easy fix, as everything else is fine otherwise.
This is a good run. I can't imagine a better tactic than 'overlevel an insta-kill unit, march to final boss'. There's plenty of MAYBE improvements, like precise moving to get around some enemies to skip battles, or leveling another archmage to leave at home base to speed those fights up. The problem is the only way to know if any of those would be faster would be to do another whole run and compare times.
My big problem is the choice of doing the game in 6 segments. Why not 1 level per segment? Each level would come out either the same or better. Now, someone could see your run and copy your plan, but with more segments for better luck, and beat your run without too much trouble. There still aren't many mistakes, but it's possible to have none at all with more segments. The biggest error was definitely the bad luck in segment 3, resulting in Bruce not killing everybody due to getting repeatedly paralyzed. This seems to have wasted about 20 seconds, and for a game this freaking long, I think that's a-ok.
Accept
This is a good run. I can't imagine a better tactic than 'overlevel an insta-kill unit, march to final boss'. There's plenty of MAYBE improvements, like precise moving to get around some enemies to skip battles, or leveling another archmage to leave at home base to speed those fights up. The problem is the only way to know if any of those would be faster would be to do another whole run and compare times.
My big problem is the choice of doing the game in 6 segments. Why not 1 level per segment? Each level would come out either the same or better. Now, someone could see your run and copy your plan, but with more segments for better luck, and beat your run without too much trouble. There still aren't many mistakes, but it's possible to have none at all with more segments. The biggest error was definitely the bad luck in segment 3, resulting in Bruce not killing everybody due to getting repeatedly paralyzed. This seems to have wasted about 20 seconds, and for a game this freaking long, I think that's a-ok.
Accept
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's a good first run. There's some room for improvement, but the strategy is solid.
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