Battletanx: Global Assault - October 10th, 2012

2012-10-10 08:45:34 pm

1-Up!

Game Page:

BattleTanx: Global Assault (Any %) (Individual Level) (Easy)

Verifier Responses

Quote:

Video and audio are both good.

No cheating. There is one glitch I'm not familiar with, and haven't been able to replicate, but it's pretty obviously not a cheat.

Rather than say the same thing for most levels, I'll start with some general comments. First off, such precise control with the mototank and hovertank is very difficult, especially with "driver" controls. Both tanks really are as floaty (especially the hover tank) as the runners mention in their comments, and all tanks can bounce around like pinballs, even goliaths. Very good job there.

Also, the route planning was superb. On most levels, both runners finished their tasks within a second or two of each other, while taking efficient routes through the levels. I especially liked the use of the Edge. "Use the Edge, Griffin..." Cheesy

Now for some specific thoughts:

Level 1: This level could be a second or two faster (probably only one), so I'd like to see this improved. Then again, considering how TAS-like an 18 would be, I can't really reject this one.

Level 2: Damage boosting FTW!

Level 3: I suppose you could use a stopwatch or other timer to know exactly when the last tank appears, but it would probably give you the same time anyway...

Level 5: I somehow didn't realize that even though you could see the shots going through the wall, that they still did damage... I would have hated this level a lot less had I known that back in the day.

Level 6: pewpew laz0rz!

Level 7: I love any level with a nuke :). The fact that it made it into the route here gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Or maybe I just need some Rad Away. At any rate, the mototank maneuvering in this level is particularly stellar.

Level 8: I tried to replicate that ramp glitch to no avail, how do you actually do that? The trick at the end is always amusing though, and maneuvering through minefields is good entertainment, even if the runner slowed down (didn't cost time anyway).

Level 9: Hey! I thought this was supposed to be a two player run! Well, I guess I can excuse a craving for chikin sammiches...

Level 10: I'm pretty sure the quick kill has something to do with wonky hitboxes (maybe Crimson Lord turning just right at the right time?), and the swarmers hitting both the side turret and the main tank. I'm not completely sure about that, but it has happened to me, regardless.

Level 11: More damage boosting! More effective with the hovertank, too.

Level 13: Let me guess, the French farted in your general direction, so you decided to destroy the Eiffel Tower with mind bullets? Tongue

Levels 14 and 16: You could have done some "deathmatches" to pass the time. Just sayin'.

Level 15: Nicely done getting through the minefield, that's stupid precise.

Level 17: If only the programmers had messed up the victory conditions for THIS level... Time for several chikin sammiches, I guess.

Level 18: Finally time to show how much Rattlers rule!

Secret Level: I like the spinning and suicide at the end of this level :).

Overall, this is a very solid set of IL's, and should be entertaining even to those who don't have fond childhood memories of the game. Accept.

Quote:

As someone who has only played the Playstation version (which is apparently not identical like I expected), I was confused at several points in this run. Overall though, the mechanics appear to be the same but this version has a much better framerate. Because of that, I could mostly understand what was going on and it was completely obvious that this is a solid set of individual levels. The execution, aiming, and coordination are all fantastic in each level. I also enjoyed how some levels reminded me of the Sonic problem, where the levels themselves seemed to take less time than the score tally.

Vote: Accept

Quote:

A/V is fine. I didn't see any cheating, but it is hard to tell when everything is happening to fast.

These ILs are pretty impressive. The level of precision seen in some of the more technical levels is especially great, considering how awkward some of the aiming can be. The runner comments pretty much cover every important part of each level. The few "mistakes" barely add up to any real chunk of time, so I doubt we will be seeing any solid improvements on levels. Aside from that ramp glitch, there aren't any big spots to work on.

Accept.

Decision: Accept

Congratulations to Dylan 'Phazonelite7' McMahon & Tom 'Enkazin' Jones!

Thread title:

Game Page:

BattleTanx: Global Assault (Any %) (Individual Level) (Easy)

[b]Verifier Responses[/b]

[quote]Video and audio are both good.

No cheating.  There is one glitch I'm not familiar with, and haven't been able to replicate, but it's pretty obviously not a cheat.

Rather than say the same thing for most levels, I'll start with some general comments.  First off, such precise control with the mototank and hovertank is very difficult, especially with "driver" controls.  Both tanks really are as floaty (especially the hover tank) as the runners mention in their comments, and all tanks can bounce around like pinballs, even goliaths.  Very good job there.

Also, the route planning was superb.  On most levels, both runners finished their tasks within a second or two of each other, while taking efficient routes through the levels.  I especially liked the use of the Edge.  "Use the Edge, Griffin..." :D

Now for some specific thoughts:

Level 1:  This level could be a second or two faster (probably only one), so I'd like to see this improved.  Then again, considering how TAS-like an 18 would be, I can't really reject this one.

Level 2: Damage boosting FTW!

Level 3: I suppose you could use a stopwatch or other timer to know exactly when the last tank appears, but it would probably give you the same time anyway...

Level 5: I somehow didn't realize that even though you could see the shots going through the wall, that they still did damage...  I would have hated this level a lot less had I known that back in the day.

Level 6: pewpew laz0rz!

Level 7:  I love any level with a nuke :).  The fact that it made it into the route here gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.  Or maybe I just need some Rad Away.  At any rate, the mototank maneuvering in this level is particularly stellar.

Level 8: I tried to replicate that ramp glitch to no avail, how do you actually do that?  The trick at the end is always amusing though, and maneuvering through minefields is good entertainment, even if the runner slowed down (didn't cost time anyway).

Level 9:  Hey!  I thought this was supposed to be a two player run!  Well, I guess I can excuse a craving for chikin sammiches...

Level 10:  I'm pretty sure the quick kill has something to do with wonky hitboxes (maybe Crimson Lord turning just right at the right time?), and the swarmers hitting both the side turret and the main tank.  I'm not completely sure about that, but it has happened to me, regardless.

Level 11:  More damage boosting!  More effective with the hovertank, too.

Level 13:  Let me guess, the French farted in your general direction, so you decided to destroy the Eiffel Tower with mind bullets?  :P

Levels 14 and 16:  You could have done some "deathmatches" to pass the time.  Just sayin'.

Level 15:  Nicely done getting through the minefield, that's stupid precise.

Level 17:  If only the programmers had messed up the victory conditions for THIS level...  Time for several chikin sammiches, I guess.

Level 18:  Finally time to show how much Rattlers rule!

Secret Level: I like the spinning and suicide at the end of this level :).

Overall, this is a very solid set of IL's, and should be entertaining even to those who don't have fond childhood memories of the game.  [b]Accept[/b].[/quote]

[quote]As someone who has only played the Playstation version (which is apparently not identical like I expected), I was confused at several points in this run. Overall though, the mechanics appear to be the same but this version has a much better framerate. Because of that, I could mostly understand what was going on and it was completely obvious that this is a solid set of individual levels. The execution, aiming, and coordination are all fantastic in each level. I also enjoyed how some levels reminded me of the Sonic problem, where the levels themselves seemed to take less time than the score tally.

Vote: Accept[/quote]

[quote]A/V is fine.  I didn't see any cheating, but it is hard to tell when everything is happening to fast.

These ILs are pretty impressive. The level of precision seen in some of the more technical levels is especially great, considering how awkward some of the aiming can be.  The runner comments pretty much cover every important part of each level.  The few "mistakes" barely add up to any real chunk of time, so I doubt we will be seeing any solid improvements on levels.  Aside from that ramp glitch, there aren't any big spots to work on.

Accept.[/quote]

[b]Decision:[/b] Accept

Congratulations to Dylan 'Phazonelite7' McMahon & Tom 'Enkazin' Jones!

Phazonelite7

2012-10-11 02:11:42 pm

Quote:

Level 1: This level could be a second or two faster (probably only one), so I'd like to see this improved. Then again, considering how TAS-like an 18 would be, I can't really reject this one.

I agree that the level could have another second squeezed out of it. It would take an absurd number of tries though. The main problem is that the AI for the enemies is really inconsistent and unpredictable. They go all over the place without any particular reason. Naturally, there's a degree of hesitation because you're unsure what they're going to do. Especially since aiming is pretty difficult to do consistently.

Quote:

Level 5: I somehow didn't realize that even though you could see the shots going through the wall, that they still did damage... I would have hated this level a lot less had I known that back in the day.

Yeah this level would probably be pretty annoying if we had to do it the intended way. And I don't blame you for not noticing since the shots apparently do much less damage when they travel through the wall.

Quote:

Level 7: I love any level with a nuke :). The fact that it made it into the route here gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Or maybe I just need some Rad Away. At any rate, the mototank maneuvering in this level is particularly stellar.

This was a fun level to run. I wish there were more levels to use nukes in. In level 8, Enkazin gets a nuke at the very end of the route before hopping over the wall, and I think we joked about him dropping the nuke when he got it just to make the trip back to the convoy more interesting. Enkazin's mototank maneuvering in level 7 is ridiculous. I'd venture to say that doing it this cleanly is the most difficult and technically impressive feat in the entire run.

Quote:

Level 8: I tried to replicate that ramp glitch to no avail, how do you actually do that? The trick at the end is always amusing though, and maneuvering through minefields is good entertainment, even if the runner slowed down (didn't cost time anyway).

As far as I'm concerned, this is the only campaign level where this can be done. There are slightly different ramp designs in other levels and I believe we tried it on a ramp in level 15 with no success. Furthermore, I think we only tried it on two of the ramps in this level. So it may not be working if you're doing it on another one. Also, with as strangely as the way things seem to be coded in this game, I wouldn't be surprised if this tunnel glitch only works in co-op. But basically it involves angling the mototank at the inner side of the ramp, going forward at full speed until you touch the wall, and then immediately holding back. It's somewhat inconsistent, so you might have to experiment with how far down you are when you hit the side of the wall.

Quote:

Level 10: I'm pretty sure the quick kill has something to do with wonky hitboxes (maybe Crimson Lord turning just right at the right time?), and the swarmers hitting both the side turret and the main tank. I'm not completely sure about that, but it has happened to me, regardless.

I'm not too sure what to make of it, but that's the only time it's happened to us. So it's pretty fortunate that the rest of level went so well.

Quote:

Levels 14 and 16: You could have done some "deathmatches" to pass the time. Just sayin'.

Haha well we did mess around with attacking each other at the end of level 14.

Quote:

Level 15: Nicely done getting through the minefield, that's stupid precise.

You like how Enkazin zoomed in as he's going through the minefield to showboat?

Quote:

Level 17: If only the programmers had messed up the victory conditions for THIS level... Time for several chikin sammiches, I guess.

That would have been fantastic. It's pretty depressing when you think about the fact that this single level takes up about half the time of the entire run.

Quote:

Secret Level: I like the spinning and suicide at the end of this level :).

Yes I try my best. What's great is that Enkazin was completely unfazed while waiting for the last enemy to spawn while I'm doing that.

I'm really curious who you are verifier one, as you seem to be very knowledgeable about the game. We could have used you in the thread when we were running and coming up with ideas haha!

Quote:

As someone who has only played the Playstation version (which is apparently not identical like I expected), I was confused at several points in this run. Overall though, the mechanics appear to be the same but this version has a much better framerate. Because of that, I could mostly understand what was going on and it was completely obvious that this is a solid set of individual levels. The execution, aiming, and coordination are all fantastic in each level. I also enjoyed how some levels reminded me of the Sonic problem, where the levels themselves seemed to take less time than the score tally.

Vote: Accept

Sorry to hear about the confusion. I don't think we were even aware that the versions were completely different until halfway through the run. But thank you for verifying. From what I understand the PS version has 40(!) levels? Haha. Well the difference here is that we do have the ability to skip through the score tally if we wanted to save time in a single segment run.

Quote:

A/V is fine. I didn't see any cheating, but it is hard to tell when everything is happening to fast.

These ILs are pretty impressive. The level of precision seen in some of the more technical levels is especially great, considering how awkward some of the aiming can be. The runner comments pretty much cover every important part of each level. The few "mistakes" barely add up to any real chunk of time, so I doubt we will be seeing any solid improvements on levels. Aside from that ramp glitch, there aren't any big spots to work on.

Accept.

Thank you very much for your kind words and thanks for verifying!

[quote]
Level 1:  This level could be a second or two faster (probably only one), so I'd like to see this improved.  Then again, considering how TAS-like an 18 would be, I can't really reject this one.[/quote]

I agree that the level could have another second squeezed out of it. It would take an absurd number of tries though. The main problem is that the AI for the enemies is really inconsistent and unpredictable. They go all over the place without any particular reason. Naturally, there's a degree of hesitation because you're unsure what they're going to do. Especially since aiming is pretty difficult to do consistently.

[quote]
Level 5: I somehow didn't realize that even though you could see the shots going through the wall, that they still did damage...  I would have hated this level a lot less had I known that back in the day. [/quote]

Yeah this level would probably be pretty annoying if we had to do it the intended way. And I don't blame you for not noticing since the shots apparently do much less damage when they travel through the wall.

[quote]
Level 7:  I love any level with a nuke :).  The fact that it made it into the route here gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.  Or maybe I just need some Rad Away.  At any rate, the mototank maneuvering in this level is particularly stellar.[/quote]

This was a fun level to run. I wish there were more levels to use nukes in. In level 8, Enkazin gets a nuke at the very end of the route before hopping over the wall, and I think we joked about him dropping the nuke when he got it just to make the trip back to the convoy more interesting. Enkazin's mototank maneuvering in level 7 is ridiculous. I'd venture to say that doing it this cleanly is the most difficult and technically impressive feat in the entire run.

[quote]
Level 8: I tried to replicate that ramp glitch to no avail, how do you actually do that?  The trick at the end is always amusing though, and maneuvering through minefields is good entertainment, even if the runner slowed down (didn't cost time anyway). [/quote]

As far as I'm concerned, this is the only campaign level where this can be done. There are slightly different ramp designs in other levels and I believe we tried it on a ramp in level 15 with no success. Furthermore, I think we only tried it on two of the ramps in this level. So it may not be working if you're doing it on another one. Also, with as strangely as the way things seem to be coded in this game, I wouldn't be surprised if this tunnel glitch only works in co-op.  But basically it involves angling the mototank at the inner side of the ramp, going forward at full speed until you touch the wall, and then immediately holding back. It's somewhat inconsistent, so you might have to experiment with how far down you are when you hit the side of the wall.

[quote]
Level 10:  I'm pretty sure the quick kill has something to do with wonky hitboxes (maybe Crimson Lord turning just right at the right time?), and the swarmers hitting both the side turret and the main tank.  I'm not completely sure about that, but it has happened to me, regardless. [/quote]

I'm not too sure what to make of it, but that's the only time it's happened to us. So it's pretty fortunate that the rest of level went so well.

[quote]
Levels 14 and 16:  You could have done some "deathmatches" to pass the time.  Just sayin'. [/quote]

Haha well we did mess around with attacking each other at the end of level 14.

[quote]
Level 15:  Nicely done getting through the minefield, that's stupid precise. [/quote]

You like how Enkazin zoomed in as he's going through the minefield to showboat?

[quote]
Level 17:  If only the programmers had messed up the victory conditions for THIS level...  Time for several chikin sammiches, I guess. [/quote]

That would have been fantastic. It's pretty depressing when you think about the fact that this single level takes up about half the time of the entire run.

[quote]
Secret Level: I like the spinning and suicide at the end of this level :). [/quote]

Yes I try my best. What's great is that Enkazin was completely unfazed while waiting for the last enemy to spawn while I'm doing that.

I'm really curious who you are verifier one, as you seem to be very knowledgeable about the game. We could have used you in the thread when we were running and coming up with ideas haha!

[quote]As someone who has only played the Playstation version (which is apparently not identical like I expected), I was confused at several points in this run. Overall though, the mechanics appear to be the same but this version has a much better framerate. Because of that, I could mostly understand what was going on and it was completely obvious that this is a solid set of individual levels. The execution, aiming, and coordination are all fantastic in each level. I also enjoyed how some levels reminded me of the Sonic problem, where the levels themselves seemed to take less time than the score tally.

Vote: Accept[/quote]

Sorry to hear about the confusion. I don't think we were even aware that the versions were completely different until halfway through the run.  But thank you for verifying. From what I understand the PS version has 40(!) levels? Haha. Well the difference here is that we do have the ability to skip through the score tally if we wanted to save time in a single segment run.

[quote]A/V is fine.  I didn't see any cheating, but it is hard to tell when everything is happening to fast.

These ILs are pretty impressive. The level of precision seen in some of the more technical levels is especially great, considering how awkward some of the aiming can be.  The runner comments pretty much cover every important part of each level.  The few "mistakes" barely add up to any real chunk of time, so I doubt we will be seeing any solid improvements on levels.  Aside from that ramp glitch, there aren't any big spots to work on.

Accept.[/quote]

Thank you very much for your kind words and thanks for verifying!

AlecK47

Edit history:

AlecK47: 2012-10-11 02:42:14 pm

2012-10-11 02:41:53 pm

It doesn't seem as if anyone wants to murder me, so I'll just go ahead and admit to being verifier #1. Had I known somebody was running this game I totally would have gotten involved, but then I haven't been active here for very long - the run was already finished by the time I decided to do more than just be a token guy with an account here. I'll be honest though, any contributions I could have made, you came up with yourselves, so kudos thumbsup

Really all I would have done is encourage more level one attempts and tossing the London Parliament nuke just before you finished for lulz, as you mentioned. Yeah, and more "deathmatches" in the convoy levels, but who cares about those really? I never liked them, personally. The Crimson Lord quick kill would have come down to luck anyway, so it's awesome that you got it. I'm not sure I would have even remembered about it without seeing it, though.

I'm also pretty sure that the ramp glitch is indeed two player only, because I replicated your movements exactly a couple times, and nothing unusual happened. Maybe it's something to do with processing limitations/lag?

But really, you guys did an excellent job. It kinda makes me want to do some SS attempts, but that wouldn't happen for a while anyway, and I'd have to get good at the game again (and get used to a different control scheme...). Other than testing the ramp glitch, my only recent experience with the game involves messing around with the "all weapons" cheat. Smiley

It doesn't seem as if anyone wants to murder me, so I'll just go ahead and admit to being verifier #1.  Had I known somebody was running this game I totally would have gotten involved, but then I haven't been active here for very long - the run was already finished by the time I decided to do more than just be a token guy with an account here.  I'll be honest though, any contributions I could have made, you came up with yourselves, so kudos :thumbsup:  Really all I would have done is encourage more level one attempts and tossing the London Parliament nuke just before you finished for lulz, as you mentioned.  Yeah, and more "deathmatches" in the convoy levels, but who cares about those really?  I never liked them, personally.  The Crimson Lord quick kill would have come down to luck anyway, so it's awesome that you got it.  I'm not sure I would have even remembered about it without seeing it, though.

I'm also pretty sure that the ramp glitch is indeed two player only, because I replicated your movements exactly a couple times, and nothing unusual happened.  Maybe it's something to do with processing limitations/lag?

But really, you guys did an excellent job.  It kinda makes me want to do some SS attempts, but that wouldn't happen for a while anyway, and I'd have to get good at the game again (and get used to a different control scheme...).  Other than testing the ramp glitch, my only recent experience with the game involves messing around with the "all weapons" cheat. :)

Enkazin

2012-10-11 06:37:17 pm

About the ramp glitch, if you want to replicate it the easiest way I know how is to just hold back on the control stick going reverse into the ramp(using a mototank). When you spawn below/above you will be facing the opposite direction but since you are still going in reverse you immeaditly go back through the trigger for the ramp. Just do this for like a minute and eventually the game should get confused and let you through. I would love to make a video to show you how to do it but me and Phazon dont have recording stuff on us. Also I dont think we ever tried to do it single player so I believe you might be right and other ramps we tried didn't work D:

If you do try it and get it, start messing around with hitting ramps when you are traveling in the void area, if you hit a ramp right it will send you up really high into the air and you can do some fun jumps. This would actually be faster than the route I take in the level but I could never get it consistently.

Aftermath

2012-10-11 10:07:01 pm

Quits halfway

Just posting to say I'm hyped to see this run.

Phazonelite7

2012-10-12 08:51:26 pm

Aleck, I went back and tried doing the ramp glitch in single player and couldn't get it to work a single time. Then did co-op and did it five times in a row. So I don't think it's possible in single player. It might be because of lag. Also it's important to consider that there are differences in the game world when doing single player and co-op, there are a lot of destructible barriers, explosive objects, and other things that are missing in the co-op campaign. Who knows if the ramp is slightly different.

Thanks again. If you do decide to do a run then I'll be more than happy to help.

AlecK47

Edit history:

AlecK47: 2012-10-12 09:07:58 pm

2012-10-12 08:58:01 pm

Yeah, I almost did a two-player test, but I was confident enough that it was 2P only that I didn't even try. I doubt the ramp itself is any different, although there may be an invisible barrier or something that they removed. Hard to say, but the game not recognizing that you went through the area transition because of lag or something seems the most likely explanation to me.

If I do run the game, it probably wouldn't be for a couple months at least. I want to finish my Pokemon XD any% segmented first, and then at least try to do the same run for New Super Mario Bros DS. But who knows, after finishing XD, I may want to do something that relies more on skill than luck (I'd say that for NSMB DS it's about 50/50).

Edit: And I forgot to mention that I need to learn FFXII for a marathon...

Aftermath

Edit history:

Aftermath: 2012-10-12 09:14:39 pm

2012-10-12 09:14:20 pm

Quits halfway

Skip out on Final Fantasy and run the Battletanx games instead. thumbsup

AlecK47

2012-10-12 09:28:22 pm

If I can't make the marathon, I just may. But that's up in the air right now.