My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: Doesn't exist yet.
Nicholas 'Sir_VG' Hoppe's Henry single-segment run
Verifier Responses
Runner's response to the trick.
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's a good run without any major mistakes. Also, it beats Persona's old run, and any run that beats a Persona run can't be bad.
Yes, there is a trick the current run doesn't use, so there might be an improvement coming soon.
Nicholas 'Sir_VG' Hoppe's Henry single-segment run
Verifier Responses
Quote:
For the record I've never left SDA, I'm just very quiet 
(I still check it everyday)
To be perfectly honest I'm sorta torn on this run, but I'll get to that in a minute. SirVG has this same run hosted on youtube, and I've watched it roughly 3 to 4 times, one of those being as a guide for my first playthrough for this game... that being said I've watched it closely and can verify he didn't cheat and everything is legit as far as I can tell. The audio and video quality are up to SDA's standards, and the quality of the run itself is also impressive for the most part (despite a few spots of hesitation near the end of the run), he's shown he's nearly mastered the game's control scheme and has done a great* job with his route plan.
That being said, while the run itself is good, during my first playthough of this game I believe I have stumbled on a 25+ second improvement (a very easy one in fact). If you seek to about 6:01 in his speedrun video (both verification copy and youtube copy) he spends roughly 28 seconds going from the top (where the child was) to the entrance of the room he was in, when he could have saved about 26 seconds jumping down and grabbing the ledge like I did:
(sorry for the worst video quality you've ever seen :P)
While it does take the majority of your health it all gets replenished almost immediately, and jumping shouldn't kill him since his health bar was full, so I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work. And while I did this on an emulator it should be replicatable on the N64 console.
Judging from what VG said in his comments the "3 end levels" are determined by the time on the clock, while he'd make the first area with the 25 or so extra seconds (since he needs to be there before 4PM), he may have to wait around 10 seconds for the 2nd to become available, so if I did my math correctly that's about 15 easily savable seconds after it's all said and done.
Whether this run is rejected or accepted (in my eyes anyways) is hard to determine since I'm not exactly sure HOW strict SDA is about this sort of thing. If it comes down to just the quality of the run itself I accept it. If every known time saver MUST be used to achieve the quickest time possible (or at least ones as easy as this one), then this run should be rejected until the shortcut is utilized (unless of course the jump doesn't actually work in the runner's favor, but I'm pretty sure it does).
To be perfectly honest I'm sorta torn on this run, but I'll get to that in a minute. SirVG has this same run hosted on youtube, and I've watched it roughly 3 to 4 times, one of those being as a guide for my first playthrough for this game... that being said I've watched it closely and can verify he didn't cheat and everything is legit as far as I can tell. The audio and video quality are up to SDA's standards, and the quality of the run itself is also impressive for the most part (despite a few spots of hesitation near the end of the run), he's shown he's nearly mastered the game's control scheme and has done a great* job with his route plan.
That being said, while the run itself is good, during my first playthough of this game I believe I have stumbled on a 25+ second improvement (a very easy one in fact). If you seek to about 6:01 in his speedrun video (both verification copy and youtube copy) he spends roughly 28 seconds going from the top (where the child was) to the entrance of the room he was in, when he could have saved about 26 seconds jumping down and grabbing the ledge like I did:
(sorry for the worst video quality you've ever seen :P)
While it does take the majority of your health it all gets replenished almost immediately, and jumping shouldn't kill him since his health bar was full, so I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work. And while I did this on an emulator it should be replicatable on the N64 console.
Judging from what VG said in his comments the "3 end levels" are determined by the time on the clock, while he'd make the first area with the 25 or so extra seconds (since he needs to be there before 4PM), he may have to wait around 10 seconds for the 2nd to become available, so if I did my math correctly that's about 15 easily savable seconds after it's all said and done.
Whether this run is rejected or accepted (in my eyes anyways) is hard to determine since I'm not exactly sure HOW strict SDA is about this sort of thing. If it comes down to just the quality of the run itself I accept it. If every known time saver MUST be used to achieve the quickest time possible (or at least ones as easy as this one), then this run should be rejected until the shortcut is utilized (unless of course the jump doesn't actually work in the runner's favor, but I'm pretty sure it does).
Runner's response to the trick.
Quote:
I was aware of that, as it was video linked to my video encode on YouTube. However, I only heard about that improvement idea a couple of days before I sent you the VOBs, so I haven't gotten to put it into action.
I probably should improve the run because of that. It was something I was gonna do at a later date, since I haven't had a lot of time for running (and my current submissions took a lot of resets, since I need luck in Stage 1 for a power up drop). If one of the verifiers is wanting to see it in the run, I may try to work on that if I have time in the next couple of days, instead of some time down the road, like I was originally gonna do.
I probably should improve the run because of that. It was something I was gonna do at a later date, since I haven't had a lot of time for running (and my current submissions took a lot of resets, since I need luck in Stage 1 for a power up drop). If one of the verifiers is wanting to see it in the run, I may try to work on that if I have time in the next couple of days, instead of some time down the road, like I was originally gonna do.
Quote:
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Henry on Normal
NOTES
There are no deaths in this run. This is very important in a Castlevania game for the 64, since you lose your power-ups when you die and your main weapon is downgraded.
He gets his power-ups early on in the run. In classic Castlevania style, you can get two of them to power up your main weapon. Apparently it's possible to get both of them during the first Giant Skeleton fight, but it requires excessive luck. No sub-weapons are picked up in the run.
The two cards he picks up are mandatory for a quick run. You end up in different places when you jump in the coffin in the Villa based on the clock. He uses the Sun Card to enter the Underground Caverns at the earliest possible time and the Moon Card is necessary if you're fast enough in the level, since the door with the child behind it can only be opened at night.
The route appears to be fine. Underground Caverns should always be done last, because there's a boss at the end that can't be skipped and has a long-range OHKO move. You don't have to finish the level if you save the last child here.
The reason he swings his sword appears to be skipping the reload animation for his gun. It only has 6 shots, and normally you need to press the attack button again to reload it.
You can't fall very far in this game without taking damage or dying, so every time he jumps to a rising platform in the Forest of Silence he is taking a risk. You'll see this later when he loses half his health making a (ridiculous) jump in the Outer Wall.
Damage is always bad in this game. It almost never saves time, and you have to wait for your health to refill at the end of every level.
Henry gets hit by some enemy in the Forest of Silence. The enemy leaves a power-up behind.
On the Castle Wall, if he had been on the inside of the stairway rather than the middle, he might've gotten through a bit faster, but it would've been riskier with the way he jumps around. The guillotines catch him a couple times.
In the Outer Wall, he gets hung up on the beginning, but this is normal. The camera tries to kill you here if you run out too quickly. He's a bit slow on a few drops since you'll overshoot them if you go too fast.
In the Underground Caverns, he could've saved a bit of time if he had used the Moon Card right next to the door that needed it, in order to spend less time waiting for the clock to move on. He also takes a few parts of the level slowly, mostly because of the camera's tendency to kill you when you need precision.
TIMING
17:38 (00:29-18:07). This time doesn't count the text boxes at the beginning and end, as it's only a matter of mashing through them.
VERDICT
The run looks solid for a single segment and doesn't have many mistakes. I will accept this run.
Henry on Normal
NOTES
There are no deaths in this run. This is very important in a Castlevania game for the 64, since you lose your power-ups when you die and your main weapon is downgraded.
He gets his power-ups early on in the run. In classic Castlevania style, you can get two of them to power up your main weapon. Apparently it's possible to get both of them during the first Giant Skeleton fight, but it requires excessive luck. No sub-weapons are picked up in the run.
The two cards he picks up are mandatory for a quick run. You end up in different places when you jump in the coffin in the Villa based on the clock. He uses the Sun Card to enter the Underground Caverns at the earliest possible time and the Moon Card is necessary if you're fast enough in the level, since the door with the child behind it can only be opened at night.
The route appears to be fine. Underground Caverns should always be done last, because there's a boss at the end that can't be skipped and has a long-range OHKO move. You don't have to finish the level if you save the last child here.
The reason he swings his sword appears to be skipping the reload animation for his gun. It only has 6 shots, and normally you need to press the attack button again to reload it.
You can't fall very far in this game without taking damage or dying, so every time he jumps to a rising platform in the Forest of Silence he is taking a risk. You'll see this later when he loses half his health making a (ridiculous) jump in the Outer Wall.
Damage is always bad in this game. It almost never saves time, and you have to wait for your health to refill at the end of every level.
Henry gets hit by some enemy in the Forest of Silence. The enemy leaves a power-up behind.
On the Castle Wall, if he had been on the inside of the stairway rather than the middle, he might've gotten through a bit faster, but it would've been riskier with the way he jumps around. The guillotines catch him a couple times.
In the Outer Wall, he gets hung up on the beginning, but this is normal. The camera tries to kill you here if you run out too quickly. He's a bit slow on a few drops since you'll overshoot them if you go too fast.
In the Underground Caverns, he could've saved a bit of time if he had used the Moon Card right next to the door that needed it, in order to spend less time waiting for the clock to move on. He also takes a few parts of the level slowly, mostly because of the camera's tendency to kill you when you need precision.
TIMING
17:38 (00:29-18:07). This time doesn't count the text boxes at the beginning and end, as it's only a matter of mashing through them.
VERDICT
The run looks solid for a single segment and doesn't have many mistakes. I will accept this run.
Quote:
Good run, a bit sloppy in points but clean on the important stuff, demonstrates sufficient knowledge of glitches and routes. Capture is fine. Not cheated lol.
Decision: Accept
Reason: It's a good run without any major mistakes. Also, it beats Persona's old run, and any run that beats a Persona run can't be bad.
Yes, there is a trick the current run doesn't use, so there might be an improvement coming soon.
Thread title:
