Crystals For Life 2014 - Practice Thread

2014-02-23 09:46:06 pm

Professional Second Banana

Setting up this thread per Poxnor's request, for both runners and commentators to give updates on their progress at getting ready for C4L 2014.

Full game/runner/commentator list can be found on the official marathon schedule at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjWIEEVsJx1RdFZOYXYwWDZJa1lXaFgydVNqNFFPR2c&usp=sharing

Thread title:

puwexil

2014-02-23 10:04:43 pm

Professional Second Banana

And to kick things off:

My FF6 Glitchless PBs are 5:55 for Any% and 7:11 for 100%, both categories of which I'll be working more actively on come March/April. Did my first IoG 100% run in about 2 months last Friday and got a 2:26 (decent for a no-reset run until the Pyramid, where I tranwrecked a bit due to trying a new route that I wasn't ready for) - aiming to consistently get ~2:20's by marathon-time (my PB is 2:17, but that's with a few pretty risky strats I wouldn't do in a marathon run).

For commentary I'm pretty up-to-date on the speedrun strats/routes for FF4, Soul Blazer, Terranigma, and Crystalis. FF3 I'll be ready for after watching one of duckfist's runs to get a better handle on how the early-game stat glitching works exactly (already understand the random encounter manipulation and inventory glitching pretty well), and Lufia 2/KH:BBS I'll be ready for after I watch a couple of Obda/Essentia's practice streams and get caught up on the latest strats for those games.

Vulajin

2014-02-23 11:50:23 pm

I've been doing runs of Pokémon White 2 mostly on emulator until I find time to learn the RNG manipulation on console. My emulator PB is 3:27 game time so far, tying the current WR. In real time, this is about 3:28:xx. As an important note, playing this game on a DS is slower than on emulator, due to load time differences. Over a ~3.5 hour run, I'd expect to lose about 4 minutes to being on the DS. However, I also have a ton of time to save, so even with safe strats, hitting the 4:00:00 estimate should still be perfectly fine. I'll update if I think the estimate needs to increase for any reason.

I'm currently on commentary for FF3, Chrono Cross, and Mass Effect. So far I haven't had a chance to review these runs in-depth, but I plan to do so within the next two weeks or so.

Poxnor

Edit history:

Poxnor: 2014-02-24 02:38:54 am

2014-02-24 02:38:23 am

Moo! Flap! Hug!

FFA: fully routed (minus the exceptions listed below). Just going to keep practicing over the next few months to keep fresh on it. I can pretty consistently get around 1:05:00 now. However, luck is a huge factor in this run, so I'm going to keep the marathon estimate more generous (in retrospect, I'm not sure how great a marathon game FFA really is because of the luck factor, but what the heck). The two major things I need to do are: (a) settle on a new strategy for the end boss (I have it jotted down on paper, but I really need to work through it and internalize it) and (b) try to find some sort of reliable strategy for the Bone Dragon (because that's a train wreck in half of my practice runs). Completing part A will just be a matter of picking a night and going through that battle slowly and taking notes about the best strategy. I'm really at a loss for part B, and the Japanese runner seemed to get stumped by the Bone Dragon as well; I should go back and watch the strategy he used anyhow, and see if there are some nuggets in there that I can use.

FFA: fully routed (minus the exceptions listed below).  Just going to keep practicing over the next few months to keep fresh on it.  I can pretty consistently get around 1:05:00 now.  However, luck is a huge factor in this run, so I'm going to keep the marathon estimate more generous (in retrospect, I'm not sure how great a marathon game FFA really is because of the luck factor, but what the heck).  The two major things I need to do are: (a) settle on a new strategy for the end boss (I have it jotted down on paper, but I really need to work through it and internalize it) and (b) try to find some sort of reliable strategy for the Bone Dragon (because that's a train wreck in half of my practice runs).  Completing part A will just be a matter of picking a night and going through that battle slowly and taking notes about the best strategy.  I'm really at a loss for part B, and the Japanese runner seemed to get stumped by the Bone Dragon as well; I should go back and watch the strategy he used anyhow, and see if there are some nuggets in there that I can use.

MetaSigma

Edit history:

MetaSigma: 2014-02-24 06:46:48 am

2014-02-24 06:41:05 am

Evermore Extrodinare ᕦ(° Д°)ᕤ

I'm clocking in around 2:26 to 2:30 on my Evermore practice runs and a lot of it is just luck regarding early boss fights pre-atlas as well as Saturn Skipping all over Act 4. That part of it is a pain as the dog doesn't always want to listen and you have reposition him repeatedly. Still this time will drop down as I improve my overall execution but 2:30 would still be perfect as anything seems to be happening in this game (Secret of Evermore) lately.

I should add that Rini has been in on a run and will be in on a few more runs as well to get commentary taken care of. As well as the other participants as well. Duckfist if he decides is more than welcome to jump in and talk as well considering his run is right before Evermore.

Highspirits

2014-02-24 09:22:03 am

I'm only doing commentary but will give my update. Been playing my games again lately. Already started talking with Tide about Wild Arms 4, and will pester Obda about Lufia 2 soon.

rinimt

Edit history:

rinimt: 2014-02-24 09:35:03 am

2014-02-24 09:34:05 am

Kupo!

Current SO4 PB is 2:58:50 (nothing for marathon route/safety here though, so for now I'm sticking with the current estimate). I've been working to bring in a new strat for the early part of the run but it's just not coming out reliable enough for a marathon route (chance of death is just flat out increased). I've been in contact with my commentators over the run/change as well so I've been getting input on it. I'll be doing Skype calls with my commentators for runs over the next couple months as well.

As Meta mentioned I've sat in on an Evermore run and will be doing more of that in the future. I actually know the Lost Odyssey route (also run it), and have a fairly good idea on the FFX route (have run the current route). Will be doing more work on these as we approach the marathon.

Driscollad

2014-02-24 02:13:59 pm

I've spent all morning grinding Leo's Lab, and hate myself for it right now, but progress is evident with each run. All bosses are locked, including quick strat on Lion Heads. Will continue to practice Everhate's strats on Storm Eagle...er...Demon Bird, as he is the only true RNG boss in the game, but timing can eliminate damage. 2:00 flat is likely even with all souls

AlecK47

2014-02-24 04:40:29 pm

I just did two playthroughs of Mass Effect today, and I'm basically ready to start running it at any time. And for those who intend to commentate for Mass Effect, the current SDA RTA run is a good starting point - just imagine that all the fights are much faster because I'm overpowered and all but impervious and you're pretty much there. That said, I'm going to start streaming it once I get around to the setup, so probably pretty soon.

Lag.Com

2014-02-28 03:28:11 am

sda loyalist

Not very proud of my progress so far. My PB for Ultima Underworld is 24:19, which can obviously still come down a lot, and the timeslot is only 25 minutes. I haven't done a full practice of Ultima Underworld 2 yet. The plan is to stream UU2 this weekend, and maybe UU+UU2 the week after that.

I watch PotatoHandle whenever he's streaming Lost Odyssey and pitch in. Haven't caught anybody else's streams yet.

Sir VG

2014-02-28 03:43:39 am

Fucking Weeaboo

I've developed a great notes setup for myself for doing runs regardless of route. I still need to type up stuff for Faerie and Jumi. I'm also working on stuff for commentary, but haven't focused on it much right now since I've been more focused on WR attempts.

I'm also getting a Japanese PS2 (should be here within a couple of weeks) so English vs Japanese may be back on the table again. May.

Poxnor

2014-02-28 12:08:05 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Sir VG: I don't think English vs. Japanese is a good donation incentive, especially given the small time difference on a several-hour game. Let's keep it in English for the marathon Smiley

Sir VG

2014-02-28 02:06:12 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

You're no fun. Tongue

Poxnor

2014-02-28 02:14:43 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Claims that I'm no fun will result in flogging until you realize that I'm fun.

But seriously, I'd really like all the C4L participants to post about how they're doing, regardless of whether it's "I've ran this game 590 times and know it like the back of my hand," or if it's, "Holy puff balls, C4L is only two months away!?"

I know there are still a few things I have to work on for my game, but putting it in writing really helps you nail down what you have nailed down, vs. what's still a work in progress.

Keypaladin

2014-03-02 12:02:33 am

The Wayward Wanderer

Quote from Poxnor:

"Holy puff balls, C4L is only two months away!?"

I really gotta get some practice in. Tomorrow seems as good a time as any.

UraniumAnchor

2014-03-02 01:12:28 am

Not a walrus

Still need to discuss a couple routing details with Dragondarch for Crystalis 100% but I'll probably get some practice in this week. I'll keep you posted. 100% might not add as much as I initially thought, but let's not touch the estimate for now.

Sir VG

2014-03-02 01:50:09 am

Fucking Weeaboo

While spending time finding a flogging stick, I'm also trying to work out good notes for my commentator help. Right now I'm not doing good with commentary on my own, probably because I'm still doing SUPER SERIOUS WR attempts. I should be better when things get more casual, since there's lots of interesting quarks of game mechanics to talk about.

The runs themselves I'm not worried about at all. I'm still nailing times on Dragon within 2 minutes of WR (Faerie and Jumi I haven't played in a bit, but I'm not worried about these either). I need to play around a bit with actually having a second player plugged in. I'm having a debate with people in the LOM thread about the use of fast disc speed, but I'm not going to use it for the marathon because it screws up the cutscenes (it plays too fast and the ending cutscene is cut way short), which if I'm gonna have them as incentives, I might as well have them WORK RIGHT.

Potato Handle

Edit history:

Potato Handle: 2014-03-03 05:06:46 pm

2014-03-03 05:06:28 pm

Plays games quickly. Eventually.

Lost Odyssey
My practice is a little behind because of recent events, but my main goal at the moment is to write my short-hand notes, which I've just got to finish disc 3 for. I'll be doing a full run this weekend to test them out, and to practice actually using notes, which is something I'm notoriously bad at. The good news is that the new route is nailed down, I just need to practice the disc 4 changes. I'll be doing a run at Rini's place as well just to make sure there's no subtle variations on the NTSC version. My goal is to do at least 3 full runs before C4L, interspersed with lots of disc practice. \o/

Star Ocean 4 (Commentary)
Finished my casual playthrough a while back, and was going to immediately work on the route with Rini, but it's been delayed so I've only learned the first 30 minutes. Stream delay was a nightmare too. Current plan is for me to use Octo's notes while talking to Rini so that I could follow along with something rather than adjusting for the delay. We'll be trying again either the weekend of the 15th or 22nd of March. I'll hopefully actually do a couple of runs of this myself before the marathon.

Secret of Evermore (Commentary)
I'm really dragging the chain here, I haven't been able to catch any of Meta's streams recently, so I don't know much about 100%, except what I already know from any%. No specific plans to learn this just yet, I'll just try and catch more streams for the moment. Absolute worst case scenario is that I'll need to learn from Meta when he visits Rini on his way to C4L.

[b]Lost Odyssey[/b]
My practice is a little behind because of recent events, but my main goal at the moment is to write my short-hand notes, which I've just got to finish disc 3 for. I'll be doing a full run this weekend to test them out, and to practice actually using notes, which is something I'm notoriously bad at. The good news is that the new route is nailed down, I just need to practice the disc 4 changes. I'll be doing a run at Rini's place as well just to make sure there's no subtle variations on the NTSC version. My goal is to do at least 3 full runs before C4L, interspersed with lots of disc practice. \o/

[b]Star Ocean 4 (Commentary)[/b]
Finished my casual playthrough a while back, and was going to immediately work on the route with Rini, but it's been delayed so I've only learned the first 30 minutes. Stream delay was a nightmare too. Current plan is for me to use Octo's notes while talking to Rini so that I could follow along with something rather than adjusting for the delay. We'll be trying again either the weekend of the 15th or 22nd of March. I'll hopefully actually do a couple of runs of this myself before the marathon.

[b]Secret of Evermore (Commentary)[/b]
I'm really dragging the chain here, I haven't been able to catch any of Meta's streams recently, so I don't know much about 100%, except what I already know from any%. No specific plans to learn this just yet, I'll just try and catch more streams for the moment. Absolute worst case scenario is that I'll need to learn from Meta when he visits Rini on his way to C4L.

FFgamer86

2014-03-06 03:11:43 am

SDA Speedruns: 1

Suikoden: Routing Complete for 108 star run. Will be doing a timed run on Friday night to see how it does.

To quote Poxnor:

Mystic Quest: I've done 590... Actually probably closer to 2000 attempts and know this like the back of my hand." Man, That freckle wasn't there before. All joking aside, I plan on doing non-reset attempts possibly 5 each of Any% and 100% possibly more if time allows to get a good time range of how long the run will go.

AlecK47

2014-03-06 08:49:48 am

Even when I'm dead tired, playing like crap, spending extra time to make sure I get tricks I'm still getting the hang of and trying some in slightly different ways so I know exactly what positioning I want, etc., I'm comfortably getting sub 2:00 real time. I did a run last night that finished in just under 1:54 with all of those things I mentioned slowing me down. And I think I'm getting the hang of one of the tricks that was giving me trouble, as well as finding ways to bail myself out if I slightly mess up a couple others. Time to start streaming it now, I guess.

obdajr

2014-03-07 12:39:45 pm

I'm sorry to inform that i have made the decision to back out of C4L this year. I have just started a new job so my gaming time has been severely reduced. Taking time off is also questionable and since it's a government union job, is probably not going to happen within my first 3 months. Also, lufia 2 is a pretty involved speedrun, and i dont feel i could do it justice within the time frame

Alko

2014-03-07 05:04:07 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

^ Near perfect avatar RNG Y,…,Y

Vulajin

2014-03-24 12:10:04 am

Practice update! Today I've been working on the most vital strat for my White 2 run - manipulating RNG to get a starter with perfect stats at the start of the run. This is needlessly difficult on physical hardware because the RNG is seeded by factors that are dependent on your DS's MAC address and the specific cart you own. Essentially, each runner who wants to do this has to reverse-engineer these factors and then use available tools to figure out a time to start the game that is specific to his/her hardware+cart. Additionally, the seeding is dependent on a sub-second timing mechanism called "timer0," the sole purpose of which seems to be pissing off people who want to do RNG manipulation.

I'm happy to report that I found a time that allows me to save right before picking my starter, change the clock, start the game back up, and claim my perfect starter. This seed seems to be pretty consistent (I hit it three times in a row), so I should be more than prepared to do the run in a marathon setting. I have yet to do a run with this seed, but I'll definitely give it a shot next weekend at the latest.

Practice update! Today I've been working on the most vital strat for my White 2 run - manipulating RNG to get a starter with perfect stats at the start of the run. This is needlessly difficult on physical hardware because the RNG is seeded by factors that are dependent on your DS's MAC address and the specific cart you own. Essentially, each runner who wants to do this has to reverse-engineer these factors and then use available tools to figure out a time to start the game that is specific to his/her hardware+cart. Additionally, the seeding is dependent on a sub-second timing mechanism called "timer0," the sole purpose of which seems to be pissing off people who want to do RNG manipulation.

I'm happy to report that I found a time that allows me to save right before picking my starter, change the clock, start the game back up, and claim my perfect starter. This seed seems to be pretty consistent (I hit it three times in a row), so I should be more than prepared to do the run in a marathon setting. I have yet to do a run with this seed, but I'll definitely give it a shot next weekend at the latest.

puwexil

2014-03-24 12:43:41 am

Professional Second Banana

Just got a new FF6 Any% PB of 5:42:51 - hopefully I'll be able to get my 100% PB (currently 7:11:16) down closer to 7 hours next weekend.

Caracarn

2014-03-24 04:59:07 am

I just did an FFX run only 30 seconds behind my PB, so I'm pretty set on that. FF7 I'm still working on emulator. I'll hopefully be doing practice runs by the start of April.