Dick Tracy on Sega Genesis

zfunk007

Edit history:

zfunk007: 2006-03-02 05:48:21 am

2006-03-02 05:46:42 am

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

I know this game was also on Sega Master System (is there even 1 SMS run on this site? Shinobi would be a good one). But I always prefered the Sega Genesis version of this game. I'm not sure how "obscure" most people consider this game. But I don't know anyone else who played it except myself and brother.

It is a very entertaining game and one of the first Genesis games I ever owned and enjoyed. It is extremely difficult in the later levels (especially on Hard) but I am pretty sure I could pull this run off if I put my all into it.

For those who aren't familiar with the game. It is a pretty cool concept. There are 2 planes of vision in the game. In front of you and across the street. You use your hand gun to shoot the guys in front of you and your machine gun to shoot guys across the street. And what really makes it great is that you can create visible damage all over the game. You can shoot out windows and cars and all kinds of other things. Pretty impressive for a first generation 16-bit game.

There are also different kinds of levels. The kind of level I just described where you walk down the street and shoot with your pistol and machine gun. Punching levels where you lose your gun and can only puch guys (these are really a pain). Car chase levels where you ride on the side of a car and shoot guys in other cars. And last but not least, boss levels. Bosses get an entire level all to themselves and it is usually quite hard.

Overall it's a great game and would make a fantastic speed run. So I am thinking about doing it (I will probably start practicing this week). Anyone interested in seeing a run for this game? Let me know and I'll see what I can do...

Thread title:

I know this game was also on Sega Master System (is there even 1 SMS run on this site? Shinobi would be a good one). But I always prefered the Sega Genesis version of this game. I'm not sure how "obscure" most people consider this game. But I don't know anyone else who played it except myself and brother.

It is a very entertaining game and one of the first Genesis games I ever owned and enjoyed. It is extremely difficult in the later levels (especially on Hard) but I am pretty sure I could pull this run off if I put my all into it.

For those who aren't familiar with the game. It is a pretty cool concept. There are 2 planes of vision in the game. In front of you and across the street. You use your hand gun to shoot the guys in front of you and your machine gun to shoot guys across the street. And what really makes it great is that you can create visible damage all over the game. You can shoot out windows and cars and all kinds of other things. Pretty impressive for a first generation 16-bit game.

There are also different kinds of levels. The kind of level I just described where you walk down the street and shoot with your pistol and machine gun. Punching levels where you lose your gun and can only puch guys (these are really a pain). Car chase levels where you ride on the side of a car and shoot guys in other cars. And last but not least, boss levels. Bosses get an entire level all to themselves and it is usually quite hard.

Overall it's a great game and would make a fantastic speed run. So I am thinking about doing it (I will probably start practicing this week). Anyone interested in seeing a run for this game? Let me know and I'll see what I can do...

illuminated

2006-03-02 06:00:02 am

Godspeed. (heh heh...speed...)

zfunk007

Edit history:

zfunk007: 2006-03-03 12:30:36 am

2006-03-03 12:30:11 am

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Anyone else heard of or played this game? Anyone? Would anyone care if I did it? Grin

Fabian

2006-03-05 01:52:43 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

I played it some when I was younger. I'd definately want to see a speedrun of it. Good luck!

zfunk007

2006-03-09 04:54:29 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Well this is good that I'm getting a little response. Because I really want to run this game. I have started practicing and let me tell you, this is a hard game. Just as hard as I remember it years ago. Except now that I'm playing it on the hardest difficulty it's even worse.

I have found a few tricks that allow me to keep moving. When you fire your pistol you usually have to stop walking to do so. Well when you jump and shoot at the same time you don't have to stop. So you are going to see me jumping around a lot in this game.

Also I noticed that you can do the "dying to get ahead" trick. If you die at certain points on a level it will start you further ahead. I am not going to use this trick because I feel that it is unfair and kind of stupid anyway.

I want this to be a single segment no deaths run but I don't know. Single segment I'm pretty sure I can do, no deaths is going to be tough. Especially considering that when you put the difficulty on Hard you can only get hit twice and on some of the later levels it seems just about impossible not to get hit multiple times (the 3rd car chase, Sewer and Harbor levels, ouch). But we'll see how I do.

I'll keep updating as I go along. And if anyone has any tips, I'd greatly appreciate them.

Well this is good that I'm getting a little response.  Because I really want to run this game. I have started practicing and let me tell you, this is a hard game. Just as hard as I remember it years ago. Except now that I'm playing it on the hardest difficulty it's even worse.

I have found a few tricks that allow me to keep moving. When you fire your pistol you usually have to stop walking to do so. Well when you jump and shoot at the same time you don't have to stop. So you are going to see me jumping around a lot in this game.

Also I noticed that you can do the "dying to get ahead" trick. If you die at certain points on a level it will start you further ahead. I am not going to use this trick because I feel that it is unfair and kind of stupid anyway.

I want this to be a single segment no deaths run but I don't know. Single segment I'm pretty sure I can do, no deaths is going to be tough. Especially considering that when you put the difficulty on Hard you can only get hit twice and on some of the later levels it seems just about impossible not to get hit multiple times (the 3rd car chase, Sewer and Harbor levels, ouch). But we'll see how I do.

I'll keep updating as I go along. And if anyone has any tips, I'd greatly appreciate them.

Brightstar

2006-03-09 09:54:33 pm

Phantasy Star counts as originally on Sega Master System, but it was played on the GBA in Phantasy Star Collection.

illuminated

2006-03-10 05:24:04 am

I had the NES version. But wasn't that the same?

DigiMe

2006-03-10 06:04:59 am

i played this game when i was a kid. i remember laughing at that yellow coat he wears Tongue

problem with all these old games is that when i see em again they look a lot uglier then in my memory. so if i said it looked great, i mean, for its time.

i dont think i ever got very far, was very young back then. doesnt tracy do this slow collaps when he dies?

zfunk007

2006-03-11 04:31:42 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Haha yeah he does do a slow collapse when he dies. And I don't know if the same version of this game was on the NES. I seriously doubt it though since this was an in-house development Sega Game.

I think the game still looks good for a first generation 16-bit game. I guess since I play more retro games than new games the old graphics don't bother me.

Anyway, I haven't made much progress in the last few days (been working on Contra Hard Corps with my bro) but I'll get to it.

zfunk007

2006-03-14 10:50:42 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Well since me and my brother are almost done with our Contra Hard Corps run, I think I will record the first level of Dick Tracy and post the video so people can see it. I want to get some feedback and see if anyone would actually like me to run the whole game. I may have it up later tonight or tommorow.

wicked

2006-03-14 11:24:24 pm

<3 GTA3

There was indeed a Dick Tracy on NES. I had it. I have no clue if it is (probably isn't) the same as the Genesis version. I got it when it came out so I was young and was just starting to play video games. I was pretty bad at it and never got very far but I'd love to see this run even if it's a different version. I'm sure there are similarities.

zfunk007

Edit history:

zfunk007: 2006-03-15 02:49:06 am

2006-03-15 02:48:14 am

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Ok here it is, a run of the first level: http://rapidshare.de/files/15533926/Dick_Tracy_Level_1.avi.html

I messed up a few times, like in the middle of the level where there are a bunch of guys across the street and it took me a while to kill them. And near the end where I get hit. But it's a pretty good representation of what to expect from this run if I get it going. Let me know what you think and if I should tackle it.

wicked

2006-03-15 05:09:24 am

<3 GTA3

Well, the Sega version is nothing at all like the NES version. I'd watch the run for sure anyway, that small clip brings back memories Cheesy

Qlex

Edit history:

Qlex: 2006-03-15 11:02:12 pm

2006-03-15 10:56:56 pm

Tetris/Melee player

I watched the first part, and I have to say lots of things :
I am starting to work on tool-assisted speedruns as well as real-time speedruns, since I love both of them. And guess what my TAS would feature? Dick Tracy.

Why? I saw your topic and I remembered I played it. Now I played it again and discovered it again. That game means a lot to me, and I thought there was not going to be a run of it. But I didn't manage to finish it on easy mode. Duh, I failed >_< .

So first of all, let me tell you : It rocks if you are going to finish the game in hard mode without dying. Keep it up, I would congratulate you if you finished it. I'm going to give you all the help I got.

First of all, your first part is really cool. You got hit once, but managed not to get hit countless times, and sometimes you are dodging the bullets in an impressive way! Firing while jumping is indeed a good idea, no known way to progress faster.

There are mistakes of course, like those you mentionned, but there is something more disturbing that doesn't make you lose time : You should have to foresee when the enemies in the foreground appear, since shooting while jumping all the time creates a little loss of entertainment; but, first, it's not important and, second, at the later levels you would have to fire constantly, so whatever.

There are also mistakes due to the tommy gun that slows you, so here's what I learnt : You know that when you shoot while facing right, it will fire at a precise position of start (You might know it since you kill some guys that way at the beggining) that is located to the right of the background. While firing left you hit the left part of the background first. So if you see enemies right and left, have this reflex : shoot right, then stop shooting, turn left, and then shoot left. It's only advice of course. You only didn't use it twice but used it lots of times.

Now here is a trick that need accuracy (or frame perfection >_> ), I'm telling it since you can do it in real time without lots of difficulties : When looking to the left, press right and jump at the same moment, so you will jump to the right while still facing left. That helps for the tommy gun trick, but of course it's really tough to do it, so I understand if you don't do it.

Here's what I can tell. Do as you wish of course.

I watched the first part, and I have to say lots of things :
I am starting to work on tool-assisted speedruns as well as real-time speedruns, since I love both of them. And guess what my TAS would feature? Dick Tracy.

Why? I saw your topic and I remembered I played it. Now I played it again and discovered it again. That game means a lot to me, and I thought there was not going to be a run of it. But I didn't manage to finish it on easy mode. Duh, I failed >_< .

So first of all, let me tell you : It rocks if you are going to finish the game in hard mode without dying. Keep it up, I would congratulate you if you finished it. I'm going to give you all the help I got.

First of all, your first part is really cool. You got hit once, but managed not to get hit countless times, and sometimes you are dodging the bullets in an impressive way! Firing while jumping is indeed a good idea, no known way to progress faster.

There are mistakes of course, like those you mentionned, but there is something more disturbing that doesn't make you lose time : You should have to foresee when the enemies in the foreground appear, since shooting while jumping all the time creates a little loss of entertainment; but, first, it's not important and, second, at the later levels you would have to fire constantly, so whatever.

There are also mistakes due to the tommy gun that slows you, so here's what I learnt : You know that when you shoot while facing right, it will fire at a precise position of start (You might know it since you kill some guys that way at the beggining) that is located to the right of the background. While firing left you hit the left part of the background first. So if you see enemies right and left, have this reflex : shoot right, then stop shooting, turn left, and then shoot left. It's only advice of course. You only didn't use it twice but used it lots of times.

Now here is a trick that need accuracy (or frame perfection >_> ), I'm telling it since you can do it in real time without lots of difficulties : When looking to the left, press right and jump at the same moment, so you will jump to the right while still facing left. That helps for the tommy gun trick, but of course it's really tough to do it, so I understand if you don't do it.

Here's what I can tell. Do as you wish of course.

zfunk007

2006-03-15 11:04:17 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Thanks for the advice Qlex. I have thought about just about all those things you mentioned and I do really want to do this run (and I will probably use a lot of those things you said). Especially since I have the equipment now to do it (ala a Sega Genesis, nice TV and DVD Recorder ;D).

This game meant a lot to me as a kid growing up as well and I always remember being frustrated as hell trying to beat it. I actually never did beat it when I was a kid. It took me re-buying it at a flea market years later for me to beat it. But I think I am definetly going to do this run now. Just have to finish my other one first (any day now).

zfunk007

2006-03-20 05:04:05 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

I just got my Genesis USB adapters in the mail from http://www.retrousb.com/. And I must say that they work great! This is going to make it much easier for me to practice this game on the emulator because using a gravis pad for Dick Tracy just wasn't the same.

Slowly but surely...

Qlex

2006-03-20 08:13:55 pm

Tetris/Melee player

That's good to hear. Good luck with it, you are free to ask for advices or anything else.
I didn't play Contra Hard Corps, but I hope you will be able to finish that run, good luck for both of the speedruns.

zfunk007

Edit history:

zfunk007: 2006-03-21 07:41:47 pm

2006-03-21 07:34:32 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Hey Qlex, did you make it as far as the Sewer or Harbor levels? They are the last 2 levels of the game before you fight bigboy and they are FREAKING RIDICULOUS! If you feel like trying to get that far, any advice you would have for me would be appreciated. Cause I'm going to need all the help I can get once I get to those parts of the game.

The sewer, especially on hard, is, just, heartbreaking. It is going to take me some serious practice to beat the level without dying. The harbor is a tad easier probably, but still insanley hard. Just continual machine gun guys hitting you with everything they have.

The only other problem levels might be the 3rd car chase and the Flattop boss fight. It's going to take some serious planning and practice to get through those. But I'll get it.

Qlex

2006-03-21 09:32:01 pm

Tetris/Melee player

Quote:

Hey Qlex, did you make it as far as the Sewer or Harbor levels? They are the last 2 levels of the game before you fight bigboy and they are FREAKING RIDICULOUS! If you feel like trying to get that far, any advice you would have for me would be appreciated. Cause I'm going to need all the help I can get once I get to those parts of the game.

The sewer, especially on hard, is, just, heartbreaking. It is going to take me some serious practice to beat the level without dying. The harbor is a tad easier probably, but still insanley hard. Just continual machine gun guys hitting you with everything they have.

The only other problem levels might be the 3rd car chase and the Flattop boss fight. It's going to take some serious planning and practice to get through those. But I'll get it.

Well, my TAS is going pretty slowly, and being intuitive, I didn't even get to try stage 2. I finished the game using savestates, and even on easy mode sewer and harbor are a real pain, I'll clearly give you that. Sorry, all the tricks I can get are jumping over guys (really difficult), punching left while jumping to the right (useless) and jumping over punches, knives and shots(also tough to do real-time). You will have to stop a lot to get safely out of the sewer. It IS the most difficult part of the game.

I might help you if I could get to the Stage 6 without having to pass through the other stages. I don't know if there is a code about it, if I find it, I'll make the run of both so you would get some ideas.

About the 3rd car chase I managed to get alive real-time thanks to shooting everywhere the enemies can be. Not pretty, but you can do it. Else you must learn enemies' location, but with an emu it could be better (retrying with savestates). Again, I'll make the run of that one if I have time to get until there, so watching a vid would help for memory.

When in dark, Flattop can kill you as easy as eating a peanut (although eating a peanut in the dark can be tough). Sometimes he starts shooting at your position, so even with superhuman reflexes you would get hit :/ . You have to rely on luck, jumping as fast as you can so you would have more chances of dodging the first bullets; after that you may take your time to hit him. Sorry, my run would be nothing interesting, as I would attack him before he shot anything, so you wouldn't see anything.

For now that's all I can tell. I shall finish my run of level 1 and try to record it (I don't know how), but you will have to stop at any rate, not like my movie.

Don't worry, if you just finish Dick Tracy hard without dying I would surely appreciate the run better than mine.

[quote]Hey Qlex, did you make it as far as the Sewer or Harbor levels? They are the last 2 levels of the game before you fight bigboy and they are FREAKING RIDICULOUS! If you feel like trying to get that far, any advice you would have for me would be appreciated. Cause I'm going to need all the help I can get once I get to those parts of the game.

The sewer, especially on hard, is, just, heartbreaking. It is going to take me some serious practice to beat the level without dying. The harbor is a tad easier probably, but still insanley hard. Just continual machine gun guys hitting you with everything they have.

The only other problem levels might be the 3rd car chase and the Flattop boss fight. It's going to take some serious planning and practice to get through those. But I'll get it.[/quote]

Well, my TAS is going pretty slowly, and being intuitive, I didn't even get to try stage 2. I finished the game using savestates, and even on easy mode sewer and harbor are a real pain, I'll clearly give you that. Sorry, all the tricks I can get are jumping over guys (really difficult), punching left while jumping to the right (useless) and jumping over punches, knives and shots(also tough to do real-time). You will have to stop a lot to get safely out of the sewer. It IS the most difficult part of the game.

I might help you if I could get to the Stage 6 without having to pass through the other stages. I don't know if there is a code about it, if I find it, I'll make the run of both so you would get some ideas.

About the 3rd car chase I managed to get alive real-time thanks to shooting everywhere the enemies can be. Not pretty, but you can do it. Else you must learn enemies' location, but with an emu it could be better (retrying with savestates). Again, I'll make the run of that one if I have time to get until there, so watching a vid would help for memory.

When in dark, Flattop can kill you as easy as eating a peanut (although eating a peanut in the dark can be tough). Sometimes he starts shooting at your position, so even with superhuman reflexes you would get hit :/ . You have to rely on luck, jumping as fast as you can so you would have more chances of dodging the first bullets; after that you may take your time to hit him. Sorry, my run would be nothing interesting, as I would attack him before he shot anything, so you wouldn't see anything.

For now that's all I can tell. I shall finish my run of level 1 and try to record it (I don't know how), but you will have to stop at any rate, not like my movie.

Don't worry, if you just finish Dick Tracy hard without dying I would surely appreciate the run better than mine.

zfunk007

2006-03-22 05:02:30 am

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Thanks for the tips Qlex. What makes hard so hard isn't the fact that the guys shoot at you more but the fact that you can only get hit twice by a bullet (instead of like 5 times on easy). So at some points in this game, like the Flattop fight, it is going to come down to mostly luck for me to beat it. Sucks that Flattop is the 2nd to last boss fight.

I do like to pick the hard games to speed run, but then again, I guess most games are pretty difficult to run through anyway. I"ll keep you updated and possibly post some more movies when I get better.

Qlex

2006-03-22 05:39:28 am

Tetris/Melee player

Yeah, actually I got an idea. I'm using this one for my Stage 1-B, the train. I don't know if you can use it without taking risks of dying but whatever, it's still really helpful if you can use it.

Try getting hit by a punching man, or a man with a knife, before getting into a dangerous area (say, in the sewer, the fat guy with the tommy gun). You will still be able to live after one hit, so you can use your invincibility time to keep walking and hit every guy that may be problematic.

If you have to take risks, you may use that trick three times. But after that, it's no mistakes allowed. It can be a little help for the sewer and perhaps the harbor.

Good you're working on Dick Tracy. Keep it up, I can't wait to see these vids Wink

.

zfunk007

Edit history:

zfunk007: 2006-03-22 04:12:15 pm

2006-03-22 04:10:11 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Thats a good idea Qlex, I may use that. I haven't made it as far as the sewer yet in my practice runs (I'm trying to work on the earlier levels right now) but I'll try it when I get there. I would only be able to use it 3 times though since it's on hard.

One thing I have been practicing a lot, especailly on that first "punching" board is jumping over the "pink" guys bullets while still moving. I can do it now where I jump over their first bullet, duck under the other ones and then jump up and punch them. It looks pretty cool but will no doubt be quite risky in the later levels.

DigiMe

2006-03-22 04:32:25 pm

you're going to be playing all the levels again and again before you'll get a good run, so maybe the tactics will change, but you'll eventually find a way around even the harder stages. thats part of why i respect good runs.

i've seen the first level & its crazy! looks nice, i'll like seeing this one for sure.

Qlex

Edit history:

Qlex: 2006-03-22 04:36:09 pm

2006-03-22 04:35:16 pm

Tetris/Melee player

Zfunk007 :
Haha, I'm using that too. It's quite hard to jump over two bullets, the margin of error is only around 5 frames, so 1/12 second after you land. It's impossible to jump over three bullets, as it's impossible to jump over bullets of multiple pink guys. So that's a good idea to try it in stage 1-B only.

Actually, on the first part of the stage, you have to walk to the right without jumping, so you cannot manipulate AI in any kind of way. The first guy can be killed without having to stop (over two bullets only), yet the second one do NEVER want to stop lately. You can do one jump, then crouch and jump as you said, but if you like being tricky, you can get hit by the last blue guy you meet and then continue your way through the bullets. After that, for many reasons, you may not have to take risks. Just kill all the pink guys that do not see you early and everything should be okay for you to allow you a mistake.

zfunk007

2006-03-22 11:02:46 pm

To Speedrun... or not to Speedrun...

Yeah, actually the farther I get and the more I practice, the more I am going to be jumping over bullets I think. The level after you beat "The Brow" is a good example. There are SO many places where you can make it look sweet with some practice of jumping over bullets. I have been experimenting with it to see what I can do.

I think what's going to end up happening (and since this game has a low to almost non-existant random factor, meaning all the guys are in the exact same place every time and they pretty much shoot the same every time) is that I will end up almost rehearsing the game. I will make a plan for each level. Decide what bullets to jump over, where to be safe and so fourth. Probably similar to what your doing Qlex, except I'll be doing it in real time ;D. I still respect what your doing though, it will look sweet once your done.