ESA 2012 Practice Thread

2012-07-18 02:44:49 am

I raced Romscout in SotN 2 days ago, I did some really cool stuff, like selling the garnet before I equipped it and therefor had to get the onyx(?) and use the money glitch on those instead. Also forgot to buy a library card so I had to go all the way back after getting that gem. In real time the run was still just under 30min which is...ok, maybe?

Will maybe do another run or two this weekend so watch out for me on twitch, if you like. http://sv.twitch.tv/ozzy__88

Kotti

2012-07-22 09:59:33 am

Played Total Overdose for the first time in about 8 months and got 1:10:30, with autosaves enabled which adds probably a minute or two. I doubt I'll be practicing this much more since a random run like this went as well as it did, there's just one shortcut I need to have another look.

The practice run:
http://www.twitch.tv/thekotti/b/325840292

There's also some Hitman Blood Money practice on my channel.

RoboSparkle

Edit history:

RoboSparkle: 2012-07-22 04:13:29 pm

2012-07-22 12:34:45 pm

Magical. Flying. Bathtub

Ok, long post coming as I realise I haven't updated you in a while:

Arkham City: Tried an NG No Catwoman run... Had a terrible run, died, missed tricks... and still got under 2 hours (1:50:something). I also have my routes for donation sidequests sorted, so no issues there. Also I have improved the WR RTA time for the Hard Mode No Catwoman category down to 1:47:55 Smiley

Arkham Asylum: Had a race with trdef last night and did pretty badly, took me over an hour to beat the Second Scarecrow nightmare. Had another go today and got 2hr 28min for the whole game on easy. Need to run through my route again to see if I can beat 2:20 but I'm reasonably happy for now.

James Pond: Will need to revise this one, as I've forgotten how hard the game can be (plus all the missions are effectively boring fetch-quests), so might alter the run to use a glitch that skips most of the game and you wind up doing the first mission and the last two. This would cut the time estimate down and hopefully make the run more entertaining, although I can no longer use the helmet to make the out-of-water bits easier, so this will require more practice. I'll keep you posted.

James Pond 2: Had a quick go on the NTSC (emulator) version and clocked a 38 min run. My last mega drive run (about 2 weeks ago) took 46 mins Not sure whether it'll be PAL or NTSC when I get there but I'm prepared either way.

James Pond 3: Need to practice my IL's for this one in a few bits, had a go a week ago and this took just over 45 mins! However I know which bits I need to go over, so those times should tumble pretty sharpish. Also I can't remember what kind of run I said I'll be doing but this is now definitely going to be a bad ending run; I don't have the time to practice the cheese mines or stiltonium machine levels for a good-ending run

Fantastic Dizzy: I'm not convinced on this one at all. My last game took just over an hour and while I'm confident I can save further time with practice, the real problem with this one is I've discovered that it is actually a boring game to watch - there aren't any speedrun "tricks" apart from knowing which key-shaped-like-an-item goes into which metaphoric keyhole. The speedrun actually is just an advanced travelling salesman problem in figuring out the best logistics. The closest things to tricks in the run is using a route that skips two of the items and it actually costs time to do that!

Sorry that this is happening so close to the event, but I recommend removing the run. However, I would also like to suggest a replacement game that I have been running a lot lately: Mega Bomberman (Mega Drive). Several Reasons for this:

1) Bomberman games are popular, there isn't any Bomberman on the schedule currently, and Mega Bomberman kicks ass (well, bombs)
2) While there aren't any "glitches" or "skips" as such, the power ups that you get (the best ones of which always come up in the same levels) allow for a huge amount of speedup (especially when I combine remote bombs with walk-through-walls, and break every regular level from 4-1 onwards!)
3) All the bosses are destroyed in circa 10 seconds thanks to the aforementioned powerups and rock-solid boss strats.
4) Despite the massive theoretical amount of RNG-troll potential, my times are pretty consistent on this game (last four runs clocked in at 55:34, 52:56, 57:18 and 53:23), so you can allow the same time for this one as you would have Fantastic Dizzy.
5) I don't want to play Fantastic Dizzy anymore and I really want to play Mega Bomberman!

Spyro 2 40-orb race: Happy with how this is going, my PB is now 1:20:17 and this is dropping every week; I'm aware this is more than a bit behind my competition, but I'm confident that I won't be utterly destroyed at least!

tl;dr:
Arkham City's readiness is beyond question for all modes and possible incentives. Arkham Asylum is ready but just needs a bit of polish. James Pond 2 is ready. Spyro 2 is ready but needs tightening. James Pond 1's route needs revising slightly (this should make it easier, quicker and more entertaining though). James Pond 3 needs further practice on a few levels this week.

I would like to pretty please replace Fantastic Dizzy with Mega Bomberman, which is totally ready to run.

I don't have the equipment to stream my Mega Drive or PS2, but I'll try and get some emulators working and stream them this week.

Ok, long post coming as I realise I haven't updated you in a while:

[b]Arkham City:[/b] Tried an NG No Catwoman run... Had a terrible run, died, missed tricks... and still got under 2 hours (1:50:something).  I also have my routes for donation sidequests sorted, so no issues there.  Also I have improved the WR RTA time for the Hard Mode No Catwoman category down to 1:47:55 :)
[b]
Arkham Asylum:[/b] Had a race with trdef last night and did pretty badly, took me over an hour to beat the Second Scarecrow nightmare.  Had another go today and got 2hr 28min for the whole game on easy.  Need to run through my route again to see if I can beat 2:20 but I'm reasonably happy for now.

[b]James Pond:[/b] Will need to revise this one, as I've forgotten how hard the game can be (plus all the missions are effectively boring fetch-quests), so might alter the run to use a glitch that skips most of the game and you wind up doing the first mission and the last two.  This would cut the time estimate down and hopefully make the run more entertaining, although I can no longer use the helmet to make the out-of-water bits easier, so this will require more practice.  I'll keep you posted.

[b]James Pond 2:[/b] Had a quick go on the NTSC (emulator) version and clocked a 38 min run. My last mega drive run (about 2 weeks ago) took 46 mins  Not sure whether it'll be PAL or NTSC when I get there but I'm prepared either way.

[b]James Pond 3:[/b]  Need to practice my IL's for this one in a few bits, had a go a week ago and this took just over 45 mins!  However I know which bits I need to go over, so those times should tumble pretty sharpish.  Also I can't remember what kind of run I said I'll be doing but this is now definitely going to be a bad ending run; I don't have the time to practice the cheese mines or stiltonium machine levels for a good-ending run

[b]Fantastic Dizzy:[/b] I'm not convinced on this one at all.  My last game took just over an hour and while I'm confident I can save further time with practice, the real problem with this one is I've discovered that it is actually a boring game to watch - there aren't any speedrun "tricks" apart from knowing which key-shaped-like-an-item goes into which metaphoric keyhole.  The speedrun actually is just an advanced travelling salesman problem in figuring out the best logistics.  The closest things to tricks in the run is using a route that skips two of the items and it actually costs time to do that!

Sorry that this is happening so close to the event, but I recommend removing the run.  However, I would also like to suggest a replacement game that I have been running a lot lately: [b]Mega Bomberman (Mega Drive)[/b]. Several Reasons for this:

1) Bomberman games are popular, there isn't any Bomberman on the schedule currently, and Mega Bomberman kicks ass (well, bombs)
2) While there aren't any "glitches" or "skips" as such, the power ups that you get (the best ones of which always come up in the same levels) allow for a huge amount of speedup (especially when I combine remote bombs with walk-through-walls, and break every regular level from 4-1 onwards!)
3) All the bosses are destroyed in circa 10 seconds thanks to the aforementioned powerups and rock-solid boss strats.
4) Despite the massive theoretical amount of RNG-troll potential, my times are pretty consistent on this game (last four runs clocked in at 55:34, 52:56, 57:18 and 53:23), so you can allow the same time for this one as you would have Fantastic Dizzy.
5) I don't want to play Fantastic Dizzy anymore and I really want to play Mega Bomberman!

[b]Spyro 2 40-orb race:[/b] Happy with how this is going, my PB is now 1:20:17 and this is dropping every week; I'm aware this is more than a bit behind my competition, but I'm confident that I won't be utterly destroyed at least!

[u][b]tl;dr:[/b][/u] 
[b]Arkham City[/b]'s readiness is beyond question for all modes and possible incentives.  [b]Arkham Asylum[/b] is ready but just needs a bit of polish.  [b]James Pond 2[/b] is ready. [b]Spyro 2 [/b]is ready but needs tightening. [b]James Pond 1[/b]'s route needs revising slightly (this should make it easier, quicker and more entertaining though). [b]James Pond 3[/b] needs further practice on a few levels this week.

I would like to pretty please replace [b]Fantastic Dizzy[/b] with [b]Mega Bomberman[/b], which is totally ready to run.

I don't have the equipment to stream my Mega Drive or PS2, but I'll try and get some emulators working and stream them this week.

ozzy88

2012-07-23 01:05:04 am

I did a SotN run this weekend and it went alright until the very end. I forgot to heal myself before attempting the relic skip, did bad on off-screen positioning or failed the input. Therefor I fell thru the floor and hit the Guardian for more then all my health...so much blood. Of course I didn't save anywhere cuz it's just practice. But I loaded a save, did the trick and finished it.

There is not much of a point to practice the relic skip but I will do it a couple of times anyway.

IrregularJinny

2012-07-23 04:50:32 am

Infinite Combo

Later Today I will do some MMX 100% practice and MMX2 any% runs
www.twitch.tv/yingofsweden

Edenal

2012-07-24 01:03:44 am

Hockey enthusiast

As for my update: I've been playing a lot of Goof Troop, at least two play-throughs a day those days I've been home, good progress.

Also been playing World of Illusions these sessions, but again. Only as Mickey and that part is marathon-ready! I really can't duck out anymore on my Donald sessions Smiley

Edenal

2012-07-24 02:12:04 pm

Hockey enthusiast

New Goof Troop record today. 27:59. I think I can get it down to 26:30.

Alko

2012-07-24 05:55:26 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Sir, you must stop practising Goof Troop immediately, as you are making me feel bad Wink

Actually, my thesis is as good as handed in, so I see free time approaching … and we'll both need to remomorise 2P-strats anyway xD

Blechy

2012-07-24 06:55:58 pm

Cool Edenal! Here's hoping a new computer falls into your lap for to start streaming

Edenal

2012-07-25 05:08:33 am

Hockey enthusiast

It's your "fault" Alko Smiley

I just enjoy the game too much to stop playing!

As for streaming, I've got everything setup but my internet connection is so damn slow upstream. I usually get somewhere between 350-400 kbps and even then I drop alot of frames. I've talked to my ISP, and after the 31th I'm upgrading my connection which in theory should give me a stable connection somewhere around 800-1000 kbps. Which is enough to stream Smiley

Edenal

2012-07-25 01:13:33 pm

Hockey enthusiast

Sorry to spam with thread... (Not really :D)

27:04!

Alko

2012-07-25 01:29:11 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Are we gonna battle us, submitting one-player records soon? xDD But whey, they're still different categories, Goofy and Max .__.

Blechy

2012-07-25 02:28:31 pm

no excuses

TimpZ

Edit history:

TimpZ: 2012-07-25 06:47:26 pm

2012-07-25 06:40:47 pm

I got a 45:53 RTA at Sonic 3 & Knuckles without doing either the LR2 Boss skip nor the new DE2 zip which combined could save about 3-4 minutes. Mike89 I'm coming for you ;p!

ozzy88

2012-07-25 11:08:43 pm

Sounds like people are getting into shape!

Sadly my hands get destroyed every time I play SotN so I can't do too much practice cuz it would just end up in pain and frustration. I feel like I haven't been able to do really well at it since my accident. But I'm sure most people won't rival me even on a bad day, mohahaha (trying so hard to be confident -.-')

WERY

2012-08-01 10:57:39 am

The Duce

I have not practiced enough and I need to go on with the gaming from now on as there aint much time left. Last time I played Rygar, I managed to beat my personal best record with 3-4 minutes so I hope I will be in great shape for that run when it is time to take upon it live, while the world is watching...

Edenal

2012-08-01 12:28:07 pm

Hockey enthusiast

I will stream abit now!

twitch.tv/edenalsda

Cheers!

Alko

2012-08-01 06:44:34 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Thought I might mention a 31:58 on Goof Troop just now. Also thought, I'ld mention, this is a PAL time. Edenal, you're using an NTSC cart by now, aren't you? That explains, why you are so much faster xD

Svenne

Edit history:

Svenne: 2012-08-02 05:02:13 am

Svenne: 2012-08-02 04:52:29 am

2012-08-02 04:52:05 am

Smörgåsbord

This is gonna be awesome, can't wait! And yeah I forgot, Arva is gonna do Wizard & Warriors 3 on ESA. The game that NESbot did on SGDQ! Wink

I had to take a small break from SMB2 for like a week, but will be on up the wagon in no-time and hopefully I top my skills to ESA. But Dxtr is consistent, I need to find more back-up routes!^^ I guess my plan is to go all out in the race, and if things goes sour, I then have to use the back-up strats!^^ So no safe "marathon run" for me!

ozzy88

2012-08-02 01:15:48 pm

Got 23:27 SotN any% run. It's decent. If this was all the trouble I had in a marathon run I'd be fine with the run. Had a pretty good start for once.

http://sv.twitch.tv/ozzy__88/b/327167699

Airrider

2012-08-03 03:38:02 pm

I feel pretty confident with Battle Kid now, even though deaths are pretty much unavoidable and it´s falcon punch hard. But hey, who can do better? Tongue

ESA is gonna be a lot of fun. I look forward to meeting... all of you (!).

WERY

2012-08-04 10:23:51 am

The Duce

Perhaps I have learned how to master Street Fighter 2010: the Final Fight. I've managed to get 29 minutes and 3 seconds in 2008 and this year, I've finally beaten that time and made my first no-death-run

For the moment I'm down on 25 minutes, just as I predicted would happen if the game was beaten in one life. Now I must practice hard to uphold that skill as it will be required on the marathon. None of the games I run there will ever be as hard as this game. The AI is unpredictable in most of the stages

ozzy88

2012-08-04 12:47:56 pm

WERY you could definitely have picked easier games Tongue

I wish you good luck and it will be impressive to watch you pull it off at the marathon!

WERY

2012-08-05 06:29:00 pm

The Duce

Street Fighter 2010 is the only game to be afraid of in this case. The other ones are easy to beat but I want to take the chance of this one too. Lately I have beaten the game in time so I just need to be in shape I believe. If I can pull that one off, it sure will be inmpressive Smiley

ozzy88

2012-08-06 12:25:20 am

So I did more SotN running this weekend and all the runs were shit. Richter why won't you let me skip you? I wasted about 1-3min every run on that idiot trick. I also managed to mess up the relic skip a lot during the last run. I sometimes die during attempts because I'm not using an elixer when I should, so stupid, it's a really minor time loss.

The worst I did was a bit over 25min In-game and the best was close to 24min, so I was in that range. Getting the library skip in one of the attempts again was amazing, too bad Richter skip put a stop to a potential new personal best. But that's how running that game is.