Final Fantasy VIII

2008-10-15 11:00:59 am

Heyyy... wait.. i don't know you. Don't confuse me

First Post: 23-08-2005, 20:52:11
Right now: 15-10-2008, 19:00

3 years+ seems enough time... this is no buildup anymore.. this is a stretch.

No.. wait.. it IS a build up.. but its starting to hurt ^^

Scorpio

2008-10-15 11:21:06 am

Watcher

Quote from Maglok:

It's like a good movie that has been in development for a long time and just won't release. While you don't get the movie, the build up alone is cool. Smiley

I mean when you watch the movie, it's just that, a movie, but while it's still being made... Smiley

No, it is worse. It is more like "ok, we have finished and edited movie, but we want to makes little-bit change in two-three scenes" and after months to see "ups". You know, this is the worst word to here "ups" Smiley

DateHell

2008-10-17 01:18:03 am

po0oq

Unfortunately, my (current) PC can't handle the available emulation-TAS method... however I'd still like to discuss the options

clearly, the run/walk strategy could be perfected..
drops could be manipulated to the max, but then the question would be what items are useful?
always crit? always in the high range of attack damage? more?
any other TAS-only tricks?

FiveMagics

2008-11-08 03:05:35 pm

Bitch Knee'd my nuts!

Is anyone still attempting this run? I think I might take a swing at it but the last time i tried running this game my final save was at 13:59. Just wondering if someone could coach me through a couple parts, like geting the fish fins. that pretty tuff. Is there a alternative route?

RPF

2008-11-08 06:54:11 pm

Just wondering, what was the fastest time claimed? ever beat 8 hours???? Sorry but I don't wanna read 81 pages. Tongue

Abaddon

2008-11-08 07:52:13 pm

Heyyy... wait.. i don't know you. Don't confuse me

As you can see in the title, the old run clocks in at 8:47... Wasabi didn't submit it, becuase a segment was missing. It is an unofficial record, so 9 hours could be a new (world?) record at this time, but everyone wants to beat the 8:47 and who can blame anyone.

VippiN

2008-11-08 11:38:14 pm

FF8 & FF12.. Long awaited runs.

We might have a run by 2010.

I'm going to piss myself laughing if by 2010 there is no run, i'll quote this post.

FiveMagics

2008-11-09 08:37:48 am

Bitch Knee'd my nuts!

Quote from VippiN:

We might have a run by 2010.

I'm going to piss myself laughing if by 2010 there is no run, i'll quote this post.

Yea that would be funny. But I think im going to do it. But it ain't going to happen overnite. I can assure that one.

Carcinogen

2008-11-09 11:50:17 am

I'm playing around with this game again.

I just got done farming fish fins, about 22 minutes in. Kinda planning it as I go along, but I've got a good idea of what I'm going to do. I just hope the end result is passable. =]

Waef

2008-11-09 01:26:33 pm

I haven't read this entire thread, but is a route listed anywhere in this thread?

Carcinogen

2008-11-09 02:40:22 pm

No, but you can pretty much put together a route from everything in this thread.

There are times listed, if that helps.

hillza

2008-11-09 03:51:24 pm

Hmm an ff8 run this is my favourite game ever ever ever i think im gonna have to compete with you on this one, i must have completed it like 30 times, i even imported a pocket station from japan and levelled up boko and got ribbons and friendships : )

Carcinogen

2008-11-09 04:00:49 pm

Pocketstation is pretty ballin'. I gotta agree. Shame it doesn't come in handy in a speedrun though =[

FiveMagics

2008-11-09 04:14:30 pm

Bitch Knee'd my nuts!

So who's all going to be doing this run?

Carcinogen

2008-11-09 07:33:24 pm

So in IRC, LagDotCom brought up an interesting tidbit that I'm not sure was brought up anywhere else in the thread.

Meltdown.

1 Gayla card = Mystery Fluid = 10 Meltdowns with Diablos's ST Mag-RF.

How useful would this be, considering low level monsters and stuff?

Waef

2008-11-09 08:12:00 pm

I think it was mentioned that you could refine meltdowns from a card you get from just playing through the game. The cards you get from the guy at the bar maybe? Not sure which card it was though, may have been Gayla.

Carcinogen

2008-11-09 09:27:13 pm

Well, I guess the thing to do would be to keep my eyes peeled, unless someone knows where it pops up during the run.

DoubleThink

2008-11-10 03:57:01 am

There's a word for that

Meltdown is <3. And only mildly broken!
It could potentially be useful in any situation where it would save the use of one or more limit breaks, preferably on things with fairly high Vitality. According to this FAQ I'm reading, the guy in front of the elevator who gives you card at the very start of the game gives you a Gayla Card. Nice!
Having a quick look at things with mentionable Vit, at around level 10-15 or so...
Seifer at the end of Disc 1 has quite a lot (~100), but this is only an issue if Squall can't down him with one Renzokuken, or one Renzo + Attack.
BGH251F2 has about 70 both times, and quite a lot of HP, so a Meltdown here will increase (physical) damage by about 1.25x.
The Norg Pod is a biggie, about 153 Vit, so a Meltdown here will increase damage 2.2x. The Orbs can also be killed via Meltdown but I don't know if that does anything useful. Norg himself has about 5 Vit though, so no need for it there Tongue

In the second Seifer fight at the end of disc 2, when he's all slumped, he has ~94, but he's not really threatening or anything >_> 1.45x increase.
Final battle involving Raijin... ~75 Vit, increases damage 1.3x.
Meltdown will allow the left and right probes in the Mobile Type 8 fight to be destroyed, don't remember if that does anything though.
Final Seifer fight, ~107 Vit, increases damage 1.56x.
Sorceress C (Creepy snake witch who counts down to Ultima) always has 119, Meltdown increases damage by 1.69x here.
For some reason the FAQ I'm looking at doesn't have non-HP stats for the final battles, but from what I remember that won't matter anyway since there's no time to unlock Magic. Irvine can also pull this stuff off without Meltdown due to his AP ammo, if there's time to get any. I didn't do Spirit because I'm assuming magic won't be used much, but most bosses have higher Spr than Vit (about 100-200 is common) so it will be effective at raising magic damage as well.

Other stuff, while I think of it...
Fuel can be refined into Fire Ammo, which is actually slightly stronger than, say, Demolition Ammo (due to the reload time of Canister Shot) barring resistance to fire. It will also destroy the Oilboyles utterly, but the downside is that then Irvine can't be taken to the Galbadia missile base.
If there's anywhere a quick Ultima could be handy (doubt it), there' a hidden draw-point in the mayor's house at Fisherman's Horizon. I thought it was cool for a normal play-through >_>

I read through the thread some time ago, but I can't remember that much (might have helped if I'd played the game then...) and the thread's been stuck on the first disc for a while now, so I dunno how much help I'll be other than running calcs like that. Still, it's not like there's any shortage of ways to break this game Tongue

Meltdown is <3. And only mildly broken!
It could potentially be useful in any situation where it would save the use of one or more limit breaks, preferably on things with fairly high Vitality. According to this FAQ I'm reading, the guy in front of the elevator who gives you card at the very start of the game gives you a Gayla Card. Nice!
Having a quick look at things with mentionable Vit, at around level 10-15 or so...
Seifer at the end of Disc 1 has quite a lot (~100), but this is only an issue if Squall can't down him with one Renzokuken, or one Renzo + Attack.
BGH251F2 has about 70 both times, and quite a lot of HP, so a Meltdown here will increase (physical) damage by about 1.25x.
The Norg Pod is a biggie, about 153 Vit, so a Meltdown here will increase damage 2.2x. The Orbs can also be killed via Meltdown but I don't know if that does anything useful. Norg himself has about 5 Vit though, so no need for it there :P
In the second Seifer fight at the end of disc 2, when he's all slumped, he has ~94, but he's not really threatening or anything >_> 1.45x increase.
Final battle involving Raijin... ~75 Vit, increases damage 1.3x.
Meltdown will allow the left and right probes in the Mobile Type 8 fight to be destroyed, don't remember if that does anything though.
Final Seifer fight, ~107 Vit, increases damage 1.56x.
Sorceress C (Creepy snake witch who counts down to Ultima) always has 119, Meltdown increases damage by 1.69x here.
For some reason the FAQ I'm looking at doesn't have non-HP stats for the final battles, but from what I remember that won't matter anyway since there's no time to unlock Magic. Irvine can also pull this stuff off without Meltdown due to his AP ammo, if there's time to get any. I didn't do Spirit because I'm assuming magic won't be used much, but most bosses have higher Spr than Vit (about 100-200 is common) so it will be effective at raising magic damage as well.

Other stuff, while I think of it...
Fuel can be refined into Fire Ammo, which is actually slightly stronger than, say, Demolition Ammo (due to the reload time of Canister Shot) barring resistance to fire. It will also destroy the Oilboyles utterly, but the downside is that then Irvine can't be taken to the Galbadia missile base.
If there's anywhere a quick Ultima could be handy (doubt it), there' a hidden draw-point in the mayor's house at Fisherman's Horizon. I thought it was cool for a normal play-through >_>

I read through the thread some time ago, but I can't remember that much (might have helped if I'd played the game then...) and the thread's been stuck on the first disc for a while now, so I dunno how much help I'll be other than running calcs like that. Still, it's not like there's any shortage of ways to break this game :P

Carcinogen

Edit history:

Carcinogen: 2008-11-10 03:45:28 pm

2008-11-10 07:04:49 am

I don't have much of Disc 2 planned at all. Disc 3 will be a breeze, but there are so many things about Disc 2 I don't think I covered while reading the thread. First I need to run up the numbers so I know what I have at the end of Disc 1.

The consensus seems to be to have Diablos learn Time Mag-RF after learning Enc-Half.

Also, Huge-BGH-Tank-Motherfucker at the missile base. I'm not sure how to split up the party there, though I'm thinking Aqua Breath. I could always try getting a Water Crystal from the Fastitocalons on the beach outside of Deling City. Not sure how time-effective it would be. Though tbh I could just use Armageddon Fist... Pretty sure that's the way to go.

As you said, Fire Ammo is king vs. the Oilboyles... By then I should have Ammo-RF anyway.

But in between that, what about the return to Balamb Garden? I believe I read that only a few areas had to be cleared of monsters to move on.

Anywho, I'll worry about all of that once I get to Disc 2. I'm 47 minutes in at the Communications Tower. I hope that's mildly decent.

I don't have much of Disc 2 planned at all. Disc 3 will be a breeze, but there are so many things about Disc 2 I don't think I covered while reading the thread. First I need to run up the numbers so I know what I have at the end of Disc 1.

The consensus seems to be to have Diablos learn Time Mag-RF after learning Enc-Half.

Also, Huge-BGH-Tank-Motherfucker at the missile base. I'm not sure how to split up the party there, though I'm thinking Aqua Breath. I could always try getting a Water Crystal from the Fastitocalons on the beach outside of Deling City. Not sure how time-effective it would be. Though tbh I could just use Armageddon Fist... Pretty sure that's the way to go.

As you said, Fire Ammo is king vs. the Oilboyles... By then I should have Ammo-RF anyway.

But in between that, what about the return to Balamb Garden? I believe I read that only a few areas had to be cleared of monsters to move on.

Anywho, I'll worry about all of that once I get to Disc 2. I'm 47 minutes in at the Communications Tower. I hope that's mildly decent.

Grimmace

2008-11-10 08:04:50 pm

NothingCanStopT heGrimmace

Well, if nobody else is posting a run, why not post a sub 10 hour????

I mean, 8:47 is good, but the proof is in the pudding!!!! Whatever that means, somebody just post one and enjoy the glory until somebody beats it by 10mins.

It will be a glorious competition. I'll start by posting my perfect 77 hour run....

DoubleThink

2008-11-11 03:26:46 am

There's a word for that

Another thought:
The guy who gives you the cards also gives you a Gesper Card, which mods to a Black Hole, which teaches Quistis Degenerator. This works on some bosses, usually those which are normal enemies at some other point, like...
Granaldo + Raldos: 80% to defeat any of them.
Elite Soldier + GIM52A's: 80% again, for any.
Oilboyles: 80% again >_> Slower than using Flame Shot, but it could mean that Irvine can be taken to the Galbadia base to fight BGH.
There's also Death, but that's less likely to work on most things... however, it is much faster than Degenerator. It works on the Sorceress A and B medley 80% of the time (if there's any danger of not-killing them in one/two hits...), the Propagators 70% of the time (same diff), and probably any of the other regular-type enemies you'll have to fight.

Speaking of which, I don't know about the Balamb Garden thing... you can't end that part until Xu appears IIRC. Most areas of the Garden have an event battle (usually a staff member send a monster after you), so maybe just choose the ones that seem 'important'?

More other stuff:
Diabolos is already pretty busy learning stuff, but is there any time to learn Darkside? I found it a great skill when I was playing through (3x damage for a measly 10% of max HP, and it can critical... geez, is there anything in this game that isn't overpowered? Kamizake is even worse...) and it's very quick to use. It could quite possibly save time on Limit Breaks, especially on Squall who's liable to pull off a Rough Divide or something.
Fujin, Raijin and Seifer are all weak to Poison x1.5 each time you fight them, so would it be worth refining some Bios from Wizard Stones/whatever with ST Mag-RF? (Disc 2 stuff?)
Now that I think about it, it might take a while to get ST Mag-RF, and it will really be making the biggest difference vs the NORG Pod... but then 10 Meltdowns is kinda limited, unless you wanna get some more late game.

Another thought:
The guy who gives you the cards also gives you a Gesper Card, which mods to a Black Hole, which teaches Quistis Degenerator. This works on some bosses, usually those which are normal enemies at some other point, like...
Granaldo + Raldos: 80% to defeat any of them.
Elite Soldier + GIM52A's: 80% again, for any.
Oilboyles: 80% again >_> Slower than using Flame Shot, but it could mean that Irvine can be taken to the Galbadia base to fight BGH.
There's also Death, but that's less likely to work on most things... however, it is much faster than Degenerator. It works on the Sorceress A and B medley 80% of the time (if there's any danger of not-killing them in one/two hits...), the Propagators 70% of the time (same diff), and probably any of the other regular-type enemies you'll have to fight.

Speaking of which, I don't know about the Balamb Garden thing... you can't end that part until Xu appears IIRC. Most areas of the Garden have an event battle (usually a staff member send a monster after you), so maybe just choose the ones that seem 'important'?

More other stuff:
Diabolos is already pretty busy learning stuff, but is there any time to learn Darkside? I found it a great skill when I was playing through (3x damage for a measly 10% of max HP, and it can critical... geez, is there anything in this game that [i]isn't[/i] overpowered? Kamizake is even worse...) and it's very quick to use. It could quite possibly save time on Limit Breaks, especially on Squall who's liable to pull off a Rough Divide or something.
Fujin, Raijin and Seifer are all weak to Poison x1.5 each time you fight them, so would it be worth refining some Bios from Wizard Stones/whatever with ST Mag-RF? (Disc 2 stuff?)
Now that I think about it, it might take a while to get ST Mag-RF, and it will really be making the biggest difference vs the NORG Pod... but then 10 Meltdowns is kinda limited, unless you wanna get some more late game.

Carcinogen

2008-11-11 06:53:43 am

Quote from DoubleThink:

Another thought:
The guy who gives you the cards also gives you a Gesper Card, which mods to a Black Hole, which teaches Quistis Degenerator. This works on some bosses, usually those which are normal enemies at some other point, like...
Granaldo + Raldos: 80% to defeat any of them.
Elite Soldier + GIM52A's: 80% again, for any.
Oilboyles: 80% again >_> Slower than using Flame Shot, but it could mean that Irvine can be taken to the Galbadia base to fight BGH.
There's also Death, but that's less likely to work on most things... however, it is much faster than Degenerator. It works on the Sorceress A and B medley 80% of the time (if there's any danger of not-killing them in one/two hits...), the Propagators 70% of the time (same diff), and probably any of the other regular-type enemies you'll have to fight.

It won't come in handy until late Disc 1/early Disc 2. So, perhaps it might work vs. the Oilboyles.

Quote:

Speaking of which, I don't know about the Balamb Garden thing... you can't end that part until Xu appears IIRC. Most areas of the Garden have an event battle (usually a staff member send a monster after you), so maybe just choose the ones that seem 'important'?

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to figure out how to trigger Xu's appearance.

Quote:

More other stuff:
Diabolos is already pretty busy learning stuff, but is there any time to learn Darkside? I found it a great skill when I was playing through (3x damage for a measly 10% of max HP, and it can critical... geez, is there anything in this game that isn't overpowered? Kamizake is even worse...) and it's very quick to use. It could quite possibly save time on Limit Breaks, especially on Squall who's liable to pull off a Rough Divide or something.

Nah, I can't throw Darkside in the middle of it. Diablos has to learn too much other shit. =p

Quote:

Fujin, Raijin and Seifer are all weak to Poison x1.5 each time you fight them, so would it be worth refining some Bios from Wizard Stones/whatever with ST Mag-RF? (Disc 2 stuff?)
Now that I think about it, it might take a while to get ST Mag-RF, and it will really be making the biggest difference vs the NORG Pod... but then 10 Meltdowns is kinda limited, unless you wanna get some more late game.

NORG is the perfect boss to use Meltdown on. Still, number crunching. Hopefully, I should have ST Mag-RF by that time. My focus is still in this order- Enc-Half, Time Mag-RF, Enc-None, and ST Mag-RF... Depends on where the random encounters are... On that note, is it faster to barge through the missile base, or play it stealth? Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen investigates. <_<

[quote="DoubleThink"]
Another thought:
The guy who gives you the cards also gives you a Gesper Card, which mods to a Black Hole, which teaches Quistis Degenerator. This works on some bosses, usually those which are normal enemies at some other point, like...
Granaldo + Raldos: 80% to defeat any of them.
Elite Soldier + GIM52A's: 80% again, for any.
Oilboyles: 80% again >_> Slower than using Flame Shot, but it could mean that Irvine can be taken to the Galbadia base to fight BGH.
There's also Death, but that's less likely to work on most things... however, it is much faster than Degenerator. It works on the Sorceress A and B medley 80% of the time (if there's any danger of not-killing them in one/two hits...), the Propagators 70% of the time (same diff), and probably any of the other regular-type enemies you'll have to fight.[/quote]

It won't come in handy until late Disc 1/early Disc 2. So, perhaps it might work vs. the Oilboyles.

[quote]Speaking of which, I don't know about the Balamb Garden thing... you can't end that part until Xu appears IIRC. Most areas of the Garden have an event battle (usually a staff member send a monster after you), so maybe just choose the ones that seem 'important'?[/quote]Yes, that's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to figure out how to trigger Xu's appearance.

[quote]More other stuff:
Diabolos is already pretty busy learning stuff, but is there any time to learn Darkside? I found it a great skill when I was playing through (3x damage for a measly 10% of max HP, and it can critical... geez, is there anything in this game that [i]isn't[/i] overpowered? Kamizake is even worse...) and it's very quick to use. It could quite possibly save time on Limit Breaks, especially on Squall who's liable to pull off a Rough Divide or something.[/quote]

Nah, I can't throw Darkside in the middle of it. Diablos has to learn too much other shit. =p

[quote]Fujin, Raijin and Seifer are all weak to Poison x1.5 each time you fight them, so would it be worth refining some Bios from Wizard Stones/whatever with ST Mag-RF? (Disc 2 stuff?)
Now that I think about it, it might take a while to get ST Mag-RF, and it will really be making the biggest difference vs the NORG Pod... but then 10 Meltdowns is kinda limited, unless you wanna get some more late game.
[/quote]

NORG is the perfect boss to use Meltdown on. Still, number crunching. Hopefully, I should have ST Mag-RF by that time. My focus is still in this order- Enc-Half, Time Mag-RF, Enc-None, and ST Mag-RF... Depends on where the random encounters are... On that note, is it faster to barge through the missile base, or play it stealth? Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen investigates. <_<

FiveMagics

2008-11-11 03:53:01 pm

Bitch Knee'd my nuts!

Quote from DoubleThink:

More other stuff:
Diabolos is already pretty busy learning stuff, but is there any time to learn Darkside? I found it a great skill when I was playing through (3x damage for a measly 10% of max HP, and it can critical... geez, is there anything in this game that isn't overpowered? Kamizake is even worse...) and it's very quick to use. It could quite possibly save time on Limit Breaks, especially on Squall who's liable to pull off a Rough Divide or something.

I think That Darkside is worth it but kamikazi is way out of the way to go to cactur Island and Fight jumbo cactur. Then have cactur learn it, its just out of its way. Ok in disk 2 i think? when Squall is fighting the galbadian flyer guy the interactive mini-game. after all that crap is done when Rinoa see's you.
As your going into the garden to the right there's is an aura draw point which may be useful. that was the most helpfull thing I could think of for a speed run that i could use.

Carcinogen

2008-11-11 05:38:51 pm

Aura is pretty worthless. If I remember the menu mechanics correctly, all you need to do is swap junctions to another character with the Switch command to reset their HP back to default, then swap them back to reset their max HP, thus putting them in Yellow.

Example:

Level 7 Squall: 9999/9999 HP
Switch junctions to Quistis, confirm you want to reset his HP
486/486 HP
Switch junctions back to Squall
486/9999 HP

See?

DoubleThink

2008-11-11 08:17:31 pm

There's a word for that

Kamikaze can also be taught using a Bomb Spirit, which can be mugged from Lv30+ Bombs. The only place to encounter these would be if they appear on the Island Closest to Heaven/Hell, or in Ulti's castle. Diabolos would also need Mug... bleh.

I've had Zell and Irvine get massive limit breaks under Aura, even at half health.