Final Fantasy X-2

2010-05-04 10:09:43 am

I don't suppose it's simply the old 16-235 -> 0-255 thing? i.e. TVs tend to only output content in the range 16-235, so when you view the video on a PC monitor you have to stretch the contrast.

Xagar

Edit history:

Xagar: 2010-05-22 02:07:16 pm

2010-05-12 08:37:39 pm

Keep working on it!

I should actually do my NG+ run instead of putting it off for so long...

Oh, by the way, I discovered something - there are only IIRC 5 codes for Besaid Chapter 1, and it cycles through each time you finish the game. I don't have my list right now, but I have 3 out of the 5 (I only realized it on like playthrough eight).

Toothache

2010-08-16 03:07:46 am

Let the music play!

Looking to do an improvement to the New Game run. For the most part I will be relying on the same strategies as in the current run (Warrior to begin with, then Wring Black Mage + Charon Dark Knight). I am also going to test the feasibility of detouring to gat the Sprint Shoes in Ch3, First Strike is great to have but it is a couple of minutes out of the way (you start outside Cavern of the Stolen Fayth and have to run back to Calm Lands).

Looking at monster general weakness, it seems a lot more things than most are weak to Ice and Fire, so I will try and get the AP to learn at least Blizzaga along with L2 Black Magic. Menace of the Deep GG still serves as a slow but usable option for early Waterga. It might be worth attempting to steal a Mortal Shock from Oversoul Queen Coeurl for Deathtouch, although I will have had to kill 14 Coeurl-type enemies beforehand (Where's Wakka mission is a good source). Deathtouch + First Strike (or Thief Initiative if I have the AP) should be a nice time saver.

Looking to do an improvement to the New Game run. For the most part I will be relying on the same strategies as in the current run (Warrior to begin with, then Wring Black Mage + Charon Dark Knight). I am also going to test the feasibility of detouring to gat the Sprint Shoes in Ch3, First Strike is great to have but it is a couple of minutes out of the way (you start outside Cavern of the Stolen Fayth and have to run back to Calm Lands).

Looking at monster general weakness, it seems a lot more things than most are weak to Ice and Fire, so I will try and get the AP to learn at least Blizzaga along with L2 Black Magic. Menace of the Deep GG still serves as a slow but usable option for early Waterga. It might be worth attempting to steal a Mortal Shock from Oversoul Queen Coeurl for Deathtouch, although I will have had to kill 14 Coeurl-type enemies beforehand (Where's Wakka mission is a good source). Deathtouch + First Strike (or Thief Initiative if I have the AP) should be a nice time saver.

Augora

2012-07-23 10:38:47 am

dat jerk

You guys knew that this was coming. It was unavoidable. I said I would do it in my donation comment back during AGDQ 2012 and I did it.

I finally managed to complete a SS NG+ run of this game. My time was 3:06, I timed from the time I get control to the time I defeat Shuyin. The ingame timer was 3:15. Which one does SDA accept? Control to finish or ingame?

I know I can improve this run, I know. I had a few slip ups. I wasn't able to avoid the 2nd goon battle after the opening concert (it's a hit and miss for me), the password in Besaid trolled me, the musicians in the elevator (it was the tall harp guy), and the pedestals in Djose trolled me.

The only time I was nervous in this run was the first Venagun form, the tail. Every one of my runs ended to this guy. Luckily this time I was victorious.

I used the strats developed by KADFC on gamefaqs. The only things I didn't use from his strats are the Cat Nip and the Key to Success accessories and he fought Azi Dahaka before Venagun and his time was 3:07. I am not confident enough fight to Azi Dahaka so I just did the floating platforms. The run could be faster if I fought Azi Dahaka but I'm a pansy.

Any thoughts?

(If this thread is supposed to be with the other Final Fantasy X-2 thread, admin please merge it if you so wish.)

You guys knew that this was coming. It was unavoidable. I said I would do it in my donation comment back during AGDQ 2012 and I did it.

I finally managed to complete a SS NG+ run of this game. My time was 3:06, I timed from the time I get control to the time I defeat Shuyin. The ingame timer was 3:15. Which one does SDA accept? Control to finish or ingame?

I know I can improve this run, I know. I had a few slip ups. I wasn't able to avoid the 2nd goon battle after the opening concert (it's a hit and miss for me), the password in Besaid trolled me, the musicians in the elevator (it was the tall harp guy), and the pedestals in Djose trolled me.

The only time I was nervous in this run was the first Venagun form, the tail. Every one of my runs ended to this guy. Luckily this time I was victorious.

I used the strats developed by KADFC on gamefaqs. The only things I didn't use from his strats are the Cat Nip and the Key to Success accessories and he fought Azi Dahaka before Venagun and his time was 3:07. I am not confident enough fight to Azi Dahaka so I just did the floating platforms. The run could be faster if I fought Azi Dahaka but I'm a pansy.

Any thoughts?

(If this thread is supposed to be with the other Final Fantasy X-2 thread, admin please merge it if you so wish.)

puwexil

2012-07-23 10:51:35 am

Professional Second Banana

Went ahead and consolidated the various FFX-2 threads together.

SDA timing for FFX-2 runs is by the final save (new game+ save) after the credits.

Caracarn

2012-07-23 01:49:41 pm

I don't really know how New Game Plus works for this game; I'm assuming you can just collect any item you want in a previous playthrough and then start a New Game Plus with all those items?

If that is the case, Catnip is pretty much required. It is by far the most broken item in the game, and in a New Game Plus you can probably have one on each character, although that is probably overkill. Killing Azi Dahaka with Catnip and Trigger Happy is incredibly easy and will save a lot of time.

For comparison, my best time on the Japanese version is 3:16 game time, which is only a minute off your NG+ time. I think you should probably push this closer to the 3 hour mark before submitting it, since it should be significantly faster than a New Game run.

You also should practice the goon skip at the beginning; once you get the positioning down it's really not that bad. I used to miss it a lot, but now I very rarely miss it. The Besaid password and Djose pedestals are whatever; you can't really do anything about those. Pushing the musicians shouldn't be a problem most of the time when you don't have to mess with Tobli.

I don't really know how New Game Plus works for this game; I'm assuming you can just collect any item you want in a previous playthrough and then start a New Game Plus with all those items?

If that is the case, Catnip is pretty much required. It is by far the most broken item in the game, and in a New Game Plus you can probably have one on each character, although that is probably overkill. Killing Azi Dahaka with Catnip and Trigger Happy is incredibly easy and will save a lot of time.

For comparison, my best time on the Japanese version is 3:16 game time, which is only a minute off your NG+ time. I think you should probably push this closer to the 3 hour mark before submitting it, since it should be significantly faster than a New Game run.

You also should practice the goon skip at the beginning; once you get the positioning down it's really not that bad. I used to miss it a lot, but now I very rarely miss it. The Besaid password and Djose pedestals are whatever; you can't really do anything about those. Pushing the musicians shouldn't be a problem most of the time when you don't have to mess with Tobli.

Rakuen

2012-07-23 05:15:54 pm

Weegee Time

Keep in mind I have a bounty out for this game... Smiley

Augora

2012-07-26 06:28:40 pm

dat jerk

Ok, so apparently my math was off the first time and my actual final time was 3:25... Beginning time was 76:32 and final time was 79:57. I guess I was way excited that I finished my run and I subtracted my time wrong. Sorry about that guys.

So I was going to try to beat my time this Friday but I have family coming to visit, I decided to do it today. And I managed a time of 3:18. I failed avoiding the 2nd goon battle and the Besaid password trolled me. This time the musicians behaved and I got first try pedestals in Djose.

I fought Azi Dahaka this time instead of jumping on the floating platforms, I remembered two or three of the cutscenes I can skip (I think there are a few more... I don't remember) that I saw during Caracarn's run during the FF marathon.

I'll try for a 3:10. It is possible. I know it!

Rakuen, I have plans for that bounty. Great plans.... hehehe

Augora

2012-08-13 10:11:47 am

dat jerk

Bumping this up!

So this morning I managed to get a 3:13!!! So excited!

After yesterday morning's stream, Caracarn gave me some tips to help improve my run. Instead of having three alchemists, just have one and the other two be thieves. Then I switch Yuna from being alchemist to gunner before the Ixion fight in Chapter 3 and use gunner for the rest of the run. The Iron Duke accessory is out and I'm sticking with Catnip for the whole run but won't be using it until Leblanc's Chateau in Chapter 2. I've been using the item Dark Matter but since the animation takes about 6-10 seconds, I only use it twice in the whole run. We've noticed that if Rikku and Paine are alchemists: one, they don't damaged Yuna enough to use catnip and two, whenever they use Phoenix Downs they heal more than 1/3 of Yuna's health. And switching the the ATB back to Wait in Chapter 3 before Ixion is a good move. So thanks to Caracarn for helping me out! Thanks dude!

This run this morning was pretty good, it was a shame I didn't stream it or record it. But I can take a picture of my time for ya if you want. xD In this run, I managed to get second try Besaid password, musicians were a bit mehh, and I got first try pedestals in Djose. Also got the 2nd goon skip in the intro. All in all, I should have recorded it... Gonna be hard to get that time again.

Bumping this up!

So this morning I managed to get a 3:13!!! So excited!

After yesterday morning's stream, Caracarn gave me some tips to help improve my run. Instead of having three alchemists, just have one and the other two be thieves. Then I switch Yuna from being alchemist to gunner before the Ixion fight in Chapter 3 and use gunner for the rest of the run. The Iron Duke accessory is out and I'm sticking with Catnip for the whole run but won't be using it until Leblanc's Chateau in Chapter 2. I've been using the item Dark Matter but since the animation takes about 6-10 seconds, I only use it twice in the whole run. We've noticed that if Rikku and Paine are alchemists: one, they don't damaged Yuna enough to use catnip and two, whenever they use Phoenix Downs they heal more than 1/3 of Yuna's health. And switching the the ATB back to Wait in Chapter 3 before Ixion is a good move. So thanks to Caracarn for helping me out! Thanks dude!

This run this morning was pretty good, it was a shame I didn't stream it or record it. But I can take a picture of my time for ya if you want. xD In this run, I managed to get second try Besaid password, musicians were a bit mehh, and I got first try pedestals in Djose. Also got the 2nd goon skip in the intro. All in all, I should have recorded it... Gonna be hard to get that time again.

Caracarn

2012-08-13 10:46:17 am

glad I could be of help Smiley

I'm sure you can beat this time, it just takes practice and dedication. I'll be sure to watch when you stream again.

Did you manage to find the right strength values for Rikku and Paine to get Yuna in critical HP in one turn?

Augora

2012-08-13 10:50:53 am

dat jerk

No, but it seems that thieves seem to do the trick. The last Venagun fight was bad since Rikku got a critical hit and Paine attacked Yuna shortly after killing her . So thieves are the way to go to get Yuna in critical health in one turn.

Caracarn

2012-08-22 02:28:22 am

Just got the record back for Japanese version. RTA time 3:18:26, SDA time 3:15

http://www.twitch.tv/caracarnvi/b/329483156

I will probably give it at least a month to see if Ryutchi or Tomo beat this run, and then I will probably submit this.

Augora

2012-09-12 01:56:12 pm

dat jerk

3:12. Enough said.

Here's video: http://www.twitch.tv/augora/b/331948428

I might try again and make it 3:11. Maybe we'll see.

Caracarn

2012-09-12 03:34:46 pm

I think you should probably have a bit less Strength on Rikku and Paine, because they seem to be killing Yuna far too easily at the end. Especially on the last Vegnagun fight this is bad, because Pallida Mors wastes a lot of time. Of course a similar thing happened in my record run, except it was that I didn't do enough damage to Yuna, so my last grenade failed to kill the redoubts.

Augora

2012-09-12 04:11:04 pm

dat jerk

I believe the Strength issues lies with the fact that I have Champion Belts on Rikku and Paine at the end. It raises Strength and Defense by 40. If I don't switch out the Charm Bangle with the Champion Belt and just leave the bangle, I think I will be fine. I've been debating about leaving the bangle on since I believe it wastes time to go into the menu and switch accessories. Since I do plan to try again tomorrow morning, we'll see how that goes.

Augora

2012-09-16 10:26:24 am

dat jerk

Bumping.

3:10. That is all.

Melodia

2012-09-16 12:00:22 pm

Are you going to make a vid with commentary, out of curiosity?

Augora

2012-09-16 12:02:54 pm

dat jerk

I would like to and have my 14 year old brother give his opinion/summary of X-2.

We'll see how that goes.

Rakuen

2012-09-16 02:03:53 pm

Weegee Time

Awesome, Augora!

puwexil

2012-09-16 02:27:01 pm

Professional Second Banana

'Grats!

Caracarn

2012-09-16 03:50:47 pm

Grats Augora! New Game run next? Wink

Augora

Edit history:

Augora: 2012-09-16 04:43:26 pm

2012-09-16 04:41:49 pm

dat jerk

Thanks guys!

Totally, Caracarn. Gotta replace the old run with a new one.

If anyone has notes of the new game run, I would like to have them if possible.

Here's a video of the 3:10 run: http://www.twitch.tv/augora/b/332435672

PeteThePlayer

2012-11-14 03:36:37 pm

All the other stuff about this is quite outdated here, so let me start a new one on this.
First of all, lemme get this straight: Is there any significant speed difference between PAL and NTSC here? From what I have read, some people claim, that PAL just doesn't run as fluent as NTSC (which makes sense, because 60 FPS should look smoother than 50 FPS) whereas other people claim that it actually has actual speed differences as in PAL being 20% slower. I need someone to confirm either of these theories...or I'll have to test it out myself. Yes, I am a PAL runner, that is why I am asking. I would love to know, if I should even bother, if a NTSC run would just thrash mine.
Now on the actual run topic: I thought of doing this run single-segmented run. As of now, I have two Iron Dukes, three Cat Nips and a lot of other stuff which is not too important I believe. I also have three of the accessories that double almost everything you get/have (Formula of Success?). I do not know what it is called since I am playing in German Cheesy

I thought of myself, giving Yuna 1st Strike, Gunner and Catnip, then take out her HP to actuvate Cat Nip's ability and use attacks that hit the full party etc.
Never touching a Save Sphere, would render me being constantly in critical HP for the entire game and I would win every fight instantly. Of course I need to get automatically healed at certain times, which screws my plan so I need to come up with something faster than that.
Thinking of taking some Lady Luck with Iron Duke and Auto-Haste was my first idea. And one girl would take the Alchemist, so she could throw the Bomb/Grenade-Items quickly to dispose of the enemies in the beginning really quickly, until they become too strong. I haven't gotten this all down yet.
Either way, I would need to sell my whole inventory as well, making it faster to navigate through menus and stuff. Talking about that, I know that browsing through menus is faster on PAL, so I might have a slight advantage there.
I do not have the Garment Grid that gives me the ability to hit for 99,999 HP though, which is unfortunate. I have all abilities on all dressspheres with all of the girls though, so that is always nice to note!

Well post suggestions and stuff. Whether I will get anything submittable out of this, still remains unknown.

All the other stuff about this is quite outdated here, so let me start a new one on this.
First of all, lemme get this straight: Is there any significant speed difference between PAL and NTSC here? From what I have read, some people claim, that PAL just doesn't run as fluent as NTSC (which makes sense, because 60 FPS should look smoother than 50 FPS) whereas other people claim that it actually has actual speed differences as in PAL being 20% slower. I need someone to confirm either of these theories...or I'll have to test it out myself. Yes, I am a PAL runner, that is why I am asking. I would love to know, if I should even bother, if a NTSC run would just thrash mine.
Now on the actual run topic: I thought of doing this run single-segmented run. As of now, I have two Iron Dukes, three Cat Nips and a lot of other stuff which is not too important I believe. I also have three of the accessories that double almost everything you get/have (Formula of Success?). I do not know what it is called since I am playing in German :D
I thought of myself, giving Yuna 1st Strike, Gunner and Catnip, then take out her HP to actuvate Cat Nip's ability and use attacks that hit the full party etc.
Never touching a Save Sphere, would render me being constantly in critical HP for the entire game and I would win every fight instantly. Of course I need to get automatically healed at certain times, which screws my plan so I need to come up with something faster than that.
Thinking of taking some Lady Luck with Iron Duke and Auto-Haste was my first idea. And one girl would take the Alchemist, so she could throw the Bomb/Grenade-Items quickly to dispose of the enemies in the beginning really quickly, until they become too strong. I haven't gotten this all down yet.
Either way, I would need to sell my whole inventory as well, making it faster to navigate through menus and stuff. Talking about that, I know that browsing through menus is faster on PAL, so I might have a slight advantage there.
I do not have the Garment Grid that gives me the ability to hit for 99,999 HP though, which is unfortunate. I have all abilities on all dressspheres with all of the girls though, so that is always nice to note!

Well post suggestions and stuff. Whether I will get anything submittable out of this, still remains unknown.

puwexil

Edit history:

puwexil: 2012-11-14 04:02:52 pm

2012-11-14 03:44:06 pm

Professional Second Banana

Merging with existing FFX-2 thread.

As far as timing goes PAL games are indeed slower in real time than NTSC games due to the FPS difference. I've seen PAL ports of some games in which the in-game timer (which is what SDA times FFX-2 runs by) runs by NTSC time, though that's the exception rather than the norm.

Do note that an NTSC run won't automatically obsolete a PAL run if the verifiers think the the NTSC run has inferior gameplay.

PeteThePlayer

Edit history:

PeteThePlayer: 2012-11-15 01:35:46 pm

2012-11-15 09:00:10 am

O damn, why didn't I find this thread? Well there we go though. I see this 3:10 run. Seems pretty damn good, I guess I will take that as a reference if I attempt running this.
I will test around with the NTSC/PAL speed differences. Maybe it ends up being just minor. Something like 2 minutes total difference wouldn't bother me at all.

EDIT: Just by watching video footage I got it confirmed, that the actual gameplay parts are indeed faster. Menu browsing is slower on NTSC though, but that will not be enough to catch up entirely. I suspect a 10 minute difference between these. Depending whether I get a run done for once (The last time I played I forgot how to get Chapter 4 running so I got bored and that was it) I will find out and post my time. Are thieves really better to use for this run though? I mean, Lady Luck could be useful as well, seeing as she has a very fast attack animation and levels up twice as fast. Plus she will get critical hits every time. Maybe that is the actual problem (they could kill the CatNipper). We will find out as I try I guess.

O damn, why didn't I find this thread? Well there we go though. I see this 3:10 run. Seems pretty damn good, I guess I will take that as a reference if I attempt running this.
I will test around with the NTSC/PAL speed differences. Maybe it ends up being just minor. Something like 2 minutes total difference wouldn't bother me at all.

EDIT: Just by watching video footage I got it confirmed, that the actual gameplay parts are indeed faster. Menu browsing is slower on NTSC though, but that will not be enough to catch up entirely. I suspect a 10 minute difference between these. Depending whether I get a run done for once (The last time I played I forgot how to get Chapter 4 running so I got bored and that was it) I will find out and post my time. Are thieves really better to use for this run though? I mean, Lady Luck could be useful as well, seeing as she has a very fast attack animation and levels up twice as fast. Plus she will get critical hits every time. Maybe that is the actual problem (they could kill the CatNipper). We will find out as I try I guess.