Final Fantasy X

2008-12-24 12:01:49 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

No, there's no dialogue at the Macalania travel agency. I need luck against Crawler (it's always taken quite a few tries on my test runs), so I don't want it in the same segment as Spherimorph. I didn't think about going back to the save point just before Spherimorph, though; I'll have to test that. However, if you can't get no encounters that way, then I'd bet it would be faster to save inside the travel agency.

Essentia

2008-12-26 09:18:09 am

Everything's better with Magitek

I'm currently at the Crusaders' Lodge in Besaid with a time of 1:17, about 2 minutes faster than my test run (but could actually be anywhere from 1 minute 1 second to 2 minutes 59 seconds faster). I didn't do any recording yesterday (yay for Christmas!), but I'm planning to do some more today.

After trying many times, I finally decided to go with my original plan and end segment 2 in the underwater ruins, with one piranha encounter on the way. I tried about 50 times to get no piranha encounters, and it happened only twice; unfortunately, after that Rikku must get a rare steal from Tros (3 grenades), but she failed both times. So I allowed an encounter since both segment 2 and 3 require luck (more so with 3), and also since saving on the salvage ship deck was out of the way, the savings would only be about 12 seconds.

On the plus side, I got only 2 piranha encounters in Besaid, which never happened on my test runs. The weird thing was that I redid that segment at least 10 times, and I got 2 encounters every single time. I've run into things like this before on my test runs, where when I retry a segment, the same things tend to happen (was most noticeable on Gui). I'll bet it has something to do with the RNG being set before I save. Because of this, I'm always going to keep my previous save, in case the RNG messes me up and I have to go back and redo a segment to change it.

I'm currently at the Crusaders' Lodge in Besaid with a time of 1:17, about 2 minutes faster than my test run (but could actually be anywhere from 1 minute 1 second to 2 minutes 59 seconds faster).  I didn't do any recording yesterday (yay for Christmas!), but I'm planning to do some more today.

After trying many times, I finally decided to go with my original plan and end segment 2 in the underwater ruins, with one piranha encounter on the way.  I tried about 50 times to get no piranha encounters, and it happened only twice; unfortunately, after that Rikku must get a rare steal from Tros (3 grenades), but she failed both times.  So I allowed an encounter since both segment 2 and 3 require luck (more so with 3), and also since saving on the salvage ship deck was out of the way, the savings would only be about 12 seconds.

On the plus side, I got only 2 piranha encounters in Besaid, which never happened on my test runs.  The weird thing was that I redid that segment at least 10 times, and I got 2 encounters every single time.  I've run into things like this before on my test runs, where when I retry a segment, the same things tend to happen (was most noticeable on Gui).  I'll bet it has something to do with the RNG being set before I save.  Because of this, I'm always going to keep my previous save, in case the RNG messes me up and I have to go back and redo a segment to change it.

alexandre

2008-12-27 11:41:56 am

Heya, Essentia! Looks like you're doin' great!

I never should have taught you how to play RPGs. I had no clue where it would lead you. Shocked

Anyway, good luck with the run. I'm glad you got the DVD recorder! ^_^

I'll keep my eye on you. You better smoke that Ultima Garden run! ^_~

~your brother

Essentia

2008-12-29 03:13:29 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Okay, I just beat Sin and the Sinspawn on the SS Liki, and I did it at least 20 seconds faster than I'd ever done. However, something really strange happened. Now, I killed 2 of the sinscales and got overkill on Sin, but no overkill on the Sinspawn. According to GameFAQs, each sinscale gives 2 AP, Sin gives 10 AP for a regular kill and 15 for overkill, and the Sinspawn gives 12 AP regularly and 18 for overkill. So 2+2+15+12 = 31, butinstead I got 39 AP. I even checked on my last test run (I still have it all recorded), and I did the same thing and got 31 AP. What's even weirder is that this time I got 6 mana spheres, whereas before I'd never gotten more than 4. Mind you, this isn't at all harmful to my run (if anything, it's helpful), but I can't figure out why it happened, and I don't want to be accused of cheating. Can anyone explain why this might have happened?

Gaverion

2008-12-29 04:02:59 pm

Your sure it was 39 AP from the single battle an not accumulated over a few in Besaid or something? I could see overkilling a couple Piranas or something having that effect maybe.

Other than that I'm at a loss for the extra mana spheres. Though it is possible that 3 mana spheres is a rare drop, the faq on GameFAQ's isn't 100% accurate (from experience). You could test it yourself by killing it a bunch if your up to it Wink

An alternate explanation for the extra AP 15+3+3+18 though I think you would have noticed if you got all overkills.

Essentia

2008-12-29 04:21:32 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

I went back and watched the video that I recorded. I paused it after the Sinspawn battle right when the screen appears that shows how much AP you receive, and it said 39 for everyone. I got overkill only on Sin, but it does seem that the game thinks I got overkill on everything. How strange. If I can figure out how, I'll upload the videos of this battle from this run and from my test run so you can all see for yourself.

I never really figured out which enemy in those battles actually drops the mana spheres; different FAQs that I've looked at have given conflicting answers. I know that I've gotten only 2 mana spheres in that battle before, but most of the time it was 4. I'm not complaining about getting 6, though. Wink

Signus

2008-12-29 05:34:27 pm

I've had that happen to me before too, though not in a speedrun, so I barely thought anything of it. Still, a video would be nice to clear things up and I doubt the run will be rejected because of an odd and ultimately meaningless glitch.

Folkskygg

2008-12-29 08:45:45 pm

bil

Quote from Signus:

glitch.

I'd say luck. Mostly things in FFX is, and how they turn out, haphazard

Toothache

2008-12-30 05:06:07 am

Let the music play!

There are a few monsters that can drop two types of spheres (the lizards in Kilika Woods, for example, can drop either Speed Spheres or Power Spheres). Perhaps the same is the case of the Sinspawn. Also, its possible that some enemies have a higher drop value for a rare item kill, such as 2 spheres normally, 3 for a rare kill, doubles because of the Overkill.

Essentia

2008-12-30 05:06:36 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

I think I got it figured out. It seems that you get AP for the sinscales that are onscreen when you defeat the Sinspawn. (Remember, in that battle the sinscales disappear when they attack you, and then reappear a little later, so there can be anywhere betwen 0-4 onscreen at a time.) I first noticed this on a failed attempt that I had recorded; I got overkill on both Sin and Sinspawn, so I should have gotten 37 AP, but instead I got 41. However, I noticed that there were 2 sinscales onscreen when I killed the Sinspawn, which would have each given 2 AP. Then on my test run there were no sinscales (where it gave the correct amount), and on my actual run there were 4 sinscales (where I got 8 extra AP), so it seems to make sense.

Anyway, the run is now at Kilika Temple (before the cloister of trials) with a time of 2:03, which is 4 minutes faster than my test run, yay! I'm keeping up hope that I can get under 11 hours this time.

metallicaband

2008-12-31 11:41:08 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Hello there Essentia, just wanted to say that I think you're doing an amazing job, since such run requires incredible patience and a LOT of strategy. I can't wait to see your run as FFX is one of my all time favourite games, I have a few questions though:

1- I'm guessing that the cutscenes must be included in the videos with SDA's rules right ? If yes, how long are the entire scenes together ? (just wanted to figure out your run's Real time as the unskippable cutscenes are really unfair to your final time).

2- When do you approximately think that the entire run will be finished ?

Essentia

2008-12-31 12:28:22 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Quote from metallicaband:

1- I'm guessing that the cutscenes must be included in the videos with SDA's rules right ? If yes, how long are the entire scenes together ? (just wanted to figure out your run's Real time as the unskippable cutscenes are really unfair to your final time).

Yes, the cutscenes must be included. I really don't know how much time all the cutscenes take up (and it would take quite a while to add them all up), but my guess is that they take up at least half of the time (so between 5-6 hours).

Quote:

2- When do you approximately think that the entire run will be finished ?

I'm not sure on this, either. So far, I've been averaging about one segment a day. I've found that, for good or for bad, I'm being a lot more picky on this run than on my FFIX run. Also, recording is more complicated now that I have a 5-month old baby (although I've already recorded a few segments while holding and feeding her ;)). I don't want to give a date that I expect to be done because I'm afraid that I'll disappoint everyone by not keeping it. All I can promise is that this will be done by the end of 2009. Smiley

[quote="metallicaband"]
1- I'm guessing that the cutscenes must be included in the videos with SDA's rules right ? If yes, how long are the entire scenes together ? (just wanted to figure out your run's Real time as the unskippable cutscenes are really unfair to your final time). [/quote]

Yes, the cutscenes must be included.  I really don't know how much time all the cutscenes take up (and it would take quite a while to add them all up), but my guess is that they take up at least half of the time (so between 5-6 hours).

[quote]2- When do you approximately think that the entire run will be finished ? 
[/quote]

I'm not sure on this, either.  So far, I've been averaging about one segment a day.  I've found that, for good or for bad, I'm being a lot more picky on this run than on my FFIX run.  Also, recording is more complicated now that I have a 5-month old baby (although I've already recorded a few segments while holding and feeding her ;)).  I don't want to give a date that I expect to be done because I'm afraid that I'll disappoint everyone by not keeping it.  All I can promise is that this will be done by the end of 2009. :)

Essentia

Edit history:

Essentia: 2009-01-05 09:42:43 pm

2009-01-05 03:35:46 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Good news! I finally got the Thunder Ball from Oblitzerator (took about 30 tries). I'm right before the blitzball game with a time of 2:47, which is about 1 minute slower than the Ultima Garden run and 7 minutes faster than my 11:12 run.

Edit: I decided to post certain parts of this run on Youtube. So here are the boss battles on the SS Liki:

Essentia

2009-01-07 12:10:40 am

Everything's better with Magitek

Just making a triple post to say that I'm finally past the blitzball game, woohoo! It could have maybe been 10 seconds faster, but I'm still pretty happy with it. My time just after the game is 3:01 (8 minutes faster than my test run).

metallicaband

2009-01-07 04:58:12 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Great, seems like everything's working out pretty smoothly so far, when do you think would be the first very challenging segment ?

Essentia

2009-01-07 08:42:15 am

Everything's better with Magitek

Quote from metallicaband:

when do you think would be the first very challenging segment ?

Sinspawn Gui, definitely. I'll need Kimahri's self-destruct to go critical in that fight, which doesn't happen very often at all. I've still got 4 segments before I get to it, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Essentia

2009-01-08 06:23:47 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Well, I'm now at the Mi'ihen Travel Agency and 11 minutes ahead of my 11:12 run. Considering that I didn't get no encounters on that test run, and that getting it will save at least 3 minutes, I feel pretty confident that I'll get below 11 hours. Smiley

hillza

2009-01-09 08:42:27 am

Quote from Essentia:

Well, I'm now at the Mi'ihen Travel Agency and 11 minutes ahead of my 11:12 run. Considering that I didn't get no encounters on that test run, and that getting it will save at least 3 minutes, I feel pretty confident that I'll get below 11 hours. Smiley

Awesome i cannot wait to see this run, are you now ahead of the ultimagarden run??

Essentia

2009-01-09 10:10:09 am

Everything's better with Magitek

No, unfortunately I'm about 2 minutes behind the Ultima Garden run right now. Oh well.

On another note, Chocobo Eater is being a lot more annoying than he was supposed to be. I've seriously tried that segment over 50 times, and that doesn't even count all the times I messed up the sphere grid stuff at the beginning. However, I guess I have no one to blame but myself for changing the strategy to a harder one. Tongue

hillza

2009-01-09 10:21:09 am

Quote from Essentia:

No, unfortunately I'm about 2 minutes behind the Ultima Garden run right now. Oh well.

On another note, Chocobo Eater is being a lot more annoying than he was supposed to be. I've seriously tried that segment over 50 times, and that doesn't even count all the times I messed up the sphere grid stuff at the beginning. However, I guess I have no one to blame but myself for changing the strategy to a harder one. Tongue

Im sure it will be worth it in the long run.

Renokye

2009-01-10 06:43:37 pm

Touhou anyone? :D

Quote from hillza:

Quote from Essentia:

No, unfortunately I'm about 2 minutes behind the Ultima Garden run right now. Oh well.

On another note, Chocobo Eater is being a lot more annoying than he was supposed to be. I've seriously tried that segment over 50 times, and that doesn't even count all the times I messed up the sphere grid stuff at the beginning. However, I guess I have no one to blame but myself for changing the strategy to a harder one. Tongue

Im sure it will be worth it in the long run.

I agree. Whatever happens to in your run, good or bad, I'm looking forward to watching it. Smiley

I've been keeping track of this thread, but I haven't logged in for a while. Good luck and have fun!

Gaverion

2009-01-11 09:00:15 am

New strategy for Chocobo Eater? All I can think is that you went for poison, maybe combined with haste? if thats the case 10% chance for poisoning isn't fun. Those summon animations are a pain so I'm glad you got a new one, even if it is harder.

Essentia

2009-01-12 09:04:27 am

Everything's better with Magitek

No, I still used Ifrit against him. I was trying to beat him without using Power Break and/or Dark Attack, but that requires a lot of luck--he has to miss with at least one of his attacks and he can't use his "You're next" attack, or else Ifrit dies.

I did finally beat him, but I ended up using both Power Break and Dark Attack. However, the annoying thing is that Power Break didn't actually work on him (didn't realize this until I went back and watched it) and I still beat him, which is what I'd been trying to do previously for 30 or so tries. Sad

Even after all this, I'm still considering redoing this segment because a) it would be nice if Chocobo Eater hit Tidus on his first turn to help fill his overdrive and b) I just realized that I did something unnecessary in the sphere grid at the beginning of the segment (raised Tidus's MP). One thing that's deterring me from redoing it, though, is that I didn't get an encounter on the way to the Mushroom Rock save sphere, which hardly ever happens.

No, I still used Ifrit against him.  I was trying to beat him without using Power Break and/or Dark Attack, but that requires a lot of luck--he has to miss with at least one of his attacks and he can't use his "You're next" attack, or else Ifrit dies.

I did finally beat him, but I ended up using both Power Break and Dark Attack.  However, the annoying thing is that Power Break didn't actually work on him (didn't realize this until I went back and watched it) and I still beat him, which is what I'd been trying to do previously for 30 or so tries. :(  Even after all this, I'm still considering redoing this segment because a) it would be nice if Chocobo Eater hit Tidus on his first turn to help fill his overdrive and b) I just realized that I did something unnecessary in the sphere grid at the beginning of the segment (raised Tidus's MP).  One thing that's deterring me from redoing it, though, is that I didn't get an encounter on the way to the Mushroom Rock save sphere, which hardly ever happens.

Essentia

2009-01-13 01:50:47 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Just letting everyone know that I uploaded the Chocobo Eater battle to Youtube:

Let me know what you think.

Abaddon

2009-01-13 03:20:27 pm

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

Having the Chocobo Eater hit Tidus, is more of a luxury, as is correcting the missplaced sphere in the grid.

I would say, let it come down to pure numbers. Would it be faster in the end if Tidus had his Overdrive + a little less MP (and so havong an extra sphere for a different character), or would it be faster if you keep going with no encounters up to this battle?

Maybe a bit too rational, but then again, it's all about getting to the end as fast as possible. (in the complete run ofc)

Very nice fight btw, looking forward to more appetizers ^^