Final Fantasy X

Caracarn

Edit history:

Caracarn: 2012-03-06 02:49:47 pm

Caracarn: 2012-03-06 02:12:14 pm

Caracarn: 2012-03-06 01:59:01 pm

2012-03-06 01:51:13 pm

I know, that's why I said you need a premium membership to watch it, which is approximately $6.60 a month.

I managed to watch pretty much the entire run, although I got tired of writing notes about halfway through. I will have to finish the notes later.

Here are some of the key things I noted:

First, I am pretty sure that the version he was using does not run any faster than my version, with the exception of the Bevelle Trials. For some reason, the platform in those trials moves WAY faster in the JP International version. He gained about 40 seconds on this split just from that.

He manipulates Auron's snowmobile scene. Auron's scene is 49 seconds faster than Rikku's, but you have to talk to Auron many times in the first half of the run in order to get it. Most of the time he's not that far out of the way, but it still adds up, so I'm not sure if it actually saves any time or not.

He does not get the Stunning Steel, and he does not kill Chocobo Eater. He hastes it and gets pushed off the cliff, and then has to run through encounters on the Old Road without a Chocobo. This could possibly be faster, but I would also have to make up that AP.

He does not get Steal before Djose, and does not steal any Petrify Grenades. He ends up getting Death on Wakka, and then Rikku learns it with a Blk Magic Sphere. That means Wakka needs a lot more AP though, so I'm not really buying this strategy (though it is less luck reliant).

He gets Bribe on Lulu, which requires quite a bit of AP. This one I need to seriously consider though, because it will make up for a lot of stealing time. Bribe Sand Wolf for 12 Sleeping Powders, Nebiros for 6 Poison Fangs, 2 Flame Flans for about 20 fire gems total. Gil will be a problem though, as the Bribes listed are 81k gil total. I would probably also not be able to afford the Haste Targe in this case.

His Aeon Overdrive management seems to have gained him a significant amount of time between Seymour/Anima and Seymour Natus, although a big chunk of that is because of my terrible Wendigo split obviously.

There is a lot more, but I don't feel like typing it all right now. Maybe when I finish my notes I will attach the whole file. This run has certainly given me a lot to think about Tongue

Oh yeah, one more thing that I forgot to mention is that for some reason unknown to me, this guy kept the cursor on Default for the entire run, meaning that it resets to Attack after every action. Who knows how much input time he could have saved if he used Memory Huh?

I know, that's why I said you need a premium membership to watch it, which is approximately $6.60 a month.

I managed to watch pretty much the entire run, although I got tired of writing notes about halfway through. I will have to finish the notes later.

Here are some of the key things I noted:

First, I am pretty sure that the version he was using does not run any faster than my version, with the exception of the Bevelle Trials. For some reason, the platform in those trials moves WAY faster in the JP International version. He gained about 40 seconds on this split just from that.

He manipulates Auron's snowmobile scene. Auron's scene is 49 seconds faster than Rikku's, but you have to talk to Auron many times in the first half of the run in order to get it.  Most of the time he's not that far out of the way, but it still adds up, so I'm not sure if it actually saves any time or not.

He does not get the Stunning Steel, and he does not kill Chocobo Eater.  He hastes it and gets pushed off the cliff, and then has to run through encounters on the Old Road without a Chocobo. This could possibly be faster, but I would also have to make up that AP.

He does not get Steal before Djose, and does not steal any Petrify Grenades.  He ends up getting Death on Wakka, and then Rikku learns it with a Blk Magic Sphere. That means Wakka needs a lot more AP though, so I'm not really buying this strategy (though it is less luck reliant).

He gets Bribe on Lulu, which requires quite a bit of AP. This one I need to seriously consider though, because it will make up for a lot of stealing time. Bribe Sand Wolf for 12 Sleeping Powders, Nebiros for 6 Poison Fangs, 2 Flame Flans for about 20 fire gems total. Gil will be a problem though, as the Bribes listed are 81k gil total. I would probably also not be able to afford the Haste Targe in this case.

His Aeon Overdrive management seems to have gained him a significant amount of time between Seymour/Anima and Seymour Natus, although a big chunk of that is because of my terrible Wendigo split obviously.

There is a lot more, but I don't feel like typing it all right now.  Maybe when I finish my notes I will attach the whole file.  This run has certainly given me a lot to think about :P

Oh yeah, one more thing that I forgot to mention is that for some reason unknown to me, this guy kept the cursor on Default for the entire run, meaning that it resets to Attack after every action.  Who knows how much input time he could have saved if he used Memory ???

Nitrodon

2012-03-06 03:31:19 pm

I guess I'll analyze the AP needed for two abilities you mentioned.

Surprisingly, teaching Wakka Death only requires 16 S.Lvl (1300 AP) and a Lv.2 Key Sphere. Getting the second +2 str node before Extractor will make it 21 S.Lvl (2635 AP) instead. Merely giving him a turn against either Spherimorph or Crawler would probably be sufficient for this either way.

Teaching Lulu Bribe early takes 36 S.Lvl (13558 AP) and a Lv.2 Key Sphere. One turn against each of Spherimorph, Crawler, and Wendigo will do it. Alternatively, one turn against Crawler and Seymour would also work, but I suspect that Seymour is more dangerous. If you want to add the nearby +3 magic node, she will need 41 S.Lvl (21005 AP) instead, and would thus require all four battles. Either way, Bribe is incompatible with teaching her Steal, unless you use a Teleport Sphere for this purpose.

Caracarn

Edit history:

Caracarn: 2012-03-06 05:16:01 pm

Caracarn: 2012-03-06 04:00:49 pm

2012-03-06 03:59:00 pm

oh oops, I forgot to mention that Mug is on the way to Bribe. The route he takes is through the level 2 lock directly to the left of her starting point. I'm still not sure how I'm going to have enough gil before the Calm Lands to Bribe Flame Flans though (30k gil each). All I would have to Mug anyway is smoke bombs from the first Zuu, if I was going to Bribe for Sleeping Powders.

I timed from loading the Chocobo Eater save until triggering the Luzzu/Gatta dialogue at the end of the Highroad. Getting pushed off and running up the Old Road was 4:48. My current strategy was 5:09. This of course does not factor in the following: time spent getting the Stunning steel, time spent filling Ifrit's overdrive, time spent on a bad Chocobo Eater fight. On the other side: time spent getting too many encounters/ambushes, having to make up the AP, not having Slow for Garuda/Extractor.

He actually does not use Ifrit in the entire run, though he does use Ixion. I would still have to use Ifrit for my Gui strategy though.

oh oops, I forgot to mention that Mug is on the way to Bribe.  The route he takes is through the level 2 lock directly to the left of her starting point.  I'm still not sure how I'm going to have enough gil before the Calm Lands to Bribe Flame Flans though (30k gil each). All I would have to Mug anyway is smoke bombs from the first Zuu, if I was going to Bribe for Sleeping Powders.

I timed from loading the Chocobo Eater save until triggering the Luzzu/Gatta dialogue at the end of the Highroad. Getting pushed off and running up the Old Road was 4:48.  My current strategy was 5:09.  This of course does not factor in the following: time spent getting the Stunning steel, time spent filling Ifrit's overdrive, time spent on a bad Chocobo Eater fight.  On the other side: time spent getting too many encounters/ambushes, having to make up the AP, not having Slow for Garuda/Extractor.

He actually does not use Ifrit in the entire run, though he does use Ixion.  I would still have to use Ifrit for my Gui strategy though.

Caracarn

Edit history:

Caracarn: 2012-03-06 06:53:22 pm

2012-03-06 06:52:45 pm

Attached is a list of Sora's split times compared to my best run. In parentheses is the actual time difference, in brackets is what the time difference would be if I had started my timer from power on and not skipped the intro cutscene. This is a difference of 2:15. I apologize for the crude format, but I am lazy.

These times will mean more once I actually finish recording the run. I'm screen capping the video and doing a local recording in xsplit for easier viewing. It won't be great quality, but the nicolive video player is fucking impossible to navigate on, especially on a run this long.

Attachment:

Japanese RTA Record Split Times.txt

Caracarn

2012-03-11 08:11:34 pm

I've been doing some thinking about the new strategy of not fighting Chocobo Eater, and it seems to me that it is not going to work very well. Even though it is faster to get pushed off the cliff and run through the Oldroad, having to fight extra battles to make up for the AP pretty much negates that time. It is also much easier to screw up on fighting the regular encounters; bad Chocobo Eater fights are usually just bad luck. The only positive I can draw from not fighting CE is not having to fill Ifrit's overdrive twice, but since I need him for Gui, I will have to see his long animations anyway.

I'm also not completely convinced that Auron's snowmobile scene is faster overall. Yes, the scene itself is 50 seconds faster, but how much time is it taking me to run and talk to him 11 times? Plus the longer dialogue with Rikku in Guadosalam.

Most of the new strategies later on are clearly faster, so hopefully I will be able to put them into action soon, if I can just stop getting trolled in the first half of the run.

I've been doing some thinking about the new strategy of not fighting Chocobo Eater, and it seems to me that it is not going to work very well.  Even though it is faster to get pushed off the cliff and run through the Oldroad, having to fight extra battles to make up for the AP pretty much negates that time.  It is also much easier to screw up on fighting the regular encounters; bad Chocobo Eater fights are usually just bad luck.  The only positive I can draw from not fighting CE is not having to fill Ifrit's overdrive twice, but since I need him for Gui, I will have to see his long animations anyway.

I'm also not completely convinced that Auron's snowmobile scene is faster overall.  Yes, the scene itself is 50 seconds faster, but how much time is it taking me to run and talk to him 11 times? Plus the longer dialogue with Rikku in Guadosalam.

Most of the new strategies later on are clearly faster, so hopefully I will be able to put them into action soon, if I can just stop getting trolled in the first half of the run.

Caracarn

Edit history:

Caracarn: 2012-03-13 05:14:04 am

Caracarn: 2012-03-13 05:12:20 am

Caracarn: 2012-03-13 12:52:51 am

2012-03-12 07:20:25 pm

Sora is streaming live right now if anyone is interested in watching

http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv85100971?ref=community

He finished at 11:03:55, by their timing; which is 2 minutes 11 seconds behind his previous run. It still beat my best time though. His times were amazingly consistent throughout most of the run, but he started falling behind in the late game.

He actually went and killed Geogesano before Overdrive Sin, and got a No Encounters weapon drop. He didn't do this in the last run, so I expect this was a last resort, because he probably knew he wasn't going to beat his time otherwise. Of course it didn't end up saving enough time anyway though. Other than this, most of the run was exactly the same strategy wise.

Nitrodon

2012-03-22 06:55:29 pm

Earlier today, we discussed the possibility of learning Bribe before the Calm Lands. Lulu has already activated both early mag+2 nodes, so she needs a total of 28976 AP for this, plus a L2 Key Sphere conveniently dropped by Natus. She has earned a total of 1166 AP as of the Gui battle, so she still needs 27810 more. The forced battles between now and the Calm Lands (excluding ones that Lulu can't participate in) are as follows:

Spherimorph: 4860 AP
Crawler: 6930 AP
Seymour: 7330 AP
Wendigo: 3580 AP
Sandragora: 540 AP
Guado Guardian, Bombs: 2400 AP
Guado Guardian, Dual Horns: 2180 AP
Guado Guardian, Chimeras: 4540 AP
Evrae: 8100 AP
Warrior Monks: 1260 AP (2 battles)
Warrior Monks, YKT-63: 2710 AP (2 battles)
Warrior Monks, YAT-99: 2710 AP
Seymour Natus: 9450 AP

I think the best option would be to give her AP from Spherimorph, Crawler, Seymour, and Seymour Natus (28570 total). You seemed skeptical about giving her the AP from Seymour, so you can use these numbers to find a different AP route if you like.

Earlier today, we discussed the possibility of learning Bribe before the Calm Lands.  Lulu has already activated both early mag+2 nodes, so she needs a total of 28976 AP for this, plus a L2 Key Sphere conveniently dropped by Natus.  She has earned a total of 1166 AP as of the Gui battle, so she still needs 27810 more.  The forced battles between now and the Calm Lands (excluding ones that Lulu can't participate in) are as follows:

Spherimorph: 4860 AP
Crawler: 6930 AP
Seymour: 7330 AP
Wendigo: 3580 AP
Sandragora: 540 AP
Guado Guardian, Bombs: 2400 AP
Guado Guardian, Dual Horns: 2180 AP
Guado Guardian, Chimeras: 4540 AP
Evrae: 8100 AP
Warrior Monks: 1260 AP (2 battles)
Warrior Monks, YKT-63: 2710 AP (2 battles)
Warrior Monks, YAT-99: 2710 AP
Seymour Natus: 9450 AP

I think the best option would be to give her AP from Spherimorph, Crawler, Seymour, and Seymour Natus (28570 total).  You seemed skeptical about giving her the AP from Seymour, so you can use these numbers to find a different AP route if you like.

Caracarn

2012-03-25 03:59:29 am

Segment 22 is complete, finally. Since Segment 21 was completed so fast, and Rikku didn't have any overdrive yet, I had to be far more picky about the requirements for this segment to be finished. Getting all three criteria (Petrify Grenade, Rikku Overdrive, decent time) in the same attempt was quite a pain in the ass. It could have still been better, but with how long it took to get this, I wasn't going to hold out for a miracle.

Segment 22 time: 9 minutes 48 seconds | 736 attempts

Save at Macalania Woods - South [5:19]

Caracarn

2012-03-25 03:01:47 pm

Segment 23 is also complete. Given how long Segment 22 took, I was expecting this one to take longer, but I'm obviously not complaining. I managed to get a Petrify Grenade and full Overdrives with only 6 encounters; the latter being very rare.

Segment 23 time: 4 minutes 42 seconds | 59 attempts

Save at Macalania Woods - Lake Road [5:23]

Caracarn

2012-03-28 10:24:11 am

After being stuck on Segment 22 for 3 weeks, I have been blowing through segments like crazy in the past week, including the one segment that I thought I would be on for at least a month.

Segment 24 was a very short and easy segment. Buying the Sonic Steel and then killing Spherimorph with Lightning Bolt mix. Tidus, Yuna, Kimahri, and Lulu also needed AP from it. I just had to redo it until it was weak to lightning. I did Sphere Grid stuff at the end of this segment so the next one wouldn't be as annoying.

Segment 24 time: 7 minutes 51 seconds | 8 attempts

Save at Lake Macalania - Agency [5:31]

Crawler was fairly simple: Rikku needed to get hit by Gatling gun twice, or three times without dying, and Kimahri needed to kill Negator in one hit. I also needed to get AP on Tidus, Lulu, and Yuna. Unfortunately, I found out too late about Auron's snowmobile scene actually being feasible for a speedrun, so I still got Rikku's scene here.

Segment 25 time: 10 minutes 12 seconds | 65 attempts

Save at Macalania - Hall [5:41]

The Seymour segment is the one that I expected to take an incredibly long time, but just like the Gui segment, it got done way sooner than expected. This was basically the same strategy as Essentia's run, except that I needed the Special Sphere rare drop. Also, there is apparently some hidden aeon HP boost when you have 90 battles in the entire game, and since I did so much minimum encounter manipulation, this was only the 80th battle, so Shiva had less HP than I expected her to. This meant that she would survive two Pains less than half the time, instead of 95% of the time. However, the good part about this is that two Pains completely filled her Overdrive, so I didn't have to heal and wait for a third Pain. Since this fight was so luck reliant, I accepted a less than ideal pattern on Seymour's spells, and a Shremedy from a guard, which obviously missed. After saving, I realized that Tidus didn't actually need AP from Seymour, so Phoenix Downing him was probably unnecessary, especially since Thundara and Watera both hit Kimahri. It's also kind of funny that Tidus didn't end up needing the Yellow Shield, since he never got hit by Thundara.
I considered retrying this segment, since it could have been faster, but I decided to count my blessings and just move on.

Segment 26 time: 8 minutes 42 seconds | 97 attempts

Save at Macalania - Antechamber [5:50]

Segment 27 was the most rage inducing, annoying segment I had yet faced in this run. Why? Because I had to do the Macalania Cloister of Trials at the start of each attempt, as well as a rather annoying formation change. Then I had to get Yuna's and Rikku's overdrives filled as quickly as possible, along with Tidus not failing at escaping. It is possible to get only one random encounter on the way to the save sphere (the first two encounters are forced), but the chances of that happening while still getting fast Overdrive fills were way too low. I don't think I could have asked for much better Overdrive fills, so I went with it so I wouldn't have to rage at this segment anymore. Again, I did the Sphere Gridding at the end of this segment, and I didn't mess it up, fortunately.

Segment 27 time: 6 minutes 34 seconds | 37 attempts

Save at Lake Macalania - Crevasse [5:57]

Wendigo was a very short, but fairly luck reliant fight. Yuna needs to go after Wendigo, the first Petrify Grenade is used here to take care of the guards, then I mix a Cluster Bomb, and have Wendigo refill Rikku's Overdrive directly after. Then I summon Shiva, do a Blizzard, followed by Blizzara and have Shiva evade Wendigo's attack (which was a pretty low chance), then I Diamond Dust to finish it. The reason I did Blizzard first instead of two Blizzaras, is so that I wouldn't take it's HP below 9000, where it would put its dukes up instead of attacking.

Segment 28 time: 8 minutes 57 seconds | 68 attempts

Save at Oasis [6:05]

After being stuck on Segment 22 for 3 weeks, I have been blowing through segments like crazy in the past week, including the one segment that I thought I would be on for at least a month.

Segment 24 was a very short and easy segment.  Buying the Sonic Steel and then killing Spherimorph with Lightning Bolt mix.  Tidus, Yuna, Kimahri, and Lulu also needed AP from it. I just had to redo it until it was weak to lightning.  I did Sphere Grid stuff at the end of this segment so the next one wouldn't be as annoying.

Segment 24 time: 7 minutes 51 seconds | 8 attempts

Save at Lake Macalania - Agency [5:31]

Crawler was fairly simple: Rikku needed to get hit by Gatling gun twice, or three times without dying, and Kimahri needed to kill Negator in one hit.  I also needed to get AP on Tidus, Lulu, and Yuna.  Unfortunately, I found out too late about Auron's snowmobile scene actually being feasible for a speedrun, so I still got Rikku's scene here.

Segment 25 time: 10 minutes 12 seconds | 65 attempts

Save at Macalania - Hall [5:41]

The Seymour segment is the one that I expected to take an incredibly long time, but just like the Gui segment, it got done way sooner than expected.  This was basically the same strategy as Essentia's run, except that I needed the Special Sphere rare drop.  Also, there is apparently some hidden aeon HP boost when you have 90 battles in the entire game, and since I did so much minimum encounter manipulation, this was only the 80th battle, so Shiva had less HP than I expected her to.  This meant that she would survive two Pains less than half the time, instead of 95% of the time.  However, the good part about this is that two Pains completely filled her Overdrive, so I didn't have to heal and wait for a third Pain.  Since this fight was so luck reliant, I accepted a less than ideal pattern on Seymour's spells, and a Shremedy from a guard, which obviously missed. After saving, I realized that Tidus didn't actually need AP from Seymour, so Phoenix Downing him was probably unnecessary, especially since Thundara and Watera both hit Kimahri.  It's also kind of funny that Tidus didn't end up needing the Yellow Shield, since he never got hit by Thundara.
I considered retrying this segment, since it could have been faster, but I decided to count my blessings and just move on.

Segment 26 time: 8 minutes 42 seconds | 97 attempts

Save at Macalania - Antechamber [5:50]

Segment 27 was the most rage inducing, annoying segment I had yet faced in this run. Why? Because I had to do the Macalania Cloister of Trials at the start of each attempt, as well as a rather annoying formation change.  Then I had to get Yuna's and Rikku's overdrives filled as quickly as possible, along with Tidus not failing at escaping.  It is possible to get only one random encounter on the way to the save sphere (the first two encounters are forced), but the chances of that happening while still getting fast Overdrive fills were way too low.  I don't think I could have asked for much better Overdrive fills, so I went with it so I wouldn't have to rage at this segment anymore.  Again, I did the Sphere Gridding at the end of this segment, and I didn't mess it up, fortunately.

Segment 27 time: 6 minutes 34 seconds | 37 attempts

Save at Lake Macalania - Crevasse [5:57]

Wendigo was a very short, but fairly luck reliant fight.  Yuna needs to go after Wendigo, the first Petrify Grenade is used here to take care of the guards, then I mix a Cluster Bomb, and have Wendigo refill Rikku's Overdrive directly after.  Then I summon Shiva, do a Blizzard, followed by Blizzara and have Shiva evade Wendigo's attack (which was a pretty low chance), then I Diamond Dust to finish it.  The reason I did Blizzard first instead of two Blizzaras, is so that I wouldn't take it's HP below 9000, where it would put its dukes up instead of attacking.

Segment 28 time: 8 minutes 57 seconds | 68 attempts

Save at Oasis [6:05]

Caracarn

2012-03-31 08:50:27 pm

Been plowing through segments like crazy lately, so here's another long update.

For the Bikanel Desert, I decided to use only 2 segments, compared to 3 in Essentia's run. The goal was to get 6 Smoke Bombs from the forced Zu, and then either a Chocobo Wing or 6 more Smoke Bombs by the save sphere where the "road" splits in two. However, I ended up getting a double rare steal on the Zu, for 8 Smoke Bombs, and then got only 5 encounters the rest of the way, but none of them were a Zu or Cactuar. 5 encounters was the best I was hoping for, as 4 would have been insanely lucky. Also, I accidently switched armor on Auron instead of escaping, which only wasted a couple seconds, but looks incredibly stupid.

Segment 29 time: 6 minutes 4 seconds | 146 attempts

Save at Sanubia Desert - Central [6:11]

Now for the rest of the desert, I still needed a Chocobo Wing and 3 or 4 more Smoke Bombs. I initially thought this was going to be really hard to get, but it turned out to not be that bad, especially since the resets were very fast. Getting it in only 2 encounters was incredibly lucky though. I only got 11 Smoke Bombs total, but all that means is that I will need to use Lancet once on BFA instead of two Smoke Bombs. The 2nd Petrify Grenade is used on Sandragora.

Segment 30 time: 3 minutes 40 seconds | 137 attempts

Save at Home [6:15]

In Home, I needed to get a rare steal on a Bomb for 3 Bomb Cores, so I would have 5 total. The last Petrify Grenade is used on the Bombs. Stone Breath is used on the Dual Horns and Chimeras. Unfortunately, the Guado Guard with the Chimeras got a turn, taking about 4 seconds to cast Confuse on Lulu. After a lot of cutscenes, I bought and equipped empty slot weapons for Kimahri and Auron, got the 99 Underdogs' Secrets, and sold 81 of them for 400k+ gil. I actually had an attempt later on where none of the Guado Guards got a turn, but then I got an encounter on the airship right after Rin, on the last step, which made me rage, and end up keeping the previous attempt.

Segment 31 time: 21 minutes 30 seconds | 78 attempts

Save at Airship - Cabin [6:37]

On Evrae, I needed to steal at least 2 Water Gems, and have Rikku's Overdrive get refilled. If I got 2 Water Gems on the first steal, then Quartet could land on either Tidus or Kimahri; otherwise I would need to succeed the 2nd steal, and Quartet would have to land on Kimahri. The Bevelle Guards part was pretty simple: Smoke Bombs on the guards, and Bomb Cores on the machina. I decided to do the Bevelle Trials in the same segment, which was risky, but I couldn't justify making the Trials be it's own segment, especially when I have to do it in single segment 7+ hours into a run.

Segment 32 time: 30 minutes 41 seconds | 74 attempts

Save at Bevelle - Via Purifico [7:07]

In the Via Purifico, I needed to get only one Maze Larva, and have it be a Pre-emptive Strike. This way, I could summon Shiva, cast Blizzard, Boost, have Watera fill her Overdrive, and then kill it with Blizzara. Then Grothia is killed by Valefor, whose Overdrive had been refilled by Gui back in Segment 16. Pterya is killed with 1 Blizzara plus Diamond Dust, then Spathi is killed by 4 Blizzaras plus Diamond Dust (Grand Summon). I managed to kill Spathi with only 22 damage to spare. I managed to save 2 minutes 23 seconds on this segment, which I believe is the largest improvement on one segment yet.

Segment 33 time: 5 minutes 45 seconds | 153 attempts

Save at Bevelle- Via Purifico [7:13]

Been plowing through segments like crazy lately, so here's another long update.

For the Bikanel Desert, I decided to use only 2 segments, compared to 3 in Essentia's run.  The goal was to get 6 Smoke Bombs from the forced Zu, and then either a Chocobo Wing or 6 more Smoke Bombs by the save sphere where the "road" splits in two.  However, I ended up getting a double rare steal on the Zu, for 8 Smoke Bombs, and then got only 5 encounters the rest of the way, but none of them were a Zu or Cactuar. 5 encounters was the best I was hoping for, as 4 would have been insanely lucky. Also, I accidently switched armor on Auron instead of escaping, which only wasted a couple seconds, but looks incredibly stupid.

Segment 29 time: 6 minutes 4 seconds | 146 attempts

Save at Sanubia Desert - Central [6:11]

Now for the rest of the desert, I still needed a Chocobo Wing and 3 or 4 more Smoke Bombs. I initially thought this was going to be really hard to get, but it turned out to not be that bad, especially since the resets were very fast.  Getting it in only 2 encounters was incredibly lucky though. I only got 11 Smoke Bombs total, but all that means is that I will need to use Lancet once on BFA instead of two Smoke Bombs. The 2nd Petrify Grenade is used on Sandragora.

Segment 30 time: 3 minutes 40 seconds | 137 attempts

Save at Home [6:15]

In Home, I needed to get a rare steal on a Bomb for 3 Bomb Cores, so I would have 5 total. The last Petrify Grenade is used on the Bombs.  Stone Breath is used on the Dual Horns and Chimeras.  Unfortunately, the Guado Guard with the Chimeras got a turn, taking about 4 seconds to cast Confuse on Lulu. After a lot of cutscenes, I bought and equipped empty slot weapons for Kimahri and Auron, got the 99 Underdogs' Secrets, and sold 81 of them for 400k+ gil.  I actually had an attempt later on where none of the Guado Guards got a turn, but then I got an encounter on the airship right after Rin, on the last step, which made me rage, and end up keeping the previous attempt.

Segment 31 time: 21 minutes 30 seconds | 78 attempts

Save at Airship - Cabin [6:37]

On Evrae, I needed to steal at least 2 Water Gems, and have Rikku's Overdrive get refilled.  If I got 2 Water Gems on the first steal, then Quartet could land on either Tidus or Kimahri; otherwise I would need to succeed the 2nd steal, and Quartet would have to land on Kimahri.  The Bevelle Guards part was pretty simple: Smoke Bombs on the guards, and Bomb Cores on the machina.  I decided to do the Bevelle Trials in the same segment, which was risky, but I couldn't justify making the Trials be it's own segment, especially when I have to do it in single segment 7+ hours into a run.

Segment 32 time: 30 minutes 41 seconds | 74 attempts

Save at Bevelle - Via Purifico [7:07]

In the Via Purifico, I needed to get only one Maze Larva, and have it be a Pre-emptive Strike.  This way, I could summon Shiva, cast Blizzard, Boost, have Watera fill her Overdrive, and then kill it with Blizzara.  Then Grothia is killed by Valefor, whose Overdrive had been refilled by Gui back in Segment 16. Pterya is killed with 1 Blizzara plus Diamond Dust, then Spathi is killed by 4 Blizzaras plus Diamond Dust (Grand Summon). I managed to kill Spathi with only 22 damage to spare. I managed to save 2 minutes 23 seconds on this segment, which I believe is the largest improvement on one segment yet.

Segment 33 time: 5 minutes 45 seconds | 153 attempts

Save at Bevelle- Via Purifico [7:13]

Caracarn

2012-04-01 08:14:37 pm

Although my single segment run today failed in a rather embarrassing fashion, 8+ hours into the run, it was good news for the segmented run, because I finished two more segments directly afterward.

I honestly expected Segment 34 to take far more attempts than it did, especially with how badly it was trolling me to start with. After getting only one encounter on the way to Evrae Altana, I needed Tidus to evade the counterattack after using an Elixir, have Rikku steal two Water Gems, and then Tidus uses another Elixir. Much of the time though, even if Tidus evaded, he would not get another turn before Evrae Altana did Stone Gaze. After all of that, I needed to get only two encounters on the Highbridge. I didn't want to make the Highbridge it's own segment, so I could eliminate the extra save/load time. One of the times that I got an otherwise good Evrae Altana fight, I got a Healing Spring rare steal instead of 2 Water Gems, which was very fitting, because the game loves to give me rare steals/drops when I don't want them, but never when I do.

Segment 34 time: 8 minutes 28 seconds | 39 attempts

Save at Highbridge [7:21]

Seymour Natus was very luck reliant, but fortunately it was very quick to get to the fight. Quartet had to land on Kimahri, Multi-Blizzara had to hit Rikku and Kimahri, then I brought in Lulu to give her AP, then Water Gem had to hit at least 4 times to kill it. After the fight, I gave Lulu Bribe, and used the 2nd special sphere to give Tidus Bribe. Once again though, I fumbled with changing formation, wasting a couple seconds, but it wasn't bad enough for me to redo the segment.

Segment 35 time: 15 minutes 51 seconds | 63 attempts

Save at Macalania Woods - North [7:37]

Although my single segment run today failed in a rather embarrassing fashion, 8+ hours into the run, it was good news for the segmented run, because I finished two more segments directly afterward.

I honestly expected Segment 34 to take far more attempts than it did, especially with how badly it was trolling me to start with. After getting only one encounter on the way to Evrae Altana, I needed Tidus to evade the counterattack after using an Elixir, have Rikku steal two Water Gems, and then Tidus uses another Elixir. Much of the time though, even if Tidus evaded, he would not get another turn before Evrae Altana did Stone Gaze.  After all of that, I needed to get only two encounters on the Highbridge.  I didn't want to make the Highbridge it's own segment, so I could eliminate the extra save/load time.  One of the times that I got an otherwise good Evrae Altana fight, I got a Healing Spring rare steal instead of 2 Water Gems, which was very fitting, because the game loves to give me rare steals/drops when I don't want them, but never when I do.

Segment 34 time: 8 minutes 28 seconds | 39 attempts

Save at Highbridge [7:21]

Seymour Natus was very luck reliant, but fortunately it was very quick to get to the fight. Quartet had to land on Kimahri, Multi-Blizzara had to hit Rikku and Kimahri, then I brought in Lulu to give her AP, then Water Gem had to hit at least 4 times to kill it.  After the fight, I gave Lulu Bribe, and used the 2nd special sphere to give Tidus Bribe. Once again though, I fumbled with changing formation, wasting a couple seconds, but it wasn't bad enough for me to redo the segment.

Segment 35 time: 15 minutes 51 seconds | 63 attempts

Save at Macalania Woods - North [7:37]

Deedlit

2012-04-02 01:18:56 am

I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Wow, you're really flying! Good luck on the remainder of the run.

You might want to talk to BlitzAce469, who had some timesavers over Essentia's run, including some that led to an 8 minute savings in the segments around Yunalesca. He was working on a speed run, but never completed it.

His youtube channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/BlitzAce469#g/c/9EBF75CD779E5E53

PeteThePlayer

Edit history:

PeteThePlayer: 2012-04-06 10:08:49 am

2012-04-06 10:08:23 am

Good old Blitz. I know that guy and unfortunately I must say, he is quite inactive. For the last like 6 months, especially on YouTube. But you can give it a shot. And Caracarn, you are doing some serious mad progress on that run! Keep it up.

Caracarn

2012-04-06 10:07:03 pm

For those that missed it, I got a 10:40:31 single segment run today, which is about 14 seconds faster than Sora's best run, using the same timing. Since they are on different versions, it's hard to say which one is really faster though.

This is probably going to be 10:39 by SDA timing, but I am still not going to submit it quite yet. Since this is the first new record I've gotten using the new strategies I learned from Sora, I still want to see if I can improve it with some better luck. Considering I was almost 3 1/2 minutes behind my previous run after the Thunder Plains, there is definitely some time that can still be saved. There were not any incredibly huge time losses like there were in the 10:44 run though. I still would like to iron out some of the really dumb mistakes, like failing the ball throwing trial on Mt. Gagazet, or mis-counting gems, the latter which made me almost die on Overdrive Sin AGAIN. To be honest, I really should have died, but by some miracle, Tidus didn't get confused or petrified and I was barely able to finish it off. The Nucleus was pretty bad too, unfortunately, especially the back-to-back invisible icicle encounter, or the first encounter which I barely grazed since it was right next to one of the items.

I could go on, but it would take too long to nitpick everything. The bottom line is, I am not completely done with this run, but I might be scaling back on the amount of attempts for a while, since this run is submittable, in my opinion. I am starting to run X-2 now, for a change, and I still need to finish the segmented run of course. I may just go back to doing X runs on Saturday only, for now.

For those that missed it, I got a 10:40:31 single segment run today, which is about 14 seconds faster than Sora's best run, using the same timing.  Since they are on different versions, it's hard to say which one is really faster though.

This is probably going to be 10:39 by SDA timing, but I am still not going to submit it quite yet.  Since this is the first new record I've gotten using the new strategies I learned from Sora, I still want to see if I can improve it with some better luck.  Considering I was almost 3 1/2 minutes behind my previous run after the Thunder Plains, there is definitely some time that can still be saved.  There were not any incredibly huge time losses like there were in the 10:44 run though.  I still would like to iron out some of the really dumb mistakes, like failing the ball throwing trial on Mt. Gagazet, or mis-counting gems, the latter which made me almost die on Overdrive Sin AGAIN. To be honest, I really should have died, but by some miracle, Tidus didn't get confused or petrified and I was barely able to finish it off.  The Nucleus was pretty bad too, unfortunately, especially the back-to-back invisible icicle encounter, or the first encounter which I barely grazed since it was right next to one of the items.

I could go on, but it would take too long to nitpick everything.  The bottom line is, I am not completely done with this run, but I might be scaling back on the amount of attempts for a while, since this run is submittable, in my opinion.  I am starting to run X-2 now, for a change, and I still need to finish the segmented run of course.  I may just go back to doing X runs on Saturday only, for now.

Nitrodon

2012-04-07 03:28:40 pm

pbirdman's Ultimate Companion Guide is up to Sin now, and in particular it includes the full AI script for Sin's fins. The fins have a counter which increases by 1 each time they are targeted, and resets to 0 when they ram the ship. Sin's left fin rams the ship with probability (counter+1)/3 [max 100%], and its right fin rams the ship if and only if the counter is at least 4.

The following strategies are for the segmented run (Rikku has 23 agility, Tidus/Kimahri have base agility). Similar reasoning can be used to find strategies for your SS, but there are a few variables to consider there (such as Entrust).

Left Fin (probability of optimal battle = 2/3)
Rikku: Trio of 9999
Tidus: Move In
Kimahri: Lancet
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: defend
Tidus: defend
(move in)
Rikku: attack
Sin: ram airship
Sin remains motionless. (This is the only random part.)
Kimahri: Fire Gem

Right fin (optimal battle guaranteed)
Rikku: Trio of 9999
Tidus: Move In
Kimahri: Lancet
Sin remains motionless
Kimahri: Lancet
Tidus: change armor
(move in)
Rikku: attack (or hope for a rare steal if you're short on Shining Gems, I suppose)
Tidus: attack (ditto)
Sin: ram airship
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: Fire Gem

pbirdman's Ultimate Companion Guide is up to Sin now, and in particular it includes the full AI script for Sin's fins.  The fins have a counter which increases by 1 each time they are targeted, and resets to 0 when they ram the ship.  Sin's left fin rams the ship with probability (counter+1)/3 [max 100%], and its right fin rams the ship if and only if the counter is at least 4.

The following strategies are for the segmented run (Rikku has 23 agility, Tidus/Kimahri have base agility).  Similar reasoning can be used to find strategies for your SS, but there are a few variables to consider there (such as Entrust).

Left Fin (probability of optimal battle = 2/3)
Rikku: Trio of 9999
Tidus: Move In
Kimahri: Lancet
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: defend
Tidus: defend
(move in)
Rikku: attack
Sin: ram airship
Sin remains motionless. (This is the only random part.)
Kimahri: Fire Gem

Right fin (optimal battle guaranteed)
Rikku: Trio of 9999
Tidus: Move In
Kimahri: Lancet
Sin remains motionless
Kimahri: Lancet
Tidus: change armor
(move in)
Rikku: attack (or hope for a rare steal if you're short on Shining Gems, I suppose)
Tidus: attack (ditto)
Sin: ram airship
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: Fire Gem

Caracarn

2012-04-15 07:24:35 pm

10:39:37 real-time, 10:38 SDA time single segment today.

I think this is the one; at least until someone else beats it. I don't think it will make any sense to make a new goal at this point.

This run almost ended on Sinspawn Gui, because Valefor started the fight with it's overdrive not quite full, and died before getting a 2nd Energy Blast off. This happened because I killed Sinspawn Geneaux too quickly, since Kimahri crit, and Valefor did really high Energy Blast damage, and I killed it with 3 Fires, before the 2nd Stacatto. I ended up killing Gui with Ifrit, but I had to do several Fires to make up for the lower damage that Hellfire does compared to Energy Blast. Ifrit just barely survived.

I failed on the Bevelle Trials, on the top section, which is totally inexcusable on the NA version, since it moves so much slower than the JP version. The excuse I made about the timing being off was also total bullshit, because I just watched it frame by frame and there was absolutely no way that I should have missed it.

I failed on the 1st Gagazet Trial AGAIN. I seriously cannot defeat this trial in a single segment. I get it first try in practice always, but I always mis-time it in an actual run.

The rest of the run, however, was really good, in both execution and luck. There are always minor mistakes in a run this long, but the ones I listed were the only really major ones that I can think of right now. I will try to review the whole run this week and decide if I am going to submit it or not. There is a very good chance you will see this in the verification queue soon though.

10:39:37 real-time, 10:38 SDA time single segment today.

I think this is the one; at least until someone else beats it. I don't think it will make any sense to make a new goal at this point.

This run almost ended on Sinspawn Gui, because Valefor started the fight with it's overdrive not quite full, and died before getting a 2nd Energy Blast off.  This happened because I killed Sinspawn Geneaux too quickly, since Kimahri crit, and Valefor did really high Energy Blast damage, and I killed it with 3 Fires, before the 2nd Stacatto.  I ended up killing Gui with Ifrit, but I had to do several Fires to make up for the lower damage that Hellfire does compared to Energy Blast.  Ifrit just barely survived.

I failed on the Bevelle Trials, on the top section, which is totally inexcusable on the NA version, since it moves so much slower than the JP version.  The excuse I made about the timing being off was also total bullshit, because I just watched it frame by frame and there was absolutely no way that I should have missed it.

I failed on the 1st Gagazet Trial AGAIN.  I seriously cannot defeat this trial in a single segment.  I get it first try in practice always, but I always mis-time it in an actual run.

The rest of the run, however, was really good, in both execution and luck.  There are always minor mistakes in a run this long, but the ones I listed were the only really major ones that I can think of right now. I will try to review the whole run this week and decide if I am going to submit it or not.  There is a very good chance you will see this in the verification queue soon though.

Nitrodon

2012-04-17 09:40:28 am

I suppose I should give a different (segmented) strategy for the Sin's Right Fin battle, in case you get there while I'm not watching.

Rikku: Trio of 9999
Tidus: Move In
Kimahri: Lancet
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: defend
Tidus: defend
(move in)
Rikku: attack
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: defend
Tidus: attack
Rikku: attack
Sin rams airship.
Sin remains motionless.
Kimahri: Fire Gem

This requires one fewer Lancet, doesn't switch Tidus's armor, and doesn't reduce Kimahri to critical HP, but Sin gets another turn in which to remain motionless. I think this strategy is faster overall, but I haven't timed anything. Note that the right fin is completely deterministic, so there's a 100% chance of the battle turning out as planned with either strategy.

Caracarn

2012-04-17 07:44:18 pm

The more I think about my last single segment run, the more I am thinking about not submitting it, simply because of the two Trial failures. I am just not feeling good about submitting a run with mistakes that ugly, especially now that I have a more reliable visual cue for the ball throw. Previously, I was pretty much just winging it with the timing, which is an incredibly stupid thing to do in a 10+ hour run. With the Bevelle Trials, I don't even know what to say about that miss, other than it was a complete brain fart. I don't care if I only beat this time by one second; I just want to have a cleaner looking run to submit to SDA.

Now that I am done with that spiel, it's time to catch up on segmented run updates, which I have been neglecting.
I finally got a 7 encounter run through the Calm Lands, getting a Dream Powder and 19 Fire Gems, the exact amount I need for the rest of the run. Amazingly, this attempt started with a 15 step encounter, which is way below the average that I needed. It is fortunate that I did not reset immediately after that encounter.

Segment 36 time: 5 minutes 54 seconds | 219 attempts

Save at Calm Lands - Near Bridge [7:43]

Defender X was pretty simple. Quartet lands on Tidus, Fire Gem, Rikku gets OD refilled, Fire Gem. I rearranged the inventory at the beginning for the Underdog's Secrets and Fire Gems to be on top, and the Dream Powder right underneath the Underdog's Secrets so the Shining Gems will fall into that slot later. I triggered the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth cutscene at the end of this segment so I wouldn't have to see it at the beginning of every No Encounters armor farming attempt. This wastes a few seconds, but it was worth it for my sanity.

Segment 37 time: 3 minutes 30 seconds | 11 attempts

Save at Calm Lands - Gorge Bottom [7:46]

I had to get a Ghost on the first encounter, and it had to drop a No Encounters armor for Tidus, Wakka, or Rikku. If I got it for anyone else, I would end up getting encounters in the water in the Gagazet cave, which is obviously unacceptable.

Segment 38 time: 6 minutes 14 seconds | 297 attempts

Save at Gagazet - Mountain Gate [7:53]

I am very fortunate that this segment took so few attempts, because it was driving me insane having to listen to those damn Ronsos singing over and over. Biran and Yenke are dispatched with the Dream Powder and a regular attack, and they needed to give me 2 Return Spheres. Of course they give me the rare Friend Sphere drop way more often than they should have. After customizing First Strike on Rikku and Kimahri and listening to the Ronso choir, I had to get a 2 Grenade 1 Imp encounter immediately. Tidus switches to the Peaceful Shield, Lulu Bribes a Grenade for Shining Gems, and the Imp fills Rikku's Overdrive.

Segment 39 time: 6 minutes 34 seconds | 48 attempts

Save at Gagazet - Mountain Trail [7:59]

I was expecting Seymour Flux to take way longer than it did. I needed to get 4 hits on the first Fire Gem, have Flux cast Flare on Rikku, and get at least 3 hits on the second Fire Gem. I ended up getting 5 hits on the first gem, and 2 on the second gem, and the Mortochoris got last hit. Then I had to do the ball throwing trial which gave me so much trouble in single segment runs. Like I said earlier though, I finally decided to get a better visual cue for it, so I got it easily this time. Sanctuary Keeper has no randomness, so I killed it too, and went all the way to the middle of the Dome before saving.

Segment 40 time: 32 minutes 17 seconds | 2 attempts

Save at Dome - Interior [8:31]

Another segment that I thought was going to take much longer, but I am glad I decided not to save before Spectral Keeper after all. I needed to get a Defender Z to refill Rikku's Overdrive. I ended up getting Ambushed, so Rikku only had to take 1 turn, and Lulu didn't have to escape. If Lulu hadn't gotten her OD almost filled by the Zu earlier, I would have needed this to happen anyway. As it was, Lulu would have had her OD filled by Hellbiter, but this way worked fine. After doing the Tetris trial, Lulu had to evade Spectral Keeper's counterattack and then backhand slap it to death.

Segment 41 time: 9 minute 37 seconds | 7 attempts

Save at Dome - Chamber of the Fayth [8:41]

There are only 4 segments to go now. It will end up being 45 segments total, down from my previous estimates of 52 and 47. 42 is Yunalesca, 43 is Sin's Fins through Overdrive Sin, 44 is Sea of Sorrow, Seymour Omnis and the Tower of the Dead, and 45 is the Nucleus, BFA, Aeons, and Yu Yevon.

The more I think about my last single segment run, the more I am thinking about not submitting it, simply because of the two Trial failures.  I am just not feeling good about submitting a run with mistakes that ugly, especially now that I have a more reliable visual cue for the ball throw.  Previously, I was pretty much just winging it with the timing, which is an incredibly stupid thing to do in a 10+ hour run.  With the Bevelle Trials, I don't even know what to say about that miss, other than it was a complete brain fart.  I don't care if I only beat this time by one second; I just want to have a cleaner looking run to submit to SDA.

Now that I am done with that spiel, it's time to catch up on segmented run updates, which I have been neglecting.
I finally got a 7 encounter run through the Calm Lands, getting a Dream Powder and 19 Fire Gems, the exact amount I need for the rest of the run.  Amazingly, this attempt started with a 15 step encounter, which is way below the average that I needed.  It is fortunate that I did not reset immediately after that encounter.

Segment 36 time: 5 minutes 54 seconds | 219 attempts

Save at Calm Lands - Near Bridge [7:43]

Defender X was pretty simple. Quartet lands on Tidus, Fire Gem, Rikku gets OD refilled, Fire Gem.  I rearranged the inventory at the beginning for the Underdog's Secrets and Fire Gems to be on top, and the Dream Powder right underneath the Underdog's Secrets so the Shining Gems will fall into that slot later. I triggered the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth cutscene at the end of this segment so I wouldn't have to see it at the beginning of every No Encounters armor farming attempt. This wastes a few seconds, but it was worth it for my sanity.

Segment 37 time: 3 minutes 30 seconds | 11 attempts

Save at Calm Lands - Gorge Bottom [7:46]

I had to get a Ghost on the first encounter, and it had to drop a No Encounters armor for Tidus, Wakka, or Rikku. If I got it for anyone else, I would end up getting encounters in the water in the Gagazet cave, which is obviously unacceptable.

Segment 38 time: 6 minutes 14 seconds | 297 attempts

Save at Gagazet - Mountain Gate [7:53]

I am very fortunate that this segment took so few attempts, because it was driving me insane having to listen to those damn Ronsos singing over and over.  Biran and Yenke are dispatched with the Dream Powder and a regular attack, and they needed to give me 2 Return Spheres.  Of course they give me the rare Friend Sphere drop way more often than they should have. After customizing First Strike on Rikku and Kimahri and listening to the Ronso choir, I had to get a 2 Grenade 1 Imp encounter immediately.  Tidus switches to the Peaceful Shield, Lulu Bribes a Grenade for Shining Gems, and the Imp fills Rikku's Overdrive.

Segment 39 time: 6 minutes 34 seconds | 48 attempts

Save at Gagazet - Mountain Trail [7:59]

I was expecting Seymour Flux to take way longer than it did.  I needed to get 4 hits on the first Fire Gem, have Flux cast Flare on Rikku, and get at least 3 hits on the second Fire Gem.  I ended up getting 5 hits on the first gem, and 2 on the second gem, and the Mortochoris got last hit.  Then I had to do the ball throwing trial which gave me so much trouble in single segment runs.  Like I said earlier though, I finally decided to get a better visual cue for it, so I got it easily this time.  Sanctuary Keeper has no randomness, so I killed it too, and went all the way to the middle of the Dome before saving.

Segment 40 time: 32 minutes 17 seconds | 2 attempts

Save at Dome - Interior [8:31]

Another segment that I thought was going to take much longer, but I am glad I decided not to save before Spectral Keeper after all.  I needed to get a Defender Z to refill Rikku's Overdrive.  I ended up getting Ambushed, so Rikku only had to take 1 turn, and Lulu didn't have to escape.  If Lulu hadn't gotten her OD almost filled by the Zu earlier, I would have needed this to happen anyway.  As it was, Lulu would have had her OD filled by Hellbiter, but this way worked fine. After doing the Tetris trial, Lulu had to evade Spectral Keeper's counterattack and then backhand slap it to death.

Segment 41 time: 9 minute 37 seconds | 7 attempts

Save at Dome - Chamber of the Fayth [8:41]

There are only 4 segments to go now.  It will end up being 45 segments total, down from my previous estimates of 52 and 47.  42 is Yunalesca, 43 is Sin's Fins through Overdrive Sin, 44 is Sea of Sorrow, Seymour Omnis and the Tower of the Dead, and 45 is the Nucleus, BFA, Aeons, and Yu Yevon.

Rakuen

2012-04-17 09:50:19 pm

Weegee Time

Wow, so close now. Keep up the good work!

stevensda

Edit history:

stevensda: 2012-04-18 09:23:24 am

2012-04-18 09:22:58 am

harru

wow you are really plowing through these segments cant wait to see the finished product, what are you plans after you finish the single the segmented run? more single segs? diff ff game? take a break?

Caracarn

2012-04-18 12:15:04 pm

My standards are so high for the single segment run, I might be doing it forever Tongue

As for what I will do afterwards, I don't know yet.

Fortunately, Yunalesca did not take too many attempts, since I had to sit through almost 10 minutes of cutscenes before the fight even started. After getting Zombied by Hellbiter, I needed Yunalesca to cast Cura on Rikku, to refill her overdrive, and then I needed a Zombiestrike weapon. Initially, I wanted it on someone other than Tidus, Kimahri, or Rikku, since they are on the front line for Yu Yevon. However, since I got a weapon for Rikku with Zombiestrike and open slots, I decided it wouldn't be a problem to customize First Strike for Rikku again, that way I can Zombiestrike Yu Yevon immediately, without having to bring another character in.

Segment 42 time: 28 minutes 34 seconds | 9 attempts

Save at Airship - Cabin [9:09]

Thanks to Nitrodon for figuring out the best strategy for the Sin's fins battles; it made this segment much easier. Rikku's Overdrive is refilled by Sin ramming the airship, and then Sinspawn Genais refills her overdrive with Venom. I did not get Entrust in the segmented run, because it would take too long to travel to that node with the different sphere grid route. In the single segment run, Tidus activates a node right near Entrust, so it is much faster to get to.

Segment 43 time: 19 minutes 35 seconds | 4 attempts

Save at Sin - Near Airship [9:29]

At this point, I am 26 minutes ahead of Essentia's run in game time, so it looks like I will get sub-10 after all. I should be able to save between 1 and 2 minutes on the final segment, so the final time will probably be either 9:57 or 9:58.

My standards are so high for the single segment run, I might be doing it forever :P  As for what I will do afterwards, I don't know yet.

Fortunately, Yunalesca did not take too many attempts, since I had to sit through almost 10 minutes of cutscenes before the fight even started.  After getting Zombied by Hellbiter, I needed Yunalesca to cast Cura on Rikku, to refill her overdrive, and then I needed a Zombiestrike weapon. Initially, I wanted it on someone other than Tidus, Kimahri, or Rikku, since they are on the front line for Yu Yevon.  However, since I got a weapon for Rikku with Zombiestrike and open slots, I decided it wouldn't be a problem to customize First Strike for Rikku again, that way I can Zombiestrike Yu Yevon immediately, without having to bring another character in.

Segment 42 time: 28 minutes 34 seconds | 9 attempts

Save at Airship - Cabin [9:09]

Thanks to Nitrodon for figuring out the best strategy for the Sin's fins battles; it made this segment much easier.  Rikku's Overdrive is refilled by Sin ramming the airship, and then Sinspawn Genais refills her overdrive with Venom.  I did not get Entrust in the segmented run, because it would take too long to travel to that node with the different sphere grid route.  In the single segment run, Tidus activates a node right near Entrust, so it is much faster to get to.

Segment 43 time: 19 minutes 35 seconds | 4 attempts

Save at Sin - Near Airship [9:29]

At this point, I am 26 minutes ahead of Essentia's run in game time, so it looks like I will get sub-10 after all.  I should be able to save between 1 and 2 minutes on the final segment, so the final time will probably be either 9:57 or 9:58.

Caracarn

2012-04-21 09:08:38 pm

For those of you that missed it, my segmented run is complete! The final SDA time is 9:56.

I needed to get a good encounter to fill Rikku's Overdrive before reequipping the Peaceful Shield, and I also needed to customize First Strike on Yuna, Auron, and on Rikku's Zombiestrike weapon. After Omnis, I needed to get another good overdrive filling encounter. The Malboro is not ideal, but it wasn't too bad, especially after an Adamantoise Ambush on the first encounter.

Segment 44 time: 6 minutes 5 seconds | 226 attempts

Save at Sin - Tower of the Dead [9:35]

The final segment took far longer than I was expecting it to. I knew I wanted to get a really good Nucleus run, but I didn't know that I was going to have to make it quite this good. Since real-time is appended to the final save, that means only the minute really counts, so in order to get a 9:56 I had to get exactly 21 minutes or under. It ended up being 21:00.8
A very fitting clutch ending to the run.

Segment 45 time: 21 minutes 0 seconds | 531 attempts

Final Run time [9:56]

I am starting to write my comments and encode at least MQ so I can submit it soon (HQ will take a while). Hopefully I can do this in the next week.

This will obviously be in the run comments as well, but I would just like to thank everyone who watched me stream this run and help preserve my sanity. I was initially not planning on streaming this run at all, but I am glad I did now. Most importantly though, I want to thank Essentia and Nitrodon. Without Essentia's run, I probably never would have run this game at all, and without Nitrodon's help with planning, this run would not have gotten under 10 hours.

For those of you that missed it, my segmented run is complete!  The final SDA time is 9:56.

I needed to get a good encounter to fill Rikku's Overdrive before reequipping the Peaceful Shield, and I also needed to customize First Strike on Yuna, Auron, and on Rikku's Zombiestrike weapon. After Omnis, I needed to get another good overdrive filling encounter.  The Malboro is not ideal, but it wasn't too bad, especially after an Adamantoise Ambush on the first encounter.

Segment 44 time: 6 minutes 5 seconds | 226 attempts

Save at Sin - Tower of the Dead [9:35]

The final segment took far longer than I was expecting it to.  I knew I wanted to get a really good Nucleus run, but I didn't know that I was going to have to make it quite this good.  Since real-time is appended to the final save, that means only the minute really counts, so in order to get a 9:56 I had to get exactly 21 minutes or under.  It ended up being 21:00.8
A very fitting clutch ending to the run.

Segment 45 time: 21 minutes 0 seconds | 531 attempts

Final Run time [9:56]

I am starting to write my comments and encode at least MQ so I can submit it soon (HQ will take a while). Hopefully I can do this in the next week.

This will obviously be in the run comments as well, but I would just like to thank everyone who watched me stream this run and help preserve my sanity.  I was initially not planning on streaming this run at all, but I am glad I did now.  Most importantly though, I want to thank Essentia and Nitrodon.  Without Essentia's run, I probably never would have run this game at all, and without Nitrodon's help with planning, this run would not have gotten under 10 hours.

Surreal

2012-04-21 09:22:51 pm

dabes

Congrats Caracarn. I've enjoyed watching your runs and progress. You have the patience of 10 saints sir.

I also look forward to seeing you do X-2 Wink

Rakuen

2012-04-21 09:32:55 pm

Weegee Time

Awesome job Caracarn! Reading your progress posts throughout this run has been great. Smiley