Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-01-24 08:42:00 pm

2007-01-24 08:40:57 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Hello everyone. After the astounding success wrought with Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, I've decided to mix things up a bit and do something wholly unexpected.
Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

Yay!

In this LucasArts 1999 classic, and ripping off Tomb Raider beyond your wildest dreams, Indiana Jones is back!
...Although technically *preceding* 2002's Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. Although that one sucks. Inferior, in other words.
"Indiana Jones and the Inferior Tomb".

Ah, I like this game. LucasArts at its finest.

The game doesn't seem to have all that many glitches and exploits, due to its truly high quality and awesomeness, but I've found a few nonetheless. I almost feel bad for pointing out the blemishes of this masterpiece, tarnishing its name.
I ran through the game, in a strangely uncharacteristic display of advance planning on my part, so I'm pretty sure how the run goes. I even measured it.

The run will be:
370 minutes or so. Probably less.
44 segments. Probably less, probably.

Misc. notes:

Settings:
Subtitles ON, for them's folk what prefer readin'.
All graphical settings to the max, of course.
Further, anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering through drivers.
Resolution probably 1024*768, astounding you all in its high-definition definedness. Tests seem to run fine in it, even with the quirkily applied 32-bit colour depth.
An alternative could be a lower resolution, like 640*480, but with a higher framerate for all-out fluid motion.

Timing:
Doesn't seem to work.
Basically, it counts only whole minutes (insert frowny-face smiley here), and I'm not sure if it counts seconds beyond that for a real total.
Then there's a bug where it deletes the number of minutes if you save, sometimes (frowny-face), so you start at 0 minutes when loading that save (this may only apply to quickloads; smiley-face if applicable).
Also, there's a problem with Return to Peru. Basically, it doesn't give you the time for that level if it's played last. This means either manual timing (possibly only for that level, although probably manual timing anyway), *or* scrounging up 2000 in gooold for the secret map earlier in the game (big frowny-face). A third alternative would be very clunky, and would be to open up the Menu and go to level info, just before the level ends. Not sure if you can do it before the credits, though.
Further, after testing, it is *completely* apparent that the game also counts in the cutscenes. The first level has 3 minutes of gameplay, yet still counted to 6 minutes.
*But*, it seems like it is impossible to record the end timer anyway. It's a separate window, and FRAPS doesn't record it.
So I'll probably do the levels in sequence, ending on Peru. Manual timing shouldn't be much of a problem, unless you'd want to omit the cutscenes from it.

Weapons review:
0 Fists: Unbelievably useless. But funny. And Indy is rather stiff when running with fists. Ehm. I mean he looks like he has a stick up... I mean he doesn't move his torso.
1 Whip: The disarm might come up once, if that, but overall too slow and too useless.
2 Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector II .45-calibre revolver: Teh weapon of choice. Free, unlimited ammo. And free! Slow, though.
3 Tokarev TT-33 semi-automatic pistol: Better range, punch, 'n speed than the .45, but alas, probably not good enough to justify ever picking them up. Ten bullets a pickup. *Should* perhaps do the math. (Time to pick up, versus time saved saved over gettin' in range for a good .45 gunnin'. Positive number; good for the .45, negative number; you suck hopeless Commie bastard weapon!)
4 Mauser C96 automatic pistol: *Utterly* useless. Kickass rate of speed, but weaker than a kitten, and at only five rounds a pickup; not even enough to shoot down *one* guy well. Although it does look pretty cool. I've got a airsoft/softgun version of it, actually. Called the Mauser Schnellfeuer Model 712, there.
5 SKS semi-automatic rifle: Sweet range, best punch around (save bazooka), *but* only five rounds a pickup and slow as a glacier. Still worth it for the range, though.
6 Machete: Nah, only useful short-distance, and even there not fast enough to not warrant a good .45in'. Just look at the swordsman scene in Raiders.
7 PPSh-41 submachine gun: Teh awesome. Good range, incredible rate of speed, will tear through any number of enemies, and better yet; 50 rounds a pickup. Rare, though.
8 Shotgun: Teh useless. Good for weak stuff up close, I guess, with one shot one kill, but meh.
9 Bazooka: Drool. Good on bunches of enemies (if they'll stand still), incredible range. Slow, though, but still... A *BAZOOKA*!
G Grenades. Handy for snakepits, not much else.
P Satchel charge: Presumably utterly useless. I've never used one in all my playthroughs. Not one.
K Chalk. Not a particularly effective offensive weapon, but might come in handy to pass time spent waiting.
L Lighter. Also not particularly effective in hand-to-hand, *or* ranged combat, but dangit if it isn't cool that this game has dynamic lightin'.

Treasures.
Might be worth the pick-up (one gold treasure = one SMG mag, or one health kit), and I *do* run right over a fair few, but well...
I'll also need to check if you can sell stuff in your possession. Somehow I doubt it.

Enemies.
Apparently, I can run right past most of them, if I just pick up enough health kits. Should do the math, though. ("Enemies dead" > "Enemies un-dead + treasure pick-up" ?)

Health kits.
I pick them up if I come over them, unless it's out-of-the-way.
*If* I buy any, it'll be the small ones, as full ones waste money as you're *never* at 0% health (while 33% health for 33% the money is fiscally responsible).

Poison kits.
Apparently, you might stop losing health after a while. And I try to stay away from creepy crawlies anyway. (Watch out for snakes!) So I won't bother to pick any up, then. Further, you heal poison bites with medkits (at least the full ones) so in themselves the kits are useless.
Even further, if I *do* need any, Babylon has a whole bunch just lying around. Wasteful commie bastards.
Also; you seem to start some levels with inexplicably appearing poison kits, probably so you won't poison yourself to death, whilst helplessly cursing yourself for not having purchased the one thing that could save your life, yet now cannot. Curse this outrageous misfortune!
Or I'm bad at remembering if I have any left.
Summing up: Won't be acquiring any, probably.

Rolling.
Yes, this game features rolling. Yes, I'm going to abuse it.
Basically, although it's slow to start, on *landing* you don't lose speed. Which is good.
In addition, because of Indy's slow, slow turning, it might actually be faster than turning around, running, then turning back again. For instance rolling off to the side of something, rather than running around. Hopefully, I'll also get to roll out of the way of things...

So, in closing:
This post is long enough as it is, so I'll be updating with progress as it's coming along, like I did with Emperor's Tomb. Unless there's overwhelming interest for the whole route in advance, for ~~speedrun thief pirates~~ people who just want to take a look.

Be sure to ask if you have any questions. Please do. Really.

Thread title:

Hello everyone. After the astounding success wrought with Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, I've decided to mix things up a bit and do something wholly unexpected.
[b]Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine[/b]

Yay!

In this LucasArts 1999 classic, and ripping off Tomb Raider beyond your wildest dreams, Indiana Jones is back!
...Although technically *preceding* 2002's Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. Although that one sucks. Inferior, in other words.
"Indiana Jones and the Inferior Tomb".

Ah, I like this game. LucasArts at its finest.

The game doesn't seem to have all that many glitches and exploits, due to its truly high quality and awesomeness, but I've found a few nonetheless. I almost feel bad for pointing out the blemishes of this masterpiece, tarnishing its name.
I ran through the game, in a strangely uncharacteristic display of advance planning on my part, so I'm pretty sure how the run goes. I even measured it.

The run will be:
370 minutes or so. Probably less.
44 segments. Probably less, probably.

Misc. notes:

Settings:
Subtitles ON, for them's folk what prefer readin'.
All graphical settings to the max, of course.
Further, anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering through drivers.
Resolution probably 1024*768, astounding you all in its high-definition definedness. Tests seem to run fine in it, even with the quirkily applied 32-bit colour depth.
An alternative could be a lower resolution, like 640*480, but with a higher framerate for all-out fluid motion.

Timing:
Doesn't seem to work.
Basically, it counts only whole minutes (insert frowny-face smiley here), and I'm not sure if it counts seconds beyond that for a real total.
Then there's a bug where it deletes the number of minutes if you save, sometimes (frowny-face), so you start at 0 minutes when loading that save (this may only apply to quickloads; smiley-face if applicable).
Also, there's a problem with Return to Peru. Basically, it doesn't give you the time for that level if it's played last. This means either manual timing (possibly only for that level, although probably manual timing anyway), *or* scrounging up 2000 in gooold for the secret map earlier in the game (big frowny-face). A third alternative would be very clunky, and would be to open up the Menu and go to level info, just before the level ends. Not sure if you can do it before the credits, though.
Further, after testing, it is *completely* apparent that the game also counts in the cutscenes. The first level has 3 minutes of gameplay, yet still counted to 6 minutes.
*But*, it seems like it is impossible to record the end timer anyway. It's a separate window, and FRAPS doesn't record it.
So I'll probably do the levels in sequence, ending on Peru. Manual timing shouldn't be much of a problem, unless you'd want to omit the cutscenes from it.

Weapons review:
0 Fists: Unbelievably useless. But funny. And Indy is rather stiff when running with fists. Ehm. I mean he looks like he has a stick up... I mean he doesn't move his torso.
1 Whip: The disarm might come up once, if that, but overall too slow and too useless.
2 Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector II .45-calibre revolver: Teh weapon of choice. Free, unlimited ammo. And free! Slow, though.
3 Tokarev TT-33 semi-automatic pistol: Better range, punch, 'n speed than the .45, but alas, probably not good enough to justify ever picking them up. Ten bullets a pickup. *Should* perhaps do the math. (Time to pick up, versus time saved saved over gettin' in range for a good .45 gunnin'. Positive number; good for the .45, negative number; you suck hopeless Commie bastard weapon!)
4 Mauser C96 automatic pistol: *Utterly* useless. Kickass rate of speed, but weaker than a kitten, and at only five rounds a pickup; not even enough to shoot down *one* guy well. Although it does look pretty cool. I've got a airsoft/softgun version of it, actually. Called the Mauser Schnellfeuer Model 712, there.
5 SKS semi-automatic rifle: Sweet range, best punch around (save bazooka), *but* only five rounds a pickup and slow as a glacier. Still worth it for the range, though.
6 Machete: Nah, only useful short-distance, and even there not fast enough to not warrant a good .45in'. Just look at the swordsman scene in Raiders.
7 PPSh-41 submachine gun: Teh awesome. Good range, incredible rate of speed, will tear through any number of enemies, and better yet; 50 rounds a pickup. Rare, though.
8 Shotgun: Teh useless. Good for weak stuff up close, I guess, with one shot one kill, but meh.
9 Bazooka: Drool. Good on bunches of enemies (if they'll stand still), incredible range. Slow, though, but still... A *BAZOOKA*!
G Grenades. Handy for snakepits, not much else.
P Satchel charge: Presumably utterly useless. I've never used one in all my playthroughs. Not one.
K Chalk. Not a particularly effective offensive weapon, but might come in handy to pass time spent waiting.
L Lighter. Also not particularly effective in hand-to-hand, *or* ranged combat, but dangit if it isn't cool that this game has dynamic lightin'.

Treasures.
Might be worth the pick-up (one gold treasure = one SMG mag, or one health kit), and I *do* run right over a fair few, but well...
I'll also need to check if you can sell stuff in your possession. Somehow I doubt it.

Enemies.
Apparently, I can run right past most of them, if I just pick up enough health kits. Should do the math, though. ("Enemies dead" > "Enemies un-dead + treasure pick-up" ?)

Health kits.
I pick them up if I come over them, unless it's out-of-the-way.
*If* I buy any, it'll be the small ones, as full ones waste money as you're *never* at 0% health (while 33% health for 33% the money is fiscally responsible).

Poison kits.
Apparently, you might stop losing health after a while. And I try to stay away from creepy crawlies anyway. (Watch out for snakes!) So I won't bother to pick any up, then. Further, you heal poison bites with medkits (at least the full ones) so in themselves the kits are useless.
Even further, if I *do* need any, Babylon has a whole bunch just lying around. Wasteful commie bastards.
Also; you seem to start some levels with inexplicably appearing poison kits, probably so you won't poison yourself to death, whilst helplessly cursing yourself for not having purchased the one thing that could save your life, yet now cannot. Curse this outrageous misfortune!
Or I'm bad at remembering if I have any left.
Summing up: Won't be acquiring any, probably.

Rolling.
Yes, this game features rolling. Yes, I'm going to abuse it.
Basically, although it's slow to start, on *landing* you don't lose speed. Which is good.
In addition, because of Indy's slow, slow turning, it might actually be faster than turning around, running, then turning back again. For instance rolling off to the side of something, rather than running around. Hopefully, I'll also get to roll out of the way of things...

So, in closing:
This post is long enough as it is, so I'll be updating with progress as it's coming along, like I did with Emperor's Tomb. Unless there's overwhelming interest for the whole route in advance, for [s]speedrun thief pirates[/s] people who just want to take a look.

Be sure to ask if you have any questions. Please do. Really.

dex

2007-01-24 08:45:29 pm

Invisible avatar

\o/

I'm really looking forward to this, good luck Goggen!
I hope you will stay at your "76% more care" with comments like you did earlier.

ymh

2007-01-24 08:49:30 pm

Never heard of this game but it sounds interesting. So it is a mix of Shooter and Advenuregame ? Good luck.

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-01-25 08:47:27 pm

2007-01-24 08:53:01 pm

"Time to go to work..."

01 - Canyonlands
6 minutes (in testing)
Major: I accidentally fell off the starting point (or; the outcropping next to it) and *survived*! Apparently, I need to provoke what, from now on, shall be known as "the grind". If you land on an incline, Indy will "grind" to the bottom, unharmed. Seems horrifyingly random.
The closest I've gotten, is if you stand about one Indy-width to the right of the chipped-away left corner of the second outcropping, with the right foot one shoe-width over the edge, aiming so that the tip of the tent in the background hits the left frame of the screen, then running straight ahead. Still died, though. If you aim a tad to the right you can hit the cactus. Funny. You'll still die though.
(Minor: Skipping the first ever jump by running up on an incline and jumping on from there. This one works, but is nowhere near as overwhelmingly spectacular as the other one.)

I'd really appreciate some help with that grinding (Trademark pending, US Patent Office #1138-114) trick. It would be ever so awesome to start the run off with one huge trick like that. I've tried it a few hundred times by now, and not one success outside that first fluke.

01 - Canyonlands
6 minutes (in testing)
Major: I accidentally fell off the starting point (or; the outcropping next to it) and *survived*! Apparently, I need to provoke what, from now on, shall be known as "the grind". If you land on an incline, Indy will "grind" to the bottom, unharmed. Seems horrifyingly random.
The closest I've gotten, is if you stand about one Indy-width to the right of the chipped-away left corner of the second outcropping, with the right foot one shoe-width over the edge, aiming so that the tip of the tent in the background hits the left frame of the screen, then running straight ahead. Still died, though. If you aim a tad to the right you can hit the cactus. Funny. You'll still die though.
(Minor: Skipping the first ever jump by running up on an incline and jumping on from there. This one works, but is nowhere near as overwhelmingly spectacular as the other one.)

I'd really appreciate some help with that [i]grinding[/i] (Trademark pending, US Patent Office #1138-114) trick. It would be ever so awesome to start the run off with one huge trick like that. I've tried it a few hundred times by now, and not one success outside that first fluke.

MMAN

2007-01-24 08:58:10 pm

I was thinking of experimenting with this game a little since its all-round style reminds me of Tomb Raider (though it's not like tactics could be transplanted or anything). Guess I don't need to now. Anyway, you do better comments Wink

.

Roy_Hess

2007-01-24 09:55:24 pm

unemployed Dragon

woah guys i really like to see a run of this game
i bought it myself a couple of years ago, coz i liked the Tomb Raider - style gameplay. and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (german title: Indiana Jones und der Turm von Babel) looks way better than TR1 or TR2.

I LOVED that game, it even runs under Windows XP after searching google for patches i found that simply running Windows Media Player in the background, it doesnt need to play something, just start it.
If you guys get problems with that nice game.

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-01-25 07:21:04 am

2007-01-25 07:15:19 am

"Time to go to work..."

Actually, it needs both Windows Media Player *and* Internet Explorer here.
It's somewhat like an occult ritual to get the game to work, so I figured I'd point that out.

GuS

2007-01-26 06:46:58 am

I'd like to see this run... I love this game.
And I want to thank you guys, I was trying to play it on the Windows XP for a long time and I never did it! The game used to crash before starting... I tried to start the Windows Media Player(as said on this thread) before starting the game and it worked perfectly(it's strange, but worked x])!!! Finally!! Grin

Roy_Hess

2007-01-26 09:05:09 am

unemployed Dragon

the reason why Indy refuses to work correctly under WinXP is, that the kernel default timer has a low refreshrate, starting Windows Media Player raises the refreshrate to 1000ticks per second which makes indy playable
same trick is used for CS Servers on Windows machines to enable 100tick-Servers

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-01-30 03:17:33 pm

2007-01-30 03:12:24 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Update:

Haven't gotten grinding to work yet. From the looks of things, I never will. Dangit.
Interesting thing; if at the bottom of a slope (after a fall off the first climb), and you turn 90° right, and roll backwards off the cliff, you land almost alive on some ruins. Then die immidiately.
This leads me to believe the area has been killfielded in such a way that any contact with the ground kills you, and I survived that one fluke either from landing *just* on the boundary between killfields, *or* landed outside a killfield from sliding under a killfield that kills you mid-air.
Maybe.

Also, I didn't find any useful places to jump ahead either.
(Almost managed to jump from after the first crawl to the waterfall. Missed by only a *few* dozen meters.)

Lastly, there's recording. I've figured that the game runs at its most stable in 1024*768, where I can muster up 30FPS no sweat. However, I *can* record 800*600@60FPS, a huge leap in smoothiness.
Problems, though:
There's obviously less resolution, but the game is old and doesn't look all that much better even at 1024 anyway.
Any little chop is much more noticeable than on 30FPS, although that's mostly because 30FPS is *constantly* choppy.

Now, all of this is only really relevant for High and Insane Quality. Any lower quality than that, and any high resolution or high framerate has to go.

So, what would all of you like?

High resolution, low framerate
Low(ish) resolution, high framerate

(Personally, I'm leaning toward high framerate. In direct comparison, I could see little difference in still images, not even in motion, 'though 60FPS looked better with *extreme* contrasts when in motion, like horizons.)

(No I haven't checked with the officials of SDA yet, just figured I'd ask here first.)

Update:

Haven't gotten [b]grinding[/b] to work yet. From the looks of things, I never will. Dangit.
Interesting thing; if at the bottom of a slope (after a fall off the first climb), and you turn 90° right, and roll backwards off the cliff, you land almost alive on some ruins. Then die immidiately.
This leads me to believe the area has been killfielded in such a way that any contact with the ground kills you, and I survived that one fluke either from landing *just* on the boundary between killfields, *or* landed outside a killfield from sliding under a killfield that kills you mid-air.
Maybe.

Also, I didn't find any useful places to jump ahead either.
([i]Almost[/i] managed to jump from after the first crawl to the waterfall. Missed by only a *few* dozen meters.)

Lastly, there's recording. I've figured that the game runs at its most stable in 1024*768, where I can muster up 30FPS no sweat. However, I *can* record 800*600@[b]60[/b]FPS, a huge leap in smoothiness.
Problems, though:
There's obviously less resolution, but the game is old and doesn't look all that much better even at 1024 anyway.
Any little chop is much more noticeable than on 30FPS, although that's mostly because 30FPS is *constantly* choppy.

Now, all of this is only really relevant for High and Insane Quality. Any lower quality than that, and any high resolution or high framerate has to go.

So, what would all of you like?

High resolution, low framerate
Low(ish) resolution, high framerate

(Personally, I'm leaning toward high framerate. In direct comparison, I could see little difference in still images, not even in motion, 'though 60FPS looked better with *extreme* contrasts when in motion, like horizons.)

(No I haven't checked with the officials of SDA yet, just figured I'd ask here first.)

bjteam

2007-01-31 10:54:05 am

isnt this game for the n64?

MMAN

Edit history:

MMAN: 2007-01-31 12:16:38 pm

2007-01-31 12:15:31 pm

High framerate sounds better, AA and AF can greatly improve the quality of lower resolutions anyway (I think you said you were playing with those).

There's an N64 version, but it came out on PC first.

Goggen

2007-01-31 01:46:59 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Mario Man: isnt this game for the n64?

MMAN: There's an N64 version, but it came out on PC first.

(Hm... "MMAN" -> "M-Man" -> "Mario Man"!)

What he said. Basically, Infernal was ported to the N64, where the biggest change was a change-over to Zelda-like controls (Strafe!), and the bonus addition of endless bugs, apparently.
I think the N64 version would be a *considerably* better choice for speedrunning, since Indy maneuvres like a bus without strafing, as well as the controls probably being better on ye olde gamepad.
However:
A) I haven't got a way to record N64 games as well as I can record PC games through FRAPS.
B) I have no way to record N64 games *period*.
C) I haven't actually *got* Infernal for the N64, which is just as well because...
D) I haven't got a Nintendo 64.

If anyone *has* the wonderful port of this wonderful game for that wonderful console, I'd recommend you'd go for it.
I think that the substantial differences in control schemes warrant separate run categories.

MMAN: High framerate sounds better, AA and AF can greatly improve the quality of lower resolutions anyway (I think you said you were playing with those).

Full anti-aliasing, full anisoptropic filtering, vertical sync, the works, all ON for either option. I haven't gots me a X1900XT just because the packaging looked cool.
So very cool.
Oh if only a cheaper card had had packaging that cool, I could have bought spent money on *food* instead of this accursed thing!

So anyway yes, I'll be going for high framerate. Another bonus is actually an increase in overall data rate;
0,80GB/min for 1024 and 0,99GB/min for 800. That's 17MBps! Yay! More data means more quality, I guess!

Speaking of quality, while I'm remembering it:
The game has a setting for "3D Sound". I haven't tried it out, but since it's still only stereo I reckon it might not be all that great. But if it is, any interest?

Mario Man: [i]isnt this game for the n64?[/i]

MMAN: [i]There's an N64 version, but it came out on PC first.[/I]

(Hm... "MMAN" -> "M-Man" -> "Mario Man"!)

What he said. Basically, Infernal was ported to the N64, where the biggest change was a change-over to Zelda-like controls (Strafe!), and the bonus addition of endless bugs, apparently.
I think the N64 version would be a *considerably* better choice for speedrunning, since Indy maneuvres like a bus without strafing, as well as the controls probably being better on ye olde gamepad.
However:
A) I haven't got a way to record N64 games as well as I can record PC games through FRAPS.
B) I have no way to record N64 games *period*.
C) I haven't actually *got* Infernal for the N64, which is just as well because...
D) I haven't got a Nintendo 64.

If anyone *has* the wonderful port of this wonderful game for that wonderful console, I'd recommend you'd go for it.
I think that the substantial differences in control schemes warrant separate run categories.

MMAN: [i]High framerate sounds better, AA and AF can greatly improve the quality of lower resolutions anyway (I think you said you were playing with those).[/i]

Full anti-aliasing, full anisoptropic filtering, vertical sync, the works, all ON for either option. I haven't gots me a X1900XT just because the packaging looked cool.
So very cool.
Oh if only a cheaper card had had packaging that cool, I could have bought spent money on *food* instead of this accursed thing!

So anyway yes, I'll be going for high framerate. Another bonus is actually an increase in overall data rate;
0,80GB/min for 1024 and 0,99GB/min for 800. That's 17MBps! Yay! More data means more quality, I guess!

Speaking of quality, while I'm remembering it:
The game has a setting for "3D Sound". I haven't tried it out, but since it's still only stereo I reckon it might not be all that great. But if it is, any interest?

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-02-24 12:31:24 pm

2007-02-12 08:07:38 pm

"Time to go to work..."

First off: The 3D Sound sounded horrible.

Second off:
First level done!

Although I'm saddened by my failure to replicate that unimaginably awesome grinding trick, one which would have saved a couple *minutes* in the first few seconds of the run, I've gone ahead, ever so slowly. 6 minutes 29 seconds so slowly, to be precise. Don't worry though; that includes about four minutes of cutscenes. No apparent mistakes, but unfortunately, hardly any shortcuts either.
Oh well.

Hm... And I think I might have figured out a minor timesaver that I'll definitely have to check; copying, then renaming, the level opening save as "quicksave". If it works, just a quick F8 to retry a failed segment! Yeah!
Which actually reminds me: Oh, am I ever so fond of playing a game where resetting takes only 5 seconds even if I do it *awkwardly*...

[EDIT] Turns out that Fraps captured an extra four seconds of nearly-black screen, inbetween this level and the loading of the next one. There's actually some overlap, so you can hear the Loading Theme starting up. I'm not counting it.

[EDIT 2] Also forgot to cut out the opening loading screen. Two seconds more!

01 - Badlands - 6 minutes 23 seconds
[Major]: I accidentally fell off the starting point (or; the platform next to it) and *survived*! Couldn't be replicated, though...
Minor: Skipping the first ever jump by running up on an incline and jumping on from there.

Levels done: 1/17 (5,88%)
Time done: 6/310 (1,93%)
Time so far: 00:06:23

First off: The 3D Sound sounded horrible.

Second off:
First level done!

Although I'm saddened by my failure to replicate that unimaginably awesome grinding trick, one which would have saved a couple *minutes* in the first few seconds of the run, I've gone ahead, ever so slowly. 6 minutes 29 seconds so slowly, to be precise. Don't worry though; that includes about four minutes of cutscenes. No apparent mistakes, but unfortunately, hardly any shortcuts either.
Oh well.

Hm... And I think I might have figured out a minor timesaver that I'll definitely have to check; copying, then renaming, the level opening save as "quicksave". If it works, just a quick F8 to retry a failed segment! Yeah!
Which actually reminds me: Oh, am I ever so fond of playing a game where resetting takes only 5 seconds even if I do it *awkwardly*...

[EDIT] Turns out that Fraps captured an extra four seconds of nearly-black screen, inbetween this level and the loading of the next one. There's actually some overlap, so you can hear the Loading Theme starting up. I'm not counting it.

[EDIT 2] Also forgot to cut out the opening loading screen. Two seconds more!

01 - Badlands - 6 minutes 23 seconds
[Major]: I accidentally fell off the starting point (or; the platform next to it) and *survived*! Couldn't be replicated, though...
Minor: Skipping the first ever jump by running up on an incline and jumping on from there.

Levels done:  1/17    (5,88%)
Time done:     6/310  (1,93%)
Time so far:    00:06:23

Roy_Hess

2007-02-17 11:01:23 pm

unemployed Dragon

heh good work there, keep it coming!

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-02-25 01:05:01 pm

2007-02-25 01:00:31 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Roy_Hess:
"heh good work there, keep it coming!"

Thanks there.

And now for the news:

I finished a run of Level 2: (Electric) Babylon!

Also, I finished it in a blistering (as in, I got blisters from it) 15:11! ...Ish.
That's two minutes less than the play-through I did. Yee-haw!

My trick of copying and renaming the level-start save also meant it took about one second to reset.
I'm just so happy it's not the half-minute wait of Emperor's Tomb...

That was the good news. Now comes the bad.

As is my wont, I made heavy statistics of this...
It took 491 attempts, that is FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY utter failures, and eleven hours thirty-eight minutes of my time.
I *knew* single-segmenting this 17-minute level was a bad idea...

Because of that, numerous tiny imperfections litter the otherwise nice run.
One overt mistake: One jump too many, trying to get onto a ladder. 11 minutes into the run by the way.
Numerous small, tiny ones: Slow pulling/pushing crates twice, wasted bullets when shooting a guy, some spiders, and a scorpion.
Lost a health kit I could've brought to the next level. (Would have ended with 2, always handy to have.)
Never had a chance to test some small (possible) optimizations, as they occur too late in the level to play around with.

All in all, I guess a save of 10-20 seconds is definitely possible: I lose at least 5 seconds just to that jump and wasting three bullets on that dang scorpion.

Worse still though; the audio drifts out of sync. After fifteen minutes, it's 2 seconds off. Although I'm sure I could fix it if I wanted to, I'm a bit too lazy for that because...

I'll be re-running the level segmented. At least testing it. I'll be putting a save just before the first two 4-gig-FRAPS-limits (4 minutes).
Maybe, but probably not, one at the next, if only to keep the file change from throwing me off (AGAIN).
If any are interested, the exact spots will be just before you jump onto the truck, and just after Turner shows up.

Specifically, I'm also interested in how you'd like to see me save:
Option 1: Proper Save. Press Escape, bring up the menu, scroll up to save (well, the camera representing save), and then you guys don't see anything more because FRAPS doesn't record the dialogue box.
Option 2: Quicksave. Press F5, then a "KerCHK" camera noise, and the game's saved.
(Or "snapshotted". I love that they made a point of the savegames being photographs, kinda.)
Also makes it much easier to reset the next segment, since I won't even have to bother exciting the game to re-name the quicksave file.
Also it's faster.
Also, the regular saving occasionally bugs FRAPS, especially on loading.

...And I'd have trouble editing out a lot of the proper save procedure.

...Yeah, I'll probably go for Quicksave. The game even makes more of a point of showing you did it, than any other game I've ever seen, so I don't see how it should be a problem. Like, say, making it look like I was cheating by making it look single-segment or something.
Then again, I've seen a lot of segmented runs on here where there is *no* noticeable saving procedure, so it *still* shouldn't be a problem.

I think it's a bit of a disappointment to add *more* segments to the run, rather than removing a few of the extraneous ones I made just playing through.
(Palawan Temple had 8 saves, 4 of them with 2 minutes or less, because I got frustrated.)
However, I have conclusively proven, through my love of statistics, that it actually *is* humanly inaccomplishable for me to make it through the levels in a timely fashion otherwise, and even then, doing so without significant mistakes.
(Ehm. I *guess* a three-second jump is "significant"...)
Actually, since I spent eleven hours on a 17-minute level, math-wise I'd be spending 239 hours on the whole game...

If you're curious; By my estimates I get the first segment right 7,94% of the time (necessitating 13 attempts), the next one 33,33% (necessissitating, uh, 3 actually), and the last one 7,69%, necktying 13 again. A total of 29 attempts, each one at most four minutes. (Not counting the last one properly, since it's pretty much all cutscene.)
As opposed to 491 attempts, at most 15 minutes. (Fine, so I counted the last one here, but not last count. Life just isn't fair.)

Actually, 52 of the failed attempts were at *more* than four minutes, while 13 of those were at more than *eight*.
That's more than 4 hours wasted right there, just from failing those.

...Oh right, completely derailed into statistics. Back to the segmenting woes.

It guess it doesn't matter if I *do* add more segments; it's already segmented anyway. 17 segments if one per level, or 44-ish segments if according to plan, or 202 segments if I'd segment it as much as Emperor's Tomb, it all doesn't really matter that much since it's not single-segment anyway.

So, you folks can look forward to a much smoother run, even if there's more KerCHK-noises than originally planned.

Also, you can probably look forward to me presenting more statistics in all their glory...

By the way, at least for now:

Levels done: 02/17 (11,76%)
This level, plan: 17/310 (05,48%)
Game, plan: 23/310 (07,42%)
This level, time: 00:15:11 (out of 17; 10,67% saved)
Time so far: 00:21:34 (out of 23; 06,23% saved)

Roy_Hess:
"heh good work there, keep it coming!"

Thanks there.

And now for the news:

I finished a run of Level 2: (Electric) Babylon!

Also, I finished it in a blistering (as in, I got blisters from it) 15:11! ...Ish.
That's two minutes less than the play-through I did. Yee-haw!

My trick of copying and renaming the level-start save also meant it took about one second to reset.
I'm just so happy it's not the half-minute wait of Emperor's Tomb...

That was the good news. Now comes the bad.

As is my wont, I made heavy statistics of this...
It took 491 attempts, that is FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY utter failures, and eleven hours thirty-eight minutes of my time.
I *knew* single-segmenting this 17-minute level was a bad idea...

Because of that, numerous tiny imperfections litter the otherwise nice run.
One overt mistake: One jump too many, trying to get onto a ladder. 11 minutes into the run by the way.
Numerous small, tiny ones: Slow pulling/pushing crates twice, wasted bullets when shooting a guy, some spiders, and a scorpion.
Lost a health kit I could've brought to the next level. (Would have ended with 2, always handy to have.)
Never had a chance to test some small (possible) optimizations, as they occur too late in the level to play around with.

All in all, I guess a save of 10-20 seconds is definitely possible: I lose at least 5 seconds just to that jump and wasting three bullets on that dang scorpion.

Worse still though; the audio drifts out of sync. After fifteen minutes, it's 2 seconds off. Although I'm sure I could fix it if I wanted to, I'm a bit too lazy for that because...

I'll be re-running the level segmented. At least testing it. I'll be putting a save just before the first two 4-gig-FRAPS-limits (4 minutes).
Maybe, but probably not, one at the next, if only to keep the file change from throwing me off (AGAIN).
If any are interested, the exact spots will be just before you jump onto the truck, and just after Turner shows up.

Specifically, I'm also interested in how you'd like to see me save:
Option 1: Proper Save. Press Escape, bring up the menu, scroll up to save (well, the camera representing save), and then you guys don't see anything more because FRAPS doesn't record the dialogue box.
Option 2: Quicksave. Press F5, then a "KerCHK" camera noise, and the game's saved.
(Or "snapshotted". I love that they made a point of the savegames being photographs, kinda.)
Also makes it much easier to reset the next segment, since I won't even have to bother exciting the game to re-name the quicksave file.
Also it's faster.
Also, the regular saving occasionally bugs FRAPS, especially on loading.

...And I'd have trouble editing out a lot of the proper save procedure.

...Yeah, I'll probably go for Quicksave. The game even makes more of a point of showing you did it, than any other game I've ever seen, so I don't see how it should be a problem. Like, say, making it look like I was cheating by making it look single-segment or something.
Then again, I've seen a lot of segmented runs on here where there is *no* noticeable saving procedure, so it *still* shouldn't be a problem.

I think it's a bit of a disappointment to add *more* segments to the run, rather than removing a few of the extraneous ones I made just playing through.
(Palawan Temple had 8 saves, 4 of them with 2 minutes or less, because I got frustrated.)
However, I have conclusively proven, through my love of statistics, that it actually *is* humanly inaccomplishable for me to make it through the levels in a timely fashion otherwise, and even then, doing so without significant mistakes.
(Ehm. I *guess* a three-second jump is "significant"...)
Actually, since I spent eleven hours on a 17-minute level, math-wise I'd be spending 239 hours on the whole game...

If you're curious; By my estimates I get the first segment right 7,94% of the time (necessitating 13 attempts), the next one 33,33% (necessissitating, uh, 3 actually), and the last one 7,69%, necktying 13 again. A total of 29 attempts, each one at most four minutes. (Not counting the last one properly, since it's pretty much all cutscene.)
As opposed to 491 attempts, at most 15 minutes. (Fine, so I counted the last one here, but not last count. Life just isn't fair.)

Actually, 52 of the failed attempts were at *more* than four minutes, while 13 of those were at more than *eight*.
That's more than 4 hours wasted right there, just from failing those.

...Oh right, completely derailed into statistics. Back to the segmenting woes.

It guess it doesn't matter if I *do* add more segments; it's already segmented anyway. 17 segments if one per level, or 44-ish segments if according to plan, or 202 segments if I'd segment it as much as Emperor's Tomb, it all doesn't really matter that much since it's not single-segment anyway.

So, you folks can look forward to a much smoother run, even if there's more KerCHK-noises than originally planned.

Also, you can probably look forward to me presenting more statistics in all their glory...

By the way, at least for now:

Levels done:       02/17     (11,76%)
This level, plan:  17/310    (05,48%)
Game, plan:        23/310    (07,42%)
This level, time:  00:15:11 (out of 17; 10,67% saved)
Time so far:        00:21:34 (out of 23; 06,23% saved)

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-05-26 08:01:57 pm

2007-05-26 07:54:05 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Out of the sky comes the most incredible surprise!

Finished Babylon, just now.

Why did it take three months, you ask...?

Well...

[Flashback out-of-focus swirly crosscut.]

It all started about three months ago... ("Yes? We know?")
I was doing this run of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine ("Yeees...?"), and I'd completed the second level, Babylon, in 15 minutes 11 seconds, in one segment ("Yeees...!?"), and then I decided to save 10, 20 seconds by re-doing it segmented ("Get on with it!")...

[Flashback out-of-focus swirly crosscut.]

All in all, I guess a save of 10-20 seconds is definitely possible: I lose at least 5 seconds just to that jump and wasting three bullets on that dang scorpion.

("Come on! We know all this! And you can't have a flashback inside a flashback!")

And I finished the first segment, and I'd saved a couple of seconds. But I needed some more hard drive space for some downloads, so I temporarily used my recording drive. So, since I couldn't record, I figured I'd just quickly play some other game until I'd cleared it out again. Also, I had a school project coming up, so I figured I had to clear my schedule a bit.

So, a quick completion later, of Company of Heroes, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, and the GDI campaign of Command & Conquer ("Tiberium Dawn"), and most of the NOD campaign, I was ready to go again.

Well...

Yeah, mostly it was that I got stuck on that damned NOD campaign. I was only thinking of running through those old C&C's quickly, in time for C&C3's release.

("But that released like a month ago?")

Yes. That it did.

So, anyway: Got back to the speedrunning. Mostly, this three-month hiatus taught me:
A) I should have segmented in the first place.
B) I should have been happy with completing the level in a single segment.
C) It was poor planning of me to actually plan ahead, since it just means I'll have forgotten what the plan was once I get to it, months later. And then I get bored, 'cause I played that part to death, months earlier. And then I go do something else. For three months.
D) And it only took me two days to actually complete the level. Three months later.

So, sorry for that, all. I'm pretty sure I'll make more progress now. Once this *new* school project finishes...

Right, but enough of that, for now.

I saved 10-20 seconds, and instead of shooting a scorpion I shot a spider. It had it coming.

Oh, and I do actually have complete breakdown of every spot every attempt failed, and I'll maybe be doing some work with those later on. If I can be bothered.

Completion time: 14 minutes, 51 seconds, down 20 seconds. In 4 segments. Up 3 segments.
It took me 267 attempts, totalling 233 minutes.
Originally, 489, at 638 minutes.
So attempts-a-minute are up 37,9%!

I also figured, I'd place down quicksaves just before the video reaches 4 minutes (4 gigs), and it pauses a bit and starts a new one. So the number of segments could go up quite a lot. But still, way less than for Emperor's Tomb.
Anyway.

02 - Babylon
14 minutes, 41 seconds
Minor: From the start screen, running up the small incline to the right and climbing up, instead of stepping onto nearby ruin and climbing there.
Minor: Instead of fiddling with the crate, take a running jump straight from the "sidewalk ledge" to the pre-speech jump-off.
Minor: Running under the second arch, rather than jumping onto it. Saves a cutscene.
Medium (obvious): After Volodnikov's opening speech, just running past the guards.
Medium (obvious): Jumping on the truck while it's moving, rather than trekking to the other side to jump from there.
Minor: After the rifleman, rolling to the other side rather than whipping. Takes one-and-a-half circles of life. If you hit the left ledge, no damage.
Minor, but pretty damn important: In Tablet Room, climbing to the last tablet, climb from floor to top of the rubble, *rather* than jump to the first step and climb up. That won't work.

Levels done: 02/17 (11,76%)
This level, plan: 17/310 (05,48%)
Segments, this level: 4
Segments, whole game so far: 5
Game, plan: 23/310 (07,42%)
This level, time: 00:14:51 (out of 17; 12,65% saved)
Time so far: 00:21:14 (out of 23; 07,68% saved)

Out of the sky comes the most incredible surprise!

Finished Babylon, just now.

Why did it take three months, you ask...?

Well...

[Flashback out-of-focus swirly crosscut.]

It all started about three months ago... ("Yes? We know?")
I was doing this run of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine ("Yeees...?"), and I'd completed the second level, Babylon, in 15 minutes 11 seconds, in one segment ("Yeees...!?"), and then I decided to save 10, 20 seconds by re-doing it segmented ("Get on with it!")...

[Flashback out-of-focus swirly crosscut.]

[i]All in all, I guess a save of 10-20 seconds is definitely possible: I lose at least 5 seconds just to that jump and wasting three bullets on that dang scorpion.[/i]

("Come on! We know all this! And you can't have a flashback inside a flashback!")

And I finished the first segment, and I'd saved a couple of seconds. But I needed some more hard drive space for some downloads, so I temporarily used my recording drive. So, since I couldn't record, I figured I'd just quickly play some other game until I'd cleared it out again. Also, I had a school project coming up, so I figured I had to clear my schedule a bit.

So, a quick completion later, of Company of Heroes, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, and the GDI campaign of Command & Conquer ("Tiberium Dawn"), and most of the NOD campaign, I was ready to go again.

Well...

Yeah, mostly it was that I got stuck on that damned NOD campaign. I was only thinking of running through those old C&C's quickly, in time for C&C3's release.

("But that released like a month ago?")

Yes. That it did.

So, anyway: Got back to the speedrunning. Mostly, this three-month hiatus taught me:
A) I should have segmented in the first place.
B) I should have been happy with completing the level in a single segment.
C) It was poor planning of me to actually [b]plan ahead[/b], since it just means I'll have forgotten what the plan was once I get to it, months later. And then I get bored, 'cause I played that part to death, months earlier. And then I go do something else. For three months.
D) And it only took me two days to actually complete the level. Three months later.

So, sorry for that, all.  I'm pretty sure I'll make more progress now. Once this *new* school project finishes...

Right, but enough of that, for now.

I saved 10-20 seconds, and instead of shooting a scorpion I shot a spider. It had it coming.

Oh, and I do actually have complete breakdown of every spot every attempt failed, and I'll maybe be doing some work with those later on. If I can be bothered.

Completion time: 14 minutes, 51 seconds, down 20 seconds. In 4 segments. Up 3 segments.
It took me 267 attempts, totalling 233 minutes.
Originally, 489, at 638 minutes.
So attempts-a-minute are up 37,9%!

I also figured, I'd place down quicksaves just before the video reaches 4 minutes (4 gigs), and it pauses a bit and starts a new one. So the number of segments could go up quite a lot. But still, way less than for Emperor's Tomb.
Anyway.

02 - Babylon
14 minutes, 41 seconds
Minor: From the start screen, running up the small incline to the right and climbing up, instead of stepping onto nearby ruin and climbing there.
Minor: Instead of fiddling with the crate, take a running jump straight from the "sidewalk ledge" to the pre-speech jump-off.
Minor: Running under the second arch, rather than jumping onto it. Saves a cutscene.
Medium (obvious): After Volodnikov's opening speech, just running past the guards.
Medium (obvious): Jumping on the truck while it's moving, rather than trekking to the other side to jump from there.
Minor: After the rifleman, rolling to the other side rather than whipping. Takes one-and-a-half circles of life. If you hit the left ledge, no damage.
Minor, but pretty damn important: In Tablet Room, climbing to the last tablet, climb from floor to top of the rubble, *rather* than jump to the first step and climb up. That won't work.

Levels done:  02/17     (11,76%)
This level, plan:  17/310    (05,48%)
Segments, this level: 4
Segments, whole game so far: 5
Game, plan:   23/310    (07,42%)
This level, time:  00:14:51 (out of 17; 12,65% saved)
Time so far:   00:21:14 (out of 23; 07,68% saved)

Goggen

2007-05-27 09:01:34 am

"Time to go to work..."

Oh right, I just remembered:

The videos are running out of sync. Progressively. About half a second every four minutes. So, 0,2% slow. Now, it's not *very* noticeable, but I figure I'll correct it before posting, if this thing finishes.

Goggen

2007-05-27 12:37:43 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Also, about the next level, Tian Shan River:
It's going to need some heavy segmentation.

Probably:

Segment 1; from the start, to just after Indy pushes off in his little raft. Aw, what a cute liddle raft. Aren't you just adorable. [Cough] Hm, sorry.

Segment 2; from this rafting, to the just before the first "gate" at the next rafting. The following rapids are pretty tricky to get through without puncturing the thing. Then I go first left, then left, pick up a candle in the building-for-some-reason-in-the-middle-of-the-river, then left. Then those big stamping things bit, which don't seem to serve all that much of a purpose. I figure on a save here.

Segment 3; through the stamping bit, get candle, back to the river, raft down to the elevator and pick up two Medicinal Herbs(tm) and head back up, raft down to the "gate" again.

Segment 4; Rafting, first left, then right. I do this path second, because you can survive with a puncture so it's not so picky anymore. (I haven't checked *when* you can survive, but you can. I hope.) I'm wondering to put a save at the first stop, where you have to shoot the window and jump, 'cause I fell in twice during testing.

Segment 5; The third candle at the shooting window bit, then a quick paddle down to the last candle (big tree), and down to the elevator. Ride it up, and run over to the candle holder. I'm figuring of placing a save here as well, since I have to maneuvre Indy to place down four candles, and light them, and it seems a lot of aggravation.

So, 4-6 segments, on a level which in testing came to 17 minutes in one segment (but is going to be a lot less here, with some good rafting going on).

Also, about the next level, Tian Shan River:
It's going to need some heavy segmentation.

Probably:

Segment 1; from the start, to just after Indy pushes off in his little raft. Aw, what a cute liddle raft. Aren't you just adorable. [Cough] Hm, sorry.

Segment 2; from this rafting, to the just before the first "gate" at the next rafting. The following rapids are pretty tricky to get through without puncturing the thing. Then I go first left, then left, pick up a candle in the building-for-some-reason-in-the-middle-of-the-river, then left. Then those big stamping things bit, which don't seem to serve all that much of a purpose. I figure on a save here.

Segment 3; through the stamping bit, get candle, back to the river, raft down to the elevator and pick up two Medicinal Herbs(tm) and head back up, raft down to the "gate" again.

Segment 4; Rafting, first left, then right. I do this path second, because you can survive with a puncture so it's not so picky anymore. (I haven't checked *when* you can survive, but you can. I hope.) I'm wondering to put a save at the first stop, where you have to shoot the window and jump, 'cause I fell in twice during testing.

Segment 5; The third candle at the shooting window bit, then a quick paddle down to the last candle (big tree), and down to the elevator. Ride it up, and run over to the candle holder. I'm figuring of placing a save here as well, since I have to maneuvre Indy to place down four candles, and light them, and it seems a lot of aggravation.

So, 4-6 segments, on a level which in testing came to 17 minutes in one segment (but is going to be a lot less here, with some good rafting going on).

Roy_Hess

2007-05-28 11:03:00 pm

unemployed Dragon

times are ok
speedrunning is making failures too

you should have seen my first speedrun of Unreal: Return to Napali :-)
But then me and my friend improved this a lot!
try to get your friends involved too, maybe they can help too!

And when are you going to upload videos? (for example to Filefront.com)

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-05-29 06:07:58 pm

2007-05-29 06:04:26 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Roy_Hess: "speedrunning is making failures too"

Oh, I'm no stranger to that.
[Shudders at the thought of Emperor's Istanbul.]

"try to get your friends involved too, maybe they can help too!"

I don't think that would help much, since this is really the kind of thing where I can happily work away at it on my own. As opposed to with other people, when they just get impatient and go:
Meh.
And I don't really have all that much as far as friends go. Which can be most succinctly by my attitudes toward making friends and other social exploits:
Meh.

"And when are you going to upload videos? (for example to Filefront.com)"

Meh.
Sorry, but my internet connection wouldn't really allow that, and if it did, it would be a lot of work to encode them now rather than do them all in one big bunch at the end. And by then there might also be better codecs, for dazzling high-definition image for all you folks!
And also:
Meh.

You wouldn't want to watch the whole thing until it's all finished anyway. And by then, you can really savor the experience, in all its savory goodness.

Gogg-runs
It's a savory experience of savory.

In other news, I've done the first two segments of Tian Shan River. However, I might want to re-do the second segment, as it ended rather late so the next one starts with some awkward bouncing while rafting.
It looks really bad, *starting* a segment like that, with some kind of rafting bump or water bop or river dance or whatever you kids are doing at your sock hops these days.
Oh, to be young again...

Roy_Hess: "speedrunning is making failures too"

Oh, I'm no stranger to that.
[Shudders at the thought of Emperor's Istanbul.]
 
"try to get your friends involved too, maybe they can help too!"

I don't think that would help much, since this is really the kind of thing where I can happily work away at it on my own. As opposed to with other people, when they just get impatient and go:
Meh.
And I don't really have all that much as far as friends go. Which can be most succinctly by my attitudes toward making friends and other social exploits:
Meh.
 
"And when are you going to upload videos? (for example to Filefront.com)"

Meh.
Sorry, but my internet connection wouldn't really allow that, and if it did, it would be a lot of work to encode them now rather than do them all in one big bunch at the end. And by then there might also be better codecs, for dazzling high-definition image for all you folks!
And also:
Meh.

You wouldn't want to watch the whole thing until it's all finished anyway. And by then, you can really savor the experience, in all its savory goodness.

[b]Gogg-runs[/b]
[i]It's a savory experience of savory.[/i]

In other news, I've done the first two segments of Tian Shan River. However, I might want to re-do the second segment, as it ended rather late so the next one starts with some awkward bouncing while rafting.
It looks really bad, *starting* a segment like that, with some kind of rafting bump or water bop or river dance or whatever you kids are doing at your sock hops these days.
Oh, to be young again...

henkie

2007-06-09 09:54:25 am

Quote:

Gogg-runs
It's a savory experience of savory.

Actually, I would make that Gogg-topics. 'Tis truly a feast for the eye, to look upon yon topic.

Quote:

("Come on! We know all this! And you can't have a flashback inside a flashback!")

Chronological confusions aside, I certainly would like to express myself in the following manner:
Grin

Psonar

2007-06-09 10:05:39 pm

Long live SF64!

I got this game bundled free with a computer my family bought ages ago... and I never played past the first 5 minutes... yeah I'd say I judged it a bit too quickly. I still have the CDs after all these years, so I guess I I'll give it a whirl at some point.

Perhaps having a gamepad, or atleast knowing to use WASD controls will make the experience more enjoyable. Back in the day I'd attempt to play all computer games with directional arrows or the numpad and then get frustrated by the distant keyboard controls. That and I have a new mouse with bunches of buttons, which makes me happy.

So, Goggen, were you being serious with your high praise of this game in your first post? I was trying to figure out if it was sarcasm or if this game actually was a jewel to it's fans or what.

Best of luck on the run!

Goggen

Edit history:

Goggen: 2007-06-10 05:55:33 pm

2007-06-10 05:13:58 pm

"Time to go to work..."

Psonar:
"Perhaps having a gamepad, or atleast knowing to use WASD controls will make the experience more enjoyable."

I don't have a gamepad, and I'm awfully clumsy with WASD. Also, the game is actually designed around the arrow keys, so they work fine. It also doesn't use the mouse, so left hand goes to run/crouch/roll/jump (R-shift, R-ctrl, Z, Space) while ol' rightie rests comfortably on the arrow keys, and Enter (Use).

Psonar:
"So, Goggen, were you being serious with your high praise of this game in your first post? I was trying to figure out if it was sarcasm or if this game actually was a jewel to it's fans or what."

Actually, yes. I love the game. Of course, a lot of that love comes from this being one of the first games I bought and played, what with nostalgia and all, but it's certainly not *bad*. Certainly, it's got a good story and captures the spirit of Indy a lot better than Emperor's Tomb did.
Although, eight years later, it's got to be said that:
It's got lousy controls.
It's got hilarious over-acting.

The game itself, follows Fate of Atlantis and precedes Emperor's Tomb.
FoA actually does a lot better job of being like Indy, as far as adventure goes, while ET has better action. So this action-adventure, not quite actiony and not quite adventury either, is a bit awkward. Also a blatant copy of Tomb Raider. With that said...
Emperor's Tomb disappointed endlessly, because:
It just isn't Indy. This game *is*.

Psonar:
"Best of luck on the run!"

Thanks!
Although, at the moment, there *might* be a slight delay, since I temporarily needed the recording drive for some downloads and I've got a school project going on. Besides, I just got going again on that NOD campaign.
Hang on.
[Flashback swirliness.]
SOMETIME IN FEBRUARY...
Goggen: Hm, I think I need to temporarily use my recording drive for some downloads. And I've got that school project going on. Hm, and I kinda feel like playing a strategy game...

Forebode...

Psonar:
"Perhaps having a gamepad, or atleast knowing to use WASD controls will make the experience more enjoyable."

I don't have a gamepad, and I'm awfully clumsy with WASD. Also, the game is actually designed around the arrow keys, so they work fine. It also doesn't use the mouse, so left hand goes to run/crouch/roll/jump (R-shift, R-ctrl, Z, Space) while ol' rightie rests comfortably on the arrow keys, and Enter (Use).

Psonar:
"So, Goggen, were you being serious with your high praise of this game in your first post?  I was trying to figure out if it was sarcasm or if this game actually was a jewel to it's fans or what."

Actually, yes. I love the game. Of course, a lot of that love comes from this being one of the first games I bought and played, what with nostalgia and all, but it's certainly not *bad*. Certainly, it's got a good story and captures the spirit of Indy a lot better than Emperor's Tomb did.
Although, eight years later, it's got to be said that:
It's got lousy controls.
It's got hilarious over-acting.

The game itself, follows Fate of Atlantis and precedes Emperor's Tomb.
FoA actually does a lot better job of being like Indy, as far as adventure goes, while ET has better action. So this action-adventure, not quite actiony and not quite adventury either, is a bit awkward. Also a blatant copy of Tomb Raider. With that said...
Emperor's Tomb disappointed endlessly, because:
It just isn't Indy. This game *is*.

Psonar:
"Best of luck on the run!"

Thanks!
Although, at the moment, there *might* be a slight delay, since I temporarily needed the recording drive for some downloads and I've got a school project going on. Besides, I just got going again on that NOD campaign.
Hang on.
[Flashback swirliness.]
SOMETIME IN FEBRUARY...
Goggen: Hm, I think I need to temporarily use my recording drive for some downloads. And I've got that school project going on. Hm, and I kinda feel like playing a strategy game...

Forebode...

Blazen

2007-06-23 09:54:29 pm

'Tis the newb.

I love all these Indiana Jones games, and its nice to know you will follow this through all the way (proof being Istanbul :p)

I used to get stuck even when not speed running this game, so I apreciate how difficult it must be. best of luck!