Live SDA Charity event at MAGFest

2009-12-05 02:50:43 am

Quote from Emptyeye:

TMNT: 39M 9S. At this point, I'm convinced the game is just having Shredder mutagen gun me out of spite. Had him in the left corner, was whacking him with Don..and I get mutagen gunned out of nowhere. >_< I posted "I'd like to throw [This game] through a window" on The Shizz.

The fastest way to take out Shredder is clearly to corner him. However, since there is a safe spot on the right platform, it might be worth sacrificing a couple of seconds and go with that alternative instead. If you only have one shot, as in this case (I don't know how you're supposed to beat Shredder with any of the other turtles than Don), it sounds like risk is just being added. I'm sure you're already aware of this, but it was just a thought.

JaggerG

2009-12-06 04:11:29 am

Jumping Turtle

I just remembered that the marathon page has the sda Quake banner. >_> There aren't going to be any Quake runs by any chance, are there?

Lag.Com

2009-12-06 05:32:11 am

sda loyalist

Some Quake runners do live in America, but... I think they're mostly west coast? And don't know about this event, heh.

arkarian

2009-12-06 12:48:34 pm

gamelogs.org

Quote from JaggerG:

I just remembered that the marathon page has the sda Quake banner. >_> There aren't going to be any Quake runs by any chance, are there?

i think of it more as "the sda logo" rather than "the quake banner". but yeah, i don't recall there being any pc games on the list.

Baltes

2009-12-08 05:59:00 pm

I'm excited, are you guys excited?

mikwuyma

Edit history:

mikwuyma: 2009-12-08 08:06:22 pm

2009-12-08 07:56:53 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Baltes: I'm excited, especially since you guys (The Speed Gamers for those not in the know) offered to do some guest commentary.

Yes, I updated the schedule to reflect this change (look at the first post to find the schedule)

Two updates on practice:

TMNT4: Last week I pulled off a one-life run while streaming! Yes, I stream now, though I've only done it once because I haven't found time since. Sad

Gunstar Heroes: I got a 47 minute time, which includes...

Getting the worst luck on the dice palace. I think I missed 4 or 5 spots on the board, maximum.

My controller crapping out at random times (the controller port on my genesis is not so hot, I should probably replace my genesis). Sad

Breakdown

2009-12-12 08:18:11 am

Haters gonna hate

A little practice update:

Legend of Zelda: I had not one, but two practice runs end at Ganon last night. On the first I got there by the skin of my teeth so while I was pretty upset I wasn't too surprised to die. The second one though, I had most of a lifebar and a medicine in reserve (yes, I'm getting a medicine) and the bitch still managed to kill me. We actually traded last hits on that one, he was sitting there brown waiting for a silver arrow right before my death animation started. Most upsetting. Both would've timed in around 45 minutes though, so as long as I can get that part more consistent (which I'm currently not sure how to do honestly) the estimate of 50 seems to be a safe one. I do want to keep the estimate where it is though as I'm definitely not immune to stupid crap in the earlier goings, and should the game decide to be stingy with bombs or rupees I do need to take a little time out at points to compensate. And honestly, if things do go all according to plan I'm sure coming in well under target would be welcome at that stage of the marathon.

3 weeks and counting people!

A little practice update:

Legend of Zelda:  I had not one, but two practice runs end at Ganon last night.  On the first I got there by the skin of my teeth so while I was pretty upset I wasn't too surprised to die.  The second one though, I had most of a lifebar and a medicine in reserve (yes, I'm getting a medicine) and the bitch still managed to kill me.  We actually traded last hits on that one, he was sitting there brown waiting for a silver arrow right before my death animation started.  Most upsetting.  Both would've timed in around 45 minutes though, so as long as I can get that part more consistent (which I'm currently not sure how to do honestly) the estimate of 50 seems to be a safe one.  I do want to keep the estimate where it is though as I'm definitely not immune to stupid crap in the earlier goings, and should the game decide to be stingy with bombs or rupees I do need to take a little time out at points to compensate.  And honestly, if things do go all according to plan I'm sure coming in well under target would be welcome at that stage of the marathon.

3 weeks and counting people!

Emptyeye

2009-12-13 06:10:43 pm

Talk to the Hand

General Practice Updates (Run times only)!

Rygar: A clean run comes in at a low 27 minutes. Even botching it and dying once or twice, I should still come in at sub-30.

TMNT: Easily the most variable. This can be anywhere from 25 (With good Technodrome luck and clean execution) to 40 (Bad Technodrome luck; my botching it and having to continue once I actually get inside the Technodrome) minutes, and there's no real way to know which it'll be ahead of time.

Battletoads: I should beat the estimate. By how much depends on whether I can, by some miracle, hit the Boot Scuzz glitch without game audio, and less miraculously, execute Level 12 on one life (Occasionally, I'll still botch the third section).

Kung Fu and Marble Madness are short. I'm not really worried about them.

Breakdown

2009-12-14 05:02:51 pm

Haters gonna hate

Quick practice update:

LoZ is officially off my worry list now that I've decided to suck it up and go get the red ring. It's kind of lame, granted, but it turns everything from that point on from a white knuckle grip on the controller affair to almost laughably easy. The net loss of the detour is probably about 90 seconds, it takes two minutes to get but I can basically be hyper aggressive from that point on so I get a little back, but most importantly it makes Ganon about a million times easier. So yeah, getting the ring is pretty lame, but not nearly as lame as it would be to die at Ganon. It's in.

Since making the switch I've completed five practice runs ranging from 46 to 50 minutes. The 50 minute one had some of the worst drop luck I've seen yet, and I think I died once in level 6, so that's looking like the worst case scenario. This route has a lot of little built in back ups and contingency plans, so I'm pretty confident I can make it through the game no matter what cards it decides to deal me. If I rock it and lady luck is on my side I think I can break 45, but 47 seems to be about average.

I also just want to say I'm really glad I volunteered for this one. This game isn't very speedrunning friendly, but it's an old favorite of mine and it's been really fun to plan. I'm thinking about taking a crack at an all out no Up+A run after MAGfest, and while nearly every aspect of this route would need to be scrapped for that this will have served as good practice.

I hope others are enjoying themselves getting prepped for this thing.

Quick practice update:

LoZ is officially off my worry list now that I've decided to suck it up and go get the red ring.  It's kind of lame, granted, but it turns everything from that point on from a white knuckle grip on the controller affair to almost laughably easy.  The net loss of the detour is probably about 90 seconds, it takes two minutes to get but I can basically be hyper aggressive from that point on so I get a little back, but most importantly it makes Ganon about a million times easier.  So yeah, getting the ring is pretty lame, but not nearly as lame as it would be to die at Ganon.  It's in.

Since making the switch I've completed five practice runs ranging from 46 to 50 minutes.  The 50 minute one had some of the worst drop luck I've seen yet, and I think I died once in level 6, so that's looking like the worst case scenario.  This route has a lot of little built in back ups and contingency plans, so I'm pretty confident I can make it through the game no matter what cards it decides to deal me.  If I rock it and lady luck is on my side I think I can break 45, but 47 seems to be about average.

I also just want to say I'm really glad I volunteered for this one.  This game isn't very speedrunning friendly, but it's an old favorite of mine and it's been really fun to plan.  I'm thinking about taking a crack at an all out no Up+A run after MAGfest, and while nearly every aspect of this route would need to be scrapped for that this will have served as good practice.

I hope others are enjoying themselves getting prepped for this thing.

mikwuyma

2009-12-14 09:23:49 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Okay, I'll give some updates:

Mega Man X3: Two things, don't try to jump over the miniboss in doppler stage 1 (worth it in a speedrun, not worth it for magfest when failure = death), and practice doppler stage 2, a LOT. Aside from those two things, this is going pretty well. I need to time it and see if my estimate is okay.

Altered Beast: I just have to hard-code the blue wolf locations into memory and I'll be good.

Contra: Hard Corps: I'm good on every route except for lab, fight. I need to practice that one more. I even one-lifed the game when I was doing the lab, surrender route in front of molotov.

Contra 3: Don't fall in pits (molotov knows what I'm talking about), aside from that, I should be good.

I need to find the time to stream practice attempts.

JaggerG

Edit history:

JaggerG: 2009-12-14 10:19:25 pm

2009-12-14 10:13:27 pm

Jumping Turtle

Quote from mikwuyma:

and practice doppler stage 2, a LOT.

EDIT: Oh I'm thinking of x2. I guess it's the robots that are jerks here based on the commentary?

mike89

2009-12-14 10:55:09 pm

SEGA Junkie

Update:

Vectorman 2: Much better now, I've clocked a couple of runs under 16 minutes. This is, of course, not under the 15 minute target, but I should be well ahead on V1 to make up for it.

DKC3: Had another attempt last night, came in at 1:11 game time (1:20 real time), but with waaaay too many deaths still, about eight. I'll keep working on this one.

One thing I said I would do at some stage is take a three-hour block out to run the Sonic and Vectorman games consecutively (yes, including Sonic 2, since stanski isn't a certain starter yet) and see how I went compared to the combined target for those games (2 hours 46 minutes, I told Mike that if I had to run Sonic 2 I'd need the target time pushed back to 30 minutes). I haven't done that yet, but I should have the time tonight.

romscout

2009-12-14 10:56:33 pm

that Metroidvania guy

since the theme seems to be giving practice updates, i haven't actually played smrpg since my disasterpiece test run on stream a week or so ago but i watched the rta and have refined the plan a bit for the run (although i doubt i'm going to get the horrible boss luck i had in the stream on almost every battle like before). i'm finally starting to lean toward just doing death abuse since it'd significantly cut down on the time, which is probably more important for a game of this length in the marathon instead of finishing the game on standard no-death strategy + skill alone.

i will stream some smrpg this week on wednesday and saturday

edit: also it seems i need to regain my ability to do super jump effectively =p

tjp7154

Edit history:

tjp7154: 2009-12-15 09:27:42 am

2009-12-15 04:57:28 am

#Casual

Speaking of practice streaming, I'm finally able to do streaming practice as well.

I will try at NOON today (15 December 2009), EASTERN TIME.

My channel on USTREAM is "TJ-VG-SR". Care to guess what it stands for, mmm?

EDIT: Maybe I'll also do one this evening, too...

I guess I'll probably record as well, if I can get all the settings correct. I'm using Flash Media Encoder. Doesn't anyone have any advice on the best settings and/or program to use for this?

I'll probably be doing this a lot this week, possibly Wednesday and Friday through Monday, because it's the only time I'll have before I go on vacation for Christmas and will be busy otherwise.

As for my status (again), my success also depends on my mood (heh) and how much sleep I get. The more I play, the more I can catch myself before dying. The final run will probably still have deaths, I can still get through the game without dying too much (on good attempts). Anyway, you'll see ;O)

Essentia

2009-12-15 09:52:51 am

Everything's better with Magitek

I'm also going to be streaming some practice runs today. I'll be starting around 3pm EST, so hopefully our streams don't conflict, tjp. I'll be playing DKC2, and possibly some Dr. Mario.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/essentia-s-speedruns

tjp7154

2009-12-15 09:53:36 am

#Casual

Hey Essentia, what settings are you using for Ustream? Also, what encoder are you using?

Essentia

2009-12-15 09:59:23 am

Everything's better with Magitek

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. I'm using a webcam pointed at the tv while I play. I haven't actually recorded any of my streams with ustream - instead, I recorded the runs with my dvd recorder. Sorry if that didn't answer your question - maybe I could help more if you're more specific?

Anyway, I just read that romscout is doing a stream tomorrow (Wednesday). It seems like a bunch of people have started streaming, so maybe it would be helpful to have a thread dedicated to streaming so we could keep track of everyone.

tjp7154

2009-12-15 11:46:28 am

#Casual

Oh, ok. I was under the false impression that you were running your attempt live and streaming directly from your device. The video quality was very good.

I streamed live from my TV to my computer through a USB capture device, then using Flash Media Encoder to Ustream.

I found out that I got under 35 minutes on this try, even though it was horrible at all the easy levels. I usually get 36-37 min. Go figure, but I did better on the harder ones. I was also more reserved when I got too nervous. I hope I do better tonight.

But wow, it was exhilirating to do it live!

mikwuyma

2009-12-15 01:08:38 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Good to know that people are streaming their practice attempts. Smiley

I made a commentary document today: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AVb3Dj0u13H7ZGYyNnBmc3NfMTNoY3A1Y3NnMw&hl=en

What do I mean by commentary document? Well, this is a list of things we feel like should be pointed out while running the game. It doesn't have to be all strategy, it can be something interesting about the game, the development, or just some funny story you had while playing it.

One thing to note: Unlike the schedule, anyone can edit this document. When you finish editing the document, be sure to download the document (file -> download) so we have a backup in case if someone screws with the document.

If someone does spam up the document, or delete it, then I'll make the document invite-only.

tjp7154

2009-12-15 02:42:35 pm

#Casual

For anyone who sees this before the time, I'll be doing another DKC stream at 7PM EASTERN. My Ustream channel is TJ-VG-SR.

I'll be streaming via webcam this time, so I'll be able to talk at people. Smiley

kareshi

2009-12-15 09:14:13 pm

I'm adding some stuff to the commentary page about the games I'm running.
I'd also like to commentate during games I'm familiar with, but I don't know 100% if I'll be around during all of them.
Ones I can talk about:
Mega Man 1, 2, 3
Punch-Out (is this Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream?)
Double Dragon 2
TMNT 1
Castlevania 1, 2
SMB1, 2(US)
Contra 1
Metroid 1 and Zero Mission
Zelda 1 and 2
FF3/6

MatrixTN

2009-12-16 02:50:56 am

You got a deletion wish?

Quote from kareshi:

Punch-Out (is this Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream?)

Punch-Out version probably wouldn't matter as they're palette swaps to each other.

romscout

2009-12-16 05:44:35 pm

that Metroidvania guy

Quote from tjp7154:

For anyone who sees this before the time, I'll be doing another DKC stream at 7PM EASTERN. My Ustream channel is TJ-VG-SR.

I'll be streaming via webcam this time, so I'll be able to talk at people. Smiley

do another one :c

also, practice update <-click

short hand: last smrpg run practice ACTUALLY COMPLETED THE GAME :0 :0 :0 ;0
and it was kinda slow, but a lot of that was forgetfulness of some stuff, but i'm playing the game a lot now and the next stream will be saturday at noon EST and there will be tweaks that should push the run to under the 4:30 target and then we eat cake and punch

Smiley

tjp7154

2009-12-16 06:09:32 pm

#Casual

Quote from romscout:

Quote from tjp7154:

For anyone who sees this before the time, I'll be doing another DKC stream at 7PM EASTERN. My Ustream channel is TJ-VG-SR.

I'll be streaming via webcam this time, so I'll be able to talk at people. Smiley

do another one :c

Ok, ok.

I'll do another stream Friday evening at 6pm Eastern. Maybe I'll do two runs in a row, since the people who watched (2 or 3) came in a little late.

Also, Romscout, you have to do something about your setup and all that glare.

One thing I was trying with my last stream was to feed the video directly through my USB capture device, have the audio come rom a microphone so people could hear the game music and my voice separately. The video was TOP-NOTCH, but somehow got delayed at least a minute, so what I said was out of sync to what people saw. I'll have to iron THAT kink, out...

Anyway, good stream, Rom.

JaggerG

2009-12-17 05:29:00 am

Jumping Turtle

Quote from tjp7154:

I'll do another stream Friday evening at 6pm Eastern.

Cool, I might tune in for like the first hour or so.