Marathon Practice

2010-07-10 02:33:09 am

Haters gonna hate

I know I'm not the only one getting started this early, so a central thread for discussion on the games people are working on seems like a good idea. Figure it can also serve as a place to generate ideas for donation ideas for individual titles as well. So yeah, feel free to talk strat, lay out your general gameplan, bitch about hardships, bounce ideas off of people, whatever.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Me, I've gotten an early start on Devil May Cry as it's likely going to be the most demanding game I'll be doing for this thing. It'd been a few years since I'd played it at all before a week or so ago, and while I had almost all of DMD S ranked backed then (Mundus eluded me at the time) I'd never played it strictly for speed. I got back into the swing of things pretty quickly, and with a little help from sternn's kickass runs on the site and this awesome FAQ by Joch over at Phantom Babies I can already say I'm better at the game now than I ever was before (even got that last elusive S rank which was immensely satisfying). I've still got a long way to go though.

First off, basic rules I plan to play by:

-DMD difficulty starting with a full Dante

A fresh Dante would definitely be more impressive, but it's also waaaaaaaay too dependent on early Special Bonuses (2000 orb bonus you can get each level for a perfect S rank) to get moves and purple orbs quickly. Just for starters, SBing missions 1 and 2 is basically required to have the moves necessary for a quick Phantom fight in mission 3, and SBing mission 1 is ridiculously hard with a fresh Dante, and while 2 isn't especially hard, it's far from automatic. It basically just snowballs from there, and I really just don't want to worry about not having what I need when I need it. Plus, having Ifrit to start really helps with the Plasmas in Mission 6, the Frosts in 7, and lets me cut out a chunk of 9. Early Grenade Gun is nice too. Finally, a full 2 bars of health gives me more room for things to go south, and they can go south in a hurry.

-No items (at least not initially)

First life each level I will definitely not be using items at all, though the file I'll have will have a bunch in reserve in case I hit a patch where I die a bunch just to keep the game going, and as of now there are a few places where a bunch of deaths is a fairly real possibility (hence the early practice). I really hope it doesn't come to that though as there isn't much entertainment value in Holy Water/Untouchable spamming.

-Playing for speed over SBs/S ranks

Should be a given, but I don't plan to go out of my way for SBs in missions where orb farming is required for it. The other 2 targets (time and damage taken) should hopefully fall into place for S ranks though as there really aren't too many ways to take damage to save time (at least not that aren't truly suicidal). This might change a bit if someone's offering donations for SBs, but that'd be about the only reason I'd do it.

That's about it for that. As for practice right now I'm really drilling the Nelo 3 and Mundus 1 & 2 boss fights as they seem to be two places I'm most likely to get myself killed. Nelo 3 is probably the least pattern-based boss in the game, so you have to be constantly on your toes. Mundus keeps getting easier the more I play him, but he has some attack combinations that are a real pain to deal with and if you get caught out of position you're basically dead. And while all of his moves have very clear telegraphs, there's not much rhyme or reason to what he does. It's a very reactive fight, and a little bad luck can cost lots of time or get you dead in a hurry.

The other bosses aren't too bad to survive, but doing them quickly will take some work. The critcal hit strat for Phantom is something I still need a bunch of work on, and I'm working on optimizing the Nightmare fights better, and there's a lot going on in those fights (just check the Nightmare 1 section in the FAQ I linked above for an idea of what I mean). Griffon 2 is cake really, and I need some polish on Griffon 3, but I'm not too worried about him.

There's lots of little things in the levels too that I'm not going to take then time to list now, but needless to say I have my hands full with this one. I'm having a great time with it though, kinda forgot just how much I really love this game until I started playing it again. Gonna dump a bunch hours into this in upcoming months as I really want to put out something special on the stream.

Haven't really dived into my other games yet, though I'll likely go into long winded explanations of those as well when I do.

Thread title:

I know I'm not the only one getting started this early, so a central thread for discussion on the games people are working on seems like a good idea.  Figure it can also serve as a place to generate ideas for donation ideas for individual titles as well.  So yeah, feel free to talk strat, lay out your general gameplan, bitch about hardships, bounce ideas off of people, whatever.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Me, I've gotten an early start on Devil May Cry as it's likely going to be the most demanding game I'll be doing for this thing.  It'd been a few years since I'd played it at all before a week or so ago, and while I had almost all of DMD S ranked backed then (Mundus eluded me at the time) I'd never played it strictly for speed.  I got back into the swing of things pretty quickly, and with a little help from sternn's kickass runs on the site and this [url=http://www.phantombabies.net/faq/]awesome FAQ[/url] by Joch over at [url=http://www.phantombabies.net/]Phantom Babies[/url] I can already say I'm better at the game now than I ever was before (even got that last elusive S rank which was immensely satisfying).  I've still got a long way to go though.

First off, basic rules I plan to play by:

-DMD difficulty starting with a full Dante

A fresh Dante would definitely be more impressive, but it's also waaaaaaaay too dependent on early Special Bonuses (2000 orb bonus you can get each level for a perfect S rank) to get moves and purple orbs quickly.  Just for starters, SBing missions 1 and 2 is basically required to have the moves necessary for a quick Phantom fight in mission 3, and SBing mission 1 is ridiculously hard with a fresh Dante, and while 2 isn't especially hard, it's far from automatic.  It basically just snowballs from there, and I really just don't want to worry about not having what I need when I need it.  Plus, having Ifrit to start really helps with the Plasmas in Mission 6, the Frosts in 7, and lets me cut out a chunk of 9.  Early Grenade Gun is nice too.  Finally, a full 2 bars of health gives me more room for things to go south, and they can go south in a hurry.

-No items (at least not initially)

First life each level I will definitely not be using items at all, though the file I'll have will have a bunch in reserve in case I hit a patch where I die a bunch just to keep the game going, and as of now there are a few places where a bunch of deaths is a fairly real possibility (hence the early practice).  I really hope it doesn't come to that though as there isn't much entertainment value in Holy Water/Untouchable spamming.

-Playing for speed over SBs/S ranks

Should be a given, but I don't plan to go out of my way for SBs in missions where orb farming is required for it.  The other 2 targets (time and damage taken) should hopefully fall into place for S ranks though as there really aren't too many ways to take damage to save time (at least not that aren't truly suicidal).  This might change a bit if someone's offering donations for SBs, but that'd be about the only reason I'd do it.

That's about it for that.  As for practice right now I'm really drilling the Nelo 3 and Mundus 1 & 2 boss fights as they seem to be two places I'm most likely to get myself killed.  Nelo 3 is probably the least pattern-based boss in the game, so you have to be constantly on your toes.  Mundus keeps getting easier the more I play him, but he has some attack combinations that are a real pain to deal with and if you get caught out of position you're basically dead.  And while all of his moves have very clear telegraphs, there's not much rhyme or reason to what he does.  It's a very reactive fight, and a little bad luck can cost lots of time or get you dead in a hurry.

The other bosses aren't too bad to survive, but doing them quickly will take some work.  The critcal hit strat for Phantom is something I still need a bunch of work on, and I'm working on optimizing the Nightmare fights better, and there's a lot going on in those fights (just check the Nightmare 1 section in the FAQ I linked above for an idea of what I mean).  Griffon 2 is cake really, and I need some polish on Griffon 3, but I'm not too worried about him.

There's lots of little things in the levels too that I'm not going to take then time to list now, but needless to say I have my hands full with this one.  I'm having a great time with it though, kinda forgot just how much I really love this game until I started playing it again.  Gonna dump a bunch hours into this in upcoming months as I [i]really[/i] want to put out something special on the stream.

Haven't really dived into my other games yet, though I'll likely go into long winded explanations of those as well when I do.

Heidrage

2010-07-11 10:50:11 am

Willing to teach you the impossible

I will take up your offer Breakdown and bitch a lil about just one game.

Contra. I have a great rout planned out to beat Frezy'z record, but I am coming up with a few issues.

First is the base stages. I can only get a consistent stream of 3 and can sometimes turn it into 4. In specific rooms, I can get it to a 5 consistently and 6 if I'm lucky. Besides that, all good for them.

Stage 3 is being a bit random for some reason. Some of the gun turrets just hate me and fire early. costs me some time...

Stage five, Snowfield, I am having 1 issue with the bomb jumps, overall good, But I think it can be much better.

Stage six. energy zone, is my Achilles heel. I found an AMAZING rout for it to save about 4ish seconds but it is very very precise. If I mess it up anywhere its a reset.

7 and 8 I am having no issues with.

Super C, I am basically all set with this game. I just keep it fresh in my mind by playing it through a few times a week. For the run itself though, there will be a few trouble areas that are all luck based. But I am hoping that I wont have much issues.

I am really looking forward to the marathon. I really just hope I don't mess up all too bad or anything.

On a side note, I know I will get laughed at and wow ppl. I will get laughed at because when I am focused, I for some reason play with my lips a lot. but when I am focused, I wont hear anyone talking or anything like that, so the only covo I will be able to have is during down time like between lvls and areas like Super C stage 3 (end) and 4.

I just hope I can put on a show like Frezy has done in the past. And I doubt any one will donate anytihng to see a skinny kid play shirtless, lol. But I would do it.

I will take up your offer Breakdown and bitch a lil about just one game.

Contra. I have a great rout planned out to beat Frezy'z record, but I am coming up with a few issues.

First is the base stages. I can only get a consistent stream of 3 and can sometimes turn it into 4. In specific rooms, I can get it to a 5 consistently and 6 if I'm lucky. Besides that, all good for them.

Stage 3 is being a bit random for some reason. Some of the gun turrets just hate me and fire early. costs me some time...

Stage five, Snowfield, I am having 1 issue with the bomb jumps, overall good, But I think it can be much better.

Stage six. energy zone, is my Achilles heel. I found an AMAZING rout for it to save about 4ish seconds but it is very very precise. If I mess it up anywhere its a reset.

7 and 8 I am having no issues with.

Super C, I am basically all set with this game. I just keep it fresh in my mind by playing it through a few times a week. For the run itself though, there will be a few trouble areas that are all luck based. But I am hoping that I wont have much issues.

I am really looking forward to the marathon. I really just hope I don't mess up all too bad or anything.

On a side note, I know I will get laughed at and wow ppl. I will get laughed at because when I am focused, I for some reason play with my lips a lot. but when I am focused, I wont hear anyone talking or anything like that, so the only covo I will be able to have is during down time like between lvls and areas like Super C stage 3 (end) and 4.

I just hope I can put on a show like Frezy has done in the past. And I doubt any one will donate anytihng to see a skinny kid play shirtless, lol. But I would do it.

RaneofSOTN

2010-07-11 01:41:34 pm

I want off the ride....

my marathon practice:

FF4: I played out ff4 on the psx, cause it was the only hard copy i have. I have been running through ff2 on emulator and making sure everything works fine, and that i get used to timings and such things ( i wanna get kain in the air dammit) but the psx wrecked my face until i learned that it runs faster than it should. the stupid battle speeds are not compatiable. SPD1 is great for running (so fast) but any speed above 4 is mostly suicide on any hard boss. At spd1 its only possible to get 2 hits in per mist dragon cycle (horrible!) so.. I learned a lot from a 6 hour run there (spent about 1:30 leveling characters, and picking up how to do the D. Machine farm). There is just a lot I learned about this, and it all should be solid now...
Also in the process of learning japanese so I could run any of the copies of ff2/4j. Preferrably i would like to avoid FF4 (psx) but if thats what is wanted, I can do that. And it would be faster (thx to run button)
Oh yeah, Deign laughed at me soo hard about all of this, if only he really know what the problem was =x while i was playing... I wish I knew sooner so I could adapt and actually handle fights.

SoTN: I have to keep shield dashing practice everyday. I am practicing some SUPER SECRET TECH. i dont wanna lose this race, and i'm willing to practice and master some stupid tech that should make me win 100% of the time ;D. I probably wouldn't stream that Tech, but I do help out rom with minor execution issues.... and such.

RE5: Still working on a file, and getting used to running past the guys. A few of them are tricky... and also learning about a few of the glitches and soft spots...

my marathon practice:

FF4: I played out ff4 on the psx, cause it was the only hard copy i have. I have been running through ff2 on emulator and making sure everything works fine, and that i get used to timings and such things ( i wanna get kain in the air dammit) but the psx wrecked my face until i learned that it runs faster than it should. the stupid battle speeds are not compatiable. SPD1 is great for running (so fast) but any speed above 4 is mostly suicide on any hard boss. At spd1 its only possible to get 2 hits in per mist dragon cycle (horrible!) so.. I learned a lot from a 6 hour run there (spent about 1:30 leveling characters, and picking up how to do the D. Machine farm). There is just a lot I learned about this, and it all should be solid now...
Also in the process of learning japanese so I could run any of the copies of ff2/4j. Preferrably i would like to avoid FF4 (psx) but if thats what is wanted, I can do that. And it would be faster (thx to run button)
Oh yeah, Deign laughed at me soo hard about all of this, if only he really know what the problem was =x while i was playing... I wish I knew sooner so I could adapt and actually handle fights.

SoTN:  I have to keep shield dashing practice everyday. I am practicing some SUPER SECRET TECH. i dont wanna lose this race, and i'm willing to practice and master some stupid tech that should make me win 100% of the time ;D. I probably wouldn't stream that Tech, but I do help out rom with minor execution issues.... and such.

RE5: Still working on a file, and getting used to running past the guys. A few of them are tricky... and also learning about a few of the glitches and soft spots...

Carcinogen

2010-07-11 08:41:43 pm

I'll be your secret-keeper, Rane <3

But anyways:

Bio1 (Chris/Best Ending): I haven't played in a little while, and I need to start playing once a week. I want this to be the most polished-looking out of all my runs and when it's fresh in my mind it looks really fucking good. My current route is consistent 99% of the time. Playing again so I can finally get my run recorded. Two years is a little too long to be working on this run.

Bio2 (Leon A): My only two hurdles are the Super Lickers and the final boss. As long as I pick up all the magnum ammo, I can blow through everything no problem.

Bio3: Freestylin' is no problem. If I don't get the grenade launcher in the police station, it doesn't really cost any time to get it in the power station, so I can keep my route consistent and suffer minimal fallout. The only snag point I ever run into is the Grave Digger.

RE4 Wii: Rough draft of my route is planned, getting as many flash grenades as I can, but needs lots of practice.

RE5: I know point A to point B. That's it. Goal is under 1:30.

MGS: So far it's no problem. I just need to practice it until I can consistently beat it without dying/getting unnecessary alerts.

I'll be your secret-keeper, Rane <3

But anyways:

Bio1 (Chris/Best Ending): I haven't played in a little while, and I need to start playing once a week. I want this to be the most polished-looking out of all my runs and when it's fresh in my mind it looks really fucking good. My current route is consistent 99% of the time. Playing again so I can finally get my run recorded. Two years is a little too long to be working on this run.

Bio2 (Leon A): My only two hurdles are the Super Lickers and the final boss. As long as I pick up all the magnum ammo, I can blow through everything no problem.

Bio3: Freestylin' is no problem. If I don't get the grenade launcher in the police station, it doesn't really cost any time to get it in the power station, so I can keep my route consistent and suffer minimal fallout. The only snag point I ever run into is the Grave Digger.

RE4 Wii: Rough draft of my route is planned, getting as many flash grenades as I can, but needs lots of practice.

RE5: I know point A to point B. That's it. Goal is under 1:30.

MGS: So far it's no problem. I just need to practice it until I can consistently beat it without dying/getting unnecessary alerts.

romscout

Edit history:

romscout: 2010-07-15 05:24:21 pm

2010-07-15 04:32:35 pm

that Metroidvania guy

Most of my marathon games I haven't touched much lately due to a crazy work schedule (almost 3 straight weeks without a day off and counting...), but I'll try to get back to them. I've messed with KSS on ZSNES some with UltraJMan and gotten some co-op strats down for that. Also changed up Team KSS a bit so that PJ is running Spring Breeze (yay, he gets to run something and I'm not running everything anymore!). So here's the rundown:

SotN: Haven't played for more than 10 minutes in forever. Will really need to put some time into it again soon whenever I get a rest from work. I have no idea what tech Rane is talking about unless he plans on doing a bunch of the crazy OoB glitches to complete the game super fast. If that's the case, good luck doing them all without dying, man. Otherwise, lol i dunno and have fun dominating the race. :p We'll see if I can ever get back my old shield dashing consistency (added with new-ish speed) at this rate, that'd be nice. Will be a fun race, regardless.

Link's Awakening DX (glitched): will get roc's feather and magic powder for easy final boss battle, should be a short and simple run that looks cool to those unfamiliar with the crazy LADX glitches.

Kirby's Dream Land: gonna do Extra Game, haven't touched in a while. Shouldn't take long to get used to the game again though, and I plan on doing KDL runs for SDA soon-ish too, whenever I can get my DVD recorder going again.

Kirby Super Star: just gonna go ahead and throw the table out there again for this

Spring Breeze: 1p, PJ
Dyna Blade: 2p, romscout (p1) and Chaddical (p2)
Great Cave Offensive: 2p, MercuryZelda (p1) and romscout (p2)
Revenge of MetaKnight: 2p, SMK and romscout (roles to be determined)
Milky Way Wishes: 2p, UltraJMan (p1) and romscout (p2)

Optional modes/can be donated in/whatever -
Gourmet Race: 1p, romscout
Arena: 2p, UltraJMan (p1) and romscout (p2)

Most recently, J and I worked on getting optimal co-op strats (with marathon consistency in mind of course) for MWW and seem to be good to go on that. Just a matter of practicing more now. Tried working a bit on GCO with Mercury, and she'll probably be a bit better once she starts playing the game by herself some more to get used to things. Still need to play the game with Chaddical and SMK. If either of you want to add my skype, it's hadelicious. Plan on playing the game with ZSNES 1.42 and using Hamachi for the initial practice. Game should probably take no more than 45 minutes total, maybe about 50ish if we end up adding Gourmet Race and the Arena one way or another. PJ is pretty good at Spring Breeze and has a cool Fighter strat for it, so that's why I threw him on there. I will practice his strat and be the backup in case he can't go for whatever reason.

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land: Another instance of "been too busy, haven't touched". I will use Sir VG's run as an initial base for strats and practice it when I get a chance. Also, if we have a 3p race going for SotN, perhaps we could have one for this too now? Sir VG does have the run on the site after all, so I see no reason for him not to compete with Mercury and me in this race since we'll all be bringing our GameBoy Players.

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror: Sir VG and I need to arrange a meetup like we had last year so we can practice this. If you have Skype, add hadelicious on there, VG. I never see you on the other messengers you have. :s

Splosion Man: I worked on some stages in 1p mode, haven't had much chance to really practice for speed on co-op with anyone. If 1p mode is what's intended for the marathon, I may have to tap out due to world 3 existing. I couldn't really commit to learning that well enough to do well in a SS run on top of doing all the other games I have. Maybe on co-op, if UraniumAnchor can practice. Not looking too hot so far though. :p

I don't think there's anything else I was listed for playing. Not gonna bother with MMX6 for the marathon since Satoryu is coming. I saw in the other thread that Heidman wanted to be added for MMX2. If that actually happens, I can shape up for some MMX and be able to comfortably beat Sigma grabbing the heart tanks in Mandrill and Armadillo's stages... that way we will have both SNES classics instead of just the 2nd one (MMX3 doesn't count as a MMX game, sorry). But yea, I won't plan on doing that unless MMX2 is more or less finalized.

Most of my marathon games I haven't touched much lately due to a crazy work schedule (almost 3 straight weeks without a day off and counting...), but I'll try to get back to them. I've messed with KSS on ZSNES some with UltraJMan and gotten some co-op strats down for that. Also changed up Team KSS a bit so that PJ is running Spring Breeze (yay, he gets to run something and I'm not running everything anymore!). So here's the rundown:

[b]SotN:[/b] Haven't played for more than 10 minutes in forever. Will really need to put some time into it again soon whenever I get a rest from work. I have no idea what tech Rane is talking about unless he plans on doing a bunch of the crazy OoB glitches to complete the game super fast. If that's the case, good luck doing them all without dying, man. Otherwise, lol i dunno and have fun dominating the race. :p We'll see if I can ever get back my old shield dashing consistency (added with new-ish speed) at this rate, that'd be nice. Will be a fun race, regardless.

[b]Link's Awakening DX (glitched)[/b]: will get roc's feather and magic powder for easy final boss battle, should be a short and simple run that looks cool to those unfamiliar with the crazy LADX glitches.

[b]Kirby's Dream Land:[/b] gonna do Extra Game, haven't touched in a while. Shouldn't take long to get used to the game again though, and I plan on doing KDL runs for SDA soon-ish too, whenever I can get my DVD recorder going again.

[b]Kirby Super Star:[/b] just gonna go ahead and throw the table out there again for this

Spring Breeze: 1p, PJ
Dyna Blade: 2p, romscout (p1) and Chaddical (p2)
Great Cave Offensive: 2p, MercuryZelda (p1) and romscout (p2)
Revenge of MetaKnight: 2p, SMK and romscout (roles to be determined)
Milky Way Wishes: 2p, UltraJMan (p1) and romscout (p2)

Optional modes/can be donated in/whatever -
Gourmet Race: 1p, romscout
Arena: 2p, UltraJMan (p1) and romscout (p2)

Most recently, J and I worked on getting optimal co-op strats (with marathon consistency in mind of course) for MWW and seem to be good to go on that. Just a matter of practicing more now. Tried working a bit on GCO with Mercury, and she'll probably be a bit better once she starts playing the game by herself some more to get used to things. Still need to play the game with Chaddical and SMK. If either of you want to add my skype, it's hadelicious. Plan on playing the game with ZSNES 1.42 and using Hamachi for the initial practice. Game should probably take no more than 45 minutes total, maybe about 50ish if we end up adding Gourmet Race and the Arena one way or another. PJ is pretty good at Spring Breeze and has a cool Fighter strat for it, so that's why I threw him on there. I will practice his strat and be the backup in case he can't go for whatever reason.

[b]Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land:[/b] Another instance of "been too busy, haven't touched". I will use Sir VG's run as an initial base for strats and practice it when I get a chance. Also, if we have a 3p race going for SotN, perhaps we could have one for this too now? Sir VG does have the run on the site after all, so I see no reason for him not to compete with Mercury and me in this race since we'll all be bringing our GameBoy Players.

[b]Kirby & the Amazing Mirror:[/b] Sir VG and I need to arrange a meetup like we had last year so we can practice this. If you have Skype, add hadelicious on there, VG. I never see you on the other messengers you have. :s

[b]Splosion Man:[/b] I worked on some stages in 1p mode, haven't had much chance to really practice for speed on co-op with anyone. If 1p mode is what's intended for the marathon, I may have to tap out due to world 3 existing. I couldn't really commit to learning that well enough to do well in a SS run on top of doing all the other games I have. Maybe on co-op, if UraniumAnchor can practice. Not looking too hot so far though. :p

I don't think there's anything else I was listed for playing. Not gonna bother with MMX6 for the marathon since Satoryu is coming. I saw in the other thread that Heidman wanted to be added for MMX2. If that actually happens, I can shape up for some MMX and be able to comfortably beat Sigma grabbing the heart tanks in Mandrill and Armadillo's stages... that way we will have both SNES classics instead of just the 2nd one (MMX3 doesn't count as a MMX game, sorry). But yea, I won't plan on doing that unless MMX2 is more or less finalized.

Sir VG

2010-07-15 04:36:50 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

Quote:

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land: Another instance of "been too busy, haven't touched". I will use Sir VG's run as an initial base for strats and practice it when I get a chance. Also, if we have a 3p race going for SotN, perhaps we could have one for this too now? Sir VG does have the run on the site after all, so I see no reason for him not to compete with Mercury and me in this race since we'll all be bringing our GameBoy Players.

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror: Sir VG and I need to arrange a meetup like we had last year so we can practice this. If you have Skype, add hadelicious on there, VG. I never see you on the other messengers you have. :s

I have Skype, since I have a PSP-3000, and I've communicated with you guys before.

I should get back in tune with NiDL and race with both of you. Sounds like fun.

As for why I'm not on AIM, I just never turn the thing on. Kinda lazy, am I. ^^;; (Plus I never used it much, honestly.)

romscout

2010-07-15 04:41:48 pm

that Metroidvania guy

oh ok

well get on one or the other and stop hiding :x

Emptyeye

2010-07-16 06:07:41 am

Talk to the Hand

We're sitting here, I'm supposed to be the franchise runner and we in here talkin' about practice.

More seriously, I'll get to that. Eventually.

neskamikaze

Edit history:

neskamikaze: 2010-07-16 05:36:04 pm

2010-07-16 08:34:24 am

Do NiDL as Meta Knight!

Just did my first 0-21 Dr. Mario in months, and while it was slow and I bombed Lvl. 20 (43:14), I had no deaths, and I can get myself back in shape to basically guarantee sub-40.

SMK

2010-07-17 06:53:04 pm

KSS: I'll get around to practicing this with rom eventually. I have summer term finals this week, and then the whole of august off.

Pokémon: been playing around with this for the past 2 weeks. Route is basically what its been for the past 3 years now. I've yet to decide whether to do it on Yellow or Blue version; Yellow is in some respects easier, but overall is slower, so I'm leaning towards Blue.
- start with Charmander (if I do yellow, I can trainer-fly a 1->100 something as early as Viridian forest; options are Gengar, Ivysaur, or a Nidoking/queen).
- skip Brock (doesn't work on yellow, but I'd have the lvl 100 at this point, so its not a big deal)
- in my experience, glitching a Pokémon in mt. moon ends up being slower in real-time for blue, so I'd just stick it out with the Charmander
- worst part of the run luck-wise is definitely the catching an Abra. I've had attempts that required a full 10 mins to catch the Abra alone, but there's not really much I can do about this; its too fast for really anything else other than maybe Pikachu to get the first move on it, and even then Thunder Wave isn't even a guarantee for staying put.
- Beyond that, I just pray that the lvl 1 mew catching works (it can be somewhat random whether it gets caught).
- The rest of the run is basically just memorization and counting steps.

I'm looking at a safe estimate of 2 hours if included. I'd say 1:45, but those 15 mins could easily melt away trying to catch that goddamn Abra.

KSS: I'll get around to practicing this with rom eventually. I have summer term finals this week, and then the whole of august off.

Pokémon: been playing around with this for the past 2 weeks.  Route is basically what its been for the past 3 years now.  I've yet to decide whether to do it on Yellow or Blue version; Yellow is in some respects easier, but overall is slower, so I'm leaning towards Blue.
- start with Charmander (if I do yellow, I can trainer-fly a 1->100 something as early as Viridian forest; options are Gengar, Ivysaur, or a Nidoking/queen).
- skip Brock (doesn't work on yellow, but I'd have the lvl 100 at this point, so its not a big deal)
- in my experience, glitching a Pokémon in mt. moon ends up being slower in real-time for blue, so I'd just stick it out with the Charmander
- worst part of the run luck-wise is definitely the catching an Abra.  I've had attempts that required a full 10 mins to catch the Abra alone, but there's not really much I can do about this; its too fast for really anything else other than maybe Pikachu to get the first move on it, and even then Thunder Wave isn't even a guarantee for staying put.
- Beyond that, I just pray that the lvl 1 mew catching works (it can be somewhat random whether it gets caught).
- The rest of the run is basically just memorization and counting steps.

I'm looking at a safe estimate of 2 hours if included.  I'd say 1:45, but those 15 mins could easily melt away trying to catch that goddamn Abra.

Josh the Funkdoc

2010-07-20 02:52:11 pm

spread the dirt to the populace

Well, actually I'm not guaranteed to make it. Need to see what the demands of my winter-term project will be. But if I do make it, here's what I'm considering...

Castlevania 3: Getting ready to break the SDA records for this. Feeling very confident in this game, have found all sorts of new things that aren't used in the TASes even. Will be ready for whichever route wins via donations!

Castlevania 4: Still need to learn this game, and it's a nasty one to speedrun, too. Definitely going to be my major focus after recording CV3 runs.

Castlevania 1: If you guys want to include this again, I'll be game. I've put quite a bit of work into it already and am confident I could give a better show than we had last year.

Maximum Carnage: Seriously, guys, this deserves a spot. It's got Spider-Man and Venom, and I can tell you that it got a huge response when I played it on the Team Spooky stream. Not that hard a game once you know how to abuse the engine and find all the hidden superheroes, but it's fun to play and doesn't wear out its welcome the way many beat-em-ups do.

Wolfenstein 3-D: Still not sure how to play this game for SDA. DOSBox is out because it has issues which affect the gameplay, but running the original version through the command prompt gives you no music. Might want to use one of the source ports out there, though I'm not sure if any of them are that accurate.

Other possibilities:

Streets of Rage 2: The best in the series and one of the most popular Genesis games period. I'm thinking a 2-player run on Mania would be the way to go. I've played this quite a bit throughout the years and am already good with Max and Axel. Don't forget to take donations for the character choices!

Action 52: Nobody around here owns a cart probably, but I'm throwing this out there just in case. This game is legendary by now and just received a 2-part review from the AVGN, and I think it would get a great response from the stream. Best to speedrun just a game or two from it, as they're mostly very short...Non-Human, Fuzz Power, and Time Warp Tickers are the best "WTF?" ones.

Megaman 1 & 2: This is going to depend on how everything else goes, but I've thought about learning the glitches and running these games in Seth's place. I played them a ton back in the day and have watched many runs of them, so it shouldn't take too long for me to get the basics down.

Well, actually I'm not guaranteed to make it.  Need to see what the demands of my winter-term project will be.  But if I do make it, here's what I'm considering...

Castlevania 3: Getting ready to break the SDA records for this.  Feeling very confident in this game, have found all sorts of new things that aren't used in the TASes even.  Will be ready for whichever route wins via donations!

Castlevania 4: Still need to learn this game, and it's a nasty one to speedrun, too.  Definitely going to be my major focus after recording CV3 runs.

Castlevania 1: If you guys want to include this again, I'll be game.  I've put quite a bit of work into it already and am confident I could give a better show than we had last year.

Maximum Carnage: Seriously, guys, this deserves a spot.  It's got Spider-Man and Venom, and I can tell you that it got a huge response when I played it on the Team Spooky stream.  Not that hard a game once you know how to abuse the engine and find all the hidden superheroes, but it's fun to play and doesn't wear out its welcome the way many beat-em-ups do.

Wolfenstein 3-D: Still not sure how to play this game for SDA.  DOSBox is out because it has issues which affect the gameplay, but running the original version through the command prompt gives you no music.  Might want to use one of the source ports out there, though I'm not sure if any of them are that accurate.

Other possibilities:

Streets of Rage 2: The best in the series and one of the most popular Genesis games period.  I'm thinking a 2-player run on Mania would be the way to go.  I've played this quite a bit throughout the years and am already good with Max and Axel.  Don't forget to take donations for the character choices!

Action 52: Nobody around here owns a cart probably, but I'm throwing this out there just in case. This game is legendary by now and just received a 2-part review from the AVGN, and I think it would get a great response from the stream.  Best to speedrun just a game or two from it, as they're mostly very short...Non-Human, Fuzz Power, and Time Warp Tickers are the best "WTF?" ones.

Megaman 1 & 2: This is going to depend on how everything else goes, but I've thought about learning the glitches and running these games in Seth's place.  I played them a ton back in the day and have watched many runs of them, so it shouldn't take too long for me to get the basics down.

Zerstorung

2010-07-23 08:12:29 pm

Battletoads: Since this will be a race, will it be warpless or with warps? This would be helpful to know.

PJ

2010-07-23 10:39:56 pm

Is PJ

Quote from Zerstorung:

Battletoads: Since this will be a race, will it be warpless or with warps? This would be helpful to know.

I was also wondering this. I'd personally like to do a warpless run, even though I am notoriously bad on the mines of Surf City.

Emptyeye

2010-07-24 10:20:27 am

Talk to the Hand

Heh, good question.

Presuming we're not doing Pianotoads at the same time (I have no idea how that would work), either is fine with me. I had kind of assumed we were doing it with warps, although I was prepared, in the unlikely event that I miss the level 1 warp (It happens extremely rarely, probably under 1% of the time, but it does happen :o), to go "Fuck the race, I'll do it 100%, ~~fucking thing sucks~~." and just an impromptu all-levels run. Tongue

kareshi

2010-07-24 11:40:53 am

I vote warp. But I'm the pianist, you don't have to listen to me.

spineshark

2010-07-24 11:47:39 am

新世紀進歩的羽扇子音楽

Quote from Emptyeye:

"Fuck the race, I'll do it 100%, ~~fucking thing sucks~~."

We're doing it live. Emptyeye will write it, and we'll do it live.

PJ

2010-07-24 11:53:07 am

Is PJ

Admittedly, I only want to do the warpless run because I love level 7. I hate level 2 and 5, which I'd be forced to play, but level 7 is just way too cool for school. Maybe we could do a warp run and I'll just accidentally miss the warp on level 6. ^_^

Zerstorung

2010-07-25 08:22:42 pm

I'd say a warps run is probably a bit better for presentation. Most of 2 and 5-7 runs at a fixed pace, so we'd have those stretches where differences in precision/aggression won't be visible at all compared to the rest of the game. And that way we won't have to deal with the damn mines/fireballs.

PJ

2010-07-25 08:49:56 pm

Is PJ

Quote from Zerstorung:

And that way we won't have to deal with the damn mines/fireballs.

This is mostly what I was thinking. Level 2 is really boring, and the mines in level 5 are just...horrible. I don't mind the fireballs too much and the rest of level 7 is fun, but making the rules "Warps except for on level 6" is just stupid. And Snakey Pit is really boring, too.

So yea, I guess I am also in favor of a warps run. Is rat boot allowed then? Rat Race is a really entertaining level, so either way would be good for the crowd I'd think.

Zerstorung

2010-07-25 10:15:10 pm

Don't see why it wouldn't be allowed, provided any of us can actually pull it off.

Emptyeye

2010-07-26 05:47:26 am

Talk to the Hand

I'd say go ahead and allow it, again with the caveat that none of us will be all that likely to actually hit it (And with the understanding that we all realize the race could well come down to "Who gets lucky enough to actually pull it off").

That said, I like Rat Race a lot myself, so it won't bum me out all that much (Other than the time setback) if I miss the rat boot. Smiley

mikwuyma

Edit history:

mikwuyma: 2010-07-27 11:07:14 am

2010-07-26 08:57:45 am

My feelings on The Demon Rush

This probably goes without saying, but whether you guys race with warps or without warps is up to you guys, not me.

kareshi: You must have godly hands to follow three people at once on the piano. Shocked

EDIT: I played some Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and I'm becoming convinced it's a bad marathon choice. The game is incredibly random - you can get comboed to death for just a single mistake (or for something that isn't even a mistake). It's nearly impossible to get through later areas without taking much damage. And we can't do character requests for donations because a bad team will just die incredibly fast.

I have to see if multiplayer is any different, but if anything it will be worse for two reasons.

1. While players are smarter than the computer (duh), they don't have the ridiculous hp/defense the computer does (it's multiplied by at least 3 or 4 times, no joke)

2. I'm not sure how teleporting works, but it will probably be even more confusing than it is in single-player. Do other player auto-follow the teleporter, or will players have to tag out for long periods of movement?

BTW, here's some crappy practice I put in: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8542826/highlight/92013

This probably goes without saying, but whether you guys race with warps or without warps is up to you guys, not me.

kareshi: You must have godly hands to follow three people at once on the piano. :o

EDIT: I played some Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and I'm becoming convinced it's a bad marathon choice. The game is incredibly random - you can get comboed to death for just a single mistake (or for something that isn't even a mistake). It's nearly impossible to get through later areas without taking much damage. And we can't do character requests for donations because a bad team will just die incredibly fast.

I have to see if multiplayer is any different, but if anything it will be worse for two reasons.

1. While players are smarter than the computer (duh), they don't have the ridiculous hp/defense the computer does (it's multiplied by at least 3 or 4 times, no joke)

2. I'm not sure how teleporting works, but it will probably be even more confusing than it is in single-player. Do other player auto-follow the teleporter, or will players have to tag out for long periods of movement?

BTW, here's some crappy practice I put in: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8542826/highlight/92013

kareshi

Edit history:

kareshi: 2010-08-04 12:55:32 am

2010-07-27 01:28:49 pm

I'll be playing the music to whoever is in the lead.

Played some Marathon style Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts today for the first time in a month or two. I died twice and finished in 44:55. I'm happy with that.

kareshi

Edit history:

kareshi: 2010-08-04 12:57:10 am

2010-07-27 01:30:29 pm

Ignore this, some wierd doubple post happened.

mikwuyma

2010-08-01 05:20:12 pm

My feelings on The Demon Rush

Well, I played some of the games I'm supposed to run for the marathon, so I guess I should post here.

Contra 3: I just played this after not playing it since the marathon (so 7 months). The run was going okay until the fourth boss, but I still managed to beat the game. As long as I practice this game a bit.

Gunstar Heroes: Another game I haven't touched since the marathon. I just did a runthrough today and beat the game handily. The run was a little rough, but that mostly from being rusty.

TMNT4: I did a run of this on my stream a couple of nights ago and my time was around 23:30-24 minutes. I died once against Super Krang because I forgot how to fight him, but aside from that I did pretty well. I'll have to practice other characters eventually, but it's good to know I can still play this game.

Mega Man X4: I played this a bit on stream, and I still need to get used to minimizing my ground dashes, and SDC with Zero.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance: I dropped this game, and with good reason. Tongue

BTW, Gunstar Heroes wasn't streamed.

Twinkle Star Sprites: Still owns

Well, I played some of the games I'm supposed to run for the marathon, so I guess I should post here.

Contra 3: I just played this after not playing it since the marathon (so 7 months). The run was going okay until the fourth boss, but I still managed to beat the game. As long as I practice this game a bit.

Gunstar Heroes: Another game I haven't touched since the marathon. I just did a runthrough today and beat the game handily. The run was a little rough, but that mostly from being rusty.

TMNT4: I did a run of this on my stream a couple of nights ago and my time was around 23:30-24 minutes. I died once against Super Krang because I forgot how to fight him, but aside from that I did pretty well. I'll have to practice other characters eventually, but it's good to know I can still play this game.

Mega Man X4: I played this a bit on stream, and I still need to get used to minimizing my ground dashes, and SDC with Zero.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance: I dropped this game, and with good reason. :P

BTW, Gunstar Heroes wasn't streamed.

Twinkle Star Sprites: Still owns