Mechwarrior 3 (Done and fighting scenes uploaded to youtube)

2008-12-01 09:41:19 am

Never give up!

Couldn't you mix and match?

Try this: choose the heavy mech (I suggest the Orion because you have a little more weight to work with), ease up a little on the autocannon ammo and stick a few pulse lasers in as a backup.

See if that works.

Pendrokar

2008-12-01 10:25:26 am

Quote from FrostyTheDragon:

Couldn't you mix and match?

Try this: choose the heavy mech (I suggest the Orion because you have a little more weight to work with), ease up a little on the autocannon ammo and stick a few pulse lasers in as a backup.

See if that works.

But then I would have to go around the map so I could hit the mechs with the autocannons!
In attachment:
Yellow - with autocannons
Red - with just pulse lasers

Attachment:

MechO4M5.JPG

Pendrokar

Edit history:

Pendrokar: 2008-12-01 02:04:58 pm

2008-12-01 11:51:44 am

I went for Assault mech. 2:02 could be less if it weren't for those bloody little elemental buggers and their jumpjets. And I'm not British! Grin

Pendrokar

2008-12-01 01:34:21 pm

Ok im done. Cheesy

Last mission at 1:01! I had one with 0:59 but it didn't include ending and the setup was quite longer!

I will now upload all remaining videos to youtube.

Pendrokar

2008-12-03 02:30:52 pm

Uploaded all to youtube.

qubodup

2009-02-15 05:45:47 pm

Hello there,

Thank you for doing this run, I've been wishing for a Let's Play of MW3, but I also enjoy speedruns!

Just want to let you hear another voice that would appreciate the videos at original resolution to be uploaded to archive.org (and if available, the menu videos too). Smiley

Pendrokar

2009-02-16 05:32:30 am

Thats up to SDA.

Original resolution is 640x480(resized from 800x600 due to my stupidity Sad

!). I and tycho have the HD(800x600) versions of at least last 6 missions. Don't remember.

I think I will upload the HD versions to Filefront.

tycho102

2009-02-16 04:09:50 pm

Some people think they can outsmart me.

Oh, hell. I deleted the 800x600 stuff because I didn't think it had any use. I didn't think anyone would care to see just the last few missions in 800x600. I would have either had to split the run in half, and offer an IQ "part 2" version of the run. Or people would wind up having to download the entire run in standard-def and then download the last part in high-def.

It's just.......confusing, no matter how you consider it.

It should still be up on your FTP account if you haven't deleted it. If you want me to throw it together, I can. I'm not going to edit out all the "loose" frames inside it like I did for the "official" run, but it would only take me a few minutes to throw everything together in Mediastudio and do a transcode for Anrichan.

I can put it up on my server, but I really just don't see the point of having only half the game at that resolution. Meaning you no offense, Pendrokar.

Falconer Gray

Edit history:

Falconer Gray: 2022-05-03 07:11:08 am

Falconer Gray: 2022-05-03 07:08:25 am

2022-05-03 07:05:39 am

~14 years on and I'm going to claim this record as beaten!

47:54.19 full game time (including menus and loading), 40:47 mission/play time.

Mission times:
O1M1 - 1:43
O1M2 - 1:58
O1M3 - 3:24
O1M4 - 0:50 (Completely different strategy, taking out objectives during previous mission)
O2M1 - 2:01
O2M2 - 2:05
O2M3 - 0:58
O2M4 - 0:56
O3M1 - 2:57
O3M2 - 1:52
O3M3 - 3:54 (lost over 30 seconds due to enemy stuck in terrain)
O3M4 - 1:46
O3M5 - 1:29
O3M6 - 1:46
O4M1 - 3:25
O4M2 - 1:18
O4M3 - 3:53
O4M4 - 1:08
O4M5 - 2:04
O4M6 - 1:20

This run served as a starting point for my strategies and a benchmark / target.
There's still some missions that I lose time on to due to tight playing and high-risk strategies that I wasn't prepared to chance (O3M5, O4M3 and O4M6, these are played so well by Pendrokar), which shows how good this original run really is.

I'd love to see more people take it up. Hopefully it's not another 14 years between records!

Not sure if I should submit following the SDA process, as there is still the possibility for further improvements. Sub 40 minute mission time is definitely possible.
I've calculated a 38:12 as being possible by combining best individual mission times from my full run, Pendrokar's run and other my other incomplete runs / failed attempts.
Going to take some time off then see if I feel up to having another go.

Cheers

~14 years on and I'm going to claim this record as beaten!

47:54.19 full game time (including menus and loading), 40:47 mission/play time. 
https://youtu.be/n9tbuNEcnEg

Mission times:
O1M1 - 1:43
O1M2 - 1:58
O1M3 - 3:24
O1M4 - 0:50 (Completely different strategy, taking out objectives during previous mission)
O2M1 - 2:01
O2M2 - 2:05
O2M3 - 0:58
O2M4 - 0:56
O3M1 - 2:57
O3M2 - 1:52
O3M3 - 3:54 (lost over 30 seconds due to enemy stuck in terrain)
O3M4 - 1:46
O3M5 - 1:29
O3M6 - 1:46
O4M1 - 3:25
O4M2 - 1:18
O4M3 - 3:53
O4M4 - 1:08
O4M5 - 2:04
O4M6 - 1:20

This run served as a starting point for my strategies and a benchmark / target. 
There's still some missions that I lose time on to due to tight playing and high-risk strategies that I wasn't prepared to chance (O3M5, O4M3 and O4M6, these are played so well by Pendrokar), which shows how good this original run really is.

I'd love to see more people take it up. Hopefully it's not another 14 years between records!

Not sure if I should submit following the SDA process, as there is still the possibility for further improvements. Sub 40 minute mission time is definitely possible. 
I've calculated a 38:12 as being possible by combining best individual mission times from my full run, Pendrokar's run and other my other incomplete runs / failed attempts. 
Going to take some time off then see if I feel up to having another go.

Cheers

PROX

2022-05-03 03:59:06 pm

feel free to submit. It'll take a couple of months give or take, but you've beaten it, so I'd say to go for it.

LotBlind

2022-05-05 10:56:51 am

Very often when people have submitted their runs, they soon (very soon) after find they were able to improve by a relatively large amount after all. So taking a break, then setting fresh eyes on it again is indeed advisable. Better for everyone if the submission happens after all such improvements are in (. Like PROX improved by over a minute on what he thought was a very solid time for MW2: Ghost Bear's Legacy.

Can this game be done segmented or ILs out of curiosity?

PROX

2022-05-05 01:46:04 pm

ILs can be done. The time for the mission is at the top of the screen once the mission is over.

Falconer Gray

Edit history:

Falconer Gray: 2022-05-05 05:07:54 pm

2022-05-05 05:05:53 pm

Quote from LotBlind:

Very often when people have submitted their runs, they soon (very soon) after find they were able to improve by a relatively large amount after all. So taking a break, then setting fresh eyes on it again is indeed advisable. Better for everyone if the submission happens after all such improvements are in (. Like PROX improved by over a minute on what he thought was a very solid time for MW2: Ghost Bear's Legacy.

Can this game be done segmented or ILs out of curiosity?

Yes, I feel I'm learning more about the idea behind SDA and what you're trying to achieve here.
A better run is absolutely possible and I don't like the idea of submitting something with obvious mistakes or time losses.

Regarding full runs vs segmented, segmented is absolutely possible.
I hadn't thought about it before, but if the SDA idea is to showcase the game at the highest level, then a segmented run does make sense.
I understand that the current SDA run is segmented?

This approach will mean I can demonstrate the fastest / optimised playing per mission, rather than compromising for the sake of ensuring completion in a full game run.
If you agree with that approach, that's the direction I'll take things.

[quote="LotBlind"]Very often when people have submitted their runs, they soon (very soon) after find they were able to improve by a relatively large amount after all. So taking a break, then setting fresh eyes on it again is indeed advisable. Better for everyone if the submission happens after all such improvements are in (. Like PROX [url=https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/mechwarrior_2_ghost_bears_legacy_available_for_verification__due_2022.02.08_22.html]improved by over a minute[/url] on what he thought was a very solid time for MW2: Ghost Bear's Legacy.

Can this game be done segmented or ILs out of curiosity?[/quote]

Yes, I feel I'm learning more about the idea behind SDA and what you're trying to achieve here. 
A better run is absolutely possible and I don't like the idea of submitting something with obvious mistakes or time losses.

Regarding full runs vs segmented, segmented is absolutely possible. 
I hadn't thought about it before, but if the SDA idea is to showcase the game at the highest level, then a segmented run does make sense. 
I understand that the current SDA run is segmented?

This approach will mean I can demonstrate the fastest / optimised playing per mission, rather than compromising for the sake of ensuring completion in a full game run. 
If you agree with that approach, that's the direction I'll take things.

LotBlind

2022-05-06 10:57:44 am

Yeah, this site only makes sense if we encourage a very high quality and lots of effort into every submission. Back in the day, it was important also so it doesn't get instantly obsoleted meaning wasted effort when there was already a high volume of incoming runs (and they were even slower to process). Nowadays, if you just want "a run" out there somewhere, it's very easy to put it on YouTube. Meanwhile, those people who like the SDA curated feed like it for that quality guarantee and accessibility / viewer-friendliness, with people usually writing comments that help the non-initiated to get what kinds of things they're seeing in the run and what went into the planning behind the scenes. I'm personally grateful to everyone submitting such runs (big fan of speedruns obviously) and will return the favor once I'm finished with my own first submission.

Segmented runs: By all means do it that way! That's my preference too and something that has been forgotten about seeing as Speedrun.com doesn't encourage it (the opposite...) nor do the popular marathon events. To be clear, SDA is agnostic as to which ones of those and ILs people submit so long as it makes sense for the game in question and the quality relative to the number of segments is up there. PROX is saying ILs also make sense (I'm assuming you get more freedom in your choices than in a segmented run?) so I'd like to encourage you to use more than one segment per mission if the game allows that. As you say, the segmented run is really about showing off every last minute (mi-NUTE) optimization and tricks you wouldn't otherwise even have thought of. Like maybe you can blow up some mechs next to a building and there's a 1 in 500 chance that also blows up the building instead of having to fire at it yourself? Or you've once seen a mech get stuck somewhere where it's faster to pick it off rather than if you have to chase for it and you can manipulate it to do that again.

To give you an idea of how far you can take things, you can take a look at this guide I'm writing with someone. It's quite the extreme example. Probably couldn't think of nearly as much to say about many other games... And of course a lot of what it says won't ever be applicable to speedrunning (it's a bit difficult to know since there's three–four other games built in the same engine). Anyway, check out the rules page if you didn't already and if you feel like it, starting such a guide isn't too difficult actually. The easiest Wiki editing I've ever done.

Yeah, this site only makes sense if we encourage a very high quality and lots of effort into every submission. Back in the day, it was important also so it doesn't get instantly obsoleted meaning wasted effort when there was already a high volume of incoming runs (and they were even slower to process). Nowadays, if you just want "a run" out there somewhere, it's very easy to put it on YouTube. Meanwhile, those people who like the SDA curated feed like it for that quality guarantee and accessibility / viewer-friendliness, with people usually writing comments that help the non-initiated to get what kinds of things they're seeing in the run and what went into the planning behind the scenes. I'm personally grateful to everyone submitting such runs (big fan of speedruns obviously) and will return the favor once I'm finished with my own first submission.

Segmented runs: By all means do it that way! That's my preference too and something that has been forgotten about seeing as Speedrun.com doesn't encourage it (the opposite...) nor do the popular marathon events. To be clear, SDA is agnostic as to which ones of those and ILs people submit so long as it makes sense for the game in question and the quality relative to the number of segments is up there. PROX is saying ILs also make sense (I'm assuming you get more freedom in your choices than in a segmented run?) so I'd like to encourage you to use more than one segment per mission if the game allows that. As you say, the segmented run is really about showing off every last minute (mi-NUTE) optimization and tricks you wouldn't otherwise even have thought of. Like maybe you can blow up some mechs next to a building and there's a 1 in 500 chance that also blows up the building instead of having to fire at it yourself? Or you've once seen a mech get stuck somewhere where it's faster to pick it off rather than if you have to chase for it and you can manipulate it to do that again.

To give you an idea of how far you can take things, you can take a look at this [url=https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Alone_in_the_Dark_(1-3)/Game_Mechanics_and_Glitches]guide[/url] I'm writing with someone. It's quite the extreme example. Probably couldn't think of nearly as much to say about many other games... And of course a lot of what it says won't ever be applicable to speedrunning (it's a bit difficult to know since there's three–four other games built in the same engine). Anyway, check out the [url=https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Rules]rules page[/url] if you didn't already and if you feel like it, starting such a guide isn't too difficult actually. The easiest Wiki editing I've ever done.

Falconer Gray

2022-05-06 05:40:27 pm

Great points and thank you for explaining. The commentary / guide element interests me as, like you have highlighted, I believe accessibility for people that are unfamiliar with the game is important. The rules page is also helpful, of course.
Based on all this, I've started work on a segmented run. I've spent the last two months on full game speedruns, so I'm excited by the opportunity to push for those exciting high risk / high reward plays that are usually overlooked in full game runs.
I have a solid idea of what is possible and have set myself targets for each mission. There will then be additional opportunities for improvement by exploring even greater low percentage plays that wouldn't even be considered in a full run.

PROX

2022-05-06 11:01:39 pm

Quote from LotBlind:

I'm assuming you get more freedom in your choices than in a segmented run?

Actually no, you're stuck with the equipment that you've salvaged from previous missions if you go back and play older missions in this one.

LotBlind

2022-05-07 01:38:56 pm

Good luck Falconer and looking forward to what you come up with!

PROX: TBH, we let the runners decide if they want to do ILs in cases like this. They fall somewhere in-between single-segment and segmented runs. That's why I'm saying more than one segment per mission for the segmented runs makes sense if someone wants to squeeze that third segmentation category, the ILs, in there.

Falconer Gray

2022-05-10 04:00:50 am

It seems to me that a segmented run is the most appropriate way to describe what we're doing here. This is based on the descriptions given on the rules page, as well as the way the MW3 campaign system works (we can go back and replay levels, but it functions as going back to a previous save. Each mission must be completed in full, with no mid-mission saving possible).

Quick update, I've completed my first "pass" and have a full speedrun. I've hit my targets and have what I feel is a pretty decent run to show for it, but I now plan to go back through and look for further improvements.
A large portion of the run will actually be "done" already, but I have a handful of missions in mind that I want to push even further with more aggressive strategies and playstyles.

I expect to have an update within a week, which may even be the final run, depending on how things go.

LotBlind

2022-05-11 01:43:08 pm

Okay, so in that case, ILs still make sense if you take the time to prepare the perfect starting conditions for each mission (and assuming those conditions are noticeably different from how a typical segmented/SS run would play out). It's kind of like a NG+ run in spirit.

Shame you can't do mid-mission saves.

Falconer Gray

2022-05-19 01:43:30 am

A quick update, my second pass is now complete, with the run essentially complete. The run is good enough to submit now, but I have a few missions highlighted that I want to go back to a try and squeeze a little more out of, as well as attempt a slight variation on strategy for one mission (that may not actually have any benefit).

Look for final run with detailed text commentary to be submitted very soon.