Quest for Glory 1 (DOSBox run, 9:29)

Rainault

Edit history:

Rainault: 2006-08-04 01:55:17 am

2006-07-31 01:32:32 pm

Not a schmuck.

I love QFG. When my dad bought the Anthology for me on one Christmas, I became absolutely addicted to these games. And so, having visited SDA, it seemed natural that I would consider speed runs for them. There are multiple possibilities, such as a regular run and a 500 point run, but for now, I'll just discuss a basic run of the first game.

Of all the tasks listed in the prophecy, the only one you need to do is dispelling Elsa. After doing that, so long as you leave the Magic Mirror on the desk, the game will end there. I've compiled a list of proposed tasks, in the correct order, that I believe will need to be done to do the fastest speed run.

1. Create a Fighter with some Magic (haven't decided on specific point allocation yet)
2. Go to Zara and buy Open
3. Go to General Store and buy two Flasks
4. Go to Flying Falls and get Flying Water
5. Go to Erana's Peace; pick flowers and get Calm
6. Go to Sporea plants and retrieve seed
7. Go to Meeps and get Green Fur
8. Wait until nightfall and get Fairy Dust from fairies
9. Sleep at Dryad's corner
10. Go to Healer's House and make Dispel Potion
11. Go to Brigand Fortress and kill the three brigands
12. Calm Toro and force gate
13. Pass through the fortress puzzles
14. Throw Dispel Potion on Elsa and leave fortress

Steps 2-7 can be done at a more or less leisurely pace, since you'll have to wait for night for the fairies anyway. Note that this is why everything possible is done before the fairy dust to optimize time. After that, though, I can imagine the brigand battles being pure hell, which is why Calm is absolutely essential for bypassing Toro. Open on the fortress gate might be faster, but as I recall, it takes quite a bit of skill in the spell for it to work, so forcing it would be faster. Making it through Yorick's maze will probably take a fair amount of practice to do quickly. Wink

Finally, one route I thought about exploring was the troll cave, since it gets around the brigand battles, but to avoid fighting Fred, you have to know the password. To know the password, you have to eavesdrop on Bruno. To do that, you have to read the note in the tavern. And to do that, you have to rescue Barnard first. Therefore, it is almost certainly faster to take the direct route. I haven't attempted the run yet, though, so if the brigand battles turn out to be too difficult, the troll cave may be the correct way to go. This also means learning Fetch to retrieve the key from the Kobold, and that requires returning the gold ring to the Healer, since you don't start with enough money to learn Open and Fetch.

Any other QFG fans out there who have some comments on the potential for this run? If I do muster up the motivation to complete and submit this run, I'll probably work out similar runs for the other four QFG games. I'm sure that by far, this game will be the fastest run.

Thread title:

I love QFG. When my dad bought the Anthology for me on one Christmas, I became absolutely addicted to these games. And so, having visited SDA, it seemed natural that I would consider speed runs for them. There are multiple possibilities, such as a regular run and a 500 point run, but for now, I'll just discuss a basic run of the first game.

Of all the tasks listed in the prophecy, the [i]only[/i] one you need to do is dispelling Elsa. After doing that, so long as you leave the Magic Mirror on the desk, the game will end there. I've compiled a list of proposed tasks, in the correct order, that I believe will need to be done to do the fastest speed run.

1. Create a Fighter with some Magic (haven't decided on specific point allocation yet)
2. Go to Zara and buy Open
3. Go to General Store and buy two Flasks
4. Go to Flying Falls and get Flying Water
5. Go to Erana's Peace; pick flowers and get Calm
6. Go to Sporea plants and retrieve seed
7. Go to Meeps and get Green Fur
8. Wait until nightfall and get Fairy Dust from fairies
9. Sleep at Dryad's corner
10. Go to Healer's House and make Dispel Potion
11. Go to Brigand Fortress and kill the three brigands
12. Calm Toro and force gate
13. Pass through the fortress puzzles
14. Throw Dispel Potion on Elsa and leave fortress

Steps 2-7 can be done at a more or less leisurely pace, since you'll have to wait for night for the fairies anyway. Note that this is why everything possible is done before the fairy dust to optimize time. After that, though, I can imagine the brigand battles being pure hell, which is why Calm is absolutely essential for bypassing Toro. Open on the fortress gate might be faster, but as I recall, it takes quite a bit of skill in the spell for it to work, so forcing it would be faster. Making it through Yorick's maze will probably take a fair amount of practice to do quickly. ;)

Finally, one route I thought about exploring was the troll cave, since it gets around the brigand battles, but to avoid fighting Fred, you have to know the password. To know the password, you have to eavesdrop on Bruno. To do that, you have to read the note in the tavern. And to do that, you have to rescue Barnard first. Therefore, it is almost certainly faster to take the direct route. I haven't attempted the run yet, though, so if the brigand battles turn out to be too difficult, the troll cave may be the correct way to go. This also means learning Fetch to retrieve the key from the Kobold, and that requires returning the gold ring to the Healer, since you don't start with enough money to learn Open [i]and[/i] Fetch.

Any other QFG fans out there who have some comments on the potential for this run? If I do muster up the motivation to complete and submit this run, I'll probably work out similar runs for the other four QFG games. I'm sure that by far, this game will be the fastest run.

AquaTiger

2006-07-31 05:00:56 pm

Never give up!

Can't offer much in the way of advice, but this ought to be interesting.

I've played demos of the fifth game, but I think I have the third and fourth games still available to me. If you choose to run all five, I'll see what I can remember for you.

Rainault

2006-08-01 04:57:04 am

Not a schmuck.

By the way, I figure it's good to clarify that I'm playing with the EGA version of the game. I never cared for the VGA version (parser games all the way Smiley

), so I probably won't be running that one.

I tested a few things in the game to see how they would go, and I realized that the brigand battles at the fortress entrance are pretty much impossible for a starting hero, no matter how you allocate the points. Maybe I just suck at battles; maybe there's some combo of attacks and parries that I can't do. But I think that the troll cave is a necessity. I tested various paths that could be taken, and here are the issues I've come up with so far:

1. The Thief is the optimal starting class. This will be explained below in the Kobold section. There must be 35 points in Stealth, as well as a minimum of 5 points in Magic to allow spellcasting. The rest shall go into Climbing. This strategy may change when I work out the rock problem (see below)
2. Calm is a crucial spell, as indicated above, for bypassing Toro, and now it's necessary against the Ogre at the bear cave entrance. This means that Open is also required, so those are the only spells we'll need. Fetch has its uses, but there are workarounds to every one of them. Besides, it takes more time to earn the money to buy it.
3. Magic points are rare at the start. With a 15 Intelligence and 5 Magic, a Thief starts with only 8 Magic Points. We need 10: 2 to cast Open at Erana's Peace, 4 to cast Calm to enter the cave, and 4 to cast it again when we leave. This can be solved by resting in the cave after freeing Barnard. The only other time spellcasting is needed is at the fortress gate against Toro (one more Calm).
4. After extensive testing, the hero needs 35 Stealth to remove the key from the Kobold without being detected. The only other two options of retrieving the key are casting Fetch (which takes more skill and more Magic Points) and defeating the Kobold (yeah right). This is why the Thief is necessary; any other class will have only 5 points left to allocate the other skills, which is not enough.
5. We have three options for getting the Sporea seed from the plants: throwing rocks, climbing the cliff, and casting Fetch. Same as with the Kobold, Fetch is not a viable option; it costs too many Magic Points (though one time I got lucky on the second try). Between Throwing and Climbing, I elected Climbing because it involves less waiting between attempts. I think both require a skill somewhere between 20 and 30 to succeed; I've succeeded at Climbing as low as 20 and as high as 29, so I think it's random. Anyway, at least you don't have to waste time picking up rocks every 10 tries.
6. Here's a major tricky part which I haven't tested yet: After rescuing Barnard, the note become available at the tavern to meet Bruno at noon. Note that the game starts at noon. This means that if you're fast enough, you can rescue Barnard, visit the tavern, and eavesdrop all before mid-afternoon. There are a few on-the-way objectives to accomplish to achieve the optimal path, though. I'll work out the specific details later.
7. Another obvious problem is the fairy dust; we must make the Dispel Potion, so we must wait for nightfall before we can acquire the fairy dust. Simply standing around doing nothing may work, but there is something else that will make time go faster: working at the stables. We can stop by the castle after eavesdropping on Bruno to speed up time a bit. I can't think of anything else that will help, though, so I'll have to do a little testing to find out exactly how much time until nightfall.
8. Where to sleep on Night 1? The Dryad's, of course. We have to go there anyway to give her the seed and acquire the acorn, and it's the closest safe spot to the faerie ring. From here, everything must be done in succession and (hopefully) with perfection. Make the Dispel Potion, enter the troll cave, make it through the fortress, and dispel Elsa.
9. And now, we come to the rock problem that has stopped me from attempting my first run: the entrance to the troll cave itself. There are three ways to open the entrance: using the key from the brigand, casting Open, or picking the lock. Lockpicking is out of the question; I had Pick Locks as high as 60 and I still failed. The toolkit might help here, but it's too far out of the way to get. Using Open seems to be the best solution, but there is another problem. Merely casting Open will probably not open the rock; you need at least a 50 skill in Open to do it with the spell alone. Any less, and you'll have to use some muscle as well. In this case, a 40 Strength is required to open the rock. So the question is which is faster: raising Open to 50, or raising Strength to 40? More research to be done here. Of course, the third non-solution is defeating the brigand to retrieve the key. Blech. I can't see this as feasible, but I might look into it.

More notes to be posted later when I do some more testing.

By the way, I figure it's good to clarify that I'm playing with the EGA version of the game. I never cared for the VGA version (parser games all the way :) ), so I probably won't be running that one.

I tested a few things in the game to see how they would go, and I realized that the brigand battles at the fortress entrance are pretty much impossible for a starting hero, no matter how you allocate the points. Maybe I just suck at battles; maybe there's some combo of attacks and parries that I can't do. But I think that the troll cave is a necessity. I tested various paths that could be taken, and here are the issues I've come up with so far:

1. The Thief is the optimal starting class. This will be explained below in the Kobold section. There must be 35 points in Stealth, as well as a minimum of 5 points in Magic to allow spellcasting. The rest shall go into Climbing. This strategy may change when I work out the rock problem (see below)
2. Calm is a crucial spell, as indicated above, for bypassing Toro, and now it's necessary against the Ogre at the bear cave entrance. This means that Open is also required, so those are the only spells we'll need. Fetch has its uses, but there are workarounds to every one of them. Besides, it takes more time to earn the money to buy it.
3. Magic points are rare at the start. With a 15 Intelligence and 5 Magic, a Thief starts with only 8 Magic Points. We need 10: 2 to cast Open at Erana's Peace, 4 to cast Calm to enter the cave, and 4 to cast it again when we leave. This can be solved by resting in the cave after freeing Barnard. The only other time spellcasting is needed is at the fortress gate against Toro (one more Calm).
4. After extensive testing, the hero needs 35 Stealth to remove the key from the Kobold without being detected. The only other two options of retrieving the key are casting Fetch (which takes more skill and more Magic Points) and defeating the Kobold (yeah right). This is why the Thief is necessary; any other class will have only 5 points left to allocate the other skills, which is not enough.
5. We have three options for getting the Sporea seed from the plants: throwing rocks, climbing the cliff, and casting Fetch. Same as with the Kobold, Fetch is not a viable option; it costs too many Magic Points (though one time I got lucky on the second try). Between Throwing and Climbing, I elected Climbing because it involves less waiting between attempts. I think both require a skill somewhere between 20 and 30 to succeed; I've succeeded at Climbing as low as 20 and as high as 29, so I think it's random. Anyway, at least you don't have to waste time picking up rocks every 10 tries.
6. Here's a major tricky part which I haven't tested yet: After rescuing Barnard, the note become available at the tavern to meet Bruno at noon. Note that the game starts at noon. This means that if you're fast enough, you can rescue Barnard, visit the tavern, and eavesdrop all before mid-afternoon. There are a few on-the-way objectives to accomplish to achieve the optimal path, though. I'll work out the specific details later.
7. Another obvious problem is the fairy dust; we [i]must[/i] make the Dispel Potion, so we [i]must[/i] wait for nightfall before we can acquire the fairy dust. Simply standing around doing nothing may work, but there is something else that will make time go faster: working at the stables. We can stop by the castle after eavesdropping on Bruno to speed up time a bit. I can't think of anything else that will help, though, so I'll have to do a little testing to find out exactly how much time until nightfall.
8. Where to sleep on Night 1? The Dryad's, of course. We have to go there anyway to give her the seed and acquire the acorn, and it's the closest safe spot to the faerie ring. From here, everything must be done in succession and (hopefully) with perfection. Make the Dispel Potion, enter the troll cave, make it through the fortress, and dispel Elsa.
9. And now, we come to the rock problem that has stopped me from attempting my first run: the entrance to the troll cave itself. There are three ways to open the entrance: using the key from the brigand, casting Open, or picking the lock. Lockpicking is out of the question; I had Pick Locks as high as 60 and I still failed. The toolkit might help here, but it's too far out of the way to get. Using Open seems to be the best solution, but there is another problem. Merely casting Open will probably not open the rock; you need at least a 50 skill in Open to do it with the spell alone. Any less, and you'll have to use some muscle as well. In this case, a 40 Strength is required to open the rock. So the question is which is faster: raising Open to 50, or raising Strength to 40? More research to be done here. Of course, the third non-solution is defeating the brigand to retrieve the key. Blech. I can't see this as feasible, but I might look into it.

More notes to be posted later when I do some more testing.

Rainault

2006-08-01 07:30:24 am

Not a schmuck.

Well, apparently a 40 Strength wasn't necessary; I was able to open the rock with a little luck and a Strength as low as 20. With that obstacle overcome, I was able to finish a run in speedy time. I didn't actually record the time, but I expect it to take roughly 10 minutes. Sadly, six minutes of the run will be waiting for nightfall, but this is unavoidable. Now all I have to do is work out a way to record the runs, and I'll be able to get started. I hope more people turn out to be interested in this run.

agopo

2006-08-01 01:42:38 pm

I wear glasses.

Quote:

Now all I have to do is work out a way to record the runs, and I'll be able to get started. I hope more people turn out to be interested in this run.

Here ya go, one more interested person. Parser games RULE! Grin

KQ, SQ (Space Quest ALL THE WAY!), LSL...

KaThogh

2006-08-01 03:42:18 pm

Pefectionist wannabe

Hmm, I'm not sure about the thief being the fastest of the classes I kinda suspect the fighter. At least in a 500 game the thief wouldn't be the fastest since the fighter has the least amount of sidequests!
But if you abuse "pick nose" hmm, but that wouldn't do in a SS.
6 minutes waiting btw? Why? I bet theres things you can do in that time! No problem!
I was thinking of speedrunning QFG1-5 but got stuck playing LBA instead Smiley

BDA

2006-08-01 05:31:50 pm

Let's fight to computer!

I loved this series when I was a kid, so I would definitely be interested in seeing what you come up with speedwise. Unfortunately I don't remember much about this game in particular so I can't help you any.

Rainault

Edit history:

Rainault: 2006-08-01 07:58:25 pm

2006-08-01 07:54:56 pm

Not a schmuck.

Quote:

Hmm, I'm not sure about the thief being the fastest of the classes I kinda suspect the fighter. At least in a 500 game the thief wouldn't be the fastest since the fighter has the least amount of sidequests!
But if you abuse "pick nose" hmm, but that wouldn't do in a SS.
6 minutes waiting btw? Why? I bet theres things you can do in that time! No problem!
I was thinking of speedrunning QFG1-5 but got stuck playing LBA instead Smiley

Yes, I agree, in a 500 game, the Thief is not the fastest class. I think that would be the Mage; I'd rather not spend time hunting every monster in the game for the Fighter. That relies too much on luck. Not to mention the time you'd spend training your skills just to beat every monster. But in a true speed run, the Thief is the fastest for the reasons listed above. I've already established that the brigand battles at the fortress entrance are too difficult for a starting hero. This means the troll cave, and that means taking on the Kobold. Note that we have to wait for nightfall to get fairy dust anyway, so we really aren't losing on time.

So once again, here's why the Thief is the best class for an optimal run: Of the three methods of retrieving the key from the Kobold, Stealth is the fastest and most efficient option. Since a 35 Stealth is required to steal the key, you have to be a Thief if you want enough points to allocate to everything else you need (Climbing and Magic). Any other class has to use 45 points to get 35 in Stealth, leaving 5 points for anything else. The Fighter is out; he'd need another 15 just to get 5 in Magic, and he'd have to rely on Throwing instead of Climbing. The Mage is out; he'd need another 15 just to get 5 in Climbing. So the Thief is it.

This is my current optimal path for the Thief. I'm snooping around for better ways to make time pass; maybe it goes faster if you do room transitions. Maybe there's something else I missed. But if there is no other way, then everything that can possibly be done in Day 1 is done on this list before the fairy dust, so this must be the optimal path.

1. Go to Zara's; buy Open
2. Go to Erana's Peace; get flowers, get Calm
3. Go to Bear Cave; cast Calm on the Ogre, feed the bear
4. Go to Kobold Lair; steal the key, free the bear, Calm the Ogre again
5. Go to Sporea plants; climb the cliffs until successful, catch the seed
6. Go to General Store; buy two flasks
7. Go to Tavern; get the note
8. Go to Archery Range; eavesdrop
9. Go to Castle Stables; work
10. Go to Flying Falls; get water
11. Go to Meeps; get green fur
12. Wait until nightfall
13. Go to Faerie Ring; get fairy dust
14. Go to Dryad's Corner; sleep, get acorn from Dryad
15. Go to Healer's House; make Dispel Potion
16. Go to Antwerp; cast Open and force the rock open
17. Go to Fortress Gate; Calm Toro, Open the gate
18. Solve all of the fortress puzzles
19. Throw the Dispel Potion on Elsa; leave

I may decide to change when I acquire the spitting seed. To save time while trying to open the rock, I might put points into Strength instead of Climbing. After all, I have a lot of time to waste before nightfall, so why not use up that time to get the seed instead?

[quote]Hmm, I'm not sure about the thief being the fastest of the classes I kinda suspect the fighter. At least in a 500 game the thief wouldn't be the fastest since the fighter has the least amount of sidequests!
But if you abuse "pick nose" hmm, but that wouldn't do in a SS. 
6 minutes waiting btw? Why? I bet theres things you can do in that time! No problem!
I was thinking of speedrunning QFG1-5 but got stuck playing LBA instead :)
[/quote]

Yes, I agree, in a 500 game, the Thief is not the fastest class. I think that would be the Mage; I'd rather not spend time hunting every monster in the game for the Fighter. That relies too much on luck. Not to mention the time you'd spend training your skills just to beat every monster. But in a true speed run, the Thief is the fastest for the reasons listed above. I've already established that the brigand battles at the fortress entrance are too difficult for a starting hero. This means the troll cave, and that means taking on the Kobold. Note that we have to wait for nightfall to get fairy dust anyway, so we really aren't losing on time.

So once again, here's why the Thief is the best class for an optimal run: Of the three methods of retrieving the key from the Kobold, Stealth is the fastest and most efficient option. Since a 35 Stealth is required to steal the key, you have to be a Thief if you want enough points to allocate to everything else you need (Climbing and Magic). Any other class has to use 45 points to get 35 in Stealth, leaving 5 points for anything else. The Fighter is out; he'd need another 15 just to get 5 in Magic, and he'd have to rely on Throwing instead of Climbing. The Mage is out; he'd need another 15 just to get 5 in Climbing. So the Thief is it.

This is my current optimal path for the Thief. I'm snooping around for better ways to make time pass; maybe it goes faster if you do room transitions. Maybe there's something else I missed. But if there is no other way, then everything that can possibly be done in Day 1 is done on this list before the fairy dust, so this must be the optimal path.

1. Go to Zara's; buy Open
2. Go to Erana's Peace; get flowers, get Calm
3. Go to Bear Cave; cast Calm on the Ogre, feed the bear
4. Go to Kobold Lair; steal the key, free the bear, Calm the Ogre again
5. Go to Sporea plants; climb the cliffs until successful, catch the seed
6. Go to General Store; buy two flasks
7. Go to Tavern; get the note
8. Go to Archery Range; eavesdrop
9. Go to Castle Stables; work
10. Go to Flying Falls; get water
11. Go to Meeps; get green fur
12. Wait until nightfall
13. Go to Faerie Ring; get fairy dust
14. Go to Dryad's Corner; sleep, get acorn from Dryad
15. Go to Healer's House; make Dispel Potion
16. Go to Antwerp; cast Open and force the rock open
17. Go to Fortress Gate; Calm Toro, Open the gate
18. Solve all of the fortress puzzles
19. Throw the Dispel Potion on Elsa; leave

I may decide to change when I acquire the spitting seed. To save time while trying to open the rock, I might put points into Strength instead of Climbing. After all, I have a lot of time to waste before nightfall, so why not use up that time to get the seed instead?

KaThogh

Edit history:

KaThogh: 2006-08-01 09:19:05 pm

2006-08-01 09:03:41 pm

Pefectionist wannabe

How about using the glich to get 1 point in a skill? That way you can have every skill with every person at lower cost.

Also I remembered while doing a quick play. How are you planning to use gamespeed? I mean, the game would go a lot faster if playing at the highest speed all the time!

Rainault

2006-08-01 10:59:51 pm

Not a schmuck.

I've heard of that glitch, but I've never been able to do it. I'd rather do this without using any glitches, anyway. As for the game speed, I'll probably be playing two notches down from top speed; that's my usual playing speed. Since I have to wait until nightfall, I'm in no hurry until I get the fairy dust. After that, I'll increase the speed as high as I can manage.

BDA

2006-08-02 12:39:47 am

Let's fight to computer!

Before you start fiddling with game speed you should probably talk to one of the mods about it. Since there are possible precedents either way I couldn't tell you if it would be allowed or not; best to get an official ruling on it.

Rainault

2006-08-02 12:52:11 am

Not a schmuck.

Hm... that's a good point. I hadn't figured it would be a problem since it's a feature of the game, rather than modifying how fast the game itself runs (you'll notice that many things are unaffected by game speed).

Could I get a mod's ruling on this, if any of them happens to be reading this topic?

For those of you who haven't played Quest for Glory, this is how game speed works. Setting the game speed changes the movement and animation speeds of the sprites on the current room. It may or may not have an effect on lapse of game time, as I haven't verified this yet. Many scripted events are unaffected by game speed. If modifying game speed is disallowed, then a specific speed will have to be chosen. The speed can go from 0 to 16, with 16 being the fastest. As I recall, default speed is 11, but I would recommend setting the standard to 14, as that's fast enough so that we aren't waiting for the hero to move, but not too fast.

StrangenessDSS

Edit history:

StrangenessDSS: 2006-08-02 01:24:39 am

2006-08-02 01:22:25 am

Sleeping Terror

It sounds to me like you should use whatever setting will allow you to complete the game fastest. I can't think of any reason to disallow setting the game to the fastest possible speed.

The only precedent I know of is Starcraft, which is always set to the fastest speed.

(Disclaimer: I am a forum mod, and while I have been around a while and usually know what I'm talking about, I am not Radix and I do not make the rules.)

Rainault

Edit history:

Rainault: 2006-08-02 11:20:28 am

2006-08-02 11:20:08 am

Not a schmuck.

Alrighty, I did an actual speed run of the game, but some people started talking to me, so I got distracted and screwed up in the mess hall puzzle. *shakes angry fist* The run would have turned out to roughly 15 1/2 minutes. I also lost a little time in a random Goblin battle that took me a few seconds to shake off.

I've got a couple more ideas on how to waste some time instead of just waiting six minutes for nightfall (which is how my run stands at the moment). I'll try out a few things and do another run. When I start to get a consistent time, I'll do a recording to show you guys what I've accomplished. Then I'll optimize the run, record, and submit.

agopo

2006-08-02 06:00:02 pm

I wear glasses.

Sounds good. You really are not a schmuck! Kiss

KaThogh

2006-08-02 07:48:12 pm

Pefectionist wannabe

I'm a little interested in how you are going to record this game since I have big problems recording. (and getting sound...)

However I did a quick vid in DOSbox where I do the glich to get skills Smiley

Rainault

2006-08-02 11:00:09 pm

Not a schmuck.

I expect to be connecting a TV to my computer using an adaptor and using a DVD recorder. Honestly, I hadn't realized it would be so difficult/impossible to record DOS games, but now that I've looked into it, I think the TV is my best option. In the mean time, you can look at my first recorded run. It's also in DOSBox. I screwed up yet again in the mess hall, even after slowing the game down a bit, but you can take a look at my strategy this way.

My QFG1 run

There are a few boring parts of the run that you will probably want to skip. From 2:48 to 3:55 and 4:08 to 4:38, I'm doing Climbing practice, and from 5:40 to 12:03, I'm waiting for nightfall. In future runs, I plan on opening the troll cave entrance before getting the fairy dust to save some more time. After all, it's something else to do while waiting six minutes.

BDA

2006-08-03 03:52:14 am

Let's fight to computer!

You're probably already aware of this, but unless there's been a recent rule change DOSbox runs won't be accepted. So the TV is probably your best option.

Rainault

2006-08-03 04:44:25 am

Not a schmuck.

*nod* I figured as much, since I read that emulators weren't allowed, and I thought DOSBox would be no exception. Still, it's a nice and easy way to record practice runs until I'm ready for the real thing.

Also, I've started working on an optimal route for QFG2. This time, I think the Fighter would be the best option. I won't bother doing any testing for this until I finish my QFG1 run, since certain tasks will definitely require certain statistics. It seems that the only items you absolutely need to purchase are incense, a lamp, and a cloth bag. The map isn't required, but it's a definite time saver. Other needed items are Fooler's Earth, the bellows (we need Fetch for this, so 5 points into Magic), and Soulforge. I'm pretty sure the dispel potion isn't required, but if it is, then Levitate is a necessary spell. Some combat training with Uhura may be necessary to prepare for the battle with the Raseir palace guards and Khaveen. All in all, the QFG2 path will be a lot more linear than QFG1, so there won't be as much room for error.

*nod* I figured as much, since I read that emulators weren't allowed, and I thought DOSBox would be no exception. Still, it's a nice and easy way to record practice runs until I'm ready for the real thing.

Also, I've started working on an optimal route for QFG2. This time, I think the Fighter would be the best option. I won't bother doing any testing for this until I finish my QFG1 run, since certain tasks will definitely require certain statistics. It seems that the only items you absolutely need to purchase are incense, a lamp, and a cloth bag. The map isn't required, but it's a definite time saver. Other needed items are Fooler's Earth, the bellows (we need Fetch for this, so 5 points into Magic), and Soulforge. I'm pretty sure the dispel potion isn't required, but if it is, then Levitate is a necessary spell. Some combat training with Uhura may be necessary to prepare for the battle with the Raseir palace guards and Khaveen. All in all, the QFG2 path will be a lot more linear than QFG1, so there won't be as much room for error.

elio

2006-08-03 02:55:47 pm

I cannot open the video. Why? Pls help me

KaThogh

2006-08-03 06:51:41 pm

Pefectionist wannabe

The video isn't encoded with a nice codec like divx or xvid or anything. It's encoded with DosBox's own ZMBV codec.
Rainault - it would help a lot if you encoded the video with a more common codec to make it easier for us to watch.

But the planning looks kinda good, except for the waiting, isn't it better to rest instead? or is it possible to fight the brigands early?

Rainault

2006-08-03 07:54:42 pm

Not a schmuck.

Whoops, didn't realize about the codec. This is the first video I've made with DOSBox. How would I go about encoding it differently?

Yes, resting is better than waiting, but unless you're doing something strenuous, you can only rest every two minutes (real time). This is one of the things I intend to change in my next run. I'll probably go back to the tree outside the Healer's House, exhaust myself, and rest for another hour. Hopefully, that'll be enough to push time into night.

As for the brigands, yes, you don't strictly need to free Barnard before taking care of the brigands, but if you do not do that first, you must fight the three brigands to enter the fortress, and I think that this is not possible with a starting hero. Besides, you have to wait for nightfall at least once to get the fairy dust, since the dispel potion is required, so you have all that time to free Barnard anyway.

And yes, I did try to enter the troll cave with the password before eavesdropping. You can't; you have to actually hear the password from Bruno before you can use it. They won't appear at the archery range unless you take the correct note from the tavern, and that note won't appear until you free Barnard. This is why the path stands as it does.

Whoops, didn't realize about the codec. This is the first video I've made with DOSBox. How would I go about encoding it differently?

Yes, resting is better than waiting, but unless you're doing something strenuous, you can only rest every two minutes (real time). This is one of the things I intend to change in my next run. I'll probably go back to the tree outside the Healer's House, exhaust myself, and rest for another hour. Hopefully, that'll be enough to push time into night.

As for the brigands, yes, you don't strictly need to free Barnard before taking care of the brigands, but if you do not do that first, you must fight the three brigands to enter the fortress, and I think that this is not possible with a starting hero. Besides, you have to wait for nightfall at least once to get the fairy dust, since the dispel potion is required, so you have all that time to free Barnard anyway.

And yes, I did try to enter the troll cave with the password before eavesdropping. You can't; you have to actually hear the password from Bruno before you can use it. They won't appear at the archery range unless you take the correct note from the tavern, and that note won't appear until you free Barnard. This is why the path stands as it does.

KaThogh

2006-08-03 08:18:40 pm

Pefectionist wannabe

There isn't any problem encoding the segment you just made with V-dub.
Check out
http://speeddemosarchive.com/RecordingFAQ.html

I think that explains everything pretty nicely under "Editing" "Compressing" and "Exporting"

Hey, its fun to play with videos Smiley

Rainault

Edit history:

Rainault: 2006-08-04 01:55:38 am

2006-08-04 01:01:06 am

Not a schmuck.

Okay, got it converted to DivX... I think. The colors got screwed up a bit, but then you're not watching for the pretty pictures. Smiley

I did a new run, which is the one I'm providing here. I actually finish the game this time, and if timing starts when the Sheriff says "Good luck" and finishes when the celebration begins, the time is about 9 minutes 29 seconds. This time, the only boring section you'll want to skip is 2:15-5:16; this is when I'm practicing climbing.

I make a good number of mistakes here; my biggest blunder (costing about 8 seconds) is accidentally leaving the faerie ring to the left instead of down. At least I don't run into any Mantrays or Cheetaurs. Tongue

I'm hoping to get my run time down to sub-9 minutes by the time I submit.

slYnki

2006-08-04 05:23:57 am

XXY

Quote:

The only precedent I know of is Starcraft, which is always set to the fastest speed.

Well, it's not set on Fastest to begin with, or atleast it never has been with me. There's probably an option somewhere to keep it at Fastest forever, but I've always boosted it up to Fastest from Normal speed : )

The difference with StarCraft though, is that it has an ingame timer, and the game speed doesn't have an effect on it, it just has an effect on you. You could play on slowest speed, and the clock would stay the same. Just depends how precise you want your moves to be. With that in mind, I'm surprised no one has attempted a PC StarCraft "TAS", set the game to the slowest speed at some parts, and just capture the replay. Of course replays are disallowed for that reason (even though they are their own verification system), but hey, it could be fun : )

But anyways, that's not the point. The point here is, I want to be a hero! 'Cept I've never heard of this... Doesn't mean I can't wish you all the best.

[quote]The only precedent I know of is Starcraft, which is always set to the fastest speed.[/quote]
Well, it's not set on Fastest to begin with, or atleast it never has been with me. There's probably an option somewhere to keep it at Fastest forever, but I've always boosted it up to Fastest from Normal speed : )

The difference with StarCraft though, is that it has an ingame timer, and the game speed doesn't have an effect on it, it just has an effect on you. You could play on slowest speed, and the clock would stay the same. Just depends how precise you want your moves to be. With that in mind, I'm surprised no one has attempted a PC StarCraft "TAS", set the game to the slowest speed at some parts, and just capture the replay. Of course replays are disallowed for that reason (even though they are their own verification system), but hey, it could be fun : )

But anyways, that's not the point. The point here is, I want to be a hero! 'Cept I've never heard of this... Doesn't mean I can't wish you all the best.