The Final Fantasy Marathon Thread [locked]

2012-11-18 08:46:06 pm

Kupo!

Equipment/Games I'll bring:

-FF1 PSP
-FF3 PSP (Only cause its actually on my PSP, rofl)
-Crisis Core
-Dissidia (Unfortunately I don't own the PSN version or have the room for it on my memory stick. It IS data installed though)
-Duodecim (See above note)
-Japanese Slim PS2 + Plug converter (In case there's a run of a Japanese game that needs it)
-PSP 3000 + Composite cables (Still waiting on those svideo cables I ordered to arrive to find out if they even work)

Games/Equipment I could bring (If needed, let me know):
-FF2 PSP
-FF4 PSP
-FFV Advance
-FFVI Advance
-FF9
-FF10
-FF10 International
-FFX-2
-FFXII
-FFXII IZJS
-FF Tactics War of the Lions
-Japanese Dissidia
-Slim PS3 (Which has FF5-9 on it and possibly Tactics soon)
-Gamecube w/ GBPlayer Attachment
-Diamond VC500 Capture Card

Unfortunately I don't have a laptop so I can't help on that front (well not yet, I'm trying to see if I can get one before the marathon but not holding my breathe)

Poxnor

Edit history:

Poxnor: 2012-11-19 11:14:52 am

2012-11-19 11:09:29 am

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Lenophis
- FF1-PSP is great, since no one else is bringing that yet (and, well, you're playing it, lol).
- Don't bother bringing FF6 Anthology version. I'd rather gouge my eyes out than watch that. If you bring the SNES version, we'll have two copies, and we'll be safe.
- Don't bother bringing FF8 PSX. I have the PSX version, and I have it on my PS3 (PSN). FFgamer will be playing the PSN version anyway (the PSX version is already the backup, in case my PS3 explodes), since the PSX version on PS2 is crashy as all hell.
- Whether you bring the strategy guide for FF12 is all up to you. I hope the FF12 runners don't need it Wink

- My DVD recorder doesn't support DVD+RWs. It does support the single-sided (4.7 Gb? or whatever it is) DVD+Rs.
- If you could bring the CRT (that seems like a helluva thing to lug around the continent), we could probably make use of that for a practice area (though I'll really have to think out rooming, since my house isn't as big or as divided as Essentia's).
- Re: your DVD recorder -- if it doesn't have an HDD, it wouldn't make a good backup device (though lag is no issue, since I have a powered splitter). I wouldn't bother bringing that.
- The consoles are great, in case someone steps on one of mine Tongue

rinimt
- I don't know enough about the PSP. You say it isn't on the memory stick, but it is data installed. Would it be better to have something on a memory stick? (Answer under the assumption that I'm a totally ignorant idiot -- assume I know nothing about the PSP, or what would be best for Dissidia at this marathon.)
- I haven't added most of your equipment to the equipment list, because I need to figure out if it's something we'd use (see below).

Other people
- To the FF10 and FF12 runners: rini seems like she can bring different versions of these games. Is that a benefit to you? Should I be planning on having different versions of these games run, or just the North American versions?
- To the FF7 and FF9 players (...that would be puwexil at the moment, lol): do you prefer PSX on PS2, or PSN on PS3?

[u]Lenophis[/u]
- FF1-PSP is great, since no one else is bringing that yet (and, well, you're playing it, lol).
- Don't bother bringing FF6 Anthology version.  I'd rather gouge my eyes out than watch that.  If you bring the SNES version, we'll have two copies, and we'll be safe.
- Don't bother bringing FF8 PSX.  I have the PSX version, and I have it on my PS3 (PSN).  FFgamer will be playing the PSN version anyway (the PSX version is already the backup, in case my PS3 explodes), since the PSX version on PS2 is crashy as all hell.
- Whether you bring the strategy guide for FF12 is all up to you.  I hope the FF12 runners don't need it ;)
- My DVD recorder doesn't support DVD+RWs.  It does support the [b]single-sided[/b] (4.7 Gb? or whatever it is) DVD+Rs.
- If you could bring the CRT (that seems like a helluva thing to lug around the continent), we could probably make use of that for a practice area (though I'll really have to think out rooming, since my house isn't as big or as divided as Essentia's).
- Re: your DVD recorder -- if it doesn't have an HDD, it wouldn't make a good backup device (though lag is no issue, since I have a powered splitter).  I wouldn't bother bringing that.
- The consoles are great, in case someone steps on one of mine :P

[u]rinimt[/u]
- I don't know enough about the PSP.  You say it isn't on the memory stick, but it is data installed.  Would it be better to have something on a memory stick?  (Answer under the assumption that I'm a totally ignorant idiot -- assume I know nothing about the PSP, or what would be best for Dissidia at this marathon.)
- I haven't added most of your equipment to the equipment list, because I need to figure out if it's something we'd use (see below).

[u]Other people[/u]
- To the FF10 and FF12 runners: rini seems like she can bring different versions of these games.  Is that a benefit to you?  Should I be planning on having different versions of these games run, or just the North American versions?
- To the FF7 and FF9 players (...that would be puwexil at the moment, lol): do you prefer PSX on PS2, or PSN on PS3?

FFgamer86

2012-11-19 11:41:41 am

SDA Speedruns: 1

Just did FF8 Disc 1 practice. 3:35 Time with Bad Diablos and Bad Quistis Card. Managed to only be behind my 9:51 run by 2 minutes-ish. Disc 2 practice tomorrow.

puwexil

Edit history:

puwexil: 2012-11-19 12:43:49 pm

2012-11-19 12:38:37 pm

Professional Second Banana

FF7 and FF9 run best on PS2-Slim with fast disc speed - saves probably 30 minutes in load times over the course of a full game run, and the only crash bug I'm aware of in either game is unrelated to hardware/disc speed (selecting 'Depart Now' too quickly during the cutscene after Black Waltz No. 2 in FF9).

If I end up feeling comfortable enough with FF5 to run that it'll be the PSX/Anthologies version on PS2 w/fast disc speed - the load times are annoying but it's the only legal way to play the game in English other than the GBA version (which lacks 2 glitches useful in a speedrun, and which I don't either have a copy of or own any of the equipment needed to stream/practice GBA games).

FFgamer86

2012-11-19 01:19:54 pm

SDA Speedruns: 1

does the disc not work on PS3s?

puwexil

2012-11-19 01:27:07 pm

Professional Second Banana

The discs run fine on PS3, but the load times are even higher than the PSN versions from what I've heard.

FFgamer86

2012-11-19 02:08:22 pm

SDA Speedruns: 1

I think Rane said something about the PSN Versions being broken or something too?

Emptyeye

2012-11-19 02:17:13 pm

Talk to the Hand

Quote from puwexil:

If I end up feeling comfortable enough with FF5 to run that it'll be the PSX/Anthologies version on PS2 w/fast disc speed - the load times are annoying but it's the only legal way to play the game in English other than the GBA version (which lacks 2 glitches useful in a speedrun, and which I don't either have a copy of or own any of the equipment needed to stream/practice GBA games).

GBA also lacks such high-quality translations as "Y. Burn", "Soccer", "StrengthSong" (Which casts Regen on your party and should not be confused with the PowerSong, which raises your party's strength), and, of course, "YESSSS!" Cheesy

In all seriousness, I imagine the lacking glitches thing would be the bigger issue. I do own FF5Advance and a GBA player, so...

Poxnor

2012-11-19 02:19:39 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

I can't speak to the translations. But PSX on PS3 is so slow that you'll want to kill the runner.

rinimt

Edit history:

rinimt: 2012-11-19 03:44:11 pm

2012-11-19 03:41:09 pm

Kupo!

Quote from Poxnor:

rinimt
- I don't know enough about the PSP. You say it isn't on the memory stick, but it is data installed. Would it be better to have something on a memory stick? (Answer under the assumption that I'm a totally ignorant idiot -- assume I know nothing about the PSP, or what would be best for Dissidia at this marathon.)

PSN Install allows it to run off the memory stick instead of UMD which (in theory, I can't test it due to the lack of them) should lower the load times.
Data Install is an option on the UMD to cut down loading times (though I presume the change wouldn't be as huge as having the full game running off the memory stick)

For the purposes of the marathon only the Dissidia's have this option. Crisis Core is in a state of "will never be released on PSN" unfortunately so I'll always have to deal with UMD loading times. (UMD = the disc that the PSP uses).

Long story short: I can't say for sure if it would run better off the memory stick.

Driscollad

2012-11-19 08:30:03 pm

I have a 28" CRT with composite, s-video and component. Toshiba flat screen, I'll check the model number when I get home Wednesday.

Terribleno

2012-11-19 11:47:52 pm

Oh man, I should've thought of this sooner. New donation incentive for FF1 - ongoing bidding war for language game will be played with. Choices are English, Japanese Kana, and Japanese (probably kanji). You can change it on the fly at any point as long as you can access the menu. The absolute final cut-off point is when I step up to fight Chaos.

FFgamer86

2012-11-20 01:17:38 pm

SDA Speedruns: 1

Disc 2 Practice GameOvered on Cerberus. Added in notes to make sure Irvine HP not <600. He gets dealt about 576 Damage from the Cerberus attack. Should fix any future problems with this fight. Will do another Disc 2 practice soon, to make sure its smooth.

Zoning

2012-11-20 04:52:51 pm

I still don't know where I am going to be coming from; could be South Eastern Washington, Montana, or somewhere in Canada. Oh well, sorry I took so long:
Mats (pronounced Mots) Johnson - anytime is fine with me, just need to be on the road a Sunday. I can run FF13 in 7 hours (safe estimate). As I mentioned before, I can't come up with any really good donation incentives but I am open to suggestions. Changing party really only becomes viable for the last half hour and the only side boss that anyone usually asks me if I can beat is a turtle in Ch12, but I don't think I can beat it in the run itself (would have to save, win, and reload).

Essentia

2012-11-20 05:38:11 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

A possible donation incentive for FF13 (and maybe FF12) would be to show certain cutscenes. If we decide to do this, we could decide on a few cutscenes beforehand and take donations for each one.

AlecK47

Edit history:

AlecK47: 2012-11-20 08:32:40 pm

AlecK47: 2012-11-20 06:25:46 pm

2012-11-20 06:24:33 pm

Quote from Poxnor:

To the FF10 and FF12 runners: rini seems like she can bring different versions of these games. Is that a benefit to you? Should I be planning on having different versions of these games run, or just the North American versions?

IZJS basically adds a job system to XII - that's what the "JS" stands for. I'm not familiar with it myself, but it may be amusing to see me ~~try~~ fail miserably to run it on bonus stream... That's about it, honestly. A job system would completely screw the current route plan.

I can bring copies of ~~III~~ VI (SNES), VII, X and XII - stuff that's already been offered, but whatever. My PS2 still works fine but it's not a slim, so that's basically moot.

As for cutscenes in XII, I can think of a few good candidates, so for those familiar with the game, feel free to offer your thoughts. I wouldn't recommend offering all of the ones I'm about to mention. Personally, I advocate at maximum 1, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, with 10 being shown regardless. I'll let others consider the donation amounts.
1. Reks witnesses murder of Dalmascan King.
2. The cutscene where Vaan gets the Dusk Shard, which also introduces Balthier and Fran.
3. The one right after has some nice action too, and caters to Balthier fangirls/boys.
4. Acquiring Dawn Shard.
5. Vossler's death.
6. Acquiring Sword of Kings.
7. Cutscene before each Cid fight (both short).
8. Acquiring Treaty Blade.
9. Basch and Gabranth cutscenes before each fight (two total, both short).
10. The cutscene immediately after defeating the final boss is also skippable, although it might be best to just show it regardless.

Edit: Actually, the cutscene after defeating Cid the second time is one of the better ones too, but it slipped my mind. Forget the prefight ones for Cid and Gabranth, because that one's better.

[quote="Poxnor"]To the FF10 and FF12 runners: rini seems like she can bring different versions of these games.  Is that a benefit to you?  Should I be planning on having different versions of these games run, or just the North American versions?[/quote]
IZJS basically adds a job system to XII - that's what the "JS" stands for.  I'm not familiar with it myself, but it may be amusing to see me [s]try[/s] fail miserably to run it on bonus stream...  That's about it, honestly.  A job system would completely screw the current route plan.

I can bring copies of [s]III[/s] VI (SNES), VII, X and XII - stuff that's already been offered, but whatever.  My PS2 still works fine but it's not a slim, so that's basically moot.

As for cutscenes in XII, I can think of a few good candidates, so for those familiar with the game, feel free to offer your thoughts.  I wouldn't recommend offering all of the ones I'm about to mention.  Personally, I advocate at maximum 1, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, with 10 being shown regardless.  I'll let others consider the donation amounts.
1. Reks witnesses murder of Dalmascan King.
2. The cutscene where Vaan gets the Dusk Shard, which also introduces Balthier and Fran.
3. The one right after has some nice action too, and caters to Balthier fangirls/boys.
4. Acquiring Dawn Shard.
5. Vossler's death.
6. Acquiring Sword of Kings.
7. Cutscene before each Cid fight (both short).
8. Acquiring Treaty Blade.
9. Basch and Gabranth cutscenes before each fight (two total, both short).
10. The cutscene immediately after defeating the final boss is also skippable, although it might be best to just show it regardless.

Edit: Actually, the cutscene after defeating Cid the second time is one of the better ones too, but it slipped my mind.  Forget the prefight ones for Cid and Gabranth, because that one's better.

Melodia

2012-11-21 12:12:22 am

As discussed earlier, IZJS would have to be run in Japanese as the only way to play in English is with an unofficial patch (which however DOES use the official English translation). While of course the job system would mess the strats for the normal run, on the flip side the fast forward feature means the game plays much, much, faster.

rinimt

2012-11-21 01:41:20 am

Kupo!

Quote from Melodia:

As discussed earlier, IZJS would have to be run in Japanese as the only way to play in English is with an unofficial patch (which however DOES use the official English translation). While of course the job system would mess the strats for the normal run, on the flip side the fast forward feature means the game plays much, much, faster.

It'd also mess with the route because of some of the general game changes (Bubble requires 16 hunts for example).

It was just an offer to bring that version but I'm guessing both the runners will want to do original version, lol. Wink

Poxnor

2012-11-21 09:27:39 am

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Quote from puwexil:

If I end up feeling comfortable enough with FF5 to run that it'll be the PSX/Anthologies version on PS2 w/fast disc speed - the load times are annoying but it's the only legal way to play the game in English other than the GBA version (which lacks 2 glitches useful in a speedrun, and which I don't either have a copy of or own any of the equipment needed to stream/practice GBA games).

I own the GBA version and have a Gameboy Player + Hori Pad for GCN, if that would be a help puwexil. But, if it lacks some glitches you need, then that might be irrelevant. Just wanted to let you know that I can provide the console and game, if you want to go the GBA route.

Will update the first post, probably tomorrow, with all this new information Smiley

rinimt

2012-11-21 10:06:54 am

Kupo!

Quote from Poxnor:

Quote from puwexil:

If I end up feeling comfortable enough with FF5 to run that it'll be the PSX/Anthologies version on PS2 w/fast disc speed - the load times are annoying but it's the only legal way to play the game in English other than the GBA version (which lacks 2 glitches useful in a speedrun, and which I don't either have a copy of or own any of the equipment needed to stream/practice GBA games).

I own the GBA version and have a Gameboy Player + Hori Pad for GCN, if that would be a help puwexil. But, if it lacks some glitches you need, then that might be irrelevant. Just wanted to let you know that I can provide the console and game, if you want to go the GBA route.

Will update the first post, probably tomorrow, with all this new information Smiley

GBA version, to my understanding, fixed some key glitches unfortunately.

Anyways, just got a 6:12:02 regular Crisis Core run. That's my update of the day. XD

DRsynj

Edit history:

DRsynj: 2012-11-21 10:52:36 am

2012-11-21 10:51:21 am

Reverse Death Valley Bomb

Incoming FFXIII donation incentive list from the FFXIII spin doctor himself.

Cutscenes:
Chapter 11 opening. This is probably the best example because it's generally the most memorable, it's the chaotic entrance to Gran Pulse. It's also the longest cutscene I can think of so maybe having a lowish price for this one would let Zoning have a little break in the 7 hour run with skippable cutscenes Tongue

Cutscenes through the final boss gauntlet. These are crazy and should be a laugh for anyone who has no idea what's going on, you can expect (Spoilers)

Party members turning into Zombies and a power crazy beast of destruction!

Hope's Cutscene upon Sazh, Vanille and Hope reuniting in chapter 4, or rather donations to not watch this cutscene so we don't need to watch Hope whine.
I don't have accurate times for these cutscenes, I'm sure Zoning can check them when he does his all cutscene run soon.

Shrouds:
Fortisols, Aegisols and Deceptisols are an important part of the run for anyone starting out. Usually when I run the game and someone asks "How do you beat the game without levelling" my answer is "I can use these shrouds to make fights easier" then they often reply in understanding, Zoning's been working hard to reduce the number of shrouds in the route by taking extra risk and execution in many fights (it saves time not having to get the shrouds in the first place.) I was wondering if it would be a good idea to take donations for fights without particular shrouds in order to make harder fights more exciting, faster or not. Of course, at Zoning's level of play he uses very few shrouds but he could pick up extra shrouds to push the donation incentive (sounds kinda shady but idk :P)
Times vary but should only be about 1m extra max per fight. If Zoning/others likes this idea then we can make a list of suitable fights.

Party usage from chapter 13 to end:
There are many viable strats for finishing the game fast with different party set ups and you can prepare for them through the run in almost the same way (just means you only need to end the incentive at chapter 13 rather than earlier.) Parties I can think of are Hope/Fang/Vanille, Sazh/Hope/Vanille and Sazh/Fang/Vanille, they each offer an interesting change in strategy from the others and could be construed as Hope vs Sazh vs Fang character preferance.
No time cost

Unfortunately there's not really easy access to additional fights/side quests/optional content that would make them time efficient.

Now for FFXIII-2, this is slightly easier.
Costumes:
There are a load of DLC costumes for Noel, Serah and Moogle, I'm not sure if Zoning has paid for them all yet but if anyone has and can provide the console that could work. I guess you could use donation money if you end the incentive early? But that probably wouldn't be right considering all the money would go to charity. The DLC is pretty cheap and there isn't much of it anyway. You also spend the entire game staring at your leading character, Serah, so i'm sure there are people who would donate for her bikini...
No time cost

DLC boss fights:
The more interesting fights wont be possible to finish using the speed run save but using a 100% save you can have incentives for Gilgamesh, Ultros, Pupu and others. I know there was at least interest for the Gilgamesh fight when I had that as an incentive for ESA (even though it wasn't met) mainly for the awesome music. As with the costumes I don't know if Zoning owns all this DLC.
Gilgamesh sub 10m, the others I don't know but likely sub 5m each.

Archylte Steppe fights:
There are 4 strong optional bosses in Archylte steppe including Yomi and Long Gui who would be able to be beaten using the speedrun save after the final boss gauntlet. When I ran FFXIII-2 at this years TSG FF marathon we got donation(s) to spend time doing these fights so it could work.
20 minutes~

Chichu vs. Cloudburst:
This is my favorite incentive for FFXIII-2. Much of the speedrun is dependent on using one of these 2 powerful beasts in your party, both are equally viable strats (jp runners go with Chichu while western runners use Cloudburst) but Cloudburst is the considerably more luck reliant one (you have to farm Cloudburst and Dragoon at ~27% drop rate each.) Usually I'm not fussed about this in a marathon setting because with ALL the rng in the run I find there are many things that that go very right after Cloudburst farming goes very wrong to bring you back to the time estimate, although, my ESA run went very wrong in general and I finished at 4hrs 5mins~. As for Chichu there is a lot less luck for getting him (all it takes is a trip to Serendipity) but the route is also A LOT more boring (in my opinion :X) all fight strats consist of Serah and Noel raising chain gauge while Chichu wrecks, but this might be what people want to see, alternatively there's a lot of interesting things that tie together the Cloudburst strats such as Feral Link management and the amazing *idle* AI you can force Caius into with Cloudburst.
The main reason I bring up this incentive is that people who have played FFXIII-2 are generally familiar with the awesome power of both Chichu and Cloudburst, so it could be something of a popularity contest.
No time cost

I wouldn't advise making this a donation incentive but you can name and put accessories on your in-party monster. All the names are pre-made so it would eliminate the creativity of being able to name them "E-Sports" or something and the accessories are quite an effort to go around picking up, so it could just be nice to grab an easy hat to put on and name all your beasts 'Penguin' for fun.

Incoming FFXIII donation incentive list from the FFXIII spin doctor himself.

Cutscenes:
Chapter 11 opening. This is probably the best example because it's generally the most memorable, it's the chaotic entrance to Gran Pulse. It's also the longest cutscene I can think of so maybe having a lowish price for this one would let Zoning have a little break in the 7 hour run with skippable cutscenes :P
Cutscenes through the final boss gauntlet. These are crazy and should be a laugh for anyone who has no idea what's going on, you can expect (Spoilers) [hidden]Party members turning into Zombies and a power crazy beast of destruction![/hidden]
Hope's Cutscene upon Sazh, Vanille and Hope reuniting in chapter 4, or rather donations to not watch this cutscene so we don't need to watch Hope whine.
I don't have accurate times for these cutscenes, I'm sure Zoning can check them when he does his all cutscene run soon.

Shrouds:
Fortisols, Aegisols and Deceptisols are an important part of the run for anyone starting out. Usually when I run the game and someone asks "How do you beat the game without levelling" my answer is "I can use these shrouds to make fights easier" then they often reply in understanding, Zoning's been working hard to reduce the number of shrouds in the route by taking extra risk and execution in many fights (it saves time not having to get the shrouds in the first place.) I was wondering if it would be a good idea to take donations for fights without particular shrouds in order to make harder fights more exciting, faster or not. Of course, at Zoning's level of play he uses very few shrouds but he could pick up extra shrouds to push the donation incentive (sounds kinda shady but idk :P)
Times vary but should only be about 1m extra max per fight. If Zoning/others likes this idea then we can make a list of suitable fights.

Party usage from chapter 13 to end:
There are many viable strats for finishing the game fast with different party set ups and you can prepare for them through the run in almost the same way (just means you only need to end the incentive at chapter 13 rather than earlier.) Parties I can think of are Hope/Fang/Vanille, Sazh/Hope/Vanille and Sazh/Fang/Vanille, they each offer an interesting change in strategy from the others and could be construed as Hope vs Sazh vs Fang character preferance.
No time cost

Unfortunately there's not really easy access to additional fights/side quests/optional content that would make them time efficient.

Now for FFXIII-2, this is slightly easier.
Costumes:
There are a load of DLC costumes for Noel, Serah and Moogle, I'm not sure if Zoning has paid for them all yet but if anyone has and can provide the console that could work. I guess you could use donation money if you end the incentive early? But that probably wouldn't be right considering all the money would go to charity. The DLC is pretty cheap and there isn't much of it anyway. You also spend the entire game staring at your leading character, Serah, so i'm sure there are people who would donate for her bikini...
No time cost

DLC boss fights:
The more interesting fights wont be possible to finish using the speed run save but using a 100% save you can have incentives for Gilgamesh, Ultros, Pupu and others. I know there was at least interest for the Gilgamesh fight when I had that as an incentive for ESA (even though it wasn't met) mainly for the awesome music. As with the costumes I don't know if Zoning owns all this DLC.
Gilgamesh sub 10m, the others I don't know but likely sub 5m each.

Archylte Steppe fights:
There are 4 strong optional bosses in Archylte steppe including Yomi and Long Gui who would be able to be beaten using the speedrun save after the final boss gauntlet. When I ran FFXIII-2 at this years TSG FF marathon we got donation(s) to spend time doing these fights so it could work.
20 minutes~

Chichu vs. Cloudburst:
This is my favorite incentive for FFXIII-2. Much of the speedrun is dependent on using one of these 2 powerful beasts in your party, both are equally viable strats (jp runners go with Chichu while western runners use Cloudburst) but Cloudburst is the considerably more luck reliant one (you have to farm Cloudburst and Dragoon at ~27% drop rate each.) Usually I'm not fussed about this in a marathon setting because with ALL the rng in the run I find there are many things that that go very right after Cloudburst farming goes very wrong to bring you back to the time estimate, although, my ESA run went very wrong in general and I finished at 4hrs 5mins~. As for Chichu there is a lot less luck for getting him (all it takes is a trip to Serendipity) but the route is also A LOT more boring (in my opinion :X) all fight strats consist of Serah and Noel raising chain gauge while Chichu wrecks, but this might be what people want to see, alternatively there's a lot of interesting things that tie together the Cloudburst strats such as Feral Link management and the amazing *idle* AI you can force Caius into with Cloudburst.
The main reason I bring up this incentive is that people who have played FFXIII-2 are generally familiar with the awesome power of both Chichu and Cloudburst, so it could be something of a popularity contest.
No time cost

I wouldn't advise making this a donation incentive but you can name and put accessories on your in-party monster. All the names are pre-made so it would eliminate the creativity of being able to name them "E-Sports" or something and the accessories are quite an effort to go around picking up, so it could just be nice to grab an easy hat to put on and name all your beasts 'Penguin' for fun.

puwexil

2012-11-21 01:10:25 pm

Professional Second Banana

Quote from Poxnor:

I own the GBA version and have a Gameboy Player + Hori Pad for GCN, if that would be a help puwexil. But, if it lacks some glitches you need, then that might be irrelevant. Just wanted to let you know that I can provide the console and game, if you want to go the GBA route.

Yeah, the SFC/PSX version glitches are pretty major - one lets you get 255 copies of most items that can be stolen from enemies (getting 255 Coral Swords off of the miniboss you fight to get the airship lets you get about 300,000 gil, which would allow for more Gil Toss abuse and also buying better armor for marathon safety), and the other lets you inflict berserk status on enemies normally immune to berserk (using this on the 1st form of the final boss will let you completely skip the 2nd form, and there may be other bosses that can be nerfed ala MagiMaster from FF6).

Terribleno

2012-11-24 09:04:20 am

Quote:

- Some sort of AV cable for PSP 3000 (Lenophis) -- which?

This one, and the quality is pretty good from what I can tell. Also, nobody got the joke (regarding the stream title). You would've had to have been around Zophar's Domain back in the day to get it.

Also, this is the switch I have. Sadly, (probably to reduce production cost?), only 3 of the 4 ports have component support, but all 4 do have S-video.

puwexil

2012-11-24 10:26:35 am

Professional Second Banana

Did an FF7 run yesterday (both as a break from FF9 practice and because it had been a while) and got a 9:05:17, which came in 3 minutes faster than the fastest known NTSC-U SS run despite 3 game overs to bad boss RNG and 3 resets to either bad random encounter luck or mistakes on my part. 8:45-8:50 is definitely looking within reach; and as the FF marathon gets closer I'll do some refresher practice for the Gold Saucer Date manipulation (biggest difference between a marathon run and a record attempt).

Poxnor

2012-11-24 11:18:28 am

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Alright, time to catch up with things again. Sorry that the whole, "I'll update the first post tomorrow" thing never panned out -- I was called out of the city unexpectedly.

puwexil: I think my PS2 is fat (I'm so mean). Can you or someone else bring a slim PS2, if that helps save time? (Or, is the saving between slim and fat PS2 fairly small?)

rini: Okay, if you're not even sure if it would run faster from a PSN install, then I wouldn't spend any time or money worrying about it in the slightest. The Dissidia/Duodecim incentive is fairly short anyway, so I can't imagine it would amount to more than a few saved seconds, or something silly like that which is going to be lost to PRNG luck during a marathon anyway.

Driscollad: If you could bring over another CRT TV, that would be awesome. I'm not sure how I'm going to go about setting up a practice area (there's one room that would work great, except that I'm worried about sound seepage into the streaming room). We can probably figure something out. If nothing else, it'll make a great spare for when I rage at FFL3 and throw my controller through the TV.

Lenophis: Since Driscollad lives like 20 minutes from me, I'm going to remove the TV you offered from the equipment list. While I really appreciate the offer, and would have happily taken you up on it had Driscollad not had an extra TV, I think you should save yourself the pain and trouble of hauling a TV across the continent, given that someone practically next door can offer one.

Lenophis: FF1 language bidding war added.

Zoning: Awesome! I signed you up for FF13. Thanks for taking on that behemoth Wink

I'm not sure what I think about the turtle incentive, if it would require a save and reload. It seems even more outside the scope of a speedrunning incentive than most of our other crazy incentives. But, I'm not dismissing it entirely, and I'd be happy to include it if someone could convince me that it's a worthwhile watch and/or would, in all likelihood, meet the donation target. Quick question: when you say that you want to be on the road by Sunday, did you mean Sunday morning?

Essentia: Good thinking. I think someone listed some scenes further down (I'm slowly progressing through all these posts, lol).

AlecK47: I don't have the knowledge of FF12 to say anything intelligent about your donation suggestions, unfortunately. In particular, I'd need to know the length of some of these scenes, and how likely they'd be to reach (modest?) donation targets. Perhaps Nitrodon can add his thoughts to your list?

DRsynj: Thanks for the suggestions. I've added the Ch.11 opening, since I recall it was quite memorable, and Zoning could probably use a washroom break by that time Tongue

About the shrouds idea...colour me intrigued. Perhaps the two of you could suggest a few fights, with a particular eye to which ones would be made more exciting?

Zoning and DRsynj: The party-selection incentive in FF13 is a good one, if only to change who's yammering the same one-liner over and over in every battle. Zoning, do you like the party suggestions that DRsynj made?

Zoning and DRsynj: I've left the FF13-2 incentives off the list for now, just because no one has expressed an interest in running 13-2 yet (which, imo, is a shame, since it's a fun little watch).

Lenophis: Okay, until we hear from rini about whether her S-Video cables worked out, those cables are probably our best bet. Also, that's the same switch I have Wink

If you bring that, we're set on the switch front.

To everyone posting practice updates: Awesome job. Those are some great times. Keep up the amazing work Smiley

Alright, time to catch up with things again.  Sorry that the whole, "I'll update the first post tomorrow" thing never panned out -- I was called out of the city unexpectedly.

puwexil: I think my PS2 is fat (I'm so mean).  Can you or someone else bring a slim PS2, if that helps save time?  (Or, is the saving between slim and fat PS2 fairly small?)

rini: Okay, if you're not even sure if it would run faster from a PSN install, then I wouldn't spend any time or money worrying about it in the slightest.  The Dissidia/Duodecim incentive is fairly short anyway, so I can't imagine it would amount to more than a few saved seconds, or something silly like that which is going to be lost to PRNG luck during a marathon anyway.

Driscollad: If you could bring over another CRT TV, that would be awesome.  I'm not sure how I'm going to go about setting up a practice area (there's one room that would work great, except that I'm worried about sound seepage into the streaming room).  We can probably figure something out.  If nothing else, it'll make a great spare for when I rage at FFL3 and throw my controller through the TV.

Lenophis: Since Driscollad lives like 20 minutes from me, I'm going to remove the TV you offered from the equipment list.  While I really appreciate the offer, and would have happily taken you up on it had Driscollad not had an extra TV, I think you should save yourself the pain and trouble of hauling a TV across the continent, given that someone practically next door can offer one.

Lenophis: FF1 language bidding war added.

Zoning: Awesome!  I signed you up for FF13.  Thanks for taking on that behemoth ;)  I'm not sure what I think about the turtle incentive, if it would require a save and reload.  It seems even more outside the scope of a speedrunning incentive than most of our other crazy incentives.  But, I'm not dismissing it entirely, and I'd be happy to include it if someone could convince me that it's a worthwhile watch and/or would, in all likelihood, meet the donation target.  Quick question: when you say that you want to be on the road by Sunday, did you mean Sunday morning?

Essentia: Good thinking.  I think someone listed some scenes further down (I'm slowly progressing through all these posts, lol).

AlecK47: I don't have the knowledge of FF12 to say anything intelligent about your donation suggestions, unfortunately.  In particular, I'd need to know the length of some of these scenes, and how likely they'd be to reach (modest?) donation targets.  Perhaps Nitrodon can add his thoughts to your list?

DRsynj: Thanks for the suggestions.  I've added the Ch.11 opening, since I recall it was quite memorable, and Zoning could probably use a washroom break by that time :P  About the shrouds idea...colour me intrigued.  Perhaps the two of you could suggest a few fights, with a particular eye to which ones would be made more exciting?

Zoning and DRsynj: The party-selection incentive in FF13 is a good one, if only to change who's yammering the same one-liner over and over in every battle.  Zoning, do you like the party suggestions that DRsynj made?

Zoning and DRsynj: I've left the FF13-2 incentives off the list for now, just because no one has expressed an interest in running 13-2 yet (which, imo, is a shame, since it's a fun little watch).

Lenophis: Okay, until we hear from rini about whether her S-Video cables worked out, those cables are probably our best bet.  Also, that's the same switch I have ;)  If you bring that, we're set on the switch front.

To everyone posting practice updates: Awesome job.  Those are some great times.  Keep up the amazing work :)