I didn't even know any other TAS existed, lol. I have flown over it a bit and as you have already said, I doubt that many of the things shown in your video would be viable RTA, due to hitting the correct cycles and doing so consistently. Like that Lost Caves for example is a complete no-no. That last section is a complete pain in the ass with speed boosting. It may be possible to implement a few more speed boosts through the run and maybe even push it below 34, who knows, but I genuienly am content with the way the route currently is, in all honesty. Cool stuff regardless!

And you do realize that whining and playing a smartass is quite stupid, right? Also, the "better PC" equals faster loading times is, or atleast mostly false, which i will address. Let me first go into why exactly we decided upon forbidding FDS in the Pandemonium speedruns. Way back then, when we met each other, did some runs together and eventually got administrative rights for the Pandemonium! section and practically "founded" the Pandemonium! speedruns community, we were talking about all sorts of things, like categories, other various rules and FDS aswell. We wanted this game to get more attention and i can surely say that we did try and even had a couple of runners gotten temporarly interested in the game, but they've all quitted eventually. Now, the reason why FDS was/is forbidden, was quite simply put- because we did not have a PS2 at that time. We were talking about if the FDS-ban should be a thing or not, but decided that it would be the best thing to just keep it clean and run it the old fashioned way (the way it was intended, since it is a PS1 game, not PS2 or an hybrid). This way, no one would have an unfair advantage over the other and with it, not alienating potentional new runners, who don't have access to a PS2 system aswell. Because let's face it, it is unfair and a WR done with FDS against a non-FDS run, won't prove jackshit. FDS would ultimately allow more room for mistakes and reward you with a WR even if you played worse. Listen, i haven't seriously touched this game since i uploaded my latest run and couldn't care less about FDS or whatever, im just tired of seeing people who are supposedly interested in the game, that are like "oh, i'll run the game for sure", then continuing making forumposts demanding the FDS-ban to be lifted and basically never even running the game/submitting a time in the first place.

The hardware "advantage" is more like a uniformity, not advantage It literally is non-uniformity, since you are saving time in each loading screen compared to the ones who aren't using FDS. How is that uniformity? Lmao

And now i will quickly adress your faulty argument that "better PC" means faster loading times, which is false, unless you have a PC from the early 2k's that struggles to maintain the fps. As long as you use the epsxe emulator, the loading times should be universally the same in almost all cases. I even tested this on the epsxe emulator for android, which had the same loading time as my runs and those of ZockerStu. Unless it's a complete coincidence, this alone disproves your argument. Also if you look at AmaraSpeedruns's run, the loading times are exactly the same. THAT is uniformity. I can't however say that this goes for other lesser known emulators, so i give you that one. Maybe this should have been adressed on the rules to avoid misunderstanding. I am aware that there might(!) be some emulators that have faster/slower loading times. But since epsxe is the most common one, we really weren't thinking about it too much (i didn't) and thought it would be common use to play on the epsxe when it comes down to PSX emulators, which im sure is the case, generally speaking.

Regarding your last point, yes there are differences between PAL and NTSC. PAL is basically the same as JPN without the playermodels. An example would be the cannon on the last boss, which fires unique projectiles (both, cannon and boss) only be seen in that last fight in both PAL and JPN, whereas on the US version it is a regular fireball. And as Zockerstu has already stated, there is one less enemy in lvl 8 and AFAIK, this is the case in the PAL version too, but im not entirely sure. It basically comes down to preference, no version has actual advantages over the other.

To close this off, if ZockerStu doesn't have any objections for a new category, i would be okay with opening a section specifically for PS2 FDS runs, that way no one should feel left out.

That's my statement regarding this whole thing about the FDS, as you weren't the only one demanding it to get lifted.

Good luck.

Greetings! It's been quite some time since i've been logged in here. Good to see that someone wants to give this game a shot.

About the new category thing.. well if im honest here i don't really see the point of this category. You could pretty much aswell just type in the last levels password and hop on directly onto the last boss, without the bland menuing. (Back then we actually discussed that one as a fun category, but never did actual runs)

By all means, if you are interested in that category go for it, it could be added as a miscellaneous category for sure.

..That Wild Arms intro though!

Regards and good luck!

You're welcome.

I think i know what you mean about the Honcho strat, but i could be wrong though. If it is, what i think it is, its actually much less consistent and slower for me, than the distance jump. But i would be interested to look into it regardless.

Btw, i would need your 4-digit tag on discord to be able to find you.

That's correct. On the TAS run he hits the goon on the far left, which gives him the speed boost, that's the reason why he is making that jump so easily. On an usual run, you proceed as stated, hit the second goon, perform a double jump in mid air and land barely on the ledge. You might want to watch ZockerStu's run or mine, to get an idea.

For the damage boost, like in level 2, you need to be frame perfect when landing. It is basically performed by quickly turning right when almost hitting the ground (In the case of level 2), then left again and proceed with jump, rinse and repeat. The great issue here is to keep the momentum, i can keep the momentum on Hollow Stairway for 2 jumps maximum. Even getting the first one is quite inconsistent and keeping the momentum even more.

You are losing a lot of time when failing to execute the jump properly and additional to that, you mess up the mob cycles, which would cause trouble, depending on which stage you are on.

Exactly, the double jump does not work after entering levels (there might be non relevant stages where it does work, so take it with a little grain of salt), or after certain checkpoints.

You might want to add us on Skype/Discord. Just post your name, or send me a private message on twitch, so we can help you out or look for some new strats, if you are seriously interested in running this game. You seem to be from Austria too, which means that we could also communicate in german, i guess. Discord would be preferred, not because Skype is bad or anything, but ZockerStu became a fullblown Discordfag and isn't coming to Skype anymore.

Greetings!

Unfortunately, we don't have a -clear- idea about the mechanics of that balloon. The best method to execute Honcho properly, would be to jump from a certain distance to the balloon. You need to play around a little bit, i used to mess it up many times, too.

What i can tell you however is, if you would go, lets say clockwise (like i do) you should make sure to not land on the left side of the balloon. Even though i used to manage to trigger it regardless, the chances are quite low to be successful compared to a clean landing on the right/middle side.

Its just practice.

There are minor differences between the JP/PAL version and NTSC. JP and PAL are essentially the same, with the only difference that PAL uses the same characters as the NTSC version. The JP version (just like PAL), has more updated visuals. A great example here would be the last boss fight, where the eyeball and the canon are using unique projectiles. There is also one less enemy @lvl 8 after the last checkpoint. (Its completely insignificant though).

There isn't much more to say to be honest, all three versions play exactly the same. It all comes down to personal preference here, really.

Hi!

It's nice to see that someone else is interested in running this game.

As Zockerstu mentioned, we recently talked about the 100% category. However, no routes have been made or anything like that. The motivation to do so seems to be limited on both sides, but i will look into it some time though, i guess. If you are interested in 100%, you should drop us a message, either me or Zockerstu with your Skype info.

Either way, welcome and enjoy.

Regards!

Hey, could you please change the "s" to an "S"? Thanks in advance.

Regards

Oh, sorry, ive havent seen the thread.

Thanks, im going to try it there.

Regards

¤Its literally the first thread /facepalm.

Hello! I wanted to know if its possible to change the "s" of my name to a "S"? Would be awesome, that was bugging me alot, now i changed it on Twitch, and i hope its possible here aswell, by a moderator.

Regards