Toronto, ON, CanadaI was wondering if there is any specific config for DOS? I'm sure most people would use DOSBox right?
for another game I run, we have decided a fix cycles=80000 and core=auto, so this way it would be the same speed / experience for every players regardless their computer's CPU
Approved run on SDA: http://speeddemosarchive.com/TimeGate.html
there were some discussion about regarding the "all event high score" category in this thread: http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22477&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25
TL;DR - California Games is a sport game, therefore the main goal of this game is the score. The ultimate goal would be having the best score as possible but that might be only for a TAS. Reaching the final trophy screen is not a real goal, it can be done by anyone, especially by someone who plays for the first time.
This is an open discussion, I'm suggesting to rename our current category this way:
⦁ Any% --> 0%: get to the final trophy by failing everything should be "0%" or maybe "low%" because we get some points for the flying disk
⦁ High score --> Any%: beating the game's default high score should be consider as a minimal goal of the game
⦁ "No Game Over" --> "Misc./No Game Over": it would be a 0% too but for some even we don't have choice to get an high score (e.g. skating), so it's kind of special category. I'm also okay to leave it as "No Game Over"
The "All Events High Score" has been accepted for vault tier! As it has been discussed in the submission, an acceptable TAS category for this game should be a "max%" or "higest score possible". I don't know when I'm gonna start working on that but let me know if you interested to work on that, there are some work that can be reused from the TAS high score
I've submitted a TAS, I describe the spawn mecanism and how to manipulate the RNG: http://tasvideos.org/7089S.html
I've also made a script to show the target hitbox, gun hitbox, spawn slots, RNG value, spawn index and spawn time https://www.speedrun.com/tools/Safari_Hunt_-_Target_Boxes_xc6o0.zip
Also I actually looked at the code itself! I found a very nice decompiler & debugger called Emulicious: https://emulicious.net/
I've learned a lot about the game, especially spawn and shot actions. I've updated my LUA script to display the target hit box, I will post that soon, maybe better to have another thread.
Next time I will work on that, I will check in details how the RNG works, the shot location will influence the RNG for some situation
Thanks! I'm gonna submit a TAS to tasvideos.org soon, I could get a 1:05 on my lastest TAS:
Here is a link for my submission comments, I'm still working on it. it's formatted with the markdown used in tasvideos submission: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19j3Tj7itGhKTgI5_YFLpXXISLQX_3CypwlLJ49Gc5IM/edit?usp=sharing
also this is what the TAS looks like for now. The first round has all the spawn, the second I had only 1 spawn skipped:
So I think I figure out how it works! there are 2 variables (or memory address) for the next spawn index and time. every frame the time decrease by one, when it reaches 0, the index value increase by 1 and the next time is populated. the index loops between 0 and 9 and the order will always be the same
For the first round (lake) it looks like that:
So where is the RNG in it? randomly, the game will decide to spawn or not the next target. For example: 0, 1, 2 spawn, 3 is skipped, then 4, 5 spawn, then 6 is skipped, and 7, 8, 9 spawn. depending on the target, a spawn would be skipped if there is already too much target on the screen. For example only one rabbit at the time on the screen, so it would be skipped if the previous rabbit is still here.
This RNG can be manipulated with shot actions. Working on a TAS, I was able to avoid any skip and get all the spawn at every index. I think next I will check where in the memory is the RNG, I might need to look at the code itself :O
in his new twitch channel he mentioned about it, apparently "It should be ok"
@strawby 100%, same rules for every submission, sadly that would mean the run will be rejected :(
I made a script to register all the target spawn. every line is a full level 1 game without shooting anything. for the next time I start the level 1 frame after to have a different RNG. Looks like the first 4 targets would always be duck --> fish --> duck --> rabbit
Next I will try to figure how the RNG can be manipulated. I know that shooting can change the target's spawn location, I think it can also change the next target type. Probably there might be a rule that prevent to have only duck spawn since the ratio would be 50%, maybe there is a count somewhere
for those who want to watch the run + Illumina's comments:
I submitted it to tasvideos.org! http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22477&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
I'm starting to work on TAS and I can confirm this is RNG. Depending on the frame when the target is killed, the next target will be another animal and/or another location. but stuff are constant, I will keep you updated when I'm done a good progress
After asking on BizHawk chat, I finally figured out how to setup the Light Phaser. Once the game is loaded, there is a "SMSHawk" option in the top menu where a "Controller Type" can be setup. Make sure to hard reset to properly apply the changes
I had some fun making some lua script to display some stuff on top of the game. I found in memory the addresses for all the 6 targets, I made a script to show the target boxes and a list at the top right. I figured out X & Y position but I don't understand their hit box yet, not sure if I got the right memory address for it or if it's somewhere in game's ROM.
Here is a Demo of the script:
I uploaded the 2 lua scripts in the ressources page:
I've finish a first version for All Event High Score tool assisted speedrun. I'm proud of this TAS, I'm thinking to submit this to tasvideos.org, but I need to do more optimization and clean some inputs before submitting it, not sure how strict the community is ahah
https://www.speedrun.com/tools/California_Games_-_High_Score_-_V1_gfh16.zip
Time = (0:36.933) Doing some hand plants to reach the max speed (180) quicker and 999 pointgs doing aerial turns until 10k points. Possible improvement if doing one more or one less hand plant
Time = (1:20.183) Nothing special here, just get above 35k points before the time is up. I got lazy and did the easiest strategy without any optimization. no improvement here, just it fun with a fastest 35k points.
Time = (0:52.886) Doing quick small jump is faster to get all the jump points (max 25). Possible improvement with exiting the tube quicker.
Time = (0:35.300) Stay at to bottom to quickly fall right after getting over 1010 points. possible improvement with better skating speed, maybe by doing 4 frames up follow 4 frames down (instead of 2)
Time = (0:19.750) Doing an aggro jump at the top of the ramp to get 2000 to do less jump after and save some time. I think there is some possible improvement doing some small jump for the slope, I will check the speed.
Time = (0:25.500) Most optimized event! for the first 2 tries, getting the highest speed and the smallest angle possible, also run left at the right time to do a diving left catch. Possible improvement? I haven't try a smaller speed yet
Here is the TAS v2, I did many inputs optimization and include the 2 new shortcuts found for skating and BMX. I upload the TAS in the ressource: https://www.speedrun.com/tools/California_Games_-_Any_-_V2_7bnbg.zip
Currently working on a version 2 for the TAS, so far the time is 2:46.800
I was thinking about leaving the wave close to "00:00" time, but since we want to do good ending of the event. For Surfing, a good ending is the long beep sound follow by a closing wave. There are no other indication that it's the right ending, like the top title in BMX.
So having the wave fully closed before the screen turns black garantee it's a good ending and it's simpler to check if this event is valid.
