Toronto, ON, CanadaThis game is not easy casually but it has a big perk: it's 2 players! and it's one of the few for the SMS library with a co-op mode.
@RadManFromMars and I had a chance to try some 2 players run during the Sega Crew Live (May 27, 2023). unfortunately one of us die at stage 3, we haven't figure out a strat yet
We can always create the category a simple set of rules. Probably we can agree that both players needs to go through the final gate at the end of level 6, or simply no game over for both player.
Same as the 1 player category, both console and emulator are accepted. Not sure if it has been done before but probably we can allow some plateform to allow 2 players online? for example fightcade, Netplay, Parsec, ....
There are already some maps in SMS power but just 3: https://www.smspower.org/Maps/Asterix-SMS?gallerypage=Round+1-1+%28Asterix%29
I've decided to continue the work and focus on levels that might have potential improvements. there are 3 maps ready here https://www.figma.com/file/C50QalEF62MMz7DQRE8Zcd/SMS---Asterix?type=design&node-id=14%3A39&t=lY2Gv8CujO9iVM5o-1
it's a bit time consuming, I'm taking many screen shot and assemble them in figma. If I want to remove asterix/obelix I need to crop a part of the map and align on top of the character (longest part)
I've already post in SMS Power, but it seems slow to have them uploading on the website plus I need to make sure it looks good. https://www.smspower.org/forums/14917-AsterixMapRipping#126450
personally I prefere to have a space between levels, it helps to see potentional skip from the top (like in 4-3) and I really don't mind having multiple asterix/obelix in the map. for example this one:
I think it's better to add the map we currently have here, better than not having it. I can export them in a zip
What's next?
I'm thinking to look at hacking the game to disabled colision and allow double jumps, this way I can explore the all map. Also I will try this Screenshot Autostitcher software to generate a map
few days ago I found out obelix can jump above the tornado at the beginning of the stage. At the edge of the pit, there is a way to jump in the the tornado and bounce the other side to grab the key
for now the safest way is stay at the edge, way for the right moment and do a very long jump. While recording I've also found another setup where the tornado bounce at the very edge of the pit and reach the otherside
In some levels, the game shuffle the key in 2 jars. It happens in level 3-2, 4-2, 6-1, 6-2, 7-2 and 7-3.
From @The8bitbeast 's TAS (LINK), we learned that this RNG depends on the score and indeed it does! I've tried to look at the assembly code but it was simpler to tried out while playing.
The game keep the score in 0x00C2, for instance killing one enemy increase this score to 1, killing a boss increase to 48 and at the end of the level, the score increase on the time countdown (add 1 every 10)
When the 3rd digit of the score (from the right) is odd, the key will be on the right jar, and when it's even, it will be on the left.
the flag is set when the room is loaded, so either when scrolling up/down to the room or entering a door. exception for 7-3 where the room is loaded before entering the door.
for example here the score is "33400", the 3rd digit (4) is even so the key will be on the left.
We are considering changing the timing rule:
- From: "timer stops on first frame of scene transition after final boss kill."
- To: "timer stops in the first frame of the end games screen (after stage 13 screen)"
Why? because the score screen for the "Step 13" would have different time depending on the score. Runner who optimized the last level to have a minimal score would be rewarded by an early end game screen. Also it's common to stop the timer on the last screen.
@SanchoPanda and I agreed it would be better to update this rules, but we need approvals from other runners. it's more likely to be the same rank for every run, I'm willing to update the time for each runs submitted
I'm guessing most runners are not active anymore, I might reach them individually. for the others, please answer this thread :)
I think it's already known glitch, but here are some explaination. the last glitch mentioned is about getting to the phantom's castle earlier, apparently it's only for Game Gear:
I've noticed there is a v1.0 and v1.1 for the US release. Does anyone know what are the differences between those 2 versions?
I cannot find any page, except this one but doesn't help https://www.smspower.org/forums/17900-CastleOfIllusion#110171
What about changing the theme of the leaderboard. I've create a background & foreground, I think it looks great!
I've made a short video to show how it looks like
I've tested on Tom & Jerry leaderboard, I will keep like that for a day or 2. if you want to see a live preview: https://www.speedrun.com/tom_and_jerry_the_movie_the_game
apparently there would be a way to wrap tom the other side of the screen. Something discovered by Emsemts.
- "Tom went left and did come out right . I do not know how I did this only happened once I believe stage 3 or 4."
- " I do believe it was timing when jerry is moving forward Tom moves back and it was a jump-"
if we can reproduce that, that would help to make stage 3 and 5 faster and maybe get a sub 1 min!
During the follow the monk glitch (Scriptorium), we can access the tower part. From there there is another glicth with Berwal cutscene that change William hit box to have a negative height. We can then go through anything and go straight to the Abbey, the last part of the game.
Bad news is the cutscene doesn't load, so we cannot progress since the executioner is not loaded. We still have the ghost ability to go through walls, so we can go directly to the secret entrance and splash Juliette
But then we get block by the door that bring us upstair where we need to push the cross. For now I'm think there are 3 ways to pass that door:
- Glitch to unload the door by dropping and picking up items (Alone in the dark glitch), that might have been fixed for time gate
- There might be a way to trigger the cutscene, kill the executioner and then open the door normally
- Maybe there is way to get a glitched william with some saving manip, or maybe we can get into a ghost state again
here is a cheat run for this shortcut, I've used the room viewer to pass the door
I 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
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"
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
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
I was thinking it would be nice to show the runs time in millisecond? At some point many runs will have the same time, like the current leaderboard for California Games on NES. this way we can have a better idea who really have the best time
I was curious about how fast can be the Any% and I wanted to check where I can improve my time. So I've made a low optimization TAS (using BizHawk 2.3.2) and I got a time of 2:47.566.
- Video:
- TAS Record: https://www.speedrun.com/tools/California_Games_UE_-_2_-_47_-_566_3wqby.zip
For my current PB of 2:51 (not published yet), the biggest time save is for the flying disk (-1.4s) and more time save on the skating & BMX. The foot bag and Surfing are just mashing so it's pretty low saving (-0.1s and -0.2s). Finally for the Skateboard, it's about -0.4s save.
I also submitted my run to speed Demos Archives, LotBlind who is very familiar with Alone In the Dark (AITD) review my run and discuss about it
There is a thread created on the speedDemosArchive forum about Time Gate: https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/time_gate_knights_chase_13.html#time_gate_knights_chase_13
So far the discussions are about:
- what version can be used
- Potential glitch similar to Alone In The Dark (AITD)
- Things to read from the AITD guide
- DosBox configuration (number of cycles)
Hello! I've done a speedrun of a game called Time Gate: Knight's Chase. it's pretty similar to Alone In the Dark, actually one developer of this game informed me that both game are using the same motor.
I was wondering if someone would mind to look at my run and share some feedback. I submit this game on website, I'm still waiting for approval
Hello,
I've submitted a new game request 3 weeks ago, I feel I want to change some small details on the description. I couldn't find any "Edit" button, only a "Withdraw" Button.
Is my pending request in a stack somewhere?
I was thinking I could withdraw it and add it again but I don't want to loose position in the "stack".
Thanks :)
