periwinkle | Nemesis Challenge room 2 @periwinkle. | Uploaded May 2020 | Updated October 2024, 5 hours ago.
This barely even saves any time at all...like a half second at most. It's also pretty tight and not very fun at all to execute (and I botched the ending, but I don't feel like grinding for a cleaner run).
The reason I sometimes flash the inventory an additional time after unequipping the booster is because I want to be holding jump to get the maximum height from each upward boost, but if I hold jump out of the inventory right after unequipping the booster, then the game will continue consuming booster fuel even though I'm not actually boosting anymore. So, in those cases I pause-buffer a frame of "releasing" the booster before starting to hold jump again.
Some light modding was involved in the process of recording this video (but less than you might think). Don't worry about it ;)
This barely even saves any time at all...like a half second at most. It's also pretty tight and not very fun at all to execute (and I botched the ending, but I don't feel like grinding for a cleaner run).
The reason I sometimes flash the inventory an additional time after unequipping the booster is because I want to be holding jump to get the maximum height from each upward boost, but if I hold jump out of the inventory right after unequipping the booster, then the game will continue consuming booster fuel even though I'm not actually boosting anymore. So, in those cases I pause-buffer a frame of "releasing" the booster before starting to hold jump again.
Some light modding was involved in the process of recording this video (but less than you might think). Don't worry about it ;)
![[TAS] Super Mario Bros. glitchless in 5:05.763 (5:02.485 RTA timing)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZGBATWVR4d0/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Super Mario Bros. glitchless in 5:05.763 (5:02.485 RTA timing)
Apparently Kriller37 found a frame save in room 2 of 8-4, so heres an updated TAS. It also includes 2 frames of time saves in 4-2 found since the last glitchless TAS update: 1 frame by Gaster and samm_1703 in the underground, and 1 frame by me in the warp zone. (Its still far from saving a framerule, though.)
Individual level notes:
1-2: Still 2 frames away from saving a framerule. Its so close, yet so far...
4-1: I finish the level with 8 frames to spare in the framerule, but its possible to finish with 9 frames remaining by delaying 1 frame to grab the flag on the first frame of 340 instead of 341. This would save a frame overall because youd lose 1 frame slowing down to grab the flag later, but then gain that frame back by the timer being 1 less, and then gain another frame from not getting fireworks. (Yes, 1 firework does technically lose 1 frame.)
I opted to get the firework anyways for entertainment purposes, though.
4-2: A better subspeed on the movement up to the vine allows for getting speed on the vine platform earlier. That means something something and then you can grab the vine a pixel higher, saving a frame on the climb. I also saved a frame in the warp zone by being a better TASer than I was 3 years ago. :)
In terms of pellsson/Sockfolder ROM scores, this level would be 4-9 to 8-D (11 frames to spare).
8-2: The bullet shot I get at the end is fast enough for the TAS 8-2 framerule. Too bad its a glitchless TAS...
8-3: I kick a koopa shell and it goes straight through a hammer bro without killing it. Nice glitch in a glitchless TAS :D
Also, apparently I hadnt manipulated the judges properly in my last glitchless TAS, so this TAS now finishes with 1 extra frame to spare in this level (8 frames compared to 7 in the last TAS).
8-4: B 9 C 1+2 (45.458s). The frame save in room 2 comes from faceplanting harder into the block, which makes you get pushed out of the block to the left much more than you otherwise would, giving you more room to accelerate and get up to speed quicker. You do land a frame later from that jump than the previous strat (which is why I didnt consider that possibility; shoutouts to Kriller37 for having a bigger brain than me), but I guess the extra wiggle room combined with doing the running speed jump strat (which didnt previously save time) more than makes up for it.
Total rerecords: 8888 (nice)
FM2 movie download: http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/726294582/glitchless_v6.fm2")
![[TAS] Cave Story+ (PC) Spike% in 13.164s (10.973s RTA timing)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_lZR8B5oWXE/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Cave Story+ (PC) Spike% in 13.164s (10.973s RTA timing)
Randomly felt like updating this due to a number of developments since my old 2019 TAS (https://youtu.be/Qj8uJzaR9qU), mainly:
• The framerate of the game on PC was discovered to not actually be 60 FPS. Its more precisely 1/0.0166 ≈ 60.24 FPS, which means the old TAS which was done at 60 FPS skipped a few frames and the final time wasnt calculated precisely.
• The old TAS missed a couple of instances where holding Z/X sped up the cutscene.
• I used a brute-forcer to optimize the Start Point movement, so Im much more confident now that there are no more improvements to that room.
• This video is now uploaded at a higher resolution, which means YouTube should give you the option to play it at 60 FPS whereas the old video is limited to 30 FPS because I didnt realize at the time that videos needed to be at least 720p to have a 60 FPS option. Also, I did away with the holiday graphics, because yeah.
The TAS timing of 13.164s in the title is calculated from opening the game to the last input (pressing jump towards the spike), so its pretty meaningless (IMO) but I included it anyways because thats how TASes are typically timed, as well as for consistency with my Mario TASes which also always include the TAS timing in the title. This movie also assumes the existence of a blank save file with the language set to Japanese; I considered starting from a clean slate which would include the time spent changing the language setting, but TASVideos guidelines permit either way so I went with the faster option. (Not that Im planning on submitting this to TASVideos anyways.)
The RTA timing of 10.973s follows the speedrun.com category rules which begin timing from the first textbox frame and end on the frame that the player explodes when touching the spike.")
![[TAS] Cave Story+ Machine Gun Challenge (no Booster unequips) in 1148](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abXbLzXFr8I/hqdefault.jpg "[TAS] Cave Story+ Machine Gun Challenge (no Booster unequips) in 1148
Sensitivity warning: The inventory flickers open and closed in various places throughout this run.
This is a TAS of the Machine Gun Challenge in Cave Story+, made using libTAS with the Linux port of the game. It aims for fastest in-game time (290 Counter time) completion, and thus pauses in ways that saves in-game time but not real time. However, it does NOT use the Booster unequip technique (unequipping the Booster mid-boost to conserve the speed). Heres why you dont want to watch a TAS that does use Booster unequips: https://youtu.be/nBrejdxk6A0
Prefer the original soundtrack? Here is an encode with that music setting: https://youtu.be/WNKS4HC8mXk
Q&A:
• Why the goal of no Booster unequips, rather than no pauses or minimize real time?
I wanted to strike a balance between optimizing for in-game time (which is what most people care about) versus making the video actually watchable (see video linked in first paragraph above). Now, pausing *does* actually save real time in several places, so eliminating all pauses would make the run *slower* in every way. So, given that a TAS optimized for real time would still use pauses, I figured Id go one step further and pause everywhere where it saves in-game time, but just not to unequip.
• So, what do the pauses do, exactly?
I go more into depth about this in the description of my Wind Fortress TAS (https://youtu.be/V6IWKvAdRRk), but in short, most pauses are used to release the jump button during the pause, in order to do things like first-frame boost jumps or switching boost directions without stopping the boost. Theres also a couple of instances where I pause to hold jump for lower gravity without starting a boost.
• How much (in-game) time could be saved by incorporating Booster unequips?
A couple of seconds, I think. (At the expense of maybe 20 minutes of extra real time. Yes, I said minutes, not seconds.)
Stay tuned...")
