Post by: Bill Murray on September 04, 2008, 01:39:23 pm
GW Olympics - Speedrun Event II[/size]
| Contestant | Run Time |
Dada  | 0:54:909 |
DeadPhoenix  | 0:54:909 |
| goat | 0:55:292 |
Mr. L  | 0:55:292 |
Guana  | 0:55:342 |
ASE  | 0:55:392 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
Esh  | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
I've finally decided to go ahead with a second speedrun event. I decided to hunt down a NES title that was obscure, seemed fun and would be a decent speedrun with some challenge. The rules and regulations will be the same as the previous round which gave the Netherlands their first Gold medal of the games, and so is submitting your game.
The game? Adventure Island. We'll be speedrunning the opening level. It's fairly straight forward, but pretty challenging to do it fast. You'll have to run, skateboard and jump your way to the end of the level.
Get practising, and we're ready to take your submissions over the next week. As soon as we get the submission and authenticate it, your score will be entered into the very sexy scoreboard. Obviously the top three scores at the end of the deadline (which is yet to be set) will win either a Bronze, Silver or Gold medal for their country. So make sure you give your nationality when submitting.
(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/25591/adventureisland.gif)
What we're going to do is make a speedrun recording with an emulator.1 What we need in order to do this is a special emulator and a ROM file. Every participant must get exactly the same.
Since the chosen game is Adventure Island, we'll need a NES emulator that allows for recordings to be made. Go get it here (http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/fceultra/fceux-2.0.2.win32.zip?download) (version 2.0.2). The source code (http://fceux.com/web/htdocs/download.php) is available here, in case you're not on Windows and want to take a shot at compiling it (PM me if you need help).
The ROM we will be using is Adventure Island Classic (E) [!].nes. No other version will do.
Since it's the opening level, there's no need to use a savestate for this game.
Here's what you should do in order to record an attempt:
- First open the ROM.
- When you're ready, you should go into the menu and choose (File -> Record Movie...). Don't bother typing in the author information or changing the name of the recording, but make sure you choose "Now" in the "Record From" field.
- Your movement is now being recorded! You should see a red dot in the bottom-right corner of the screen to indicate that you're recording.
- Now play through the level and choose File -> Stop Movie when you're done (or when you want to try again).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Are you sure this FM2 is the actual recording file? It's only about 16 KB!
Yes, FM2 files are the recordings. The reason why they're so small is because they don't actually contain any video data, they really just contain a log of all the keys that you pressed during the recording (and a save state, in our case). That's also why everybody needs to have the EXACT same ROM file. Since only all key presses are logged, correct replay of the movie is at the mercy of the emulated internal state of the machine, which will undoubtedly be slightly different when using a different ROM. That's why you can only use the ROM that has the exact name as described above. - I can't find the ROM.
Go on IRC and bug me for it (Esh). - What about cheating? Is it possible?
Yes, it's possible to cheat by slowing down the emulator or using save states. The emulator was made for "tool-assisted" speedrunning and thus has those capabilities. We expect that nobody will actually do this, but if it does happen we'll likely be able to tell. It's possible for one to erase his tracks, but that's difficult. Short answer: don't worry about it too much.
Make sure to ask any questions if in doubt of anything.
Post by: UPRC on September 04, 2008, 02:29:12 pm
I don't think I ever played the original Adventure Island, so this should be fun.
Post by: tuxedo marx on September 04, 2008, 02:33:31 pm
Post by: Guana on September 04, 2008, 02:50:08 pm
Post by: tuxedo marx on September 04, 2008, 03:15:52 pm
Post by: Guana on September 04, 2008, 03:25:40 pm
*fire button. Also try jumping over two turtles at once! (not advisable)
Jumping over two snails is possible, you just have to get close enough to the first one before you jump.
Post by: tuxedo marx on September 04, 2008, 03:27:34 pm
Post by: Eltee on September 04, 2008, 04:19:54 pm
Post by: Brent Murray on September 04, 2008, 07:47:23 pm
Question! Is it just the first area? Or do we have to finish the ENTIRE ROUND? :fogetgasp:
Post by: dada on September 04, 2008, 08:19:48 pm
Post by: Bill Murray on September 04, 2008, 08:45:03 pm
I actually might give this is a go tonight, I have never played this game...and I just tried a little bit of it with my keyboard. (But I'll be hooking up my controller tonight for this)What do you mean? It's from S to G (ie. when your score gets added up)
Question! Is it just the first area? Or do we have to finish the ENTIRE ROUND? :fogetgasp:
Nothing more than that.
Post by: Brent Murray on September 04, 2008, 09:22:57 pm
I'll submit my time tonight! Hopefully it's respectable. :shady:
Post by: Parker on September 05, 2008, 12:15:15 am
Post by: Bill Murray on September 05, 2008, 02:34:48 am
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| HL | 1:01:299 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
HL submitted a run, but he ain't faster than a welshie. Both times are easily beatable. And it's only day one, bring it on.
EDIT: I just recieved two more runs, but I'll add them to the scoreboard when after a bit of sleep. 4:20 am 4:20 am
Post by: tuxedo marx on September 05, 2008, 10:59:00 am
Post by: Bill Murray on September 05, 2008, 12:08:52 pm
The deadline for this event is now the 12th of September
Right, so overnight and since the last update I recieved 5 new runs. The competition has really started.
It's so very close at the top, Mr. L has taken the Gold position even after a hefty challenge from _Guana who is currently sitting in the Silver position. DeadPhoenix, who claimed Silver in the last Speedrun event is trying to repeat his glory and is sitting in the Bronze medal position. Their so close together within 55 seconds it could go any way.
Just missing out was a first run by ASE and a re-run by HL.
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:55:808 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| ASE | 0:58:287 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
Post by: Supra Mairo on September 05, 2008, 12:32:32 pm
Post by: ase on September 05, 2008, 12:38:39 pm
My actual video was 1:14 with a few seconds extra at the ends, so i figured the actual thing would be maybe 1:05 but this is good!
Post by: Bill Murray on September 05, 2008, 12:47:20 pm
I sent mine, it was like 1:05+ and included some shit like the tune after you finish a level and the title screen so i reckon its a bit shorter in reality, but now i just thought that I might have the wrong version of the game so OOPS.Yeah, it was the wrong version but it still worked fine. You're in last place though.
Post by: Guana on September 05, 2008, 01:03:49 pm
Post by: Eltee on September 05, 2008, 01:07:05 pm
Oh my god. This rules.
For some reason when I tried calculating my time I got something much higher but hey you're the boss I guess you know how to do it right
I'm going for gold dayum
Post by: Bill Murray on September 05, 2008, 01:12:29 pm
So how exactly do you calculate the time? Is it from the frame the level starts to the frame just before the score screen or what? I'd like to know because I can't really be sure if I've improved my time at all.From the frame when the level first loads to the moment that the character disappears off the screen.
The time is calculated by how many frames are in that time, which is then turned into seconds (1 NES frame is 16.6392634921 ms) and then you've got a time.
Taught by only the best.
Post by: HL on September 05, 2008, 04:46:29 pm
Post by: Bill Murray on September 05, 2008, 06:57:25 pm
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| ASE | 0:55:425 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:55:808 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
| - | 0:00:00 |
Post by: Eltee on September 05, 2008, 10:07:00 pm
But god oh god, what can I change to make it better?
These times are too fucking close to each other. Scary.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 06, 2008, 12:25:15 am
Post by: Bill Murray on September 06, 2008, 05:58:11 pm
Omcifer joins the 55 second crew, but isn't in a position to challenge for the top 3 yet. He's placed behind DeadPhoenix. Everything just got a little more crowded.
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| ASE | 0:55:425 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:55:458 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
EDIT: ASE has increased his time slightly, but it wasn't enough to move above _Guana, while Mr. L failed to increase his lead again.
Post by: dada on September 07, 2008, 09:07:39 am
Also I think I should mention that choosing [E] ROMs is generally not a good idea for speedruns. That's because of technical reasons, mostly. The European TV standard (PAL) works differently than its American/Japanese counterpart (NTSC) which causes NES games to run at 50 FPS instead of 60 FPS. This means that PAL games don't actually run as fast as their NTSC counterparts (83.3% the original speed), and to compensate, the programmers usually cull a certain amount of frames, which increases the running speed at the cost of smoothness.
So basically, playing PAL games doesn't lead to catastrophe, but they're the ugly ducklings of speedrunning.
Post by: big ass skelly on September 08, 2008, 10:09:28 am
Post by: Bill Murray on September 09, 2008, 09:37:59 am
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| goat | 0:55:342 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| ASE | 0:55:392 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:55:458 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
Post by: Eltee on September 09, 2008, 09:54:28 am
I have this terrible feeling Dada'll beat me.
But I hope he's gonna be the only one.
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on September 09, 2008, 01:03:04 pm
Post by: ase on September 09, 2008, 01:05:58 pm
Post by: Izekeal on September 09, 2008, 02:24:27 pm
uh goat and guana have the same time why is one winning???
Probably a small difference in their framecount.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 09, 2008, 03:22:02 pm
Post by: big ass skelly on September 09, 2008, 07:37:13 pm
Post by: dada on September 09, 2008, 07:53:50 pm
Probably a small difference in their framecount.The time is determined by frame count * duration of one NES frame. They must have the exact same amount of frames.
EDIT: just played the game and I must say that I'm a little disappointed. Not only is this one of the most boring games I've ever played, there's also no skill involved at all. At least not in this level. The only time you have to use your weapon is when you have to get past the three snakes at the beginning. That's the only time you have to let go of the B button for a split second. Throughout the entire run, excepting that one part, I could just hold down right and B and never let go. I didn't even really have to practice it, I just started recording and a few tries later I had a good run. There are only like two jumps that are pretty hard, like the one right at the end where you have to jump off the last few pixels of the platform in order to catch the elevator without losing your speed.
Unless you don't know you can run by using B, I don't see how it's even possible to get a time of over 1 minute.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 09, 2008, 09:05:10 pm
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| goat | 0:55:342 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| Dada | 0:55:358 |
| ASE | 0:55:392 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:55:458 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
22 runs sent in so far. The deadline is coming up.
Post by: dada on September 09, 2008, 09:27:42 pm
Back to the game I guess.
EDIT: oh, I get it now. Just jump right before you reach the skateboard and then throw tomahawks at the thing while in mid-air.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 09, 2008, 11:10:50 pm
DeadPhoenix has stormed up the scoreboard from 6th place to the top of the table, and is the first contestant to enter the 54 second mark.
| Contestant | Run Time |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:54:909 |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| goat | 0:55:342 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| Dada | 0:55:358 |
| ASE | 0:55:392 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
It's all on now. 2 days left.
Post by: dada on September 09, 2008, 11:14:24 pm
PS: this is the most successful speedrun competition we've had so far. Congrats on that, esh.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 09, 2008, 11:33:52 pm
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Dada | 0:54:909 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:54:909 |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| goat | 0:55:342 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| ASE | 0:55:392 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
Post by: big ass skelly on September 10, 2008, 01:00:15 pm
edit: anyone with equal times not namechanging is a scrub
Post by: dada on September 10, 2008, 05:24:26 pm
Post by: Dead Phoenix on September 10, 2008, 11:00:54 pm
Deadphoenix should namechange to ADeadPhoenix for today cause then he'd winI already asked if i could do this and he said no :fogetsad:
edit: anyone with equal times not namechanging is a scrub
Post by: Bill Murray on September 11, 2008, 11:13:11 pm
Mr. L is out of the medal zone, goat is in. It's still possible for him to reclaim his Bronze in time, but time is slowly running out.
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Dada | 0:54:909 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:54:909 |
| goat | 0:55:292 |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| ASE | 0:55:392 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
Post by: Bill Murray on September 11, 2008, 11:55:27 pm
I know the finale of this run has been slightly ruined by the fact that people are getting duplicate times since the run is fairly simple. I wanted to choose something that was both fun and simple so that everyone wouldn't feel intimidated by a 1 minute/2 minute complex level like Megaman 2. The turn out for that was fairly low, so I tried this instead and the turn out has been massive. But obviously, because I'm not a speedrunner myself or do I have any kind of knowledge on how to run a speedrunning competition (aside from what Dada has kindly taught me), this has lead the competition to end up in such a 'cheap' end, that people's position on the scoreboard is now down to the alphabet.
Dada mentioned to me ..yesterday I think it was that he thought we should conclude with a third and final speedrun competition. The first being too long, difficult and mainstream (that Dada could do with a blindfold on), the second being too short and easy. A third could be chosen that fits in the middle, so the speedrunning side of things won't end up as being remembered as something cheaply earned etc.
Anyway, goat you have a chance to secure your Bronze medal, Mr. L you have a chance to regain your Bronze medal standing relying on goat to fail on making the 54.909 mark, while ASE could take Gold and shun everyone down a mark.
edit: damn you goat for deleting your post
Post by: Eltee on September 12, 2008, 03:16:13 am
This is bullshit. I don't have TIME to do this.
Wait, 24 hours left and you said that 3 hours ago, that leaves me 21 hours.
So til... 9pm tomorrow. WILL I HAVE TIME?
Maybe if school ends fast enough I'll scoop here and try it.
Post by: Bill Murray on September 12, 2008, 09:34:24 pm
EDIT: I have a submission from Mr. L, I'll count it when I close the event.
Post by: dada on September 12, 2008, 11:40:34 pm
Post by: ase on September 12, 2008, 11:42:47 pm
Post by: Bill Murray on September 13, 2008, 03:05:02 pm
So yeah, I recieved one final run last night from Mr. L aka LordTyphoon. And after counting it, it was the 6th slowest run sent in. The final scoreboard looks like this:
| Contestant | Run Time |
| Dada | 0:54:909 |
| DeadPhoenix | 0:54:909 |
| goat | 0:55:292 |
| Mr. L | 0:55:292 |
| Guana | 0:55:342 |
| ASE | 0:55:392 |
| Omcifer | 0:55:475 |
| HL | 0:57:139 |
| Esh | 0:59:352 |
| Lazrael | 1:00:517 |
Dada takes his second Gold, DeadPhoenix takes his second Silver while goat brings Bronze and another medal for the Americans.
As mentioned through the event, I recieved a fair amount of submissions from the people competiting, so here are the runs:
Dada: 0:54:909
DeadPhoenix: 0:54:909
Goat: 0:55:292
Goat: 0:55:292
Goat: 0:55:292
Mr. L: 0:55:292
Goat: 0:55:342
Goat: 0:55:342
Guana: 0:55:342
Mr. L: 0:55:342
Dada: 0:55:358
Mr. L: 00:55:375
ASE: 0:55:392
Goat: 0:55:392
DeadPhoenix: 0:55:408
Goat: 0:55:408
ASE: 0:55:425
DeadPhoenix: 0:55:458
Omcifer: 0:55:475
Goat: 0:55:491
DeadPhoenix: 0:55:541
Goat: 0:55:641
DeadPhoenix: 0:55:808
Mr. L: 0:55:874
HL: 0:57:139
ASE: 0:58:287
Esh: 0:59:352
Lazrael: 1:00:517
HL: 1:01:299
Magic.
Post by: dada on September 13, 2008, 08:04:23 pm
Hidden content (Click to reveal)
(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh148/meiki-squared/May%202008/DSC05560-1.webp)