Ys I Complete TAS comments

Run comments for Ys I Complete TAS, linked here:

http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/10839942350667945

Played on the Japanese version, no English patch. Please be sure the run setting is already set to hold Shift to walk before attempting to play this. Do note that the audio crashes almost instantly due to the intro avi failing to play (no clue why - not an issue when playing normally), but as another user pointed out, the audio is still there when capturing.

Even though I probably won't submit this (the guideline about not being the hardest difficulty, plus no mouse support yet), I still put a great deal of effort into optimizing this, although there were some minor things I didn't feel like going back to re-do. I can't see much more than 10 seconds coming off this, not without a route change. Speaking of which, the final time comes out to 34:09 going by SDA timing (first character movement to first black frame after selecting to read the final Book of Ys).

OK, now for some more detailed comments on the run. Text box skips can happen for the close-up dialogue that's still on the game screen (so, not shops, for instance); however, this seems to be based on a frame rule, but it should always be worth it to sacrifice some frames to get it (not sure if it's just the first of a group of such text or not - seems so). Some small time can be saved by doing a couple of these when speaking to Sara (once before, and once after agreeing to help her), and once when first dropping Feena off in Zeptik Village. In a similar vein, item obtained text boxes can be cleared a few frames faster than alternating "confirm" every other frame by holding it down at a specific point. There may or may not be some more small savings from both the Sara's Crystal and Shrine Key messages.

Narrow corridors are extremely precise to slip into without bumping on the corners, as your position can differ ever so slightly based on how you move (alternating diagonal movement with straight up/down or left/right is typically how I approached these). Sometimes, it's better to accept a corner bump instead of slipping in seamlessly. In a similar vein, doors sometimes open 1 frame faster if approached from a certain diagonal angle, though cases like Jeba's house, it's not worth it.

As for Jenocres, he seems to appear faster/slower depending on when you hit him. He disappears in the same amount of time, so as long as you hit him in that appearance, you'll never lose time. Sometimes movement will also affect when he appears, so even hitting him at the same frame with differing movement can alter the time. Not sure how optimized the fight is in light of that.

Nygtilger can technically be done a little faster by accepting some damage, however, the text box upon inspecting the weakened wall waits for your health to refill before displaying the text, so I don't think it was worth it. With the exception of Yogleks and Omulgun, it doesn't matter if you're at full health or not after a boss. While taking damage during a boss is typically OK, it's usually not worth it for normal enemies, as it slows your momentum. In the case of Yogleks and Omulgun, the hit before grabbing the Flame Sword, as well as the one in the boss battle itself were worth it due to the fast rate of HP restored (HP was restored in a 3/6/6 manner, so the hits taken needed to not exceed a 8 and 9 frame loss respectively (45 and 38 HP).

Vagullion's pattern seems to be influenced by not only what frame you enter the battle, but also how and when you hit him (from the side, from the front, etc.), and probably also how you move afterwards. He seems to have a very limited amount of patterns based on those things, but bringing up the menu (Escape key) can produce more patterns, depending on when you activate it. Ideally, you wouldn't need menu manipulations at all, but I needed 3 to produce this pattern (also, a couple frames were wasted by not entering the boss door optimally, but even with menu manipulations, he seemed to go down a little bit slower).

Speaking of normal enemies, it's almost always better to attack them at a diagonal angle, instead of the traditional off-center method (up/down, left/right). Diagonal attacks give a 1 frame delay before moving again, but traditional off-center gives something like 3. The exceptions are if an enemy is pinned against a wall, or if you'd have to move too far off to the side for a diagonal attack to work. With regards to pinned enemies, just holding the directional button isn't always best. It's usually better to back off for a frame or two, as this typically allows the next hit to land faster. Even so, pinning an enemy needs to be weighed against manipulating it along the way to your next destination. There may be some time saved for the first Dinvel or two (sworded Shrine enemies) by not simply holding the directional button when pinned.

With regards to enemies being in favorable positions, it appears to be based on what frame you enter the screen, as well as how you move afterwards. Most of the Minea Plains should have been manipulated out of the way, though I think one or two are still necessary to reach level 7 before Nygtilger in a timely manner (you can see I was 20 EXP over when hitting level 7, and 220 over when hitting level 10). Those aside, the one enemy placement I'm unhappy with is the one in Darm Tower after backtracking through the Devil's Corridor; perhaps delaying reading the 4th and 5th Books of Ys would help manipulate it more favorably, but that basically means keeping the Evil Ring effect on longer (best to do all that subscreen related stuff with as few returns to the game screen as possible). Only a 3-4 frame loss, as well as needing to bump the next enemy aside. There was also one extra armored enemy during the final stretch to Vagullion's room that wouldn't have been there if I rounded a certain corner perfectly, so unfortunately, some small time needed to be sacrificed to make him appear. Some other ones in Darm Tower I'd prefer not to bump/kill (Evil Ring/Silver Sword guards are the only ones that "need" killing), but it's just a 1-2 frame loss to bump/kill them.

The Darm Tower balconies actually do not have the doorways equally spaced apart from one another. Even though you'd arrive at the same doorway by going either right or left, one direction will get you there 35 frames sooner than the other; the optimal direction seems to vary from floor to floor.

The Monocle was equipped after the Mirror usage because the game needs to wait for the Mirror animation to finish regardless. So, I know it doesn't look quite as pretty from then on, but it's worth it time-wise to do so.

Some other small errors with subscreen cursor optimization (when at the Hammer, Mirror, Mask of Eyes, or Blue Necklace, you can hold down to advance the cursor to where the Piece of Paper would be; in addition, some early equipment/inventory menus may not have utilized holding a directional button to immediately be one square ahead), but these will essentially be voided once mouse support is added.