[KKairos]

Ruin Diver III: The Search for Gold, and Some Other Stuff, SILVER EDITION

Basically, read the other two threads. This one's got some NEW CHARACTERS though. FOUR NEW CHARACTERS, to be exact, and some new options for convenience and for setting your GAME SPEED. So if you're feeling AWESOME, or feeling very TURTLE-LIKE, you can set the game speed to accommodate that. It also contains all the major bug-fixes that I had made in the original vault version. Seriously, if you've not yet tried RUIN DIVER III, try it this way. Even if you have already, try it this way. Anyone who thinks they're good at this game, by the way, check out my challenge below.

VAULT LINK: http://vault.digital...how.php?id=1719

NEW CHARACTERS:

The Knowledge Fairie
Ninjette
Dude with Bombs
Valkyrie

To find out what the heck they do that's so awesome, play the game!

Silver Edition has been submitted to the Vault for approval as of this writing and in the meantime can be downloaded at the bottom of this post.

Also, a challenge:

"If you can set a speed-run time in Ruin Diver III SILVER EDITION (it doesn't have to be that except for glitching purposes, but if you use a glitch that's been fixed, I'll know, or be able to find out), and I cannot beat it within a week, in SILVER EDITION, or have not already beaten it, I will wear in my DigitalMZX signature and on the Ruin Diver III web-site, the caption, "<your name here> beat me at my own game" which on the web-site will be proudly displayed next to your speed-run video."

In other words, beat the game in a way it could be beaten in RDIII SILVER, in a time that I can't beat. No fair calling "Pacifist Run Only," "must use Ninjette," or "must use Dude with Bombs," or not that I'm advertising the new game characters or anything--any tactic and character is available to us both as long as it's legal in SILVER EDITION. The rules of evidence for this challenge: Anyone alleging to have done a speed-run must back it up by submitting a video via Youtube or something else I can see.

I'll also take score submission and will build a score-sheet if enough people submit.

Find it below, attached. Find it on the vault, when it gets approved. Tell your friends! No, seriously, I'd love to hear if anyone could actually get an IRL person to play this; I've gotten a few to play the first Vault version.

Damn me damn me damn me, BUG.

Thanks to Greasemonkey who found it.

New version attached now.

 rd3silvr.zip (1.16MB)
Number of downloads: 64

[Dr Lancer-X]

I swear, if walljumping with the sword wasn't nearly impossible to consistently do before, it sure is now. It's also nearly impossible to slap away enemy fireballs with the sword as well. Somewhat frustrating.

[KKairos]

Oh!

Walljumping was a glitch. It resulted from the player and sword sharing a sprite.

Enemy fireballs were also not supposed to be slappable, but wound up that way for the same reason; in the prototype I'd figured "game's hard enough" and let it be.

There IS a character who can properly walljump, though.

Just in general, I fixed a lot of bugs and refined a lot of stuff--this basically means some of the things I fixed were things you could've exploited, others aren't; a big thing is that I made the weapon and character separate sprites, with all the things which result. This probably makes the game a little harder.

Thought I'd fixed those things with that first vault release though . Hmm.

[Dr Lancer-X]

Well, I didn't really play that one.

[iamgreaser]

No vid, sorry, but I have a slow comp so I get fewer frames per second, and from what I gather the timer uses the system time rather than a certain number of frames.

Done with the male diver in 2:27, which is longer than 1:52 but my laptop isn't exactly the fastest thing in the world (it's faster than my desktop, though).

I think I used at least one pipe.

[Dr Lancer-X]

it's a bit easier if the game runs slower, though >_>* that's how I had an easier time with the prototype before fixing the busyloop glitch

I can actually record at full speed now! but I haven't finished it yet

EDIT: did it! got a slower time than GM though. Need to grab something to encode this with though >_> I've got the software, but not the codec, so grabbing XviD.
EDIT 2: uploading. It's not a particularly skilled/confident run; this is in fact the first time I managed to get to the bottom, the first time I actually visited one of the areas on the right etc.
EDIT 3: here

It's recorded at 30fps.. maybe I should switch it up to 60fps the next time I record for MZX. It's a little jumpy at times because of this

*actually I didn't notice that you played it on turbo. I guess that probably easily counters any advantage you'd have had

[iamgreaser]

OK, I've been trying this challenge. Yes, I AM ROPED UP.



EDIT: Actually, it's impossible to clear the gap up the top when you're roped.

This post has been edited by iamgreaser: 22 October 2010 - 02:41 AM

[iamgreaser]

Did "Dude with bombs" in 2:56 using bombjumping in the shrine area.

EDIT: Did the fairy in 3:06.

This post has been edited by iamgreaser: 22 October 2010 - 03:07 AM

[iamgreaser]

Sure this is supposed to happen?

[Dr Lancer-X]

1:44. Also features an impossible spear dodge at 0:55 and I've no idea how I managed it. Probably managed to time my movement exaaaaactly right to go through it.

I also have another one I'm uploading now. 2:29, but it's somewhat more impressive because it doesn't use the fairy. It also features a hilarious screwup and recovery right at the end, which probably added an extra 20 seconds to the time but was worth it. EDIT: here it is

EDIT: @Greasemonkey; I typically avoid the manor when using the fairy because I don't see how you can defeat the boss thing there with it. Maybe KKairos could add some way of destroying the slimes for the fairy, for use in GOLD EDITION

[Dr Lancer-X]

1:38, and I'm done for now (at least, until KKairos beats it, in which I'll have to try harder)

[KKairos]

Grr, must beat Lancer-X time

Also, re: :55, you got lucky. But oh well! I made the thing, it's my fault for leaving in glitches

[Dr Lancer-X]

Quote

and I'm done for now (at least, until KKairos beats it, in which I'll have to try harder)

i am such a liar


your move, kk

(honestly I was happy enough just to survive that one. actually getting the fastest time was secondary. i'm sure it can be improved but it's so tiring)

[KKairos]

For those of you playing at home this means I have until Thursday to beat 1:44 and until next Sunday to beat 1:18.

Also holy crap you should all watch that, it's a GURU RUN in TURBO MODE. Lancer didn't quite go the route I kind of expected for that, though.

[KKairos]

dude with bombs glitch run. 1m1s.

i dunno if this is the horrible glitch you were thinking of, Lancer, but if it wasn't you should know how to do it now.

edit: if anyone can find a glitch that breaks the game MORE than this i'll do...something. not sure what yet.

was thinking of making a cast portrait, maybe i'll send them the original OSLT.

[Dr Lancer-X]

oh great, you're going to make me beat a glitch run

IT IS ON, kk

[Dr Lancer-X]

jsdfkhsdfjklhsdfkjhlasdfkjsdfhjksdflhsdfjk

[KKairos]

I concede this contest to Lancer-X. I now wear the signature of shame for a month; calculating for surety of the month this will end at the earliest on November 28th.

[CJA]

valkyrie is my new favorite character. if someone like ME can get a 2:03 run

[iamgreaser]

Note that this is from the optimised dev version, sorry (not the one that's currently available to the public), but nevertheless enjoy the score (Valkyrie run, 2:46 @ ~17FPS):





In other words I cleaned out both Fae Ruins and the Manor.

This post has been edited by iamgreaser: 31 October 2010 - 10:58 PM

[iamgreaser]

OK, new score, 47390.

[iamgreaser]

OK, tips and tricks from the wannabe-master:

• The trick to this game is really just to dive down as fast as you can.
  
• If you're new, I would recommend starting off with the Guru just because he starts with shields. He's also good for learning some of the side routes... or something like that.
  
• Side routes are useful especially if you want shields and/or points and/or a guarantee of a fairly straightforward route.
  
• The pipes aren't just there for show. You can drop down quite quickly with them, actually (though they're quite risky).
  
• No, you can't win while tied up in v1.0 / v1.1. Wait for v1.2 (though I've yet to pull it off there).
  
• Double-jumps are very handy to have, especially in the Grinder. Use them. Lots.
  
• If you're in a hurry, just drop through Fae Ruins on the way and pick up some shields. Fae Ruins is also a fast way of getting lots of points.
  
• In Fae Ruins, the flowers mark where the spikes aren't. I think.
  
• If you kill a shooter guy, its bullet disappears.
  
• DO NOT GET TIED UP. THOSE WRAPS ARE NASTY. (Don't mistake this for the chains, though - they're fine. Unless you're wrapped up.)

Standard diver specifics:

• You can jump quite high. Use this to your advantage in the Shrine Room. You can actually skip platforms. Just don't jump from the second to the fourth - it won't work.

Spaceman specifics:

• I'm not really that fond of this guy.
  
• He's good for getting rid of wraps, though.
  
• FEATURE REQUEST: Would it be better if you could somehow "fly" the bullet up + down?

Guru specifics:

• You have shields - use them.
  
• You have a trap - use it.
  
• The trap is very useful in defeating Twinslime.
  
• This is probably a better character to use if you want a high kill count. Seriously, this guy is the ultimate anti-pacifist.
  
• If you're going for high kill count, drop traps in Fae Ruins.

Fairy specifics:

• Just dive down as fast as you can and don't look back.
  
• You get a rather horrible shrine room here... sorry!
  
• BUG: You CANNOT defeat Twinslime.

Ninjette specifics:

• The ninjette kinda sucks in v1.0 / v1.1. Wait for v1.2.

Bombin' Dude specifics:

• This is the glitchiest character in the whole game. If you want to break RD3, this is the way to do it.
  
• It's also the laggiest. Seriously, this guy slows your game down.
  
• Ever heard of the bomb jump? Basically, wait until you're on the verge of falling, then hold Down + press X, and jump again. Note that you can only have one bomb on the map at a time! This trick is especially useful in the shrine room.
  
• Can't be bothered with Twinslime? Just bomb the door open.
  
• Can't be bothered with the Grinder? You can bomb your way in, too!

Valkyrie specifics:

• While you're swinging your mace, you can hold Down to dive faster.
  
• It is possible to get through the tomb w/o hurting yourself, just jump straight after walking off the edge of the spike pit. Twice (you need to get back, too!).
  
• You can defeat Twinslime fairly quickly, although the faster you go, the more shields you lose.
  
• The shrine room is really, really easy (though it would be good to get a few shields).

This post has been edited by iamgreaser: 01 November 2010 - 03:47 AM

[Old-Sckool]

The bombin' dude seems to have the most issues. In v1.1 you can throw bombs during level generation, and if you try and set a bomb next to a wall it will phase through it and blow you up, insta-killing you.

[KKairos]

Yeah, dude with bombs definitely has the most issues.

he can't break the game nearly as easily in the version Greasemonkey has, which will be fixed to include a lot more features and a lot fewer bugs; in fact it'll probably cause a version jump to 2.0 by the time i'm done with it.

@GM: What character got you 47,390? That is, BTW, almost 10,000 higher than my best score in any version. I think Lancer is safely the speed-run master at least for now but I think you might have the highest score I've seen. (To be fair though, the last version you got inadvertently kept sentient daggers from spawning in the Fae Ruins, and made all the side-shafts spawn right to optimize, which might've helped further. Still, my highest score in that same version so far is 37,360.

[iamgreaser]

KKairos, on 01 November 2010 - 11:09 PM, said:

Yeah, dude with bombs definitely has the most issues.

he can't break the game nearly as easily in the version Greasemonkey has, which will be fixed to include a lot more features and a lot fewer bugs; in fact it'll probably cause a version jump to 2.0 by the time i'm done with it.

@GM: What character got you 47,390? That is, BTW, almost 10,000 higher than my best score in any version. I think Lancer is safely the speed-run master at least for now but I think you might have the highest score I've seen. (To be fair though, the last version you got inadvertently kept sentient daggers from spawning in the Fae Ruins, and made all the side-shafts spawn right to optimize, which might've helped further. Still, my highest score in that same version so far is 37,360.

Valkyrie. Speaking of which, I have managed to get 0:51 with this character.

Speaking of which, the special tomb for the Dude With Bombs is being placed in the wrong position (meanwhile the normal tomb is still SOMEWHAT intact), and the special shrines and the ninjette's special tomb (or something like that) aren't being placed at all from what I gather (esp wrt the fairy).

Speaking of bugs, the manor is still unbeatable with the fairy, the Dude With Bombs still drops bombs at 0,0 before it's time to start (the 0,0 start is fine for other characters), and it still screws up if you enter in an empty name for the high score (haven't checked if putting in a * in the name breaks it) - I would suggest you use a pascal string (length, data[]) instead of a * terminated string.

Also you can't visit Jeanine properly from what I gather.

Are the spikes supposed to be all over the place with ALL characters?

What happened to those big EMCA things?

There's a nasty bug in MZX or something where if I try to go through all the side routes with the Valkyrie (this is about all I know that triggers it), and then go through the system again (it may have something to do with how long I spend), and then die, it seems to forget what the current directory is or the cache is busted or something, and MZX needs to be restarted. (MZX 2.83)

Is it *really* necessary to load the char sets up *every* frame? Do these even need to be loaded from a file?

The shield count doesn't show up ATM. I believe you may be working on this, but it's REALLY nice to have.

[KKairos]

Yeah, you've got a sort of second prototype, a lot of that's going to be fixed. I might just need to make the manor completable or inaccessible with Fairy by removing Twinslime, though. Because her not being able to attack is her only real disadvantage, and so it needs to stay that way.

I'll work on DWB. Tomb placements and all that jazz are mostly an artifact of when everything on the board was 80 spaces east before, and it'll get roughly fixed. i think i just turned off Ninjette's special room variations completely.

Is it *really* necessary to load the char sets up *every* frame? Not sure which char sets you mean. For the partials it's all but necessary and I'm skeptical of the actual increase in efficiency of creating a bunch of special cases (and an extra line of code) where I go to the animation routine and then don't animate, as opposed to what it's doing right now which, granted, is quite redundant at least for basic walking animations. In other words, checking to see if I need to change the animation might wind up being more trouble than it's worth.