SantaC
Member
Joel Yliluoma (aka. Bisqwit) recently completed Rockman 1(megaman) in 18:21 minutes. Impressing (though he is using an emulator, but it's fun to watch)
Grab it here. http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jutut/nesvideos/movies.cgi?id=111
Here is Joel Yliluoma (aka. Bisqwit) guide how to gain time in a speedrun. I think it's an interesting read.
In addition to some of the basic techniques listed at the common tricks page (such as randomness abuse), here are many of the tricks I have discovered/heard and used in the Rockman movie.
Select/pause trick 1
When a robot gets hit and starts blinking, press select. All movement stops, including the shots, but the robot will continue blinking.
When the robot stops blinking, cancel the pause and one of the colliding shots will hit the robot again.
If you use Mega Man's main weapon, the robot will "eat" one shot per hit, but for special weapons, the shot won't be eaten, and will hit multiple times.
Select/pause trick 2
When you unpause, Mega Man will flash through the teleportation animation.
In the teleportation animation mode, he's invulnerable to robots & shots.
If you happen to be moving (have jumped before pausing), you'll move through robots unharmed. But note - if you are colliding with a robot when the teleportation animation ends, you get hit normally.
Select/pause trick 3
When you get hit (hurt), you'll lose control for a while. But if you rapidly pause+unpause once, Mega Man forgets the "you're hurt" state and goes into the "teleportation" state, which means that you can gain mobility faster. If you had upwards jumping motion when pausing, you'll continue the vertical motion while the "teleportation" animation goes on.
Ladder tricks
Ladder tricks work by grabbing the ladder in various positions.
Ladder trick 1
You can have save some pixels in your horizontal movement when you do an "early grab" on ladders. Press up or down while you're at about 8 pixel distance from the ladder center, and you'll grab it, moving you to the center of the ladder (horizontally) in 1 frame.
Ladder trick 2
This trick can be used when you have to jump to catch a ladder above you. The most obvious place to test this one is in the Elecman stage, one screen before the magnet beam item.
Select the right side route, and jump to grab the ladder. Hold A and up simultaneously. When Mega Man grabs the ladder, he'll elevate by about 20 pixels in the time of 1 frame.
If you don't hold A, Mega Man will still grab the ladder but he will have to climb longer.
Ladder trick 3
For this trick, you need to be standing where you have 48 or less pixels (3 or less blocks) of ladder above your feet.
I don't remember that the game has naturally any of these opportunities, but using the magnet beam you can make them.
Place a magnet beam near the top of the ladder and stand on the beam. Then jump up, and grab the ladder when you're near its top.
If you do it correctly, you'll elevate by about 20 pixels in the time of 1 frame, and you'll end up in air above the ladder.
Now, if you have a ceiling where your head just went, you'll also activate some of the ceiling tricks immediately.
A suitable place to test this one is in the Cutman level, in the screen right below the second cutter-throwing machine. You see this trick used a few times in Morimoto's Rockman 2 movie in Dr. Wily levels.
Wrapping trick 1
The screen bottom can in some circumstances be reached from the screen top.
If the screen bottom has a ladder and the screen top is sky, you can grab the ladder from the screen top by jumping and holding the up key.
Such place can be found near the end of the Cutman level.
Also, when there's a flying object that follows you, it will try to find you from the screen bottom if you jump high enough.
Ceiling/wall tricks
When Megaman is inside a wall, these things will happen:
If he faces left, he'll move to right, at 16 pixels / frame speed until he no longer is inside a wall or there's something else stopping the movement.
If he faces right, he'll stay still, except in certain positions, where he moves left at speed of 16 pixels / frame.
If he doesn't have floor under his feet, he'll drop.
If he's completely inside a wall, he'll elevate *once* by 8 pixels, except in certain positions.
If his head touches a lethal block, he'll die. Lethal blocks are spikes, and the most bottom row of the screen, except if there's a next screen below the current one.
If he attempts to jump, he'll raise by 1 pixel. If there's no space to jump, he'll drop by 8 pixels, but raise again to the normal level. If this makes him touch a lethal brick, he'll die.
Now you know the rules.
I already mentioned one way to get Mega Man partially inside a ceiling (see Ladder trick 3). There are more.
Ceiling trick
When you place a magnet beam at a certain distance from a ceiling, you can jump on it but still be partially inside the ceiling, which will give you the effects listed in the previous chapter.
There is only one distance where it will work. A mistake of one pixel is not tolerated.
Use this trick as a high-speed conveyer belt when going from left to right.
Note that you can also benefit from the select/pause tricks in this state.
Ceiling+bottom trick
Combine the Ceiling trick with Wrapping trick 1, and you'll have a high-speed conveyer belt where ever the bottom of the screen is solid.
The exact position for the beam is such that there is two pixels of space between the beam and the top of the numbers in the score.
If you place the beam 1 pixel lower, you'll not have a conveyer belt, but you still have the wrapping trick.
If you stand on such beam and the screen could scroll down (there's is a pit or ladder leading to a next screen below), you can go to that screen by simply jumping.
Ceiling+wall trick
Put the magnet beam into a corner so that there's a wall on the right side and a ceiling above according to the instructions in Ceiling trick, and you'll scroll into the wall! If the wall is thin enough, you'll go through the it!
Try this in the very beginning of the Fireman level.
Note that if this ceiling is the screen bottom as mentioned in the Ceiling+bottom trick, you'll die when you go into that wall, except in certain positions.
Grab it here. http://bisqwit.iki.fi/jutut/nesvideos/movies.cgi?id=111
Here is Joel Yliluoma (aka. Bisqwit) guide how to gain time in a speedrun. I think it's an interesting read.
In addition to some of the basic techniques listed at the common tricks page (such as randomness abuse), here are many of the tricks I have discovered/heard and used in the Rockman movie.
Select/pause trick 1
When a robot gets hit and starts blinking, press select. All movement stops, including the shots, but the robot will continue blinking.
When the robot stops blinking, cancel the pause and one of the colliding shots will hit the robot again.
If you use Mega Man's main weapon, the robot will "eat" one shot per hit, but for special weapons, the shot won't be eaten, and will hit multiple times.
Select/pause trick 2
When you unpause, Mega Man will flash through the teleportation animation.
In the teleportation animation mode, he's invulnerable to robots & shots.
If you happen to be moving (have jumped before pausing), you'll move through robots unharmed. But note - if you are colliding with a robot when the teleportation animation ends, you get hit normally.
Select/pause trick 3
When you get hit (hurt), you'll lose control for a while. But if you rapidly pause+unpause once, Mega Man forgets the "you're hurt" state and goes into the "teleportation" state, which means that you can gain mobility faster. If you had upwards jumping motion when pausing, you'll continue the vertical motion while the "teleportation" animation goes on.
Ladder tricks
Ladder tricks work by grabbing the ladder in various positions.
Ladder trick 1
You can have save some pixels in your horizontal movement when you do an "early grab" on ladders. Press up or down while you're at about 8 pixel distance from the ladder center, and you'll grab it, moving you to the center of the ladder (horizontally) in 1 frame.
Ladder trick 2
This trick can be used when you have to jump to catch a ladder above you. The most obvious place to test this one is in the Elecman stage, one screen before the magnet beam item.
Select the right side route, and jump to grab the ladder. Hold A and up simultaneously. When Mega Man grabs the ladder, he'll elevate by about 20 pixels in the time of 1 frame.
If you don't hold A, Mega Man will still grab the ladder but he will have to climb longer.
Ladder trick 3
For this trick, you need to be standing where you have 48 or less pixels (3 or less blocks) of ladder above your feet.
I don't remember that the game has naturally any of these opportunities, but using the magnet beam you can make them.
Place a magnet beam near the top of the ladder and stand on the beam. Then jump up, and grab the ladder when you're near its top.
If you do it correctly, you'll elevate by about 20 pixels in the time of 1 frame, and you'll end up in air above the ladder.
Now, if you have a ceiling where your head just went, you'll also activate some of the ceiling tricks immediately.
A suitable place to test this one is in the Cutman level, in the screen right below the second cutter-throwing machine. You see this trick used a few times in Morimoto's Rockman 2 movie in Dr. Wily levels.
Wrapping trick 1
The screen bottom can in some circumstances be reached from the screen top.
If the screen bottom has a ladder and the screen top is sky, you can grab the ladder from the screen top by jumping and holding the up key.
Such place can be found near the end of the Cutman level.
Also, when there's a flying object that follows you, it will try to find you from the screen bottom if you jump high enough.
Ceiling/wall tricks
When Megaman is inside a wall, these things will happen:
If he faces left, he'll move to right, at 16 pixels / frame speed until he no longer is inside a wall or there's something else stopping the movement.
If he faces right, he'll stay still, except in certain positions, where he moves left at speed of 16 pixels / frame.
If he doesn't have floor under his feet, he'll drop.
If he's completely inside a wall, he'll elevate *once* by 8 pixels, except in certain positions.
If his head touches a lethal block, he'll die. Lethal blocks are spikes, and the most bottom row of the screen, except if there's a next screen below the current one.
If he attempts to jump, he'll raise by 1 pixel. If there's no space to jump, he'll drop by 8 pixels, but raise again to the normal level. If this makes him touch a lethal brick, he'll die.
Now you know the rules.
I already mentioned one way to get Mega Man partially inside a ceiling (see Ladder trick 3). There are more.
Ceiling trick
When you place a magnet beam at a certain distance from a ceiling, you can jump on it but still be partially inside the ceiling, which will give you the effects listed in the previous chapter.
There is only one distance where it will work. A mistake of one pixel is not tolerated.
Use this trick as a high-speed conveyer belt when going from left to right.
Note that you can also benefit from the select/pause tricks in this state.
Ceiling+bottom trick
Combine the Ceiling trick with Wrapping trick 1, and you'll have a high-speed conveyer belt where ever the bottom of the screen is solid.
The exact position for the beam is such that there is two pixels of space between the beam and the top of the numbers in the score.
If you place the beam 1 pixel lower, you'll not have a conveyer belt, but you still have the wrapping trick.
If you stand on such beam and the screen could scroll down (there's is a pit or ladder leading to a next screen below), you can go to that screen by simply jumping.
Ceiling+wall trick
Put the magnet beam into a corner so that there's a wall on the right side and a ceiling above according to the instructions in Ceiling trick, and you'll scroll into the wall! If the wall is thin enough, you'll go through the it!
Try this in the very beginning of the Fireman level.
Note that if this ceiling is the screen bottom as mentioned in the Ceiling+bottom trick, you'll die when you go into that wall, except in certain positions.