Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

[thri11ki11]

Ahh... I'd love to test this, but the guy whose wifi I used to buy the main game had a falling-out with one of my closer friends, so I don't have wifi access for getting the other chapters.

Boot your friend. Keep the wi-fi.  

(anyone suicidally aggressive can try this fight without ever healing yourself; once in a while all the Belphegors' attempts at normal attacks miss)

This is actually what happened when I got my 0:27 segmented run.  It can be manipulated to happen; it's all about how many steps you take before you get there.

[messenger]

I also thought the rune armlet helped alot in having enough evasion.  thanks alot for the idea, I will test it tonight.

[thri11ki11]

Any luck on your Edge speedrun, messenger?  It's nice to have someone else running this game. I feel like I've been running it into the ground.  I've been working entirely segmented, so getting single seg runs going is cool.  Is anyone else still working on this?

I got my Ceodore/Kain's Tale storyline down to 1:09 (chopped 3 minutes) and I cut almost a quarter of the time off my Rydia's Tale time (went from 0:46 to 0:36). I'm redoing Yang's Tale now and I think I might be able to get it down another minute.

[slowbro]

Rydia's Tale time ( ... 0:36)

Holy #$__>?<!?!  Nice!

(forgive my foul language)


edit: Sorry to say I haven't been working on this at all.  I've barely ever started up my Wii lately  

[TimeSpaceMage]

Ahh... I'd love to test this, but the guy whose wifi I used to buy the main game had a falling-out with one of my closer friends, so I don't have wifi access for getting the other chapters.

Boot your friend. Keep the wi-fi.  

Actually it worked out, because my friend got wi-fi too! X)
Now I have all but the last 2 chapters, and just finished a normal playthrough of Rydia's. I have learned to hate those snakes after wiping several times to them (one was a back attack on the new moon, and another where they paralyzed my party).

[thri11ki11]

Holy #$__>?<!?!  Nice!

(forgive my foul language)

edit: Sorry to say I haven't been working on this at all.  I've barely ever started up my Wii lately 

Don't apologize for foul language, please. I've got a corner on the market.
And yes... Katamari Forever, was it? I don't have a PS3 so I can't relate to that one 

Actually it worked out, because my friend got wi-fi too! X)
Now I have all but the last 2 chapters, and just finished a normal playthrough of Rydia's. I have learned to hate those snakes after wiping several times to them (one was a back attack on the new moon, and another where they paralyzed my party).

I'm happy you got another chance to play.
The snakes you speak of... are you talking about the ones in the Sealed Cave that always show up with the Cave Nagas? Those things suck if you're under-leveled... I know exactly what you're talking about. I manipulated to avoid them entirely. Rydia's Tale seems to be notorious for requiring more level grinding than the others (except maybe Palom's) even in a normal playthrough.

[messenger]

So I managed to get a test run in.

You guys are right about the whole first turn being a waste thing.  Turns out you can do just about any action and still kill the belphemjors in two turns each, including waiting until after the first tornado to use a potion.  This makes it so you can get in four attacks before they can attack tornado attack again.  Hooray!

I have some other ideas on how to make a single segment seconds longer but not as luck reliant, so maybe I will be able to produce a run at some point.  I just have to y'know get offa muh rear.

In other news, I need to play the other stories as I have not yet, and hopefully I haven't spoiled myself too much from this thread.  The only thing I peeked at is some of the lunarian stuff (ie fusoya and other guy casting nukes and stuff).

[thri11ki11]

I'm glad that the Belphegor information was of assistance to you, messenger. I'm sure you'll produce a fine single segment run that will make us all proud

I just finished an unrecorded 12-segment test run of Yang's tale, using a couple of new strategies.  I managed 0:33 (2 minutes off my best time). I've recorded the first half, up until the forest, and it's just about perfect; I could only improve it by about 3 seconds total if I wanted to go back and do so, but I'll only do that if I'm a second or two away from slicing another minute and I can't better a later segment. As for the last 3 segments (to Adamantoise, fighting Adamantoise, and from Adamantoise) I took my time and made a lot of minor mistakes because I just wanted to see if I could get through with only 3 Hi-Potions, which I managed to do. Polishing it up may net me 0:32 overall, though if I'm a high 0:33 it may just make for a better looking 0:33.

[thri11ki11]

Finally, success!

I actually managed to get Yang's Tale down to 0:30 and 57 seconds. It's a 12 segment run. I was stuck at 0:31 and 7 seconds but I wouldn't settle for that, so I found a way to shave off the extra time by skipping a Hi-Potion at the beginning of the game. That meant I had to do the entire thing over again, finding a way to get through the Mom Bomb with enough energy to make it down Mt. Hobs, through the Crater, and back to Fabul without healing. It CAN be done. Of course you may say I could buy potions from the merchant, or grab the one on the way in the Crater, but I have to save those for Kain and Adamantoise (I take 4 Hi-Potions to get through Kain, and 3 for Adamantoise). I buy 6 Hi-Potions from the merchant on Mt. Hobs and pick up one in the crater so I don't have to talk to anyone on the ship before the forest. It's pretty sad that I had to redo the whole run for 7 seconds, but I improved it in other ways by just getting segments with better execution.

I think I may put it up on youtube. I'll post a link when I have it.

[Lord_VG]

Well, there is a high potion right after the Mombomb fight in that chest.  Oh well.

[thri11ki11]

Well, there is a high potion right after the Mombomb fight in that chest.  Oh well.

Yeah, but that's too far out of the way!

It's good advice. The potion is only a few extra steps and it would have shifted some stress away from having to have the perfect Mom Bomb fight.

Seriously, I didn't want to take a single extra step unless I absolutely HAD to; I wanted to ensure that I wouldn't get to the end of the last segment and see that evil 0:31 staring back at me on the final save.  I had three seconds to spare on my 0:30. If I had gone over, gotten the Hi-Potion and used it that would have put me right at the margin.

Here's the link to the first 4 segments of the run:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaVPk6cL5EE

...And segments 5-8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bogu261_d4

...Segments 9 & 10:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrgv_R4b888

...And the last 2 segments are here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAf-Bjn6DVw

[thri11ki11]

Palom's Tale:

This is the most irritating tale to run, in my opinion; even moreso than Rydia's due to the fact that you have to level and there aren't really any great places to do it (that I've found). Rydia has Blood Flowers; four sets of those and I was good to go for the rest of the run.

For Palom, my strategy involves manipulating Bomb x 3 fights on the 4th floor of the Tower of Trials, saving and repeating. I go until I get Palom to Level 19 (Leonora ends up at Level 15) for two reasons: a) I get Warp to get out of the tower more quickly, and b) Palom's Speed allows for faster flee times from the monsters under Troia and in the Lodestone Cave. I level Leonora evenly (instead of killing her off and giving Palom all the xp) because I need her healing prowess in the fight against Dark Elf.

So I've gotten to the 6th floor with all leveling done and I'm at 0:18. Comparing this to my old time, I'm on track to finishing 4-5 minutes faster, going from 0:43 to 0:39 or 0:38. I would be ecstatic to get to 0:35 or so, but I have no idea how I'll do that with encounter manipulation alone; I may have to rethink a strategy somewhere.

[slowbro]

Your progress sounds exciting!  (both in Palom's and Yang's chapters).  It really does.

Dare I ask how many grinding segments you ended up with in Palom's?  If you're only fighting one Bomb x3 fight per segment, I've got to imagine it took a lot of them.  (I am not saying there's anything wrong with a lot of segments.)

[thri11ki11]

Your progress sounds exciting!  (both in Palom's and Yang's chapters).  It really does.

Dare I ask how many grinding segments you ended up with in Palom's?  If you're only fighting one Bomb x3 fight per segment, I've got to imagine it took a lot of them.  (I am not saying there's anything wrong with a lot of segments.)

Well, I started grinding in segment 6, and I moved on in segment 26, so that's an even 20. That's not how many fights it took, though; in segment 26 I fight a Cockatrice x 2 Gargoyle fight on the way up to 6th Floor, and in segment 27 I get a Bomb x 8 fight (a cool thousand). The reason I didn't manipulate Bomb x 8 fights is because they only occur on the 7th floor (requiring me to run back and forth to the save spot on floor 6, which screws up Warp and takes a long time), making it not worth the time it takes to get one. As is, my segments 6-25 are less than 17 seconds each with the exception of the segment that I run ahead a bit to regain magic points by fighting the Mini Blues on 4th floor and the Lightning Dummy on 5th.

[Lord_VG]

I'm also still trying out some SS runs of The Lunarians' Story, but I'm just running into some bad luck at Bahamut's lair.  Fusoya keeps getting knocked off. ^^;;  I'll get something worked out, it's just taking a few attempts.