Covering Numerous Subjects, Primarily the Emulator

[Overdrive]

Hello everyone.

Just for start, I'm completely new to the emulation world (other than MAME). Even with MAME I'm a rookie to tell you the truth.

I just downloaded the whole nine yards with the top Playstation emulator, I'm in a :confused: state, but I'm not asking for help as I do understand the rules, what can happen, and I do know there's numerous help threads, as well as the help menu bar in the program itself.

Moving forward, the reason for me using an emulator is not for the usage of being "generally able to play the games themselves" but rather to "train" myself in doing speed runs for world records with Twin Galaxies, in which is a site that I write for and I am going to be doing runs from a fresh start file from. Many of the titles (Such as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics, etc) I have not completed, thus I want to be able to get used to, and know what's ahead of me, therefore since I am new to the emulation world, I was wondering if (and how - and or where (Yes I'm somewhat expecting to get hit with this question)) to get "full stat" save files? Not to misdirect you - I'm not asking for a link on where to find the "best site on where to find them" - but do they exist? As a member of Twin Galaxies that I am friends with is doing the same idea of which I am doing, and has been doing this for quite some time. Therefore, I'd like to follow in his footsteps.

For example, this member that I speak of currently holds the Wild Arms Fastest Minimalist Completion record of 8 Hours, 35 Minutes, and 8 Seconds.

[N1ghtWalff]

I don't know of any sites dedicated to that alone... people generally request them in forums such as this one.

However, I find your request a little strange... if you want to do speed runs in RPGs, you must know the game inside and out. A full stat save will mean that it's at the end of the game, or close to it. How would that "train" you for anything?

[Overdrive]

Full knowledge of where everything is, what paths to take (Just a random example of a game that comes to mind, Cosmic Fantasy 2, since when you go to a weapons shop, you have to buy the weapon / equipment / etc, and then equip them, then check your stats, which takes time. Doing a full stat run through would allow you to see what equipment isn't necessary and so on).

Another example is Ys Book I and II for the Turbografx-16 (YES I know there's a password to start with full stats but just go with me alright? Maybe people don't know that there's a password and haven't looked - anyways) There's a place in the game called Solomon Shrine that has tons of dead ends. Self explanatory from what I previously explained, just with paths this time.

[GameGeeks]

Doing a speed run requires you to save constently. You may even have to do multiple parts all over again.

[Overdrive]

Doing a speed run requires you to save constently. You may even have to do multiple parts all over again.

You're able to save your game as often as you wish, although the timer will continue to run. If you're in need of a bathroom break, or for food or other reasons unlisted, you still have to keep your game running and it can't be paused at all. Unless the game brings you back to a part automatically as part of a storyline progression, your run would be disqualified.

And on an obvious note, you're not able to load off of a saved game, and many games require you to show the status at the beginning - such as difficulty settings and so on.

And by the way, speeddemosarchive isn't official if/before someone mentions that site. Twin Galaxies is the only official site for records as they're sided with The Guinness Book of World Records as well.

[N1ghtWalff]

I understand that knowing what's the best equipment in an rpg can help you, but I still don't know how it would train you for the game since you don't know where to find it or what you have to do to get there. Unless you find save files that are at the very beginning of the game, but with the stats and equip from the end of the game.

You could basically get a walkthrough and do the same thing, but if you've never played a specific rpg and you start by reading the walkthrough, it defeats the purpose of RPGs... the point of those games is that they do take time and you have to explore and think about what should be the next thing to do. My point is you can finish it faster by not figuring out anything for yourself, but you just ruined an amazing gaming experience. That's what being a gamer is all about.

Again to do speedruns you must know the game very, very well, which means you must use your head to figure out what's the fastest way to do something. If you only rely on other people, the best you'll do is do it as fast as they did.