Mini-Contest Idea

The results video is now up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=borRSvwD8vM


The next task will probably be out in a few days.

Hah! Looks like I'm gonna have to try a lot harder on the next one.

I had the suspect that Edrin was quite skilled(afterall he created Titan EX, which means he was able to defeat it too)

While i was more lucky with preemptive attack, at the same time i really waste too much time in the inventory
So... that was the real function of memory??? next time i won't ignore something so much useful.

Since there's some worth rival, next time i'll take much care of minor details(like landing in no time in front of Narshe)

May i ask you(if possible) to provide 2 saves for the future tasks, in which one has battle command in pile format, and the other one the cross format? i can't really stand at all that type of setting(and force me to waste time to change it)... or it is part of the challenge?

I wouldn't be able to do it 'cause i haven't play Final fantasy in such a long time
It's a good idea though, i might just enter, if i could.

May i ask you(if possible) to provide 2 saves for the future tasks, in which one has battle command in pile format, and the other one the cross format? i can't really stand at all that type of setting(and force me to waste time to change it)... or it is part of the challenge?

I'll probably just take more care to use settings in a non-stupid way this time. These were from an online save that I used to set this up, and this player apparently uses a whole bunch of settings that nobody else uses. Other settings I may choose, because sometimes setting the config the right way can give someone a leg up. But you are right that some of these settings are annoying, so I agree that I should probably not choose stupid settings like the ATB Gauge being off.

I'll also make the music in the results video quieter next time; it's hard to hear properly.

Does anybody else have any feedback?

i'm not another one , but i forgot to comment the positivity in general of the task:
Condidering that i love that type of missions in which you have a goal to reach and be provided with a small survival pack, i must also say that it was a nice choice of items: the Thunder shield was the best idea

The problem is that there are too much people that doesn't know that element shields are consumable in order to do tremendous damage, i hope this video will open minds of unaware watchers to new strategies in FF6.

Also positioning near the chocobo stable was nice, too bad that Thunen proved that it's better to go on feet...

Your error was the fact that there were no reason to buy any weapon, not for time issues, simply no weapon were stronger than fire 2 provided to all allies(maybe 3 superball could make some difference, but i don't like to rely on luck)...

It would have been possible to try a special route: taking Mog, and so the charm, but starting with 4 allies doesn't allow to leave 1 ally inside the falcon, and so add Mog in the active group after he joined(warp/exit/switch and go takes too much time)

Another positive note is the fact that espers play a decisive role in the battle, people tends to forget their power much often...

Your error was the fact that there were no reason to buy any weapon, not for time issues, simply no weapon were stronger than fire 2 provided to all allies(maybe 3 superball could make some difference, but i don't like to rely on luck)...

Yeah, I realized that, and I actually mentioned during the video that I should have banned Mute for this exact reason (I'll hazard a guess that I was speaking English too fast and too quietly for you to understand).

It would have been possible to try a special route: taking Mog, and so the charm, but starting with 4 allies doesn't allow to leave 1 ally inside the falcon, and so add Mog in the active group after he joined(warp/exit/switch and go takes too much time)

I'm doubt that it would be faster, but I figure that you could also enter/exit the Phoenix Cave to be left alone with Setzer, then place three people in your party.

"Yeah, I realized that, and I actually mentioned during the video that I should have banned Mute for this exact reason (I'll hazard a guess that I was speaking English too fast and too quietly for you to understand)."

Actually it was the music to cover a bit your words, but i didn't even bother to send back the video, because in the mid part of the video my attention was caught by me and Edrin, since we kept to surpass us at any battle... a true race indeed
PS. berserk + vanish/golem espers would have been the same, if not better than mute...


"I'm doubt that it would be faster, but I figure that you could also enter/exit the Phoenix Cave to be left alone with Setzer, then place three people in your party. "

That would have worked
And it actually takes less than what you could imagine(besides i tested it when my fighting strategy on Ice dragon was still to plan, and when i still had to realize of use warp to be quicker).

Nice choice of BG music, I think Crystal Chronicles was the only FF spinoff I ever played(and enjoyed).

There was so much packed into this experience for me that I've kinda been dying to share...

My initial reactions were really really positive, it seemed like you needed to have a good working knowledge of what items were where so you could minimize your prep-time. My very first run involved grabbing the Ice Shield from Mt. Zozo and Bum Rush then heading to the Dragon. I realized pretty quickly stopping for Sprint Shoes was didn't make up for the time it took to get them and the other things I could buy just didn't make enough of a difference to warrant stopping in-town. Ice Shield was enough to keep Sabin up 3 turns and it wouldn't take much support from other members to kill the Dragon from there... But as I learned what the Dragon did, I learned I could get away without using the Ice Shield and have Celes Runic on the appropriate turns... At that point I thought that Bum Rush was the only prep I needed cause I could kill the Dragon fast enough that he couldn't kill me first. But when poking around in FF3usME I found the dragon was immune to mute and it was a small skip there to realize I could just use Phantom to protect me from physical/counter attacks. TBH I felt a little let down when I realized you didn't need any prep for the fight. The whole of the challenge was reduced to only a few small factors. From there I just streamlined a bit, I figured I wouldn't need to heal before battle, I discovered you almost ALWAYS get exactly 8 random encounters (tho I had one really lucky 6-encounter run that failed to record properly ) on the way to the Dragon, setting the cursor to memory shaved seconds off of every fight... there wasn't much else to really consider.

All that being said, it did end up taking a fair amount of knowledge to get to that point. The run got revised so many times I lost count (Lockirby can attest to how many PMs I sent him about the challenge). I was definitely happy with the overall nature of the challenge and Lockirby did a great job putting it together. It was definitely well thought out and included several points where the player had distinct choices. Also, the walking path was just long enough to not be boring but at the same time remove MOST random variance (with 8 encounters in almost every run), mitigating how much luck played a factor, even if it couldn't be removed completely. Even if, this time around, it turned out prep for the battle wasn't necessary, I am very much looking forward to the next challenge. Cheers, Lockirby, excellent job.

In future challenges I would like to see a few more distinct choices (like choosing from a handful of potential party members) or being sure that there is some level of necessary intermediate step before moving on to the final objective.

As for comments on the video. I think the Chocobo and walking were comparable, but the Choco stable was more consistent. I averaged 1-2 encounters walking to the Airship whereas I could get 0 with the Choco. I figured it only saved a few seconds at best. Thunen also didn't do any menu work before starting his descent, but it was still a hair faster. However, when you ran the challenge as many times as I did, the consistency really helps with your sanity.

Also with Tenk and I working our way through Narshe: Tenk still only had 8 encounters, even if one of them was in the snow maze. The extra walking up to the Dragon didn't make a huge difference. I think the big difference was a combination of the extra menu time (window settings, cure), the extra seconds from having to find warp every battle, and the extra buffing time during the fight. Tho I will say it definitely sucked when I would have a great run while recording and would find the dragon hiding at the top of the map. I had one run where I chased him around for 2 1/2 minutes cause he kept dodging me. Had I kept all my videos I would have made a compilation chase video using this background music.

Great job everybody, can't wait to do more.

"(Lockirby can attest to how many PMs I sent him about the challenge)"
More than my PMs?

Great job, Edrin !!!

Too bad that you haven't partecipated at my contest, seeing how much you're strategic...