This is a Tool-Assisted Speedrun created by Kadmony and Keylie
The final time is 29:23.58, using 12114 rerecords
This is a 8661 frames (144 s) improvement over the previous TAS
You can visit tasvideos.org for more information
The ending is triggered the same way as the previous TAS
In short, arbitrary code is executed using a glitched weapon attack
This requires the Japanese version of the game, where an exclusive glitch allows you to equip any item
In this route, we need to attack with an X-Ether, found in the Ancient Castle
We access this place by combining the map id of the Cave to the Sealed Gate (0186) and the Phantom Train (0092)
This gives id 0192 which is the cave to the Ancient Castle
Battle Speed 6 (slowest), Message Speed 1 (fastest) and cursor on memory
We make one guard run away so that Terra gets just enough XP to reach level 4
The character levels for this fight are 4/2/3, which is lower than on the previous TAS (4/3/3)
So we need more manipulation of the damage variations to kill Whelk quickly
We make a first save here to store the event flags
We save inside Narshe to keep the uninitialized World Map coordinates in memory
We will be using these coordinates to teleport elsewhere in the World Map
We unequip both weapons, save and reset
We load the first save and overwrite the event flags of a newer save
We load again the other newer save and overwrite the party
We have build up a save outside Narshe with Terra/Locke party and events from the beginning of Narshe
This abnormal state allows us to freely enter Narshe
Lucky us, there are Sprint Shoes to sell in Narshe
We also need to sell both weapons for later
Now what happens if you reach the Narshe snowfield?
It sounds like you can trigger the Kefka at Narshe section!
Except Terra and Locke, all other characters are Moogles
We use a trick using a combination of menu and party switching to disable a battle trigger
Because of how underleveled we are, we will be using two desperation attacks
We can now choose our team and recruit Sabin and Cyan
We save here for a future warp
We transfer our team into an old Narshe savefile
Then we overwrite the World Map coords to uninitialized ones, because we didn't leave Narshe in this savefile
We manipulated these uninitialized values to be close to the Cave to the Sealed Gate
We cannot get past the camp in front of the cave, so we use X coord overwriting
We make a detour by Doma Castle to register specific party coordinates in memory
This will later get us inbounds when warping to the cave before Ancient Castle
More X coord overwriting to reach the Cave to the Sealed Gate
We previously set the Message Speed to 2, so that we can escape certain fights like this one much quicker
There is a general rule: if you have more characters than enemies, only some of your party will escape quickly in preemptive fights
The rest of your party will escape 2 seconds later
By setting the Message Speed to a higher value, the game has enough time to make the whole party escape
We save the map id in a slot file, and load the previous one
There is a little shortcut to access the Phantom Train, by entering the forest from the south
We recruit a Ghost because he has an insta-kill attack
We overwrite only one byte of the map id
Grabbing the X-Ether
It is faster the scroll an item down during a fight than in the menu
Equipping the X-Ether using the Optimize glitch
Writing the code that triggers the ending using colors
This part has been optimized compared to the previous TAS by carefully choosing the right offset to minimize color changes (-7 sec)
The Goblin enemy has a special script when alone, so we kill one quickly with the Ghost
We buffer some long animations to delay the action of the other enemy
We need the Goblin to cast Muddle on Locke, so that he attacks with the glitched weapon
This must occur at a specific frame, after about 5 minutes of fight
We manipulate the chain of attacks of the enemy so that he call Muddle as late as possible while not killing Locke
Our custom code that will be executed consists on:
1. Store the ending address in the event pointer
2. Set a flag to remove the ending softlock
This softlock happens when you trigger the ending without entering the World of Ruin
3. Fix the stack that has been corrupted by the glitch
4. Remove all enemies from the fight. It triggers the end of the fight
5. Remove the Death flag from the dead enemy
Otherwise we get XP/Gold messages that we would have to confirm manually
6. Return to the normal code execution
End of inputs!