I made a Video Autosplitter profile for VCS: https://github.com/tduva/vas_vcs

I don't know how lenient the image recognition is and whether it will work for other people as well (I'm not using it, Joshimuz does), but feel free to try it out. It can be a bit tricky to set up because the Video Autosplitter component is a bit buggy, but once it works it's pretty useful.

I would add it to the Resources section, but I don't see an option for adding a tool.

I updated the Autosplitter to support splitting at the end of Any%. It worked in my testing, but since it is based on different memory addresses from the other splits, it may not work correctly for everyone, idk.

Let me know if you tried it and it worked/didn't work. It should be enabled by default.

I'm not sure this is really that important of a decision, but I'm currently a bit indecisive. This is about the timing end for individual episodes. The timing for the full run and the Specials ends when the last cutscene becomes visible, since that's easily verifiable from watching a recording.

However for the episodes the Autosplitter splits at the beginning of the next episode, which is maybe a second later if the cutscene is skipped. Should we just use the Autosplitter timing for those episodes where it is available? Obviously Episode 6 would still end at the same point as an Any% run and the Specials at the last cutscene, since there is no Autosplit for those anyway. So the timing would be a bit inconsistent, but it would probably reduce some work and confusion for people using the Autosplitter, since the timing wouldn't change from what the timer says.

Obviously it is a somewhat minor thing, but I just wanted to know if there are any opinions on this before I add rules for all the episodes.

I'm looking for some help with the different SA versions. I only have access to a few versions myself and I also want to double-check that the versions I have are the same that others have.

I wrote this CheatEngine script to output some information. If you have CheatEngine installed you can load up the Cheat Table (GTASA_Version_Test.CT) and run the included script or otherwise use the standalone trainer (GTASA_Version_Test.EXE) that was created from the Cheat Table using the CheatEngine trainer creator.

Trainer and Cheat Table: https://www.dropbox.com/s/msiaz2h56ol0dpz/GTASA_Version_Test.zip?dl=0

All PC versions could be interesting, if just to double-check the information.

• Start the game
• Start a New Game (CJ standing in front of the bike)
• Execute the .exe or load the CheatTable in CheatEngine and run included script
• Copy&Paste the information output in the textfield into this thread
• Please also include the version number from the SA main menu (if present) or anything else that could identify the version (like Steam/Retail/Downgraded)

The information that it outputs:

• The name of the process (this can either be gta_sa.exe or gta-sa.exe).
• The Module Memory Size which should be different depending on the version and can be one way to detect the version.
• The Module Address for the SA .exe (not sure if that is the correct term), this is usually 0x400000, but for Steam it seems to be different.
• The detected version based on what the AHK autosplitter uses. This probably won't detect the Steam version correctly.
• Memory Scan for the mission script global variable $480 (some coordinate added at the start of the game which seems to be pretty unique). This is why you need to actually start a New Game, so the mission script is loaded. This shows the offset for global variables compared to 1.0. Unfortunately that offset only works for some variables required for the Autosplitter, but it's a start and of course useful to double-check the version information.

I know some people don't find AutoSplitters really necessary, but I think it's pretty nice to just concentrate on the game and just pay attention to the splits if you want to.

I feel like GTA:SA AutoSplitters are not very accessible right now. You have to search a bit to even fine a program and then you don't really know which one is actually the best one. I feel like this should be documented somewhere or at least added to the Resources.

I know there is the AHK one which zoton2 gave to Tirean (and I think Omega maybe also uses?). Maybe you could bundle the compiled .exe and the sourcecode in one ZIP with a readme (afaik you already made a readme) and add that to the Resources.

I kind of prefer having something in LiveSplit directly and not a separate program that presses keys for you (even though that also has the advantage of being usable with other timers as well). I also just wanted to experiment with that stuff a bit and find out how it works, so I wrote an ASL script which I added to GitHub: https://github.com/tduva/LiveSplit-ASL (GTASA ASL Script, Readme)

I've only tested it with Version 1.0 so far, I'm not really familiar with what GTASA versions there are and how their memory address differ.

It should possibly hopefully maybe work for GTASA any% already and also includes fun stuff like splitting Bustedwarps and Deathwarps in Badlands (which might not be absolutely necessary, but why not). As you might know, ASL Scripts don't really allow for GUI settings, so you have to edit and add the script manually in case you want to use it. But at least after that you don't have to run a separate program.

I'll try to turn this into a LiveSplit component (which allows for GUI settings) if there is demand for that. Unless ASL scripts get GUI settings soon, which of course would be very useful for creating scripts in general. The settings might not turn out to be as fancy as in the AHK AutoSplitter (with icons and stuf), but you should at least be able to simply select which splits you want to have split.

Text that comes up on the screen like "Job done" can be skipped by going to the pause menu, so quickly pausing/unpausing (ESC twice) basicially makes it go away. You get stuck in the pause menu when the game is saving though, until it finished saving, so you can loose time due to that if there's a timer based on game time.

Actions like spawning the next missions or fading out into a cutscene seems to be based on two different things (if you have to wait for it at least):

• In some places it seems to be bound to the text disappearing, so in this case skipping the text can save a few seconds
• In other places it seems to be a simple timer, so skipping the text just means that you're sitting there waiting without the text (and in that case pausing while the game saves actually looses time, because sitting in the pause menu doesn't seem to count towards the timer)

It seems that the first way (where you can actually save time) only seems to happen where there's only one text (not several in a row) and where the action happens immediately after the text disappears (even without skipping the text).

List of texts (where you actually have to wait) I tested so far:

Formatting used for the list:

• Skipping text doesn't save time "Text that comes up" that can be skipped -> What skipping does

Wheelman

Gunman

Pay Ray

Hot Wheels

Last Chance

• After mission: "Job done" -> Skipping not faster

After first group of missions (Repoman, Bread Run, Last Chance)

• "Safehouse Available" etc. -> Missions always seem to spawn roughly 11s after spawning in the safehouse

Paddy Wagon

• "Job done" -> Saving at first (so stuck in the menu), but it still skips a bit of text after, next missions spawn faster

Turning the Screw

Jail Break

Circuit Breaker

• After mission: "Job done", "Car available" -> Not faster, pausing while saving costs time

Tailgate

• After mission: "Weapon available" -> Not faster, seems to take roughly 11s until the mission spawns (after spawning after the cutscene)

Guardian Angel

• After mission: "Job done" etc. -> Not faster, seems to take roughly 11s from "Job done" coming up until the missions spawn

I tried just blowing up all the cars during Rush Hour (instead of just the last one) and while the rental-car guy complains about it, the mission seems to be the same otherwise (you have to get to all the cars anyway). The only downside seems to be that the police can bother you more when you blow stuff up.

Now doing Riding Shotgun before this mission gives you a lot of machine gun ammo, which allows you to get the cars to stop quickly (or just ram into them if you're car health allows it). You can then either use a machine gun to blow them up, or use the RPG once the rental car is stationary (which allows you to hit it easily as opposed to a moving target where you can sometimes waste a lot of rockets on it).

Comparing to the mission in zoton2's 2:03:04 WR (which seemed pretty solid), I was already ahead 20 seconds after the second car with using the RPG to blow the rental cars up after they stopped. I caught up with the third car at the beginning of the bridge and then turned around and went after the fourth car instead of driving to the other island and towards it. I caught up with the fourth car roughly when it turned onto the bridge where you would otherwise usually meet it on, which was about 18 seconds before zoton met up with the fourth car. Maybe another car order would be faster or maybe doing the usual route instead of trying to catch up with the fourth car, but I'm not sure. With better driving (I had some crashes) it would probably be even a bit faster.

It took zoton over 20 seconds to blow up the last car (understandable having only a pistol), so having loads of machine gun ammo at this point also helps to destroy this car (which is also trying to get away, so it might be safer to use a machine gun instead of the RPG for this one). It took about 10 seconds for me to destroy it with a machine gun.

If you are going to use 3 RPGs during this mission you still have 8 to use elsewhere, one each for Candy and Shell Shock and one (let's say 3 for safety) for Slink. So even conservatively you still have 3 left from the 11 you get during Riding Shotgun to use elsewhere (Ram Raider maybe). The mission Bishop (where you get more RPG ammo) seems to spawn only after this group of missions is done, but I'm not entirely sure. Either way, if you're careful with the RPGs (as in firing only on easy or important targets) they should be pretty useful.

Using a bike in Gate Crasher seems to work fine if you avoid high-speed crashes which take a lot of health. Due to better acceleration and top-speed compared to cars you usually find around there it's probably faster.

I tried to compare just the driving routes (without any luring cops) and it seemed using the usual car (with a top speed of about 95) compared to the bike you get during Candy (with a top speed of about 110) may be around 20 seconds difference. My driving probably wasn't the best though, so it's hard to tell.

The question is where to get the bike from though. If you do Gate Crasher after Candy, you have to wait for the drug to wear off before the mission starts, which takes about 25 seconds. Now otherwise during that time you would also have to find a faster car then you would already have (either when you reset and didn't get a good car at the safehouse or when you did Slink or something before that), which of course depends on how fast you find one, but it should usually be faster than 25 seconds.

So let's say waiting for the drug to wear off is 15 seconds slower than finding a good car, then it's possible to save some time using the bike. Of course it increases the chance of loosing time due to falling off, but using a car seemed to have a higher chance of having to switch to another one due to shotgun damage.

Another possibility would be to find a random bike spawn and using that for the mission, or using a car if you can't find one, but of course that is even less clear as to how much time it actually would save.

Overall, I'm not sure at this time whether it's a better strat or not, but it's worth a try.

So because I often was short of ammo during Ram Raider and Rush Hour and I noticed that Riding Shotgun can give you a lot of ammo, I looked into what missions can actually give you what ammo.

You start with no ammo in 2006, but you get some during the first missions:

• You can pick up a F70 in the first mission (The Mexican) and about 300 ammo for it, some of which you'll probably use to kill people
• The next mission (Tailgate) will probably use up a lot of it shooting the car, however after finishing the mission (after the cutscene) you get 50 ammo for the F70 (this also applies if you have used up all your ammo) and 8/8 ammo for the Gangster Pistol
• After finishing Guardian Angels you get 40/40 ammo for the SF10 (on job done)

After that you can either do the first Ram Raider mission or go directly to Riding Shotgun. The idea is to do Riding Shotgun before Ram Raider, Rush Hour and Gauntlet because I noticed it seems to give you a lot of ammo, which you can then use for those missions.

When I tested Riding Shotgun I was at first unsure why sometimes I seemed to get different amounts of ammo and sometimes even basicially none. After playing through the lovely autoscroller many times, I noticed that it seems to depend on the ammo you currently have for each weapon, more specificially the ammo you have in reserve, not in the current clip. It seems to give you <Ammo in reserve> ¤ <Magazine Size> for each weapon (and also fills up the current clip). It caps out at the maximum ammo each weapon can have, although if you do get that it should certainly be enough for the rest of the route.

I've also seen runs/done runs where you have a lot of ammo later, but I'm not exactly sure where that was coming from. It didn't seem to be there after Riding Shotgun, but I've seen it at Candy. I've done a run with the Guardian Angels -> Riding Shotgun -> etc. route and I didn't seem to get any additional ammo anywhere else (except the RPG and Minigun), but maybe it depends on what you already have or the mission order somehow.

If you do Riding Shotgun first you can get a lot of F70 or SF 10 ammo, both of which seem to be able to kill the helicopter in the last mission roughly as well as the Aust PUP (which you otherwise would have a lot of ammo of and possibly don't with the new route).

Here is the data from the tests I performed (loading from a safe after Guardian Angels and then shooting away different amounts of ammo before Riding Shotgun):

32/18 -> 50/900 50/0 -> 50/0 50/1 -> 50/50 34/18 -> 50/900 15/2 -> 50/100 50/3 -> 50/150 50/68 -> 50/2000 0/0 -> 50/0 13/0 -> 50/0 24/0 -> 50/0 3/22 -> 50/1100

39/40 -> 40/1200 1/40 -> 40/1200 40/39 -> 40/1200 0/0 -> 40/0 40/11 -> 40/440

8/8 -> 8/64 8/0 -> 8/0