TAS of the 1995 FMV Point'n'click Horror Adventure Game Phantasmagoria by Sierra.
Technicals and Details
- Original Game Platforms: MS-DOS and Windows
- Game Verison: Current GOG release (Version 1.0 galaxy hotfix patch WIN Internal Update 23 April 2018)
- Emulator used: LibTas 1.4.5 running ScummVM 2.8.0
- This is the first submission of a TAS on this site, and therefore most definitely has improvements.
- At the time of submission, the RTA speedrun WR is 5:12.233, this TAS is 1:49:670
- We follow the route of the movement tutorial and improvements found in the guides by darkshoxx here
- First frame: First non-ScummVM-Splash-Screen frame
- Last input: Adrienne using the cruxifix, this is where the run ends. Total frames: 6580
Game objectives
- Any%
- Minor visual glitches
Comments
Most inputs require 2 frames for the game to be interpreted as an input: one for pressing and one for releasing the button.
Cutscenes are skipped with ESC, next chapter is confirmed with Enter, everything else is clicking.
The game slightly glitches out on the loading of some new chapters: At the 40 second mark Adrienne stands in nothingness because only her character is loaded, no background, same goes for the door at 1:02.
Stage by stage comments
Intro
Sierra Logo intro cannot be skipped.
Entering the username with a keyboard key press saves the frame of the button animation, same for chapter select by pressing the "1" key instead of clicking.
Chapter 1
Pretty much follows the inputs from the movement tutorial (see above). Right after standing up, the menu is opened to change the video settings, for better compatibility of all involved software.
Other than the car transition, every cutscene is skippable.
Chapter 2
Whenever Adrienne descends from the third floor to the second, the initial transition is unskippable, which causes agony throughout the game. Other unskippables in this chapter are a car scene and the scene in the shed.
Chapter 3
Unskippable: 3rd floor nail on keyhole, entering and descending, as well as the caretaker's classical "Well?".
Chapter 4
Unskippable: Another two descents and one ascent from the thrid floor.
Chapter 5
Theatre skips: at 0:53 it is crucial that after exiting the secret passage to the theatre, one does not go backstage via the entrance on the left, that costs like 400 unskippable frames. You need to go backstage twice, once each in chapters 5 and 7. In chapter 5, click the apparatus on stage instead, and go to the entrance from there, that skips the unskippable.
Furthermore, at 0:55 exit the backstage via the hitbox on the left hand side of the screen and NOT the bottom of the screen. Again, multiple hundred frames being saved here, thanks to Pazuzu.
Chapter 6
Another great "Well?" from the caretaker to the final chapter.
Chapter 7
Second theatre skip. Since the object on stage can only be clicked once during the game, you cannot use that a second time. However in chapter 7 the camera box on the right side of the stage is now clickable, so using that saves more frames yet again.
The first half of the showdown is one long unskippable cutscene, the rest is skippable in its entirety.
Run ends when Adrienne uses the crucifix, as that is the last input.
Final cutscene included for enjoyment.
Other comments
Things to look forward to in this submission:
The caretaker saying "Well" and "Well" are the only spoken words during gameplay.
Cursur jumping across the screen during unskippable cutscenes.
I haven't changed the framerate settings, and a couple of inputs are probably redundant (though the frames in which they occur might not be)
Suggested screenshots:
Further Credits go to
- ResiDrache for the original Any% Guide,
- Pazuzu for optimizations and
- DanielAlbu for inspiring a new wave of interest in the Phantasmagoria series.
Samsara: Submission file replaced with a version trimmed to final input. The original file used for the encode is here.
ikuyo: Claiming for judging.
ikuyo: Can't successfully sync, so I'm releasing it for another judge to handle.
ikuyo: Claiming for judging.
ikuyo: Delaying while author addresses sync issues.
darkshoxx: updated sumbission details to fit latest file
ikuyo: Replaced file with newest version after sync confirmation.
Thanks for the work to getting this synced, because it was a fun run! Optimization is good enough, and I adored the playaround with your pointer as you waited on cutscenes.
Accepting!
fsvgm777: Processing.
Also replacing the movie file with one that sets the platform (Windows, as it uses the offical GOG release, which runs on Windows via ScummVM) in the annotations. The rest is untouched.