Atom Shoot (Compute's Gazette)

The rules are simple, but you can't win without some intelligent deductions...and maybe a little luck. In this game, you're a physicist engaged in important research into subatomic particles. As part of the research, you must find 25 quarks within a super thin quartz crystal.
The article for this game can be found on page 52 of Compute's Gazette Issue 28 (October 1985)
The presented video is not represented by the submitted inputs. I didn't re-encode it, because the video will demonstrate the idea of what is going on. Since it is 2 frames slower than the provided BK2...I decided not to remake another one.

Why TAS This Game?

The continuation of TASing games from my all-time favorite magazine, Compute's Gazette. This makes my 55th TAS from this series.
I don't remember this magazine at all. So, I missed in my subscription or either picking up from the tobacco store where I chose to buy them. Even if I had it, I don't think I would have been excited about this issue, since the games in this magazine wasn't all that appealing. Back then, I WOULD HAVE BEEN WRONG! Even though this TAS makes this game look boring, it is absolutely an amazing puzzle/strategy game. In fact, I sit down to play this because it is so powerful.
Previous Compute's Gazette submissions include (In order of submission):
1Astro-Panic!2Royal Rescue
3Miami Ice4Chopper 1
5Spike6Heat Seeker
7Omicron8Alien Armada
9Star Dragon10White Water
11Space Gallery12Bagdad
13Race Ace14Quolerus
15Trap16Maze-Mania
17Balloon Blitz18Bowling Champ
19Circuits20Going Up?
21Space Dock22Saloon Shootout
23Sno-Cat24Queens' Quarrel
25Stronghold26Lincoln Green
27Disc Blitz28SuperSprite
29Dunk30Basketball Sam & Ed
31Bee Zone32Q-Bird
33Space Worms34Powerball
35Castle Dungeon36Pool
37Snake Pit38RADs
39Spy Defense40The Forbidden Crypt
41Cosmic Combat42Canyon Cruiser
43Cell Runner44Sky Diver
45Snake Escape46The Viper
47Root Race48Cypher
49Revenge of Cyon50Maze Master
51Bagger52Chopper Pilot
53Digger54Haunted Mansion

Game Difficulty and Ending

There is no selection of difficulty, as it s a random puzzle to solve. As for the ending, if you find 25 quarks...the game is over.

Effort In TASing

Every game, in this magazine series, presents a different approach to optimization. Here, I realized that key stroke minimization was the key. So, after finding a good RNG Seed, I was able to get what I wanted. RNG in this case was changing the layout of quarks to find; however, they needed to be represented by the "Forward Slash", to prevent me from having to key in a extra input to pin down the correct orientation of a quark. the other thing was to avoid having quarks in the "G" column. By doing so, I had to wait a frame to press "G"...since it is being used to make a guess.

Human Comparison

None to be found. :(

feos: Claiming for judging.
feos: This is basically a guessing game, and in a TAS where you control the RNG you can always guess perfectly, and it's just a matter of finding a more optimal RNG to get quicker. Score is gained by guessing wrong, wasted by guessing wrong, and it can go below zero just fine. Shooting is a way to lose the game if you wasted all your shots, and finding all quarks is how you win. So in a TAS shooting is useless, and you can't complete it quicker with lower score. Accepting a fastest completion.
fsvgm777: Processing.


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #8814: nymx's C64 Atom Shoot in 01:17.88
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What would be different when aiming for fastest completion?
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
nymx
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feos wrote:
What would be different when aiming for fastest completion?
I had this talk with DrD2k9 over Pegs. Basically, both are strategy games and this game is complete after loosing all 25 efforts to find a quark. I'm not sure if there is a speed difference, since I didn't test that route. Who knows, maximum score could be the fastest effort. I only went for maximum score, since the game is extremely hard to play.
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
nymx
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I thought it about it a bit more and going for one quark will be faster, because you can waste all the remaining turns on the top left coordinates. There would be no travel time to point the laser into the cube. So...that is the only difference I can think of.
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
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If you only find one quark and lose all the shots, it won't tell you you solved it but will show the quarks you missed and ask if you want to play again. Doesn't look like an ending, let alone a quicker one.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Post subject: Movie published
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [5779] C64 Atom Shoot by nymx in 01:17.88