Digger (Compute's Gazette)

The goats are in hot pursuit. They're almost invincible as they relentlessly munch their way through the underground world you call home. Your only defense is to strategically lure them under a falling boulder.
The article for this game can be found on page 60 of Compute's Gazette Issue 21 (March 1985)

Why TAS This Game?

The continuation of TASing games from my all-time favorite magazine, Compute's Gazette. This makes my 53rd TAS from this series.
This issue was a fun one. I clearly remember typing both of the games in this issue very quickly. They actually ended up being both...long lasting on my play list, although "heat Seeker" was my favorite of the two.
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

Game Difficulty and Ending

Surprisingly enough...this game doesn't increase or change from screen to screen. So one screen takes care of all the unique content and difficulty increases. You can use the following two addresses to confirm this:
  • 0xCC39 (Screen)
  • 0xCD88 (Screen)
Not sure which one is the actually storage, but it seems both are used...only in different contexts.

Effort In TASing

I was surprised that this game had a mix of AI and RNG. So, basically...I had to redo this over and over to see how the "goats" were responding to my inputs. After I saw RNG involved...I started pulling out my old tricks to get them to maneuver over to the center boulder more quickly. Thankfully, the main character moves until told to go another direction. So there is a bit of "Ending Early Input", which helped out a bit.

Human Comparison

This guy was experimenting with the game, but its all I could find. There was one thing that I saw in this video...a goat killing itself. This was something that I tried, bug the combination of AI and RNG wouldn't allow for it.

feos: Claiming for judging.
feos: Accepting.
fsvgm777: Processing.


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15527
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #8793: nymx's C64 Digger (Compute!'s Gazette) in 00:23.87
LoganTheTASer
He/Him
Experienced player (792)
Joined: 7/3/2022
Posts: 463
Location: Berkshire, UK
killed three trolls with one stone there. yes vote.
YouTube: @LoganL2008 Discord: sneakers_o_toole Watch my TASes here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmcAd4CTuEymf4qWKIE0Pv_NlA031cYR1&si=m1hP9qz9c8Ip35Ur
nymx
He/Him
Editor, Judge, Expert player (2227)
Joined: 11/14/2014
Posts: 927
Location: South Pole, True Land Down Under
LogansGamingRoom wrote:
killed three trolls with one stone there. yes vote.
Yep...took a few days to get that too. :)
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
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15527
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [5751] C64 Digger (Compute!'s Gazette) by nymx in 00:23.87