Dr. Black Jack
Dr. Black Jack is a digital version of the well known card game Blackjack.
The basic goal for each deal is to get as close to 21 without going over while simultaneously achieving a higher score than the dealer.
- Each numbered card counts for its respective number of points.
- Face cards count as 10 points
- Aces count as either 1 or 11 points, whichever is more adventageous.
Basic Play
- Before a deal, the player can set the value of their bet using the
+/-buttons.- Dr. Black Jack limits this bet from 10 to 500.
- Both the dealer and the player are dealt 2 cards.
- The player can see only the first of the dealer's cards.
- After a deal, the player can choose from the following options:
- Split: If both of the player's cards are the same value (i.e. equal numbered cards or two different cards worth 10 points), the player can splut the deal into two plays that both compete against the dealer's results.
- Double: Your bet is doubled and you automatically receive 1 (and only 1) more card.
- Stay: No more cards are dealt to the player
- Hit: The player is dealt another card.
- If the player's two cards dealt equal 21, and the dealer's do not; the player is awarded an automatic win and is awarded 1.5x the bet value.
As this game is meant to also be a means of teaching Blackjack strategy, the game will occasionally offer tips via pop-up windows during the course of play; these quesiton whether or not you want to continue with the action you've just requested or not. These windows require confirmation/retraction of the chosen action before play can continue. Turning this feature off is an option and requires requires 2 frames to do so. While having to clear these windows could potentially present situations that would lengthen input for certain goals/runs of this game, it does not extentd the input for this particular goal; in fact, the 2 frames of turning the feature off would lengthen the run by those 2 frames.
Goals
I can see three potential goals for this game:
1) Maximize the Session Winnings (score exactly 9995 during a single session)
- This would require being dealt at least one Blackjack deal during the course of the session to get a 1.5x payout in order to get a
5in the one's column.
2) Maximize the Longterm Winnings (Score exactly 999995)
- Again, this would require being dealt at least one Blackjack deal during the course of the run to get a 1.5x payout in order to get a
5in the one's column.
3) Get kicked out of the casino by the pit boss.
For this run, I chose the 3rd option, which simply requires winning a deal that would put the player over 9995 score in the Session Winnings.
Reproduction Steps
1) Create w311.hdd
Use the steps outlined at this time of writing under "Windows 3.11" here to create the HDD image containing Windows 3.11.
2) Installation Movie
Use the version of Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack with the disk image Disk01.img with hashes:
SHA1: b0e22739df64ad1050839a8225ff32129608c09e
MD5: acf23c864ff3275fcd60aae75547525e
SHA1: b0e22739df64ad1050839a8225ff32129608c09e
MD5: acf23c864ff3275fcd60aae75547525e
Use the multi-disk bundler of BizHawk to create an XML file with the w311.hdd as the primary image/rom and the above Disk01.img as the secondary.
Then run the installation movie file and on frame 5740, export HDD as
BOMEP.hdd
What the verification movie does:
- Installs the Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack of which Dr. Black Jack is part.
3) Open the exported
BOMEP.hdd as a ROM and Run this submission's movie file.
Possible Improvements
There are a few ways in which this run might be improved:
- Figuring out how RNG determines the card order and appropriately manipulating a better sequence of cards.
- Choosing a different sequence of actions that utilizes the card stack differently.
- Changing the FPS numerator/denominator to allow for more precise sub-frame inputs.
- I have actually attempted this. I changed the FPS numerator/denomiator to 360/1. Doing so did not change RNG while also allowing the same sequence of inputs to accomplish the goal in less time.
- This submission uses the default FPS settings.
- I chose not to submit the version with altered FPS nunumerator/denomiator as I didn't want to take the time to figure out what the ideal FPS nunumerator/denomiator would be to minimize time of play. The time saved using higher input opportunities per visual frame doesn't drasticaly change the visual output of the run.
- If someone else wants to find out the ideal FPS nunumerator/denomiator to minimize the TAS time, I'd happily offer co-authorship credit. However (assuming acceptance of this run), I don't feel that a FPS change alone should warrant obsoletion of my input sequence. Obsoletion should only be granted to a faster sequnce of card plays that results in the player getting asked to leave by the pit boss.