So, I was testing games for DTC4. This game was too simplistic for a competition, but a ton of fun to TAS. Yup.
- Uses VBA 2.3
- Uses death as a shortcut
- Manipulates Luck
- Takes damage to entertain.
RNG
The RNG in this game runs on a fixed 256 frame-long cycle. Thus, I take damage to entertain, as the next miss/1 dmg hit by the boss occurs on the same frame, regardless of what I do. I try and keep things interesting by varying his attacks and the damage I take, either nothing or 1 point. Note that there are 4 values in the RNG cycle that are miss/1 dmg hits, and all 4 are together, so the worst case scenario is to have to wait 251 frames. This never happens. The longest wait is about 170, to wait for the Star's cluster to come up.
Leveling
Every boss past the first is capable of giving me enough experience to gain two levels, but the game didn't plan for that, hence, I can only gain one level per wining fight. Before boss 2, I gain a level. After Bosses 3 and 4, I fight an additional fight to gain the extra level that I would have otherwise been denied.
Avoiding Enemies
It should be obvious that enemies can be avoided. Their movement is manipulated across the entire map. Avoiding is almost always faster than an encounter. Slimes move randomly once they hit a wall, and can be manipulated by the frame you enter a screen. Goblins change direction to move closer to the player when they hit a wall. Flying imps always move toward the player in either a straight or diagonal motion.
Attack Types
Every enemy in the game is weak to one of Will's 4 attacks - Swallow, Sea Gull, Falcon, and Eagle. This is fixed for normal enemies, and random for Bosses. Swallow as a weakness does the best damage when misses occur in the RNG, and is also luckily the fastest animation. So, in this run, I *ehm* Swallow a lot. Also, Pierre is strange - he is the only boss where a critical on Sea Gull matches up with a miss. Criticals do maximum damage regardless of weakness. Thus, it doesn't matter what his weakness is, so I manipulate him to have the lowest HP.
Closing Comments
BTW, this is "Knight Quest" not "Knight's Quest" Weird, eh? This is also one of the rarest Gameboy games, and sells for about $30 bucks. (Most GB games sell for $1-2 these days)
Also, holy crap it has been a while since I submitted anything.
Thanks to jimsfriend for his DTC3 suggestion, as well as the help with strategy.
Suggested Screenshot
adelikat: Claimed for judging
adelikat: Response was good enough. And the TAS quality is good. Accepting for publication.
Brandon: Publication underway.