Objectives
- Aims for in-game time instead of real-time
- Uses hardest difficulty
- Ends input early
- Genre: Sport
Branch and Difficulty
I'm calling this branch "Downhill" because there is also a "Slalom" course which has a completely different layout and I think would be eligible for its own branch. For each course, you may select a slope number from 1 to 15. The higher the slope number, the steeper the grade, meaning slope 15 (as selected in the TAS) is the fastest and therefore the hardest.
Goal
Frankly, I'm not sure if this submission would be considered complete after Heat 1 or Heat 3. The main purpose of the TAS is fulfilled with just the first heat alone but site rules consider a submission complete when you get to the final screen, and you must play the trivial Heats 2 and 3 to do that here. In that case, I considered ending input early a secondary goal of the TAS, which is cool because all three heats can be played differently. If only Heat 1 is needed for this submission to be complete, please truncate the movie to frame 1960 (0:32.71).
Basic Mechanics
- The skier can be pointed in 24 discrete directions (15-degree intervals), which can be rotated through via holding the left or right side of the disc. As you might expect, facing perfectly forward goes down the slope the fastest. Facing even one angular interval off that has some velocity component directed sideways, so we need to navigate down the slopes and through the gates with the tightest lines possible.
- Holding an upper side button while holding the disc rotates the skier 30 degrees at one time instead of 15.
- Pressing the lower side button makes the skier jump, which is used for clearing moguls and visual flare in some places. The skier's angle cannot be adjusted mid-jump.
Heat 1
To get the fastest in-game time, you must ski between all the gates or else a 5-second penalty is incurred for each. Running into a gate does not incur a penalty but it slows you down slightly. To take the fastest lines, the edge of a given gate is treated as a pivot point for the next set which must be pivoted for (so just like regular skiing!). Now, remember the limitation that the skier can only rotate in increments of 15 degrees? The most optimal lines are often between these increments so in these instances, a more sideways angle than needed is used for the minimum time possible to maximize downhill speed.
The in-game time achieved here is 33.8 seconds. There actually isn't much to optimize over the current RTA world record of 34.0 seconds. This TAS uses the upper side button in some places to make extra clean turns, which I don't think the WR run uses at all. Even with taking the tightest lines, this TAS is only 0.2 seconds (the smallest unit of in-game time) faster so big shoutouts to Intellivision Master on his achievement!
Heat 2
Heat 2 is meant to beat the course fastest in real-time which I achieve by simply taking the straightest, most direct path down the slope. This ignores most of the gates which is why the in-game time is terrible.
Heat 3
The last input of the TAS is made at the start of Heat 3 to send the skier down the course. They crash into a bunch of trees on the way down but no other input is needed from then on to get to the end screen, where the final time of 33.8 is displayed.
Suggested publication notes
(Introductory statement here)
In the first heat, Winslinator skis through the Downhill course in the fastest in-game time. He follows that up by beating the second and third heats in the fastest real time.
Memory: Judging
Memory: Optimization seems good. The ending point seems sensible as well, leading to a clear ending point.
The audience didn't really enjoy this TAS due to its simplicity, but as an optimized record, it has a place on TASVideos.
Accepting to Vault.
Zinfidel: Processing...