This submission of Archon is a 548 frame improvement over the currently published TAS ( https://tasvideos.org/2211M ) mainly due to a new route that skips a fight.
Game objectives
- Emulator used: Bizhawk 2.8
- Aims for fastest time
- Manipulates AI
- Doesn't use the dragon
MESHUGGAH did a great job with the published TAS, but in my quest to optimize/TAS games few people care about, I decided to take a crack at this one. His route manips a fight in the center and uses the dragon for the final fight. I route out that fight and take a different unit to the wizard.
The premise is the same, take all 5 power squares to win. During the first 3 turns we both are capturing the 3 squares in the center column. Here is where the route really differs. On my 4th turn, I move the Shapeshifter into range to attack but not be attacked by the Wizard. The Wizard is manipped to cast a spell on turn 5. That spell is imprison, which will either target a unit within his attack range or the strongest threat if nothing is in his range. Our strongest threat is the dragon, who is still sitting at home watching reruns of The Price is Right making this a wasted (and fast) turn.
Turn 5, we attack the wizard with the Shapeshifter. True to its name it turns into whatever enemy it's fighting, so we become a wizard. The wizard can shoot the second shot faster than the dragon (80 frames vs 120) which mostly mitigates the time spent on the shifting animation. I shoot the first shot on frame 6 of the battle because I have to aim around the tombstones. This is unavoidable in this route, unless there's a way to manip the level layout to be more open without spending more than those 5 frames getting it to happen. Beyond that, I don't think there are any frames left to save on this route.
Thanks MESHUGGAH for doing these TASes and giving me a high bar to clear! It's been a fun challenge and I look forward to bringing down more times with you.
slamo: Replaced movie with a 16 frame improvement, and judging!
slamo: Looks like a valid improvement to me, and you even have the original author praising it. Accepting to obsolete the previous movie.
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