About the Game:
Pringles is a 2009 Sega Genesis / Mega Drive homebrew platformer about... well, Pringles. It has 9 levels, which are split into 3 worlds, no music and only 3 sound effects. You play as the pre-simplicity era Pringles mascot who has to bounce on Pringles to reach the goal in every level.
2 of the world names are misspelt. Basil & Tomato is & Basil Tomato and Black Pepper is Brack Papper. The first world, Sour Cream & Onion is spelt correctly. I'll be referring to the world names with their correct spellings.
About the TAS:
The physics of this game are quite simple. When Mr Pringles touches a Pringle, he gets more vertical height. When he touches the top of a can, the same thing happens as he bounces off of it. Touching the goal will end the level, regardless of how many Pringles you've collected.
This will be my first ever Sega Genesis / Mega Drive TAS if it gets published.
Sour Cream & Onion 1
This level consist mainly of just moving forward, with a vertical climb at around the middle.
Sour Cream & Onion 2
A short section at the start leads to a diagonal climb. This is the first part where turning left is mandatory. After this diagonal climb, we have to slow down to avoid a Pringle. This is important because it means we can approach the goal from below instead of above, saving ~15 frames in the process.
Sour Cream & Onion 3
The first part only requires moving forward. We have to slow down to avoid a Pringle again, this time in order to set up a shortcut that I believe I've discovered. By landing on the right corner of the leftmost Pringle, we can fit through a narrow gap and land on top of the rightmost Pringle, which we can then use to land on top of the middle Pringle and land on the can above. This saves an estimated 2 seconds over the intended route.
Basil & Tomato 1
The most simple level yet. For the first three quarters of the level, we're headed forward, but near the end we have to turn left to land onto a can, which is supposed to be part of the aesthetic, for a massive shortcut.
Basil & Tomato 2
This level features a lot of climbing. The first vertical climb is close to the start. We want to hold left with the right timing so we can get to the next climb faster. Two more climbs and a shortcut involving a slowdown and we're done with this level.
Basil & Tomato 3
The first section is straightforward as usual. After a diagonal climb, we start heading left towards another diagonal climb, which leads to a vertical climb. From here, we want to continue holding left at the right time, bounce on the 2nd Pringle in the last section, turn around, bounce on the 4th and 5th Pringles and fall into the goal.
Black Pepper 1
Here we want to be more cautious than normal, having to stop several times to land on Pringles. From here it's a vertical climb, then heading left, then a very technical vertical/diagonal climb, which involves extreme precision to do perfectly. After that we turn left and hit the goal.
Black Pepper 2
A few vertical turnarounds lead us to a pretty hard straight section. From here, it's an abrupt left turn, where I implemented a brand new trick. Instead of turning around slowly like the RTA record, I turn around as soon as possible after landing on the leftmost Pringle in this section. This saves 6 frames over the RTA strategy. And now it's time for the final level, which is (I think you can guess)...
Black Pepper 3
We start by heading forward for a few seconds. Then it's a turnaround on a can for Mr Pringles. A few seconds heading left and we reach a vertical climb, which leads us to the right. After a couple more cautious landings, input ends when we have enough momentum to reach the goal on frame 6287.
Thanks for reading. You probably know the drill by now, but if you find any improvements, I'll add you as a co-author.
All As TAS coming soon!
I have since improved this TAS by 1112 frames - https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638226880615719641
nymx: Claiming for judging.
nymx: Replacing movie file with latest improvements.
nymx: Thanks to Tompa for his contributions to this movie. As for LogansGamingRoom...very interesting game. You mentally put flavor in my mouth. :)
Accepting to "Standard" for publication.
nymx: It seems like there is no interest in going for the optimizations that Tompa mentioned. I'm going to go ahead and send this along.
Accepting.
despoa: Actually processing...