If you want a general explanation of this game and it's tech, you can read the submission comments of rythin's TAS: https://tasvideos.org/7552S
Game objectives
- Emulator used: libTAS 1.4.5
- Beat the game with the lowest possible IGT
Stage by stage comments
Long Road
Improvement: 0.8 seconds
I build up more speed at the start and then hook onto the ledge before the checkpoint better by turning around twice, once to get the back wheel to "stick" to the ledge, causing the bike to rotate faster, and once more to drive off the ledge at the right time to get forward speed. Instead of driving on the ground, I bounce off the slope to avoid having to accelerate, and then I get another bounce off the slope which sends me into the ceiling. I drive on the ceiling to cancel my rightward momentum and then carefully rotate the bike to avoid hitting the wall and get a good landing on the slope. I drive on the ceiling to build up more speed on the way to the finish
Easy Wheely
Improvement: 0.1 seconds
I use a slightly faster strategy at the start.
Central Pit
Improvement: 0.4 seconds
hiii found the inputs for the very start of this level, and I modified them slightly to get more speed and less height off the slope. I bounce off the right wall back into the left wall, and then manipulate the rotation of the back wheel and the bike to get a bounce that lands me on the bottom right platform in the perfect way to bounce into the goal. hiii's TAS, his RTA PB, and my TAS are all 4.1 seconds, and they all use different strategies for the ending. My TAS is a frame faster though.
Spiral
Improvement: 0.1 seconds
rythin's TAS has a slow beginning, but we weren't able to replicate the ceiling drive that she got in her TAS, so I just copied her inputs for the start and improved the bounce into the goal.
Sky Fall
Improvement: 0.1 seconds
I get a lot more speed than rythin does at the start of this level, but I have to slow down more than she does since you need a very specific speed to fall into the hole. I still manage to save .1 here though.
Here and There
Improvement: 0.4 seconds
rythin forgot to hold up+left at the start of this level in her TAS, so I do that in order to climb the wall here a bit faster.
Ninja Rise
Improvement: 2.4 seconds
I get a much faster start than rythin does by getting more speed and getting a really high bounce that lets me start driving on the first wall much higher. I improve the jump to the end wall by getting closer to the edge of the platform to build up more speed, so that I don't have to pop up into the air like rythin does in her TAS. Once I land on the wall, I'm able to stick to it immediately and drive up it much faster, and I touch the flag faster with an improved ending strategy.
Other comments
The rerecord count for this TAS should be set to "Unknown". hiii TASed this game in Celia, which doesn't have savestates or track rerecords, but he estimates he had around 6,000. I TASed each level of this game individually before combining everything, so the rerecord counts for levels 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 aren't included in this submission. The total known rerecord count is 9031, 2863 from rythin's TAS, 3489 from this TAS, and 2679 from all of the other ILs. In addition to hiii's rerecords, I estimate I have around 1500 lost rerecords for a grand total of roughly 16,000 rerecords. A lot of work went into this TAS, and it was a several month long community effort.
Despite how much effort went into optimizing this game, it is definitely not perfect, and there are a lot of things that can be improved. This game is very janky, and very small changes in position, speed, or rotation can cause very different results, even if the inputs are the same. This makes it incredibly difficult to capitalize off new improvements.
Every single level in this TAS is faster or at least ties the RTA world record, but some short segments within the levels are slower than RTA. It's possible to get a faster start in spiral by at least .2 seconds, and the ending of hiii's 4.1 RTA central pit is faster than TAS. It's unlikely that central pit can be improved with the RTA strat though, since you need a slower bounce off of the right wall.
Suggested screenshot: frame 2843
ikuyo: Claiming for judging.
ikuyo: Nice improvements! Accepting over the prior publication.
ikuyo: Replaced submission file to clear rerecord count, as requested by the author.
despoa: Processing...