Greetings,
Here's the final WIP .jrsr file (which contains a re-record count that's a little on the low side):
http://sonic.net/~ac/tas/dwangoAC-WIP-Epic-Pinball-05.jrsr
I've also encoded the entire run through to the exit to DOS; please note that the file is 33 MB and I have a 1GB bandwidth cap per month so if you download this please consider leaving some feedback:
http://sonic.net/~ac/tas/dwangoAC-WIP-Epic-Pinball-05.mkv
Some quick notes:
- Aims to max out every game counter (bumper value, Power Up value, bonus multiplier, Physical Systems tests, and AI) and bring the android to life
- Manipulates luck
- Makes entertainment and speed tradeoffs
It turns out that bringing the android to life takes a lot less time than maxing out the game counters and thus that event actually takes place about halfway through the run. It also turns out that finishing the final physical systems test provides a very, very large score (although I haven't figured out if it's an arbitrary value or not) so there's still a halfway decent ending.
I opted to allow the ball to drain to allow the bonus to be counted, quit to the menu, enter my initials for the high score, then quit the game to allow the credit sequence to roll. It feels like the most natural way to end the run and doesn't add a significant amount of time based on the overall movie length of just over 5 minutes. With that said I'd appreciate feedback on whether the ending feels natural or not.
I should note that this run does contain some entertainment and speed trade-offs - if you look carefully there are a fair number of very significant glitches, some of which are unavoidable even when playing in realtime. A partial list (which will be fleshed out in the submission text): the ball can fall off the playfield, usually out of the far-left diverted ramp sinkhole, the drop targets on the left don't register being hit, sink holes frequently have balls stuck in them which must be cleared before shots to them register, and getting two-ball multiball when two balls are already on the playfield moves all balls to the plunger lane, which may be a "feature" but sure is unnatural.
There are some potential improvements in a future run for better "route planning" as it may be even more entertaining to do everything else first and bring the android to life as the very last event. With that said this is fairly close to the most optimal you can make this run without making entertainment sacrifices or going crazy looking for luck manipulation improvements.
Anyway, let me know if the run and the encode are good enough for a submission. I'll probably submit the run sometime tomorrow unless there's a strong opinion against it.
Thanks for any feedback you may have,
A.C.
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