I'm starting a tas of this game, which was one of the first I owned for the Genesis. I'm doing it as the raptor (for now) because raptors are just that cool, even if the ones in the movie weren't quite historically accurate.
So far, I've only got the first level, and it may need a little optimization.
I used Jurassic Park (U) [!].bin and Jyzero's Gens 9f, if you're into that. ;) It'll also play fine with the
hacked Linux version as long as you set the sound to stereo and the rate to 44100.
Edit: I've finished the final version. My submission is
here.
I'll be editing this post as I progress.
Thoughts:
The collision detect is very inaccurate, but in a good way. I'm one or two frames away from getting hit by spitters twice, which causes a painful squeal animation. Fortunately, the raptor's feet are immune to spitter venom.
I also like landing on nothing. A lot. This game takes buggy collision detection up a notch from most games.
I plan on taking damage to save time in the final version, but I'm avoiding it for now to see how helpful it will be in each level. My health bar never gets filled up except by food and eating the little green dinosaurs, so I may have to budget it carefully.
Level 1:
The two things that might be better about this level. The first is some of the extra positioning I did between jumps. This might be needed but I haven't played with the frame counter to see what happens. It is needed when I jump onto the spitter platform to keep him from spitting on me and making me fall down. The other possible issue is the exact frame when I stop high-jumping to grab onto the platform. I can't jump up onto it unless there's some bug I don't know about, so I'm stuck grabbing it and swinging myself up. Nuts.
Edit: I managed to shave off a little time and avoid taking damage for v2. This will be nice, since my health isn't filled back up at the beginning of each level.
Other than that, I'm liking this game.
Level 2:
I'm pretty sure the upper route I took is optimal, but the run feels a little rough around the edges. I also don't like how much I long-jump, but it's faster than running, even over short distances, so it's usually the best way to move around.
There's one spot where I long-jump under a low ceiling even thought it doesn't get me very far. This is because I'm jumping over a chicken leg, which I'll automatically bend down to eat if I walk over. (This doesn't apply to v2+.)
I continue to take no damage. There's a nice way to kill a guard in mid-jump, and another if he's offscreen, which is nice since they're usually polite enough to wait to come onscreen before shooting at me. The last level has a number of doors, so both of these will come in handy.
Level 3:
This level's a blast, with tricky jumps, guards in confined spaces and sometimes both at the same time. ;) I still don't take any damage, but I'm pretty sure it'd be faster to take some in one spot, maybe more. I'll probably end up doing that in the version I submit once I know how expedient taking damage in later levels will be. There are also some jumps that could be improved. I like how most of the level works, but there's still the obligatory section of continuous long-jumps. I'm starting to worry that they'll kill the entertainment value of this tas if there are too many of them.
This level is the first were I can use a certain bug as a shortcut. I haven't figured out how to do it without taking damage, but that just means I'll have less aversion to it in the future. I can't go through the lower pipe because there's no way to land on one of the platforms below.
Level 4:
There's not a whole lot exciting here, although this is the only level where the raptor gets to see the pteradactyls. Unfortunately, some of them mysteriously die before they're even onscreen. The only wierdness about this level is the very end, where I kick-jump twice instead of doing a long-jump. This is to demonstrate a buglet where the raptor can fall through the bridge before it breaks. I couldn't figure out how to get the bug without kick-jumping, but I didn't try too hard.
Level 5:
Grrrr. This level caused all kinds of desyncs, especially with the jump-through-walls bug and the part near the end where I jump through a hole into the ceiling. Other than that, this is a fun level with lots of subtle but unimpressive jumping and guard manipulation to keep me from being killed by either stun guns or rockets. It's harder than it looks, but I guess that's the point.
When "fighting" Grant, I wait a little before the second kick so the getting-hit animation doesn't interrupt the kick. If I kick too early, I'll get hit and won't finish the kick.
Runs:
level 1 v1
level 1 v2 (no hits)
level 1 v3 (should work with sound enabled)
level 2 v1 (
state, won't work with sound enabled)
level 2 v2 (
state, should work w/ sound)
level 3 v1 (
state, definitely will be improved)
level 3 v2 (
state, uses bug, cuts off ~7 seconds, no longer painless)
There isn't a level 4 saved state at the moment.
level 5 v1 (
state)
