Edit: I've found some new optimizations already...and am thus withdrawing this submission and will re-submit in the near future.
Track & Field II
Track & Field II is the sequel to Track & Field. (Thank you Captain Obvious)
While similar to the original, only a few events are common to both games. With those events that are in both games, the mechanics vary. Multiple new events are present.
Available modes in this game include:
- Training Mode: Practice any event on its own.
- Olympic Mode: Compete in the 8-Day Olympics. Days 1-4 are primary qualifying and days 5-8 are the finals competitions.
- Two optional exhibition events can be attempted at the end of each day of Olympic competition: Hang Gliding and Gun Shooting. These are not available in Training Mode.
- Vs Mode: Compete against a friend in Fencing, Taewkondo, or Arm Wrestling.
- Arm Wrestling is not an event in the Training or Olympic Modes
This video attempts to complete the game as quickly as possible while still obtaining gold medals on the finals days. Exhibition events are skipped to save time.
Event Breakdown
Fencing
Both Days - The CPU opponent wouldn't attack during my preparation runs regardless of what nationality(emulation error?). He is also apparently scared of swords as he runs away when you attack. So I used rapid fire attacks to cause the opponent to retreat back out of bounds.
Triple Jump (About the only event that mimics the mechanics of the original...the spaceman does not make a cameo)
Day 1 - Qualify on first try and foul tries 2 and 3 to save time.
Day 5 - Max-distance jump to get the Gold medal.
Freestyle Swimming (Kinda)
Both Days - Down is held for the duration of the race to make the swimmer perform the breaststroke (Michael Phelps mode?) instead of swimming freestyle. I suppose since the opponent insists on using the freestyle stroke, the event name is at least somewhat accurate.
High Dive
Day 2 - Random dives are performed; qualified for finals.
Day 6 - Perfect 10.0 score dives on all four attempts to ensure Gold medal.
Clay Pigeon Shooting (Different mechanics from the original, as you call for each clay and have to aim your shots.)
Both Days - All clays are hit as missing any after hitting the qualifying mark takes more time.
Hammer Throw
Day 2 - Qualify on 1st throw. Foul throws 2 and 3 to save time.
Day 6 - Max distance (without glitch) to earn Gold. Foul throws 2 and 3 to save time.
- The glitched throw to get the 90+ meter distance was not demonstrated. In my testing it took longer than simply fouling or the max normal throw which is adequate for Gold.
Taekwondo
Both Days - The roundhouse kick was the strongest attack I could find. The lowest number of hits I could get to win the match was two.
Pole Vault
Day 3 - Set height to minimum qualifying and meet on first attempt. Foul all three attempts at the next height to speed onward.
Day 7 - Set height to 6m0 and meet on first attempt. This is the max initial height at which the bar can be set, and it is good enough for Gold. Foul all three attempts at next height to speed onward.
Canoeing (Looks more like Kayaking to me)
Both Days - First run gets all gates as quickly as possible. Second run speeds to finish disregarding gates.
Archery (Different game mechanic than in the original. Targets are stationary and varying distance.)
Day 4 - Once qualifying score is attained, allowing the arrows to fall short takes less time than hitting the target.
Day 8 - Max score for Gold medal.
Hurdles (This is not classic hurdles...it's Steeplechase. The original had classic hurdles.)
Both Days - Run fast. Jumps are performed as close to the hurdle as possible to clear the water.
- Interestingly, since the human/TAS runner moves so fast the upper CPU runner glitches by running straight through every other hurdle to keep up.
Horizontal Bar
Both Days - The best score I could attain was 9.90. I dismount as soon as possible. From what I can deduce, this event seems to be timed as you are not allowed to dismount until a certain point.
Conclusion
The TAS input concludes with skipping the final offer of exhibition events. The end-game cut scene is rather long.
That's about it. Not a whole lot else to say...and yet I ramble on.
