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For this TAS, libTAS 1.4.2 was used on the Linux port of the game "A Virtuous Run" developed by Kiwi, which is a short free first person 3D platformer published on itch.io. The game was TASed to reach the ending of it as fast as possible which is done by not helping anyone in the game despite the game telling you time and time again to aid them (as funny as it sounds, this is true).
By doing this I found a few interesting bugs beneficial to a speedrun in the game. One of them is by jumping and moving forward while slightly below the edge of the left or right side of a block, as it will allow you to gain more speed than regularly jumping forward on a block and this bug will allow you to jump forward as if you are jumping forward on a solid block when you are really below the edge of one.
Proof of Concept(s):
It's a bit hard to notice at first because of the low framerate this gif is in, but if you look closely, you can see that the player accelerates after jumping off the edge of the block and continues moving as if the player passed a regular, solid block.
Another bug is by continuously jumping after jumping forward off below the edge of a side of a block, you are able to retain that speed until you stop continuously jumping.
From the previous gif where I jumped below the edge of the left side of a block, I keep the speed by continuously jumping along a narrow platform.
And lastly, by jumping off the edge of an upward slope while facing towards it in a precise manner, it is possible to gain more speed than regularly jumping off an upwards slope either by gaining and using all speed beforehand on the slope or gaining speed but stopping on the slope for a brief moment then jumping forward on it (faster than gaining and using all speed beforehand on the slope)
As you can see here, the player gains extra speed in the later frames of the gif when applying the trick than before applying it when moving forward on the slope. (Also hard to tell because of the low framerate on the gif)
Overall, I am proud of this Tool-Assisted speedrun but many improvements can be made as the player camera wobbles a lot sometimes due to me jumping forward while hesitating with the arrow keys on where to land on a platform. This is wobble is very imminent throughout the TAS and a large portion of it featuring the wobble can probably be smoother, and I feel as if I was not exactly precise on a little bit of this run since for some savestates the difficulty of me advancing from one platform to another was somewhat overshadowed from then retrying and loading those same savestates many times to be completely sure they are as perfect as theoretically possible.

feos: Replaced the movie with the one that has annotations and is properly trimmed.

slamo: Claiming for judging.
slamo: This is an interesting little indie game for a TAS, however, there are some obvious optimization issues, as outlined already in the thread. Be sure to avoid unnecessary direction changes and always take the most direct path between two points - you have savestates, use them to their fullest potential! Also, pre-plan your jumping sequences and try several different options to see which one is the fastest. As always, if you are new to TASing and aren't sure if your movie is up to par, be sure to ask for feedback.
Rejecting for optimization.


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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #7281: Rm's Linux A Virtuous Run in 01:04.28
Rm
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I realized that I didnt have to call the game 'Linux A Virtuous Run' as its now called 'Linux Linux A Virtuous Run'. Is it possible that a site admin/mod can fix this or I can on my own?
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(nevermind, i realized there was an edit button all along)
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Nice first attempt. Though it does feel unoptimized like you said, and in general the movement didn't "wow" me that much. Also there were a bunch of blank frames at the end which didn't need to be in the movie (we always end input on the very last frame of necessary input). "Meh" from me.
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Also please add sync instructions as movie annotations http://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/LibTAS.html#DocumentSyncRequirements You can upload the fixed movie to http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/my#uploadfile and post the link here.
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At the beginning, I really didn't understand why someone would have TASed this, and then the heavy stuff came! This seems to be a progressive coarse where more and more skill is required to reach the end. Well, I like this game and I definitely see a reason for TASing it. Speedrunners must hate this game! :) Yes vote. On the technical side, I too recognize some optimizations issues, but I wasn't sure if it was game mechanics or not. Do keep trying!
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Never played this game or heard before, but I see very low effort in optimizing. - You make seemingly random derails right at the very start of the game instead of going straight forward - Jumping the same platform twice 0:15 0:16 - Inconsistent speed maintaining and seemingly non perfect route to traverse the floating platforms. You seem to be trying to jump everytime you can and thinking in lowering the number of jumps. You could have try passing platforms by skipping them, falling on to them from higher place to lower place, jumping over multiple platforms, etc. - Not going straight to checkpoint 0:43 - All jumps looks time wasters 0:50 - Last input is definitely over the minimal required input (standing on the platform if I understand) Obvious no vote.
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MESHUGGAH wrote:
- Last input is definitely over the minimal required input (standing on the platform if I understand)
I fixed this in the updated movie.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
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