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BlobQuest is a 2021 NES homebrew in which a blob must collect 7 mystic rubies scattered throughout a dangerous cave to break free of the cave and the evil wizard's curse to regain its true form. This TAS aims to do this as quickly as possible by taking the fastest route through the cave and maybe flying across the screen at high speeds a couple of times.

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 2.8
  • Aims for fastest completion
  • Minor glitch abuse

Comments

Route

Unfortunately, we can't just go around from the very beginning and collect all 7 rubies. No, we actually need to do what the game tells us and collect all 6 abilities to access new areas of the game. The route aims to visit as many rooms as few times as possible and get the abilities first and any rubies along the way before spending the last 45 seconds searching for the final 5 that are just out of the way.
The route we are forced to go goes:
jump < pipe < ruby < ruby < bounce < dash < squish < sticky < ruby < ruby < ruby < ruby < ruby
There really isn't flexibility when it comes to routing for this game.

Zipping

The majority of the run is just regular gameplay with only the dashing ability potentially raising some questions such as 'why does it stop randomly' and 'why don't you just do it all the time?'. The answers to these are 'hitting a wall stops it completely' and 'there isn't always enough space, there's a cooldown and the stopping to charge up speed is very slow' respectively.
The real real fun comes from zipping which dr1ox1 told me about, if he hadn't I very much doubt this would have even left my userfiles. Zipping entails flying across the screen, either horizontally or vertically. This is done by holding down to squish on the same frame sticky is activated (which is a shame because it means it can only be down in the latter half of the game). This puts the blob in a temporary state where they will be permanently trying to move in the opposite direction while they are stuck to a wall. If it goes round a corner, it'll detach from the wall and go flying in that direction until it hits a wall or sticky is deactivated. It can also be its height can also be controlled when flying horizontally and it can also be moved left - right when flying vertically.
It doesn't just end here. If done right, the blob can catch a vertical edge of a block while flying horizontally and then be launched straight up. I don't think there are places where the opposite can be applied however.

Other comments

I also made a map of the game without even thinking about how its pretty much useless but I spent too much time on it not to go unused so here it is if it might help you follow

Samsara: Claiming for judging.
Samsara: The file has been replaced with a 159 frame improvement. A significant amount of this improvement was from me, so I am adding myself as co-author and resetting to New.

ThunderAxe31: Claiming for judging.
ThunderAxe31: Movie file replaced with a 114 frames improvement.

Samsara: Run cancelled in favor of an upcoming improvement submission.

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #7809: Cephla & Samsara's NES BlobQuest in 03:30.94
Cephla
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https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638039288102790040 had this idea literally the second I clicked submit. The 10f improvement comes from a small zip in ruby 4
LoganTheTASer
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yes vote. i like homebrews, and this run seems to be decently optimised. edit: clearly i was wrong lmao
Samsara
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Further 71 frames of improvement, total of 81 over the original submission: User movie #638046876974174451 Feel free to have a second look.
TASvideos Admin and acting Senior Judge 💙 | Cohost
warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Cephla
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Saved a single frame somewhere (I can't quite remember) then a further 77 by adding in another zip in ruby 6. I really wanted to add one in ruby 5 and skip the moving spikes bit but the flying blob seems too big to fit between the single block and the spike wall, unfortunately. There were a couple other situations like this where there were mere pixels of spikes in the way of major improvements using zips but this was the best I was able to do https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638048228816605934
dr1ox1
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I have no experience with TASing and I do not know the etiquette here, but is it ok to come with suggestions? In my RTA practice I've played around with doing a squeeze-dash (Down + B) at frame 9846 (right before entering the room with the narrow gaps before ruby 4). It feels faster than what the current TAS does. I haven't used it in RTA runs yet because it's a bit difficult to time the jump after the narrow gap.
Samsara
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dr1ox1 wrote:
I have no experience with TASing and I do not know the etiquette here, but is it ok to come with suggestions? In my RTA practice I've played around with doing a squeeze-dash (Down + B) at frame 9846 (right before entering the room with the narrow gaps before ruby 4). It feels faster than what the current TAS does. I haven't used it in RTA runs yet because it's a bit difficult to time the jump after the narrow gap.
User movie #638050075925427342 Implemented, thanks for the tip! Also found another movement improvement on the way to ruby 6 (~frame 11350). Suggestions are definitely welcome. It's a very good thing when people collaborate!
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warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Cephla
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Also managed another 78 frame improvement by working out how to implement a zip in ruby 6 as well that gets from the pipe all the way to the room with the ruby. Unfortunately, this means we have to get the checkpoint in the room above since it's impossible to descend enough to get the one while zipping so the last used checkpoint is by ruby 5. The ruby room also desynced because of the blob clipping into the ceiling so had to redo that and I've tried as best I can to optimise it but I'm not all that confident there isn't room for improvement there. https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638050503793929175
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I saved 77 frames by abusing death 2 more times. The new trick consists in jumping over the checkpoint crystal without touching them, see if you can apply it anywhere else. https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638051436619404664 Also, are you ok with adding me as co-author as well?
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
Cephla
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I'm perfectly fine with having you as a co-author; I wouldn't have considered those route change to save any time but I guess here we are. I'll try to check the rest of the route to see if there are any other possible applications when I have the time
Samsara
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337 further frames of improvement, but not final: User movie #638051783024215006 Better checkpoint for the first deathwarp. Also found you can fast drop (or downward zip???) by disabling and re-enabling sticky. More testing needs to be done but I wanted to get an example file out there. EDIT: Haha oops whoops immediately improved the very end by 5 frames. Sure is me instantly proving myself correct when I said more testing needs to be done! EDIT2: Down another 113 246 frames with more fast drops, which is NOT in the above file. Still working, will upload a new userfile when I'm satisfied.
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warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
dr1ox1
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I get the fast drop to happen if I just activate sticky at the right frame before going over a edge. I also found that you can start horizontal zips while fastdropping.
LoganTheTASer
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this looks interesting
Samsara
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User movie #638051853156183167 -331 from my last userfile. I'm sure it can go lower, but the rest of the workbench is calling for me. EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCfPSrK1cYI EDIT2: DISREGARD THAT HERE'S 77 LESS FRAMES User movie #638051899695237035
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warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Alyosha
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At frame 1306, it's possible to make it by the 3 spikeballs without waiting. It seems like it's probably faster to get the first purple orb after you get the boost instead.
Samsara
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User movie #638051997912476031 -52. No wait on the spike balls and some other various movement optimizations. I'm gonna stay away from messing with the route further or else I will literally be TASing this game for the rest of my life.
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warmCabin wrote:
You shouldn't need a degree in computer science to get into this hobby.
Memory
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Samsara wrote:
I'm gonna stay away from messing with the route further or else I will literally be TASing this game for the rest of my life.
You say that like its a bad thing.
[16:36:31] <Mothrayas> I have to say this argument about robot drug usage is a lot more fun than whatever else we have been doing in the past two+ hours
[16:08:10] <BenLubar> a TAS is just the limit of a segmented speedrun as the segment length approaches zero
LoganTheTASer
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Memory wrote:
Samsara wrote:
I'm gonna stay away from messing with the route further or else I will literally be TASing this game for the rest of my life.
You say that like its a bad thing.
im pretty sure theyre just joking
Alyosha
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https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638052386718988242 Rough draft demonstrating that it is about 100 frames faster to get the previously first purple orb after getting boost ball. It may even be faster still to change things up and get more of these at the end of the run, once you can zip around.
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I saved 52 frames on the movie provided by Alyosha. User movie #638052456916377304 At this point I'd suggest the author of the submission to cancel and open a forum thread of this game, because we've got past beyond the original movie route and stuff.
my personal page - my YouTube channel - my GitHub - my Discord: thunderaxe31 <Masterjun> if you look at the "NES" in a weird angle, it actually clearly says "GBA"
Alyosha
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around frame 5750 you don't need to wait for the spike ball, can save another ~20 frames.
Cephla
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https://tasvideos.org/Forum/Topics/23751 Sounds like something else is about to happen so here's a thread and I'll cancel; this is crazy
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om, nom, nom... juicy!
LoganTheTASer
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Alyosha wrote:
around frame 5750 you don't need to wait for the spike ball, can save another ~20 frames.
i’ll try that if i can