Segapede is a platformer game pitched in 1993 and scrapped in 1994. In 2022, a one level demo build was released by Hidden Palace, which is what is being TASed.
This TAS is co-authored by me, Induviel, and Spikestuff. I did the general routing and the initial input up until touching the gem, and Spikestuff did the blind section after the gem warp and the early input end strat.
For my section, it's just a beeline to the gem, where you start by taking the top path while getting the trail segment for speed, and make your way down to the lower trails with some specific jumps.
To optimize this section, I really just checked every frame for frames where slowing down or jumping could be faster, for whatever reason, the change the approach for each jump until no more frames are saved, so nothing fancy.
Some giveaways from that testing are that, being in the air loses speed, so finding a jump that accomplishes the same thing but gives less airtime should be the fastest. There's sections of tracks that are bumpy, and might either lose speed or create lag, so jumping over these sections is beneficial, and trail segments touching the tracks can generate lag, which is very apparent if you get more than one trail segments, so getting the trail segment to not touch the track is beneficial.
The method of optimization I used was basic, tho hopefully I was throrough enough not to miss anything.
Three feasible routes and different methods to deal with but one had a clear direction when you look at the full map as Induviel showcases here.
The three routes were interesting.
You had the top route, which was just a brute force, you don't really explore or learn anything about the demo, but you learn about the movement upgrade that Zipp can take in the single case. You can also learn a bit of lag management by dialing in how close to the ground you need to be and not fly around.
The second route by Induviel is rather interesting when the full map isn't looked at.
You take the gem at the bottom of the map to zip across and then take the gem nearest to you at that instance to end up towards the end of the level, less work by you to manage things, but also a timesave compared to a brute force.
This version missed a lil slowing of momentum to get on the gem faster to travel across the map sooner which I did clean up, but it was getting somewhere.
And we're at this version. Where that second gem is vital, and it's quicker to b-line to that gem and not going towards that bottom-most gem.
With the newer knowledge of stopping sooner on that gem, a simple sprint to the flag is all that's needed. Almost.
During the time where I created my quick "off the shelf" input to now there was one thing that was consistent, Zipp's able to in certain cases can be launched when jumping, meaning you can end that input earlier, but with such a simple hop, skip and a jump where would that be here? Just a little bit of a higher spot, a hole in the wall.
This hole in the wall would lead you to the right furthest gem, but you're able to enter its section from under the ground, and then you can do a jump to the flag, but you have to be later as a simple jump would just end on the platform before the end, but there is that possibility of launching Zipp into that flag and end the demo, without the need for input and that's what was done.
When you gather all the information you can possibly get out of a game and this is the result, I think it actually showcases what a TAS is.
Spending that time on a title no matter how long or short it is, it would always be better to take your time than to produce something that you believe is fast.
And even this kind of collaboration that I had with Induviel with this back and forth where what I basically did was clean an area once for better transitioning from a to b, to having ending input used in the same vain as my "off the shelf" input where a launching jump is used, the smallest optimizations, in that oven can go a ways.
Special Thanks.
- Without Mastered Realm's full map many route options wouldn't have been available and for that we're greatful.
nymx: Claiming for judging.
