Jewel Grab (Compute's Gazette)

Outwit roomfuls of smart robots to nab precious gems in this challenging arcade-style game.
No one knows who built the mine that was recently discovered on the far side of the moon. But frankly, you're not interested in the archaeological significance of the find. You've been hired by the MegaBux Corporation to do what two previous expeditions have failed to do--bring back the loot.
The article for this game can be found on page 50 of Compute's Gazette Issue 67 (January 1989)

Why TAS This Game?

The continuation of TASing games from my all-time favorite magazine, Compute's Gazette. This makes my 77th TAS from this series.
This is an interesting situation. I had purchased the previous magazine, but had missed this one. I really hate it, because this game was actually a fantastic addition to the series.

Game Difficulty and Ending

I am playing this game on the hardest difficulty, which is basically the speed of the game. As for the ending, it is very clear...you beat the unique 6 levels, over 4 loops...and it tells you, "You win!".

Effort In TASing (Not BOTed)

I have been looking at this game for probably 2 months. For the past 2 weeks though, I have buckled down and decided to get this thing done. I spent every night, hoping it was all done...only to find some new technique that made it faster. I restarted this TAS 6 times, and the final outcome is 14.5 seconds faster than the first run-through that I made.

Human Comparison

This run gives you an excellent idea on the human ability to play this. It is played on the lowest difficulty setting.

DrD2k9: Claiming for judging.
DrD2k9: As a fan of the Jumpman series, this game was interesting to look at; especially considering the added mechanic of moving girders/ladders. Nothing in this looks obviously sub-optimal; and while I'd love to scrutinize this for other routing possibilities, I simply don't have the time to currently. Maybe someday I'll come back and work this game on my own. For now, Accepting.

nymx: I'm requesting a delay to clean up something that I found. Can you set this to delayed?
DrD2k9: Updating movie with a 37 frame improvement. Re-accepting.

despoa: Processing...


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15533
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #9148: nymx's C64 Jewel Grab in 02:56.51
Patashu
He/Him
Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4042
This is such a cool premise for a game. It's remininscent of Lode Runner, but you can use your inventory to freely re-arrange the floor tiles of the world. I feel like you could expand this idea into a full length game by playing with it more.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
nymx
He/Him
Editor, Judge, Expert player (2228)
Joined: 11/14/2014
Posts: 927
Location: South Pole, True Land Down Under
Once again, I forgot to supply my comparison on my progress throughout this entire TASing process. Here is a side-by-side view of my first full run-through vs my final version. Link to video
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
nymx
He/Him
Editor, Judge, Expert player (2228)
Joined: 11/14/2014
Posts: 927
Location: South Pole, True Land Down Under
Here is a 37 frame improvement, after finding a mistake on the last screen. https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638574695781897418
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
nymx
He/Him
Editor, Judge, Expert player (2228)
Joined: 11/14/2014
Posts: 927
Location: South Pole, True Land Down Under
Fyi: Just letting you, if i wasnt' clear. This can be taken out of delayed status.
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence. ---- SOYZA: Are you playing a game? NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing. SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real? ---- Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes? Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :) ---- BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15533
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [6070] C64 Jewel Grab by nymx in 02:56.51