I briefly browsed and it seems there are no two-player Atari TAS on this website yet. I'm not sure if this is the first one.

This game has 26 levels (A-Z). After completing level Z, the game loops back to level A. However, the game only has 22 designed maps. The first 16 levels (A-P) and the last 6 levels (U-Z) have fixed maps. Level 17 (Q) randomly selects one map from the first 4 (A-D); level 18 (R) randomly selects from maps 5-8 (E-H); level 19 (S) randomly selects from maps 9-12 (I-L); level 20 (T) randomly selects from maps 13-16 (M-P).

In advanced difficulty, each level has 3 random layouts. In different layouts, keys, exits, locked doors, various items and enemy spawn points appear at different locations. Therefore, luck manipulation is crucial throughout the TAS process to ensure each level has the most ideal map layout.

There are 5 types of enemies, ranked from strongest to weakest: Grim Reaper (16 damage), Wizard (8), Wraith (6), Skeleton (4), and Zombie (2). In advanced difficulty, enemy spawn points have 2 types: overground spawner (black pyramid shape that can be destroyed by shooting, blocks player movement, only spawns Grim Reapers) and underground spawner (ladder-like shape that cannot be destroyed, blocks enemy movement but not players, can spawn any enemy except Zombies). Even with the same map layout, spawn points may randomly be either type, requiring careful luck manipulation.

In advanced difficulty, each player starts with 160 energy points. Collecting bonus items (e.g., apples, bread) gives +32 energy. Each level start deducts 1 energy, and every 512 frames deducts 1 more energy during gameplay. Touching enemies or traps also reduces energy (see enemy damage values above). Normal traps deduct 64 energy, advanced traps deduct 96. When energy drops below 1, the player dies and must be revived by the other player shooting a heart, restoring 117 energy.

Various items exist (pistols increase firing rate, swords increase damage, shields halve enemy damage, bombs kill all on-screen enemies, etc.), but for speedrunning we only collected swords and bombs. All items except keys are lost upon death (keys transfer to the other player).

Each level has 16 frame rule that help manipulate luck for the next level without affecting completion speed.

This is the biggest challenge in the TAS: First, there is the map's luck control. On one hand, each level must ensure the shortest possible path among the 3 randomly arranged layouts‌. On the other hand, at certain key positions, it is necessary to confirm whether enemy spawn points are overground spawners or underground spawners‌. Sometimes, we prefer overground spawners, which can be destroyed by shooting to reduce enemy generation; other times, underground spawners are desired to allow players to pass through quickly‌. For levels 17-20, the fastest map must also be selected from 4 available options‌. Next, there's the enemy spawn luck control.‌ In reality, anyone who has actually played this game will find that enemy spawning is a major headache. The game spawns a large number of enemies, causing significant lag. At the start of each level, a fixed number of enemies are loaded, with their levels being random. In some levels, it's necessary to ensure they are as low-level as possible. Enemy movement paths are also affected by the player's actions. ‌In the first 16 levels‌, you can influence random enemy spawns by controlling the timing of screen scrolling. However, ‌from level 17 onward‌, this trick no longer works—you can only control the ‌underground spawner‌ to produce lower-level enemies. This difference is clearly noticeable when comparing level‌ ‌L and level ‌S‌.

Since players cannot move while shooting, the best way is to avoid enemies rather than kill them. For enemies that cannot be avoided, either kill them within the frame rules allowed, or use luck control to collide with the lowest level enemy to lose less energy. During the entire TAS process, 2P died twice, saving more time. Among them, in level F, let 2P use the last 1 point of energy to hit the trap that requires 96 points of energy consumption, and then immediately revive. At V level, an enemy is attracted into a narrow passage. After obtaining the key, 2P collides with the enemy and dies, passing the key to 1P, saving a lot of time for 2P to return.

In the map layout of certain levels, some levels may have keys that can be cleared without the need to open the door. This allows players to keep the keys and use them in levels where the keys are placed far away for faster clearance.

In fact, this game is not a popular game, and the overall performance of TAS is not particularly good. This TAS took us about a month's time. For this game, luck control is very important, which also means that TAS's achievements are difficult to achieve in actual combat. For precise control of energy values, retention and use of keys, and control of enemy RNGs, these are all manifestations of the entire TAS strategy. Of course, I am very certain that for such a game with a huge element of luck, there is definitely room for improvement. For example, in level D, if 1P were to crash into a trap that consumes 64 points of energy, it should make this level 16 frames faster, but we are not sure if the final energy is enough. Is there any better luck value for levels like W and Y with a large number of enemies. Unfortunately, a single change can have a ripple effect, and any modification in TAS could mean that all subsequent work needs to be redone. So, leave more possibilities for the future.

nymx: Claiming for judging.

nymx: Wow, the capabilities of the Atari 7800 are very impressive. It almost seems like I am looking at a NES game. This game is also impressive and was a fun little watch. It was pretty straight forward, and certainly doesn't seem to have any obvious flaws. The only thing that would seem to be an issue for optimization, is having to control both players to allow less restriction towards collecting items...but I get it. All looks well. Congratulations on this effort, as you have destroyed any speedruns that I have found. (None to be found for advanced difficulty though).

Accepting to Standard as the submitted branch of "2 Players, Advanced".

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