The Mutant Virus: Crisis in a Computer World
You are Computer Master Debugger Ron Trainer and you've been called in from your vacation to handle the viruses that have infected the 5 most critical areas of the CPI.
Game objectives
- Emulator used: Bizhawk 2.3.2
- Eradicate the viruses in each of 5 areas
- Takes damage to save time
Controls
- A - Fire
- B - Thrust
- A + B - Use CM
- Up + B - HyperThrust
- Down + B - SpeedBrake
- Left & Right - Rotate
- select - Change Weapons
- start - Pause
Weapons
- SG - Super Gun - This weapon detonates on the first enemy virus it encounters, and is one of several items. It will also bounce off of walls.
- AU - Automatic - This weapon detonates on the first virus of ant kind it encounters.
- LF - Long Fuse - This weapon detonates at a fixed distance.
- SF - Short Fuse - This weapon detonates at a shorter fixed distance.
- CM - Counter Measures - This allows you to use one of several items you can pick up.
Items
ES - Enhancement Subroutines
- Red 0 - Super Gun
- Red 1 - Super Gun
- Purple 0 - Power Shield
- Purple 1 - Super Gun
CM - Counter Measures
- Blue 0 - automatically spawn vaccinated cells on both left diagonals
- Blue 1 - automatically spawn vaccinated cells on both right diagonals
- Green 0 - automatically spawn vaccinated cells vertically
- Green 1 - automatically spawn vaccinated cells horizontally
Gameplay
The game is made up of 5 stages. Each stage is made up of a number of rooms as shown on the mini map. The idea is to fully vaccinate and convert each room to eradicate the virus threat for that stage.
Each room has a starting configuration of viruses. Once the room has loaded the viruses start to spread. Viruses spread according to the rules of
Conway's game of life.
Strategies
For RTA play the cycles of the viruses are fast enough that they are effectively random. For TAS on the other hand we can make sure to only bother hitting viruses that will really be effective. Hitting a virus that will die in a few frames and doesn't affect new spawns is just a waste of time. Being effective with shots is the primary source of speed in this TAS.
It is worth noting that the last two stages have some proximity based turrets and the shots leave viruses in their wake. Avoiding triggering these can be pretty important.
Tricks
The only real trick is the abuse of the corners. When walls meet at a corner you can shoot through if aligned properly. This includes the room entrances, so it is possible to screen wrap the shot. This is really only used in a couple of places in this run.
Stages
Stage 1 - Communication
This first stage is pretty easy. The 4th room is the only one with a significant group of starting viruses. Some strategic shots get us through pretty quickly.
Stage 2 - Security
Stage 2 introduces us to CMs. There is a cooldown to worry about after you use it before you can move again. I use one in a room that starts with a lot of viruses, then another in the last room. There is one half-tile virus spawner in this room that stays solid unlike the others in the game. Regular shots don't work on that tile, so as far as I can tell a CM is required.
Stage 3 - Power
Stage 3 introduces us to the Super Gun which is pretty overpowered. There are times where it makes sense to change weapons to get better results, but also you have to drop the Super Gun to pick up a CM, so that is an important part of the routing.
Stage 4 - Memory
The 3rd room I visit I use a CM, there are 2 virus spawners so neutralizing one is pretty helpful. In the 5th room there is a CM I can't avoid, but I use the bounce off the wall to switch back. The 6th room has 2 spawners and no CM, and it isn't wort backtracking or losing the Super Gun I don't think. I do a screen wrap shot at the end of the room that actually saved a cycle just barely.
Stage 5 - CPU
I use one CM before I grab the super Gun, and a second because i can regrab the Super Gun right away. In the 3rd room i shoot through a corner gap in the walls. I didn't expect to death abuse in this run, but I actually checked into i in the 6th room. I grab and use and use a CM, then backtrack for the Super Gun. The respawn point is right next to the item, but with the long animation the death is still slightly slower.
Improvements
I did quite a bit of scripting to find advantageous and effective shots, but the set of possibilities is pretty large. I'd be surprised if there are no improvements at all, but I don't know of anything I've left out. With the rules by which the viruses spread it is possible that individual rooms could be improved and the rest would sync, but it isn't something I tested.
Thanks to:
- my Twitch chat for the ideas and encouragement
- The TASMania team
Screenshots:
431, 2182, 13363, 20439, 44119, 46060, 46617
ThunderAxe31: Optimization seems good, but I can't say the same for the entertaining side, as there were few, mixed reactions. Accepting for Vault.
