(Link to video)
Rampart was the OG tower defense game, released for several older consoles. The game was primarily known for its 2/3 player mode, where the singleplayer contained only 7 levels. However, the SNES version of the game contained an extensive singleplayer campaign with just under 50 levels. The game follows a 3-phase system: battle > repair > place cannons > battle. Failing to build a wall around a castle results in losing a life, where destroying all enemy ships completes the level.
In this TAS, I complete the game in Super mode (larger maps, more cannon types, map obstacles), on Veteran maps (larger and more awkwardly shaped maps), and on Tough difficulty (less build time, more map obstacles, ships move very fast and sporadically). This run, while fast, does not aim for speed. Placing a piece, moving the camera, and capturing land all generate lag frames and extend the game's timer, but I still do them. It would be fastest to do almost nothing during the build phases, and that would be boring (my projected fastest time with ideal lag reduction would be somewhere around 25 minutes).
  • Playaround - contains major speed/entertainment tradeoffs
  • Plays on hardest difficulty
  • Manipulates luck
Ships move very fast and at random. I have tried my best to manipulate them into moving the way I want, but you can see me struggle with this and even miss some shots in the later levels. You'll successfully manipulate one, and then you'll shoot at another ship and mess up the manipulation, making the ship move differently and causing a miss. Speaking of ships, some will focus only on firing the cannon at your walls, some will dock at your shore and release grunts (the little cannons on wheels), and the red ships will move sporadically and fire enhanced cannonballs, creating fire squares that cannot be built on for several rounds.
Depending on how many castles you've surrounded, you receive more cannons. The default cannon is the best for singleplayer, but there's also an enhanced cannon (costs the same as 3 normal cannons but only deals 2 damage a shot, not worth it in singleplayer) and a propaganda blimp (turns a ship to your side, still needs to be destroyed to win the level).
Surrounding a body of water will convert it into land. This might be a bug. Placing a wall on a gold square will turn it into a grunt. I'm sure this one's a bug. Super mode starts on level 2 for some reason.
Levels with ships will always start with the same number of them and cannot be manipulated. However, you CAN manipulate your next piece in the building phase by stalling the placement of your current piece by any number of frames. I use this a lot.
  • Level 2: destroy all enemy ships.
  • Level 3: destroy the enemy barge. All cannons on it need to be destroyed for it to sink.
  • Level 4: be greedy - surround as much land as you can to get more score.
  • Level 5, 6: destroy all enemy ships.
  • Level 7: defeat the kraken - make it enter the water 12 times to win. It doesn't matter how many times you hit it at once, it will always enter the water when hit.
  • Level 8: be greedy.
  • Level 9, 10, 11: destroy all enemy ships.
  • Level 12: be greedy. I wanted to take some creative liberty here, hopefully you can actually tell what I drew.
  • Level 13, 14, 15: destroy all enemy ships.
  • Level 16: destroy the boss ship. From what I can tell, any damage to it is purely cosmetic and it needs to be hit 25 times to go down.
EDIT: I messed around with the pre-game settings, and it seems that playing on Super mode with Recruit maps (instead of Veteran) starts you on level 1, and then goes to the levels shown here. Meaning that the only difference between recruit and veteran super maps is that veteran skips the first one. Thankfully the level only has 4 enemy ships to start, meaning it would be over in a single battle phase and not move onto the building phase (so you aren't missing any ultra sick speed building on it). In case you're curious, here's what level 1 looks like:

Memory: Claiming for judging.
Memory: I actually dig this TAS. The building phases have some good creativity in them and even in some of the shooting phases there were some fun leading shots. The audience enjoyed it too.
Accepting to Moons.

EZGames69: Processing...

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #7335: Natetheman223's SNES Rampart "Playaround" in 30:24.83
Editor, Experienced player (608)
Joined: 11/8/2010
Posts: 4012
That was really funny throughout! It looked like you pushed wall building to the limit, covering as much as possible and having plenty of time to play around. The foreknowledge of where ships and especially the Kraken would be led to surprising moments and combos. And yes, I could tell what you drew in level 12; I think every NES fan will appreciate it. Great playaround, on par with Genisto's SMB3! Yes vote! I suggest a screenshot in level 13, around 21:41 in the encode, where a large amount of cannon fire is heading toward one little ship. And your main castle and cannons are in view, unlike similar moments in other levels.
BigBoct
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Location: Tiffin/Republic, OH
I played this game a ton growing up and seeing the absolute mockery you have made of it was so cathartic. I made it past the kraken stage, but that was it. Yes vote.
Previous Name: boct1584
CoolHandMike
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Joined: 3/9/2019
Posts: 582
To be honest it was a bit difficult to watch, because I am so unfamiliar with the game. However based on the strats and description I think anyone passingly familiar with the game would like it a lot.
discord: CoolHandMike#0352
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [4615] SNES Rampart "playaround" by Natetheman223 in 30:24.83
Editor, Active player (391)
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Posts: 186
Note on consistency, this is the only publication that has the branch "Playaround" rather than "playaround".
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Location: RU
Fixed.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.