(Link to video)
This is a High-Scoring TAS of KLAX (Version 6), the Arcade version specifically.
This TAS is played on default settings which are Normal difficulty with Ramping (also known as Rank by the greater arcade community) turned on. No warps are used in any way. This game is not possible to 1CC on these settings without warps as the luck needed and rank gets completely unmanageable by about stage 18.
I originally wanted to introduce a restriction to myself to not allow the same pattern to be executed twice in a row, but due to the rapidly increasing difficulty and at times there just not being enough frames to manipulate the RNG for the right tiles, I dropped the restriction at around stage 15.
As a result, this TAS is not a "perfect" score, as such a thing is impossible anyway. A true perfect score would be around the 90,000,000 point range but a handful of stages are not possible to manipulate the tiles correctly to ensure a 9x90,000 chain.
However, in this TAS' current state it beats the top MAME score by almost 70 million points and beats the highest recorded Japanese score by 65 million points.
This is improvable, without a doubt but I am satisfied with this project.

feos: Fixed platform (the parser needs it to be in .ltm annotations, not submission description).

feos: Claiming for judging.
feos: Whether this movie can be done faster depends on how much room is needed per level for optimal manipulation and routing. A movie that reaches the same or higher score sooner will obsolete this run, which looks solid enough even if improvable in some areas.
In the future, please use correct framerate for MAME in libTAS. Even though MAME applies forced VSync that libTAS simulated on a high level, and it's possible to sync the same movie on actual MAME without emulation problems, using the correct framerate removes fake lag frames in libTAS and overall results in proper representation of a given machine.
Trimming excessive input at the end and accepting.

EZGames69: Processing...

TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #7927: PearlASE's Arcade Klax "maximum score" in 2:05:24.60
Joined: 11/20/2007
Posts: 21
I'm a big fan of this game (I grew up on its C64 port), so I'm biased, but this was amazing to watch. The end of wave #78 with the huge pile of drops would be a great frame. What on earth was going on in wave 100 with the out-of-bounds drop spaces? Is that something that can only happen on that wave, or was it something fun you were saving until the end? Knowing how brutal the tiles can be, the luck manipulation seems impressive. Sidenote: Seeing that drops and vertical-klaxes were necessary, even in a TAS, made me feel better about my struggles with this game as a human-player.
Twisted_Eye
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i dunno that final score screen kinda suspicious
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pachunka wrote:
I'm a big fan of this game (I grew up on its C64 port), so I'm biased, but this was amazing to watch. The end of wave #78 with the huge pile of drops would be a great frame. What on earth was going on in wave 100 with the out-of-bounds drop spaces? Is that something that can only happen on that wave, or was it something fun you were saving until the end? Knowing how brutal the tiles can be, the luck manipulation seems impressive. Sidenote: Seeing that drops and vertical-klaxes were necessary, even in a TAS, made me feel better about my struggles with this game as a human-player.
You can place tiles out of bounds as seen on 100 on any wave, but they are permanently onscreen until the run is over, hence why I opted to make that build on wave 100. Also, because wave 100 is permanently on minimum rank which gave me time to build the scoring pattern as well as the funny. The RNG manipulation was pretty extreme at times, I only have 6 inputs to use to manip (directions, button 1, coin) and sometimes there just is not enough frames to get the color I'd want!
Twisted Eye wrote:
i dunno that final score screen kinda suspicious
:)
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Did you configure mame according to https://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MAME? I can't get this run to sync at all (mame 0.220, libTAS 1.4.4, klax ROM from 0.220 set).
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.
Player (203)
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feos wrote:
Did you configure mame according to https://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/MAME? I can't get this run to sync at all (mame 0.220, libTAS 1.4.4, klax ROM from 0.220 set).
On my older VM, I ensured that the configuration matched the link above, let me try to re-download the movie file and get it working.
Player (203)
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Redownloaded the game, the ltm file and mame 220 on my new VM. The playback still syncs (atleast until frame 250,000 when i stopped) with everything set to default on mame (the .mame folder being removed) If yours is desyncing early on, then it's an NVRAM issue.
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klax is wack
Published TASes: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12 Please consider voting for me as Rookie TASer Of 2023 - Voting is in December 2023 My rule is quality TASes over quantity TASes... unless I'm bored.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1234)
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Sometimes you make the pieces slide down quickly, and sometimes you wait for them to arrive at normal speed. Why wait? Also, how exactly do you manipulate luck?
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.
Player (203)
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feos wrote:
Sometimes you make the pieces slide down quickly, and sometimes you wait for them to arrive at normal speed. Why wait? Also, how exactly do you manipulate luck?
The piece speed differences are used in luck manipulation. Luck is manipulated by player 1's inputs (and inserting a coin) this shuffles the rng seed that causes the tiles to spawn as certain colors. Youll see me wiggle around or stand still to force the colors I aim for. If I were to play for full speed, I wouldnt be able to manipulate the pieces I like, especially late game. The pieces are impossible to catch at max rank at high speeds, in which you see me not speeding up at all unless I use it to intentionally finish a tile wave. Also, I wish it gave notifications on the website for replies on this threads. If you have any other questions, Feos, just let me know
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PearlASE wrote:
If I were to play for full speed, I wouldnt be able to manipulate the pieces I like, especially late game. The pieces are impossible to catch at max rank at high speeds, in which you see me not speeding up at all unless I use it to intentionally finish a tile wave.
Are there instances where the pieces could be sped up without compromising manipulation and ability to catch? Or places where manipulation is yielding a desired result and the rest could be sped up?
PearlASE wrote:
Also, I wish it gave notifications on the website for replies on this threads
It sends an email if you "ring the bell" on a thread.
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.
Player (203)
Joined: 12/5/2022
Posts: 20
Location: Canada
feos wrote:
PearlASE wrote:
If I were to play for full speed, I wouldnt be able to manipulate the pieces I like, especially late game. The pieces are impossible to catch at max rank at high speeds, in which you see me not speeding up at all unless I use it to intentionally finish a tile wave.
Are there instances where the pieces could be sped up without compromising manipulation and ability to catch? Or places where manipulation is yielding a desired result and the rest could be sped up?
PearlASE wrote:
Also, I wish it gave notifications on the website for replies on this threads
It sends an email if you "ring the bell" on a thread.
Basically, the early bits of each wave have the possibility to be sped up more than shown here (but i often checked speedup for rng seeding, used it when needed) but after the first 35 seconds or so of each wave, it becomes unmanageable. The first few stages could have been sped up.
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. ---- [5079] Arcade Klax "maximum score" by PearlASE in 2:05:24.60
Player (8)
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I'm trying to tasing the PC engine port of klax. If you don't mind, could you tell me the techniques and glitches you used in this movie? I thought maybe I could use a PC engine port. (The text was translated by Google Translate, so it may be difficult to understand or unnatural.)
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excite wrote:
I'm trying to tasing the PC engine port of klax. If you don't mind, could you tell me the techniques and glitches you used in this movie? I thought maybe I could use a PC engine port. (The text was translated by Google Translate, so it may be difficult to understand or unnatural.)
For the most part, I play the game as Vanilla as possible, as the goal is to score as high as possible; I focus more on specific tile patterns for higher scores. The only glitch I use is at Wave 100, to place tiles out of bounds, which has no purpose in a score or speed oriented TAS. "H Pattern" - Good for diagonals. Score : 640,000 X = Tiles that are useless O = Initial klax A = Primary scoring tiles. B = Other scoring W = Wild Tile specific O A A A A _ A X B B A A B B O A A A A O B B A X B B "Basic" - All around pattern used. Score : 810,000 O A A _ A A A A A A A A O O O O A A O A A A A O A A "???" - Something that happened on wave 70. Score : 855,000 O W A _ A A W W W W A A O O O O A A X A A W A O W A