(Link to video)
This is an improvement by 27.90 seconds of the currently published TAS for the game Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit (PlayStation).

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: BizHawk 2.8 (Settings: Memory card disabled, everything else is default settings)
  • BIOS : ps-30a.bin (SCPH-5501)
  • Aims: Fastest possible completion

Video

Comments

The routes stayed the same for the most part.
These are the general improvements:

Less wait time because of removed memory card

By removing the memory card a little bit of time was saved during the system boot.
The "No Memory Card Inserted" dialog also loads significantly faster than the "Do you want to save the current game?" dialog, which saves around 1.5 seconds after each level completion.

Faster obstacle skips

Most obstacle skips were optimized by:
  1. Getting closer to the obstacle before turning around for the first time (Sometimes done by stopping to hold RIGHT / LEFT for a few frames)
  2. Improved movement

Teleport via hiding spots

The hiding spots are meant to hide from stalkers (guys from which you steal items). But they can also be used to teleport a short distance which sometimes is faster than running. In some cases it only saves time when running in a specific direction (e.g. lifebelts in level 1), in other cases it depends on the first X-position that allows you to use the hiding spot (e.g. flower bush in level 6).
This trick was used in quite a few places to save a little bit of time. There was also a really cool time save in level 8 where a hiding spot is used to skip turning around after picking up the candle.

Faster climbing

Sections where you have to climb boxes, ladders, etc. were optimized with better timed jumps and helicopter usages.

Better jumps in skating levels

The jumps and routes in skating levels were improved a little bit by:
  1. Making sure that the maximum speed is used for as many frames as possible (e.g. when two jumps are required in short succession then it makes sense to first jump as late as possible and then jump a second time as early as possible, this way you can use the maximum speed before the first jump for as long as possible and then start accelerating after the second jump as early as possible to quickly reach the maximum speed again).
  2. Jumping as much as possible when skating on the ground is slower than moving in the air

Faster boss fights

The first boss fight (Level 5: The Greenhouse) was improved by getting a much better boss movement pattern. It was possible to manipulate the start pattern by holding X longer during the second last jump in level 2. Then the remaining movement of the plant was manipulated with the bomb explosion timings.
The final boss fight was also improved a lot with better movement and better enemy positions. There is only one small wait time because of enemys before the last hit, but that doesn't really lose time since the boss still has to run to the left platform before you can hit him again. The other hits could be done with pretty much no slowing down at all.

Other notes

Level 8: Dracula's Castle

It looks like the ghost that is used for the damage boost only moves around when you are close to its location. And the area above the candle seems to be close enough to make the ghost move, so I used the helicopter for a short moment to save around 10 frames of waiting time.

Comparison to previous TAS

Level name Old TAS time New TAS time Time saved
Level 1: The Luxitania 0'49"33 0'47"88 0'01"45
Level 2: The Railway Line 0'59"46 0'59"13 0'00"33
Level 3: The Construction Site, Part 1 1'01"94 0'59"59 0'02"35
Level 4: Egypt 1'02"00 1'00"65 0'01"35
Level 5: The Greenhouse 0'13"14 0'12"73 0'00"41
Level 6: The Stone Age 0'37"12 0'36"00 0'01"12
Level 7: The Ice Rink 0'58"57 0'57"91 0'00"66
Level 8: Dracula's Castle 1'05"50 1'04"54 0'00"96
Level 9: The Dinosaur 0'04"25 0'04"02 0'00"23
Level 10: The Construction Site, Part 2 0'59"16 0'58"77 0'00"39
Level 11: The Gangster's Lair 0'46"26 0'46"06 0'00"20
Level 12: The Attic 0'31"35 0'29"00 0'02"35
Total - - 0'11"80
Note: The level 5 time from the old TAS was only estimated, the record screen says 0'11"94, but this is a side effect of pausing the game (timer stops but bomb respawns still continue normally). There were 72 pause frames in the old TAS, so I added 1.20 seconds to the time.

Other notes not related to the TAS content

I get an error message when the bk2 movie end is reached: "The movie is currently missing a cycle count. Save the movie to update to the current cycle count (38298837110).". I tried using "File > Movie > Save Movie" but still got the same error message. Not sure if this is a problem, the movie is still played back without problems.

ThunderAxe31: Claiming for judging.
ThunderAxe31: File replaced for adding the CycleCount value, and accepting as improvement of the current publication.
fsvgm777: Processing.

TASVideoAgent
They/Them
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Posts: 14743
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #7938: wesen's PSX Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit in 18:50.80
adelikat
He/Him
Emulator Coder, Expert player, Site Developer, Site Owner (3579)
Joined: 11/3/2004
Posts: 4736
Location: Tennessee
Wow, nice improvements! I really enjoyed watching this, I thought the use of the hiding spots for a position boost was clever. I can't believe how quickly you were able to glitch through some of those barriers too. Yes vote from me.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
notpsx
They/Them
Joined: 11/26/2022
Posts: 7
Location: Shadow Moses
Very nice improvement, enjoyed every second of it! Easy yes vote from me:))
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
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Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14743
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. ---- [5073] PSX Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit by wesen in 18:50.80