Astra is a fast paced PICO-8 platformer. The game features an optional collectible called stardust, sprinkled all throughout every level. Collecting certain amounts of stardust lights up the stars on the constellation at the end of the game, with the whole thing being lit up if all dust is collected, so naturally I wanted to see how much dust could be avoided.
Game objectives
- Avoid dust at all costs
- Try to go somewhat fast
I believe most of the base game mechanics are pretty self explanatory, so I'll only go over the relevant speed stuff.
Slides & Jumps
Sliding is the fastest way to move horizontally, but jumping out of a slide does a shorter jump, one that is too short to make most gaps. After a slide ends, there are still 4 frames where jumping will produce a slide jump rather than a regular one, so at times it's best to cut the slide early and walk for 4 frames before jumping.
While stopping the slide by pressing the slide button instantly puts Astra at walking speed, jumping will gradually cause her speed to decrease. Jumping after landing will produce a regular height jump, but the horizontal speed will keep decreasing at the normal rate, rather than instantly dropping to walking speed. If the terrain allows, jumping is the best way to go from a slide to a regular size jump.
Glide Cancels
The first glide Astra does in a jump will set her vertical speed to a predetermined value (probably 0?). This is useful for cutting jumps short and getting to the ground faster to start sliding again.
Bonk Jumps
Sliding into a wall will cause Astra to bonk and get knocked back. Doing a jump during the knockback from the bonk allows her to gain extra height. This allows for some dev-intended(?) skips and general movement optimizations.
Optimization
This TAS was primarily made to see how low the dust count could go, as well as to learn about the game mechanics. As such, speed wasn't a big concern which can be pretty clearly seen especially during the early levels. I was figuring out tech as I went with intentions of going back later and redoing the some of the levels to be more optimal. Unfortunately as it turns out the game is not very sync friendly, which pretty much destroyed my plans unless I wanted to redo the entire run from scratch. While definitely not perfect, I'm still fairly proud of the optimization I did manage to achieve on my first pass and hope it's good enough to be accepted, though I understand if it's not.
ikuyo: Claiming for judging.
ikuyo: Hey rythin, amazing work! This was really fun to watch and judge. Really smart usage of all your movement options.
Accepting to Alternative.
