Back when adelikat was TASing this game we were discussing possible categories for this game on IRC (more than 3 was frowned upon at the time). If I remember correctly, we came to an all-around satisfying conclusion that there needs to be a secret ending run, a best ending run, and a fastest non-secret ending run. Coincidentally the latter two ended up with the smallest overlap (A-B and B-A), so the current categories show pretty much the entire game. I still consider that to be the optimal option route-wise. Do note that in order to show off the other two endings, you can just branch the TAS at the second route choice and have that movie encoded and appended to the publication text as a bonus content. We have done that for a lot of other submissions, so it's not a problem.
Character-wise there is some merit in showing off other characters like you said. But similarly to the route choice, there is no need for such a huge overlap: one ending can be done with Ray + Sheena for a more traditional Contra experience, the other with Fang + Browny to show the more quirky characters, and the secret could be done with Fang solo or something.
This is all my opinion, so make of it what you will. This is one of my favorite Genesis games, and I'd love to see improvements you come up with.
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Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
But similarly to the route choice, there is no need for such a huge overlap: one ending can be done with Ray + Sheena for a more traditional Contra experience, the other with Fang + Browny to show the more quirky characters, and the secret could be done with Fang solo or something.
Because of too many Fang runs, I really want to show other characters. So he will appear only in double-player show. And adelikat's secret run is pretty pretty wonderful. No improvements can be found by me. If it was done by me, there would be longer time in that run, I guess.
Also, I have an idea to make it as an 100% run. So there should be all characters and all endings. Or this one may replace to some of current publications. The most unnecessary one of 3 publications is normal bad ending run, I think.
Link to video
Working on doing the Chase/Fight path with Ray and Sheena, which I feel fits because it takes you through an alien area. Have to redo a few battles to preserve my nuke for the (Un)manned robot.
effort on the first draft means less effort on any draft thereafter
- some loser
What would the category be? "No charge glitch"?
The path where Red Falcon is revived done on non-Japanese version will be very interesting since it resembles early Contra games.
Have you ever considered using the PAL release? The European release of this game received the most changes of all Probotector games. The cutscenes are much shorter in PAL version, especially on the Chase/Fight path since the intro of final stage is entirely removed.
What would the category be? "No charge glitch"?
The path where Red Falcon is revived done on non-Japanese version will be very interesting since it resembles early Contra games.
Have you ever considered using the PAL release? The European release of this game received the most changes of all Probotector games. The cutscenes are much shorter in PAL version, especially on the Chase/Fight path since the intro of final stage is entirely removed.
"Chase/Fight, 2 players", I would assume, since that's the name of the path.
Characters besides Fang do not have the charge glitch that Fang does.
I wouldn't do this on PAL. It runs at 50FPS and lacks content that other versions have aside from the robot graphic changes.
effort on the first draft means less effort on any draft thereafter
- some loser
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.
