User Files from CoolKirby

Demonstrates a clip originally mentioned by BoredOfYou. Found by accident after starting the game and have not been able to set it up again. However, once I got Jimmy in a clipping state I was able to easily do it a second time, as shown.

Also shows walking on a thin ceiling beam and jumping to angle Jimmy while not falling off like sidestepping would do.

The other phone box's cutscene, which moves you but lets keep your height if you immediately press Esc, clips your head into the ceiling, so you can now escape the room's bounds by jumping. There's nothing to find OoB without your jetpack, Rocket Ship, or other flying equipment, though. Seems like you can fall for quite a while, though I haven't waited to see if Jimmy lands, wraps around, or is just stuck on the lowest height value but still doing a falling animation.

Use this verification movie, this XML, and this CONF to play back. Unfortunately, due to apparently specific intro timing, I haven't been able to resync this to any other verification input or HDD after days of effort, despite it running laggy on 250k cycles and 48MB RAM. These tricks wouldn't be used here in an any% anyway, but could apply elsewhere if lightning strikes again for this clip.

Encode of the important part:

For W95 clip glitch and possibly future input files. S3 Trio 64 doesn't get past the intro, so Vision 968 was used instead.

You can change the names, but it might complain the hash doesn't match anymore.

Near the end of a Windows 3.x installer, a Program Group will be generated and appear onscreen containing a shortcut to your new software. If you align CPU cycles with frame boundaries just right, you can launch the highlighted shortcut before Setup finishes.

While this looks significant at first, it merely delays Setup from completing until you've spent around a half second in the bridge designer. Once it catches up, it briefly freezes WPBD and switches the window back to Setup, losing all 3 frames you saved and then some. I have doubts a judge would allow this anyway, considering we start the game before Setup has technically finished, even if it really just had to load the success screen.

Part of the fun is building a bridge that fails spectacularly. So how about several?

Also demonstrates the 2nd fastest (by 0.014 second) setup by launching the installer through WinFile,exe, W3.11's File Manager.

This run demonstrates:

Needs the Windows 3.11 HDD and this ISO containing the free installer, in a multi-disk bundle XML.

~25-second BOWEP (1994) setup on Windows 3.11 in BizHawk. This installs SB16's proper MIDI drivers for Chip's Challenge and sets options for it, Rodent's Revenge, TetraVex, and Tetris, ideal for starting a TAS on those. All other games can use the shorter verification if desired.

Make an XML like this one with 1) a Win3.1 .hdd after following its tab's instructions, 2) the SoundBlaster 16 driver floppy install.IMA, and 3) the BOWEP .img matching these hashes.

What this input does:

Uses the 1994 preset as this pack was released that year, regardless of when the games themselves first released. This userfile can probably stay uncataloged as a general tool for all 13 games.

Tips:

If any options are inadequate, another verification file can always be made later.

Installs the 13 games and official SB16 MIDI drivers for Chip's Challenge.

For my next trick... while the game window loads in, the tile with 9 on top gets dragged out of bounds to an unreachable spot. Apparently left of the game window where its X and maybe even Y positions would be negative.

Makes the puzzle unwinnable, unless RNG lets you bring it back by asking for a Hint. Move pieces around to get good Hint RNG, since it depends on your puzzle progress.

Needs this verification input played back first.

Have the game solve the puzzle for you. 8 frames faster than solving it yourself, but it's cheating. No ending plays after this.

This is fast because the Game menu at the top, like many Win3.11 menus, has keyboard shortcuts for specific choices, with the shortcut letter underlined. In the Game menu, High Scores has the S key as a shortcut and Solve has V. For TetraVex at least, you need to have the menu open already to be able to press them.

Needs this verification input played back first.

Installs Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack, with 2x2 grid size for TetraVex and no extra setup for the rest. See this one for Chip with the shorter FMSynth install. See this alternative for extra setup for Chip, Rodent, TetraVex 6x6, and Tetris.

Follow the Windows 3.11 instructions, then put the .hdd and BOWEP .img in a Multi-disk bundle or use this premade one.

What this verification input does:

Uses the 1994 preset as this pack was released that year, regardless of when the games themselves first released. This userfile can probably stay uncataloged as a general tool for all 13 games.

Tips:

If any options are inadequate, another verification file can always be made later.

Uses a W3.11 .hdd and the BOWEP floppy.

Use the old BOWEP verification movie* to set up the HDD, then run that HDD directly for playback. Follows the WR route.

Framerate set to 60 FPS, a multiple of 20, for a game that internally ticks at 20 FPS. Very similar to the time of the 70 FPS test, and with more natural and forgiving timing for turning corners, similar to playing the game unemulated.

Use the old BOWEP verification movie* to set up the HDD, then run that HDD directly for playback.

70 FPS (DOSBox-x core default) for a game that actually internally runs at 20 FPS. Because of this, TASing is difficult, with inputs easily getting dropped, which is unusual for a game known for its forgiving input buffer. A multiple of 20, like 60 FPS, would be easier to TAS, better for accurate game logic, and turns out to be very similar real-time too.

MUGG's route to skip uncle, return to title screen and do the chores money glitch until getting $370, enough for the Vegas flight and its two tournaments. No pool games in the run yet but one-shot games are possible with the right shot angle and power.

Play back on this XML since the game needs both the HDD and game disc to work properly. Uses the HDD generated from this file and its XML/associated discs/floppies first.

The 8 frames appear to have been lost before Windows even starts (maybe to initialize the new SB16 device?). Not great but may not be avoidable.

Here we go again. First, follow the Windows 3.11 install instructions in its tab, and export the hard drive at the end.

Load this new XML in BizHawk (2.11), then play this movie to set up the game. Remember to export the resulting HDD at the end.

This movie does the following:

Export it as pool.hdd, and you can load this XML to play the game. (Or change the XML's path to your .hdd's filename.) It's required to load the game disc to play.

Compared to the last verification file, this has almost a minute longer sound setup, but it plays all sounds this time (which does add some lag).

Use a Windows 3.11 HDD exported after following those instructions.

Here we go again. You'll also need a Pool Champion disc that may have to match this name and these hashes.

Also SB16 driver (MD5 5abb7ea79d96703f1f82098e6d82b88d) to allow playback of 44.1KHz background music. This isn't required for a TAS but the game sounds weird without MIDI or WAV, and this installs both. You only need install.IMA for verification.

Put all three of them in the same folder, or edit this XML to give their exact filenames and paths. You only have to do this once.

MUGG's new route is the fastest yet. Skip unnecessary loads and cutscenes, then restore the mouse and forward warp to aunt's Vegas house by saving and loading a game. And the save doesn't get corrupted this time! Still no pool-playing in the run yet, but it ends by clicking the calendar long before the graphics have caught up.

Another demonstration, midway between the original and new WIPs. Starts the game with Ctrl+N instead of F4, which saves 3 frames at the bigger cost of not being able to click in rooms anymore. This leads to a slower Pool Hall load, and after loading a save made during the flight to Vegas, either a wrong warp backward to the Pool Hall tournament, or a failure to save all the necessary data during save dialog. Waiting out the cutscene and saving in aunt's Vegas house does the same thing.

Reproducing MUGG's bug. Starting an Adventure with Ctrl+N lets you enter the basement, but be unable to click anything in the room. The Game, Location, etc. menus in the window titlebar work, as does anything that looks like a Windows button ("Play a friend", "Call it a night", "OK"), so you can warp around with those menus and their keyboard shortcuts. But anywhere you warp to, you can't click on beds, doors, people, map icons, anything. Pool games work fine, but as soon as you get to your aunt's room in Las Vegas, you're softlocked. You can't skip the plane flight cutscene either, since it requires a click.

This movie starts the game, clicks the bed and door a few times to demonstrate that they don't work, then uses menus and keyboard shortcuts to advance time by warping and "calling it a day" until it's time for the Pool Hall'sl 9-Ball tournament.

MUGG has the solution for this: save your game with Ctrl+S, choose any one-character filename for speed (extension is added automatically), then F4 (not Ctrl+L, the bug will still be active then) and load your save by typing its single character.

Use a Windows 3.11 HDD exported after following those instructions.

You'll also need a Pool Champion disc that may have to match this name and these hashes.

Also FMSynth, a freeware MIDI synth, since the HDD above does not come with support for some reason. I sourced the disc's contents from here, and burned it using TASVideos' official iso_maker.

Put all three of them in the same folder, or edit this XML to give their exact filenames and paths. You only have to do this once.

Starts on MUGG's route by skipping the uncle cutscene completely, then money glitching until we have enough to fly to Las Vegas. No pool games in the run yet.

Play back on this XML since the game needs both the HDD and game disc to work properly. Uses the HDD generated from this file and its XML/associated discs first.

First, follow the Windows 3.11 install instructions in its tab, and export the hard drive at the end.

Load this XML in BizHawk, then play this movie to set up the game. Remember to export the resulting HDD at the end.

This movie does the following:

Export it as pool.hdd, and you can load this XML to play the game. (Or change the XML's path to your .hdd's filename.) It's required to load the game disc to access some files to prevent fatal errors, at least on W3.11.

Compared to the last verification file, this turns off voices to shorten cutscenes.

So far, I can't improve this first level. Of course, taking into account the score countdown (as with some SMS and Genesis games), going slower can turn out faster or the same speed. Freeze spray seems to be always faster than water balloons unless a wall prevents you from getting close enough, or it's the last input of the entire run (to end input early, unless I'm forgetting anything to click on before credits roll). Uses the English swf.

Demonstrates that levels 5-8 add no unique content. Not optimized.