Submission #8586: Merl_'s PICO8 Pakpok in 03:44.47

PakPok is a 2D puzzle-platformer with 11 levels. The name of the game comes from the sound effects that play when you run into the "puck" entities. Running into one will make a "pak" sound and cause it to start running back and forth, and hitting the puck while it's running makes a "pok" sound and launches you into the air. This TAS aims to complete all 11 levels in the shortest time possible.

Level 1 is a long vertical stage. There are two different glitches which are used in this level. By jumping into a puck from underneath, you can carry it on your head until you land on the ground, which immediately launches you back into the air. The second glitch is done at the end of the level. If you press L+R the frame before you hit a puck from the right side, the player will face the opposite direction they are moving in. The direction the puck moves after being kicked depends on the direction the player is facing, not which way they are moving, which causes the puck to run towards the player and collide immediately. This can only be done when approaching a puck from the right side, which limits its use in other levels.

This level is much simpler and shorter than the first one, and doesn't feature any new glitches.

Destructible blocks can be broken by kicking a puck at them. The player has to bring a puck to the top of the level using the elevators, in order to break a destructible block blocking the path to the exit. I bring two pucks to the top of the level by smuggling the puck from the middle section onto the second elevator.

This level is one the longest distance-wise, but one of the shortest time-wise. Instead of spawning at the bottom of the level, you spawn at the top and are supposed to slowly flutter down to the bottom, avoiding the spikes on the way. I minimize the time spent fluttering in order to fall down to the bottom of the level quickly. At the end of the level, there is a puck which you need to hit in order to make it up to the exit. I get hit while staying close to the ceiling in order to get a boost. What normally happens when the player and a puck collide is the player is moved straight up and the puck is placed below the player. But under a low ceiling, the player has no room to get moved up, so it gets pushed horizontally out of the way instead. This push saves a few frames of walking to the exit.

There's a lot of downtime in this level due to the very long moving platform cycles. The only noteworthy thing about this level is that it introduces the "poppas". They launch you into the air when you walk onto them, and they stop walking and lay down when you get close to them.

I skip the puzzle for this level by kicking the puck against the right wall and getting hit by it in midair. In order to do this skip, the puck needs to be lowered from the top platform. The fastest way to do this is to jump into the puck, then land on the very edge of the platform. Since the puck snaps to the player's position when they collide, the puck will fall off the platform.

This level introduces the "spitta", an entity which shoots a green pellet when something steps on its head. These pellets can hit pucks and cause them to start running. I hit the first puck midair and cancel the upwards momentum by bonking on the second spitta's underside. Using the L+R glitch, I pull the second puck off the platform and onto the spitta before kicking it. This makes the pellet hit the puck sooner after it turns around and clears the path forwards faster.

I can get a lot of height in this level by bouncing pucks off of the poppas and hitting them midair. I sometimes have to wait until the puck bounces off of a wall before I can hit it, because it actually isn't possible to walk off of a puck in the direction it's moving. The puck moves faster than the player, so every time you step off, it moves back underneath you on the next frame.

This stage doesn't feature any interesting tech or glitches.

The puzzle for this level is completely skipped here. It doesn't use any tech I haven't already explained though.

This stage is based around platforming on moving objects. There isn't much I can do to save time here, since everything in this level is on a cycle.

There are three levels I think could likely be improved. Level 3, Level 6, and Level 8. In Level 3, it might be possible to skip waiting for the final elevator to rise up by getting the two pucks to stack on top of each other. By colliding with the bottom puck, the player would get launched upwards, and if the top puck is in the right spot, it could get lifted up by the player and onto the last platform early.

In Level 6, it might be faster to kick the top puck against the wall, and let it run off the platform and onto the player. The player would act as a floor for the puck, so it wouldn't fall onto the spikes and would instead run into the left wall, and then drop down onto the lower platform.

I don't remember what could be improved in Level 8. I made this TAS a month ago and by now I've forgotten exactly what my idea was.

InfoTeddy: Claiming for judging.

InfoTeddy: Very short and sweet. Accepting to Standard.

Note: The game version here used is the one from Itch.io.

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