Going to get right to it: The game is ported using a decompiler, the TAS is made on an interim version, and the goal choice is somewhat unclear. Because a meme TAS couldn't be simple.
Context
Credits gag from The Simpsons:
Porting
- Download the Windows version.
- Open the game folder in AssetRipper 1.0.13.1 and Export All Files.
- Open the Exported Project folder in Unity Hub
- File -> Build Settings. Target Platform: Linux. Architecture: x86_64. Build.
If you're wondering about doing this for other games: You can try, but you likely won't be able to immediately build the game. Shaders tend to be the main problem.
TASing
When I ported this last year, the game ended up being essentially unplayable in libTAS. It ran at 1 FPS with the message
Timeout waiting for loading thread xxxxx every frame. This was fixed with commit 4438895. The game still runs quite poorly in libTAS, considering how apparently simple it is. This could maybe be fixed in the recompilation process but I'm unfamiliar with Unity.
I couldn't get this to sync on 1.4.5. I didn't try much to resync it, because it runs at 1 FPS.
The game
There are basically four different outcomes for the game: Putter & Feather Touch, Putter & Power Drive, 3 Wood & Feather Touch, 3 Wood & Power Drive. When the game asks you to input the number, you can actually input any of the four numbers to get that number's outcome. For example, 788 will always give the Putter & Feather Touch shot, regardless of your previous choices. I would consider this a glitch.
The goal I chose made the most sense to me, but I'm not sure how to best describe it. The fastest way to get all endings would be to choose Putter every time and use the code glitch. I find this more repetitive and less interesting though.
As for the rest of the TAS: I don't know why the play again screen comes up faster on the first cycle. For the number input, I didn't try anything with increase or variable framerate. It could save a couple frames if it works.
feos: Delaying because it depends on a new libTAS release that needs to happen.
feos: Claiming for judging.
feos: Need info from the author on how to reproduce a syncing port.
feos: Canceling as explained here. Once we know a way to recreate the working setup, it can be uncancelled, even by the author.