This is a TAS of the 10 time attack courses of Mr. Driller 2. The game is a fast paced puzzle game where the goal is to drill to the bottom of the level within the time limit.
The reason this is tagged with "Time attack courses" is because there are also a mission mode and an endless mode.
Aims for fastest in-game time.
Aims for fastest real time.
Genre: Puzzle.
I decided to aim for fastest in-game time first and fastest real time second, since the in-game time is shown at the end of the level. I thought this would add to the entertainment. It also adds a bit more to the strategy, since you have to consider what time bonuses (these subtract from the current in-game time) to pick up: these items are usually a bit out of the way, so it requires some planning to figure out which ones are worth getting.
There is no precedent run of this game (at least non that I know of), neither normal console speedrun or TAS, so I didn't have much to compare to. This is my second version of this TAS, and I tested several strategies for all levels in order to find the best one. Although the game is fairly simple, it's not trivial to TAS, and there are many minor tricks you can use to shave off a few frames here and there.
Here is a table of the in-game times I got for each level as well as the time required to pass the level (s=seconds, m=minutes):
Course
My time
Time limit
Course A
10.98s
24s
Course B
6.59s
16s
Course C
33.24s
46s
Course D
7.75s
16s
Course E
15.65s
28s
Course F
24.55s
37s
Course G
11.06s
28s
Course H
32.89s
43s
Course I
19.14s
36s
Course J
1m 0.90s
1m 45s
Notes:
It's faster to drill through bigger blocks and thus falling a greater distance than drilling through several small blocks.
You can move a few pixels horizontally while falling if there is nothing blocking you from doing this. This is a good way to move horizontally without losing any time.
For some reason, you fall slightly faster on the last level: you fall one block in 6 frames rather than 7. I don't know why this is, or if it noticable when watching the TAS.
Thanks to funnyhair for support and feedback.
I hope you enjoy this little TAS!
klmz: I was expecting some more feedbacks since last weekend, which unfortunately didn't come up. Given what I have read so far, people enjoy the speedy resolutions of the puzzles in this submission. As long as it doesn't feel repetitive, I am accepting this submission as the goals are sensible and the overall quality is high.
Note: I changed the branch name, although it might look too long. This is subject to change again.
sgrunt: I've set the branch name to "Time Attack", in the interest of having a short-yet-unambiguous branch name that corresponds to what the mode is called in game.
Joined: 3/31/2010
Posts: 1466
Location: Not playing Puyo Tetris
I am going to watch this and comment afterward. I did enjoy this game on my old GBA.
Finished watching it. I have a question. Why did you not do the Extra Stages?
I did enjoy the speed at which you took on the later stages. I know that I could not be that fast in real time.
When TAS does Quake 1, SDA will declare war.
The Prince doth arrive he doth please.
This doesn't look great luck-wise; there's a lot of zig-zagging to get items. Voting no because luck manipulation could probably make this substantially faster.
EDIT: Wait, are the courses the same every time? I remember that the main mode is procedurally-generated, but if the courses are the same each time, my vote changes to yes.
This doesn't look great luck-wise; there's a lot of zig-zagging to get items. Voting no because luck manipulation could probably make this substantially faster.
EDIT: Wait, are the courses the same every time? I remember that the main mode is procedurally-generated, but if the courses are the same each time, my vote changes to yes.
The levels for time attack are static, so never changing the layout of clocks and such.
I absolutely loved this! Considering how much I've played Mr. Driller on my Dreamcast, this brought fond memories. Very well run, lots of fun and breathtakingly fast. Definite Yes vote from me!
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Mr. Kelly R. Flewin
Just another random gamer
----
<OmnipotentEntity> How do you people get bored in the span of 10 seconds? Worst ADD ever.
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
LSK wrote:
This doesn't look great luck-wise; there's a lot of zig-zagging to get items. Voting no because luck manipulation could probably make this substantially faster.
EDIT: Wait, are the courses the same every time? I remember that the main mode is procedurally-generated, but if the courses are the same each time, my vote changes to yes.
Yep, Mr. Kelly R. Flewin is right, the courses are the same every time.
hegyak wrote:
I have a question. Why did you not do the Extra Stages?.
These are exactly the same as the normal levels, just mirrored, so everything that was left is now right, and vice versa. They also have a tighter time limit. But since the strategy would be exactly the same on all levels as in this run (just mirrored) it wouldn't be much of a different experience.
Would it be better if you played through mission mode first to unlock a faster character and then use that to TAS time attack mode?
09. Ataru Hori - Clear North Pole Stage in Mission Driller.
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
flashthe wrote:
Would it be better if you played through mission mode first to unlock a faster character and then use that to TAS time attack mode?
09. Ataru Hori - Clear North Pole Stage in Mission Driller.
That's true, that would be interesting, though that would require the run to play through the 4 mission courses before playing the time attack stages. Still I think there's some value to using the standard character, in particular that everyone who has played the game knows the physics of that character. Though on the other hand it would be cool to see the fastest character blaze through the time attack levels.
What are peoples' thoughts on this?
It's only worth going to the trouble of unlocking a character if you can get the unlock in and still finish the game before you would if you didn't play through the unlock, for a run like this. And I rather doubt that's the case.
IIRC the Time Trial runs in Mr. Driller adapt their time limits for each character, so it's not even as if you're using a suboptimal character anyway. You're just playing a particular set of levels.
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
You did a nice job with this, Randil, but honestly as someone who's never played the game, I'm not sure I really get the appeal.
It looked to me, at first, like you could pretty much just spam the drill button to get down to the bottom fast (sure, it's more efficient to go through bigger blocks of the same color, but it didn't look necessary if you wanted to merely beat the game). Looking at GameFAQs told me that there's also the challenge of having enough air and not letting falling blocks land on you. With that in mind, the run looks more impressive, but I'm still not sure I see the main challenge.
I'll hold off from voting for now. I'm inclined to say Yes since the play is fast and colorful.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically.
Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.)
Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html)
Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature!
Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
mklip2001 wrote:
You did a nice job with this, Randil, but honestly as someone who's never played the game, I'm not sure I really get the appeal.
It looked to me, at first, like you could pretty much just spam the drill button to get down to the bottom fast (sure, it's more efficient to go through bigger blocks of the same color, but it didn't look necessary if you wanted to merely beat the game). Looking at GameFAQs told me that there's also the challenge of having enough air and not letting falling blocks land on you. With that in mind, the run looks more impressive, but I'm still not sure I see the main challenge.
I'll hold off from voting for now. I'm inclined to say Yes since the play is fast and colorful.
Thank you for your insight. The challenge lies in the fact that this run aims for best in-game time, which is where those time bonuses come into play. If this run aimed for best real time only, then I would most likely only spam the drill button all the way to the bottom. However, with the best in-game time goal, I had to consider each time bonus, if I should get it and how I should get it. Since these are usually spread out in the level, there are several potential routes between each pair, so you have to investigate which one is the fastest. Sometimes this is trivial, sometimes it takes some investiation. But you are right that the game is pretty simple in essence.
You did a nice job with this, Randil, but honestly as someone who's never played the game, I'm not sure I really get the appeal.
It looked to me, at first, like you could pretty much just spam the drill button to get down to the bottom fast (sure, it's more efficient to go through bigger blocks of the same color, but it didn't look necessary if you wanted to merely beat the game). Looking at GameFAQs told me that there's also the challenge of having enough air and not letting falling blocks land on you. With that in mind, the run looks more impressive, but I'm still not sure I see the main challenge.
I'll hold off from voting for now. I'm inclined to say Yes since the play is fast and colorful.
Game rules:
Blocks of the same color stick together.
Drilling a block removes all blocks in that group.
You can climb up a block 1 higher than your current position.
When a group of 4 or more blocks form, they are removed. If blocks of 4 or more are generated together they are removed when they fall.
Blocks that are destroyed have a small animation. Meaning it is better to walk off a cliff (if it is close) than to drill and wait.
If you drill Brown X blocks you are penalized.
In normal mode air decreases over time. Air capsols restore air and are often guarded by X block. Puzzle mode air is replaced with time bonuses.
This air is often guarded with X blocks requiring you make part of the X block blow it fall to offset it.
As you get deeper the game speed increases (fall speed, drill speed, air depletion).
In puzzle mode, silver blocks cannot be destroyed. Start blocks are automatically destroyed after a short time, and there are flip and rotate blocks.
In short, puzzle mode challenges you to determine/memorize a path and execute it as quickly as possible. The tas makes some decisions whether getting certain time bonuses are worth their value. After you beat all of these, reverse mode is available where all the stages are mirrored and the time requirements are much stricter, as this would basically be the same thing twice for a tas, it is not included.
Off topic: the avatars of Mr. Kelly R. Flewin and CoolKirby are similar enough to blow my mind. I thought "Wow, MKRF double posted? I can't believe it!" and then my mind was blown.
I am interested to see this time attack. Once an encode is up I will devour the visual candy and vote.
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
You did a nice job with this, Randil, but honestly as someone who's never played the game, I'm not sure I really get the appeal.
It looked to me, at first, like you could pretty much just spam the drill button to get down to the bottom fast (sure, it's more efficient to go through bigger blocks of the same color, but it didn't look necessary if you wanted to merely beat the game). Looking at GameFAQs told me that there's also the challenge of having enough air and not letting falling blocks land on you. With that in mind, the run looks more impressive, but I'm still not sure I see the main challenge.
I'll hold off from voting for now. I'm inclined to say Yes since the play is fast and colorful.
Spamming the drill button doesn't work as soon as X blocks are involved; if you go sideways to try to avoid them and aren't careful, you typically end up getting crushed, and drilling straight through them gives crippling penalties. (There are unbreakable blocks in some modes, too.) It's also far from the fastest strategy, as it's faster to run into the area vacated by drilling a large block than it is to drill a sequence of small blocks. (Some characters are faster at drilling, some at running, but running tends to be faster even for characters fast at drilling.)
Joined: 6/23/2009
Posts: 2227
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks, everyone, for the clarifications! Seeing that, I like the look of the main character effectively doing "slalom drilling" to weave between the time powerups. This gets a Yes vote.
Used to be a frequent submissions commenter. My new computer has had some issues running emulators, so I've been here more sporadically.
Still haven't gotten around to actually TASing yet... I was going to improve Kid Dracula for GB. It seems I was beaten to it, though, with a recent awesome run by Hetfield90 and StarvinStruthers. (http://tasvideos.org/2928M.html.)
Thanks to goofydylan8 for running Gargoyle's Quest 2 because I mentioned the game! (http://tasvideos.org/2001M.html)
Thanks to feos and MESHUGGAH for taking up runs of Duck Tales 2 because of my old signature!
Thanks also to Samsara for finishing a Treasure Master run. From the submission comments:
Shoutouts and thanks to mklip2001 for arguably being the nicest and most supportive person on the forums.
Joined: 1/8/2011
Posts: 74
Location: Saturn Valley Medical Center
Sticky wrote:
Off topic: the avatars of Mr. Kelly R. Flewin and CoolKirby are similar enough to blow my mind. I thought "Wow, MKRF double posted? I can't believe it!" and then my mind was blown.
I thought the same thing Sticky. Also, great run Randil!! As, stated previously, the later levels were faster and more entertaining. Is there a Mr. Driller 1 TAS on this site?
Would it be better if you played through mission mode first to unlock a faster character and then use that to TAS time attack mode?
09. Ataru Hori - Clear North Pole Stage in Mission Driller.
That's true, that would be interesting, though that would require the run to play through the 4 mission courses before playing the time attack stages. Still I think there's some value to using the standard character, in particular that everyone who has played the game knows the physics of that character. Though on the other hand it would be cool to see the fastest character blaze through the time attack levels.
What are peoples' thoughts on this?
I'd like to know what the author's thought is on this.
<klmz> it reminds me of that people used to keep quoting adelikat's IRC statements in the old good days
<adelikat> no doubt
<adelikat> klmz, they still do
Joined: 4/20/2005
Posts: 2161
Location: Norrköping, Sweden
klmz wrote:
Randil wrote:
flashthe wrote:
Would it be better if you played through mission mode first to unlock a faster character and then use that to TAS time attack mode?
09. Ataru Hori - Clear North Pole Stage in Mission Driller.
That's true, that would be interesting, though that would require the run to play through the 4 mission courses before playing the time attack stages. Still I think there's some value to using the standard character, in particular that everyone who has played the game knows the physics of that character. Though on the other hand it would be cool to see the fastest character blaze through the time attack levels.
What are peoples' thoughts on this?
I'd like to know what the author's thought is on this.
I think this run is fine - in my mind using the normal driller is in some sense "the way this game is meant to be played", and using the faster driller you get by beating the mission mode is kinda like a "game+" scenario. Maybe this was a repeat of what I said earlier, but to be clear: I stand by submitting this run and think this is the version that should be published (if accepted, of course). It's true that using Ataru Hori would be interesting, but I think such a run could be posted in the forum topic for those interested.
I think this run is fine - in my mind using the normal driller is in some sense "the way this game is meant to be played", and using the faster driller you get by beating the mission mode is kinda like a "game+" scenario. Maybe this was a repeat of what I said earlier, but to be clear: I stand by submitting this run and think this is the version that should be published (if accepted, of course). It's true that using Ataru Hori would be interesting, but I think such a run could be posted in the forum topic for those interested.
That's very reasonable. Now let's just listen to other people's opinions.
<klmz> it reminds me of that people used to keep quoting adelikat's IRC statements in the old good days
<adelikat> no doubt
<adelikat> klmz, they still do
