Richard Petty's Talladega

Tools Used

• BizHawk 2.9.1
• Ram Watch: 0xbd06 (Timer for fuel)

Ending Choice

Effort In TASing

• Controlling RNG: RNG can be controlled by moving your car Left or Right, before something occurs on the screen. Below is a list of things to consider for controlling RNG:
  • Engine Damage: There are times when your speed will drop by 2 MPH. When this occurs, it's a sign that your engine needs repair. If you don't take care of this, you car will continue to degrade over the entire race. Catching this, before it happens, means you can prevent wasting time in the "Pit-Stop" for any engine repairs.
  • Car Placement: Normally, when you pass cars and the disappear, they reappear in the distance. So, the RNG here means that the CPU will decide to allow a car to drive Left or Right...which is very minimal, but necessary to control when problems arise. In addition to being a minor nuisance, they are also the slowest cars in the race.

• Controlling AI: There are 3 types of cars that need dealing with. The RNG cars were mentioned above and are the least of our concerns. The other two types need a bit more skill to maneuver around
  • Standard AI Cars: These are the second fastest cars on the track. I like to call them "Demon" class cars, just because they have a dark appearance to them. When dealing with these cars, they tend to block you a quite a bit. In order to get around them, you have to wait until the last moment before darting left or right...which by then, they will just give up.
  • Advanced AI Cars: These are the cars that are "Numbered". There are 3 total and pose the greatest threat and are extremely hard to get around and deal with. Often, they will try to push you out of the way, yet you are not able to return the favor. With some fancy maneuvering, you can trick other cars to get in their way and slow them up...thus giving you the opportunity to get around. These cars can hold speed with you, for most of the game. It is to your advantage to get them out of the way as soon as you can.

• Controlling Driving: If you are a racing expert, you'll notice that real races have a "Line" that drivers will follow on the track. This game is no different, as it gives you the ability to simulate that same tactic during turns. The trick is to start turning left, before the turn actually starts. If you don't, you'll drift to the right and start to eat up your tires and you'll loose speed. During turns, you can also push up against cars or allow them to hold you from moving outward. By careful timing, you can use this to your advantage.

• Optimizing Technics: This game was so confusing, that I had to experiment with it for a month before I realized what was needed to cut time.
  • Fuel: In this game, the fuel usage can be interrupted and slow consumption. This is the most important tactic, throughout the entire run. Why? If you don't find a way to slow this down, you'll find yourself taking 3 pit-stops, instead of the 2 that are in this TAS. This is a HUGE time save.
  • IGT: This is a timing metric that should be avoid at all cost. This timer is so broken, that any efforts to making the time smaller always go against optimization. This run has longer IGT lap times, yet I'm able to cut more time by loosening up on controlling it.
  • Engine Damage: When ever engine damage occurs, you'll notice it by the speed trying to drop from 250 to 248 without touching anything on the screen. If you manage to keep your engine from degrading, you can avoid the extra time it takes to repair it in the pit-stop area.
  • Tire Damage: This is one of the easiest details to prevent. Since we are TASing it, we can always back off on inputs that drive our car into the rails/bumpers. Tire wear is naturally going to occur, but at a very slow rate. This rate will not be fast enough to require tire changes...and will naturally help our in the over-all run.

TASing Comparisons

Human Comparison