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Drag Race is an arcade game released in 1977 by Kee Games (a subsidiary of Atari). Drag Race was designed by David Crane before the Great Exodus from Atari that would lead to the formation of Activision. At Activision, David Crane would redesign Drag Race for the Atari 2600, released in 1980 as the more widely-known Dragster. This unauthorized adaptation, among other litigation between Atari and Activision, would not be resolved until years later. The cabinet for Drag Race features controls for 2 players, including a steering wheel, a 4-way gear shifter, and a gas pedal. The cabinet even has functional analog tachometers to indicate when to shift! The display is black and white with overlays for color and text. Interestingly, the sound is in stereo, with each player hearing only the sound of their respective dragster in their speaker. The game's mechanics are inventive and gameplay is fun and exciting--as it would later be for Dragster.

Game Objectives

  • Emulator used: MAME-RR v0.139 v0.1-beta
  • Aims for fastest game completion without sacrificing Elapsed Time
  • Abuses programming errors
  • Entertains without sacrificing Frames
  • Is Dragster's daddy

DIP Switch Settings

  • Extended Play set to Never
  • Number of Heats set to 3
  • Coinage set to Free Play

Tricks and Glitches

Rapid Acceleration:
In 4th Gear, MPH increase at a rate of 4 per each 28 Frames, or .142 MPH per Frame. This is the lowest rate of acceleration and also the longest duration between increments. Because the duration between increments is so long, it is possible to shift into a lower Gear, and then back into 4th Gear, without missing the next MPH increment. While in 4th Gear, downshift into 3rd Gear, delay for 1 Frame, and then shift back into 4th Gear. RPM must be at 50 or higher in order for the shift from 3rd Gear into 4th Gear to cause a speed boost in order for this to work. Each Rapid Acceleration gives a net increase of 4 MPH, except for each 6th Rapid Acceleration. Each 6th Rapid Acceleration gives a net increase of 8 MPH. Repeat until MPH reaches the maximum allowable speed (244 MPH). Using this technique, the average rate of acceleration is 1.166 MPH per Frame, rather faster even than Wheelie acceleration (1 MPH per Frame).
Perfect Steering:
Press in the opposite direction for 1 Frame 2 Frames before Dragster's Y location is about to change. This compensates for Dragster's drift without disrupting Y location.

Comments

Completion Requirement:
The game is completed after winning a number of Heats, as determined by the DIP switch settings. For this TAS, the number of Heats has been set to 3. A player may also win Extended Play (an additional Heat), as determined by the DIP switch settings. For this TAS, Extended Play has been set to "Never". This TAS completes 3 Heats.
If Parachute deploys after "Winner" has spawned, "Winner" despawns.
Completing a Heat after Engine Blown has occurred can cause the game to end, even if Dragster had a faster time. Brutal!
Maximum possible MPH is 244.
At a speed of 189 MPH (the maximum MPH for 3rd Gear) or less, Dragster will not lose speed in Neutral Gear.
It is possible to shift into a Gear before a Heat begins.
For Player 1, the playfield extends horizontally from X 0 to X 161 and vertically from Y 13 to Y 63. Dragster begins a Heat at X 0 Y 38. If Dragster attempts to move beyond these vertical limits, it contacts a Rail. When Dragster reaches X 161, Parachute deploys, and the Heat is completed.
If Dragster contacts Rail, RPM decrease at a rate of 10 per Frame to a minimum of 8 RPM, and MPH decrease at a rate of 1 per Frame. This status continues until the contact ends.
In Neutral Gear, If Dragster contacts Rail, it suffers no negative effects.
Dragster can not steer during the first 4 Frames of a Heat.
If Player 1 and Player 2 complete the Heat with the same time, the result is a tie, and there is no Winner. This applies regardless of which Player actually crosses the finish line first.
The start button must be held for 4 Frames.
If a shift is being made on the last possible Frame (i.e. at maximum RPM and Temperature), it may always be necessary to release Gas for 2 Frames during shift in order to allow time for Temperature to return to 0. As such, it is faster to shift on an earlier Frame that does not requires that Gas be released.
It is still possible to steer after Parachute has deployed.
It is possible to release Gas and still finish on the same Frame as if Gas continued to be held.
It is possible to hit the Rail and still finish on the same Frame as if the Rail had not been hit.
When Gear is downshifted while the MPH is above the Gear's normal range, Dragster's posture changes, and RPM will increase for a time.
If Dragster begins to accelerate before Green Light, Too Soon occurs. Dragster is delayed for 120 Frames before being returned to the starting line with 0 MPH and 0 RPM. Thereafter, Dragster may resume racing.
When RPM reach 240, Engine Temperature begins to increase. Temperature increases at a rate of 15 per Frame. When Temperature reaches 255, Engine Blown occurs. Dragster is delayed for 105 Frames with 0 MPH and 0 RPM. Thereafter, Dragster may resume racing.
If Dragster does not complete the race within 15 seconds, Slow Poke occurs, and the Heat ends. If Slow Poke occurs 2 times subsequently, the game is over.
Time increments at a rate of .1 per each 12 Frames.
If Dragster contacts Rail, RPM decrease at a rate of 10 per Frame to a minimum of 8 RPM, and MPH decrease at a rate of 1 per Frame. This status continues until the contact ends.
During a Wheelie, MPH increases at a rate of 1 per each Frame, regardless of the current Gear. This is the fastest possible rate of acceleration.
On the last Frame of a Wheelie, MPH is increased substantially. In 1st Gear, MPH is increased by 9. In 2nd Gear, MPH is increased by 7. In 3rd Gear, MPH is increased by 8. In 4th Gear, MPH is increased by 8.
The Opponent always completes a Heat in 8.1 seconds, unless the Player won the previous Heat. If the Player won the previous Heat, The Opponent always completes the Heat in 6.4 seconds.
At 255 MPH, Dragster advances at rate of 1 pixel per each 2 Frames, or .5 pixels per Frame.
With a perfect start at 255 MPH, Dragster can complete a Heat in 02.7 seconds.

Heat By Heat Comments

Heat 1:
The Hero immediately blows his engine. The engine is quickly repaired, but the axle is squirrelly. The Hero struggles to keep Dragster under control just as the shifter becomes stuck in Neutral and the Gas becomes stuck to the floor. Colliding with the Rail is the only thing that prevents Dragster's engine from blowing again as the Hero ekes out a miraculous comeback.
Heat 2:
The Hero makes a great start...Too Soon. After resetting, Dragster just manages to catch up to the Opponent when an accidental downshift blows its engine...straight to victory! The delayed Parachute is of no help.
Heat 3:
With the opening night jitters out of his system, the Hero puts on a command performance. Further aided by physics-bending shenanigans, Dragster manages to post an ET of 03.7...just shy of the current Top Fuel world record. How the Hero was able to use 1970's technology to achieve a run comparable to that of a modern dragster is anyone's guess.

Other Comments

This is the oldest game to have a publication on TASVideos.org.
feos: Who else, really?
feos: Notes first.
To see the colors, one has to have artwork\dragrace\dragrace.lay in the mame folder.
The DIP switches have to be set manually, otherwise the final screen won't show up, and the game will resume with 2 more heats (fourth and bonus ones).
Winning condition.
DIP switches define the amount of heats you have to complete, and the time required for a bonus heat. Normally there are 4 heats to beat. So this run switches to 3, and to never have the bonus heat. The defined amount of heats is called a GAME in the Attract (demo) mode, that is seen if you don't play the game. After the GAME has been beaten, the game returns to the Attract mode, but shows different info on the screen: best player scores, instead of instructions.
Since in the heats other than last you have to wait for the bottom drag to finish, all you have to do for a speedrun is to finish the last heat ASAP. The time the opponent takes to finish is pre-defined: at first it's 8.1, then if you beat him, he finishes at 6.4.
This is what we see in this movie, and I consider it an optimized TAS. Accepting to Moons, since it's short, and the feedback is decent.
fsvgm777: ..yeah, who else really.

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Posted: 8/1/2017 5:57 AM
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TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #5621: £e_Nécroyeur's Arcade Drag Race in 01:00.67
Posted: 8/1/2017 2:35 PM
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Omnigamer
Player (37)
Joined: 2/16/2012
Posts: 282
This is about as entertaining as it can be, given the game. Yes vote.
Posted: 8/1/2017 3:24 PM
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Hopper262
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Joined: 3/22/2011
Posts: 55
This movie would not have been entertaining for me, if not for the detailed comments. Thanks for putting in the effort to explain the mechanics and even the narrative of the run. The game manual (PDF) explains how you can blow your engine before the start; nice choice to start the run with that. I like how the timer gives all players racer-like reflexes, by not running at full speed. I wonder if this is the oldest instance of "bullet time" in a video game.
Posted: 8/1/2017 8:42 PM
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£e_Nécroyeur
Skilled player (1673)
Joined: 7/1/2013
Posts: 453
Arcade TASer of 2017 Arcade TAS of 2016 Exotic platforms TASer of 2014 Exotic platforms TAS of 2014
It's good to read the manual! It's good to write the manual!
Posted: 8/2/2017 12:17 AM
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Alyosha
He/Him
Editor, Emulator Coder, Expert player (3827)
Joined: 11/30/2014
Posts: 2834
Location: US
GBA TASer of 2023 Homebrew TAS of 2023 Gameboy TASer of 2022 NES TASer of 2015
The encode itself was quite boring, but your short story to go along with it made it feel interesting and was a nice touch, that's good enough for a yes vote for me!
Posted: 8/13/2017 10:39 AM
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feos
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NES TAS of 2011
How did you enable the colored layout? Also, it'll be very good if for mame-rr submissions you explain the completion requirement.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Posted: 8/14/2017 7:28 AM
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£e_Nécroyeur
Skilled player (1673)
Joined: 7/1/2013
Posts: 453
Arcade TASer of 2017 Arcade TAS of 2016 Exotic platforms TASer of 2014 Exotic platforms TAS of 2014
feos wrote:
Also, it'll be very good if for mame-rr submissions you explain the completion requirement.
Agreed. This is something I have neglected recently. I will give the completion requirement a prominent line in the submission text.
feos wrote:
How did you enable the colored layout?
For the encode, I used Mr. Do's DRAGRACE.ZIP Artwork file with a custom DEFAULT.LAY. Because this is an older version of MAME, recording AVI for a game that has an Artwork file causes all elements of the Artwork file to be included in the AVI, even if these elements are disabled in MAME's Video Options. As such, I modified DEFAULT.LAY to disable the Outer Bezel and the Inner Bezel. This leaves only those elements which would be seen within the bounds of the monitor: the color overlay, and the overlay for the text and Christmas Tree circles. I felt this was most closely in line with TASVideos standards, but I am not partial either way, so I leave the decision to the Publisher. It's a shame that this older version of MAME does not support all of the elements of the Artwork file. Shifter display? Working tachometers? Too cool! Or just encode in monochrome. "WAIT FOR GREEN LIGHT", indeed. :) Default DEFAULT.LAY: http://triplepointwx.org/George/Full/DRAGRACE.ZIP Custom DEFAULT.LAY: http://triplepointwx.org/George/DRAGRACE.ZIP It emulates! It simulates!
Posted: 8/14/2017 6:10 PM
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fsvgm777
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£e Nécroyeur wrote:
For the encode, I used Mr. Do's DRAGRACE.ZIP Artwork file with a custom DEFAULT.LAY. Because this is an older version of MAME, recording AVI for a game that has an Artwork file causes all elements of the Artwork file to be included in the AVI, even if these elements are disabled in MAME's Video Options.
If you specify -artwork_crop in the command line when recording to AVI, you will only get the relevant part, namely the game screen with the overlay text. However, since the overlay text looks like complete garbage when upscaled (said overlay is 1928x1446!), I had to resort to something slightly different to make the overlay text look good: 
Language: AviSynth
ovrlay = ImageSource(file="dragrace_overlay.png", start=0, end=46686, fps=last.FrameRate, pixel_type="RGB32") # end probably doesn't have to be this long
ovrlay = hd ? ovrlay.LanczosResize(2880, 2160, taps=2) : pass != 0 ? ovrlay.LanczosResize(256, 240, taps=2) : ovrlay.LanczosResize(320, 240, taps=2) # pass != 0 is for primary 10bit444 downloadable
mask = ovrlay.ShowAlpha("rgb")	 # needed to have the transparent part be actually transparent below	 

g = hd \
	? Overlay(PointResize(width, height), ovrlay, mask=mask, output="RGB32") \ #2880x2160
	: handheld || pass == 1 || pass == 2 \
		? Overlay(last, ovrlay, mask=mask, output="RGB32") \ # 256x240 later aspect-corrected by x264 (NB: pass != 0 would also work)
		 : Overlay(LanczosResize(width, height, taps=2), ovrlay, mask=mask, output="RGB32") # manual aspect ratio correction for 512kb
(this isn't perfect, but it worked just fine, so...)
Steam Community page - Bluesky profile Oh, I'm just a concerned observer.
Posted: 8/14/2017 6:38 PM
Post subject: Movie published
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TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [3499] Arcade Drag Race by £e_Nécroyeur in 01:00.67
Posted: 8/15/2017 5:10 AM
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£e_Nécroyeur
Skilled player (1673)
Joined: 7/1/2013
Posts: 453
Arcade TASer of 2017 Arcade TAS of 2016 Exotic platforms TASer of 2014 Exotic platforms TAS of 2014
Perfect circles! Thanks, fsvgm777!