This topic is for the purpose of discussing #6094: EZGames69 & Noxxa's Coleco Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle in 02:06.35

0. Movie won't sync on latest BizHawk because of ZX core change Z80 accuracy improvements. Can't compare it to my WIP (not uploaded) but I think this movie is optimal. 1. Can anyone verify the difficulty won't increase? I see this at gamefaqs: The scenes are still in the same order, but there are more of them. On level X, you will have to repeat scenes 2-6 (X or 4, whichever is less) times before you get to the next scene. If you die, you lose credit for the number of times you've passed a scene. The monsters, which appear for the first time on the second level, also tend to go faster as you increase levels. 2. If this somehow goes to moon, I would really like to see the naked smurfette bug. edit: 3. (16:51) <MESHUGGAHTAS> maybe should have added that not sure how much the smurf TAS stands out from a real time play. speedrun.com only has for the A2600 version

Fearless Smurf smurfs them all! ;P (The game is also available on the Atari 2600 but the graphics are weaker and there's even less variety in the screens, so Colecovision is definitely the preferred version here.)

If this somehow goes to moon, I would really like to see the naked smurfette bug.

For reference to those unfamiliar with the bug, this is done either by deliberately backtracking from the last screen or holding UP+DOWN on the skull until Smurf wraps around vertically -> http://www.digitpress.com/eastereggs/cvsmurf.htm

It's a gift to be simple It's a gift to be free

I was a big fan of Colecovision, and this was one of my favorites. Great Job EZ. I don't see one frame of slowness here. Yes vote.

I was planning making this game on Atari 2600 and on Atari 2600, It's sure that the difficulty increases ! There is a lot of difference between the Atari 2600 version and the ColecoVision version so I think both versions can be published. EDIT: I verified that on Coleco too, the difficulty increases by the number of loops which is determined by the velocity of ennemis: 1rst loop at 1:19 8th loop at 13:57

Are you sure about number of loops being the factor here? Currently on mobile but this TAS at 1:50 spider looks fast similar to that 8 loop one. What about other animals velocity or position ranges or spawn time? Edit: the linked video starts with skill 2.

Are you sure about number of loops being the factor here? Currently on mobile but this TAS at 1:50 spider looks fast similar to that 8 loop one. What about other animals velocity or position ranges or spawn time? Edit: the linked video starts with skill 2.

I used Livesplit to time both of them so it's not very precise but I got 4 seconds on the first and 2 seconds on the second. I agree that is not very accurate for the precision we need here and I can be totally wrong ! I based my judgement on my little knowledge after my test TAS on the atari 2600 version...

It was brought to my attention that the level layout does in fact change after the next loop, as seen in this TG page: https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/162307-ColecoVision-Smurf-Rescue-in-Gargamel-s-Castle-NTSC-PAL-Skill-4-180-700-Jason-Bennett This means the tas is incomplete and will probably need to be extended. I still have no idea where the change will end or if it’s always completely random. It could be an hour long for all I know for the changes to stop. I’ll try to look into it myself but if anyone else would like to help out I would appreciate it.

I've done some research on difficulty/completion criteria of this game. Interestingly, the level layouts actually are not based on difficulty - instead, they're randomized by RNG (RAM: 0x03C8-0x03C9). The RNG runs once per frame during the difficulty selection screen (the only place it can be manipulated, by adding frames), and a few times before a new room is generated. This is what decides the random obstacle layout/height graphics in every room, and it's not tied to any difficulty setting, loop amount, or the like. Besides that, I went through multiple loops afterwards on skill 4 and did not find any other difference (or difficulty change) between loops. Bat/enemy speed remains the same, and the amount of rooms that has to be passed remains the same. Since the only thing that changes is randomness, and not difficulty, there's no reason to run more than one loop. Aside from that, me and EZGames69 found a few improvements near the end of the run, adding up to 73 frames saved (most of it saved with better jumps towards Smurfette). The new movie file is here. EDIT: Another improvement, using better RNG manipulation for the level layouts: 13 frames saved

Hey. Isn't the "castle" part in the game name supposed to have an uppercase C?

Hey. Isn't the "castle" part in the game name supposed to have an uppercase C?

I personally consider that "castle" have to have a lower case 'c' because it's not a proper noun, so no real reason to capitalize it there.

Hey. Isn't the "castle" part in the game name supposed to have an uppercase C?

I personally consider that "castle" have to have a lower case 'c' because it's not a proper noun, so no real reason to capitalize it there.

Then by that logic, "Luigi's Mansion" should be "Luigi's mansion" and "Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee" should be "Oddworld: Abe's oddysee", just to name two examples. Per the Publisher Guidelines:

Capitalize game names according to the rules of English language, even if official game names contradict them, unless the way they are named traditionally is against the rules.

And here's what Wikipedia has to say:

English usage is not consistent, but generally prepositions and articles are not capitalized: "the Forest of Dean", "Gone with the Wind", "University of Southampton". With some publications "The" forms part of the title: "reading The Times". For a more detailed explanation see Capitalization § Titles.

In conclusion: The game title should be written as "Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle".