This is an improvement by 27.90 seconds of the currently published TAS for the game Pink Panther: Pinkadelic Pursuit (PlayStation).
Game objectives
- Emulator used: BizHawk 2.8 (Settings: Memory card disabled, everything else is default settings)
- BIOS : ps-30a.bin (SCPH-5501)
- Aims: Fastest possible completion
Video
The routes stayed the same for the most part.
These are the general improvements:
Less wait time because of removed memory card
By removing the memory card a little bit of time was saved during the system boot.
The "No Memory Card Inserted" dialog also loads significantly faster than the "Do you want to save the current game?" dialog, which saves around 1.5 seconds after each level completion.
Faster obstacle skips
Most obstacle skips were optimized by:
- Getting closer to the obstacle before turning around for the first time (Sometimes done by stopping to hold RIGHT / LEFT for a few frames)
- Improved movement
Teleport via hiding spots
The hiding spots are meant to hide from stalkers (guys from which you steal items).
But they can also be used to teleport a short distance which sometimes is faster than running.
In some cases it only saves time when running in a specific direction (e.g. lifebelts in level 1), in other cases it depends on the first X-position that allows you to use the hiding spot (e.g. flower bush in level 6).
This trick was used in quite a few places to save a little bit of time.
There was also a really cool time save in level 8 where a hiding spot is used to skip turning around after picking up the candle.
Faster climbing
Sections where you have to climb boxes, ladders, etc. were optimized with better timed jumps and helicopter usages.
Better jumps in skating levels
The jumps and routes in skating levels were improved a little bit by:
- Making sure that the maximum speed is used for as many frames as possible (e.g. when two jumps are required in short succession then it makes sense to first jump as late as possible and then jump a second time as early as possible, this way you can use the maximum speed before the first jump for as long as possible and then start accelerating after the second jump as early as possible to quickly reach the maximum speed again).
- Jumping as much as possible when skating on the ground is slower than moving in the air
Faster boss fights
The first boss fight (Level 5: The Greenhouse) was improved by getting a much better boss movement pattern.
It was possible to manipulate the start pattern by holding X longer during the second last jump in level 2.
Then the remaining movement of the plant was manipulated with the bomb explosion timings.
The final boss fight was also improved a lot with better movement and better enemy positions.
There is only one small wait time because of enemys before the last hit, but that doesn't really lose time since the boss still has to run to the left platform before you can hit him again.
The other hits could be done with pretty much no slowing down at all.
Other notes
Level 8: Dracula's Castle
It looks like the ghost that is used for the damage boost only moves around when you are close to its location.
And the area above the candle seems to be close enough to make the ghost move, so I used the helicopter for a short moment to save around 10 frames of waiting time.
Comparison to previous TAS
| Level name | Old TAS time | New TAS time | Time saved |
|---|
| Level 1: The Luxitania | 0'49"33 | 0'47"88 | 0'01"45 |
| Level 2: The Railway Line | 0'59"46 | 0'59"13 | 0'00"33 |
| Level 3: The Construction Site, Part 1 | 1'01"94 | 0'59"59 | 0'02"35 |
| Level 4: Egypt | 1'02"00 | 1'00"65 | 0'01"35 |
| Level 5: The Greenhouse | 0'13"14 | 0'12"73 | 0'00"41 |
| Level 6: The Stone Age | 0'37"12 | 0'36"00 | 0'01"12 |
| Level 7: The Ice Rink | 0'58"57 | 0'57"91 | 0'00"66 |
| Level 8: Dracula's Castle | 1'05"50 | 1'04"54 | 0'00"96 |
| Level 9: The Dinosaur | 0'04"25 | 0'04"02 | 0'00"23 |
| Level 10: The Construction Site, Part 2 | 0'59"16 | 0'58"77 | 0'00"39 |
| Level 11: The Gangster's Lair | 0'46"26 | 0'46"06 | 0'00"20 |
| Level 12: The Attic | 0'31"35 | 0'29"00 | 0'02"35 |
| | | | |
| Total | - | - | 0'11"80 |
Note: The level 5 time from the old TAS was only estimated, the record screen says 0'11"94, but this is a side effect of pausing the game (timer stops but bomb respawns still continue normally). There were 72 pause frames in the old TAS, so I added 1.20 seconds to the time.
Other notes not related to the TAS content
I get an error message when the bk2 movie end is reached: "The movie is currently missing a cycle count. Save the movie to update to the current cycle count (38298837110).". I tried using "File > Movie > Save Movie" but still got the same error message.
Not sure if this is a problem, the movie is still played back without problems.
