A decently popular homebrew button mashing game from 2002. I always enjoyed this game and I love button mashing and pattern searching (i.e. Tetris hypertapping) so figured I would TAS it just to watch it get blown out of the water.
Not sure if this is of good enough quality for publication, but I always enjoyed the joys of button-mashing via TAS.
The game gets to a point of being unwinnable.
After my initial TAS, I went back over 100~ re-records and researched if the cycle of inputs would eventually fall "out of sync" and start the round on a blank frame, with the input being on the second frame, particularly due to the difficulty increasing and each round lasting more time (= more frames). I figured if a round lasted an odd number of frames (or even, vice versa), the cycle would go off sync and the blank & input pattern be thrown off. (i.e. starting a round on a blank frame and the input being second, i.e. a frame late) For this, I hand-input the cycle starting only on the first possible frame of each round (which was a lot more arduous than it sounds).
Turns out, for whatever reason, it doesn't matter and the result ends on exactly the same frame.
On the "last" level, the input speed of the CPU matches the maximum possible input speed of the NES, so the game continues infinitely. As such, I allow the round to be lost instantly to complete the TAS, and first and foremost overall, end the input earliest. However, I thought it may be of interest if the encode includes this struggle for a few seconds to make the point complete (although not count towards time and purely for encode purposes): https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638251688186469537
Additionally, here is a third userfile to prove my point about the cycle research: https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/638251689674849121

nymx: Claiming for judging.
nymx: Wow...good research. After reviewing all of your BK2 files, I realize what you mean about being unwinnable, and the fact of getting the cycle correct for each round.
The ending stops exactly where it needs to and optimization is perfect!
Accepting to "Standard" for publication.

despoa: Processing...


TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15576
Location: 127.0.0.1
This topic is for the purpose of discussing #8440: OtakuTAS's NES Hot Seat Harry in 01:42.18
Banned User
Joined: 1/6/2023
Posts: 263
Ended up realizing after not being exhausted, that since each game ends on a button press frame (or perhaps the frame after), and the time between rounds in consistent, that is why the constant cycle works as well as not spamming the input the entire time. Had there been an extra frame inbetween rounds, it would not work (it's an even number of frames).
Published TASes: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12 Please consider voting for me as Rookie TASer Of 2023 - Voting is in December 2023 My rule is quality TASes over quantity TASes... unless I'm bored.
Editor, Publisher, Player (47)
Joined: 10/15/2021
Posts: 376
Does this game accept subframe inputs? I'm curious about that because that could overcome the CPU at the end.
Post subject: Movie published
TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 15576
Location: 127.0.0.1
This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [5432] NES Hot Seat Harry by OtakuTAS in 01:42.18
Banned User
Joined: 1/6/2023
Posts: 263
despoa wrote:
Does this game accept subframe inputs? I'm curious about that because that could overcome the CPU at the end.
I did toy with that a little bit. From what I understood the subframe layout would just delay the input by however many cycles rather than provide extra inputs. It appears it can only happen once per every other frame. Wouldn't be surprised if I was proven wrong though.
Published TASes: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12 Please consider voting for me as Rookie TASer Of 2023 - Voting is in December 2023 My rule is quality TASes over quantity TASes... unless I'm bored.