crem

A status update regarding lvl19. 2 days ago I did the first experimental run of my script. It only found the solution with score=1124 (1 point below @jetsetdanny), and it was clear the scoring was poor. Yesterday I fixed the scoring and did a very quick run which gave score=1133. So I thought all looked good and started a long run overnight, but it didn't find any solutions at all. While I'm figuring out what's wrong, here is the current lvl19, score=1133. It's likely that it's not the best solution so far. lvl19.mp4 lvl19_20210317-2027.fixed.rzx

Strictly speaking, the tool's search was not exhaustive, so while I'm sure all "micro-optimizations" are done perfectly, in theory it's possible [although unlikely] that the tool missed some more "strategic" ideas. It may come from one of three sources: The algorithm is a bit "greedy", so if there's a fast way to collect 2-3 items, it may prune more optimal (in long term) route which takes 0-1 items within the same initial time. The tool doesn't like doing nothing, so strats that involve waiting could be missed. If something (like crumbling platform configuration) had to be set up earlier in the level to be used much later on "way back", it may also be missed (although I think there are no levels like this). In fact, the tool DID miss best routes for the first attempts, especially for the first half of levels before I tuned scoring: Level 2 "The Cold Room" - in the end there's some waiting involved. Initially waiting was penalized too much, so after ~1 second Willy gave up and decided to take another round in the level. Level 4 "Abandoned Uranium Workings" - there in one of attempts Willy was too greedy, and after seeing that he can take 2 items quickly, it pruned more optimal route which involved taking the furthest key first. Level 5 "Eugene's Lair" - this one was the hardest. If I didn't know that the record is higher that the script got, I would stop. In the optimal route, the first item is collected after the less optimal route already has 2 items, so it was pruned. The optimal route was penalized even more because it involved waiting of the "night-time toilet". The route that the script kept generating is similar to the optimal route, but the first item to take was the one above the "night-time toilet". Level 7 "The Vat" was also not done from the first attempt. As it involved some waiting, Willy initially wasted some frames by jumping. Out of all levels, I think this has the largest probability (although still very low) of being suboptimal. Maybe I'll rerun the latest version of the tool on this level. In level 12 "Return of the Alien Kong Beast", the item right below the beast was tempting to take in the beginning of the route rather than just before the final jump. While I suspect that at that point the scoring was well tuned to find the right route without needs for nudges, I just programmed it to ignore this item completely in order not to waste search capacity. Notes about other levels: In level 3 "The Menagerie" two routes (bottom key first vs last), time till the first key was comparable, so even with early untuned script it worked well, considering both routes. In level 13 "Ore Refinery" it looked like large number of order in which items are collected are possible, so I ran my tool at extreme settings to ensure nothing is missed. In level 17 the first item is a bit inconvenient to take, so initially Willy preferred to go to the right right away. While it would likely find the optimal route without my help, I helped it a bit by counting the leftmost key as two so that it preferred to take it a bit more.

I've noticed in the table "crem's algorithm" is added to all caverns that my script ran (and it happened to run all caverns). I think it makes sense to keep them only for caverns where the new high score was achieved. For a script, discovering something new is kind of an achievement (maybe), but repeating what's already done – not so much, it's kind of expected.

Oops, wrong rzx attached, fixed it now, thanks! (for some reason when I write rzx during the generation, the result is corrupted. But when I regenerate it from the list of moves in a separate tool which uses the same code -- it works. Not sure whether my bugs or libspectrum library, but either somewhere a variable is not initialized or deallocated memory is used). I believe (actually, hope!) that @jetsetdanny uses some tool assistance like saving/restoring or slow speed runs. If it's actually entire level run by hand, he should consider submitting a run to speedrun.com to move @RuffledBricks to the second place. 🙂

Levels 18, 19 (fastest but not the highest score) and 20. Other than Level 19 challenge, all done. 🙂 lvl20.mp4 lvl19.mp4 lvl18.mp4 lvl19_20210315-0912.fixed.rzx lvl20_20210315-1450.fixed.rzx lvl18_20210313-1556.fixed.rzx

That's a question of terminology. 🙂 I agree that in the narrowest meaning "route" means the order in which you visit locations (in "Telephone"s the order of collecting two first items is different btw, but I think it doesn't affect the rest of the run), but which guardian's cycle to use (and whether to jump above or below the guardian) is kind of part of a route too. Probably speedrunners' term "strat" would be more precise indeed.

Thanks for mentioning me in the high score table! I indeed prefer to write my nickname in all lowercase, so "crem's algorithm" is good. However, now the table says "creme" rather than "crem", that's not the spelling I usually use. 😜

Actually, I only planned the entire exercise to potentially discover new strats for speedrunners, so I optimized for speed rather than score... But then it turned out that you have this high score challenge in this forum. But ok, challenge accepted. I'll see what I can do to generate lvl19 highest score variant. 🙂

I did, and there was no improvements (although I hoped, there's so much waiting involved!) I'll post the remaining 3 caverns later today (with "fastest" rather than "highest score" level 19)

No, it was actually faster, this post: had score 1376, which is 31 frames faster than best known score.

Level 17 "The warehouse" Score=1951 (42 frames better than previous record) lvl17.mp4 lvl17_20210315-1140.fixed.rzx

Levels 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. No improvements over humans. lvl16.mp4 lvl15.mp4 lvl14.mp4 lvl13.mp4 lvl12.mp4 lvl5.mp4 lvl5_20210315-0024.fixed.rzx lvl16_20210314-2116.fixed.rzx lvl15_20210313-1209.rzx lvl14_20210313-1200.rzx lvl13_20210314-1814.fixed.rzx lvl12_20210315-0317.fixed.rzx

So, I've done it for all levels, except: Level 20 is not yet finished, but I don't expect any improvement there Level 19 is currently optimized for the fastest playthrough, not the highest amount of remaining air. I'll optimize it for the air, but likely not today. Among 20 caverns, 5 had improvements: 2 small (≤5 frames) micro-optimizations: Level 3 "Menagerie" (1 frame) and level 10 "Endorian Forest" (5 frames) 3 large (≥20 frames) route improvements: Level 9 "Wacky Amoebatrons", Level 11 "Telephones" (29 frames), Level 17 "Warehouse" (42 frames).

Level 11 "Telephones" Score=1749 (29 frames improvement!) I've also added it to my "keypresses of every frame" post. lvl11.mp4 lvl11_20210314-1825.fixed.rzx

Level 10 " The Endorian Forest" Score=1840, 5 frames faster than previously known best \o/ lvl10.mp4 lvl10_20210314-0200.fixed.rzx

Level 8 Score=4047, also no improvement over humans Peek 2021-03-14 17-40.mp4 lvl8_20210314-0214.fixed.rzx

Ok, while level 5 is still calculating, posting a bit of levels ahead.. Level7. Score=1825 No surprises, same score as humans. lvl7.mp4 lvl7_20210313-1945.fixed.rzx

Level1: R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Level2: R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R . . Q . Q . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R . . . Q Q . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . R R . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Q . Q Q RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R Level3: R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R . Q Q R . . . . . R Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Level4: Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R RM . . Level5: R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R Q Q Q . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . R R R R . . . . . R R R R R . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . Q Q R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R . . . Level6 I didn't regenerate after fixing the "no moving on the first frame" bug, that's why the first frame is idle: . Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R Q Q Q Q R . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Level7: (I didn't post a video for it yet, will post soon) R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Q Q Q . . . . . Q Q Q . R RM . . . . . . . R R R R Q . Q R R . . . R R R R R Q . Q R . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R Q . . Q M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q . R R R R Q . . . R R R . . Q . Q . . . . . Q Q Q Q R R R R R Q Q R . . . R Q Q Q R Q R R . . . Q . . R . R Q Q . . . Q R Q . . . R Q . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Level8 (will also post videos soon) I have in two variants: Level8 without throwing Kong beast, and with "first frame idle bug": . R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . Q Q . . . R R . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . Q Q . . Q Q Q . Q . R Q Q Q . . . . . Level8 max score (with dealing with Kong) R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . Q Q . . . R R . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . Q Q Q RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R . . . R M . . . . . . . . . . R Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . R R R R Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . Level9: R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R Q . Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . Level10: (spoiler alert: 5 frames faster than the current human record) R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R R Q Q Q . Q . Q R R R Q . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R . Q . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . Q . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Level11: (29 frames faster than humans!) R R R R R R R RM . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R . . . R . Q R . . . Q R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R M . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Level12: R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q M . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R Q R Q . R . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . R . . . . . R R R . . . Q . R . RM . . . . . . R R R R . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Level13: Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . Level14: Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R M . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R . . . . . . . . . R R R R QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . Level15: R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q . Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Level16: R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R . . . . . . Level17 (42 frames improvement): R R R R R R R R R R R R R . Q . . Q . . . R Q Q . . . . R . . . . Q Q . R R R R . . . R R R Q Q Q Q R . . . R . Q . Q Q R R . . . R R . Q Q R R R R . . . Q Q Q Q R R Q Q . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q R R R R Q . . . . Q R R Q R Q R . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R . Q Q R R . . . R R R R . Q Q R R . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q . R R . R R . . . R R R R Q Q . R R . . . R R R R R . Q R . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . Level18: Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R . Q Q Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . R R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q R Q . . . Q . . Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . Level19 (fastest but not the highest score): R R R R . Q R . Q R R . Q R R R R R R Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . Q . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q . . R Q . . . . R . . . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R Q Q RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R . Q R R R R R R . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . Level19 (highest score so far): R R R R . Q R . Q R R . Q R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R . . Q R . Q . R . R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Q Q Q M . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R . . . . . . . Q Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Q . R Q R Q Q Q R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R . R R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q R Q R Q R . Q R . . Q . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R R Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q QM . . . . . Level 20: Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q R M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . .

I have per frame keypress data for all generated levels, that should remove the need of trial and error. Example for level3: R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q QM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . . . . Q Q Q RM . . . . . . . . . . . . RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R RM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R . Q Q R . . . . . R Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q . . . . . . . R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R (R = right, Q = left, M = jump, . = nothing, RM = right and jump simultaneously)

I gave it a go in Level 3, and indeed it improved the score by one frame. Score:1904 lvl3 2021-03-12 18-19.mp4 lvl3_20210312-1729.rzx

I think it's not that scary in all places though. The tool just picks the first or last possible frame to do the jump/some other trick and the near-miss makes it look like it's a frame/pixel-perfect strat. While several parts of this video are probably indeed frame-perfect, some of strats surely have 2-3 frame/pixel window to be executed.

This time no surprises for Level 4. Score: 1854 Hmmm now I wonder if I should regenerate Levels 1, 2, 3 and 6 after the bugfix.. Maybe there's something. lvl4.mp4 lvl4_20210312-0744.rzx

Sorry for posting this level out of order, but I think it's an improvement of the best known score by almost three seconds (interestingly, with the "only start moving from the second frame" bug, it was actually almost 3 seconds slower than the best known score, due to having to wait for the blue amoebatron in the very beginning). Level 9 ("Wacky Amoebatrons") Score: 1376 lvl9.mp4 lvl9_20210312-0255.rzx

I think I found bug in my code. I use address $87F1 as start of a frame, while in reality the movement happens earlier in the game loop (at address $875C it calls Move WIlly (1) routine which calls Move Willy (2) which reads keyboard). That means that my script skipped the very first frame of the level and started to move from the frame 2. That also means, that even if you start moving one frame later in levels 1, 2, 3 and 6, you still will be able to get the maximum score.

Thanks, it was indeed the case! For MM itself that has not been a problem, but the launcher seems to use more of ROM stuff.