Freakin' Funky Fuzzballs

Edit history:

SDAVerification: 2014-07-08 03:23:51 am

2014-06-07 03:39:11 am

Game Page: Doesn't exist yet

Freakin' Funky Fuzzballs (Any %) (Single Segment)

Decision: Reject

Reason: Needs more polish.

https://queue.speeddemosarchive.com/queue/verificationfiles/1131/

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Thread title:

SDAVerification

2014-06-07 03:39:14 am

Run Information

Freakin' Funky Fuzzballs (Any %) (Single Segment)

Verification Files

http://v.speeddemosarchive.com/freakinfunkyfuzzballs-v_HQ.mp4

Please refer to the Verification Guidelines before posting. Verifications are due by June 21, 2014.

Please post your opinions about the run and be certain to conclude your post with a verdict (Accept/Reject). This is not a contest where the majority wins - I will judge each verification on its content. Please keep your verification brief unless you have a good reason otherwise.

After 2 weeks I will read all of the verifications and move this thread to the main verification board and post my verdict.

MAS8705

2014-06-07 01:32:59 pm

SDA Apprentice -- (3-1)

Freakin' Funky Fuzzballs... Yep, even back in the day, someone had a sense of humor.

Anyway, to the run itself: looks pretty straightforward: Collect keys and move onto the next stage. I noticed how at times, the runner ran into a bit of complications when maneuvering around, although that could be because of the controls. The keys are also probably randomly generated, so it makes sense why the runnr has to check even spot in order to find them all. Didn't see anything else that would be conisidered bad besides the title of the game, so I say accept.

ktwo

2014-06-20 04:36:52 am

A/V: It looks good to me, but don't take my word for it when it comes to PC capture.

Legit: This was played through dosbox. I don't know about the rules for dosbox other than it's accepted on sda, so I can't say anything about correct settings etc.

I assume I'm not the only one never having heard of this game before, so let me start out by explaining the basics of the game.

In each of the 15 levels (well not the last, but let's forget about that one), you need to find all the keys/key cards and then find and enter the exit in order to move on to the next stage. This while being chased by an enemy. There are lots of items that increase your max health, replenish health, shields etc (all stats are kept between levels). I downloaded the game and played around for 5 minutes. As far as I can tell EVERYTHING (keys, items and exit locations) is random in this game. The enemy chasing you around can't be entirely disregarded and I don't know how manipulable it is, but my impression is that it's not that much of a threat.

To get a good time, it's basically about knowing the level layouts (in order to navigate efficiently) and being lucky with finding the items. Since everything is random, it's obviously impossible to get perfect luck. It's therefore important to have a good plan for how to best explore the different maps. For example, by running in a straight line, the movement speed will increase and you can cover more terrain in a shorter time. For the maps that are bigger than one screen, it's also important not having to backtrack unnecessarily or waste time walking around obstacles and such.

I wrote what's above because I think this speedrun lacks a bit of planning.
- The movement method seemed wrong in many places (zig-zag movement instead of moving in straight lines)
- The search seemed pretty ad hoc instead of carefully studying the maps beforehand and developing the most efficient paths through them.
- I'm not convinced the upgrade strategy was optimal. Sometimes it looked like the runner just ran around randomly searching for additional items instead of going for the exit. When that didn't pay off, they changed their mind and went to the exit anyways. If it wasn't more valuable than that, why spend time looking for it in the first place? While I didn't study the health situation in detail, I think there was room to play it a bit more risky and not to go for as many upgrades.

Granted, I'm far from an expert at this game. I will also admit that I tried out some of the above on the first room without much success. However, the runner found the key and exit very quickly so it was hard to conclude anything from that. I also think most of the problems appeared later in the game and I haven't played those levels. The game's obscurity also means that there are no walkthroughs etc. On top of that, there are no run comments provided, so if the runner was using some manipulations (item locations, enemy movements or for something else), it would probably look like mistakes in my eyes. Overall, the runner went through the game quickly, but it looks like it could have been planned better. I therefore think this game could use some more work before having a run published here.

Reject

P.S. My guess is that there are no experts for this game around here other than the runner. As already mentioned, there isn't much information available on the net and no run comments either. It's therefore an excellent example of where it would have been invaluable to have the runner involved in the discussion. If they aren't regularly checking this sub-forum (or even the sda forum as a whole), they're obviously never going to chime in. To me, it's absolutely absurd that they're not invited to answer questions and address criticism about the run (of course, I apologize if it recently has been changed so they do get notifications about these threads).

A/V: It looks good to me, but don't take my word for it when it comes to PC capture.

Legit: This was played through dosbox. I don't know about the rules for dosbox other than it's accepted on sda, so I can't say anything about correct settings etc.

I assume I'm not the only one never having heard of this game before, so let me start out by explaining the basics of the game.

In each of the 15 levels (well not the last, but let's forget about that one), you need to find all the keys/key cards and then find and enter the exit in order to move on to the next stage. This while being chased by an enemy. There are lots of items that increase your max health, replenish health, shields etc (all stats are kept between levels). I downloaded the game and played around for 5 minutes. As far as I can tell EVERYTHING (keys, items and exit locations) is random in this game. The enemy chasing you around can't be entirely disregarded and I don't know how manipulable it is, but my impression is that it's not that much of a threat.

To get a good time, it's basically about knowing the level layouts (in order to navigate efficiently) and being lucky with finding the items. Since everything is random, it's obviously impossible to get perfect luck. It's therefore important to have a good plan for how to best explore the different maps. For example, by running in a straight line, the movement speed will increase and you can cover more terrain in a shorter time. For the maps that are bigger than one screen, it's also important not having to backtrack unnecessarily or waste time walking around obstacles and such.

I wrote what's above because I think this speedrun lacks a bit of planning.
- The movement method seemed wrong in many places (zig-zag movement instead of moving in straight lines)
- The search seemed pretty ad hoc instead of carefully studying the maps beforehand and developing the most efficient paths through them. 
- I'm not convinced the upgrade strategy was optimal. Sometimes it looked like the runner just ran around randomly searching for additional items instead of going for the exit. When that didn't pay off, they changed their mind and went to the exit anyways. If it wasn't more valuable than that, why spend time looking for it in the first place? While I didn't study the health situation in detail, I think there was room to play it a bit more risky and not to go for as many upgrades.

Granted, I'm far from an expert at this game. I will also admit that I tried out some of the above on the first room without much success. However, the runner found the key and exit very quickly so it was hard to conclude anything from that. I also think most of the problems appeared later in the game and I haven't played those levels. The game's obscurity also means that there are no walkthroughs etc. On top of that, there are no run comments provided, so if the runner was using some manipulations (item locations, enemy movements or for something else), it would probably look like mistakes in my eyes. Overall, the runner went through the game quickly, but it looks like it could have been planned better. I therefore think this game could use some more work before having a run published here.

Reject

P.S. My guess is that there are no experts for this game around here other than the runner. As already mentioned, there isn't much information available on the net and no run comments either. It's therefore an excellent example of where it would have been invaluable to have the runner involved in the discussion. If they aren't regularly checking this sub-forum (or even the sda forum as a whole), they're obviously never going to chime in. To me, it's absolutely absurd that they're not invited to answer questions and address criticism about the run (of course, I apologize if it recently has been changed so they do get notifications about these threads).

CourtesyCoin

2014-07-05 02:34:14 am

hi i herd dis were WR happens yes

First off: What a deliciously obscure game/name.
A/V looks good, especially for old DOS games.

I'm afraid I have to agree with most of what ktwo has said above. While this game seems to be completely RNG, there seem to be multiple instances where unnecessary backtracking had to be done. I can understand not wanting to take too much risk with the enemy chasing you as health carries over, yet I think there was a bit more room for risk than displayed in this run.
Without run comments and no real knowledge base to fall back upon, I'm going to say reject. With a bit more polish I'll gladly accept a future submission.

bangerra

2014-07-05 09:28:04 am

I agree with the 2 above.
Movement is too erratic and not optimal at all, especially in the levels with multiple screens.

Interesting game though!

Sorry to Reject.

SDAVerification

2014-07-08 03:23:59 am

Decision posted.