Death Rally - June 23, 2015

Edit history:

SDAVerification: 2015-06-23 09:39:44 am

2015-06-16 09:47:04 pm

Game Page: Doesn't exist yet

Death Rally () (pc) [Any %] [Segmented] [Speed Makes Me Dizzy]

Decision: Reject

Reason: For a relatively short run with relatively short segments, the optmization level is expected to be very high. Fundamental flaws in the routing of this run have been pointed out, indicating there is quite a bit of time to be saved.

https://queue.speeddemosarchive.com/verificationfiles/1596/

This run will be available for a month. After that these link(s) will no longer work.

Thread title:

SDAVerification

2015-06-16 09:47:04 pm

Run Information

Death Rally () (pc) [Any %] [Segmented] [Speed Makes Me Dizzy]

Verification Files

http://v.speeddemosarchive.com/deathrally-20150331/

Please refer to the Verification Guidelines before posting. Verifications are due by June 30, 2015.

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.

Judgy

Edit history:

Judgy: 2015-06-17 03:55:17 am

2015-06-17 03:54:58 am

Borderlands 2 Glitch Hunter/ router.

A/V: good, seems strange the menus are so high res and then the game-play looks like GTA1 but whatever.
Cheating: None
Game-play: I don't know enough about the level of RNG in this game to be able to go one way or the other, some segments look like they could have been tried again with better results but I don't know how hard it would be to get those results, for the most part mistakes look to be "unfortunate" rather than bad playing.

Decision: Neutral (neither Accept nor Reject)

LotBlind

Edit history:

LotBlind: 2015-06-19 03:06:15 pm

LotBlind: 2015-06-19 03:02:49 pm

2015-06-18 09:58:15 am

I'm going to be more verbose because I know this game and just spent a while testing out different strategies.

It should be mentioned if this is the newer Windows port or the DOS one even though there aren't supposed to be gameplay changes at all.

The runner has spliced his segments together by the looks of it but I don't see discrepancies. Aren't they supposed to be separate or does it matter if you can see the whole save/load process? You see small bits that don't belong in the segment before some of them.

The trick to knock one of the Deliverator (fastest car) racers out by choosing their portrait is used as it probably should. That's the only real trick trick I know of for the game.

What the runner is doing in the first race is he's waiting for the last opponent to approach the curvy part of the map to be able to ram them more reliably. Wasting all three competitors yields a guaranteed first spot, faster than actually finishing the race, and also an additional bonus of $600 (or more later on). He's relying on luck to get just low-level opponents joining the race (up to Sentinel cars) because they have less armor and can't easily escape ahead. The thing is, there are some races that can be finished faster than the runner's first segment just by driving. You don't get the "all-kill" bonus BUT if you get lucky there can be additional money lying around (1x$500 + whatever else you can collect) or the pills, which are worth $1000 at the end if you finish first. Getting either of those will bring you to the same situation after the first race but can be a bit faster (I finished one race in 1:15). If it's okay to get a bit less money (the runner does eventually use almost all of his money but he could easily have gotten away with one less repair) you could easily get a faster first segment this way.

At 56 seconds the runner hesitates a bit before turning around. I think you might benefit from using one of the wrecked cars to help create a roadblock so he could've pushed the pick-up to do that. Also you can try to push the other cars into mines but that's difficult and the potential for damage is greater with getting them jammed against walls.

When the segment changes, you can see the car on the left changing from the Dervish to the Sentinel, which is because it's not reset by loading. The runner actually made a small mistake in not first selecting the right car before reloading.

The second segment: Sabotage can get at least 49% worth at most but this ties in with the overall luck of each attempt. This segment is pretty good though with a time of 49 seconds for the whole race while riding a crappy car. I don't know why the runner doesn't just stop somewhere to spam all the mines there apart from needing to be careful so they don't overtake him too soon. This actually makes sense. Afterwards he guards a narrow pass to maximize the chances of catching the remaining opponents, which again makes sense.

Again the runner has the wrong car selected starting the next segment but whatever.

Later the runner decides against buying the Wraith. If he did, he'd lose $22.5k (looks like you only get 1/10 of a car's worth when you trade) which is two whole races of winnings. Because most of the damage comes from the other racers and the minefield, I can understand why getting slightly more powerful weapons isn't a priority.

The first race with the Deliverator, the runner's handling of the last part of the race doesn't look quite optimal. He had lots of ammo to chew through Motor Mary as she approached but wanted to keep her behind him instead. A moment of confusion. Also the whole strategy could be different. Instead of waiting for the second lap, just getting in front of everyone (luck manipulate getting low-level opponents) and dropping mines in their faces and just ramming can work too. I got a time comparable to one of the later Deliverator races (а 0:28) after just a few attempts with this technique. What the runner is doing might be more safe and avoids a lot of damage but might not be the fastest ultimately because you'll never finish before everyone is on their second lap. You need to charge in front of everyone using the boost and when they are right behind you it is actually really easy to hit them with every mine basically.

In the next segment the runner goes for two armor upgrades. Technically he could have bought one for the previous one already. The idea is just to get more reliable results being able to ram other cars more.

The runner's handling of the car isn't quite totally perfect when firing at the opponents for example. Also menuing is a bit sloppy. However, I imagine it does take a lot of attempts to get perfect races like he keeps getting, the opponents need to be damaging each other enough and then they can't miss the mine fields. This is what most of the run comes down to, a whole lotta luck. However because I'm doubtful the runner is using optimal strategies I don't this is good enough.

weak reject

I advice the runner to buy the things for the next segment before segmenting to make it that much faster to get into a race for each attempt (just spam enter). Starting a forum thread isn't a bad idea either for more feedback if he wants. Keep working on the game though! It's possibly the best DOS racing game and I don't regret downloading it just to check it out again.

EDIT: Here's another strategy the runner missed. Looks like save/loading also doesn't save your position in the shop menu. This means if you know you're only going to buy the mines etc. you should select those first, then reload and they're still selected. Unless you wanna do it the way I suggested above.

I'm going to be more verbose because I know this game and just spent a while testing out different strategies.

It should be mentioned if this is the newer Windows port or the DOS one even though there aren't supposed to be gameplay changes at all.

The runner has spliced his segments together by the looks of it but I don't see discrepancies. Aren't they supposed to be separate or does it matter if you can see the whole save/load process? You see small bits that don't belong in the segment before some of them.

The trick to knock one of the Deliverator (fastest car) racers out by choosing their portrait is used as it probably should. That's the only real trick trick I know of for the game.

What the runner is doing in the first race is he's waiting for the last opponent to approach the curvy part of the map to be able to ram them more reliably. Wasting all three competitors yields a guaranteed first spot, faster than actually finishing the race, and also an additional bonus of $600 (or more later on). He's relying on luck to get just low-level opponents joining the race (up to Sentinel cars) because they have less armor and can't easily escape ahead. The thing is, there are some races that can be finished faster than the runner's first segment just by driving. You don't get the "all-kill" bonus BUT if you get lucky there can be additional money lying around (1x$500 + whatever else you can collect) or the pills, which are worth $1000 at the end if you finish first. Getting either of those will bring you to the same situation after the first race but can be a bit faster (I finished one race in 1:15). If it's okay to get a bit less money (the runner does eventually use almost all of his money but he could easily have gotten away with one less repair) you could easily get a faster first segment this way.

At 56 seconds the runner hesitates a bit before turning around. I think you might benefit from using one of the wrecked cars to help create a roadblock so he could've pushed the pick-up to do that. Also you can try to push the other cars into mines but that's difficult and the potential for damage is greater with getting them jammed against walls.

When the segment changes, you can see the car on the left changing from the Dervish to the Sentinel, which is because it's not reset by loading. The runner actually made a small mistake in not first selecting the right car before reloading.

The second segment: Sabotage can get at least 49% worth at most but this ties in with the overall luck of each attempt. This segment is pretty good though with a time of 49 seconds for the whole race while riding a crappy car. I don't know why the runner doesn't just stop somewhere to spam all the mines there apart from needing to be careful so they don't overtake him too soon. This actually makes sense. Afterwards he guards a narrow pass to maximize the chances of catching the remaining opponents, which again makes sense.

Again the runner has the wrong car selected starting the next segment but whatever.

Later the runner decides against buying the Wraith. If he did, he'd lose $22.5k (looks like you only get 1/10 of a car's worth when you trade) which is two whole races of winnings. Because most of the damage comes from the other racers and the minefield, I can understand why getting slightly more powerful weapons isn't a priority.

The first race with the Deliverator, the runner's handling of the last part of the race doesn't look quite optimal. He had lots of ammo to chew through Motor Mary as she approached but wanted to keep her behind him instead. A moment of confusion. Also the whole strategy could be different. Instead of waiting for the second lap, just getting in front of everyone (luck manipulate getting low-level opponents) and dropping mines in their faces and just ramming can work too. I got a time comparable to one of the later Deliverator races (а 0:28) after just a few attempts with this technique. What the runner is doing might be more safe and avoids a lot of damage but might not be the fastest ultimately because you'll never finish before everyone is on their second lap. You need to charge in front of everyone using the boost and when they are right behind you it is actually really easy to hit them with every mine basically.

In the next segment the runner goes for two armor upgrades. Technically he could have bought one for the previous one already. The idea is just to get more reliable results being able to ram other cars more.

The runner's handling of the car isn't quite totally perfect when firing at the opponents for example. Also menuing is a bit sloppy. However, I imagine it does take a lot of attempts to get perfect races like he keeps getting, the opponents need to be damaging each other enough and then they can't miss the mine fields. This is what most of the run comes down to, a whole lotta luck. However because I'm doubtful the runner is using optimal strategies I don't this is good enough.

[b]weak reject[/b]

I advice the runner to buy the things for the next segment before segmenting to make it that much faster to get into a race for each attempt (just spam enter). Starting a forum thread isn't a bad idea either for more feedback if he wants. Keep working on the game though! It's possibly the best DOS racing game and I don't regret downloading it just to check it out again.

EDIT: Here's another strategy the runner missed. Looks like save/loading also doesn't save your position in the shop menu. This means if you know you're only going to buy the mines etc. you should select those first, then reload and they're still selected. Unless you wanna do it the way I suggested above.

SDAVerification

2015-06-23 09:39:47 am

Decision posted.