Ballance Weekly Report

Week 16 of 2021
April 12rd, 2021 - April 18th, 2021

Gamepiaynmo released the first TAS record. It is better(1:16.726) than current best record which created by BianMu(1:17.391).
According release topic said, He uses random iteration to find the optimal solution. First, record a version that can pass the level, and then continuously add a small disturbance to the recorded key operation, observe the speed difference between the front and the back, and update the current optimal solution if the level can be cleared faster after the disturbance.
However, the interval that can be optimized at a time is limited, that is, a key operation of about 2-5 seconds. If a longer interval is used, the probability of passing the game after adding disturbance is infinitely close to 0. Therefore, an evaluation criterion is needed, which can judge whether the current solution is better when the ball goes to any position, instead of judging based on the time it takes to pass the level. So I asked BianMu to help record a TAS of the first level, and the time it took to pass the level was 1:19.477. Although there is no record breaking, the route is basically close to the fastest route, which is enough as a reference.
A brief evaluation criterion is structured as follows. By taking an anchor point on this path every 0.3 seconds or so, and then measuring the time it takes the ball to reach each anchor point for the first time. The existence of errors is certain, but it is enough for iterative optimization. So there is the final version of the optimization method:

  1. Capture the record which can be used to pass the level.
  2. Manually adjust some of the parameters, which can achieve some operations that players cannot complete, such as completing the left and right button switching within 1 frame, and completing the camera rotation within 1 frame.
  3. Using 2 to 5 seconds as an interval, find the optimal solution in this interval through random iteration. Adjacent intervals need a certain overlap to get the global optimal solution as much as possible. Try about 300 times in each interval until no better solution can be found.

The record file of this TAS record has been attached with the latest BML release package.

Forum topic: https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7307178276
Gamepiaynmo TAS video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQf6E7iatIk
Comparision video(comparing between TAS record and current best record): https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1XQ4y1o7Fu

Uigoir is an extraordinary speedrunner in Ballance. He was active in the Chinese community around 2007, after that, he retired. This week, he returned to the Chinese community and had a lot of communication with some community members in many aspects, especially speedrun.
I think you are familiar with uigoir, perhaps. You can find him on YouTube, and you have probably watched his Ballance speedrun video. The return of uigoir excited all the members of the Chinese community. At the same time, this is also an affirmation of the game Ballance. Those players who temporarily left the community have not gone far, they still remember this game that brought him happiness.

uigoir on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/uigoir
Review the famous video of uigoir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK2b4HtOowM
uigoir released topic: https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7304464675