Mushroom Cup TAS - TASer's Notes

Hello!

Introduction / Background:
It's about time that a full game TAS was done for Mario Kart Wii. I have decided to undergo the challenge of completing this tool assisted speedrun because other TASers either believe it's too hard to do or an optimised run cannot be done until Dolphin implement an efficient wiimote input feature. In fact I've always wanted to do a 32 track tool assisted speedrun with items because I find the course strategies are very interesting; bagging for triple shrooms would be ideal on the majority of courses. However there is no known way to manipulate item RNG other than getting straight out lucky. Blue shells, lightning bolts and POW blocks can cause you to fail, lose your shrooms and ultimately time.

This TAS was performed on Dolphin 4.0-5315 with the GCN controller.

In regards to the video quality:
I apologise that I am not able to render 1080p or 60fps videos because I edit with IMovie (I use a Macbook). The whole of this video was recorded with Quicktime Player screen record so that's why there are unusual lag points throughout this video. The initial file was 40 minutes worth of recording so the frame rate varied - it was only when I imported the file into IMovie that I could speed it up to "60fps." Even then it's not as a steady speed which is why I cannot add the direct game sound to this video. The recording was always either too fast or slow for the audio so in the end I just scrapped it and added custom music. I hope it doesn't ruin the video.

Setup:
-VS Race Settings: 150cc class, hard CPUs, courses in order, no items and 32 tracks.
Funky Kong on the Flame Runner (or Bowser Bike) is the fastest character vehicle combination to use because it is capable of the fastest time on most tracks. The tracks where this combination is not optimal either the Mach Bike, Magikruser or Spear (or Torpedo) is fastest however these vehicles lose great amounts of time on the other tracks.

Luigi Circuit:
At the beginning I wheelie at the right side of the road to edge a slipstream off the Bowser Jr. This gives me a significant boost so I save time. At the boost panels at the end of the lap it is faster to wheelie rather than drift on them (120km/h < 118km/h). At the end of lap 1 and 2 I drift across the track so I can approach the first turn at a steeper angle and take a tighter line. I lose time on the lap I drift down on but ultimately gain time on the next lap. That is why on lap 3 I do not utilise this strategy. I don't see any lower than 1:13.8xx without new strategies.

Moo Moo Meadows:
Nothing much to say about this run. The majority of turns are soft drifted. The both ramps on lap 1 were done badly and the lap 2 blue ramp was done badly. I can see sub 1:17 done easily here.

Mushroom Gorge:
It's faster to miss the first boost ramp by going to the right and then hopping onto the mushroom. I missed the slip drift into the next turn on lap 1 on accident however getting a lucky bounce from the first green mushroom to the edge of the grass is barely faster than getting low air off the mushroom and landing further forward. It was very hard to manipulate so I took the easier route of getting more air time.

The beginning cave mushrooms can be done two different ways. One method was demonstrated in this TAS where I got two tricks off the first red mushroom to skip the second mushroom and land on the first green one. Alternately, I could have done what Rocky did in his speedrun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfLw8NnODHs) where he got low air off the first two mushrooms. Mushrooms bounces slow you down greatly so I think that what I did is faster although it has not been proven. I also skip the final mushroom in the cave by tricking off the edge of the previous mushroom in order to get maximum air time. 1:47.2xx would probably be the limit for a shroomless TAS here.

Toad's Factory:
I wheelie turned for a couple of frames on the first conveyor (beneath the stompers) on lap 2 and 3 to eliminate any unnecessary bounces. Had I not done this I would have lost speed from the bounces and missed the luck wheelie so it was more effective to sacrifice the minuscule amount of speed by wheelie turning. I'm still unsure whether it's faster in a shroomless to drop the wheelie nearing the end of first ramp's trick boost in order to get a later chain wheelie. Either way this is a solid run and I think 1:47 is possible but hard.

Conclusion:
If you read everything in this Pastebin then thank you.
I cannot give a date for the next instalment in this 32 track TAS. I may never finish the Flower Cup, I get unmotivated easily. For anyone wondering this TAS was done in 2-3 weeks, the majority of it done on the holiday week.
Thank you for your support and have a nice day.