There is much activity with this game these days. I find it very interesting to follow the development, so I thought I'll share the forum links.
Current forum thread for updates and improvements: https://tasvideos.org/Forum/Topics/23751
Original thread: https://tasvideos.org/Forum/Topics/23711
I'm curious on the specific details on timing. According to the TAS (https://tasvideos.org/UserFiles/Info/637998149755947525), it takes 8 frames from pressing start until you see the green title start to fade. So I assume exact timing should start 8 frames before the green color changes.
For ending: The rules say "when the screen fades out and a cutscene appears". Exactly which frame does this mean? Is it when the screen turns completely black (24 frames after the blob dissappears) or when the Blob in the ending cutscene appears (32 frames after the blob dissappears)? In my opinion timing should end on the frame where the blob dissappears because you have lost control at that point.
Note that I'm pretty new at frame counting so I might have gotten some details wrong.
Is there any way to consistently manipulate the slot machine to win every time? I saw one run where the runner clicked USE 8 times before using a coin in the slot machine. This manipulation is also mentioned in a TAS description. I have tried this to some success, but it doesn't always work. When it works I always get 3 cherries, so I don't think it's coincidence. Could this be entirely dependent on the number of button presses from the beginning of the room, or even worse, the beginning of the game?