Table of contents Instructions on how to play the TAS movie
Short description
Gameplay description
Game modes
Powerups
Extra mechanics
Technical notes
Graphics
Glitches
Potential time saves
Credits
Instructions on how to play the TAS movie
Have the Windows XP installed inside of PCem, using TASVideos' setup guide
Have the RealArcade version of Tumblebugs.
In order to have this TAS playback on your end, you have to use this installation movie.
READ the annotations of the TAS movie before playing it!
Short description
Tumblebugs is a fast-paced puzzle game developed by Wildfire Studios.
It was released for a number of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and WiiWare.
Gameplay description
The objective is to save all of the bugs rolling around the screen before they reach the opening to the Black Bug Empire's underground lair.
When one bug reaches the opening, the other bugs in the line rush underground, and the player loses a life.
The player can save the bugs by firing a colored bug from Tumble's back towards a group of two or more of the same colored balls.
When three or more of the same color come in contact with each other, they are set free, possibly triggering other bugs to escape as part of a chain reaction.
Occasionally, powerup indicators will appear on bugs in the queue.
If the player completes the group while the powerup is active, you will collect that powerup.
If it is not collected, powerup will flash and eventually disappear.
Game modes
Tumblebugs has a choice of Story Mode or Time Trial Mode.
In Story Mode there are 4 backyards where the Black Bugs have taken control, and a total of 12 levels.
The level selection screen shows all of the levels unlocked so far.
Time Trial Mode is a test to see how long the player can last on a single map, while the difficulty is gradually increased.
The player can choose from all of the maps already unlocked in Story Mode.
Powerups
Rewind: The Tumblebugs are briefly able to push back against their captors and move away from the lair.
Fast Forward: Bugs move more quickly toward the lair, but 500 points is scored, which can help a great deal with reaching 100% complete.
Stop: The bugs stop moving forward briefly, making shots easier.
Ballistic Bugs: For a limited time, you can launch bugs right over the top of the queue to reach the bugs at the rear which were impossible to get to before.
Wild Bugs: These multi-colored bugs match with any color they touch, even two at once.
Star Bug: Can bust through several lines of bugs, freeing each one it comes into contact with. Useful for collecting other powerups.
Blossom Bug: Bugs are freed all at once in a circle around the powerup.
Color Burst: In a circle surrounding the powerup, bugs are all changed to the same color.
E-X-T-R-A Letters: Collect all of the letters to spell out the word EXTRA to be awarded an extra life.
Extra mechanics
There are 2 extra mechanics that aren't mentioned on the wikipedia page, it's best to put the in-game-texture here, which explains them the best.

Technical notes
- This TAS only completes the Story Mode of Tumblebugs, because unlike Zuma Deluxe (frog getting the Sun God Hat after completing both modes), you don't really get any indicator that you've achieved 100% completion.
- In most of the longer levels, I delay the shots in order to get a specific powerup, otherwise I'd have to make twice as many shots just to finish a level.
- Making combos is usually the fastest way to finish a level, so firstly I shoot balls in order to prepare for a big combo, then shoot elsewhere until I get the color needed to start the combo, and then start the combo, while that's happening, I try to clean the rest of the balls that are in the way.
- Compared to Zuma (and usually other sphere matchers), this game doesn't have any recoil (balls being pushed back) when combo is happening.
- SuperBug is so annoying, it clears the balls that are necessary for the triple-ball-match, or sometimes combo.
- I always try to finish the levels as fast as possible, so I try a bunch of different angles of shooting, trying to find in which one will the "NEXT" button clickable the soonest.
- Though sometimes it doesn't matter, since some ball matches are instantaneous, basically the rest of the balls bursting instantly upon contact with the shot ball.
- The last level is finished early due to other 2 chains appearing after certain amount of time, and the score bar got filled before those chains get to appear.
- In most of my TASes, screen tearing just happens, and I don't know how to fix it.
Graphics
There are 2 graphics options that get selected depending if you have the hardware above minimum requirements, and the hardware that barely meets them. Here are the differences:


As you can see, the Ballistic Bugs powerup (allows you to shoot over the chains, the purple ball on the top) is barely recognizable when graphics are low.
- I think it only changes the moving objects, level texture stays the same. Also, I've noticed one detail, Tumblebug, when far away, has no pupils, but when the stage-clear happens, when it briefly gets closer to the camera, it's pupils barely load. It's also visible at the ending screen.
- The game is still very much playable in the low quality texture mode, but powerups may be hard to differentiate if you don't know what their shape looks like.
Glitches
This game is very buggy when it comes to TASing, really weird disadvantageous glitches occur, such as:
Combos randomly stopping - sometimes throughout the TAS, combos (otherwise called "chain reaction" in the gameplay description) just randomly stop when shooting into that same chain (shooting is necessary in order for the combo to continue, making the score bar fill faster). That happens commonly, so I just shoot the ball in other direction or delay the shot by 2 or more frames.
Another type of combo-stop happens in a similar way, shooting the ball, but the difference is that the ball doesn't have to be shot towards the chain, it stops the combo just by being shot in ANY direction, though occurring less often. It's more annoying, because there's only one way to prevent it, and that is by delaying the shot by 2 or (more commonly) more frames.
Game freezing/crashing - I've only encountered it in one level, but it's possible that it occurs in every non-bonus level if you try hard enough.
Visual glitches - there are a few visual glitches, though I've only found one of them (there are two), the other one is similar, but I don't remember how exactly it looked like, only thing that I remember was - there was a color burst particle, basically sometimes the ball appears to be popped, and turns invisible/partially visible, even though it's still there, not destroyed. Here's the picture of the first visual glitch (marked with a red circle), it's just one partially visible sphere stuck in place for a few seconds, before disappearing.

I don't understand how or why the crash glitch happens, but I'll try guessing how to replicate it:
You must collect the Rewind powerup.
You gotta be quick enough to clear every visible ball, leaving only few which are off screen.
Score bar must be ≤100%, if it must be 100% then make it reach that percentage in the very last moment, just before the SuperBug comes to destroy the remaining balls.
Shoot the remaining off screen ball (the balls must destroy when you shoot them in normal conditions, meaning there should be 2 same-colored balls off screen).
You can find most of these glitches on my own encode of the TAS, at the end of the video, after the end screen, labeled as "Bloopers".
Potential time saves
- In most longer levels time could be cut by getting a better RNG if you tinker with the previous level inputs.
- A big time save could be made at the end of level 10-2, exactly where I found the game-freeze glitch, perhaps you could shoot more balls in order for them to destroy sooner instead of waiting for them to move to the visible screen area. Also, shooting that fatal purple ball earlier is what will cause the game crash.
- In longer levels maybe instead of delaying the shots to get a powerup, perhaps shooting instantly could make you finish the level faster, but I doubt it.
Credits
Special thanks to Aetzon, Mima Explorer, and some other people from the discord server "Sphere Matchers", for helping me choose a better RNG, for helping me with difficult combos, and for being there to support me throughout the journey of making this TAS.

Ver todos los episodios