I've been debating on reviewing this or not. So, let me see if this adds to the conversation.
Reviewing...(with trepidation)
DwangoAC asked if I would take a look at the technical video stream with Sauraen, on the deep technical side of how Triforce% was approached. Because of that, I decided to use some of that experience to review this submission.
This is one of the very few documentaries that kept me watching all the way through. Why? My background is in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I program for a living, while dabbling with electronics as a hobby. Additionally, I use both backgrounds to work with such devices as Micro-controllers, where both worlds give me the lowest level of control over hardware. The only other area that I wish to bring up, is my focus on the 6502/6510 microprocessor computers where I am still actively trying to write ML/ASM games that take existing concepts and add a touch of uniqueness to give revival to older and common games.
Now that you know a bit about my background, it will be evident as to why I am bringing up points that interests me about this submission.
First off, this work is among the best ACE I've ever seen. Even though I understand the concepts behind all the moving parts, there is no way that I could have ever discovered or performed any of this work. It is evident, that the 25+ people working on this and the 21 years to figure a way to inject and execute this code, in obviously a major accomplishment and worthy of high recognition.
Second...the creation of these inputs, in regards to matching a human having super capabilities, was a great approach to making this even more authentic. I can't understand the alternate method (which I believe was using injected code to self modify itself), but being able to perform everything directly via the controllers, is a point that I wish to emphasize as having priority for acceptance. I've known for sometime that our N64 emulators are not up to the challenge of faithfully reproducing emulation that matches the console's behavior. So, being done directly on a console is absolutely more important and should absolutely override any emulation that exists. After-all, emulation should match the system. Not being able to reproduce this via a file, isn't enough when we see the proof from a GDQ demonstration on real hardware.
Third...the content presented is among the highest demonstration of skill and entertainment...at least it does so for me and my technical side. I am completely blown away by the brilliance of each member, who fought to figure out such a feat. Because I've been given the honor of posting reviews, I think it would be alright for me to give my opinion on the expectations of its classification of entertainment. Basically, any acceptance of this should earn the highest level of entertainment we have to offer.
So...I'm not sure that I can say enough about this submission, but I'm going to try and close this out with my points for consideration.
*Acceptance: This is a touchy situation. Obviously, the rules don't allow for it. It certainly isn't re-producible in most capacities (IE Emulation, Twitch API interface for custom entries. etc..), and most of us are not going to create a set up at home to replay what we've all seen. In regards to the GDQ demonstration, there is certainly value in having this for the site. I like the fact that Samsara is going to fight for giving this a home...but what will that home look like?
*Verification: In this case, emulation is not going to provide proof that something will work. As we have read/seen, N64 emulation is currently incapable of performing the actions needed to have a full movie file for verification. Because this run was done publicly on real hardware, it should stand as a reproducible item...after-all the console is the real application here. :)
*Classification: For me, and confirmation from DrD2k9's post, the front end of our community is represented well by our Ambassadors, where the best of the best is showcased where ever they go. Because of that, they give TAS Videos a look of excellence that draws new members in and for people to participate. So, as Noxxa stated...we certainly could use a new category for housing these types of submissions. I know the staff will certainly figure something out soon, but as it stands...we don't have the ability to apply proper attribution for every aspect of a publication. Mind you, that this is a "Work of Art" and among a few entries that should be treated in a special way. Sorry...I don't have any suggestions on how that should be.
*Technical: In the Dwango/Sauraen presentation stream...the information was mind-blowing. By the end, it was clear that the way it works (at a high-level), makes a lot of sense. But I'll re-state once again...I would have never been able to discover or recreate any of this myself; however, their approach did remind me of how I have worked, in the past with employeement. With me...when i was given a task, I would watch how things respond and eventually I would figure out its operation so that I could do the work requested of me. With this Triforce% team, they did the same thing...only more extensively. Their analysis was deep enough to recognize how the "Heap" was built for the interaction of any object in the play field. Because of this, the journey to coding that area became the starting point for pushing out the "Bootstrap" injections to eventually produce what we saw. Very fascinating stuff and extremely technical. I could certainly learn many things from this team.
I recently discovered that if you haven't reached a level of frustration with TASing any game, then you haven't done your due diligence.
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SOYZA: Are you playing a game?
NYMX: I'm not playing a game, I'm TASing.
SOYZA: Oh...so its not a game...Its for real?
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Anybody got a Quantum computer I can borrow for 20 minutes?
Nevermind...eien's 64 core machine will do. :)
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BOTing will be the end of all games. --NYMX
