Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player
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Posts: 1007
I was definitely hoping for a *bit* more positive feedback to soften the negative feedback (hey, I'm American, we're known for handling criticism in a roundabout way) but I do appreciate the responses. I'd like to remind everyone that we lost many, many months to DKC and DKC2 failing and we also had to deal with some political issues that prevented us from doing at least one of the things we wanted to do. The NES Classic was also absolutely horrible and we were lucky we found anything at all that actually worked. At the end of the day however, those distractions were overcome and it was absolutely my call alone to hold off on the explanation of how we had accomplished what we did until later in the block.
I made this choice based on the viewing needs of the general Twitch audience watching; after a few trial runs prior to the event it became clear to me that a much higher percentage of people than I originally expected were either initially fooled or *wanted* to be fooled, and we did not want to spoil the suspension of disbelief too early. Obviously people in this community are far more likely to be skeptical (it's one of the aspects that makes this community what it is), so I knew that I would be getting some flack from this, just not *quite* this much flack. I personally feel like this was one of the most polished blocks we've ever done despite my continued inability to properly convey what the process of creating a TAS is like in understandable terms, but I digress - I'm very proud of what the team has accomplished no matter how salty the feedback here is.
For those who enjoyed the block, I'm glad to hear it. For those who did not, know that this is the logical conclusion of this type of content. To rephrase, AGDQ 21015 was showing we could stream text. AGDQ 2016 and SGDQ 2016 both showed logical steps forward, both by increasing the datarate when delivering the Super Mario All-stars Mario Maker payload as well as when showing off four simultaneous Mario runs. At GeekPwn we showed streaming audio, and here at AGDQ 2017 we took everything to the logical conclusion by doing full video. There's not really anywhere else we're going to be able to take this, so don't expect anything like it again. We'll need to move to different content in future events no matter what, and for those that would like to see this go in a different direction please feel free to hop in #tasbot on Freenode IRC (or http://chat.TASBot.net) and help chart the course.
Thanks again for the feedback and support!
Congrats on an amazing show! I was floored at everything that was going on, and I'm sure everyone else there was too! It's clear you all put a lot of hard work into this, and it is all very appreciated.
I do hear the frustration in some of the other comments, and I think I understand where a lot of it is coming from. The TASBot block for GDQs have become more and more about how much a console and games can be bent from their original purpose to produce things they never were intended to produce. Each year has been awe-inspiring, and I'm always looking forward to what will be coming up next.
That being said, there seems to now be a challenge each GDQ to one-up the one before. This has put more and more emphasis on technical wizardry and ACE exploits, while at the same time giving less time to showcase other kinds of tool-assisted speedruns. As someone literally said in this year's block, the block is now not representative of the great majority of the runs on the site; our goal isn't usually just to break games.
On the flip side, the argument remains that people at GDQ like Total Control runs. It's a refreshing change after a week of just plowing through games as fast as possible. Also, the TASBot block brings in a lot of money in its current format, and an argument could be made that maximizing donations should be the first goal of any block at a GDQ.
Personally, I think there can be a good balance between Total Control and standard TAS runs; between the what the technical elite on this site can produce and the work that represents the majority of the rest of us. I hope there is always a Total Control run somewhere in the TASBot block, something to shock and surprise. Around it, I'd like to see a sampling of some of the most entertaining runs this site has to offer, regardless of console verification. I think that would produce the most enjoyable and most representative showcase of our community's work, while at the same time really showing others what we do here. It would encourage others to join us because you don't necessarily need extensive technical acumen to be able to create a TAS.
There's my two cents. As I said at the beginning, I was wowed and amazed this year, I look forward to SGDQ, and I hope we can find that nice balance between game breaking and speed running.
I liked the game performance, but I think there are a few things missing:
What is a TAS? - A brief demo of how to TAS, like you did with Megaman before. It doesn't have to be long, just enough to show some optimization or crazy behavior.
Visually impressive TASes - Showing stuff that is clearly not intended or obviously broken. 4-player Monopoly is a great one for luck manipulation btw. This is what will blow people out of the water, and it is what I show people who haven't seen a TAS before. SM64 & Portal were good for this, but REALLY hard to see.
Explanations for what looks like hacks - It would have helped to explain that right now all of the video was streaming the controller ports earlier
I must be living in some kind of parallel universe, and because of some weird kind of spacetime distortion, posts from an alternate universe are leaking into this one. That's because what I saw was near perfect. A good balance of "regular" TASes and of absolutely breaking games and pushing consoles beyond belief. And nothing went horribly wrong technically or otherwise. Sure, maybe the video streaming went perhaps a bit too long before an explanation, but that's just nitpicky; the wait was worth it, when it was finally explained.
When I read the negative feedback here, it feels surreal. At first I honestly thought, no kidding, that it was some kind of parody. I was fully expecting there to be some "nah, I'm just kidding, the TAS block was great" at the end. But apparently not.
I have seldom disagreed more on some topic than here. dwangoAC, the TAS block was really, really good, and you (plural) really succeeded in pushing the limits once again, and the presentation was really polished.
For those, who missed what I said at #tasvideos.
This time TAS block was not so fun as before.
In my vision it's because it was actually ACE block, with very small TAS block in before.
Why it was boring starting from portal?
Because Portal wasn't actually TAS (as far as I see, may be I'm wrong),
I don't belive that someone already made tools for windows-rerecording. Or, at least source-engine rerecording. (that is used in Portal)
I know thought, you can record replays straight in Portal itself.
May be I'm wrong again.
But it was looking like playing video, via consoles.
I guess using consoles joypads was some kind of reasoning to be able play video on GDQ. Because I don't see any reason why you would be able to play video on GDQ.
Not to mention, that portal in small window was confusing. Wut? Portal via console? WTF. And was strong feeling of cheating, because you can't actually verify is it real run without cheats etc.
Same thing was with "N64 mario". If it's runned via SNES what is actually not N64, what proof that it was not with cheats, or inacurate emulator, etc.
I know, you can programm any sort of stuff, but for me it was looking as just pervert-geek playing video using his consoles, which is not fun at all.
In my view, ACE should be very small dessert in the end, but this time it was main dish, and actual "push gameplay beyond the limits" was in very short of time, called "NES Classic".
In addition, I guess it was even make confusion to newcomers, when you describe frame by frame edition to push beyond limits, and then, instead of showing masterplay, you showing geek-programming stuff.
If you like some stuff, it doesn't mean that everyone does it too. But for me, it was looking like pushing topic aside: oh how cool we can control several consoles, instead of superplays.
Ah, also! There are some stupid ppl who edit ROMs then recording funny glitches that is appearing in edited ROMs, then upploading on YouTube, name it "Contra Hard Corps Glitches" for example, and ppl watch.
It seems kinda related to what happened this time in TAS Block.
Warp wrote:
I must be living in some kind of parallel universe, and because of some weird kind of spacetime distortion, posts from an alternate universe are leaking into this one.
If you think it's good balance, then your balance meter (ppl call it scales) is broken.
IMHO AGDQ 2017 TAS Block was spectacular. The only problem is, it wasn't really about gaming or even TASing, but about turning your NES into a makeshift soundcard and your SNES into a makeshift videocard.
A fantastic result in terms of hacking the consoles, yet not much about superplays.
Anyway, my thanks to the authors for their hard work, and I looking forward to see what insane journey they'll undertake for future events.
Totally irrelevant link
My consoles: PS2 (PS1 as bw\c), NDS Lite (GBA as bw/c), 3DS XL, Wii U (vWii theoretically), PS4 slim.
I must be living in some kind of parallel universe, and because of some weird kind of spacetime distortion, posts from an alternate universe are leaking into this one.
If you think it's good balance, then your balance meter (ppl call it scales) is broken.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let's criticize arguments, not people.
Each year, TASBlock is becoming less of a speedrunning event and more of a weird art installation.
If it didn't evolve into that, I doubt we would see TASBlock every year. It would fall into the same category as the Tetris Block: fucking awesome if this is your first encounter with it but otherwise the impact is much less for people who have seen it before. This year the TAS guys definitely topped themselves rapidly ending a couple games (so still within the realm of games done quickly!), then quietly have them connect to an audio/video stream to provide that experience.
Emphasis mine, and I think that is very much what it comes down to. Consider this TAS block from the perspective of a casual viewer. The perspective of someone who's not a TASer. The perspective of someone who's not a speedrunner. The perspective of someone who's not even very good at computers (of which there are a lot).
To the vast majority of viewers, this was basically magic (sufficiently advanced technology, and all that...). If the TAS block just kept being about showcasing high-level TASes - that would get old because there's not too much to do with that. It wouldn't be something that warranted being repeated at every marathon. The TAS blocks kind of have to do out-of-the-box stuff to keep being as impressive as they have been.
They have their place in speedrunning marathons because they come from the same place, and a TAS block should probably always include some basic TAS to demonstrate what it's all about at the base level. But they can't just be that.
And to be fair - TASing has always, to a certain extent, been about taking control of the hardware. Savestates, slowdown, all that, that's controlling what the game is being played in, in addition to controlling the game itself. This kind of stuff just takes it a few steps further.
Det man inte har i begåvning får man ta ut i energi.
"I think I need to get to Snoop Dogg's level of high to be able to research this post." -Samsara
Read my fanfic, One Piece: Pure Corruption
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Let's criticize arguments, not people.
To be able criticize arguments, you need to define goal at least. I don't know goal, and I'm out of criticizing atm. I know that most of time no one listen. Consider it as feedback.
KennyMan666 wrote:
The perspective of someone who's not a TASer. The perspective of someone who's not a speedrunner. The perspective of someone who's not even very good at computers (of which there are a lot).
Then, simply multiply my opinion by zero. Just because I'm very good at computers stuff. Solved.
KennyMan666 wrote:
And to be fair - TASing has always, to a certain extent, been about taking control of the hardware.
And, to be even more fair, it was always about superplay. And only past time ACE runs appears more often.
KennyMan666 wrote:
This kind of stuff just takes it a few steps further.
For those, who missed what I said at #tasvideos.
This time TAS block was not so fun as before.
In my vision it's because it was actually ACE block, with very small TAS block in before.
Why it was boring starting from portal?
Because Portal wasn't actually TAS (as far as I see, may be I'm wrong),
I don't belive that someone already made tools for windows-rerecording. Or, at least source-engine rerecording. (that is used in Portal)
I know thought, you can record replays straight in Portal itself.
May be I'm wrong again.
But it was looking like playing video, via consoles.
I guess using consoles joypads was some kind of reasoning to be able play video on GDQ. Because I don't see any reason why you would be able to play video on GDQ.
Not to mention, that portal in small window was confusing. Wut? Portal via console? WTF. And was strong feeling of cheating, because you can't actually verify is it real run without cheats etc.
Same thing was with "N64 mario". If it's runned via SNES what is actually not N64, what proof that it was not with cheats, or inacurate emulator, etc.
I know, you can programm any sort of stuff, but for me it was looking as just pervert-geek playing video using his consoles, which is not fun at all.
In my view, ACE should be very small dessert in the end, but this time it was main dish, and actual "push gameplay beyond the limits" was in very short of time, called "NES Classic".
In addition, I guess it was even make confusion to newcomers, when you describe frame by frame edition to push beyond limits, and then, instead of showing masterplay, you showing geek-programming stuff.
If you like some stuff, it doesn't mean that everyone does it too. But for me, it was looking like pushing topic aside: oh how cool we can control several consoles, instead of superplays.
Ah, also! There are some stupid ppl who edit ROMs then recording funny glitches that is appearing in edited ROMs, then upploading on YouTube, name it "Contra Hard Corps Glitches" for example, and ppl watch.
It seems kinda related to what happened this time in TAS Block.
Warp wrote:
I must be living in some kind of parallel universe, and because of some weird kind of spacetime distortion, posts from an alternate universe are leaking into this one.
If you think it's good balance, then your balance meter (ppl call it scales) is broken.
Portal is a true TAS.
People have made rerecording tools for source games and this one have been made with these tools.
But you are true with all. This TAS block was very good only for people who already know what is a tas I think :/
Projects:
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Joined: 10/12/2011
Posts: 6339
Location: The land down under.
Arcree2 please nuke the size of that quote. You've mainly focused on the Portal part.
Just as a point out I told him on IRC (which he hasn't replied back to):
<Spikestuff> r57shell: ...The Portal TAS *is* a TAS. It's using all available tools for Source. It is done in a shit ton of segments. Would you consider the Half Life TAS that exists as "not a TAS"?
<Spikestuff> Half Life TAS: https://youtu.be/VtI5HM7GVGY
<Spikestuff> Where's YaLTeR when you need him.
WebNations/Sabih wrote:
+fsvgm777 never censoring anything.
Disables Comments and Ratings for the YouTube account.Something better for yourself and also others.
Because Portal wasn't actually TAS (as far as I see, may be I'm wrong)
It is a TAS. Maybe not technically valid for publication at tasvideos.org, but still a tool-assisted speedrun nevertheless. Not a regular speedrun, nor some kind of hack, mod or script.
KennyMan666 wrote:
If it didn't evolve into that, I doubt we would see TASBlock every year. It would fall into the same category as the Tetris Block: fucking awesome if this is your first encounter with it but otherwise the impact is much less for people who have seen it before. This year the TAS guys definitely topped themselves rapidly ending a couple games (so still within the realm of games done quickly!), then quietly have them connect to an audio/video stream to provide that experience.
I have been a very regular tasvideos visitors since the very beginning, yet this TAS block surprised me with some ingenious new content. Just showing some "normal" TASes being console-verified live, with proper explanations and commentary, would have been quite ok, but showing something that even regular tasvideos.org users have never seen before is beyond expectations. So I have to agree with that sentiment.
It was nice that they did show a regular old TAS with no special gimmicks (other than it was running on the NES classic). Without it, it would have been all just a pure tech demo show with no actual tool-assisted speedruns (which has happened in the past, and which I have criticized).
Joined: 12/2/2011
Posts: 129
Location: Moscow, Russia
r57shell wrote:
Because Portal wasn't actually TAS (as far as I see, may be I'm wrong),
I don't belive that someone already made tools for windows-rerecording. Or, at least source-engine rerecording. (that is used in Portal)
Portal was indeed an actual TAS (or rather a video of an actual TAS). Here's a YouTube link: https://youtu.be/W9gxFkOz2_4.
I made the tools for Source engine TASing. They are by no means comparable to the emulators people here are used to though. They provide some means of consistent playback of scripts (think input files), as well as tools like perfect strafing (calculating optimal player angles for fastest speed gain every frame).
Unfortunately there are still a lot of desyncs in Source TASing, so a TAS like this cannot be submitted here. Source is a very complex (and closed-source) engine, and eliminating all those desyncs and stuff would take a lot of effort and time, which would better be spent on other things like Hourglass for example.
Hello. Seeing as most opinions here are from those with a lot of experience with TASes, I thought that a perspective of someone with nothing but a basic knowledge of what a TAS is might be helpful.
I apologize in advance if some things are phrased somewhat rudely or overly negative; that's not the intention.
So, opinions. First, on each individual run:
NES Classic segment was somewhat weird. Primarily because the main show of the segment was the donation incentive - Gradius. What exactly was the plan if the incentive wasn't met? The only thing shown aside from it was the short, simple and not incredibly impressive Galaga run. I mean, it still was entertaining, but the segment was carried by Gradius. Without it, the segment would've been a letdown. In the result, there is the feeling of "we thought it would be really cool to show off NES Classic, but we don't really have that much to show, sorry".
Speaking of Gradius, it was incredibly impressive and entertaining... for 5-7 minutes. After that, the constant twitching and weaving around the screen got kind of tiresome. It's an autoscroller, so it's understandable, but still.
Super Mario Bros. 3 was a "take over the console" TAS. The "before the takeover" part was entertaining, no complaints here. After, though, we were apparently shown basically a screensaver before being whisked away to the next run. Honestly, it was a bit of a letdown, a "wait, that's it?" moment. The whole thing felt like it was setting up for something, and then it just stopped. Yes, it was later revealed that it was a set-up for the final run, but that was later.
Next, Megaman. Again, a takeover. Twice in a row. Still an entertaining takeover, and then a much more entertaining payload. This one is a highlight for me, everything was really amazing there. The only problem with this part I have is how it works together with the previous one. Namely, it overshadows the previous entry. Obsoletes it, if you will. We were shown a takeover, and next we were shown a far more entertaining takeover. That kind of raised a "why were we shown the previous entry, then?" question for me.
LoZ: Link to the Past. Takeover. Again. Thrice in a row is just pushing it. Takeover runs might be entertaining, but filling the TASBlock with only these runs is too much. Alright, the takeover went well again. So we get to the main feature of the TASBlock: video feed.
So, we were shown two very fast-paced runs. On a low-quality video with lagging. This didn't go very well, to be honest. Yes, the "video feed to a SNES" thing was absolutely incredible from a "wow, they actually did that" standpoint. It's perfectly understandable that of course we're not going to get 1080p HD 60fps videos. And yet, that doesn't change that it wasn't very clear what was going on. Things kind of jumped from here to there, lags and low quality didn't help and commentary... Well, it tried, it really tried, but it couldn't quite fully offset the problem. As a result, I was basically completely lost on any SM64 segments with tricks more advanced than basic platforming and on the whole Portal run. Two runs in a row also felt somewhat boring by the second one, but that might be the problem only because of my lack of understanding what was going on.
SkHype part went well. What was shown wasn't incredibly entertaining, but there were no criticisms that I can remember.
And Twitch Plays Color-A-Dinosaur was kind of ruined by throwing in emotes. So it went from coloring to just taking emote spam from the chat and transferring it to the main screen, fully obscuring it and losing the Color-A-Dinosaur part. And not everyone likes emote spam. It was briefly amusing, but no more than that.
Overall thoughts:
This year's TASBlock basically had two separate segments: TAS, and video feed on SNES. Notably a larger focus was put on second segment. This is not really a great thing. That means the focus was kind of diverted from the actual TAS parts, making it less of a speedrunning block and more of a "look at the cool thing we can do with this console" block. Which is a problem because AGDQ is supposed to be a speedrunning marathon.
The effect of diverting most focus to a single thing shows on the other. Takeovers were all impressive from the "this is happening" perspective and had good to amazing payloads. On the other side, TAS parts either wore out after a while even by themselves or required an understanding of what was going on to appreciate them.
Aside from that, making the whole block around a single thing is not very good. Takeover runs are impressive, but having several takeover runs in a row is a poor idea. Same thing for everything else - I doubt that, say, 1 hour of constant warping between levels would keep everyone entertained for all that time. Someone here compared TASes to magic, but would you really watch a magician who, during his shows, only pulls off a single trick?
I kind of ask myself the question of why do people watch GDQ? My presumable answer is that they get a kick out of seeing runners completely break games by showing total control over it and making difficult usually seem like easy things. Of course, there's excitement because it's being pulled off live too. But that leads me to the question of why can't we show off a TAS that does the same thing?
Pulling off a takeover was cool the first time. But if you're just going to do it over and over, it's going to lose its magic. We can't just do a takeover for the sake of it. We have to make it actually lead to something. And maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't make it so obvious. Mixed content is the key, I think. Do something people really do not expect. Several 5-10 minute runs just screams "take me over" to me.
Well, regardless, I think it is amazing stuff that you people pull off, so keep that up. Even if the feedback is a little negative, it does not mean the work you did was any less amazing. Hopefully SGDQ will be a little better.
Just as a point out I told him on IRC (which he hasn't replied back to):
Sorry for missing it. I don't have notifications in IRC, so I'm missing some stuff every now and then.
YaLTeR wrote:
Portal was indeed an actual TAS (or rather a video of an actual TAS). Here's a YouTube link: https://youtu.be/W9gxFkOz2_4.
Okay, if it's TAS, then it's TAS. But all other still up.
Warp wrote:
Just showing some "normal" TASes being console-verified live, with proper explanations and commentary, would have been quite ok, but showing something that even regular tasvideos.org users have never seen before is beyond expectations.
If you think that TAS Block goal is to show something that audience of tasvideos.org haven't expected, then they succeeded. Well done.
In addition: for everyone who think that repeating same thing over and over again won't work. Try to apply same argument on speedruning itself. We have seen most of the games multiple times, and people still watch new attempts, and even donate for great cause.
I feel like the TAS Block is running into the same trap as AGDQ itself (and our entire economy for that matter, but I digress...), the idea of wanting to grow exponentially each time. While such a mindset can lead to creativity, there is also a point where it will start working against you and become a limitation. Old consoles have limitations, there's only so much you can do with clever geek-tricks.
Now it would be the time to remember what TASing is all about and how the different aspects of it can be presented in the most interesting way. ACE is only one part of it, not the highlight that should overshadow everything else. Show a TAS that takes the concept of luck-manipulation to its extreme, a TAS that highlights insane movement speed, there's so many things to choose from! Just try to make the most entertaining TAS Block you can and don't limit yourself by trying to grow every year.
Current project: Gex 3 any%
Paused: Gex 64 any%
There are no N64 emulators. Just SM64 emulators with hacky support for all the other games.
Right, as a good example of concept diversity, there was boulder mario kart race. Not so hard to set up, but extremely funny. TAS vs. human is also interesting. Can we invent new concepts every time? I dunno.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Well, I noticed today that you guys made our local newspaper. Considering this is a US event and I live in Europe, that's an exceedingly rare thing for anything except top-tier celebrities. So well done TAS'ers!
Having seen your Twitch rebroadcast of the presentation you made for GeekPwn, I figured you were using the SNES as a go-between for the video of the SM64 and Portal, but I didn't realize the two NESes were still running and providing the audio. Well done, and great explanation.
I was also stoked to see Gradius make it in and successfully sync.
arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/01/how-a-robot-got-super-mario-64-and-portal-running-on-an-snes/#p3 has full details. Please let me know what you think.
Good article with clear explanations. I also really liked the pictures they had of the TASBot set up. Really good summary of everything with background links to boot, nice!
This reminds me, are the details of what was happening going to be published somewhere? It would be cool if all the programs and whatever used were preserved and documented so it isn't lost.
I was not really impressed by TASBlock this year, and actually stopped watching live during Portal (I did go back and scrub through the remainer later). I watch both speedruns and TASs, but steer clear of the planning threads and let myself be surprised.
-Total Control / ACE has run its course. We get it, you can program stuff through controller ports. Now, this CAN have some fun results, like Pokemon Plays Twitch (though this only worked because Twitch Plays Pokemon was already a thing) Mario Maker, and programming SMB1 into SMW, but the end result should first and foremost be ENTERTAINING, not simply technically impressive. This year it fell into the latter category, even with the end result of the video feed. While I was impressed on a technical level, I was not at all excited or entertained. I watch GDQ events to watch people PLAY video games, not program stuff. I do not care how much you can push the console hardware to its limits. I care about what you can do with the games itself. Less Tech Geekery, more video games.
-That being said, I'm not entirely against showing Total Control, but this year it took up a significant portion of the block and took FAR too long to get to the pay off. One I was disappointed at.
-I was glad Gradius made a return, and on an NES Mini, no less (despite the issues, but I think it helped to demonstrate how finely tuned timings and frame rules are, even when you have tools at your side to help). As much as part of me is glad you showed the whole run, at the same time, as an autoscroller it's simply too slow of a pace for this kind of event. You get points for the call back, but I'd steer away from auto scrollers in the future unless you can get something crazy to happen.
-That being the only real technical hiccup was a plus.
-Mario 64 and Portal were annoying to watch in such a small window, even though I knew exactly what was happening in Mario 64. The initial awe and end payoff after did not exonerate the poor viewing experience (and it's why I turned it off during Portal).
-That being said, Mario 64 would have been GREAT to run on its own on the actual console on a full screen. This is what I'd like to see more of from TASBlock: breaking of games that is impossible to do RTA.
-I would not be opposed to a sort of glitch exhibition of TAS only game breaking glitches, even if they have to be done via emulator playback (though preferably ones that have been console verified with evidence). You don't necessarily have to show an entire game to show how perfect inputs can absolutely break a game in unexpected ways and entertain people.
-How close are we to console verification on stuff like PC, TGX16, Playstation, etc? I would very much like to see some of the less common consoles being utilized for a future TASBlock, if at all possible. If you want to show off something different (even if more Total control), don't start with the same old tricks; do something entirely new from start to finish.
Now, I'm not trying to downplay the hardwork that went into all this by my criticisms. But in all honesty, and this opinion is solely my own, if at all possible, I'd take a look at how much of your audience has viewing expereinces with TASs, and those who haven't (otuside of GDQ). I get the vibe that you're trying to cater too much to the former and not bog them down with content they've liekly seen before, rather than entertaining the audience as a whole. This is an event where people happily donate money to watch people run video games. That's what they're entertained by. While I understand the mentality of "and now for something completely different that sets what we do apart!", I feel that the use of Total Control/ACE as a whole has overstayed its welcome, and that the basics of what makes GDQ what it is has been shoved aside in favor of a tech show off. You keep pushing to try to outdo yourselves, without realizing that you've reached a point where you are now overdoing it. "logical conclusion" or not, it's simply not what I came for.
That all being said, I look forward to what you have planned for SGDQ.
BTW, does some sort of a glitchfest TAS for SM64 exist? The one that would try to show all the insanity and still beat the game.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
