(Link to video)
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Super Mario 64, the classic platformer from 1996, stars that Italian red plumber dude, named Mario. So he gets an invitation to have a one night stand eat a cake that Princess Peach has baked for him. So, like any fat Italian man would, he jumps in a green tube and heads to the castle - and so the journey begins. Once Mario arrives, he realizes that there is no cake and there will be no cake. The princess wants him to lose some weight, and she has hired Bowser to be a fitness trainer for Mario. The plan is to motivate him with cake and make him to run around the castle for "power stars", but Mario, just as any fat Italian would, skips all of that, loses no weight and demands cake.

Game Objectives

  • Emulator used: Mupen64 0.5 Re-Recording v8
  • Aims for fastest time
  • Uses game-breaking glitches

Comments

This TAS began when Kyman found a 1 frame improvement in the spiral stairs room. After that was found, Nahoc managed to save 2 frames on the final Bowser battle. We then started to work on the run and Kyman found a completely new BLJless route for Bowser in the Fire Sea, which ended up saving 7 frames (and also removed 2 BLJs from the run). While redoing the spiral/endless stairs section, Kyman found a way to get 20~ more speed while still being able to C^ off of the wall. sonicpacker applied this and in the end saved another 3 frames. Instead of simply hex editing parts of our old run, we redid them for entertainment purposes. After submitting, snark found a 1 frame improvement in the DDD skip, and Nothing/Mickey found 3 frames of improvement in BitFS. Kyman had an idea for the DDD skip which saved 1 frame. Jesus found a new strategy for the beginning of BitFS which ended up another frame. Then Kyman redid the pillar wallkicks which saved the final frame.

Tricks Used in this Run

0-Input BLJ
When you have no input on the analog in between the "A" button presses for a BLJ, your speed will not decrease, thus exponentially increasing the speed at the end result of the BLJs.
Pause BLJ
Normally, you can only press the "A" button fifteen times per second because the game runs at thirty frames per second. If you had thirty continuous "A" frames, you'd just be holding "A" down, not tapping it. However, if you pause while pressing the "A" button, you are given an opportunity on the next frame to release the "A" button. You can follow that by repressing it when it's not paused (therefore letting you BLJ the equivalent of thirty times "per second"). This is useful when you need more speed to travel a long distance. It isn't as helpful as it seems as it takes three extra frames to do a Pause BLJ. In order to save time you need the extra speed to save at least 3 frames.
Forward Jump Kick Trick
While Mario is recovering after a forward movement (dive, long jump, etc.), you can hold the "A" button prior to landing, and on the frame you land, press the "B" button with the analog stick at ^54 or less (on the TAS Input Plugin), you will do a jump kick. The trick is that it maintains all of the same speed from before the landing. You can also apply this when moving backwards (such as after a BLJ), by holding "A" before you are in the running animation, and then pressing "B." This causes Mario to do a jump kick and retain the same speed. This is useful for crossing long gaps and covering large distances.
Slide Kicking
This has been found to be the best method of forward movement over a long distance, because unlike the jump kick, you can do it repeatedly without losing speed.
Punch Trick
Instead of running for one frame when accelerating from a stop, you press the "B" button with no analog input, which gives you a starting speed of 10 instead of roughly 8.
Forward Speed Conversion
After triggering text, Mario is in a frozen state with his speed stuck at what it was while activating the text. When the text is read, you have the ability to do many things. One trick we can do with this is to press "C^" (upper C button) and "Z" at the same frame and hold a specific direction to get forward speed (as opposed to backwards speed which we originally used to activate the text). This is useful because forward speed can be used for things like getting to high places, such as the endless stair case. If you don‘t use Z with C^, your options are limited, because you only move forwards or backwards in a state that will not let Mario jump.
Instant Jump Kick Trick
This trick allows you to jump kick on the very first frame that Mario has input. This also is enables you to choose an angle for Mario to travel. You do this by holding A for at least one frame before Mario can move, then push B and the direction you want to go on the first frame of input.
Hyper-Speed Wall Kicking (HSWK)
Mario's speed increases infinitely while airborne with the analog held forward. If he wallkicks on the first possible frame, he doesn't lose any speed.

Improvement Table

SectionFrames SavedFrames Saved Overall
Lakitu Skip00
BLJ to BitDW00
BitDW00
B100
BLJ to Basement00
DDD Skip22
BitFS1214
B2014
To 2nd Key Door014
Spiral Stairs to BitS418
BitS018
B3220

Special Thanks

We would like to thank snark, Mickey, Nothing and Jesus for their improvements and work to make this run ever more perfect than before. :)

Suggested Screenshot

Enjoy the run! Thanks! :)

sgrunt: Replaced the submission file with this five-frame improvement.
Baxter: Mario 64 completed even faster, with (generally considered) better camera angles. Accepting as an improvement to the published movie.
Nahoc: Processing!
Baxter: Delayed, awaiting improved version.
Baxter: Submission file replaced with a faster version. Setting the submission back to 'accepted' again.
Aktan: Processing in place of Nahoc.

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TASVideoAgent
They/Them
Moderator
Joined: 8/3/2004
Posts: 14772
Location: 127.0.0.1
Joined: 5/7/2011
Posts: 40
Location: Melbourne, Australia.
I'm going to have to say "yes", because I love this run so damn much. Nice work guys, keep it up. :-)
(2011) <Mothrayas> Lesbian porn My greatest weakness! (2014) <Mothrayas> COMPLICATED MATH, MY NEW GREATEST WEAKNESS!
Noxxa
They/Them
Expert player, Moderator (4131)
Joined: 8/14/2009
Posts: 4083
Location: The Netherlands
Another SM64 improvement? Yes vote, as always.
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
Active player (419)
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 1047
Location: California
Thanks to Aktan for being able to keep a secret and getting the HD encode done for us quickly so this run wouldn't have to sit on the workbench for weeks like our old one.
Joined: 12/19/2010
Posts: 126
YES YES YES!!!!! and a nice Suggested Screenshot:)
live life
Synahel
She/Her
Joined: 1/19/2011
Posts: 259
Location: France
I'm convinced that the cake was a lie all long. I'm still amazed that more than 10 frames could be saved compared to older movies. Nowadays, a M64 run always sounds like a frame war to me. Glad to see I'm wrong. Anyway, that was great. As every time. Loved it. And we're getting closer of the 5 minutes barrier. Soon!
Skilled player (1085)
Joined: 8/26/2006
Posts: 1139
Location: United Kingdom
Very nice. I didn't think that there would be as many as 13 frames left here and I certainly didn't think that the improvements would be noticable even if they did exist so good work on BitFS. Yes vote.
Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
Who would have thought that a new route would be found at this point? Easy yes. Btw, why is it not possible to reach the final boss right away, but the minibosses have to be defeated first?
Joined: 7/30/2011
Posts: 129
Location: Watching a TAS in the basement...
Rayas wrote:
I'm convinced that the cake was a lie all long. I'm still amazed that more than 10 frames could be saved compared to older movies. Nowadays, a M64 run always sounds like a frame war to me. Glad to see I'm wrong. Anyway, that was great. As every time. Loved it. And we're getting closer of the 5 minutes barrier. Soon!
Yeah, soon. Maybe when the ultimate TAS bot is created. Anyways, nice improvement, Yes vote.
I am the future ruler of the world! My forum: http://elderyoshisisland.forumotion.com/
DennisBalow
He/Him
Player (140)
Joined: 1/23/2010
Posts: 27
Location: Germany
I can´t vote, but it would be a strong "Yes". But it was very genius. I have never thought about that gives a new timesaver. Super awesome work guys.
Active player (263)
Joined: 4/15/2010
Posts: 197
Location: England
The camera angles were so terrible please redo BitFS was incredible. Great job on this guys, definite yes vote. All I can say is I can't wait for 120-star.
Retired smw-96, smw any%
Skilled player (1703)
Joined: 9/17/2009
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Joined: 7/7/2011
Posts: 140
Location: Germany
Bowser in the fire sea reminds me of the new nsmb tas:-D Nice work, yes vote
How should I know what I think before I read what I post?
Editor, Expert player (2310)
Joined: 5/15/2007
Posts: 3854
Location: Germany
You managed to make the run even crazier than it already was, and at the same time you removed the irritating camera angles from the previous run. Easy yes vote here.
BigBoct
He/Him
Editor
Joined: 8/9/2007
Posts: 1692
Location: Tiffin/Republic, OH
I loved this run. Action was good as always, and I really liked the camera angles you guys used. Yes vote for sure.
Warp wrote:
Btw, why is it not possible to reach the final boss right away, but the minibosses have to be defeated first?
You have to defeat Bowser the first two times to get the keys to different areas of the castle; IIRC, you can't just glitch through the doors because going through them normally loads a new area.
Previous Name: boct1584
Experienced player (599)
Joined: 2/8/2009
Posts: 655
wow, nice improvement. No need to say, what I will vote. I happen to have had the same idea a few weeks back, but due to not having much experience in sm64 TASing I wasn't able to pull it off. I planned to do it slightly differently, though. I executed a BLJ using the spot shown here: Afterwards my goal was to grab the pole and get forward speed. Sadly, I've never got that far because I always lost the speed when I grabbed the pole. Using the forwards speed I would have jumped up to the elevator and then did the wallkicks the same way you guys did it. This is just a theory, no idea if it really can work. I decided to share it, because I could never pull it off any way ;) btw, sry for the big picture.
Joined: 7/30/2011
Posts: 129
Location: Watching a TAS in the basement...
boct1584 wrote:
I loved this run. Action was good as always, and I really liked the camera angles you guys used. Yes vote for sure.
Warp wrote:
Btw, why is it not possible to reach the final boss right away, but the minibosses have to be defeated first?
You have to defeat Bowser the first two times to get the keys to different areas of the castle; IIRC, you can't just glitch through the doors because going through them normally loads a new area.
I fully expect a no-Bowser run to come... Eventually. Somebody will find a way to do it.
I am the future ruler of the world! My forum: http://elderyoshisisland.forumotion.com/
Joined: 7/22/2009
Posts: 128
Location: Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Very good. Where is the sub 5 mins?
Taming Dolphin, one frame at a time
Experienced player (600)
Joined: 10/23/2004
Posts: 706
Bowser in the Fire Sea = Awesome! (Yes vote)
Current Project: - Mario Kart 64
Joined: 6/4/2009
Posts: 570
Location: 33°07'41"S, 160°42'04"W
Excellent improvement, I knew those pillars could end up being useful. Yes vote.
Player (208)
Joined: 7/7/2006
Posts: 797
Location: US
Kyman's skill to age ratio is really large.
Experienced player (599)
Joined: 2/8/2009
Posts: 655
how old's kyman?
Editor
Joined: 3/10/2010
Posts: 899
Location: Sweden
This time Mario doesn't even bother with the top level of the obstacle course, he just climbs up some pillars instead.
NitroGenesis
He/Him
Editor, Experienced player (550)
Joined: 12/24/2009
Posts: 1873
The camera angles were so terrible but because of abuse that has happened I voted yes.
MrGrunz wrote:
how old's kyman?
14
YoungJ1997lol wrote:
Normally i would say Yes, but thennI thought "its not the same hack" so ill stick with meh.
Joined: 11/15/2004
Posts: 804
Location: Canada
I love the new route! The zooming in and out at the end of B1 was kind of lame, but otherwise I was pretty happy with the camera and style choices. Well done! Easy Yes vote.
TASing or playing back a DOS game? Make sure your files match the archive at RGB Classic Games.
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