Joined: 7/18/2016
Posts: 132
Location: 🇺🇸 United States
A post I made on my YouTube channel. Posting here as well for accountability purposes.
Hi everyone, with the release of my latest Astrosmash bot, I am officially retiring from making speedrun and TAS content. I know this announcement may seem a bit sudden, but it is something I've been contemplating for quite a while now. Over the past 10 years more or less, this hobby has grown to consume a lot of my mental energy, and moving forward I would like to invest that energy into other hobbies and self-improvement. I feel like I am moving towards a new chapter in life, and in order to get to where I want to be, I really need to let this go. I am immortalizing this in a post to give myself that extra layer of accountability and to make sure I actually follow through with this decision. Although I hope to not struggle with the accountability aspect, because after years of at times obsessive dedication to this hobby, I finally feel burned out as well. So NOW is definitely the best time to quit LOL
You all have motivated me to do some amazing things over the years: from the countless world records set in mostly obscure games, to the two runs I did at AGDQ 2020... and now my capstone achievement: an unstoppable Astrosmash bot that is now 10.5x faster than the best human performance, proving after years of self-doubt that I can in fact program something extraordinary.
And finally, I'd like to give a special thank you to my IRL friends who supported me here, and those lasting and meaningful friendships I've made through the Kid Chameleon community. You know who you are :)
congrats on making such a hard decision, it's something i've thought about for a while...
I want all good TAS inside TASvideos, it's my motto.
TAS i'm interested:
Megaman series, specially the RPGs! Where is the mmbn1 all chips TAS we deserve? Where is the Command Mission TAS?
i'm slowly moving away from TASing fighting games for speed, maybe it's time to start finding some entertainment value in TASing.
Enjoy the next leg of your life! Whether or not you come back, you can cherish the improvement left on yourself and the mark you left on your community.
That's so sad to hear. You are the reason I am here on TASVideos. You have no idea how much I have learned from your Kid Chameleon videos and the Kid Chameleon Wiki. I wouldn't have been able to make this many IL TASes and even a full-game TAS if it hadn't been for your help. I will continue to break Kid Chameleon even more in the future, and I will do it for you too. Thank you for everything, Winslinator!
My most memorable TAS of yours was of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Since my first watch AVGN's Intellivision episode I was curious how fast this game could be beaten.
Thank you for your efforts and good luck in life!
TASing is like making a film: only the best takes are shown in the premier.
https://xkcd.com/3246/
Joined: 7/18/2016
Posts: 132
Location: 🇺🇸 United States
Thank you, everyone for all the support. This was certainly a very difficult decision, but it will unload a lot from me mentally. I actually tried to do this once before in 2021, and though I successfully pulled myself away from speedrun.com, Discord, and Twitter, it lasted maybe a month before I cam crawling back to TASing stuff 😬I have a better support system, plan, and other hobbies in place now so I'm certain this time I can make it last.
CaseyTAS wrote:
That's so sad to hear. You are the reason I am here on TASVideos. You have no idea how much I have learned from your Kid Chameleon videos and the Kid Chameleon Wiki. I wouldn't have been able to make this many IL TASes and even a full-game TAS if it hadn't been for your help. I will continue to break Kid Chameleon even more in the future, and I will do it for you too. Thank you for everything, Winslinator!
peaches was the guy who inspired me to get into speedrunning, and it warms my heart that I was able to inspire something similar. My Eyeclops beats Hoverboard Beach, Highwater Pass 2 glitched exit, and Any% update TASes were all inspired by your meticulous efforts. I will continue to pop in every now and then to watch and dissect whatever new developments you make!
Dimon12321 wrote:
My most memorable TAS of yours was of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Since my first watch AVGN's Intellivision episode I was curious how fast this game could be beaten.
Thank you for your efforts and good luck in life!
Thank you for the kind words. I must've first played that game on my dad's Intellivision when I was 3 or 4 years old and was always so mystified by it. Being able to beat it in 11.5 seconds would've been beyond unthinkable for little kid me!
