This is the new fastest SMB2J (The Lost Levels, FDS) "game end glitch" (ACE) tool-assisted speedrun (TAS), improving upon the previous TAS by 9 frames, through optimization of the final room in World 8-4.
In March, 2025, LuigiSidekick accidentally crashed the game in 8-4 and posted it on Twitter. Simplistic6502 verified that there was ACE potential. Threecreepio made the payload approach, and web2000 made the first full TAS.
HappyLee's Comments
Recently, I tested ACE in this game for the first time, and discovered the 9-frame improvement in 8-4. Since I wasn't familiar with ACE, most of my time was spent learning its underlying principles.
In simple terms, the glitch works by loading the long Firebar twice to overflow the enemy slot value, creating an enemy with ID $84. By taking damage from the Firebar in lava, and combining 2P controller inputs with the X positions of two fireballs, arbitrary code can be executed to end the game early.
8-4 is currently the only known location in this game where ACE can be triggered. This run is 19.25 seconds faster than the fastest any% TAS, but ACE and non-ACE runs are considered separate categories.
Most of the entertainment part comes from my 2017 TAS, with minor adjustments by me and web2000. Don't miss the wall clip in the third room of 8-4 - it was an idea I discovered in 2018. Coincidentally, it reaches the pipe at exactly the same time as the previous upper-route turnaround drop, so I never had a practical use for it - until this TAS.
It's been over a month, and still "new". As an improvement over a published movie, this should be almost automatically accepted and published.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
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.
It changed from 20 days to over 30 days. What an "improvement".
I don't like waiting in the Submission Workbench forever. No TASers would like that.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
I hate to butt in, but the others have a point; just because a submission is New doesn't mean it's gonna be ignored forever. It's still up for everyone to see, and everyone's well aware it's there. It's just that the judges haven't found an appropriate time to take it into consideration and get around to judging and (eventually) publishing it. It's all a matter of patience from here.
I'm dealing with my fair share of waiting as well, at least on my submission, which has been in Judging Underway for exactly four months (though I'm sure it's for consideration reasons; no rush, feos)
I hate waiting too, HL. But we gotta do things we don't like; things will definitely work out better if we don't complain.
*sigh* That said... Yes vote; great work as usual to the authors of the previous "game end glitch" submission, and, of course, HappyLee and web2000 for their efforts on the entertainment, even if much of the run is similar to HL's 2017 "Mario" TAS.
I'm sure at some point we'll have a run that achieves the game end glitch with Luigi as well... maybe? (assuming it's the same strategy as with Mario) Not pushing it though.
I try to check in whenever possible, at least when I'm feeling it.
Look out for yourself and each other; there's quite a bit going on.
And? I also have a submission that's been New for over two months. You don't see me complaining about it.
Probably because your submissions are new Flash games that hasn't been on this site before. But waiting for over two months for the submission still sucks. You have every right to complain about it, but you choose not to, so what can I say, wish you all the best.
Spikestuff wrote:
Hey technicality wise wouldn't HappyLee's alias be the last author in the lineup cause he did amendment inputs compared to everyone else?
NO. 99% of the inputs are mine, and I found the new improvement. Please read the submission text.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Joined: 5/29/2017
Posts: 2803
Location: 🇺🇸 United States
HappyLee wrote:
Probably because your submissions are new Flash games that hasn't been on this site before.
I fail to see how that plays into the time it takes to judge it.
[14:15] <feos> WinDOES what DOSn't
12:33:44 PM <Mothrayas> "I got an oof with my game!"
Mothrayas Today at 12:22: <Colin> thank you for supporting noble causes such as my feet
MemoryTAS Today at 11:55 AM: you wouldn't know beauty if it slapped you in the face with a giant fish
[Today at 4:51 PM] Mothrayas: although if you like your own tweets that's the online equivalent of sniffing your own farts and probably tells a lot about you as a person
MemoryTAS Today at 7:01 PM: But I exert big staff energy honestly lol
Samsara Today at 1:20 PM: wouldn't ACE in a real life TAS just stand for Actually Cease Existing
HappyLee, you have not provided any specific reasoning as to why this wait is actually problematic. You have no other submissions on the workbench. Plus, if as you say, this is a simple improvement (thus not involving any potential rule/site changes), then there's no reason you can't continue working on more TAS projects in the meantime.
We've been over this with you before. You weren't able to provide specific reasoning back then either. Complaining about how long it's taking to judge your submission isn't beneficial for anyone, and continuing to complain after we try to address it with you is only going to make the situation worse. Making a stink of how long you're having to wait is a waste of both your own time and ours.
This is a warning. Stop with your baseless complaints. Your impatience is only causing problems.
If however you'd like to constructively discuss methods that may speed up judgements without negatively affecting our staff or reducing the quality and variety of content we curate, then we'd welcome that.
This is a warning. Stop with your baseless complaints. Your impatience is only causing problems.
It's not "baseless". My complaints is about having to wait over a month for a TAS with no problem or controversy, and that's a FACT.
As a site Moderator, you should do better, instead of being bossy.
Bigbass wrote:
HappyLee, you have not provided any specific reasoning as to why this wait is actually problematic.
Do I really have to "provide a specific reasoning"... As I said, no TASer would like their work being ignored for a long time, or waiting endlessly to get a verdict. At least I don't like waking up every day and check to see any update with my TAS in the submission workbench, and wonder what happened with TASVideos and why the process is so slow.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
and wonder what happened with TASVideos and why the process is so slow.
We have fewer judges (as Samsara already mentioned, we lost 3 last month), yet we have more submissions (90+ in the workbench right now, 80+ not yet judged), for a wider variety of platforms and games, making them more complicated and time-consuming to judge. Given these points, it's not that hard to see why it can take a long time before submissions get judged. It's not ideal, but that's the reality of the situation, plain and simple.
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.
We have fewer judges (as Samsara already mentioned, we lost 3 last month), yet we have more submissions (90+ in the workbench right now, 80+ not yet judged), for a wider variety of platforms and games, making them more complicated and time-consuming to judge. Given these points, it's not that hard to see why it can take a long time before submissions get judged. It's not ideal, but that's the reality of the situation, plain and simple.
Yes, Samsara already mentioned that, and I see why now.
But I think maybe TASVideos should seek better solutions, otherwise the line of submission would get longer and longer, and TAS creators like me wouldn't be happy submitting their work on TASVideos.
Like, having high standards, so you don't have to publish so many movies every year. And find ways to make the judges' work easier, so more people would become judges.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Like, having high standards, so you don't have to publish so many movies every year. And find ways to make the judges' work easier, so more people would become judges.
The problem is having higher standards makes judges' work harder, because more scrutiny is required for every single decision. When the amount of people who can do this is always limited and submission volume increases due to new platforms becoming available for TASing, that only leads to people burning out, on our end. And on the authors' end, rejecting more and more well-done movies only leads to the site gradually losing relevance. Sure we'd be getting fewer and fewer submissions but that'd be at the cost of losing the community itself.
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.
This is a warning. Stop with your baseless complaints. Your impatience is only causing problems.
It's not "baseless". My complaints is about having to wait over a month for a TAS with no problem or controversy, and that's a FACT.
As a site Moderator, you should do better, instead of being bossy.
"Baseless," as in, you have not provided any reasoning why the length of time is an actual problem beyond simply that you don't like it. We've tried explaining to you why it takes as long as it does, but you continue to complain with utter disregard of the contributing factors, including the fact that our judges are volunteers, that we've had a significant drop in available judges recently, and that the rate at which we receive submissions has increased.
Additionally, attempting to shift the blame to me and insulting me is certainly not going to help improve the situation.
HappyLee wrote:
Bigbass wrote:
HappyLee, you have not provided any specific reasoning as to why this wait is actually problematic.
Do I really have to "provide a specific reasoning"... As I said, no TASer would like their work being ignored for a long time, or waiting endlessly to get a verdict. At least I don't like waking up every day and check to see any update with my TAS in the submission workbench, and wonder what happened with TASVideos and why the process is so slow.
If you want to be constructive, then yes, providing reasoning would help us better understand your issue. Yes, I have seen you make the sweeping generalization that "No TASers would like that." Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of TASers on this site do not make a fuss about how long their submissions take to be judged. So it seems unlikely that your claim is true. Implying that we have "ignored" your (or other TASers') work is entirely false though.
The problem is having higher standards makes judges' work harder, because more scrutiny is required for every single decision.
Not necessarily. Having higher standards means you can reject movies based on bad game choice, bad goal choice more easily. For example, there are so many unpopular games & hacks right now, that probably no judges are familiar with. This makes a judge's work more difficult.
Or, having separate publication systems, or letting the votes judge, maybe automatically rejecting movies with too few Yes votes in a period of time.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
Not necessarily. Having higher standards means you can reject movies based on bad game choice, bad goal choice more easily. For example, there are so many unpopular games & hacks right now, that probably no judges are familiar with. This makes a judge's work more difficult.
Or, having separate publication systems, or letting the votes judge, maybe automatically rejecting movies with too few Yes votes in a period of time.
I mentioned 2 factors. When it's easy to reject you lose the community.
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.
Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of TASers on this site do not make a fuss about how long their submissions take to be judged.
Maybe they just quietly leave TASVideos. Maybe they're just too polite to complain. Maybe I'm just too straightforward.
I'm on TASVideos nearly 20 years. It wasn't a problem then or 10 years ago, and I was happier submitting my work on TASVideos back then.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
The problem is having higher standards makes judges' work harder, because more scrutiny is required for every single decision.
Not necessarily. Having higher standards means you can reject movies based on bad game choice, bad goal choice more easily. For example, there are so many unpopular games & hacks right now, that probably no judges are familiar with. This makes a judge's work more difficult.
Or, having separate publication systems, or letting the votes judge, maybe automatically rejecting movies with too few Yes votes in a period of time.
Bad game/goal choice in what sense? Simply being unpopular doesn't make the game or goal a bad choice. Basing judgement on the votes, as in how popular or entertaining the game/run is, isn't a good approach. In fact, we've intentionally steered away from entertainment being a factor for years now, which people have responded positively about.
Maybe they just quietly leave TASVideos. Maybe they're just too polite to complain. Maybe I'm just too straightforward.
Sometimes they ask about the reason on Discord. We explain it, then understand it, and stop complaining, while still submitting more things. If someone quietly leaves, there's no way to know whether it's because there's a long wait or something else entirely unrelated.
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.
I mentioned 2 factors. When it's easy to reject you lose the community.
I wouldn't think of it as "lose the community". I remember TASVideos has way more active users 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago. But right now, there are way less active users and posts, and people mention that we're losing judges.
Recent projects: SMB warpless TAS (2018), SMB warpless walkathon (2019), SMB something never done before (2019), Extra Mario Bros. (best ending) (2020).
