Pressing the reset button on a console is not the same thing as exiting out of a PC game via tools that the OS provides, such as alt+tab. A console is a closed system where every button, including the ones on the console itself, should be considered an intended mechanic. I would only draw the line at things that get close to physically manipulating the console, such as opening the disc tray or removing peripherals.
Insisting that using a reset button is going against the purity of TASing seems pointless to me. I run Diddy Kong Racing, a game where we use the reset button not to perform glitches, but to skip long cutscenes. Not pressing the reset button would add zero value to the run, no extra gameplay, only more time spent watching cutscenes.
Again, I get it that people want to keep resetting out of a TAS if it allows to destroy a game to the point of Pokémon Gen 1. But these games already have separate categories published for exactly that reason, so this shows that our current system is working well. Allow pressing the reset button / turning the system on and off for TASing and if it breaks the game to much, we can always split categories. Just like with any other technique.
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.
I've watched it twice now (plus the last WIP on emulator) and I have to go with a "meh". It was really hard for me to decide my vote, but in the end, the whole thing was just too repetitive for its length. For me, the novelty of how broken the gameplay is quickly wears off and you're left with a collection based objective where you can't follow any cohesive route or logic. It's just too far removed from the intended gameplay, I felt kinda similar about the Paper Mario TASes, but this is a much more extreme example. If the TAS was shorter, it could have worked for me, so maybe something like "All Bosses" with no restrictions would be the way to go?
At the same time, I have to give you credit for the excellent submission text. It really helped me appreciate the TAS much more by seeing how far you went to save every possible frame.
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.
This game makes for a better TAS than I expected. The HP system is unique and allows for fast movement and there are just enough small tricks like abusing the ladder mechanics to make things interesting. You also seem to have put some effort into getting good RNG for the hacking minigames.
Voting "yes" on this cheap license cashgrab.
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.
I found this TAS surprisingly entertaining to watch, the levels aren't completely linear and using the broom and the attack spell for faster movement definitely looks cool. The only thing that keeps me from giving this one a "yes" is the painfully long boss fight at the end, despite it having a hilariously unfitting choice of music.
Also: Give to Hagird
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.
That TAS seems to be some sort of playaround, but not a very good one. It watches most skippable cutscenes, but skips some. It has no clear upgrade route and seems to intentionally leave out certain skips, most notably in Bumpy's Breakers, Gauntlet and Inferno. Interestingly enough, it uses some tricks that were only found very recently, like that skip in Ando Prime Centrum, somehow the TASer must have known about those before we did.
An optimal 100% would start by doing Semi-Pro to get Bullseye and Boles Roor, which are both very useful for certain tracks. It would also not do Inferno last, so that at least Ando Prime Centrum could be done using Ben Quadinaros.
Any% would use Ebe Endocott for Executioner and then switch between Toy Dampner and Mawhonic. It was only found very recently how much potential certain characters have that were overlooked for years.
Obviously, both runs would use crazy upgrade routes that are only barely possible with perfect RNG.
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.
I watched both of them again and a notable difference was that Yellow has more setup time (and downtime with cutscenes/dialogue), but a more interesting payoff. It's hard for me to say what I prefer in terms of entertainment. If I have to choose one version over the other, I will always go with Red/Blue for the completely subjective reason of them being the first Pokémon games I played and not having the Pikachu gimmick.
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.
The run you linked is a no skips run, it intentionally avoids those tricks. But the Abysss skip has been known for years, this is what the WR for the track looks like:
Link to video
If you want to learn more about the game, check out our leaderboard and join our Discord server!
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.
Time for a 10-year bump, but I figured that it would still be better than another thread.
The community has been very active lately, several new skips have been found:
Beedo's Wild Ride: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/325521852
Executioner: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/325148963
Andobi Mountain Run: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/325582960
Boonta Classic: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/323352054
So far, the skip in Boonta Classic is the only one to actually be useful in any% (which involves beating the Galactic Circuit, since that's what triggers the credits). The PC version was used in all of the videos, but one of the skips (Executioner) has already been confirmed to work on Dreamcast. I see no reason why all of them shouldn't be possible on the N64 version, which still remains the only option for TASing.
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.
This TAS demonstrates some impressive luck manipulation and also finds ways to play around when it doesn't waste time. Unfortunately though, there are more uninteresting minigames compared to spectacular ones, so I can't give this TAS more than a "meh".
And just like with the previous TAS, I wish that it went for a 100% completion of the island. It's really just a bunch of extra minigames, so might as well do all of them.
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.
The problem with DRM that I see is that it relies on some online service being available. This becomes a problem when said service ceases to exist. Without the online component, you will always have the option to purchase a copy of the game. But not if a game gets taken off Steam or Steam itself goes out of business.
As tempting as it might be to just accept piracy in cases where there is no legal way to get the game, this can obviously not be an option for this site. The only exception I could see are games from dead copyright holders, where the property remains untouched for long enough that it falls into the public domain.
As for TASing a game with the DRM included, that would be a bad idea because, again, DRM relies on some online service that won't be available forever.
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.
No one is going to TAS a run of Championship Mode using retires, it's just not interesting to watch a TAS skip races when you could instead see them being completed. What I would want to see is a TAS of what we RTA runners call "All Championships", where your goal is to complete Championship Mode in all four difficulties without skipping any races. That category would show off all possible track layouts and get IL records on the way, all while starting from clean SRAM.
If you are interested in what the fastest track layouts are (not counting Reverse, since the game considers that to be its own category):
Sunny Beach = Hard
Sunset Bay = Normal
Drake Lake = Normal
Marine Fortress = Hard
Port Blue = Hard
Twilight City = Hard*
Glacier Coast = Expert**
Sunset Bay = Normal
* Normal is not available for this track
** Normal and hard are not available for this track
You should also keep in mind that the game is still running poorly on emulator at this point, with the best version (Shindou) not working at all and the others suffering from severe desync issues.
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.
I have to disagree with your position on this, feos. We should accept new movies as an improvement based on better accuracy alone, this motivates people to improve this aspect of TASing. The idea that "we don't know if this better accuracy is perfect accuracy, so it can't be counted" just seems plain wrong, for the same reasons why I disagree with the rule for vaultable highscore runs having to have 100% proof that they can't be improved. You can never proof something is 100% perfect, such proof should never be required. We don't follow this mindset for normal speed records, so why in these instances?
And of course, there's also the problem with TASes that are optimized to SMB1-levels, we should be able to replace those movies if necessary, even if no gameplay improvement is found.
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.
Why not make the same TAS using Dolphin and the Wii VC version of the game? It's my understanding that it works fine there, and can be TASed just fine, and will be accepted at tasvideos.
Agreed.
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.
Because he used a method of GIM that is known to crash on N64 and can only be done on an N64 emulator if you use a broken graphics plugin. He knows the TAS would get rejected for that reason.
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.
After watching this TAS and taking a look at the leaderboard, I have two questions:
Is this even distinguishable from RTA runs? The time on the leaderboard looks suspiciously close to the TAS time and there is the usual timing difference that makes the TAS time longer by default.
Does this TAS actually complete the game? The ending comes off as some sort of "bad ending" and there seems to be a "good ending" for scoring at least 5000 points.
As for entertainment, I voted "no". The gameplay is minimal and the only "superhuman" thing demonstrated is the wiggling, which gets old very quickly. Movement like this should only be done occasionally and never throughout entire levels, that's just bad practice (unless of course, such movement actually saves time).
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.
I think it would be a better idea to just outright go for MST, because that category is very popular in unassisted OoT speedrunning, rather than invent a new category (or use a much more obscure category) that's half-way between.
You wouldn't have to invent anything, you'd just go with existing low-glitch categories like "No wrong warp" or "no IM/wrong warp". The only OoT TASes that invented categories themselves are those challenges like "all dungeons, no doors" or "100% 3 pause".
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.
So let's talk about the glitch used here to get the medallions. I was told that it can easily be considered a major skip glitch, without it the run with the same goals would be more than twice as long.
Recently there was a common decision at tasvideos to forbid memory corruption, ACE, and some other glitches from "full completion" actions.
http://tasvideos.org/MovieRules.html#FullCompletionRules
Note that all these techniques can still be used throughout the whole run, they just can not be used for things that represent full completion requirements. For example, in a Super Metroid 100% run, you can activate ACE and use it to speed you up, but not for writing the items into your inventory without actually collecting them, and not for displaying the false item count percentage in the end.
There is another aspect that has to be considered: The goal itself is already very arbitrary. "All medallions" doesn't obtain the Spiritual Stones, unlike the currently published MST TAS and its obsoleted predecessors. Since MST is clearly an established category on this site by now, it would seem strange to publish a TAS that only partially fulfills the goals of that category.
If this TAS got both the medallions and the stones, you could at least make the argument that it is some less arbitrary variation of MST's concept. That's because despite its name (Medallions, Stones, Trials), MST really defines itself not by collecting specific items, but by completing specific events (the dungeons with blue warps and the trials in Ganon's castle). But as it is, "All medallions" just sits inbetween all established categories without offering enough unique content to justify its existence.
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.
The goal of this TAS is simple to understand: Beat the game while getting all medallions, no restrictions. The TAS also looks as optimized as I expect a submission for this site to look, so the author did a great job there. But unfortunately, I just didn't find it that interesting to watch, I voted meh.
The fastest way to get the medallions is to just go through the motions of the RBA route that everyone has seen a million times already, the ways to show off new stuff there are limited. While the TAS got slightly more interesting after obtaining the Poacher's Saw, it still wasn't anything I haven't seen before. Compare that to the two already published arbitrary OoT categories:
[3463] N64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "All Dungeons, Temples & Ganon Trials" by homerfunky in 1:42:29.53
is an ideal middle-category between any% and 100%. It gives a good overview of how broken the game is, even if you set yourself a longer goal and ban the most extreme glitches.
[3537] N64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "No Doors, All Dungeons" by NEVERDOORS in 2:24:37.03
is the logical evolution of a "restricted any%" category like MST from the perspective of TASing. It creates a challenge that only a TAS could overcome.
In that context, I can't help but view "All medallions" as sort of a "lesser MST". I do believe that a category between any% and MST could have a place on this site, just not this one. Something like "No wrong warp" might not be revolutionary either, but it has a more clear goal (it bans exactly one thing) and is quite a bit shorter.
I'm looking forward to your future projects!
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.