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I endeavor to ask permission from authors before even pitching games (I did a pathetic job at that for SGDQ 2015 because the games list was a bit chaotic at the last minute, though... :) On the official schedule at http://gamesdonequick.com each author's name is clearly listed as the Author with the game Name listed as TASBot plays <game>, and I'm merely listed as couch commentary. I've also sent PM's to each author/co-author asking them if they have preferences on how they would like their work to be highlighted, specifically if they would like any mentions of any social media destinations.
I'm probably going overboard, but I've had my work used without attribution a number of times and it doesn't feel good when it happens. My goal here is to highlight the art that each author has created, and I think I'll be able to reach that goal for this GDQ just fine.
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I had a very similar set of circumstances and finally discovered an offending copy of the .dll in my path elsewhere in my system. As part of your clean install you might want to do a search (tthat includes hidden and system files) for that .dll to make sure it doesn't exist somewhere else, as that can make you go completely bonkers. :)
Best of luck!
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True wrote:
Does this run even sync? When I tested MM1 runs they didn't sync.
The Rockman run doesn't seem to sync on Mega Man (U) for me either, it only makes it past the first level. I don't have a true Rockman cart to test with.
True wrote:
Though IIRC you weren't interested in verifying this time around, so I imagine you might use the opportunity to show off critical sections at slow speed / frame advance and / or pause while explaining?
Right, I'll be playing back the run in an emulator and my intent is to do a quick tour of tools and frame advance and then let the run play uninterrupted - perhaps during the tour I might show off one of the many, many glitches in this game. I'll determine that in practice rounds over the next few weeks.
So, yeah, if someone comes up with a new run in this category, even if it's at the last minute, I can probably adapt.
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I am currently prepared to present [1686] NES Mega Man by Shinryuu & finalfighter in 12:23.34 but if there happened to be anything new for the same category that could be presented that would be absolutely awesome. Is there any reasonable hope of a couple of frames improvement by, say, the week before the marathon? I figured it's worth at least asking - if it were to happen there would be a lot more hype I could build into the commentary during an unveiling.
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jlun2 wrote:
I tried seeing the code but:
File was deleted from server.
File was deleted by owner or exceeded maximum storage time (100 days from last download).
:/
Hmm... I'll check in with TheAxeMan when I can; I know he is currently distracted with Real Life right now so it could be a bit. I should still have a copy of the code somewhere if nothing else. As a side note, please see the technical tier thread about a possible method to publish this TAS in some form.
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QuizmasterBos wrote:
Oh, I wasn't suggesting you were going to use the money for those purposes. I just meant that extra funding could maybe mean even bigger things at SGDQ or AGDQ. I know making that TASblock happen costs money too and perhaps you might be able to use new bots or something like that for something exciting.
Ah, I see! SGDQ 2014 is decidedly low-key but my hope is AGDQ 2016 will be as big as ever, and that will require a bit of hardware if I can get my idea to work out. I'll be sure to post updates as we get closer to that dream, though.
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QuizmasterBos wrote:
Considering that this is likely a recurring event, wouldn't it be easier to just make a Patreon account? Even if you don't meet the requirements per month, over the course of half a year you'd be likely to get enough funding to go to AGDQ and SGDQ every year.
I had never actually heard of http://Patreon.com - thanks for the suggestion! I'll look into it and see if it's something that I would qualify for.
QuizmasterBos wrote:
I mean, it seems easier than getting bitcoints to pay with too. I don't have a wallet and I'm honestly not planning to get one. Plus, it takes over 220 dollars to get just one bitcoin now, I'd rather pay a dollar or 5 per month over the course of 4 years with that money.
Oh, you probably wouldn't buy an entire Bitcoin - with BitPay or Coinbase or the like you'd link it to a bank account just like you would with PayPal and then fund your account with whatever amount you wanted to (at a 1% or less fee depending on ywhat wallet provider you go with). When you make purchases with Bitcoin most vendors offer discounts (http://gyft.com offers a 3% cash back when paying with Bitcoin), so you actually end up better off than paying cash, but I digress. So yeah, if you definitely don't have to go all in and own an entire Bitcoin, they are divisible to the 8th decimal point for just this kind of thing. :)
QuizmasterBos wrote:
And who knows what other fun stuff you can do at SGDQ with the extra money?
Oh, I'd never use any funds I received as donations for anything other than strictly GDQ related activities, with the minor exception of perhaps eating out at a restaurant that is nearby something I'd go see (this happened at AGDQ where micro500 went with us to the Smithsonian and we ate at Pi restaurant in DC). You can see my transparency report from AGDQ 2015 to get a feel for what that looked like. Thanks for your comments!
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Note: My expenses have been fully met for SGDQ 2015 - see below for the list of donors, to whom I am indebted.
I am currently projecting the following expenses for my involvement at SGDQ 2015 (I am flying solo to SGDQ 2015 as my wife, assassyknitter, is staying home with the kids and I'm only going for 3 days so travel and general involvement costs are somewhat lower than AGDQ 2015):
Equipment / games purchases (projected): $50
SGDQ 2015 fee: $40
Airfare: $437
Accommodations: $406
Dining out / groceries (projected): $150
Total (projected): $1,083
I have endeavored to save up ahead of time and I am fully prepared to cover all of these costs personally but if you feel led to help offset these costs I will accept donations with much thanks via Bitcoin at 1CknXDyb5jTG1Nw1hs437r6fnz7npBSEfA (consider getting a free coinbase.com wallet) or through this PayPal donation link.
As before, I can offer donors their choice of any games on this games list which now includes some fresh 3DS games and other goodies and I will pass on 10%15% of any donations I receive as donations to Doctors Without Borders during SGDQ 2015. After the event I'll provide a full post-mortem to provide transparency of costs (the AGDQ 2015 post-mortem is here).
Donors I would like to thank include:
- MUGG, who donated $6 but opted to let others snatch free games - thanks for being the first donor!
- A $15 donation came in from a donor who wished to remain anonymous and snagged The Sims 3 - cool.
- Thanks to an anonymous donor for the $65 donation - no game incentive required even.
- A whopping $1,200 donation came in from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous; my wife and I would like to extend our sincerest thanks to you.
Thank you again to all who have supported my wife and I in the past and thanks for the continued support!
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A couple of weeks ago I played through Ikaruga (the Steam version) with free play mode enabled, because the game is just that ridiculously difficult without it and I wanted to see what was past stage 2. Then I replayed some of the leaderboard high score runs of Ikaruga to see what near-perfect human play looked like, and finally I re-watched the TAS and saw how crazy different the strategies are. I am actively looking for someone to help with couch commentary for Ikaruga.
This weekend I played through Mega Man (with rewind support) with my son, then we watched the three-way race of Mega Man from AGDQ 2015, then we watched the TAS. Playing it gave me a really good perspective of how difficult the game can be in casual play (my son, who is 8, commented that it's "crazy hard!" which amused me :). Watching the three-way race again was useful for seeing how unforgiving the game can be during a realtime run due to the level of difficulty of performing some of the skips. Re-watching the TAS, I could immediately identify how different the strategy was from realtime runs and I'm convinced that there will be ample opportunity for entertaining commentary. I have cleartonic on board for couch commentary.
I've started on Sonic Advance but haven't finished yet. Out of all the games, this one is my son's favorite and he's been playing it a lot over the past couple of days. The other two games are just a bit too hard for him. :) I'll be going through the same exercise as I did with the other two, completing the games myself and then reviewing the human runs and re-watching the TAS. I have Kirbymastah on board for couch commentary.
I'll start my first stab at rehearsing the hour-long block sometime next week, and the hope is to have the couch commentators available so we can do a rehearsal as well. I've registered for SGDQ, booked the hotel room for Thursday through Sunday, and booked a flight for the same (more details in off-topic at some point). I'm additionally attempting to organize pinball machines for the event, which is taking a bit of thought on the best approach.
I'll continue to post updates here, especially as we get closer and the rehearsals get to the point where I might actually want an audience watching. :) Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments, and thanks again to all who helped get this far!
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endrift wrote:
I'm a bit paranoid about rooming with random strangers, especially when that involves flying out to a city I don't know for a gaming-related convention.
Totally understandable. Unless there's a real necessity I'm planning on getting a room all to my own, although for slightly different motivations. :) (For one thing, I end up sleeping at really strange times every single time I go to a GDQ...)
I hope you can make it but if you can't I've already prepared everyone to not expect console verification. If I *do* do console verification, it will be done with a split-screen setup where I have the intended encode / emulator output in one screen and the console verification on the other. Ikaruga is entirely excluded here, but I'm toying with the idea of doing it with Mega Man and I'm intrigued by the possibility of doing it with Sonic Advance. I don't have the requisite hardware for Sonic Advance (I only have a GC with no GB Player) so if you can't make it I'm going to assume it won't happen, and if only one of the runs is being console verified it's probably not worth doing it at all.
That was a bit rambly, but all I'm trying to say is that if I can get both Mega Man and Sonic Advance console verifiable I can easily explain why it's impossible to do the same with Ikaruga due to disc read mechanics and it would probably be received better.
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endrift wrote:
Looks like my potential rooming plans to try and reduce the cost of me going fell through :/ So unless I can dig up another roommate, or a few hundred extra dollars (D:) I don't think I'll be able to justify going.
Definitely post on the SDA thread at: https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/sgdq_2015_roommate_thread.__booking_deadline_july_6th..html
Oddly, I think you can even post without creating an account. I will be staying Thursday night through Saturday and at this point my wife (asassyknitter) will not be able to accompany me so perhaps that might work too. I am sure there's a solution one way or another...
It must beat the game (1-level movies are rejected).
The discussion here has been about the Tiers page, which only calls out completion for the Vault. You are correct in pointing out that the general movie rules indicate that the game must be complete, but that is the very type of definition I propose clarifying to limit it to the three existing Stars / Moons / Vault tiers.
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This has been a great discussion thread so far - a lot of good points have been made. My thoughts on the most recent suggestions:
I didn't go into this concept thinking that anything would change with the existing Moons and Stars thread rules, but I actually kind of like the idea of making all three existing tiers (Stars, Moons, and Vault) have a requirement that the run completes the game and set aside whatever this new tier is to handle runs that *don't* complete the game. The problem with that simplistic definition is it would exclude things like TheAxeMan's Final Fantasy console verification run, so perhaps this new tier simply doesn't require completing the game but doesn't prohibit it either. That leaves the sticky problem of trying to confine what *can* be accepted within that rather loose definition which is something Adelikat is apparently concerned about.
I'm probably still too biased to be the one proposing these guidelines so I'll again defer to someone else. (Also, the announcement of the TASBot block being scheduled during primetime for SGDQ 2015 has me quite distracted, but I digress...) Thanks again for all the useful discussion so far!
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The official schedule has been posted and the TASbot block has been set to start on Saturday, August 1st at 2:00 PM EST: https://gamesdonequick.com/schedule
Time Game Runners Console Estimate Setup
2:00 PM TASBot plays Mega Man any% by Shinryuu and FinalFighter NES 0:12:23 0:07:37
2:20 PM TASBot plays Sonic Advance any% by Mukki GBA 0:10:46 0:04:14
2:35 PM TASBot plays Ikaruga Maximum score by keylie Gamecube 0:21:29 0:03:31
That chart took way too long to make
We're scheduled in the middle of some awesome runs (after Minecraft, Portal, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Dark Souls II and directly before LoZ:LttP, LoZ:OoT, and Mario 64). I will use Mega Man in an emulator to very briefly demonstrate TASing tools before playing the actual movie, I'll use Sonic Advance to explain scripting tools and modifications to the environment to support things like camhacks while playing back the split-screen encode, and I'll be using Ikaruga to make people's heads explode (as an encode; there is a larger-than-I-would-prefer risk of desyncs with the actual emulator).
If there is a Speed TASing race, it will be explained during Sonic Advance and/or Ikaruga with the game choice announced at the end of Ikaruga and the results announced (but likely not shown) during the setup time preceding the Super Metroid race. The goal is to have everything be so fluid that it does not take any additional time during the marathon and provides an incentive for audience participation.
As noted, there will be no console verification planned for this GDQ and my focus remains on delivering well rehearsed commentary on each run. I'll be practicing by streaming on Twitch and I'll let people know when I have things to the point where it makes sense for me to try running through the block to ensure I can do everything on schedule.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed ideas and assisted in getting everything to this point!
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If I had to summarize the thoughts in this thread, it seems that overall there is support for the idea but some tweaks might be needed to the verbiage that Nach proposed. Does someone want to take a crack at a revised version that's a bit cleaner? From chatting with Nach a few months ago, his goal was to make absolutely certain that there was no possibility of the tier being abused but assuming the judges are using common sense and have a good set of guidelines I think the verbiage can be relaxed a bit.
I'd prefer someone else combed through the tier guidelines seeing as I have a bias toward creating the tier (as in, I have something to gain by being able to publish the movie file I created with the help of others that p4plus2's payload was ultimately appended to). Any takers?
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z1mb0bw4y wrote:
It'd be nice to add a tier that could be a catchall for board/sports/rhythm/shmup games, potentially in addition to this tier. It seems like there have been more of those that got rejected than, say, ACE tases.
Warp had the same question, and indeed, this tier is a separate discussion from the (already debated) "board game" tier ideas that have been floated around in the past. I won't discuss that topic further here as I'd like to keep this thread on discussing a technical showcase tier, other than to say I'm an inclusionist and I feel that there is no harm in making content discoverable for people with nostalgia.
Having said that, I feel there is a very big difference between a large quantity of "low entertainment value" board / sports / linear games as opposed to a sparse number of technically challenging, interesting, or otherwise highly visible content. I completely understand where Samsara is coming from in that there are only a handful of runs that would currently be placed in this proposed tier but at the same time the current situation is that content that was performed in front of a large audience isn't even posted on TASVideos anywhere for people to discover. This has indirectly caused press coverage of the TAS block at AGDQ to neglect even *linking* to TASVideos in some cases, which clearly compromises the potential publicity for the site. I think having a searchable tier is probably the best solution to this particular aspect, but if you have another idea for how to publish this kind of content on TASVideos I'm sure the staff would be open to them.
Thanks for the lively discussion!
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This is a thread to facilitate discussion of creating a new tier to showcase technical runs. The full proposal can be found here: Wiki: Nach/RFCTierTechnicalShowcase
In brief, the proposal calls for creating a new and unique tier that would be used for technically interesting runs that do not fit in the existing categories. The types of runs this tier is aimed at include TheAxeMan's Final Fantasy no resets console verification run and the as-of-yet-unsubmitted Pokemon Plays Twitch and other runs shown at AGDQ 2015. The proposed tier rules described in the RFC above are not set in stone and are subject to debate and after consensus is reached there will be a nontrivial amount of work to add the tier, but I feel it's worthwhile to at least get the discussion started.
Thoughts?
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I have good news - three of the run categories have been accepted. You can search for them by going to https://gamesdonequick.com/submission/all and searching for dwangoac - the accepted categories are Ikaruga, Mega Man, and Sonic Advance. The TAS race didn't make it due to time constraints but may still happen anyway by interspersing that competition inside of the other runs and making an announcement about the winner and linking to the results rather than showing the full run.
I will be focusing on ensuring I can provide good commentary during each of these three (non-console-verified) runs. I'll be looking for realtime runners and others who are familiar with each game who can be at SGDQ 2015 to assist in commentary. I'll be playing through each game on its original system because I never gained a good appreciation for Gradius and realized a few seconds in that I didn't actually have anything useful to say about it. :) To that end, if anyone has physical copies of the games that were accepted, please let me know - I'll have to obtain them one way or another and it makes sense to start here.
I'll post updates once the schedule is in place and I know more about what I need to prepare for travel-wise. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and support through the game selection phase, and here's to another successful GDQ event, this time for Doctors Without Borders!
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Having lost a number of people in my life and knowing what it's like, I am praying for the family and the close friends she left behind. Some things those individuals will read online will help them and some things will sadden them but my hope is that everyone who is in mourning can work through their feelings and move toward healing. For those here who have felt a personal loss, I want to share something my wife and I have posted on our bedroom wall as we continue to work through personal losses of our own:
Grief is a journey, not a place to stay. It is not a sign of weakness - it is the price of love.
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I voted Yes for entertainment, and I'd like to explain why. I had not recently watched the existing run so when I watched this today I was unbiased. I think people are overlooking how clever some of the elements of *this* TAS are - in particular, for a speed oriented TAS, this is very entertaining. The method used to dispatch each enemy is generally unique and often funny (although a few enemies are indeed dispatched with the same general tactic). I subsequently re-watched the existing publication and while I found it enjoyable for the different tactic it took with using Samus as a ping-pong ball I actually prefer this newer submission because it is a tighter execution.
I am in favor of leaving the existing publication as a playaround and publishing this (entertaining in my opinion) run as a separate speed-oriented category, despite the earlier statements in that publication's comments. While fighting games can often be flat out boring, this run is quite entertaining, especially to those of us who have played it, and I'd hate to see this relegated to the vault on a technicality.
Great work - keep it up!
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GhostSonic wrote:
Did a console-verification recording real quick. Quality isn't great, sorry about that, but you get the idea.
Thank you very much for taking this on! I was unable to finish setting up audio before I had to leave on a business trip. It's good to see other people involved in console verification.
(As an aside, I did not mean any insult to the other authors of the run, I just typed Masterjun's name out of habit - congrats to *all* the authors. :)
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Good news - I've been able to console-verify this run! I'm hoping to set up a better audio capture system than what I've been using but I'm fairly confident the video won't be the best. I have to travel tomorrow for work and won't be back for a week so I'll post it either today or in a week depending on how successful I am.
Great job, Masterjun, Masterjun, and Masterjun bahamete, and PangeaPanga! (Oh, and Yes vote. :)
(This post has been edited to ensure I properly thank *all* of the authors - in my haste I only mentioned Masterjun and did not intend any slight on the other authors not named Masterjun.)
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Oh... my. I assure everyone, this movie is definitely the length that Masterjun says it is, at least by frame count. If you want to see what happens after the encode on Youtube ends, you'll have to snag lsnes and try it yourself. Fair warning - at least on my system, the speed drops to below 100% as soon as the crazy starts.
It will take longer to dump this than it would to watch it but I'll try to console verify this tonight. Maybe. Perhaps true will beat me to it. :)
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You'll see the games submitted under https://gamesdonequick.com/submission/all (search for the word TASBot). I was somewhat delayed due to the form nuking nearly everything the first time I submitted it. I was able to appease the form system that nukes things when you don't abide by its unwritten rules (specifically, I didn't see anything about having to have short URL's in the form page).
So, everything is in, now it's just a matter of seeing what gets accepted. There are several rounds of cuts this time so we won't know for certain until May. I'll be sure to post updates as they happen. Thanks again to everyone for the feedback!
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Zeupar made a steadily convincing case that [1665] GBA Sonic Advance by Mukki in 10:46.52 as shown in Aktan's comparison encode is a better choice to pitch than Super Metroid. Perhaps another year for this one.
I'm scrambling as fast as I can to submit this tonight but there have been a lot of last-minute changes so this might not go out until tomorrow; I don't want to push my luck, however. We'll see how far I get before sleep calls. :)
