Posts for dwangoAC

Posted: 4/1/2015 5:20 AM

Post subject: VVVVVV is out, Mega Man is in

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

After re-watching Mega Man, I'm now convinced more than ever that it's the better choice than VVVVVV. I'm in the process of making the submissions now and I'll post a link once everything is done. Thank you to everyone who provided valuable feedback.

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/31/2015 4:10 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

Warp wrote:

I think this idea has been pitched before, but how about a short segment showing how a TAS is made?

The game pitch post specifically lists this as: Category: TAS tools explanation by dwangoAC Description: Prior to exhibiting Castlevania, I will take ~10 minutes interacting with the FCEUX emulator to demonstrate TAS techniques and show how TAS tools can assist in practicing for realtime runs, followed by the Castlevania Minimalist Pacifist run described in that category. For SGDQ 2015, all submitted TASBot runs will be played back on emulator or using an encode with commentary provided. Should I re-word the description substantially to emphasize different elements? (I have to re-word everything because ais523 pointed out that I get 420 characters for each *game*, not each category, but I digress.)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/31/2015 4:25 AM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

darkszero wrote:

Keeping with the Castlevania theme, any of the GBA/DS Castlevanias? Mainly, [1899] GBA Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance "Maxim" by Yuzuhara_3 in 00:22.73 and [2095] DS Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin by mtbRc in 04:18.65

Both are good suggestions - perhaps in a future GDQ (I'd rather not take out Castlevania at the moment). I didn't mention it earlier, but I'm intentionally staying away from the entire Mario franchise, and we just did SM64 at AGDQ 2014.

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/31/2015 12:55 AM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

EEssentia wrote:

I can't speak for others, but the reason that I believe GDQs are so popular is the atmosphere, the commentary and the audience. It's an experience in itself that you don't get by just watching runs.

This is one of the reasons that I've been asking various people associated with runs if they can help me prep for commentary. Castlevania is on the list because the author promised to help me prepare. Rather than spending time on making something technically interesting, I'm investing in ensuring there is good commentary, and I'm sure as long as the setup is correct that the atmosphere should be conducive to an entertaining couple of runs. Thanks again for everyone's feedback. For the moment, VVVVVV is on the chopping block and Mega Man is a likely replacement but feel free to make other suggestions, I haven't submitted yet. ais523 brought to my attention one little problem - I don't get a chance to describe each category separately, so I'll probably link back to the above post in a URL shortener or something. I'll make it work one way or another. :)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 6:36 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

EEssentia wrote:

That said, while Ikargua seems like a good goice, most of the others, to me at least, seems like the lack the "wow" factor... I'd love to find some other good games, though.

If you do come up with specific games that exemplify TAS strategies better, please let me know. My current leaning is to remove the VVVVVV pitch and replace it with Mega Man 1, but I can be swayed either way. Keep the feedback coming - I'll be making the submission tomorrow, so you have at least 24 more hours to sway my decisions. :)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 5:57 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

thatguy wrote:

As brilliant a run as it is, I think Super Scribblenauts is too long to be appropriate. There are multi-hour runs at A/SGDQ, but I kind of see the TAS block as a time when you have to show off as many different things as possible, rather than just one run.

I'd like to challenge this general concept - the marathon is many hours long and TASVideos participation is a small fraction of that time, way less than 1%. I'm not saying that TASVideos content should suddenly take up 10% of the marathon, but I see no reason why this hour-long, extremely entertaining run couldn't be shown in, say, a graveyard shift. There is no requirement that all of the TASVideos / TASBot content happens in the same block. The real question is, does Super Scribblenauts provide an hour's worth of consistent entertainment, to which I'd say it does. It's up to the organizers to decide if there is room in the schedule for it.

thatguy wrote:

If you wanted to show a "funny" TAS then Brain Age might surprise the audience a little.

This game is being intentionally held back for reasons that will hopefully become clear for AGDQ 2016. Thanks for the suggestion!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 5:18 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

ais523 wrote:

I feel that if we're not console verifying, we probably shouldn't be there at all.

ais523 and I exchanged a conversation about this on IRC. He's strongly of the opinion that we should have some form of verification, but he tends to feel that Hourglass is close enough and is a suitable platform. Atma suggested Braid, not sure about this one. Any other thoughts?

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 4:39 PM

Post subject: Should VVVVVV stay?

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

adelikat wrote:

It is critical that whatever TAS chosen differs drastically from what the top tier speedrunners are doing.

This is one of the reasons I'd prefer the 20 trinkets, no death mode category as it's the most different from realtime, but that's the longest category of them all and I wanted to give the organizers the option to select a shorter category as needed for time constraints. It's not too late to pull VVVVVV for something else if others agree, though. Any other voices on the topic? (I confess, I'd really rather not fight with Hourglass if I don't have to. :)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 4:35 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

Derakon wrote:

Honestly, the VVVVVV runs were underwhelming for me..

Interesting, you're the first person to say that - the SDA IRC channel was definitely more interested in VVVVVV than most of the other suggestions. I'd be interested to hear if others share your opinion.

Derakon wrote:

Scribblenauts is a fantastic TAS, but it's also very long.

Hmm... I have no more games but I do have a spare category, I could propose a "Fast-forward fun" category where I replay it but skip the "boring" parts, with the minor problem that there really aren't any and I had hoped to show the encode where the touchscreen is shown larger on the left and both screens are shown on the right. I'll have to ponder this. Yes, Scribblenauts would be a "big ask" but it's always possible it will be reviewed and accepted, so we'll see. Thanks for the feedback!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 3:56 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
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Warp wrote:

I think it would be impressive, especially when run on the real console.

I happen to agree that it would be a good choice, but I'm limited to 5 games I can pitch and I'm trying to stick to games that are generally not console verifiable. I have hopes of showing off Mega Man with console verification so I'm holding off on that one for now. For the record, I have a lot of respect for how difficult it is for the GDQ organizers to pick the games to show. It's been very difficult trying to decide what to take and what to save for a future GDQ because there are so many great runs out there. In general, this time around I tried to avoid Mario games (as we've done a few too many of those :) and I tried to give the organizers a wide range of content types to pick from. We'll have continued opportunities to showcase TAS's in future GDQ's, so fret not. Having said all that, if I *were* to put Mega Man in for SGDQ, what game would you pull from the list I've suggested to make room? This might help me weed out the least desirable game I'm pitching, and if there's a convincing reason why I should put Mega Man in instead of <that> I could still make a change. Thoughts?

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/30/2015 7:04 AM

Post subject: SGDQ 2015 submission descriptions, feedback needed

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dwangoAC

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No one else has shown an interest in presenting but plenty of people have provided me insight on IRC as to what games would be good choices to pitch for SGDQ 2015, so here are the 420 character limit descriptions: Game: TASBot plays Castlevania Category: Minimalist Pacifist by Grincevent Estimate: 12:53.41 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntHcF5TU2mc Description: As a minimalist variation of a pacifist goal, this movie does not contain any destruction in the levels: candles and walls are left intact, items stay untouched, and no enemy is harmed - with the exception of the bosses, who are killed mercilessly with the help of the "critical hit" glitch. Category: TAS tools explanation by dwangoAC Estimate: 22:53.41 Description: Prior to exhibiting Castlevania, I will take ~10 minutes interacting with the FCEUX emulator to demonstrate TAS techniques and show how TAS tools can assist in practicing for realtime runs, followed by the Castlevania Minimalist Pacifist run described in that category. For SGDQ 2015, all submitted TASBot runs will be played back on emulator or using an encode with commentary provided. Category: Speed TAS race by dwangoAC Estimate: 20:00 Description: A normal TAS is like a grand master in an untimed chess match playing perfectly. A speed TAS is like the same grand master playing speed chess slightly less perfectly. During a set time any viewer + Tompa can submit a TAS of a just-announced game, ending in a four-way race of the fastest viewer TAS, Tompa's TAS, and two already prepared human runners. See: http://tiny.cc/TaS Game: TASBot plays VVVVVV v2.0 Category: Game end glitch by Masterjun Estimate: 00:45.33 Encode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPPP0CFFLGQ Description: This movie by Masterjun utilizes a glitch that increments the current game state to trick the game into warping to the end cutscene. The glitch is triggered by pressing the Escape key to bring up the quit prompt while a dialog box is onscreen. Category: any% by Scepheo Estimate: 08:45.87 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SDF9w7Xqdg Description: In this run, Scepheo blazes to the ending in 7:55 according to the in-game timer, skips the fearsome Gravitron, and rescues the crew in a fraction of the length of the ship's regulated lunch break using a glitch that allows the captain to be flung out of a teleporter into a wall. This run avoids using glitches that require pressing the Escape key. Category: 20 trinkets no death mode by Masterjun Estimate: 17:33.77 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVh6_iM6trU Description: There are 20 collectable "Shiny Trinkets" hidden throughout the game. There is also a no death mode which cuts off your gameplay if you die once. This run by Masterjun collects all 20 trinkets in no death mode while simultaneously triggering several graphical glitches. Game: TASBot plays Super Metroid Category: Game end glitch by total, sniq, cpadolf Estimate: 07:15.95 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJrobn8ZLaI Description: By abusing a glitch involving going through a door as the game is returning from the pause menu, total, sniq and cpadolf manage to corrupt the game's memory and make it jump to controller input. Once they gain control, they execute arbitrary code to tell the game to immediately jump to the ending. It also finishes with a record ingame time of 00:02 and a completion rate of 2%! Category: any% by Taco and Kriole Estimate: 38:41.52 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JsGQiFxq6g Description: Taco and Kriole achieve an in-game completion time of 23:29 with a completion rate of 18%. This run does not use the X-Ray glitch or GT code and has been the basis for a number of runs since it first came out in 2009. Game: TASBot plays Super Scribblenauts Category: Playaround by Chef Stef and Kiwisauce Estimate: 1:01:52.63 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrTvCqPtxao Description: Super Scribblenauts revolves around spawning any object from a database of thousands of possibilities (from "chair" to "God") to solve given situations. This TAS completes the 10 main worlds of Super Scribblenauts. Speed is not the main goal; instead, the levels are completed in funny or unusual ways. Game: TASBot plays GC Ikaruga Category: Maximum score by keylie Estimate: 21:29.4 Encode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5C_e-qTv9U Description: Ikaruga features a polarity mechanic where only bullets of an opposite polarity can kill the player. Same-color bullets are absorbed and converted into energy for the game's special weapon, a homing laser. In this run, keylie plays as two players at once and pulls off superhuman feats nearly constantly. Some quick notes: I picked these game choices based on discussions in IRC with a number of people. All game names are "TASBot plays..." to firmly establish to viewers at all times that this is not a normal run. as was the usage at AGDQ 2015. As noted, TASBot will be on-stream but there will be no console verification. I have a maximum of 5 games and 10 categories I can pitch, so I've overloaded Castlevania substantially. I'm looking for feedback on better descriptions that can fit in 420 characters (some of the ones above are stretching it). I'll be submitting no later than the evening of the 31st, so please let me know what you think. Thanks!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/27/2015 4:59 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

Thanks for the feedback, all. For me, my biggest concern is the impact these events have on my family. AGDQ 2015 was an especially heavy toll due to the number of hours needed to test out and prepare such an ambitious project (which I fully blame myself for, of course :). For SGDQ 2015 my highest priority is ensuring that whatever I do does not take me away from my wife and kids for a large period of time over the summer. Having said that, I'm extremely motivated to support Doctors Without Borders this year in particular as they really need the help and they are a fantastic, well-run international aid organization. When I referred to SGDQ as the "lesser" of the two events I was referring to viewership and donation totals compared to AGDQ events, not to the importance of the charity involved or as any slight to the substantial funds that are raised. Thanks for the feedback on Speed TASing. I've found that the concept has been far more divisive than other suggestions, in part because some people are interested in participating or watching it and some people would rather see a well-polished TAS shown off. I will still likely pitch it as an idea, but it's up to the SGDQ organizers to accept it or not. If it gets in I'll do my best to make it awesome, and if it (again) doesn't make it in I won't be too bothered. I plan on submitting everything over the weekend, no later than Sunday night. I'll try to post each pitch here to solicit feedback, although there likely won't be more than about 24 hours between when I pitch it here and when I submit it officially. Thanks again to everyone!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/26/2015 4:48 PM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

feos wrote:

...SGDQ feels more like a way to spend "spare" resources on, and I'm not sure there are on dwango's side (not to disparage your abilities, Alan, I'm just caring about SGDQ not becoming a trouble).

On the one hand, Doctors Without Borders (the beneficiary of SGDQ 2015) is an organization that, by all accounts, needs financial resources even more than PCF because Doctors Without Borders were and continue to be on the front lines of the Ebola outbreak and they have lost a number of their own doctors fighting the epidemic. From an altruistic standpoint, I consider it a very worthy cause to go raise money for, and I anticipate that based on the smaller size of SGDQ events and the type of content I'm suggesting that it should be possible to raise $20k through our efforts alone. To that end, if I can scrounge up the extra ~$1,000 I suspect it will take me to travel I feel it would be a worthwhile expenditure. In other words, yes, I agree that SGDQ is typically viewed as the "lesser" of the events and the type of content I'm proposing reflects this, but the cost to benefit is overall conductive to have *someone* from TASVideos run a TASBot block, and if no one else wants the opportunity, I will gladly serve (although I may ask for, but not expect or demand, assistance to offset travel costs). That's my take, and I greatly appreciate the feedback - keep it coming! :)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/26/2015 6:18 AM

Post subject: Only a few days left until I submit and present myself...

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
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I've received minimal feedback on IRC and no feedback at all here in the forums. The minimal feedback I've received is that everyone seems to think I'm the best candidate to present at SGDQ 2015 because no one else wants to do it. :) So, last chance - is anyone at all interested in presenting? If I don't hear from anyone by this weekend I'll be submitting the ideas I've already presented here along with (hopefully) a pitch to run Scribblenauts, although I'd like to get permission from the authors first as that's my normal approach. As of *right now*, it'd be pretty tough for me to afford the trip alone for the week and far less feasible if assassyknitter comes with. Based on the time of year it's likely I'd go for the last part of the week (say, fly in Thursday morning the 30th of July and fly out on Sunday the 2nd) so there would only be three hotel nights, but even then, I could sure use some help with offsetting airfare. I definitely don't like pandering for money all the time and I hope to eventually be at a point where I don't have to. I'm extremely appreciative of the support I've received and I'll do my best to represent TASVideos well. As noted, for SGDQ 2015 I'm substantially limiting development time and instead hoping to focus on presentation and smooth delivery, as in, a well-rehearsed talk. Hopefully something really technical can be ready for AGDQ 2016 - if you're of a mind to help out, please let me know. And with that, I'll stop rambling. If you'd like to present in my place, no problem, just let me know by Saturday, and likewise if you don't agree with my game choices. Otherwise, I plan on submitting over the weekend and we'll see what happens. Thanks again to everyone for the support!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/23/2015 4:30 PM

Post subject: Should I re-pitch the TAS race idea?

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

One other thought - I might re-pitch the TAS race idea - you can see the original pitch description as well as the AGDQ 2015 pitch video starting at 1:45. I had condensed it down to: A normal TAS is like a grand master in an untimed chess match playing perfectly. A speed TAS is like the same grand master playing speed chess slightly less perfectly. During a set time any viewer + Tompa can submit a TAS of a just-announced game, ending in a four-way race of the fastest viewer TAS, Tompa's TAS, and two already prepared human runners. See: http://tiny.cc/TaS I had to condense it down to 400 characters; this year, Tompa wouldn't be available, and I have 420 characters to work with, so I'd re-work the pitch. Any thoughts on the idea as a whole?

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/21/2015 6:07 PM
(Edited: 6/4/2015 4:06 PM)

Post subject: TASVideos involvement at SGDQ 2015 (preparation phase)

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dwangoAC

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Edit: This initial post was a call to see if anyone else wanted to present, but no one requested the role and I was encouraged to represent TASVideos again. I have offered to attend SGDQ 2015 from Thursday July 30th through August 1st, returning home Sunday (although I may ask for help). The list of games I'm pitching is a few posts below. Further Edit: Three games were accepted (Mega Man, Sonic Advance, and Ikaruga) and can now be seen on the official schedule at http://gamesdonequick.com slated for the final day during prime time viewing - I'm very happy with this placement! The theme of this thread has now shifted to preparation for these three games, and like last time I've created a thread to thank donors - donors can get any and all games of their choice from this games list which now includes some fresh 3DS titles like SteamWorld Dig. Original post below: Calling all well-spoken and knowledgeable TAS'ers in the upper midwest! SGDQ 2015 will be held at the Crowne Plaza / InterContinental in St. Paul, MN the week of July 26th through August 1st. Unless something goes awry, future SGDQ's will be held in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. While it was a bit of a trek for me to fly from CA to Washington, DC to present at the past couple of AGDQ's I had the benefit of local support from people like micro500 and Weatherton. For SGDQ 2015, I'd like to offer the role of presenter to anyone who wants it, but we only have until April 2nd to submit runs for consideration. So, are you in that area (or willing to travel to it) and do you have the skills and desire to present to a couple hundred people in the room and tens of thousands on the live stream? If so, please let me know right away - I don't want to hog the presenter spot, but if no one else wants it I need to immediately decide if I'm financially able to commit to the travel and schedule time off from work. Here's what I'm thinking of pitching for SGDQ 2015: - A ~10 minute introduction to the principles of TAS'ing in the form of a well-rehearsed live demonstration using something like FCEUX or BizHawk - A replay, in emulator, of a < 20-minute TAS or two that demonstrates basic TAS'ing techniques; I'm looking for suggestions from *any* emulator, but perhaps something like VVVVVV (but, ugh, Hourglass :) or US SMB2 - A 21:29 replay of Ikaruga, presuming it is accepted For a good game that demonstrates TAS'ing techniques, I'm looking for suggestions here from *any* platform, not just ones where we've had console verification in the past. As I've noted previously, console verification is no longer a hard requirement. For SGDQ 2015, while TASBot might be there as a mascot, I do not anticipate any console verification work at all unless something changes between now and then. This is in large part due to the huge workload needed to produce something like Pokemon Plays Twitch and the fact that what we're planning for AGDQ 2016 is just now coming into focus and will not be ready in time for SGDQ 2015. So, any thoughts? Any takers? I'd love your feedback!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/20/2015 2:24 AM

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dwangoAC

Experienced Forum User, Moderator, Published Author, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (898)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1007

PangaeaPanga wrote:

http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp This seemed relevant to this thread. It also touches upon the question of if owning a copy of the original cartridge justifies owning a ROM image.

That article asserts that "The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic." The rest of the text on that page goes to great lengths to minimize the right to have backups and phrases everything as if having a backup that you didn't create yourself is somehow a monstrous offense. Nevertheless, this is why I've tried to maintain a defensible position and why I'm in a bit of a quandary as to how to handle pitching Ikaruga, but I yet again digress and will stop doing so as I've derailed this thread badly enough already. :) Getting back on topic, I realize Nintendo is struggling due to poor sales and desperate companies can sometimes turn really nasty (SCO vs. IBM over Linux, for example). I hope Nintendo focuses on making the best products it can rather than litigating itself to death.

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/19/2015 12:16 AM

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dwangoAC

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andypanther wrote:

I think you're being a bit too negative here, dwango. If you think about your situation, you're not really "risking" that much. It doesn't seem realistic to me that Nintendo would pick out a single TASer that shows off stuff at a charity event and sue him.

I sure hope not, especially since Nintendo (I think) donated a Wii U for AGDQ 2015 this year. It's more that as GDQ events get bigger I'm going to increasingly become a bigger target as we penetrate newer and newer systems, and there's a long history of legal action by companies that don't see the humor in it. Adding in infringement on top just adds more ammo. But, sure, for now I'm probably safe.

Amaraticando wrote:

While playing Super Mario World, especially after eating a Chuck, should I be worried about controller presses injecting instructions to the SNES in such a way that the video displays something that resembles Super Mario Bros and Nintendo knocking at my door with the Federal Police?

While I think it's completely OK to do that, the problem lies in the interpretation of whether knowing what those buttons represent and typing them anyway is considered infringement. Again, this is all very untested water, and I'd really rather not be the one to have to go through the court system to find out. (On the flipside, I'm the President of the North Bay Linux User's Group and as a result I've gained some contacts from the EFF but I'd really rather not have to exercise that...) So, yeah, perhaps I'm over-reacting, but it's more out of concern that at all times I'm doing the best I can to be above all reproach as a representative of TASVideos.

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/18/2015 3:55 PM

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dwangoAC

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(The post that follows could be considered selfish, and I suppose that for self-preservation reasons it is, but I wanted to share my thoughts on my own risk profile. I'd consider myself to be one of the more public faces of TASing, and thus at greater risk of direct attack. Specifically, I took a risk showing NES SMB inside SNES SMW at AGDQ 2015 (that was a lot of acronyms and an assumption of prior knowledge on my part; check out this ArsTechnica article as needed for the backstory, but I digress). I ensured I had both the correct SMB and SMW cartridges physically present with me on-site at AGDQ. I also had access to equipment that could have allowed me to re-dump the contents of SMB from the cartridge ROM (albeit not easily) if I was pressed to do so. Because neither system employs encryption the DMCA is not invoked and thus I maintained a defensible position in the context of presenting in front of a live audience. While I was able to protect myself for the purposes of presentation at a non-profit fundraiser, what we haven't been able to sort out is how to release this art in a way that would not result in unwanted legal attention. We could release the button presses as an .lsnes movie file but that technically contains a nearly unrecognizable but nevertheless intact ROM dump of SMB. We could release an .ips patch file to SMW but the patch file would have the same problem and is exactly the kind of content that seems to be getting targeted, so that's no better. That leaves us with the encode; based on the recent activity at Nicovideo it's even possible for the encode of SMB on SMW to be targeted for removal even though there's a reasonable case to be made that it is fair use. In summary, in selfishly looking at only my own situation I'm probably safe, but there is still a lot of leverage out there to prevent the team who created this art from sharing it. I feel rather strongly that what we have created only benefits the original IP holder through additional exposure, especially as there is no profit being made, but that's something a court will have to decide. I will continue to attempt to be above reproach as much as possible, but I'll again be taking a risk if I pitch running Ikaruga at SGDQ 2015 (what's safer, Dolphin with an exact copy of the game with the original in plain sight, or a video encode of the same?) and I have a secret project I'm pitching for AGDQ 2016 that will possibly also be what I'd best describe as risky. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/8/2015 4:53 PM

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dwangoAC

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JSmith wrote:

The early 100 coin routes felt wierd, but I mostly can't put my finger on why. The only concrete example that comes to mind was in Azure Depths, slowing down to pick up complete underwater coin rings...

I stopped watching at that point because that part in particular looked really sloppy, but the way you phrased it it sounds like that's only an issue in the earlier levels. I might give this another look to watch the rest of it as time permits. Please don't construe this as a "No" vote, just an additional voice saying that the run is perhaps not perfectly routed - something that can always be fixed in a future run, and something that I personally feel should not stand in the way of this initial run being published. Every game's runs had to start somewhere... :)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/6/2015 10:36 PM

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dwangoAC

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I don't want to further sidetrack this thread from its intended purpose of discussing how awesome this run is so I'll just briefly say that yes, I plan to continue to do things at GDQ events that involve console verification / replaying TAS's on real unmodified consoles. I also plan to introduce TAS's that are not played back on real consoles to demonstrate amazing content such as this that would otherwise be either extremely risky or impossible to exhibit, for all of the reasons others have pointed out as well. Thank you, keylie, for the permission to present your game; I will let you know if and when I pitch the idea. Don't be surprised if I ask you to also be involved in some capacity. :)

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 3/5/2015 9:23 PM

Post subject: Yes vote, Yes for star, can I show this at a *GDQ?

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dwangoAC

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I had watched several of the WIP encodes and seeing the full run did not disappoint. Thank you for all of the hard work. Yes vote, nomination for Star, and a request from the author - keylie, may I exhibit this TAS at an upcoming *GDQ event (now that I've set in motion the possibility of showing TAS's that are not being replayed on the original console)? Gradius didn't quite take and I want a second chance to show the broader GDQ viewership what a perfect autoscrolling shooter can look like.

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 2/23/2015 5:18 PM

Post subject: AGDQ 2015 post-trip expenses review

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dwangoAC

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As promised, here's a quick post showing our actual AGDQ costs compared to my projections: AGDQ 2015 fee: $100 (projected $100 / a difference of $0) Airfare: $1,343.80 (projected: $1,343.80 / a difference of -$0) Accommodations: $887.79 (Projected: $896 / a difference of -$8.21) Dining out: $299.92 (Projected: $150 / a difference of +$149.92) Groceries: $55.20 (Projected: $50 / a difference of +$5.20) Total: $2,686.71 (Projected: $2,539.80 / a difference of +$146.91) Charitable giving: $175.50 (Projected: $253.98 / a difference of -$78.48) Here's the same data in .CSV format:

Expense,          Actual, Projected, Difference
AGDQ 2015 fee,   $100.00,   $100.00,     -$0.00
Airfare,        $1343.80,  $1343.80,     -$0.00
Accommodations,  $887.79,   $896.00,     -$8.21
Dining out,      $299.92,   $150.00,   +$149.92
Groceries,        $55.20,    $50.00,     +$5.20
Total,          $2686.71,  $2539.80,   +$146.91

Giving,          $175.50,   $253.98,    -$78.48

A few points of interest: We did a good job of estimating travel and accommodations costs but overshot on dining out and didn't quite donate as much as we thought we did. Having said that, a fair portion of our dining out expenses was providing food for people who volunteered to help us out (including micro500 and Tompa, and we also ate with Zoast and Vulajin with shared bills), so if people are willing to be generous and allow us to allocate ~$100 of our overage in dining out as giving we're fairly close to where we would want to be. I'm overall happy with how our budget turned out for this year, but I hope this goes to show you what kind of costs to expect if you want to attend an AGDQ of your own. Please feel free to ask any questions you have about the data here or our experiences. Once again, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who donated - it wouldn't have been possible to do this without you!

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 1/27/2015 2:14 AM

Post subject: Replacement movie requested

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dwangoAC

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Hold on here, something is off with the submitted movie - I watched Spikestuff's controller button encode and the frame count implies the movie doesn't end until well after the helicopter picks me up, even though it's supposed to truncate input as soon as enough frames have passed to get him to raise his hand up. It's a substantial amount of time, too... I'll post a file in userstorage and ask for a substitution. It won't have any impact on the rest of the run. You'll see in the controller button encode that there are multiple buttons with the same number - it's kind of hard to keep straight, but effectively there are two controller buttons named 2, two named 4, etc. You'll see at brief moments when a whole lot of buttons are being pressed at the same time - this is to either move sideways, either to avoid an obstacle or to manipulate luck, and it happens fairly often. Edit: I've requested that the movie be replaced with this one: http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/20389755674972373

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 1/27/2015 1:58 AM

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dwangoAC

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Some clarifications: I choose left and manipulate the helicopter into a flight pattern that it will eventually reach me, *long* after I've ended input. Left vs. right will make no difference to when input is ended, in other words. It mattered more in the earlier buildings where I needed the helicopter to reach me as soon as possible, but it always, always takes at least one "hop" before it comes low enough for you to reach it. Also, in case anyone is curious, the balloon takes you up 10 levels but I out-climb it, or to rephrase, the only way I'd be able to reach the balloon would be to slow down which would obviously not help. Getting hit: That happens a couple of times in the run, with the most noticeable being in the first level where a plant bumps off. It slows you down, so I only did it when not doing so would have caused a window to close above me completely. More time is spent trying to manipulate windows into not closing than almost anything else, it's very annoying. FWIW, Spikestuff posted an encode with controller input so you can see the crazy button names now. It's some bizarre combinations...

I was laid off in May 2023 and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as I work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD. I'm dwangoAC, part of the senior staff of TASVideos as the Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.