Topic by dwangoAC

Posted: 9/9/2014 7:52 AM
(Edited: 1/14/2015 4:08 PM)

Post subject: TASVideos preparation for AGDQ 2015

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dwangoAC

Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (908)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014

TL;DR: I am organizing development efforts for TASVideos running games at AGDQ 2015 and I'll be using this thread to manage resources and post project updates. If you can help, consider volunteering to fill one of the unfilled roles listed below and I'll gift you a game from this list! I am serving as the project manager for TASVideos participation at AGDQ 2015. AGDQ is a fundraiser for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and in last year's ~45 minute TAS block and bonus stream that I helped organize we were able to raise more than $12K toward cancer prevention research. My goal is to more than double that amount for this year's marathon to hit $25k and to that end I previously started a potential participation thread, created a pitch video, and submitted our best ideas for consideration. Three ideas were accepted by Mike, the AGDQ organizer - a Playaround TAS, a MK64 modified course TAS, and a Total Control TAS. This thread will organize our development work on these projects between now and January 4th when the marathon starts (internally, I'd like to have all "framework" development complete by 2014-12-09 and all "payload" development complete by 2014-12-31). Here are the roles I am committed to serving in this year:

Project manager - serving as the "glue" keeping preparation work on track
@MrTASBot updater - generating hype through Twitter posts and interaction with @GDQMonitor's 4k followers
PR - serving as the press/media contact for TASVideos involvement at AGDQ 2015
Engineer - helping build whatever is needed, be it hardware or software
Console verification tester - ensuring runs/payloads sync using true's replay board
Hardware provider - transporting equipment to AGDQ and caring for it on-site
AGDQ 2015 attendee playaround TAS presenter
AGDQ 2015 attendee total control TAS presenter

Here are the things that need resources assigned in bold, updated as people volunteer:

Raffle prize manager: Resource needed!
Donation incentives creative genius: Resource needed!
MK64 run console bot development: micro500
MK64 run creation: Weatherton
MK64 race presenter: Weatherton
Family Feud TAS creation (in lsnes): TASEditor
Researcher of Twitch memes who can advise the Family Feud TAS'er: Resource needed!
SNES reset switch solenoid development: Resource needed!
Pokemon game internals expert: ais523, additional resource needed!
Pokemon Red or Yellow TAS'er: Resource needed!
SNES emulator coder to improve lsnes SGB support: Resource needed!
SNES payload creator: Masterjun
AGDQ 2015 attendee total control TAS technical couch commentator: I can probably do this myself but an additional resource on the couch would be helpful

I'll be making posts for individual topics referenced above over the coming days and I'll be editing this first post heavily as we march toward the marathon to keep it relevant. I'm always in #tasvideos on IRC and a lot of up-to-the-moment discussion will likely be happening there. Lastly, there is no way I can say thank you enough to all of the people who have contributed their time and effort to these projects. I have been extremely humbled by the support I've received to have my wife and I attend AGDQ 2015 and present for TASVideos again. This effort is not about me; this is about raising money for cancer research, which is something I care deeply about after losing a number of family members to cancer over the years. My trip this year would not have been possible without donations from fellow TASVideos members, for which I am extremely grateful. All donors and all volunteers who assist with a role listed above are welcome to pick any game from this list and I'll gift it to them. Thanks!

I was laid off in May 2023 and became too ill to work this year and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD is stalled. I'm dwangoAC, TASVideos Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; when healthy, I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 9/9/2014 5:38 PM

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ais523

Editor, Player (44)

Joined: 7/11/2010
Posts: 1029

I'm not really an expert on Pokémon internals, more of an amateur. I'll try to help, nonetheless, but someone more competent would be useful.

Posted: 9/9/2014 6:43 PM

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got4n

Experienced player (589)

Joined: 2/5/2011
Posts: 1417
Location: France

I hope I could help anywhere, but I can't in any categories :/

Current: Rayman 3 maybe? idk xD Paused: N64 Rayman 2 (with Funnyhair) GBA SMA 4 : E Reader (With TehSeven) TASVideos is like a quicksand, you get in, but you cannot quit the sand

Posted: 9/9/2014 9:46 PM

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Qlex

He/Him

Joined: 2/25/2006
Posts: 193
Location: Available

If no one wants to get there, then I imagine I could help with the total control commentary, or the twitch memes advisor!

Posted: 9/9/2014 10:04 PM

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TASeditor

Editor, Skilled player (1537)

Joined: 7/9/2010
Posts: 1319

The twitch meme adviser doesn't need to a specific person. Anyone can PM me phrases that twitch viewers are keep saying over and over (things like: My chat experience Biblethumb), I don't really watch twitch, so I am kinda out of touch with them.

Favorite animal: STOCK Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1.1(rtTA,EGFP)Nagy Grm7Tg(SMN2)89Ahmb Smn1tm1Msd Tg(SMN2*delta7)4299Ahmb Tg(tetO-SMN2,-luc)#aAhmb/J YouTube Twitch

Posted: 9/9/2014 10:08 PM

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Derakon

Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960

Would an Amazon gift card be helpful? Good luck with the project!

Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.

Posted: 9/9/2014 10:10 PM

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dwangoAC

Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (908)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014

TASeditor wrote:

The twitch meme adviser doesn't need to a specific person. Anyone can PM me phrases that twitch viewers are keep saying over and over (things like: My chat experience Biblethumb), I don't really watch twitch, so I am kinda out of touch with them.

That was exactly my problem; I have no idea what the current memes are because I don't participate in Twitch chats. I think that's a really sane way to handle it, so I'll update the first post. BTW, please skip the bullseye run to make the game a bit shorter, and if you like, consider entering a returning champ code to give you $75,000 to start with. Up to you. Thanks for taking this on! ...I'm very behind on updating the first post with links but it's on my to-do list. I'll get to it as soon as I can.

I was laid off in May 2023 and became too ill to work this year and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD is stalled. I'm dwangoAC, TASVideos Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; when healthy, I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 9/9/2014 10:11 PM

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dwangoAC

Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (908)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014

Derakon wrote:

Would an Amazon gift card be helpful? Good luck with the project!

Yes, please! Thanks! I need to buy Pokemon Red among other things and that's the most likely place I'll be sourcing it from. I greatly appreciate it.

I was laid off in May 2023 and became too ill to work this year and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD is stalled. I'm dwangoAC, TASVideos Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; when healthy, I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 9/10/2014 1:31 AM

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Inzult

Active player (436)

Joined: 9/27/2004
Posts: 650
Location: Canada

dwango, i'll be attending again this year, and though i don't particularly have anything to say about family feud or pokemon, i'd be happy to help with setup/teardown, toting cables, or whatever other onsite help you might need.

Posted: 9/10/2014 9:24 AM

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TASeditor

Editor, Skilled player (1537)

Joined: 7/9/2010
Posts: 1319

dwangoAC wrote:

That was exactly my problem; I have no idea what the current memes are because I don't participate in Twitch chats.

That doesn't matter. Personally I think I can create a lot of new memes with that TAS :-)

Favorite animal: STOCK Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1.1(rtTA,EGFP)Nagy Grm7Tg(SMN2)89Ahmb Smn1tm1Msd Tg(SMN2*delta7)4299Ahmb Tg(tetO-SMN2,-luc)#aAhmb/J YouTube Twitch

Posted: 9/12/2014 6:22 AM

Post subject: Total Control TAS at AGDQ 2015

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dwangoAC

Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (908)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014

I'm going to use this post to describe the total control TAS at AGDQ 2015 and I'll update this post if the plan we're going for changes and to update the status. I'm somewhat burying this post for two reasons: - I don't want to ruin any surprises needlessly - The first post was really long already :) Unlike last year, I want to make sure that all discussion takes place more or less in the open where everyone can see what we're up to, with the exception of the final "payload". What happened for AGDQ 2014 is that a lot of discussion and testing was overly secretive which made it difficult for people who could have helped to contribute. This time, I'd like to be mostly out in the open about what's going to happen (although more or less posting details only here in the forums or on IRC). The plan: We want to top last year's total control, which is a tall order and truthfully isn't something we can keep doing every year but is still worth attempting. The plan for AGDQ 2015 is to use a SGB and break out of a Pokemon game (either Yellow or Red at this time), use total control of the Game Boy environment to then take total control over the Super Game Boy environment and subsequently take total control of the SNES itself to run a final payload (which *will* remain under wraps other than a generic testing payload). The result is effectively a triple total control coup. To execute this plan, we need to get resources for working on SGB emulation accuracy, taking total control of a Game Boy game as quickly as possible, writing a payload to break out of the SGB environment, and crafting the SNES payload. I am already in contact with Nach about SGB capabilities and he has provided me with some useful notes that should come in handy but we'll definitely need a lot of help for this. If there's something you can contribute, please post in this thread. Thanks!

I was laid off in May 2023 and became too ill to work this year and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD is stalled. I'm dwangoAC, TASVideos Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; when healthy, I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 9/12/2014 1:04 PM

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Warp

Banned User

Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland

Out of curiosity: The TAS will be run like in the previous AGDQ, ie. simply using a device connected to the game controller port of the console? How does this work for the gameboy? (I didn't know we had a gameboy-capable tasbot.) Or does this work through an SNES somehow?

Posted: 9/12/2014 1:06 PM

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Nach

Emulator Coder

Joined: 3/9/2004
Posts: 4588
Location: In his lab studying psychology to find new ways to torture TASers and forumers

Warp wrote:

Out of curiosity: The TAS will be run like in the previous AGDQ, ie. simply using a device connected to the game controller port of the console? How does this work for the gameboy? (I didn't know we had a gameboy-capable tasbot.) Or does this work through an SNES somehow?

He said he wants to use an SGB, which means it'll be via the SNES.

Warning: Opinions expressed by Nach or others in this post do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or position of Nach himself on the matter(s) being discussed therein.

Posted: 9/12/2014 6:35 PM

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thatguy

Editor

Joined: 11/3/2013
Posts: 506

Is this triple payload thing going to be any more visually impressive or is it just going to be more technically complicated? Technical complications for the hell of it seem a tad pointless..

Posted: 9/12/2014 8:21 PM

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dwangoAC

Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (908)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014

thatguy wrote:

Is this triple payload thing going to be any more visually impressive or is it just going to be more technically complicated? Technical complications for the hell of it seem a tad pointless..

My hope is that we'll be able to demonstrate total control at each level (although the lines between just GB control and SGB control might be a bit blurred; it'll be helpful if we can delineate the content in some way). The hope is that the SNES payload can be more elaborate than last year's.

I was laid off in May 2023 and became too ill to work this year and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD is stalled. I'm dwangoAC, TASVideos Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; when healthy, I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 9/12/2014 9:43 PM

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Warp

Banned User

Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland

Please insert a rickroll somewhere in there. That ought to elicit some laughter.

Posted: 9/13/2014 4:08 AM

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Zanoab

Joined: 12/31/2009
Posts: 174

I did some research on Family Feud and came up with some results I haven't found online (yet).

All the questions and answers are encoded in ascii. Using the second image as a reference:

Red boxes contain the question. I believe the first copy is used as a buffer for displaying the text.
Blue boxes contain the inputted answers. The first is the answer the computer will submit and the second is a buffer for the player's answer.
Green box contains the point value to display for each answer. Fixed size of two digits (or chars) each.
Black box contains the answers. Rules for parsing and reading below.

Here are the rules I figured out so far and have confirmed:

\x00 terminates the answer.
'\' terminates a possible answer (player can match the preceding or the following answer).
' ' (space) are mandatory spaces.
';' (semi-colon) are treated as optional spaces.
Upper-case letters (ABC) are mandatory except for special exceptions.
Lower-case letters (abc) are optional.
Consecutive identical letters (AA) may be omitted.

If anybody can dump all the strings (questions, answers, etc), it would make planning a lot easier. The questions and answers don't need to be paired, I can manually sort them if necessary.

Posted: 9/13/2014 4:36 AM

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feos

Site Admin, Skilled player (1255)

Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11495
Location: Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Warp wrote:

Please insert a rickroll somewhere in there. That ought to elicit some laughter.

I keep seconding this.

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.

Posted: 9/13/2014 5:00 AM

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dwangoAC

Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (908)

Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014

Zanoab wrote:

I did some research on Family Feud and came up with some results I haven't found online (yet). ~snip~ If anybody can dump all the strings (questions, answers, etc), it would make planning a lot easier. The questions and answers don't need to be paired, I can manually sort them if necessary.

Fantastic work! I created a Family Feud game resources page with this information. I'm not sure about your questions, though - hopefully someone reading this can help with that.

I was laid off in May 2023 and became too ill to work this year and could use support via Patreon or onetime donations as work on TASBot Re: and TASBot HD is stalled. I'm dwangoAC, TASVideos Senior Ambassador and BDFL of the TASBot community; when healthy, I post TAS content on YouTube.com/dwangoAC based on livestreams from Twitch.tv/dwangoAC.

Posted: 9/13/2014 3:47 PM

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TASeditor

Editor, Skilled player (1537)

Joined: 7/9/2010
Posts: 1319

Zanoab, dwangoAC here's hopefully a list with all answers: http://pkhack.fobby.net/misc/txt/familyfeud_textdump.txt Should include all the rules Zanoab mentioned

Favorite animal: STOCK Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1.1(rtTA,EGFP)Nagy Grm7Tg(SMN2)89Ahmb Smn1tm1Msd Tg(SMN2*delta7)4299Ahmb Tg(tetO-SMN2,-luc)#aAhmb/J YouTube Twitch

Posted: 9/13/2014 6:48 PM

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Zanoab

Joined: 12/31/2009
Posts: 174

TASeditor wrote:

Zanoab, dwangoAC here's hopefully a list with all answers: http://pkhack.fobby.net/misc/txt/familyfeud_textdump.txt Should include all the rules Zanoab mentioned

Great job, I started writing a script to convert it all into a more program friendly format. An odd think I noticed is that my script picked up 1,536 questions instead of 1,480 (or 1,976) mentioned by the faq. I guess it is possible a human could only encounter so many.

Posted: 9/14/2014 11:55 AM
(Edited: 9/14/2014 3:31 PM)

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Weatherton

Experienced player (608)

Joined: 10/23/2004
Posts: 706

TASeditor wrote:

http://pkhack.fobby.net/misc/txt/familyfeud_textdump.txt

NAME SOMETHING YOU PUT IN A BASKET - Rick Rolls. NAME A KIND OF ROLLER - Rick Rolling pin. NAME SOMETHING YOU'D FIND INSIDE A HAUNTED HOUSE - TWITCH chat NAME SOMETHING THAT SUPERSTITIOUS PEOPLE THINK BRINGS GOOD LUCK - RNG (knock on wood) NAME A USE FOR COMMON TABLE SALT, BESIDES AS A SEASONING - Luck manipulation NAME SOMETHING A COUPLE SHOULD AGREE ON BEFORE THEY GET MARRIED - The fastest way to defeat the final boss of Mega Man NAME A SIGN NO ONE SEEMS TO OBEY - No speedrunning NAME SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE DO AT THE SAME TIME EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES - Eat, Sleep and Speedrun NAME SOMETHING THAT GENERALLY HAS STRINGS ATTACHED TO IT - Banjo-Kazooie NAME SOMETHING FATHERS BUY FOR THEIR KIDS BUT PLAY WITH THEMSELVES - Nintendo games, but we speedrun them to beat cancer. NAME A LAW MANY PEOPLE BREAK - Sequences requirements in speedruns NAME SOMETHING YOU WOULD DO IF YOU FOUND A BURGLAR IN YOUR HOME - Speedrun NAME SOMETHING THAT CAN GIVE YOU BLISTERS - Speedrunning NAME AN ACTIVITY THAT BURNS A LOT OF CALORIES - Speedrunning NAME SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU COULD DO FASTER - Speedrun Metroid WHAT ONE THING PROVIDES THE BEST PROTECTION FOR YOUR HOME? - Soft locks NAME SOMETHING YOU MIGHT JOT DOWN ON A SCRAP OF PAPER - Memory addresses NAME SOMETHING MOST MEN CAN'T RESIST STOPPING TO TAKE A LOOK AT - Tool Assisted Speedruns NAME SOMETHING ASSOCIATED WITH A TURTLE - Slow and steady loses the speedrun NAME SOMETHING A WOMAN DOES WHEN SHE'S ANGRY - Break world records

Current Project: - Mario Kart 64

Posted: 9/14/2014 3:00 PM

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TASeditor

Editor, Skilled player (1537)

Joined: 7/9/2010
Posts: 1319

Zanoab wrote:

Great job

In case you're confused: I didn't make this.

Favorite animal: STOCK Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1.1(rtTA,EGFP)Nagy Grm7Tg(SMN2)89Ahmb Smn1tm1Msd Tg(SMN2*delta7)4299Ahmb Tg(tetO-SMN2,-luc)#aAhmb/J YouTube Twitch

Posted: 9/14/2014 3:32 PM

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Weatherton

Experienced player (608)

Joined: 10/23/2004
Posts: 706

Zanoab wrote:

An odd think I noticed is that my script picked up 1,536 questions instead of 1,480 (or 1,976) mentioned by the faq. I guess it is possible a human could only encounter so many.

I noticed that some questions are duplicates with slightly different answer sets. Maybe that's the difference?

Current Project: - Mario Kart 64

Posted: 9/14/2014 5:26 PM

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Warp

Banned User

Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland

When making the TAS, take into account that the viewers should be able to read all the text, so it should be slow enough. (Might feel contrary to speedrunning, but hey, it's done for the humor value...) Also, would it be something with live commentary?

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