Double posting to separate these two ideas.
I made a rough script for the introduction to TASes video. When I timed it reading out loud, it came to 3:40 so there's lots of wiggle room as well as opportunities to show examples in video.
Let me know what you think.
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Hello, and welcome to the tasvideos youtube channel. In this series of videos, we will be giving you an overview of the process that goes into producing some of the other videos you see in this channel as well as on the tasvideos website. By the end of the series, you should have enough information to be able to make a publishable movie for yourself. Before we get started, though we must answer a simple question.
What is a TAS?
Simply put, a TAS, or Tool Assisted Speedrun, is a movie where the author has used certain tools on an emulator to surpass human limitations. The most common of these tools are slow down and frame advance, which slow down the game to allow for better reaction times, and savestates, which allow the author to return to a previous point in the game. The goal of TASes is to entertain the viewers. Speed of completion is just one part of that entertainment.
Makers of TASes are often referred to as "authors" rather than "players" or "runners." This is because making a TAS is more akin to writing than it is to performing. TASes involve going back and editing the end result, something which can't be done in performance. TASes are also a much slower process. The typical TAs will take weeks to months to produce, depending on the length of the run and the complexity of the game. On the far extreme are TASes that took over a year of work.
One thing TASes don't do is alter the programming of the game. Game Genies, debugs, and cheat codes are not allowed since they alter the way a game operates. Part of the entertainment is knowing that what happens on screen is possible to do on an actual console, even if it's highly unlikely that anyone would be able to produce exactly what is seen in real time.
There are a few misconceptions about TASes that need to be cleared up before we continue. The first is that TASes are cheating or are somehow cheated. Our response to that is "by whose rules?"
There are many people out there that have very strong feelings about how a game "should" or "ought" to be played. However, there is no great agreement on where that line is drawn. Some people say that they must be played on a console. Some allow turbo, some don't. Some allow for certain techniques; some believe those same techniques are cheap and shouldn't be used.
That's not to say that TASers don't have their own set of rules. The rules for a TAS are very clear, and the main rule maker is the code of the game itself. To put it another way: if the game allows you to perform a certain action, then that action is allowed. This removes subjectiveness from the equation for what is and isn't okay. Everything that's done in a TAS follows the rules as set up by the game itself.
Now just because certain actions can be performed doesn't mean they have to. Many authors on the site have made runs which avoid using a certain action. This could be anywhere from avoiding certain glitches, to not killing anything, to not using certain normal abilities. Oftentimes, if these secondary goals are clear and make different enough movies, they are accepted as well.
Another misconception is that TASers are unskilled, or that you don't need skill to make a TAS. While abilities such as finger dexterity and reaction time are less necessary in TAS making, that doesn't mean that people who make TASes do not have skills.
The three skills that are valued most in TAS making are creativity, patience, and attention to detail. Creativity is necessary not just because unexpected and flashy actions make for more entertaining movies, but also because often the best solution to a problem is not the most obvious solution. Patience is valued because of the time it takes to create a good TAS. Attention to detail allows the author to notice ideas and shortcuts that might be missed. Also this is to make sure that the movie really is fast as possible as well as smooth in terms of movement. As with any skills, these skills can be trained, honed and improved upon with practice.
Hopefully this video helped you to understand a little about the characteristics and philosophies of TASing. In the next video we will introduce you to emulation and cover the basic tools used to make these movies. See you then.
