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THE GLITCH USED IN THIS RUN REQUIRES A SAVEFILE WITH AN ALREADY-COMPLETE FILE ON ONE OF THE OTHER TWO FILES - DOWNLOAD THE SAVESTATE FOR THE RUN (place in same location as m64) AS WELL AS THIS COMPLETE SAVEFILE (place in mupen64 folder's "save" folder) OR THE RUN CAN'T BE PLAYED BACK ON MUPEN. FILES CAN BE GOTTEN HERE: https://files.tasvideos.org/common/SubmissionFiles/3831S/dkr-requiredfiles.zip

Emulator Information

Emulator: Mupen64 0.5
Plugins: Jabo 1.6 (video), TAS Input Plugin (input), Jabo 1.6 (audio), RSP (RSP)
For input, make sure that controller 2 is set to "active".

Run Information

This run beats Diddy Kong Racing by abusing a "wrong warp" glitch. It finishes the game in 2-player mode, after creating the file which will be finished in 1-player mode.
The desired effect is only possible on the 1.1 release of the USA version of the game. 1.0 and the Japanese version both crash when trying to do this.
The glitch happens because the game draws certain things from the tracks mode section of the game, such as the fact that Future Fun Land is open (and this is the case because a file on the cart has already been to FFL once), and using the wrong warp, transfers them over to the fresh file that's created at the start of the run. It's done by creating the new file, exiting it, starting up 2P mode, and going to Hot Top Volcano, where an out-of-bounds glitch can be used to reach a small loading zone by the finishing line which warps the player to the main arena, which normally is never accessible in 2P mode.
The out-of-bounds glitch is done by doing a barrel roll with a speed boost at certain parts of the lava. Once OoB, it's just a matter of locating the small loading zone.
At this point in the run, it's actually faster to play as player 2 to get to Future Fun Land, because he spawns closer to it than player 1 does. Inside the FFL lobby, player 1 is in a better spot. Since you're never meant to have a plane in here, the top of the door wasn't programmed in, meaning we can simply fly over it. The reason I grind very slightly against the right side of the door is because the loading zone for the race can be touched quicker from there.
The race itself has a long cutscene at the start because the game is in 2P mode, which looks like a softlock but isn't. Once the race starts, another out-of-bounds glitch is used to beat the level really quickly, at which point the game is over and the credits roll.
Drumstick is chosen over T.T. because he's faster than T.T. in the plane.

Additional Notes

This run starts from a savefile. It's the only way to do this kind of run, which could be considered "newgame+" or "glitched" or a combination of both. As it requires a completed file to do, it's also acceptable to have Drumstick and T.T. unlocked, which is handy because they're the fastest racers in the game. This is an acceptable category in the DKR speedrunning community due to the fact that the unlocked characters are part of the cart's saves, and not the individual files' saves.
With many thanks to Toufool31, Fasch, Stacy, 0xwas, and malkieriking for critiquing my WIPs and helping to break this game to the point it's at today.

Nahoc: Will judge...
Nahoc: Delaying until author or someone else provides a verification movie.
Nahoc: This is a great TAS, well-planned and optimized. Sadly, its situation ressembles the Stafy run. This game doesn't really deserve a NG+ category. All this TAS does (mainly according to ais523's post) is take the information of a secondary completed file and glitch to the final boss, which is cool, but doesn't warrant publication (not in the vault or moon tier). There is also the fact that the author didn't provide a verification movie, which goes against the publication rules and doesn't help judging the authenticity of this run.
I am looking forward to a new any% TAS of this game if you ever make one, though. Thanks for the submission!


Active player (426)
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 1047
Location: California
Since people can decide to vote no due to game choice, I'm voting yes because of it. I found this TAS entertaining simply for the fact that DKR is a game I grew up with and still play with friends. It wasn't the most entertaining TAS from a "what visually happens" standpoint (as if half the movies on here are, lol...even Super Mario Bros. isn't immune), but I also feel that the attraction of the run to the public that views TASes (not TASVideos) is immense for Blockbuster games AND [short/3D] runs such as this. So why not spread the TASing love for other people to see and enjoy? Or is that not the goal of publishing TASes anymore? Whether you specifically liked the run or not, I can't see a reason not to publish it considering people would obviously watch this and appreciate it if it was published. Thanks for the run, Swordless!!
Noxxa
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LightningWar91 wrote:
It is Tracks mode, and not the first file, that allows the run to be so fast.
If so, would it be possible to erase the save data of the first file, and then still do the same thing this run did? If that's possible, then a run like this, starting from SRAM with save files cleared, would save much of the current controversy about this TAS. (I know of at least one instance where a run starts from SRAM that has all save games wiped).
http://www.youtube.com/Noxxa <dwangoAC> This is a TAS (...). Not suitable for all audiences. May cause undesirable side-effects. May contain emulator abuse. Emulator may be abusive. This product contains glitches known to the state of California to cause egg defects. <Masterjun> I'm just a guy arranging bits in a sequence which could potentially amuse other people looking at these bits <adelikat> In Oregon Trail, I sacrificed my own family to save time. In Star trek, I killed helpless comrades in escape pods to save time. Here, I kill my allies to save time. I think I need help.
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LightningWar91 wrote:
I disagree. The first file is there completed only to unlock Tracks mode, in the same way any game with an intended Newgame+ has the first file completed to enable the NG+. It is Tracks mode, and not the first file, that allows the run to be so fast.
In my run, I use the first file as a point where upon glitching the game, it loads me up to where I last save; which if you saw the current Starfy run, it right before I do the last hit. It is not because of the first file; I could've completed all that up to the point where I do the last hit on the SECOND file on a separate verification movie, then use the first file as a new game instead.
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Mothrayas wrote:
LightningWar91 wrote:
It is Tracks mode, and not the first file, that allows the run to be so fast.
If so, would it be possible to erase the save data of the first file, and then still do the same thing this run did? If that's possible, then a run like this, starting from SRAM with save files cleared, would save much of the current controversy about this TAS. (I know of at least one instance where a run starts from SRAM that has all save games wiped).
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/3991398689112677 Here's proof that the Starfy run's first/second file can be cleared and still have the glitch work. Edit: So yea, the first file can be gone for all I care. I just needed to unlock the last boss.
ALAKTORN
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jlun2 wrote:
http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/3991398689112677 Here's proof that the Starfy run's first file can be cleared and still have the glitch work. Edit: So yea, the first file can be gone for all I care. I just needed to unlock the last boss.
you still haven’t explained what the fuck is going on in that movie… I doubt anybody’s understood it
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ALAKTORN wrote:
you still haven’t explained what the fuck is going on in that movie… I doubt anybody’s understood it
Let ais523 explain it:
ais523 wrote:
The conclusion here is that this submission is, if considered as a speedrun, lying about its time. It doesn't complete Diddy Kong Racing in less than 5 minutes; it takes an already-completed save file, and copies across information from it via glitch, leading to a game that's completed.
Just replace "Diddy Kong Racing" with "Densetsu no Stafy" and there we go. Edit: In the "proof.vbm", even though I cleared the save file, the game still has the fact that I've been to the last boss before in memory. Which means as long as the last place I've pressed "Start" was at the last boss, this glitch will work.
Post subject: Watched without reading, Yes for entertainment, No for rules
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I'd like to interrupt this conversation with a hopefully unbiased and fresh perspective. Last night I sat down and watched this TAS without having read any of the discussion around it. That means that at the time I watched it, I was unaware of any of the newgame+ controversies and oblivious to any hint that the run violated the rules. Based on my reaction after watching the run I firmly support a Yes vote for this run being entertaining. Stepping away from the rules for a bit, this run breaks the game in some very entertaining ways and is worth watching. Today, I sat down and read through all of the comments. Many of the comments in this thread have been very unhelpful to potential viewers of the run as well as to the judges. I know there is a lot of emotional investment by certain individuals and groups but I agree with others who have posted that the bickering has not been particularly helpful. After sifting out the chaff comments the core issue appears to be that there is concern over the fact that the "dkr-glitched-swordlesslink.st" file included in the submission is a savestate and not itself an input file that has been "verified". Swordless Link has subsequently posted in the thread after this issue was brought up, but he has not yet responded about that issue. For Swordless Link: Why did you omit the input file in your submission? This is an honest question, not an accusation. For the judges (Nahoc, in particular, as he claimed judging this run): What does Swordless Link need to do specifically? Should Swordless Link simply add the input file to the submission or is something else required, such as having someone else verify the input file meets some criteria? Swordless Link, thanks for the entertaining run! Nach, thanks for being a fair judge! I look forward to reading your responses. A.C. ******
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.
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The reason I didn't provide the other movie file is because I didn't feel like making one when I can easily just grab a savefile that's already available that has the necessary criteria for the run already met. It's just a waste of my time and I doubt it'd be rejected for that, anyway, especially since Nahoc knows this game well and has already stated in IRC that he knows the savefile is legit.
Post subject: Thanks for the reply!
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Swordless Link wrote:
...It's just a waste of my time and I doubt it'd be rejected for that, anyway, especially since Nahoc knows this game well and has already stated in IRC that he knows the savefile is legit.
Thanks for the response. My take is that while Nahoc may know this savefile is legit, if I'm parsing the rules correctly there does appear to be a requirement that a newgame+ run must include the original input that was used to reach that state. If you choose not to take care of this requirement you might unwittingly force a judge into a rejection decision they wouldn't otherwise have made. I wouldn't consider that a waste of time. :) Just my $0.02. A.C. ******
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.
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It is a waste of time cause I'd have to play every course on the game at least 5 times. Never gonna happen. Nahoc knows it's legit, so I doubt he'd reject over that. Also, adelikat said in IRC yesterday that he didn't even know this was a requirement, and that if he wrote it himself, he wouldn't have made it one.
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Swordless Link wrote:
It is a waste of time cause I'd have to play every course on the game at least 5 times. Never gonna happen. Nahoc knows it's legit, so I doubt he'd reject over that. Also, adelikat said in IRC yesterday that he didn't even know this was a requirement, and that if he wrote it himself, he wouldn't have made it one.
I thought the rule is to prevent people from tampering with the savefile to get access to stuff you can't normally do even with glitches.
Guga
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Jesus Christ, not even 24 hours and the thread gets 5 pages full of bashing and shit. (By the way, I haven't voted yet because my Internet at the moment is really bad and I can't watch the thing on YouTube.)
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Joined: 3/20/2008
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No, the problem with using savestates is that you can make unnoticeable changes to the game by messing with the game's memory. Not that I think it's likely, but without a verification movie, the savestate could have been hacked to make T.T 1% faster, or change hot top volcano's hitboxes, or any number of things. Conversely, with the verification movie, as long as the movie syncs you can be 100% sure there wasn't any form of ROM tampering involved. I think the site rules make this pretty clear.
We do not allow save-anchored movies. We want a standard starting point for movies (power-on). Saves introduce an infinite amount of possible variation that may cause the game to behave differently compared to starting from power-on. They can also can be hacked, allowing nearly transparent cheating. However, there are certain games with unlockable modes, second quests, or other things of interest that can only be accessed if a save file (or an otherwise "dirty" SRAM) is present. If you really wish to submit a movie made on such a mode, you will need a verification movie made and provided alongside it. Any input file that starts from power-on (for example, a previously submitted movie for that game) and creates the exact circumstances for your submission to sync will generally do.
I wouldn't change my vote over this (voted yes earlier) since I've seen glitched any% streamed on realtime and highly doubt the save Swordless used was tampered with (intentionally or not). But this should never happen again and is setting a really bad precedent if the site stops caring about verification movies.
The reason I didn't provide the other movie file is because I didn't feel like making one when I can easily just grab a savefile that's already available that has the necessary criteria for the run already met. It's just a waste of my time and I doubt it'd be rejected for that, anyway, especially since Nahoc knows this game well and has already stated in IRC that he knows the savefile is legit.
Then again, the arrogance, it burns!
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ITT: People making an ass of themselves online.
Joined: 11/24/2012
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Why are people making such a big deal about a run, seriously ? SwordlessLink is a well-known TASer, what would be the point in cheating ? Concerning the run, it was... Surprising to say the least. Kinda boring though, so voting meh.
MarbleousDave
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To make a verification movie, just use the saved game from an existing TAS, go to Adventure mode to unlock Drumstick, then to tracks mode to unlock T.T.
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Osha wrote:
SwordlessLink is a well-known TASer, what would be the point in cheating ?
Being famous has nothing to do with whether or not he could've cheated. Edit: Also, you kinda imply if you're famous, you're above the rules.
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I'm kinda not implying anything, I was just saying.
Sir_VG
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Osha wrote:
Why are people making such a big deal about a run, seriously ? SwordlessLink is a well-known TASer, what would be the point in cheating ? Concerning the run, it was... Surprising to say the least. Kinda boring though, so voting meh.
TSA was a well known speedrunner and look what happened there... In case you're not in the know, several of his speedruns, including some of his famous OOT runs were video hacks and thus cheated.
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
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Xkeeper thinks this argument is dumb. You should listen to him. We can work on the part where he thinks this whole site is shit gradually. Baby steps.
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kode54 wrote:
Xkeeper thinks this argument is dumb. You should listen to him.
What's dumb is to hold silly grudges long after someone left the site. It seems to me that if the judges say there's reason to believe that the save state is legit, we can omit the requirement for a verification movie. But it would be nice to then use this opportunity to modify the rules to reflect this. Still, I'd recommend adding that people who want to omit a verification movie need to ask a judge if they can do so first.
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Dada wrote:
It seems to me that if the judges say there's reason to believe that the save state is legit, we can omit the requirement for a verification movie. But it would be nice to then use this opportunity to modify the rules to reflect this. Still, I'd recommend adding that people who want to omit a verification movie need to ask a judge if they can do so first.
Judges can make mistakes (I'm not saying this is the case; I'm talking about this run that got accepted.)
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Sir VG wrote:
TSA was a well known speedrunner and look what happened there... In case you're not in the know, several of his speedruns, including some of his famous OOT runs were video hacks and thus cheated.
I wasn't aware indeed. I can understand the reactions.
Joined: 7/10/2008
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Yes vote. Both sides have made very good points, so I am not basing the decision on either side. I played this as a kid and can respect the game as a whole. Seeing it broken like this was a nice surprise! I was entertained while watching the movie. That is what matters to me
i see...
Dwedit
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I see absolutely no problem with this movie once there's a verification movie that can produce the necessary save file.