Post subject: GDQx TwitchCon 2018 TAS content discussion thread
Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (907)
Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014
New this year from the Games Done Quick folks is an event called GDQ Express, or GDQx for short. The GDQx series is for smaller events that are shorter in length throughout the year. The first event will be held at TwitchCon 2018 in San Jose, CA on October 26th and 27th. I happen to liv within easy driving distance and similar to Calithon I plan to drive down for the day (or perhaps stay overnight if there's a good reason to but it's about an hour and a half drive on a weekend). To that end I'm making some game submissions as I've discussed on http://Discord.TASBot.net and on my streams at http://Twitch.tv/dwangoAC (with a smattering of chat in #tasbot on Freenode IRC). There were two main pieces of feedback I received from SGDQ 2018 that influenced me for this first GDQx event - the first was from staff in that we went way over length (an accurate assessment) and the second was an odd mixture of primarily extremely positive and occasionally lukewarm responses to some of the content. What negative feedback we had wasn't even consistent about the same things and amounted to personal preference. Some folks from the infosec community were really interested in the GBA driving a Gamecube but said they got bored of Celeste quickly while other feedback on outlets like YouTube were upset because there was something other than plain TAS playback presented. I saw different negative feedback on different sites and taken together there weren't any really broad strokes - most people felt we executed well for a summer event (keep in mind we usually do the more crazy stuff at AGDQ's) and in general there were only vague themes around content quality. The biggest factor I'm concerned about for GDQx isnt the content feedback from SGDQ 2018, it's actually the staff reaction to how far over time we ran. It was so bad that there was a hint that we probably wouldn't be able to even get a run in to GDQx because of the time estimate overrun. Based on that feedback I picked extremely safe content with very low techincal requirements, short length, and high entertainment value. I also made absolutely sure to include notes on setup time, if any. I present below the somewhat hastily colleted submissions we more or less agreed on: TASBot plays Super Mario 64 The first SM64 TAS was created by spezzafer in 2005 with advancements coming fast since then. The 16-star category would show the 2005 era run for the express purpose of showing how far strategies have come and could be shown as a race against an RTA runner with the TAS set to a delayed start. The 120 star run is likely to be improved before the event starts. The 1 key run has never been seen at a GDQ, at least not on a real N64. Please add 5 extra minutes to setup to account for pre/post times. 1-Key by several TAS authors - 00:04:21 SM64 as it existed in 2005 - 16-star by spezzafer - 00:16:26 120 stars by a massive number of talented authors - 01:20:41 N64 TASBot plays Item Abuse 3 by PangaeaPanga The YouTube reactions to this run include "What is this insanity?!", "The lack of responsibility in Panga's life has reached dangerous levels.", and "I can't wait to see how GDQ chat reacts." The TASBot crew couldn't agree more - just watch this run and you'll see for yourself. Unlike other TAS runs, this needs no additional setup time (seriously; not even any pre/post intro time). SMW is extremely reliable and there is time during the boo fight for final commentary. This is very GDQ safe. TASBot% - 00:07:57 SNES TASBot plays Pokemon Yellow This is the first time we've been able to verify Pokemon Yellow and the method is a treat to watch. This No Save Corruption run contains everything from extreme luck manipulation to bizarre items, reaching the Hall of Fame in an insanely fast time. Please add 5 minutes to setup for pre/post intro. This is a true console verification using a hardware unmodified Gamecube and Game Boy Player, with full technical details at http://tasvideos.org/6023S.html No Save Corruption any% by TiKevin83 - 00:11:47 GC Kaizo Mario World 3 This run was the highest voted run in a 2017 poll of runs TASBot can play. There are only a handful of humans who have ever beaten this game (unlike the humanly impossible Item Abuse 3 TAS which is also being submitted to GDQx). This run shows off SMW physics in a way that other runs do not and concludes with a unique boss fight. This is a very safe run which does not require any additional setup time, with all commentary fitting within the game's time itself. any% by ISM & Mister - 00:17:11 SNES TASBot plays Hyper Princess Pitch by Tseralith Most of Daniel Remar's freeware games include an impossibly hard joke difficulty like "ReallyJoel's Mom". In Hyper Princess Pitch the mode substantially multiplies enemy spawn rates, removes all power-ups, dramatically increases the firing rate of enemies that shoot, and allows more of them to do so. It makes SmashTV look like a Barney game. This run will require access to a stream PC and testing to ensure it functions correctly but otherwise should not require substantial pre-run setup time. Reallyjoel's Mom difficulty, best ending - 00:15:40 PC As you can see we've prioritized content that has been pitched in the past but was not accepted at the time and we've prioritized short runs with high value. There is no ACE here, unless you count Pokemon Yellow where said ACE is not part of the target game itself and is extremely safe. There's definitely no total control payload stuff going on. This is a small event and I'm treating it much like an HRDQ or a Calithon. My total time commitment if a run is accepted will be less than 8 hours the day of; in fact, simply deciding on and testing the submissions over the last week took far far more time than the marathon itself will take. As with the past two events I realize the TASVideos community has become weary of financially supporting me based on the massive drop-off of financial support that happened during AGDQ 2017 so I'm again covering all of my own expenses. For testing I borrowed a GBP and Pokemon Yellow so if that run is accepted I'll have some equipment expenses. I'll have some amount of travel costs, especially if I opt to stay overnight. I just got through SGDQ where I had a couple thousand dollars worth of expenses so I'm trying to keep new costs down. If for some reason you do feel compelled to help me offset costs I've set up https://donate.TASBot.net as a way to help offset those costs. Still, I'll gladly serve in my role as Site Ambassador on staff here even if it continues to cost me money out of my own pocket. This is a good site with an awesome community and it's worth supporting. Thanks everyone for the support!
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.
Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (907)
Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014
And all five submissions were accepted. That's a first. You read that correctly. The only categories that weren't accepted were the ones that I expected would not be accepted, which were the 120 star run and the oldest 16 star run of SM64, with the 1-Key run chosen for that game. So, who can help prepare commentary? I'm reminded of an ad from a decade ago or more where people are celebrating as new orders come in for a new product, then they stop celebrating as they realize that orders just keep coming and they don't have the resources to handle the volume. Frankly, I was expecting only Item Abuse 3 to get in with the rest of them being declined. This is a wonderful surprise but I'm going to need some help to not fail at commentary. Any volunteers?
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.
GoddessMaria
She/Her
Reviewer, Experienced player (867)
Joined: 5/29/2009
Posts: 518
Location: Hell...
If I may, it's actually a small team working on the Yellow NSC TAS with TiKevin83 as the head/leader of the project.
Current projects: failing at life
Experienced player (658)
Joined: 5/16/2009
Posts: 235
While I can't help directly on the commentary, since my english is not that great, I guess I can help with knowledge and key points in the SM64 runs. If you need any help with that, I'll be happy to do so!
Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (907)
Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014
I have confirmation that cheese05, who is running SM64 at the event, is able to do commentary for SM64 1-key (although it became a donation incentive). Tikevin83 is coming and has agreed to manage Hyper Princess Pitch and Pokemon Yellow. GlitchCat77 is coming and has agreed to commentate the two SMW runs, Kaizo Mario World 3 and Item Abuse 3. We'll be running the games in that order with Item Abuse 3 as the finale. I'll be testing a newer TAS of the game by xHF01x during my stream tonight at http://twitch.tv/dwangoAC which may save more than a minute. All of us going now have TwitchCon badges allocated to us (but not yet delivered) and I'd like to thank GDQ staff for making that happen.
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.
Post subject: Live at GDQx in less than an hour! Tune in!
Moderator, Senior Ambassador, Experienced player (907)
Joined: 9/14/2008
Posts: 1014
Tune in to GamesDoneQuick.com right now if you're reading this message, we're on within an hour. We're all prepping in the back of the room and we're going to do our very best to keep setup times down. We think we can o a very good job of getting everything set up but we have some unknowns like whether or not Princess Pitch is going to start at the right time. WE also don't know if we're going to get the video signal to behave for the GC right away, but we think we have it worked out by never showing anything before the GBI menu. That may sound like we're not ready, but honestly we're as ready as we can be and I actually feel really good about this, especially Item Abuse 3 which should completely rock. I'm expecting to see about $5k in donations roll in while we're live if we're lucky, but this event has gone slowly so who knows. Thanks to everyone who helped out here and looking forward to how this is received - this is an event where we're focusing exclusively on TAS content including things that are less well known and I'm curious how the reaction will be. I'll be donating $1,337 again, representing about $1,006 that came in from Twitch donations from June through October and an additional $300+ from me. (I will eventually learn to not keep giving all my money away but...) Catch you on the flipside!
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.
Editor, Player (54)
Joined: 12/25/2004
Posts: 634
Location: Aguascalientes, Mexico
Just in time to see the TASblock! Is starting now (still in setup though)
I'm the best in the Universe! Remember that!
Joined: 4/13/2009
Posts: 431
4 minutes run... 10 minutes extremely boring setup times. No thanks. I'll just watch these after the marathon is ended by grabbing the videos off twitch and using the magic of fast forwarding.
Site Admin, Skilled player (1254)
Joined: 4/17/2010
Posts: 11475
Location: Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg
Link to video I must say that this time, commentary was absolutely insane. Even more jaw-dropping than presented gameplay! Fantastic job guys, perfect execution!
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.