Hi everyone.
I was wondering, how fast runs are you capable of without using re-recording or whatever it is with which these movies were made? On, say Mario 2, 3, Contra and such? Is there a site that publishes only "real" runs?
without re-recording you can reach the same times by playing normally. But it would take A LOT longer to get there. Why bother if the end result is the same? Perfection is our goal, excellence is not tolerated.
Deviance, yes, if direct perfection is the goal, then rerecording may be the answer. The reason I asked is I've always played the NES as a hobby and at some point also started timing my plays and then trying to beat the records I'd made. It's the idea of competing in movie-sampling instead of actual skill in game-play that seems a little weird to me. But I'm still new to this idea and, in any way, do not wish to belittle anyone. I consider some of these movies really entertaining, I just haven't bought the philosophy yet.
Deviance, yes, if direct perfection is the goal, then rerecording may be the answer. The reason I asked is I've always played the NES as a hobby and at some point also started timing my plays and then trying to beat the records I'd made. It's the idea of competing in movie-sampling instead of actual skill in game-play that seems a little weird to me. But I'm still new to this idea and, in any way, do not wish to belittle anyone. I consider some of these movies really entertaining, I just haven't bought the philosophy yet.
There is a misunderstanding. The time attack videos are not made to compete with others. They are made because they are really impressive to see. Some skill is certainly required, but it is when it comes to speed runs, which is when you play through the game without saves/loads on time, when there is really great skill required.
Producing what is in these time attacks takes creativity. We make our movies faster by experimenting and playing difficult sections hundreds of times. Skill is the ability to duplicate what is seen in the videos in real time. Skill implies competition and credits the player more than the movie itself which is not why we are making these; hence, we are not "competing in movie-sampling", in actuality we aren't competing in anything. We work together in this forum to improve our recordings. The movies are showing what is possible is the fastest time possible. Essentially, we are showing what can be done in theory. In a way, the theory can be used to evaluate skill: the most skillful player is the one that can come closest to the theoretical time on a consistent basis. To sum up:
Time attack ===> Theoretical time
Speedrun ===> Practical time
Skillful Play ===> Practical and consistent execution of commands which comes closest to the theoretically best.
Thats my way of seeing it, I'm sure there may be disagreements. But I encourage you to start recording your plays if you believe you are skillful and submit the results. They will be classifed under the speedrun videos with others in skill competition. :)
We are looking for perfection and entertainment in the videos and no person is as perfect as the movies (Bisqwit said that), to do it in one try, but, if we can do it with re-recording, so we can do it without it, with a little more sacrifice, after all, it is hard, but no impossible.
Actually this isn't completely true: A timeattacker often competes against himself. When he has made the first version of the timeattack and he is not 100% happy with it, he tries to beat himself by making a bit faster version (and repeat this until he is mostly happy with the end result)...
Perfection is the goal, so you are your own competitor... :)
