Well, its finally here. I present to you the first Nintendo DS Tool Assisted Speedrun. The emulator used is DeSmuME 9.2rr which can be found here.
You can watch the movie via youtube part1, part 2, part3. Thanks to paul_t!

Notes

  • Getting the flag at the bottom is faster than the top.
  • 1-1 - I slowdown at the end in order to manipulate the flying ? on the map screen. This is necessary in order to get the blue shell
right away.
  • 8-4 - I take damage in order to avoid fireworks. Also I wanted to take damage to lose the blue shell so that I have some levels
without an overpowered item. The blue shell is less impressive in the basic "run to the right" levels.
  • 8-6 - More slowdown to avoid fireworks.

Time comparisons to the 23:55 console speedrun (by SDA timing).

Since I wasn't able to compare frames to a speedrun, I used the game clock. For reference, the speedrun can be found
Time remaining in each level. Speedrun vs TAS.
  • 1-1 370 370
  • 1-2 353 356
  • 1-C 450 463
  • 5-1 362 363
  • 5-2 362 363
  • 5-G 321 328
  • 8-1 268 268
  • 8-2 243 247
  • 8-F 440 447
  • 8-3 302 306
  • 8-4 264 265
  • 8-F 472 476
  • 8-5 265 268
  • 8-6 353 366
  • 8-7 354 359
  • 8-8 371 374
  • 8-F2 325 325

Special Thanks

  • The rest of the desmume rerecording branch team: Paul_t and Zeromus
  • choronorox for his very impressive speed run
  • The rest of the desmume team who have really turned around this emulator and turned it into something nice.


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Banned User
Joined: 3/10/2004
Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
Ok, I know I promised not to nag anymore about this, but... Sheesh! Holy crap. A submission with 11% no votes and 29% meh votes, with a lively discussion going on, was published in only four days, while at the same time other submissions have been sitting there for over a month. Yeah, clearly this one was in no way rushed to publication, and was judged completely impartially and fairly, like any other submission. And this being the very first DS TAS ever had clearly absolutely nothing to do with this rushed publication. Yeah, sure.
Player (206)
Joined: 5/29/2004
Posts: 5712
I agreed with you this time Warp, but don't be mean about it!
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Banned User
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Bag of Magic Food wrote:
I agreed with you this time Warp, but don't be mean about it!
Ok, I apologize for my sarcasm above.
Emulator Coder, Skilled player (1311)
Joined: 12/21/2004
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I found this really boring to watch with the exception of a few bits close to the end. But, having played the game, I find it hard to believe that could be the game's fault. (And, the low re-record count suggests something.) So I hope this movie gets repeatedly obsoleted with more and more interesting movies. Maybe that was part of the point of it being submitted, anyway.
Former player
Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Finland
Yeah I find it pretty weird this was published so quickly, too. What I'd like to know is who exactly published it? The submission hasn't been edited and the movie page was apparently created by adelikat? And I remember adelikat saying earlier that it's not his place to reject or accept his own run.
Senior Moderator
Joined: 8/4/2005
Posts: 5777
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Seems like adelikat had to switch to the dark side in order to accomplish a little PR trick. :P While I do appreciate the enthusiasm of bringing DS (the current gen console!) to the TASing community, so far everything has been rushed a lot. I hope you guys know what you're doing.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
upthorn
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nitsuja wrote:
I found this really boring to watch with the exception of a few bits close to the end. But, having played the game, I find it hard to believe that could be the game's fault. (And, the low re-record count suggests something.) So I hope this movie gets repeatedly obsoleted with more and more interesting movies. Maybe that was part of the point of it being submitted, anyway.
That's interesting, because, having played the game, I have difficulty seeing an optimized TAS looking too much more entertaining than this. Well, maybe if it avoids warps...
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Skilled player (1410)
Joined: 5/31/2004
Posts: 1821
Maybe a version with shield and as fast as possible, and a version without the shield that completes all levels.
Banned User
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Warp wrote:
Ok, I know I promised not to nag anymore about this, but... Sheesh! Holy crap. A submission with 11% no votes and 29% meh votes, with a lively discussion going on, was published in only four days, while at the same time other submissions have been sitting there for over a month.
This.
Gone.
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
I'm not sure about this one. It looks sound but the run is also kind of boring. Maybe it's the game, though (which I haven't played). Everything happens kind of slowly, even on the overworld. Like when you beat a stage, first the next one is highlighted, then it turns red, then the path appears, then the enemies move, and then the music restarts... so I think to some degree this can be attributed to the game itself. But it still bothers me that I didn't see anything surprising during this movie. It's too bad no interesting glitches or sequence breaks have been discovered yet. Nevertheless, congrats on making the first NDS run.
Joined: 3/25/2008
Posts: 64
Even with my low expectations (I consider NSMB a boring and soulless game, especially when compared to past mario platformers) I was still disappointed. It's great to see that DS games are starting to come into the TAS circle, and it's hard to view this run without my disdain for NSMB impeding on my thoughts, but I didn't really enjoy watching it and I don't think it will hold this spot for very long. edit- And, DS TAS's I'm looking forward to: Sonic Rush (I expect this game may already be possible) Metroid Prime Hunters (the SDA run is awesome) Super Mario 64 DS (No brainer) Zelda Phantom Hourglass (")
.II
adelikat
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Emulator Coder, Site Developer, Site Owner, Expert player (3577)
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Warp wrote:
*Accusation that this was published due to being the first DS submission, but worded in an assy way
You nailed it on the head. It was the first of its kind. I published it to promote the site. This action is consistent with Dragon Egg (PCE), SoTN (PSX), and Kenseiden (SMS). I guess to some degree that would also include Sonic CD and Mario 64. Your objection to making these kinds of decisions is noted.
It's hard to look this good. My TAS projects
Banned User
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adelikat wrote:
I published it
I'm speechless. Really. Has tasvideos.org become your personal dictatorship where you just publish your own runs without any regard to anyones opinion? Am I the only one who thinks that you are seriously abusing your power as a judge?
Active player (437)
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Warp wrote:
adelikat wrote:
I published it
I'm speechless. Really. Has tasvideos.org become your personal dictatorship where you just publish your own runs without any regard to anyones opinion? Am I the only one who thinks that you are seriously abusing your power as a judge?
Look, if you really want to be picky about it, so far, 56% of the votes are yes = majority of the viewers liked it. I thought it was alright choice of a game, nothing more, publishable material.
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
Cooljay wrote:
Mayor Haggar and Cody are such nice people for the community. Metro City's hospitals reached an all time new record of incoming patients due to their great efforts :P
Player (68)
Joined: 3/11/2004
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Location: Reykjaví­k, Ísland
I have some mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand, we know it's flawed, but it's also the first NDS TAS. My opinion is that a new run should have been made before publishing. But I'm not a judge, so meh. On the other hand, I thought this was moderately entertaining, although honestly even though this is probably the most obvious game ever to TAS, it's not the best one ever. (here's hoping for a Bangai-O Spirits run)
mz
Emulator Coder, Player (79)
Joined: 10/26/2007
Posts: 693
Warp wrote:
Am I the only one who thinks that you are seriously abusing your power as a judge?
Not at all. I only was a bit subtler with my message, but I tried to say the same... I posted a link to this movie: http://tasvideos.org/movies.cgi?id=113, which, for those who remember, Phil himself made and accepted and published, even though it is by far the worst and most boring movie on the site and it didn't even have any positive feedback before publication. (Even I have better movies on my shitty YouTube channel.) So, this is what we get for having an elitist system; just people abusing his position of power and ignoring the majority...
You're just fucking stupid, everyone hates you, sorry to tell you the truth. no one likes you, you're someone pretentious and TASes only to be on speed game, but don't have any hope, you won't get there.
Former player
Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Finland
Warp wrote:
adelikat wrote:
I published it
I'm speechless. Really. Has tasvideos.org become your personal dictatorship where you just publish your own runs without any regard to anyones opinion? Am I the only one who thinks that you are seriously abusing your power as a judge?
In case you haven't noticed, adelikat has become more than a judge lately. In the "people needed" topic Bisqwit said he needed among other people, a site coordinator.
Bisqwit wrote:
Site coordinator A site coordinator (policy administrator) decides the direction that TASVideos is going towards. Example tasks: ― Deciding which emulators are acceptable platforms ― Deciding how files are named
adelikat has already taken up some of the site's resposibilities, and I imagine he is now the "site coordinator" as well. For what it's worth, I personally think he's a good man for the job and I support his decision about this run.
Former player
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Posts: 1286
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mz wrote:
I posted a link to this movie: http://tasvideos.org/movies.cgi?id=113, which, for those who remember, Phil himself made and accepted and published, even though it is by far the worst and most boring movie on the site and it didn't have any positive feedback. (Even I have better movies on my shitty YouTube channel.)
Remember this? :)
mz
Emulator Coder, Player (79)
Joined: 10/26/2007
Posts: 693
Kyrsimys wrote:
Remember this? :)
Hah, I never saw that one. :P But yes, it seems it is a much better example for this case. I hope adelikat doesn't end up like that. :D
You're just fucking stupid, everyone hates you, sorry to tell you the truth. no one likes you, you're someone pretentious and TASes only to be on speed game, but don't have any hope, you won't get there.
Banned User
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Posts: 7698
Location: Finland
AngerFist wrote:
Look, if you really want to be picky about it, so far, 56% of the votes are yes = majority of the viewers liked it.
How many rejected submission have had a minority of yes votes?
Kyrsimys wrote:
adelikat has already taken up some of the site's resposibilities, and I imagine he is now the "site coordinator" as well.
You can't deny that a "site coordinator" accepting and publishing his own submission completely regardless of public opinion (on a server he doesn't even own) sounds a bit elitist. Why was this submitted for public vote if it was going to be published regardless, by none other than the creator of the run himself? The vote was just a farce. At least Bisqwit (as far as I remember) has never pushed his own submissions through, disrespecting public opinion and making a farce of the whole voting system. And he has been in the exact same situation: He made the first DOS TAS ever submitted to this site. However, he respected public opinion and rejected his own submission. Is this the direction the site politics are going to take in the future?
Former player
Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Finland
Warp wrote:
You can't deny that a "site coordinator" accepting and publishing his own submission completely regardless of public opinion (on a server he doesn't even own) sounds a bit elitist.
If adelikat was doing it just to get his name plastered on the front page (again), then yes, I'd agree. But as I know adelikat is not that kind of person and is doing this only for the good of the site, I don't mind.
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Warp wrote:
At least Bisqwit (as far as I remember) has never pushed his own submissions through, disrespecting public opinion and making a farce of the whole voting system. And he has been in the exact same situation: He made the first DOS TAS ever submitted to this site. However, he respected public opinion and rejected his own submission.
He probably should have published his own DOS TAS, to further promote it as a viable option. You may have noticed that there hasn't been another attempt to submit a DOS TAS since, despite the tools being available. And if any of you actually think that a mario game (that isn't Mario Teaches Typing) wouldn't see the front page at some point in time, you're delusional, and probably slightly retarded.
Living Well Is The Best Revenge My Personal Page
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mmbossman wrote:
He probably should have published his own DOS TAS, to further promote it as a viable option. You may have noticed that there hasn't been another attempt to submit a DOS TAS since, despite the tools being available.
Are the tools really finished? I was under the impression DOS TASes aren't officially accepted and that Bisqwit's movie was just a demo (even if it did finish the game).
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
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I think I should chime in for a second just to say that I too think it's not a good idea for judges to be accepting their own movies. This submission was clearly ambiguous. It had a very low amount of yes votes relative to other submissions (in my experience, it's only downright terrible movies that get a majority of no or meh votes), and the response of the community had been rather flimsy. There was a much higher chance than normal that this movie would have been rejected by an impartial judge. For adelikat to decide to accept and publish it himself means that he might have wanted to prevent that. Judges should never have a say (other than through comments) about what happens to their submissions.
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I'm glad this movie was submitted, it's a major contribution to have DS TASing possible. I don't know about it being published, though... it's nice to promote the site, but rushing the creation and/or publication of a movie is exactly opposite of what this site seems to be about, so it might send a wrong message.
upthorn wrote:
That's interesting, because, having played the game, I have difficulty seeing an optimized TAS looking too much more entertaining than this.
Well, I remember it feeling pretty fast and easy to go out of control when trying to go at top speed, so I was surprised it looks so sluggish in a TAS. The only time it didn't feel slow was with the invincibility stars, which happened too infrequently to make up for everything else. Maybe it's mostly the game's fault, but since it's the first run of any game on the same system, and the game emulates very slowly and savestates are probably slow too (testing patience more than usual) and not many savestates were used (probably as a result), I think there must be room for improvement here.
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