Eh... True though it might be that difficulty of TASing shouldn't factor into voting, games that are really easy to TAS generally lack the complexity, depth and finesse that makes TASing so entertaining in the first place. Maybe I'd be more interested in something like this if it showed off a ton of complicated puzzles involving concrete visual objects being solved at lightning speed. Some of that might have gone on in this run (I wouldn't know. I saw some valves being turned and squares being punched into something) but not enough that I could at all feel enthusiastic. It is true that this was fast enough not be properly boring...

It is true that this was fast enough not be properly boring...

I disagree; speed itself is not the only thing contributing to the alleviation of boredom. Speed can make things more interesting, but that requires something interesting to happen in the first place and I just don't see that here.

It was a rapid-fire slideshow of dated 3D art. I wouldn't call that "boring," I'd call it "meh." Also, this was fast both in the sense of velocity and in the sense of beating the game in little over a minute; not a combination I identify with boredom (If you can think of a good counter-example though, I'd thank you for pointing it to me.) For me, boredom only really sets in once you can reasonably anticipate what's going to happen next, like in a level grinding loop, or when you realize that the runner is confined to spamming a single attack against every single solitary enemy. With this I spent the entire time asking myself "What's happening? What's going to happen? Will it be any good?" Only when it finally ended did I realize I had been cheated, but I still think that a minute of false hope is worth a "meh."

Voting no because TASing Myst the fastest way possible has no interest whatsoever.

Ditto. About a year ago Comicalflop did a TAS of this game and showed it to me and a few people. That was pretty much our verdict and it wasn't submitted.

Before I judge this, I would like some opinions (particularly from the people who voted 'yes') on the following: It taking not much effort to make a particular TAS should indeed not be a factor in voting or judging if the movie has 1) good TASing quality 2) entertainment. But, not requiring much effort also might mean that the TAS looks a lot like the speedrun (which for this game completes the game in 1:16). If we go by this:

...which would make an optimized TAS and an unassisted run nearly identical. That isn't superhuman, and doesn't belong on the site.

Then I would judge this TAS to be too similar to the speedrun, and reject it. There is no need to rush the judgement of this submission though... so I'd be glad to hear some opinions on this (particularly the people who voted yes) since this particular point hasn't really been discussed (it was mainly about the difficulty of TASing the game). Is this TAS different enough from the speedrun to warrant publication? (Or perhaps you are of the opinion that what the speedrun looks like should not influence what's published at TASVideos?) Let me know :)

Is this TAS different enough from the speedrun to warrant publication?

No.

(Or perhaps you are of the opinion that what the speedrun looks like should not influence what's published at TASVideos?)

Possibly, though in the case of an adventure game what could be done in a TAS that can't be done in a speed run besides optimisation?

By itself, this TAS is mildly entertaining (at least for those who are familiar with the game at least a little bit), fast enough not to consider its length as a potential cause for boredom, and it could expand TASVideos's genre variety, which is a plus by itself. But when compared to unassisted speedrun, it really has very little to offer because they follow the same route, and the only notable difference in this case is clicking speed. Then again, there are TASes which allow large portions of the gameplay to be reproduced in realtime (said Adventures of Lolo, for instance; almost every single stage by itself can be reproduced within a reasonable time by pretty much everyone with sufficient memory capabilities), and it doesn't seem to have any repercussions — probably because they have preceded the unassisted runs of comparable (with certain reservations) quality. I find this post boring.

Dailymotion also I see no reason not to publish this. The fastest Super Mario Bros. unassisted run is 5:00ish, correct? They follow the same or similar route, the TAS and unassisted run, correct? Similar situation here, except, completely different genre. Or so I assume. That, and the smiley face was vaguely amusing.

But TASing Myst is like TASing Clue. Even worse, because in Clue you have to manipulate luck in the dice roll, at least.

Is this TAS different enough from the speedrun to warrant publication?

Yes. The TAS shows no mistakes and draws a smiley. Take a look at some real-time minesweeper records and then watch this TAS. The time difference is not significant, but the superhuman aspect of the TAS is obvious. Same thing happens with Myst.

om, nom, nom... blech!

Oh thank god this wasn't published. Someone might have come along and seen this and thought WOW FUCK TASVIDEOS THEY ONLY HAVE A MOVIE OF MYST THAT'S SLIGHTY FASTER THAN SDA. THIS RUINS THE WHOLE SITE. OH, HEY, 18,000 CASTLEVANIA RUNS? SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

The minesweeper Baxter was referring to may be in a general context. This minesweeper run doesn't have any luck manipulation. Its appeal comes from sheer speed (30Hz or 60Hz, depending on the action). On the other hand, actions in this TAS appear to be limited to about 8Hz, which doesn't cut it. There isn't really anything special either. Except for the fireplace code. For the record, I like this run and any other short Myst runs.

This TAS only differs from the speedrun in reaction time

Seriously, who really cares if it is too similar to a speedrun which 99% of this site is never going to even watch? We'd have to start rejecting three million of other games which just differ from their speedruns in reaction time, starting with most platform games, our favorite genre. It's kind of sad that we've come to a point where a TAS of minesweeper is more entertaining to watch for us than a TAS of Myst, only because we know that there was "luck manipulation" or other silly things...

Seriously, who really cares if it is too similar to a speedrun which 99% of this site is never going to even watch?

The current movies that are being published are published because they display the art of TASing in some way... showing what kind of awesomeness can be achieved using tools. The run was judged keeping this in mind. At least currently, the goal of TASVideos is not to provide a full library of games.

Before I judge this, I would like some opinions (particularly from the people who voted 'yes') on the following: It taking not much effort to make a particular TAS should indeed not be a factor in voting or judging if the movie has 1) good TASing quality 2) entertainment. But, not requiring much effort also might mean that the TAS looks a lot like the speedrun (which for this game completes the game in 1:16). If we go by this:

...which would make an optimized TAS and an unassisted run nearly identical. That isn't superhuman, and doesn't belong on the site.

Then I would judge this TAS to be too similar to the speedrun, and reject it. There is no need to rush the judgement of this submission though... so I'd be glad to hear some opinions on this (particularly the people who voted yes) since this particular point hasn't really been discussed (it was mainly about the difficulty of TASing the game). Is this TAS different enough from the speedrun to warrant publication? (Or perhaps you are of the opinion that what the speedrun looks like should not influence what's published at TASVideos?) Let me know :)

I think that coming to a decision less than 12 hours after asking for more opinions is too soon, but I'd like to contribute for whatever it is worth. Generally, I stick by what I said earlier in this thread, however I hadn't considered what effect a real time run would have on a TAS. I don't follow SDA and so I have never seen the Myst speedrun. To put it bluntly, this is not SDA + tools. We are two very different communities with two different types of content. This content is also judged by different people and to different standards. Therefore, it seems strange and unnecessary to me for the decisions of one website to conflict with, and impress upon, the decisions made on the other. So, yes, I don't think that what a speedrun looks like should influence what is published here. If a run is thought overly simple and the level of entertainment is detracted from as a result then it is in violation of our rules and will be rejected by virtue of bad game choice rather than comparison with SDA content. Myst DS was generally received positively by the TASvideos community and so should be publishable. Of course, the awesomeness that can be achieved with tools should be a significant factor, but I do still believe that it is secondary to entertainment. A run like Where's Waldo is very easy to make, but in my view it was rejected primarily because it is incredibly boring. Myst, on the other hand, can be distinguished as it is mildly interesting and the trivialities in optimisation don't seem to have detracted from the viewing experience to the same extent.

I respect the decision, but there are still about 6 million people who have Myst and some of them might enjoy the TAS. The game is so popular that the YouTube video will have a few thousand happy viewers within a year and somebody will wonder why it is not published at TASVideos.

it wouldn't be the first time we published a TAS based on the game's popularity rather than it being suited for TASing >_>

I'm also highly disappointed that this isn't published. I only encode HD movies of TAS's I am sure that will be published. I thought it was reasonably entertaining given the situation.

i really have a hard time believing that this is less appealing than, say, this: http://tasvideos.org/905M.html or probably several other runs which i won't single out so as not to hurt anyone's fragile ego maybe i'll start just going to sda, people there have real skill anyways

From what I can tell, the two most cohesive arguments in favour of this being published are "This is a popular game" and "I found this entertaining". I'll articulate my opinions on those one at a time, and hence set out why I agree with the run not being published. Firstly, popularity of a game is not something which should have an impact of whether a game will be published or not; it is a question of how technically well done the run is - for which there is a very low limit for this type of game, as I am about to set out - and how interesting it is to watch - which I believe to have an equally low threshold. As to the entertainment value of this run: looking at this variety of adventure game, most of the difficulty comes in the form of puzzle solving. If solutions to all of the puzzles and hence the ways to reach the end of the game are known, it is simply a matter of providing the game with those solutions; given the point-and-click nature of the average adventure game this is a lot less of a feat than your average platform game (where precise motion over the character is important at any given frame). In other words, the optimal solution for a graphical adventure game tends to be obvious, and this is no exception; the only technical feat present here is inputting that solution as quickly as possible. Therefore, the only real value I see in creating a demonstration of playing through an adventure game would be to act as a walkthrough; in the case of a speedrun or a TAS, though, they are inherently difficult to follow for those that are not familiar with a game and hence unsuitable as walkthroughs. Basically, TASing any adventure game of this sort is something which I do not believe is inherently capable of being entertaining.

For what it's worth, I don't think this game produces a good TAS or speedrun. Clicking as fast as possible is about as entertaining to me as having a competition to see who can blink the fastest. Sure, someone will win, but who gives a shit? Now imagine tool assisted blinking and you're close to what I got out of this submission. No offense to the author, of course, this game and it's ilk just aren't worth TASing.