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For anyone else wondering: TAS = Tool-assisted game movies http://tasvideos.org/Game/nes-super-mario-bros.html http://tasvideos.org/Game/nes-super-mario-bros.h

For anyone else wondering: TAS = Tool-assisted game movies http://tasvideos.org/Game/nes-super-mario-bros.html http://tasvideos.org/Game/nes-super-mario-bros.html

beaconstudios 8y ago
Tool Assisted Speedrun. It means you perform input to the game programmatically meaning you can set the input perfectly on a per-frame basis.
- jamespo 8y ago
  what is the point of that
  - OscarCunningham 8y ago
    Just for fun, or to have a "theoretical optimum" to compare human speedruns to.
  - wingerlang 8y ago
    You could consider bicycling tool assisted running. It's just a different take on competing. Some people also use TAS's to find, reproduce and understand glitches for use in normal speedrun.
  - neetdavid 8y ago
    People use them as another tool for finding glitches and exploring the possibility space of the game's systems. They're basically using debugging tools and in some cases even looking at memory allocations etc. As for full length tool assisted runs, I just find them to be a fascinating new lens to examine these games under. It's cool (depending on who you ask...) to see what the game looks like when another computer program is piloting it perfectly towards the goal of 'finish as fast as possible'
  - kibwen 8y ago
    If normal speedruns are like playing speed chess, tool-assisted speedruns are like finding the theoretically-optimal solutions to chess problems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_problem). Both of them require intense devotion to the game, though the first emphasizes physical ability and execution while the second emphasizes exhaustive thinking.
  - dragontamer 8y ago
    Because NASCAR is fun, even if you are going at super-human speeds. And there is skill in maneuvering a car at super-human speeds. TAS players play the game frame-by-frame and seek theoretical perfection.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    If you're just watching it's arguably more fun to watch, since it theoretically represents absolutely perfect play.
  - LocalH 8y ago
    It started out for pure entertainment. Now, they sometimes work with realtime speedrunners to optimize their strategies.

For anyone else wondering: TAS = Tool-assisted game movies http://tasvideos.org/Game/nes-super-mario-bros.html http://tasvideos.org/Game/nes-super-mario-bros.html

beaconstudios 8y ago

Tool Assisted Speedrun. It means you perform input to the game programmatically meaning you can set the input perfectly on a per-frame basis.

jamespo 8y ago
what is the point of that
- OscarCunningham 8y ago
  Just for fun, or to have a "theoretical optimum" to compare human speedruns to.
- wingerlang 8y ago
  You could consider bicycling tool assisted running. It's just a different take on competing. Some people also use TAS's to find, reproduce and understand glitches for use in normal speedrun.
- neetdavid 8y ago
  People use them as another tool for finding glitches and exploring the possibility space of the game's systems. They're basically using debugging tools and in some cases even looking at memory allocations etc. As for full length tool assisted runs, I just find them to be a fascinating new lens to examine these games under. It's cool (depending on who you ask...) to see what the game looks like when another computer program is piloting it perfectly towards the goal of 'finish as fast as possible'
- kibwen 8y ago
  If normal speedruns are like playing speed chess, tool-assisted speedruns are like finding the theoretically-optimal solutions to chess problems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_problem). Both of them require intense devotion to the game, though the first emphasizes physical ability and execution while the second emphasizes exhaustive thinking.
- dragontamer 8y ago
  Because NASCAR is fun, even if you are going at super-human speeds. And there is skill in maneuvering a car at super-human speeds. TAS players play the game frame-by-frame and seek theoretical perfection.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  If you're just watching it's arguably more fun to watch, since it theoretically represents absolutely perfect play.
- LocalH 8y ago
  It started out for pure entertainment. Now, they sometimes work with realtime speedrunners to optimize their strategies.