4 ms·

The video explanation is almost as impressive as the speed run itself. The speed run is literally doing low level assembly code manipulation to pull off this t

by nacs 6y ago

The video explanation is almost as impressive as the speed run itself. The speed run is literally doing low level assembly code manipulation to pull off this time apparently. Worth a watch even for people who aren't into gaming.

zamadatix 6y ago
The 0 exit speedrun for Super Mario World uses pretty much the exact same method (koopas and all) as well https://www.speedrun.com/smw/run/y65xp50z https://www.speedrun.com/smw/run/y65xp50z SMB3 also has an interesting tool assisted speedrun (non-human doing the inputs) where fast inputs on the second controller cause an overflow on the input buffer allowing for the game to be beaten basically instantly from the start screen. If you like this because of the interesting stuff done to abuse the game The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time has pretty much been a history of "and then a quicker way to corrupt the game was found". It's not always about going fast either, challenge runs also get a lot of very interesting results from a lot of dedication. Super Mario 64's A Button Challenge (try to beat the game with as few A presses as possible) has tons of outrageously complex tricks with amazing explanation videos. One in particular caught people's attention to the point it became a meme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A though it's not actually the most technically impressive to come out of that endeavor.
- dane-pgp 6y ago
  An A press is an A press. You can't say it's only a half.
  - userbinator 6y ago
    I immediately understood what a half-press meant, because when something/someone tells you to "press x", it usually means "press and release"; and omitting half of that is exactly what I expected "half a press" would be.
  - hombre_fatal 6y ago
    Sure you can, when you define ahead of time that "press" means a full down/up cycle. When you say the down part of the cycle is a "press", you're being just as arbitrary.
    - zamadatix 6y ago
      That was a direct quote from 1:08 in the video pointing out how people comment and debate on what an A press is or isn't based on the title of things instead of listening to the explanation... not an actual thought by the commenter. Watch the first 2 minutes, you'll get a chuckle :).
      - Hamuko 6y ago
        Yeah, it's a particularly famous video and it's become fodder for all sorts of jokes. For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APo7805Yzhk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APo7805Yzhk
    - Firehawke 6y ago
      That's known as positive and negative edge in the fighting game community. Some fighting games (e.g. Street Fighter) actually check inputs at both the positive and negative edges of button presses, so you can actually hold punch while doing the quarter circle forward and let go as you hit forward. A lot of advanced combos and tricks use negative edge.
      - userbinator 6y ago
        The exact same phrases are also used in digital electronics.
  - nicetryguy 6y ago
    Well, TJ "Henry" Yoshi, hear me out. An A press actually has 3 parts to it: When A is pressed, when A is held, and when A is released. Together, this forms one complete A press.
    - SQueeeeeL 6y ago
      The fact that TJ "Henry" Yoshi has gone on to be a pretty solid member of the M64 speed running community regularly posting runs who just owns being a meme is such a positive thing
      - nicetryguy 6y ago
        That's pretty awesome. Good community. I don't follow speedrunning much anymore; i was heavily involved several years ago (i'm in a Salt vod). Shoutouts to SimpleFlips
  - mumblemumble 6y ago
    tl;dw version of the video's explanation: A full A press involves both pressing and releasing the button. If you press the button during one level, hold it down, and then release it during another, then only half of the button press can be counted against each level. Otherwise you'd be double counting it.
- xmprt 6y ago
  I'm really glad that video became a meme (probably because of the completely unnecessary argument about what a half-A press is) because it got me interested in how a lot of these old games work. The engineering that went into optimizing them is incredible and it's a shame that newer games typically don't bother as much.
  - wiz21c 6y ago
    For optimizations, the compilers do much work for you now. So it's not like it's not done anymore, it's done in another way. I myself stopped handcrafting assembler when I noticed that GCC beaten me 9 times out of 10 :-)
    - semi 6y ago
      But notably not in SM64, where they disabled compiler optimization for some reson. Vintage Gamer has a good video about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKlbE2eROC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKlbE2eROC0
gregsadetsky 6y ago
Agreed, I was first perplexed at what was going on, starting to not see where it was going at all with the low-level explanations, and then when the enemy positions turned out to be assembly instructions... mind blown. It also reminded me of this video which shows Flappy Bird being code injected into Super Mario World, by hand... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6eY73sLV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6eY73sLV0

by nacs 6y ago

zamadatix 6y ago

The 0 exit speedrun for Super Mario World uses pretty much the exact same method (koopas and all) as well https://www.speedrun.com/smw/run/y65xp50z https://www.speedrun.com/smw/run/y65xp50z SMB3 also has an interesting tool assisted speedrun (non-human doing the inputs) where fast inputs on the second controller cause an overflow on the input buffer allowing for the game to be beaten basically instantly from the start screen. If you like this because of the interesting stuff done to abuse the game The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time has pretty much been a history of "and then a quicker way to corrupt the game was found". It's not always about going fast either, challenge runs also get a lot of very interesting results from a lot of dedication. Super Mario 64's A Button Challenge (try to beat the game with as few A presses as possible) has tons of outrageously complex tricks with amazing explanation videos. One in particular caught people's attention to the point it became a meme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A though it's not actually the most technically impressive to come out of that endeavor.

dane-pgp 6y ago
An A press is an A press. You can't say it's only a half.
- userbinator 6y ago
  I immediately understood what a half-press meant, because when something/someone tells you to "press x", it usually means "press and release"; and omitting half of that is exactly what I expected "half a press" would be.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  Sure you can, when you define ahead of time that "press" means a full down/up cycle. When you say the down part of the cycle is a "press", you're being just as arbitrary.
  - zamadatix 6y ago
    That was a direct quote from 1:08 in the video pointing out how people comment and debate on what an A press is or isn't based on the title of things instead of listening to the explanation... not an actual thought by the commenter. Watch the first 2 minutes, you'll get a chuckle :).
    - Hamuko 6y ago
      Yeah, it's a particularly famous video and it's become fodder for all sorts of jokes. For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APo7805Yzhk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APo7805Yzhk
  - Firehawke 6y ago
    That's known as positive and negative edge in the fighting game community. Some fighting games (e.g. Street Fighter) actually check inputs at both the positive and negative edges of button presses, so you can actually hold punch while doing the quarter circle forward and let go as you hit forward. A lot of advanced combos and tricks use negative edge.
    - userbinator 6y ago
      The exact same phrases are also used in digital electronics.
- nicetryguy 6y ago
  Well, TJ "Henry" Yoshi, hear me out. An A press actually has 3 parts to it: When A is pressed, when A is held, and when A is released. Together, this forms one complete A press.
  - SQueeeeeL 6y ago
    The fact that TJ "Henry" Yoshi has gone on to be a pretty solid member of the M64 speed running community regularly posting runs who just owns being a meme is such a positive thing
    - nicetryguy 6y ago
      That's pretty awesome. Good community. I don't follow speedrunning much anymore; i was heavily involved several years ago (i'm in a Salt vod). Shoutouts to SimpleFlips
- mumblemumble 6y ago
  tl;dw version of the video's explanation: A full A press involves both pressing and releasing the button. If you press the button during one level, hold it down, and then release it during another, then only half of the button press can be counted against each level. Otherwise you'd be double counting it.
xmprt 6y ago
I'm really glad that video became a meme (probably because of the completely unnecessary argument about what a half-A press is) because it got me interested in how a lot of these old games work. The engineering that went into optimizing them is incredible and it's a shame that newer games typically don't bother as much.
- wiz21c 6y ago
  For optimizations, the compilers do much work for you now. So it's not like it's not done anymore, it's done in another way. I myself stopped handcrafting assembler when I noticed that GCC beaten me 9 times out of 10 :-)
  - semi 6y ago
    But notably not in SM64, where they disabled compiler optimization for some reson. Vintage Gamer has a good video about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKlbE2eROC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKlbE2eROC0

gregsadetsky 6y ago

Agreed, I was first perplexed at what was going on, starting to not see where it was going at all with the low-level explanations, and then when the enemy positions turned out to be assembly instructions... mind blown. It also reminded me of this video which shows Flappy Bird being code injected into Super Mario World, by hand... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6eY73sLV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB6eY73sLV0