13 ms·

How on earth does it take 4 hours to explain? I'm sure it's a lovely video but anyone care to tldr?

ranger_danger 2y ago
You should see the "0.5 A presses" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A
Kikawala 2y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXCVsDFiXA&t=3228s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXCVsDFiXA&t=3228s
- savrajsingh 2y ago
  This is exactly it, thanks!
- VelesDude 2y ago
  Thanks for that. I will go through the whole video later but that at least covered the basic premise. Essentially, due to the technique used for collision detection, tiny gaps in the geometry causes collision system to treat parts of the scene as having very thin walls that stretch to the top of the play space. Depending on if Mario's quarter steps align with this little gap means that a collision can be made despite it not being visible. Also explains why they impact Mario sometimes and not others. Like throwing a marble through a mesh fence but you cannot see the fence. Odds are you will make it through but it is essentially chance.
Waterluvian 2y ago
I skimmed it and it’s trying to be the authoritative “phd thesis” on the topic. Still, many sections felt far too wordy and long. Technical communication is a difficult skill.
- VS1999 2y ago
  True. If he wanted to make it a proper phd thesis he'd use language to muddy the waters so no one could understand what he was saying.
  - orbital-decay 2y ago
    Good PhD theses are usually the opposite, they are lengthy to be approachable by a non-expert, unlike ordinary research papers.
nickitolas 2y ago
I think most of it is that he shows and explains every invisible wall in the game (Or tries to). The basic explanations are about an hour and a half. It uses graphics for explaining almost everything and does it in quite a bit of detail.
Eduard 2y ago
it's a surprisingly deep topic involving Super Mario's 64 game mechanics such as "quarter steps", integer arithmetic, float-to-integer conversions, the chosen collision detection implementation and plenty more. There are eight different causes that manifest in the observed "invisible wall" symptoms. I find the level of detail given appropriate, and consider it as a valuable insight into game engine design as it was appropriate for the time.
- wtallis 2y ago
  I also think it helps to appreciate the historical context: this game was a major milestone in the development of the 3D platformer genre. Some of the bugs or treacherous optimizations may look naive to us now, but there had been few if any opportunities to make those mistakes prior to Super Mario 64. And in spite of the glitches, the game managed to be a huge success and highly influential even outside the platformer genre. This video does a wonderful job of illustrating how a handful of underlying issues can combine and manifest in so many different ways, and this was only the tip of the iceberg of 3D game physics glitches. And some of these issues are things games can still fall prey to today.
  - duskwuff 2y ago
    Videos like these can also be a fantastic way of introducing viewers to CS and math topics that they wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to. The video game theme gets them in the door; the detailed analysis teaches them some things which are applicable beyond that game.
bakugo 2y ago
His explanations are just very thorough. If the topic of how 3D video games are programmed interests you at all, there's many, many more hours worth of interesting content on both his main channel and his second uncommentated channel (uncommentatedpannen).

You should see the "0.5 A presses" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpk2tdsPh0A

Kikawala 2y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXCVsDFiXA&t=3228s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsXCVsDFiXA&t=3228s

savrajsingh 2y ago
This is exactly it, thanks!
VelesDude 2y ago
Thanks for that. I will go through the whole video later but that at least covered the basic premise. Essentially, due to the technique used for collision detection, tiny gaps in the geometry causes collision system to treat parts of the scene as having very thin walls that stretch to the top of the play space. Depending on if Mario's quarter steps align with this little gap means that a collision can be made despite it not being visible. Also explains why they impact Mario sometimes and not others. Like throwing a marble through a mesh fence but you cannot see the fence. Odds are you will make it through but it is essentially chance.

Waterluvian 2y ago

I skimmed it and it’s trying to be the authoritative “phd thesis” on the topic. Still, many sections felt far too wordy and long. Technical communication is a difficult skill.

VS1999 2y ago
True. If he wanted to make it a proper phd thesis he'd use language to muddy the waters so no one could understand what he was saying.
- orbital-decay 2y ago
  Good PhD theses are usually the opposite, they are lengthy to be approachable by a non-expert, unlike ordinary research papers.

nickitolas 2y ago

I think most of it is that he shows and explains every invisible wall in the game (Or tries to). The basic explanations are about an hour and a half. It uses graphics for explaining almost everything and does it in quite a bit of detail.

Eduard 2y ago

it's a surprisingly deep topic involving Super Mario's 64 game mechanics such as "quarter steps", integer arithmetic, float-to-integer conversions, the chosen collision detection implementation and plenty more. There are eight different causes that manifest in the observed "invisible wall" symptoms. I find the level of detail given appropriate, and consider it as a valuable insight into game engine design as it was appropriate for the time.

wtallis 2y ago
I also think it helps to appreciate the historical context: this game was a major milestone in the development of the 3D platformer genre. Some of the bugs or treacherous optimizations may look naive to us now, but there had been few if any opportunities to make those mistakes prior to Super Mario 64. And in spite of the glitches, the game managed to be a huge success and highly influential even outside the platformer genre. This video does a wonderful job of illustrating how a handful of underlying issues can combine and manifest in so many different ways, and this was only the tip of the iceberg of 3D game physics glitches. And some of these issues are things games can still fall prey to today.
- duskwuff 2y ago
  Videos like these can also be a fantastic way of introducing viewers to CS and math topics that they wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to. The video game theme gets them in the door; the detailed analysis teaches them some things which are applicable beyond that game.

bakugo 2y ago

His explanations are just very thorough. If the topic of how 3D video games are programmed interests you at all, there's many, many more hours worth of interesting content on both his main channel and his second uncommentated channel (uncommentatedpannen).