3 ms·

A Thousand Tiny Optimisations

57 points by leejo 1y ago

Noumenon72 1y ago
> absurd examples like a player completing Final Fantasy VII in less time than the sum of the requisite unskippable content[1]. How is this possible? I didn't want to watch the whole video since I've never played the game. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rudg2AdUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rudg2AdUk
- cchianel 1y ago
  Games on old consoles such as Nintendo 64 and the Playstation One use a variety of tricks to be playable on limited hardware. For the specific example of Final Fantasy VII, there is one trick that allows you to skip almost the entirely of Disk 1 once you reach the open world. In particular, the trick involves a use-after-free in the world collision cache (fun fact: a lot of speedrun techniques are security flaws!). This video explains it without spoilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llQnrUHS0yA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llQnrUHS0yA ; a better video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHn6jpKsYCk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHn6jpKsYCk, but that might have minor spoilers IIRC (Note: this trick is relatively new, and probably not used in that video).
  - mkfs 1y ago
    > the trick involves a use-after-free in the world collision cache (fun fact: a lot of speedrun techniques are security flaws! In other words: > Hey, you know those super difficult parts from games of your childhood that you're probably curious to see how we, the supposed speediest of gamers, swiftly navigate? Well, guess what? We just skip them altogether by glitching! Any% new record! That's why no one cares about this. These people will play the same game or level thousands of times to trigger 1/1,000,000 glitches to skip huge swaths of games, then claim some made-up "record." This is not skill. Even the non-glitch speedruns are more down to persistence (if not mental illness) than skill--which is a result of deliberate practice--like one sees in competitive shooters or fighting games. And these people throw tantrums constantly, like children, and curse the "RNG" (an admission this isn't about skill) the way a primitive tribesman might damn the gods for a prolonged drought.
    - ohdeargodno 1y ago
      If only speed running communities existed, where they made different categories like any%, any% No major glitches/skips, all with varying prestige and competitiveness, as well as agreed upon which skips are so soul crushingly shit to do that they're excluded from every category aside from any% :( You might consider therapy, if playing games fast makes you angry.
      - mkfs 1y ago
        > If only speed running communities existed, where they made different categories like any%, any% No major glitches/skips, all with varying prestige and competitiveness, as well as agreed upon which skips are so soul crushingly shit to do that they're excluded from every category aside from any% :( Arbitrarily delineating good vs. bad glitches is dumb, and even glitch-free speedruns are more about persistence, just trying over and over again until you get the exact right sequence of inputs (or "RNG") to claim the record, rather than repeatable skill. This isn't like some high-level CS:GO player who can consistently headshot fast-moving targets or a high-level SF player who's mastered techniques like hit confirms. > You might consider therapy, if playing games fast makes you angry. I'm not the one downvoting comments, and unlike speedrunners, I don't throw tantrums over games.
        marci 1y ago
        It reads like you said "Arbitrarily delineating good vs. bad glitches is dumb", then immediately proceeded to arbitrarily delineating good vs. bad skill. People who don't like CS:GO type of games won't find any value or interest in some "player who can consistently headshot fast-moving targets". Some people just like seeing their favorite game break in unexpected ways. It's a bit like going into someone else home in the same building with the same floor plan, or just the mirror tracks in a racing game, everything is uncannily familiar, and this uncanny feeling is enjoyed. Maybe you just don't see the appeal, which is fine as well.
        thunderfork 1y ago
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cchianel 1y ago
Related: Archipelago (https://archipelago.gg/ https://archipelago.gg/), a framework that randomizes multiple games, across multiple clients. For example, Player A is playing Mario 64, and Player B is playing Pokemon Red. Some items from Player B's Pokemon Red (such as the Rock Smash HM) would be in Player A's Mario 64 world (for example, from collecting a Star). As a result, the two players need to coordinate and help each other progress. Archipelago GitHub: https://github.com/ArchipelagoMW/Archipelago https://github.com/ArchipelagoMW/Archipelago
curtisszmania 1y ago
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deleted 1y ago
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57 points by leejo 1y ago

> absurd examples like a player completing Final Fantasy VII in less time than the sum of the requisite unskippable content[1]. How is this possible? I didn't want to watch the whole video since I've never played the game. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rudg2AdUk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rudg2AdUk

cchianel 1y ago
Games on old consoles such as Nintendo 64 and the Playstation One use a variety of tricks to be playable on limited hardware. For the specific example of Final Fantasy VII, there is one trick that allows you to skip almost the entirely of Disk 1 once you reach the open world. In particular, the trick involves a use-after-free in the world collision cache (fun fact: a lot of speedrun techniques are security flaws!). This video explains it without spoilers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llQnrUHS0yA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llQnrUHS0yA ; a better video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHn6jpKsYCk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHn6jpKsYCk, but that might have minor spoilers IIRC (Note: this trick is relatively new, and probably not used in that video).
- mkfs 1y ago
  > the trick involves a use-after-free in the world collision cache (fun fact: a lot of speedrun techniques are security flaws! In other words: > Hey, you know those super difficult parts from games of your childhood that you're probably curious to see how we, the supposed speediest of gamers, swiftly navigate? Well, guess what? We just skip them altogether by glitching! Any% new record! That's why no one cares about this. These people will play the same game or level thousands of times to trigger 1/1,000,000 glitches to skip huge swaths of games, then claim some made-up "record." This is not skill. Even the non-glitch speedruns are more down to persistence (if not mental illness) than skill--which is a result of deliberate practice--like one sees in competitive shooters or fighting games. And these people throw tantrums constantly, like children, and curse the "RNG" (an admission this isn't about skill) the way a primitive tribesman might damn the gods for a prolonged drought.
  - ohdeargodno 1y ago
    If only speed running communities existed, where they made different categories like any%, any% No major glitches/skips, all with varying prestige and competitiveness, as well as agreed upon which skips are so soul crushingly shit to do that they're excluded from every category aside from any% :( You might consider therapy, if playing games fast makes you angry.
    - mkfs 1y ago
      > If only speed running communities existed, where they made different categories like any%, any% No major glitches/skips, all with varying prestige and competitiveness, as well as agreed upon which skips are so soul crushingly shit to do that they're excluded from every category aside from any% :( Arbitrarily delineating good vs. bad glitches is dumb, and even glitch-free speedruns are more about persistence, just trying over and over again until you get the exact right sequence of inputs (or "RNG") to claim the record, rather than repeatable skill. This isn't like some high-level CS:GO player who can consistently headshot fast-moving targets or a high-level SF player who's mastered techniques like hit confirms. > You might consider therapy, if playing games fast makes you angry. I'm not the one downvoting comments, and unlike speedrunners, I don't throw tantrums over games.
      - marci 1y ago
        It reads like you said "Arbitrarily delineating good vs. bad glitches is dumb", then immediately proceeded to arbitrarily delineating good vs. bad skill. People who don't like CS:GO type of games won't find any value or interest in some "player who can consistently headshot fast-moving targets". Some people just like seeing their favorite game break in unexpected ways. It's a bit like going into someone else home in the same building with the same floor plan, or just the mirror tracks in a racing game, everything is uncannily familiar, and this uncanny feeling is enjoyed. Maybe you just don't see the appeal, which is fine as well.
      - thunderfork 1y ago
        [dead]

cchianel 1y ago

Related: Archipelago (https://archipelago.gg/ https://archipelago.gg/), a framework that randomizes multiple games, across multiple clients. For example, Player A is playing Mario 64, and Player B is playing Pokemon Red. Some items from Player B's Pokemon Red (such as the Rock Smash HM) would be in Player A's Mario 64 world (for example, from collecting a Star). As a result, the two players need to coordinate and help each other progress. Archipelago GitHub: https://github.com/ArchipelagoMW/Archipelago https://github.com/ArchipelagoMW/Archipelago

curtisszmania 1y ago

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deleted 1y ago

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