John 3:17 (ESV) "God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." Christ, the savior of the world was born today! Rejoice!
Merry Christmas everyone!
I am trying to get myself really organized for 2017. The main reason being that I want 2017 to be my best year yet. Despite what happens in 2017, I am super motivated to improve my life, and set some new goals (including gaming goals).
With that said, if I really want things to change for the better, this is going to be an extremely difficult year ahead of me. I am not going to get discouraged though. I want to see big changes and I'm ready for it. Much of this has to do with the fact that I recently got engaged to my girlfriend of 12 years, and I am tired of being stuck in a hole. I need a better job, I need a place I can call mine, and I need a more healthy lifestyle. I want to handle this whole being an adult thing, and just be better at life overall.
So that's my story right now. Even though I have a busy year ahead of me, I plan to significantly improve my gaming life as well. At this point, my hands have almost completely healed from my work injuries! Awesome Games Done Quick is just around the corner and I am in need of some serious practice.
I am currently scheduled to play Super Mario Bros and The Lost Levels for the AGDQ charity marathon. I am tentatively playing Tuesday night, January 10th: AGDQ 2017 Schedule
I will be racing darbian and Kosmic in Super Mario Bros warpless (All Stages) and very likely Any% (warps) as well. I will also be racing them for The Lost Levels Any% 8-4 (warps). Nowadays, it's a pretty big deal to get a spot in the marathon, so I am very grateful for that.
I said that I would be starting a series: Black Box NES Gaming. I am, and it seems I'm kicking it off with Super Mario Bros! I NEED to practice for AGDQ, so my SMB addiction will commence once again. My plan is to play SMB/LL until the end of January, and switch to the other black box games February 1st.
Tentative Stream Schedule: Dec 26 - Jan 31
Super Mario Bros. - Warpless
Super Mario Bros. - Any%
The Lost Levels (FDS) - Any% 8-4
Super Mario Bros. - High Score Attempts
The Lost Levels (SNES) - Any% D-4 (Mario)
The Lost Levels (SNES) - Warpless D-4 (Mario)
Every year, I am made out to be a liar after not following through with the games I say I will play. My plans change over the course of a year, so I'm sorry I can't stick to my original game plan.
So what am I doing!?
My left thumb is healing well I think. My hands have gotten very beat up over the past few weeks, so I've opted not to play any video games since I cut my thumb. I want to play games again! However, I still don't want to use my thumb...
Since I have been meaning to tackle games in the black box NES games, I decided a light gun game is the way to go until my left hand it healed. So let's see what I can do with Duck Hunt!
Today there are many things to be thankful for, and I am very grateful for what I have been given.
Yesterday, I nearly cut off the tip of my left thumb. While I am sad that it happened, I am thankful that it wasn't worse. It is definitely disappointing, especially because I was planning to start working on the Super Mario Bros warpless (complete all stages) category again. So now my plans have changed, and maybe this will give me some time to collect my thoughts. I have had a series of events happen recently that are making me think, re-examine my life, and my goals. I was almost involved in two head-on car collisions on the same day: one with a man being chased by the police, and one on my way to work that morning where I had to swerve toward a side road when they veered straight towards me.
I am thankful I'm alive.
As for gaming, I need to practice for Awesome Games Done Quick, but I'm sure I could manage even without practice. I mean, it's Super Mario Bros (I think I've played it before)? I think it will be a few weeks (or months) before I can actually use my thumb, especially given how rough I am on it when I play NES. In the meantime, I'm going to use this time to figure out a game plan.
I also started a "black box" NES gaming series. The black box NES games are the 30 initially released titles by Nintendo. I realized that I really enjoy the way these games play, and I have experience with the majority of them already. The list is this image below.
I already did 10-Yard Fight last week. It's not exactly the most interesting title to watch, but it was definitely a worthy challenge. It's a world record! 77-0. I've never managed to crack 70 until now. :)
The black box series will consist of both high score and speedrun world records, and will likely also include miscellaneous videos showcasing oddities of specific titles.
In my last post, I wrote about the craziness surrounding both the Donkey Kong high score and Super Mario Bros any% (fastest completion) world records. In the last 6 months, the impossible has been achieved on both titles. Both world records have been pushed even further than I thought was possible.
Donkey Kong:
The original arcade version of Donkey Kong has seen a surge in competition since the release of the movie, "The King of Kong," in 2007. The movie is based on the true story of the Donkey Kong high score competition between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, the former top 2 players in the world. Fast forward to 2016, and their top scores are in 19th and 20th place, respectively. We are overdue for a new King of Kong movie between the top 2 players: current world record holder, Wes Copeland and former champion, Robbie Lakeman.
So here's what has happened!
May 5th, 2016:
Wes Copeland put up a score that may very well never be beaten. His score bested Robbie Lakeman's 1,190,200 score that was achieved just weeks earlier. He also bested Dean Saglio who had held the DK record uninterrupted for roughly 7 years (2009-2016). Dean doesn't get too much publicity due to the fact that his scores were achieved on his home computer instead of an actual arcade cabinet. The only actual difference between the computer and arcade version is the control set itself, and thus the scores are listed on the same leaderboard, but labeled for said differences.
Front Row, Left to Right: Robbie Lakeman, Billy Mitchell, Wes Copeland (bonus points if you can name the 2nd row of gamers)
Wes Copeland's score is at very edge of Donkey Kong high score potential. He scored 1,218,000; He became the 2nd ever 1.2 million point player, the 1st to do it on an actual cabinet, and the 1st to ever best Dean Saglio. Donkey Kong gives you 4 lives to score as high as possible before reaching an impassible screen (the kill screen), and Wes took his 1st life to the end of the game. He was able to use those 3 extra lives to gain enough points to surpass Dean Saglio's 1,206,800 game by a fair margin! A huge congratulation is due to Wes for what I would call a "perfect" game of Donkey Kong.
June 21st, 2016:
Just when you thought it was over Robbie Lakeman put up a massive 2nd place score of 1,206,900. His score was also achieved on a cabinet and bested Dean Saglio by a mere 100 points (one barrel jump)! This is no minor accomplishment, and a huge congratulation is due to Robbie as well.
Current Standings
Super Mario Bros.:
In terms of speedrunning, Super Mario Bros is the equivalent of the 100 meter dash. Any time the any% (fastest completion) world record is broken, it is a big deal. Now, the times are lower than I ever thought possible!
It's me, andrewg
February 14th, 2016:
'Blubbler' set a world record warpless time of 19:05.89! I always had put my limit for this run at around 19:05, so a a big congrats to blubbler on his run through all stages. I enjoy this category quite a bit, and would like to do a run again in the near future.
July 3rd, 2016:
Bryan Niskanen breaks my world record Twin Galaxies score of 1,435,100 with 1,441,150 points! It was an impressive run to watch.
August 11th, 2016:
Darbian sets a world record time of 4:57.244 for any% beating his personal best by a single frame.
darbian
September 29th, 2016:
Kosmicd12 ties darbian's world record time of 4:57.244 for any% using a NEW, yes a new, speedrun technique. This technique is referred to as FPG or the flagpole glitch, which involves clipping inside the base of the flagpole to skip the flag's animation. It saves a frame rule, or simply, it saves 0.35 seconds per use, and there are at least 3 spots it can be utilized. That's at least 1.05 seconds that can be gained, which might not seem like much, but it is. Before the discovery of the FPG, the last improvement to the world record was a single frame or 1/60th of a second or .016 seconds. This discovery opened up a can of worms.
kosmicd
October 3rd, 2016:
Kosmicd12 breaks the tied world record with a time of 4:57.194. This run included the fastest ever last stage completion of 8-4 seen in a world record. This is the first time kosmicd12 has held the world record time.
October 5th, 2016:
Darbian reclaims the world record with a time of 4:56.878. This time is lower than the fastest possible just weeks earlier and is the first 4:56 time ever!
Current Standings
For years, I said that 4:57 was impossible and was proven wrong, and now 4:56 has happened. The time savings of the FPG blew my mind to say the least. I am currently tied for 3rd place with 4:57.69 with blubbler. I imagine it won't be long before we start seeing more 4:56 times now. It is only a matter of time. And maybe, just maybe, we'll even see a 4:55.
So I've been thinking quite a bit lately about my schedule, my goals, and what I want to do with my time. There really isn't enough time in a day! I feel I have been neglecting some things, and that this aspect of my life needs to change. However, I would still love to continue in my gaming pursuits, continue in my various hobbies, continue in working toward a new career path, and remember to do all that general life stuff that we all should be doing.
OK, so now let's talk about what's new with me since my last post and what has happened.
First of all, one really cool thing that happened is that I got partner on Twitch.tv. It's a really exciting opportunity because in my mind it's sort of like I have my own TV show. What partner means is that I can get paid to live stream video games on Twitch. Let me clarify: Me getting paid to play video games is based on support from my viewers. I wouldn't call it a job, and I wouldn't want to do it if it was work. It's not income I can rely on to always be there.
For me, getting partner is a bonus to what I am already doing. I love to live stream my gaming performances anyway, and now I might make money doing what I love to do. I don't think partner is going to really change what I've been doing. I play some popular games, but I've always also played a lot of "nonsense games," games that are complete garbage or games that no one even cares about. I get enjoyment out of gaming for various reasons, and I can understand why someone might not want to watch me play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I'm still going to do it! At the end of the day, it's about fun for me. I enjoy playing, and if people want to watch, great! But I am not going to go out of my way to get more viewers, and I am not going to be upset if people don't watch me. I love to entertain, but I'm not going to do so at the cost of my own enjoyment. I am almost always attempting a gaming challenge. 99% of my streams involve me trying to either break a world record or get closer to doing so. Even when playing a game like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I don't think many people realize that it's actually serious in that, I actually do speedrun that game. As silly as it may be, it actually is challenging to beat quickly! Once you can appreciate the challenge, you can appreciate the quest. Of course, that still doesn't mean you will want to watch it! ;)
Before I move onto a subject I NEED to talk about, I just want to say that Donkey Kong (arcade) is similar to what I just described of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The above image is the current (and new) world record score for Donkey Kong. It was achieved April 19th by player Wes Copeland. Score is 1,195,100 for those who aren't realizing that the score is so high that it looped back to 0. This is an amazing achievement, and yet not many people actually WANT to watch a Donkey Kong score attempt. Donkey Kong is one of the most popular games, yet one of the most under-watched performances.
Donkey Kong (arcade) is the perfect example of gaming for the challenge itself. Despite the game's popularity: it doesn't bring a whole lot of viewers to streams, the attempts might not be the most exciting thing to watch, but the challenge is why they play. It should come to no surprise that I am also a Donkey Kong player.
Alright, so now... let's talk about darbian!
Who is darbian you may ask? Well, darbian just blew my mind. He recently topped the speedrun world record for Super Mario Bros (again). It is a self improvement for him as he already held the world record before he achieved his new time. However, this new time is very significant. For me, it is significant on a personal level. He reached my goal time of under 4:57.30 with a 4:57.26 time. Why is this significant? This might take me a minute to explain.
Back in 2011, when I was striving for the elusive 4:57 time, I stopped just short of my goal. The reason I stopped was because it seemed pointless for me to continue. I thought "Well, my current world record time is safe. I don't think anyone will beat it for a VERY long time" Well, of course, I was wrong in that assumption. In mid-2014, a player named 'blubbler' managed to best my time. I had held the world record consecutively since early 2007, and had previously "tied" (milliseconds weren't counted back then) the record in 2005.
Using the 'Bullet Bill Glitch' or BBG for short, blubbler saved 0.70 seconds, he skipped a trick I did and lost 0.35 seconds, and he beat the last stage .05 seconds faster than me. Even if blubbler used the same methods I did, skill-wise, he still would have bested me by .05 seconds. This was very significant, because finally someone managed to achieve the elusive 4:57 time. The time I had been striving to get for so long. However, I couldn't help but feel that despite the run being 4:57, it felt sub-optimal. The reason for this thinking is because I always have pushed the run down to "all frames rules," which basically means 'absolute perfection up until level 8-4'.
The Bullet Bill Glitch
My time was 4:58.09, and the limit I put on the run was around ~4:57.85.
Blubbler's time was 4:57.69 and now the limit time moved to ~4:57.15.
So the record went from being improvable by 0.2 seconds to being improvable by 0.5 seconds.
The day my record was beaten, my goal jumped from 'under 4:58' to 'under 4:57.30.' Literally accounting for the 0.7 seconds that the new BBG saved. Darbian's new time is 4:57.260. Without the BBG, darbian's time would be 4:57.96 (the 4:57 time I always wanted, but never achieved). Someone finally managed the level of perfection I tried for, and with a new trick no less!!!!!! At the moment, darbian's run has all frame rules and a nearly flawless 8-4 run, meaning his run is hardly beatable.
I know that I have the ability to best darbian's run, but he reached my goal before I did. It is definitely an arbitrary time, but it was what I tried to do for so long and couldn't. Finally someone managed to do it, and it wasn't me.
I guess that's it. Hopefully you understand what I'm trying to convey here. I have a great deal of respect for all my competitors, but darbian really impressed me by achieving what I couldn't.
I am still going to try and beat the new world record, but I'm satisfied with how optimized the run is, despite it not being me who did it. :) Hopefully some day I can reclaim this record.
And for those who haven't seen darbian's run, here it is! Watch it, it's less than 5 minutes!
