Yoshi/Daisy IL Strat Improvement: Dodging MVP Points via Delayed Double Steal YourGenderHere 2024-06-29 | Just, once again, you press X and RIGHT to call a runner stealing for second base back to first base. I said that incorrectly the first few times - sorry for the confusion. I recommend pressing X+Right only once to stop the runner in place, as opposed to twice to actually instruct them to start running back towards first. That makes it easier to follow through on finishing the steal to second once the ball is headed home.Yoshi gets credit for the stolen base using this strategy, which is a nice bonus!I hope the audio commentary makes things clear but if not, leave a comment below and I'll provide whatever explanation is needed. Thanks again to Matty and NudeCactus, this strategy is very useful and very cool!
Mario Party 4: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 6 YourGenderHere 2024-10-12 | Into the jungle we go. I'm not averse to this board, but I'm also definitely taking some time to get the hang of it. Star Space placement seems to matter a lot, and Happening Spaces are easy for everyone to each - that's a lot of randomness to handle, just there. Hopefully, if I can just have a solid run with Happening Star and a board star to put me ahead of whoever gets the Coin and Minigame Stars, I'll squeak through. Or maybe it'll take another jackpot. Or maybe it'll be something else entirely! We'll just have to keep hacking our way through the brush and find out...Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. For Coin Minigames (Paratrooper Plunge, Money Belts, and Pair-a-sailing) I am allowed to earn coins, so long as I'm not the player or on the team that earned *the most* coins. Ties for 1st place are not allowed unless every player obtains the same score, in which case the minigame is considered a "draw" and the run can continue.(This reflects how Coin Minigames work in Mini-game Mode activities that track wins. The "no inputs" rule has been abandoned.)3. I am not allowed to win/survive any minigames involving Bowser, and must specifically be the loser in every one I play. This includes all three Bowser Space minigames and the two special minigames exclusive to the Bowser's Gnarly Party board.4. I am not allowed to get or tie for 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. Reversal of Fortune is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.6. Similarly, all board events - including the Lottery Shop, coin-awarding Happening Space sequences, and Mini-sized item and coin-awarding games - do not count as minigames for the purposes of this run, and I can enjoy them as I see fit.7. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)8. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)9. I am allowed to successfully finish the minigames Goomba's Chip Flip, Archeologuess, Bowser Bop, Mystic Match 'Em, Kareening Koopas, and The Final Battle!, as the game does not declare Luigi a winner when these minigames are completed.(Also, if I couldn't make it past these minigames, the challenge would not be completable.)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3 No Minigame Wins Challenge Epilogue - REVENGE OF CHILLY WATERS! YourGenderHere 2024-10-11 | Surprise! We return to Chilly Waters, one day away from our retirement, for one last job...You see, in the aftermath of MP3's No Minigame Wins Challenge and the early stages of MP4's, I lamented that I had adopted the "No Inputs" rule for Coin Minigames in MP3 - in the end, it felt like a cop out rather than a proper compromise or reasonable alternative. I became convinced that the "most coins" rule was a better fit, but also knew I didn't have it in me to do the whole challenge over again.But then... then I reviewed the footage, and it turns out that in my successful board clears of MP3 No Minigame Wins, I had only earned more coins than my opponents in Coin Minigames precisely once - and it was in Chilly Waters. I immediately realized that, because board clears are completely independent of each other, I could *effectively* complete the challenge again under the ruleset I felt was a better fit! All I would need to do is clear Chilly Waters again, but this time making sure to lose the Coin Minigames properly. With all that I had learned about losing like a winner, how hard could it be?Well, it turns out, not unreasonably hard. One stream was (thankfully) all it took. I got lucky in the successful run, sure, but not outrageously lucky - I played smart, taking all of the tricks and tactics from the later boards back to the Antarctic hellscape from which this challenge began for a narrow but well-earned victory.And at this point, I can now say that I truly am satisfied. I beat Mario Party 3's Story Mode without winning a minigame under any reasonable interpretation of what it means to win a minigame (yes, including Item Minigames. I'm standing by that 100%).This'll make a nice encore for the big videos I want to make down the line. Enjoy! And if you hunger for more No Minigame Wins content, know that I am planning my return to MP4 as you read this...Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Held Item Duplication in Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 (GBC) YourGenderHere 2024-10-09 | Surprise, I'm a glitch hunter now!Well, "bug noticer" is a bit more accurate. I stumbled upon duplicated held items during my routing for Max Catalog, and eventually deduced where they were coming from. Even if my technical explanation doesn't end up being 100% accurate, it at least paints a useful picture of what's happening in the code.This trick is handy, but definitely doesn't break the game. You can get maybe ten or so duplicated held items per save file total - the limiting factor is NPC breeds, which are a scarce, difficult to utilize, and non-renewable resource. As such, I won't be considering it a "glitch" disallowed from Glitchless Max Catalog (No Link Cable), my big years-long project of a run. All this bug does is give you a few more held items that if you want you can sell for money, but otherwise just make you a little more effective in battle. You don't get any direct progress on beating the game or clearing out your catalog, and there's a noticeable time investment required to utilize and profit from this technique. Also, you can activate this bug entirely by accident, as I did at least three times before finally deciding to stop what I was doing and investigate. Calling it a "glitch" feels too harsh, to me. It's a bug. Unintended, but more of a programming oversight than a true exploit of the game's processes.If opinion on this is super strong I might refrain from using this bug in the speedrun anyway, but even if that happens, it's OK. My route does not require held item duplication in order to function. Probably just a little time loss. We'll live.
Lets Speedwalk Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: All* Monsters! Episode 10: An A for Effort YourGenderHere 2024-10-08 | A bittersweet farewell. You have to walk before you can run, and now that I'm in a position to actually do a run of this challenge, the time for walking has come to a close.As a learning exercise, this series was a complete success. I learned what I was doing wrong in my initial approach to Max Catalog, and also learned what I needed to figure out in order to do the category justice. If I hadn't earnestly felt the duty to continue making episodes of this fairly irrelevant and dubiously-optimized Let's Play, I might have given up on DWM2 entirely. Instead, I have drafted a plan for something I once thought impossible: an efficient route for overcoming AND properly harnessing Magic Key World RNG.Listen to me ramble for one more hour, I ask of you, and rejoice that the next time you'll have the opportunity to hear me ramble about this game, it'll be for several *consecutive* hours! The commentated route playthrough I mention towards the end of the episode is in currently in development, with the first two hours or so of footage finished. I hope to provide a more systematic and thoughtful overview of the Max Catalog experience on that commentary track. Wish me luck!Something that I forgot to explain towards the end of this episode was the "33 + 7" idea - my "shopping list" of monsters to find in MKWs includes seven optional monsters that are available in the Traveler World, which is a story world key. Said key is only available after you've defeated Kameha a second time. You unlock this rematch by collecting 150 monsters and fully clearing the Elf World (earning a star next to the key name, as I did in this video). Obviously getting 150 monsters isn't going to be much of an issue seeing as we're getting all 310 eventually - however, getting access to the Traveler ingredients from MKWs rather than Traveler itself means that we don't need to bother at all with the Elf storyline, the Kameha rematch, or any of the story in Traveler. If we can't get all seven of those monsters, then if we can at least get Skullgon and Skulpent, that saves us from unlocking the tower in Traveler, which ain't nothing. Bottom line though, the extra 7 only save a little bit of time. The big 33 is where the real meat of the time save is at.Monsters collected, in order of acquisition: (52/310)Slime, CactiBall, CrestPent, Spooky, CurseLamp, Beavern, MadGopher, AntBear, Dracky, ArmyAnt, HoodSquid, DarkEye, EvilWand, DarkCrab, Wyvern, WindBeast, TreeBoy, Orc, Florajay, MadPecker, Grizzly, Puppetor, WildApe, Roboster, RogueNite, Trumpeter, MadSpirit, Andreal, DeadNoble, MetalDrak, BossTroll, ChopClown, LavaMan, Petiteel, Mommonja, Octoreach, SeaHorse, FishRider, OctoKid, Pumpoise, Octogon, Octoraid, GoldGolem, Niterich, KingLeo, KingSquid, MadCondor, Babble, Slabbit, KiteHawk, WhipBird, GreatDrak.Here Lies BepisRest In PeaceFebruary 17, 2021 - October 7, 2024
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Petey Piranha in 9:46.233 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-07-09 | Well alright, this is more or less what I was looking for! The Bowser Jr. 5 Catch segment could have gone 30 seconds or so faster and my batting against Mario wasn't exactly blazing fast, but I'm really happy to have completed what I am confident is the optimal route for this category. I don't think it's possible to get 5 Catches as the pitcher against Mario without voiding the shutout - that's the only thing that can change my approach at this point, I think.The key was getting a feel for how the Bowser Jr. match needed to go, which took some time. I eventually learned that Petey in CF gave me the best overall odds of converting any given Dry Bones or Bowser Jr. swing into a valid catch, i.e. Petey being the first fielder to touch the ball *without bobbling it first*. Due to the constraints of the match and being limited to half an inning, you need to get all five of your catches before accumulating three outs OR allowing two runs. With that in mind, you have two 'free' outs and one 'free' run each of which can be 'spent' getting the first three of your catches; gun down two runners from the outfield and let the third cross home plate for free to keep those bases clear. The fourth catch will have to come from allowing a base hit that can be up to a triple, but you need to act fast and throw the ball to home before Dry Bones gets any clever ideas about trying to score early, thus derailing everything. The fifth and final catch can be on the play that ends the match, whether that's by nailing a fly out or (as happened in this run) picking the ball up while a second member of the Fangs crosses home plate and sends Wario off grumbling.Focusing on the outfield rather than the infield makes a huge difference - your LF and RF movement can quite often coax Petey towards the ball even in situations where you might be inclined to think that it wouldn't; on the flipside, if Petey is anywhere in the infield you need substantial luck on every infield hit in order to make any progress. King Boo on Catcher is crucial so that Petey can "off-brand Laser Beam" down his opponents in order to keep them from scoring more than once before you're ready. Weirdly enough, planning to get the goal in 5 plate appearances exactly worked out a lot better than merely trying to get it "within 7", which is the absolute maximum you can get. That's on top of getting it in 5 PAs being faster, of course. This is Mario Superstar Baseball for the Nintendo Gamecube, and we make our own luck whenever we can!The Mario match was decently smooth. Perhaps if I'd played things differently I could have avoided the second pitcher switch, but I was too excited about everything else going right to handle that aspect of the run perfectly. I was very worried that mishandling the Body Check setup was going to do me in, as you have only 40% odds of success against Pianta (as opposed to 60% for Monty and 50% for Mario or Luigi). But hey, just win the dice roll, right? A few more line drives later and we're three up, three down, and off to Yoshi Park for some creative gardening/plant-on-plant violence.Reminder: if you don't play Piranha Panic on Hard, even when you don't need to, you're not a God Gamer. I went for high score rather than funny score this time.If you want to get the exact Bowser Jr. encounter that I get in this run every time, guaranteed, simply soft reset your console, select Exhibition Game, call for a random captain precisely once (the randomly called captain will always be Bowser Jr.) and then go directly to Challenge Mode to start your Wario Greats playthrough on Star Difficulty. You'll need to walk to the node that I walk to and then stand still and let Jr. encounter you - starting things any sooner will cause you to be batting. Special difficulty does not work for this run because the Bowser Jr. scenarios are different (i.e., worse). Similarly, there's no opportunity for Team Swap because we must have Petey on our starting roster for him to be in the Jr. encounter and fighting Jr. before any baseball undoes Team Swap. Also, who needs any other players, the Greats are called the Greats for a reason!
Seam Bounce (?) Home Run from Petey IL Attempts YourGenderHere 2024-07-09 | I'm not the first person to encounter this glitch, but I am most likely the third person to document footage of it!Do you have any clue what happened here? I don't, and the best guess that the modders currently have is that the ball bounced on a "seam" between the floor triangles in a manner that fucked up the function that grounds the ball. That's why I'm calling it a seam bounce, at least for now.This game really never stops giving you surprises...
Lets Speedwalk Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: All* Monsters! Episode α: Unsolved Problems YourGenderHere 2024-07-08 | This episode is a short intermission in which I explain the specific form of my madness to you for just over an hour, covering among other topics the conditions for spawning NPCs in Magic Key Worlds and the encounter tables for the NPCs that you can fight/steal monsters from.There's still a lot to do. I'm looking forward to continuing this Cobi's journey, but with more thorough research put into the venture beforehand...Episode 10 soon (tm)! Let me know any thoughts you have about the Max Catalog speedrun in the comments. I want to know what other folks are thinking.
Laser Beam via Botched Pick Off YourGenderHere 2024-07-04 | I figured this out while conducting experiments on how to potentially cheese Petey 5 Catches. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like picking runners off can help out Petey, but it turns out you can use this technique to acquire an out via the Laser Beam - it's even possible to get pitcher laser this way! Waluigi is unboosted in this video but I suspect that we still need the Lucky Glove to get a laser out on Noki, so ultimately this probably doesn't change very much, but is a way to take hit trajectories out of the equation, and that's not nothing. One could plausibly HBP a batter and then laser them into oblivion immediately after. DK comes to mind as someone who could potentially benefit from this, in addition to Waluigi (Pianta's probably fine with current strats).The key is to have no runner on second and slow fielders at 2B and SS. Hold up, and then press A *immediately* after B to initiate the pick and throw the ball past second base. This sets you up as if you'd gotten a hit to CF like normal, except that there doesn't seem to be a way to extract Big Plays or "catches" from this scenario no matter how you do it - just the Laser Beam out. Sliding into the botched throw didn't trigger a scoop Big Play either.I'll do a little more testing to see if you can cheese Tag Out and Jumping Catch with this. Those are the only two other things I can see this technique being useful for, but I'll of course keep brainstorming. Let me know if you have any ideas about how to exploit pick-offs for defense missions!
Barrel Bounced YourGenderHere 2024-07-02 | Normally it's the Klaptraps that do this to you at this stadium...
Yoshi Inside-the-Park Home Run from Egg Swing YourGenderHere 2024-07-01 | Here's a little bonus outtake from Yoshi IL attempts. I was only able to get this once, but it was neat! An early Egg Swing aiming for a Triple or foul ball is the way to go, I say.
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Yoshi in 11:18 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-07-01 | OK, it IS possible for everything to line up perfectly, and with some better batting I quite possibly could have sent this run home one inning and about a minute faster, but honestly it's just such a relief to have the defense in particular go as planned for once. So many times, the Monarchs just do not offer you the necessary hits to clear the category, and on the rare occasions when they do there's always the opportunity for a disastrous bobble to ruin things. This run has three clean, clean, clean reflex Big Play infield Tongue Catches. The *overall* strategy worked as intended. I'm pretty happy with this one, and will likely rest on it - we'll see, but this is a brutal run to even attempt, so don't be surprised not to see any more of these for a while.The big breakthroughs that made this run possible are thus:1. Going for Tongue Catches against Peach as 2B without any fielder positioning swaps. Mario has a mix of sluggers and speedsters, whereas Peach's team is consistently small-ball oriented, ideal for farming the infield - plus, the metal blocks over the foul lines can occasionally block errant fly balls and deliver Yoshi a much-appreciated free snack. Toadsworth and Peach prefer to push to RF, whereas Toadette and the Balanced characters are side-ambivalent, which is why 2B is likely slightly better than SS (but both can probably work).2. Delayed Double Steal to dodge the go-ahead bonus. Unless Yoshi hits a solo HR to kick off the match or you shunt him down the lineup, 8 or 13 or so MVP points are going to one of Yoshi's teammates - that is, unless the scoring play occurs from baserunning alone rather than from batting. In this run, *no-one* got the go-ahead MVP points, and Yoshi's batting combined with FOUR Big Plays made him the obvious choice for MVP. (Managing MVP points is tricky, and absolutely required for a fast finish.) You can put Yoshi back on the mound if you're in MVP danger and get your third Tongue Catch before your last out, but as you can see it's not mandatory and every fielding position switch avoided is eight seconds saved. I have a tutorial on Delayed Double Steal for those interested: youtube.com/watch?v=ioiR4cHiiAs3. Egg Swing rather than bunt hit to kick off the match. In this run as well as plenty of other attempts the Egg Swing converted to a triple, letting me check that goal off early - I've also gotten an inside-the-park HR from Egg Swing once, which if it happens makes MVP trivial (although it's very rare). In other runs, the Egg Swing went foul, and I was able to immediately pivot to the bunt hit while the bases were still nice and empty, getting that goal out of the way early instead. The big point here is that the Egg Swing is very erratic, and with practice (and Dash Spikes) the bunt hit is IMO reliable enough to delay until later on the match. No more runs dying to Egg Swing eight minutes in - now it's three minutes in at most, and that makes a huge difference.4. Team Swap. Yoshi Sunshines, with the three Islanders speedsters sending Pianta's ass(es) back to the beach/bench, is a dream of a team for any% bunting strats especially with those fancy cleats on. Doing the strats against Peach really pushes your ability to send the ball along the foul lines, because Peach herself handling the ball can do you in quickly. I can say that I got some excellent bunting practice with the Yoshi IL and am excited to apply my improvement to other characters' runs.5. Full commitment to a two-inning clear. One inning is hilarious but not remotely practical. The Monarchs are way too good at both striking out and hitting lineouts that you don't have time to dodge. 6+ outs is small enough to let good luck smile upon you without overcommitting to unambitious, plodding safety. Plus, depending on when you end the Top of 1, you can set yourself up for Yoshi's remaining batting missions strategically (in this run, giving Yoshi the ideal conditions for Bunt Hit, as Triple and the Egg Swing were already taken care of). This category is masochistic as it is and two innings is just about bearable - one inning simply wouldn't be. To anyone who is disappointed, here's your chance to put me in my place and style all over my pragmatism with a 17-0 miracle run. Good luck!One last thing: 110 is the optimal score for Piranha Panic, so I'm glad to have nailed that too as a "high-value" side goal. ;)
Yoshi (and Daisy) Superstar% IL Strat: Yoshi Commits MVP Point Fraud YourGenderHere 2024-06-28 | This is my new strategy for dealing with Yoshi MVP whilst also keeping Yoshi at the top of the lineup and off of the mound for most of his match! I explain pretty much everything via the audio commentary, so I won't repeat most of it here.One thing that I should have mentioned is that I was able to steal home as unboosted Daisy specifically against DK and his team - Goomba's limp "arm" in particular can be bested by Daisy's legs, and I would say I'm successful about half the time I attempt the strat. Given that we're doing this early on in the run, those are quite acceptable odds of success in my view, and in any case much better than any home-run based strategy I've learned of so far. I haven't tested Daisy stealing home against any other opponent so getting it at other stadiums may or may not be possible, but I'm fairly committed to doing Daisy's match against DK at this point so I'll leave additional testing for others or future me to do later.I'm going to be working on the Yoshi IL for a little bit so wish me luck! Yoshi's IL was the run I was working on when I got burnt out and ended up taking a year off from the game, so hopefully my resilience proves stronger this time around.
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Waluigi in 15:20 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-06-21 | File under: not actually all that impressive in context (this was only a PB by about 23 seconds) but still very satisfying, because I achieved my true goal: the 1-inning Waluigi IL!The batting certainly had its flaws, and I decided to go full safety for the Luigi strikeout rather than throw three straight strikes as I ought to, but overall this was solid work! I complain about Pianta's batting a lot but I've figured out ways to make working with him more bearable, the primary method being "Team Star abuse". Subbing Boo in for Mario gave me a very helpful fourth Team Star, meaning two for the Piantas and two for Waluigi - at that point, the only scheduled 'unassisted' hit was Waluigi's very first, nice and early for those delicious line out resets.As you can see here, Pitcher Laser can work against a fast runner like Noki, but you need tight timing, a smash throw from outfield Pianta to catcher Noki, and the Lucky Glove's boost to fielding arms in order to succeed. You can see that the ball only barely made it in time to home plate even with the Lucky Glove - without that item boost, forget it. It's convenient that we can visit the shop on the way to Mario Stadium at little time cost, and even wait to pick up the Eggplant until later so that Waluigi's star swing isn't a joke for the actual baseball match without losing much time either.Aside from the baseball, overall solid Barrel Batter and no problems with the other minigames either - I was even able to nab an extra second of time save by passing my third turn in Wall Ball. Optimal!I knew I wasn't on track for sub-15 before the final moment of tension of the run - the walk from WB to CCS - so I was apprehensive but thankfully not full of dread. If I had more time for attempts, I would play CCS before Barrel Batter at the start of every run, averting this extra opportunity for Jr. to block my path and piss me off. As things stood, I knew there was a chance the little imp would troll me; lo and behold, Jr. decided that he wanted to chase me around for a while before I eventually shook him off. A little better than parking in front of Magikoopa to veto my run entirely, but still annoying. I'm just glad I didn't lose the PB...This is a Waluigi run that I can rest on, although sub-15 is quite reasonable to aim for so there's a chance I'll give this another shot someday. For now, it's on to the next IL.
Waluigi IL Strat: Pitcher Laser... 2!!! YourGenderHere 2024-06-19 | I'm about to type a sentence that I never possibly could have imagined amounting to a true statement: there is a speedrun category in Mario Superstar Baseball for the Nintendo Gamecube for which buying the Lucky Glove is apparently the optimal strategy.Yes, you read that correctly. The Lucky Glove.To finish Waluigi's IL match of baseball in 1 inning, you must get pitcher laser specifically against Red or Green Noki - there's no extra allowance owing to the facts that you must both reach the sixth spot of Mario's lineup (to strikeout Luigi) and maintain a shutout, or else the match is for nothing.The basepath speed differential between Pianta (the usual Laser victim) and Noki (literally a Speed character) cannot be overstated. Even a Pianta smash throw to a Noki catcher with superb timing is very unlikely to make it to Waluigi in time for the interception and re-throw - at least, I was never able to get it a single time even with heavy savestate usage.So it doesn't work... unless you get the Lucky Glove. Then you can make it, and it's not even outrageously difficult at that point. There's a tricky timing to the strategy but I feel I understand it pretty well now, and I'd say I get it the majority of the time a Noki sends me an appropriate hit. It's actually nice, because uncharged Noki hits don't present home run risks - much more likely that you take two straight line outs and then you're in checkmate.No. The fielding is not the difficult part of the Waluigi IL. It's the batting. God DAMN do I hate batting as Pianta, and if it were at all possible to avoid stepping up to the plate with those grass-skirted oaves you know I would send their asses to the bench with a quickness... but I need that bastard's arm, and bringing fewer than two of him leaves too much up to trajectory RNG for the category to remain bearable. As of yet I have still not been able to make it to Waluigi's third plate appearance in Top of 1, and I'm trying my absolute hardest. These palm tree motherfuckers are too damn slow for Any% bunting and neither slap nor charged hits are reasonably effective means of getting them to first. I'm seriously considering conserving Team Stars not for Waluigi's line drive star swing, but for Red Pianta's cheesy star swing technique to get him on base. It's that bad.I think I'll be able to finish a Waluigi IL eventually but it might take me a long while...
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Toadsworth in 13:56 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-06-17 | Not an amazing 1-inning Toadsworth, but I'll take it. The defense in particular was not inspiring but I wasn't having a great time getting to the bottom of the inning so I had no qualms about playing it all out. Walking DK was painful but it would have been foolish to count on Big Play from him, so it is what it is. I also hate it when DK throws Banana Balls at me... You can more or less justify any opponent in this category but I like DK best because it lets me defuse Barrel Batter before I get a run I care about, so I'll let that ape chuck fruit at me I guess.The main reason why I'm happy with this run is that the minigames are essentially perfect. A three-ball Barrel Batter - not even the more common above-average four-ball, it was a three-ball! - along with a four-bomb BOD and mostly competent first try completions of the other other three minigames. Yes, I was essentially counting on the Toads playing badly after screwing up my second turn of Wall Ball. The game smiled on me. I'll take it! It didn't lose time or anything, who cares?Tough to say at this point if I'm going to do more Toadsworth eventually but I can at least say I reached the minimum number of innings played and destroyed the non-baseball segments of the run, so it likely won't be for a while. The old man is getting marked "tentatively done" on my secret spreadsheet. Oops, I just revealed the existence of the secret spreadsheet...
DK IL Peel Out Strat for Banana Ball HR Demonstration YourGenderHere 2024-06-17 | Mario's predictable Perfect contact pitch is exactly what we need to maximize our odds of getting the mythical Banana Ball HR. As you can see, it CAN happen. It still isn't likely, even under the best of circumstances. In the course of several continuous hours of run attempts, I managed to get the right timing for the hit 16 times in total. Two of those sixteen hits resulted in home runs. The rest, along with a few others that didn't have the right timing, bounced uselessly into the wall behind right field.This attempt was overall going pretty well... until DK failed to knock the ball out of the park on his second plate appearance. I have to say, batting as righty DK feels weird and pitching from the opposite direction as usual is even stranger. I'm going to have to overcome the weird batting to finish the run, though - the pitching I now address by pressing X another few times in game setup.A little disappointing because that second HR really was the last serious hurdle remaining - I needed 1 more run with all three Outs unused, and then one more strikeout out of my three remaining defense Outs. Absolutely doable - this is exactly where you want to be going into DK's second turn at the plate. Hopefully, this should serve as a powerful example of just how right ILs need to go in order to finish optimally, and how much dedication it will take to triumph in the end...
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Daisy in 9:06.867 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-06-16 | Mario Superstar Baseball Star Mission speedrunning is at the precipice of a new era: the era of stealing signs.Milky, who currently holds the Bowser Monsters record, mentioned that he noticed a peculiar pattern in Mario's pitching - if Mario moves left most (but not all) of the way on the plate, throws a charge pitch, and curves that pitch to the right... you get Perfect contact on your swing, provided you remained EXACTLY where the game spawns your batter originally. This is consistent across characters, interestingly enough; DK can do it, Toad can do it... Daisy, as you can see at 2:00, can do it. Getting the HR here is a much nicer prospect than doing it against DK or Yoshi (very random) or Wario (who also has a manip for Perfect contact, but is reluctant to offer it and also has stage hazards that make Daisy's other two PAs a bit of a nightmare). I will say that we haven't yet fully looked into stealing signs from all of the pitchers in Challenge Mode, so it's highly possible we'll see something we like from another pitcher before too long...I originally wasn't planning on publishing and submitting this particular run, but it IS a PB and I can't tolerate attempting Daisy any further for a little while, so it'll have to do for now. (Swapping out the Monarchs for most of the Sunshines helps but it's still irritating.) I still want a 1 inning finish and I'm confident that I can get one in the long run. Daisy is emphatically not finished. Progress is good, though. I made plenty of mistakes in this run but hopefully it still helps paint the picture I'm aiming for.The reason Daisy needs to hit that solo HR is because if she doesn't, you're either moving her down the lineup (adds PAs) or making it literally impossible for Daisy to get the go-ahead MVP point bonus in a 1-inning match. Considering that Daisy is going to be fielding for at least 2 of the 3 outs you're aiming to take, she doesn't have another viable way of scoring enough MVP points to get ahead of whoever drove in the go-ahead. MAYBE if she got a Big Play and you were insanely good at point management. Even then... this is a much more elegant solution. If Daisy has go-ahead no one stands a chance of catching her pointwise, and no-hitter is automatically defused by the pitcher switch. It's a very satisfying solve.Fun fact, you can secure MVP for Daisy via no-hitter if you use the Booted Ball setup and force a Fireball double play with Daisy as pitcher and Peach on 1B... but good luck going up 14-0 while keeping Mario from spending all of his Team Stars before it's his turn to bat. I certainly didn't have any luck when I tried it!
Bowser IL Bite The Bullet Strat for 1st of 2 HRs, Killer RBI, and Body Check YourGenderHere 2024-06-14 | This was recorded on emulator using savestates! Also I didn't capture any sound, the video is completely silent on purpose.It's not much of a path, but it's a path. We can attempt this strat on the first pitch of the match and either get it or reset, "only" having wasted one Easy Barrel Batter clear's worth of time. Extra nice is the fact that no menuing at all during game setup is necessary. Finish up with a full chem Grand Slam on Bowser's second plate appearance and you are on track for a 16 PA finish - the lowest number possible.Timing is key, here. I was mashing until Bowser rounded third base, at which point I stopped mashing until shortly before reaching home plate - you do need to be mashing as you reach home plate in order for the Body Check ability to even activate. This setup is very fussy, though, and it only seems to work if the fielders send the ball to SS or 2B for the final throw home - when Baby Mario threw to Birdo at 3B, it would always void the home run (likely because the scenario changes to that of a 'rundown' rather than a genuine race to home plate, and the game doesn't award home runs for rundowns or something).You can pull this strategy off with help from both the RF and LF Piranha Plants, but I always aim for RF because Baby Mario is so short that he frequently dodges the Piranha Plant's bite while successfully retrieving the ball, on top of the aforementioned third base problem. If you don't get the Piranha Plant bite then it's legitimately hopeless and there's no point trying any further - at least, I never even got close to succeeding without a bite like the one shown in this video that takes the outfielder considerable time to recover from.I've tested the strat both with and without Dash Spikes - Dash Spikes don't ruin the strategy, but they definitely aren't necessary. This particular recording was done without Dash Spikes. There wasn't a whole lot different with them versus without them - going forward I doubt we'll need any shop items other than the Bullet Bill and I won't be grabbing any (whew).There's a lot of inherent randomness to this strategy, in particular *not* getting a Team Star-awarding yellow Piranha Plant wherever you hit the ball on top of getting a favorable outcome on the 60% Body Check dice roll at the very end. I really, really do not look forward to attempting this on console, but I'll probably give it an honest few hours' try, at least. We know that this can work, and we even know how - that knowledge is powerful indeed.Peach and Wario don't have stage hazards Bowser's Killer Ball can reach, Mario doesn't have stage hazards at all, and DK's fielders are competent enough to recover from barrel impacts and still beat you to home plate handily - I think Yoshi is the way to go for this, and there's no real competition.
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Mario in 9:02.533 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-06-11 | Awesome. Definitely not perfect, especially with those batting and Bob-Omb Derby performances, but this is an overall competent and clear demonstration of my solution for the Mario IL. A quick and efficient Jr. defense encounter for Big Play, followed by a 16 PA first-inning mercy with no heinous mistakes in the execution. Truth be told, I was expecting to be resetting for much longer...I eventually settled on Monty for the pitcher during the Jr match because he seemed to have the easiest time beaning Jr, which is much faster than switching Mario's position a second time. Jr doesn't line out to SS or 2B hardly ever, either, so I gave up on trying to make Jr in particular work for me. Better to just roll the Bones again and be done with it. 1:08 is definitely on the faster end of Jr. encounters I was getting in attempts up to this point. Under a minute is possible if you can get the Big Play as pitcher against the first Dry Bones, who has a 25% chance of bunting. I still haven't gotten the bunt Big Play, but I believe it to be possible (Mario's just not as quick as Toadette and it shows...)I used RNG manip to obtain what I determined to be the ideal Bowser Jr. encounter - runners on 1st and 2nd rather than fully loaded bases, and with Jr. moving as directly into my path on the overworld map as I could convince him to. To do this, you need to soft reset the game, go into the Exhibition Game's first screen, and then call for a random captain 7 times. This calls the RNG responsible for directing Bowser Jr.'s map movement 112 times, which is why I refer it as RNG [112]. Then just move up and right like I did, and you'll get the encounter.I went back and forth between DK and Wario for my main match opponent, usually opting for Wario if Jr. wasn't blocking my path and DK if he was. I can't say why I decided to go for DK rather than Wario given Jr. wasn't in my way this time around, but suffice it to say I don't regret the decision in the slightest.
Petey 5 Catch from Bowser Jr. Demonstration YourGenderHere 2024-06-08 | The whole point of this strategy is to enable a Petey Piranha IL that gets HR, Body Check, and the Mario shutout in a single match and then plays Piranha Panic immediately after to cross the finish line. As you can clearly see, even a "slow" 5 Catch obtained through Jr. is going to blow any proper match of baseball completely out of the water speedwise. This is the optimal strat and it is viable.It is also, however, really, really hard. This was the only successful 5 Catch I was able to land in two hours of attempts. I am getting better at it, but all too much of it is completely down to luck. I wouldn't say I was playing at my best for the post-Jr. portion - my baserunning in particular stunk! But I'm optimistic that if I'm able to get enough 5 Catches out of Jr. then at least one of them will have a not-terrible Mario immediately after, and then Piranha Panic is 100% free (and optimal to be done last!). If I'm able to get a Jr. 5 Catch on the board, that will be victory. For now, I'm going to keep trying, especially having proven that I can do it.
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Paratroopa in 4:50:867 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2024-06-04 | My previous PB went for a "1-0 in 3" over a first-inning Mercy Rule win - unacceptable! Here's a sub-5 with no unnecessary plate appearances. Very much beatable but it's all down to jumping catch at the end so catch me moving on to a more fun IL next.
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Toadette in 5:11.100 (World Record) [1 Match!] YourGenderHere 2024-06-03 | Hell yes hell yes hell YES! Now this is what I'm talking about!It took me several days of effort (cumulatively) theorycrafting, testing, and practicing to make one match Toadette viable, but after learning that it was possible to set the CPU up for a third-inning bunt without endangering Toadette's shutout, MVP, and other goals, I knew I would eventually make it happen. Today, I have. It was of course made difficult by the fact that the CPU is only 20% or so likely to choose to bunt even when the requisite circumstances are met, but low odds haven't stopped me before and they didn't stop me this time. :)I'm extremely proud of how it all turned out. Not literally perfect but I'm not seeing too much to complain about - five minutes is very, very fast for a match that goes a full three innings. My defense in particular was swift and efficient, consisting only of one-pitch fly outs, three-pitch strikeouts, and of course the Big Play. The only truly regrettable moment was the Heart Ball that enemy-Peach threw against me-Toadette in the top of the 3rd - I might have still been able to get the squeeze bunt with better positioning, but at least the outcome was about ten seconds of time lost rather than the death of the run.I can imagine this run being beaten someday but I don't envy whoever's going to make it happen - it's definitely not going to be me, because as far as I'm concerned this a Toadette run that I am comfortable with resting on indefinitely.My second split was obviously late, because I was so focused on getting the "Toadette is a Superstar!" text box to pop up as quickly as I could that I forgot about pressing the split hotkey until a few seconds later. 5:11.100 is my manual retime using the Youtube frame timer available here: slashinfty.github.io/yt-frame-timer . I'm confident that that's the accurate final time.Goodness, just a little over five minutes... who would have thought? yourgeNote
Mario Superstar Baseball: All Superstars in 6:53:26 (World Record) on May 26, 2024 YourGenderHere 2024-06-02 | Not bad for a first go after taking a year off from this game.The main purpose of this run was to get a time on the board that showcased what All Superstars looks like when Note Block accounts for no more than two minutes of the final playtime. That mission was a decisive success - the Note Block attempt that kicked off this run happened to be my sixth or seventh attempt overall. It bodes well for grinding more All Superstars attempts in the future.I would say there were some mistakes and suboptimalities that can fairly be attributed to my not having played the game in a while. I'm really looking forward to seeing what I'm capable of when I'm fully warmed up and not beaning opponents by accident, fumbling the shop menus, taking multiple minutes each match to decide on my positions and lineup, losing minigames, etc.Ultimately my goal for this category is to take it below five hours. I think that can happen, and I also think that I in particular can make it happen. It's still going to require a lot of work, though, as well as more opportunities for me to dedicate at least half of a day to the effort, so this is where I'm going to have to leave All Superstars for now.Next up I want to improve some of my ILs, record a couple of tutorials and ruminations on Superstar%, and maybe tackle a category extension or two. There's still plenty to do in MSB and my confidence is very high after securing this time.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 4: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 5 (KOOPAS SEASIDE SOIREE CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-06-02 | Getting appreciable progress on the fourth serious stream of this challenge was one thing. Getting even more progress the very next stream was another thing entirely. Without going into too much detail, the game gave us the opportunity to take a very different path to victory than we took for Boo's Haunted Bash - appropriate, considering how fundamentally different the two boards happen to be.The successful run through Koopa's board begins at 3:03:09. Kareening Koopas went down painlessly immediately after.This'll be the last Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins update for a little bit - I have Mario Superstar Baseball projects that I'm currently working on, plus a surprise development in Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 that I've been enjoying looking into. But especially now having confirmed that my achievements in this challenge are more than just flukes, I look forward to returning to MP4 and exploring another board (probably Shy Guy's).Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. For Coin Minigames (Paratrooper Plunge, Money Belts, and Pair-a-sailing) I am allowed to earn coins, so long as I'm not the player or on the team that earned *the most* coins. Ties for 1st place are not allowed unless every player obtains the same score, in which case the minigame is considered a "draw" and the run can continue.(This reflects how Coin Minigames work in Mini-game Mode activities that track wins. The "no inputs" rule has been abandoned.)3. I am not allowed to win/survive any minigames involving Bowser, and must specifically be the loser in every one I play. This includes all three Bowser Space minigames and the two special minigames exclusive to the Bowser's Gnarly Party board.4. I am not allowed to get or tie for 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. Reversal of Fortune is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.6. Similarly, all board events - including the Lottery Shop, coin-awarding Happening Space sequences, and Mini-sized item and coin-awarding games - do not count as minigames for the purposes of this run, and I can enjoy them as I see fit.7. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)8. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)9. I am allowed to successfully finish the minigames Goomba's Chip Flip, Archeologuess, Bowser Bop, Mystic Match 'Em, Kareening Koopas, and The Final Battle!, as the game does not declare Luigi a winner when these minigames are completed.(Also, if I couldn't make it past these minigames, the challenge would not be completable.)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 4: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 4 (BOOS HAUNTED BASH CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-05-31 | Whoa!!! Progress? First-ninety-minutes curse broken? What an amazing night! Even more amazing is what we then managed to learn about Mario Party 4's system for saving story mode progress. Truly we're breaking new ground here at the No Minigame Wins challenge...I would link to a timestamp of the successful run of Boo's Haunted Bash but it was somehow the first attempt of the night. Go figure! The remainder of the stream was spent learning Koopa's board, which felt quite different from Boo's indeed. Actually landing on Happening Spaces, who would have thought...Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. For Coin Minigames (Paratrooper Plunge, Money Belts, and Pair-a-sailing) I am allowed to earn coins, so long as I'm not the player or on the team that earned *the most* coins. Ties for 1st place are not allowed unless every player obtains the same score, in which case the minigame is considered a "draw" and the run can continue.(This reflects how Coin Minigames work in Mini-game Mode activities that track wins. The "no inputs" rule has been abandoned.)3. I am not allowed to win/survive any minigames involving Bowser, and must specifically be the loser in every one I play. This includes all three Bowser Space minigames and the two special minigames exclusive to the Bowser's Gnarly Party board.4. I am not allowed to get or tie for 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. Reversal of Fortune is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.6. Similarly, all board events - including the Lottery Shop, coin-awarding Happening Space sequences, and Mini-sized item and coin-awarding games - do not count as minigames for the purposes of this run, and I can enjoy them as I see fit.7. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)8. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)9. I am allowed to successfully finish the minigames Goomba's Chip Flip, Archeologuess, Bowser Bop, Mystic Match 'Em, Kareening Koopas, and The Final Battle!, as the game does not declare Luigi a winner when these minigames are completed.(Also, if I couldn't make it past these minigames, the challenge would not be completable.)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 4: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 3 YourGenderHere 2024-05-31 | Toad's Midway Madness and Goomba's Greedy Gala proved inhospitable to the challenge, but what about Boo's Haunted Bash?Oh. Huh. Well... we'll keep trying! Man, those Happening Spaces in the corner are tantalizing...Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. For Coin Minigames (Paratrooper Plunge, Money Belts, and Pair-a-sailing) I am allowed to earn coins, so long as I'm not the player or on the team that earned *the most* coins. Ties for 1st place are not allowed unless every player obtains the same score, in which case the minigame is considered a "draw" and the run can continue.(This reflects how Coin Minigames work in Mini-game Mode activities that track wins. The "no inputs" rule has been abandoned.)3. I am not allowed to win/survive any minigames involving Bowser, and must specifically be the loser in every one I play. This includes all three Bowser Space minigames and the two special minigames exclusive to the Bowser's Gnarly Party board.4. I am not allowed to get or tie for 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. Reversal of Fortune is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.6. Similarly, all board events - including the Lottery Shop, coin-awarding Happening Space sequences, and Mini-sized item and coin-awarding games - do not count as minigames for the purposes of this run, and I can enjoy them as I see fit.7. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)8. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)9. I am allowed to successfully finish the minigames Goomba's Chip Flip, Archeologuess, Bowser Bop, Mystic Match 'Em, Kareening Koopas, and The Final Battle!, as the game does not declare Luigi a winner when these minigames are completed.(Also, if I couldn't make it past these minigames, the challenge would not be completable.)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 4: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 2 YourGenderHere 2024-05-30 | Still in the early stages, here. Lots of minigame deaths and struggles to understand the Loser Meta for this game. You can already start to see the progress, though - and in any case, we're still having a good time.Despite dying to GOOOOOOOAL!! as the goalie. I mean, goddamn.Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. For Coin Minigames (Paratrooper Plunge, Money Belts, and Pair-a-sailing) I am allowed to earn coins, so long as I'm not the player or on the team that earned *the most* coins. Ties for 1st place are not allowed unless every player obtains the same score, in which case the minigame is considered a "draw" and the run can continue.(This reflects how Coin Minigames work in Mini-game Mode activities that track wins. The "no inputs" rule has been abandoned.)3. I am not allowed to win/survive any minigames involving Bowser, and must specifically be the loser in every one I play. This includes all three Bowser Space minigames and the two special minigames exclusive to the Bowser's Gnarly Party board.4. I am not allowed to get or tie for 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. Reversal of Fortune is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.6. Similarly, all board events - including the Lottery Shop, coin-awarding Happening Space sequences, and Mini-sized item and coin-awarding games - do not count as minigames for the purposes of this run, and I can enjoy them as I see fit.7. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)8. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)9. I am allowed to successfully finish the minigames Goomba's Chip Flip, Archeologuess, Bowser Bop, Mystic Match 'Em, Kareening Koopas, and The Final Battle!, as the game does not declare Luigi a winner when these minigames are completed.(Also, if I couldn't make it past these minigames, the challenge would not be completable.)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 4: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 1 YourGenderHere 2024-05-29 | That's right - the challenge so nice we're doing it twice, and this time in a game that's much less forgiving minigame-wise. No progress in this stream, but lots of learning and funny moments. I'll let the video mostly speak for itself, but below are the rules this time around!Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. For Coin Minigames (Paratrooper Plunge, Money Belts, and Pair-a-sailing) I am allowed to earn coins, so long as I'm not the player or on the team that earned *the most* coins. Ties for 1st place are not allowed unless every player obtains the same score, in which case the minigame is considered a "draw" and the run can continue.(This reflects how Coin Minigames work in Mini-game Mode activities that track wins. The "no inputs" rule has been abandoned.)3. I am not allowed to win/survive any minigames involving Bowser, and must specifically be the loser in every one I play. This includes all three Bowser Space minigames and the two special minigames exclusive to the Bowser's Gnarly Party board.4. I am not allowed to get or tie for 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. Reversal of Fortune is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.6. Similarly, all board events - including the Lottery Shop, coin-awarding Happening Space sequences, and Mini-sized item and coin-awarding games - do not count as minigames for the purposes of this run, and I can enjoy them as I see fit.7. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)8. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)9. I am allowed to successfully finish the minigames Goomba's Chip Flip, Archeologuess, Bowser Bop, Mystic Match 'Em, Kareening Koopas, and The Final Battle!, as the game does not declare Luigi a winner when these minigames are completed.(Also, if I couldn't make it past these minigames, the challenge would not be completable.)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 4 No Minigame Wins Challenge: Part... 0? 1/2? Something like that... YourGenderHere 2024-05-27 | Here's a little preview of the next No Minigame Wins challenge. It's a little rough, and at the time I hadn't fully fleshed out the ruleset, but I had a good time. (This was the second half of the stream in which I finished Mario Party 3 No Minigame Wins).
Mario Party 3 No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 19 (WALUIGIS ISLAND AND STARDUST BATTLE CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-04-12 | INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit?usp=sharing(The rules for the challenge are in the above spreadsheet, as are the final scores for the number of attempts it took on each board.)And with that, we're through! Waluigi's Island put up a hell of a fight, but in the end I was able to turn two of its main features - the Boo-blocking, Star Space-shielding pitfall trap and the exploding bankruptcy dynamite - into tools for my victory. The successful final board match begins at 1:33:05 in the video. I can now say that I've completed Mario Party 3's Story Mode without winning a single minigame.And I do mean winning. Because, as I explain **at length** in the video, **finishing** Stardust Battle successfully is not a win as defined by the game itself. Don't like it? Take it up with Hudson Soft, who put "FINISH" at the end of that minigame, rather than "LUIGI WINS". I'm still expecting people to make all sorts of hilarious comments about the apparent contradiction, and I know I can't really stop them, but I will say that said people should make sure what they're saying is actually funny if they're going to bother "well ackshually 🤓"ing me. 😉We learned a hell of a lot about how this game works, and perhaps that knowledge will serve us well in future Mario Party 3 challenges. But before that, we have some investigating to do on other Mario Party titles to see if we can put a second feather in our green, "L"-stamped cap. Do you hear them? The buzz of a capricious casino? The roar of a raging river? The thundering gears of an admittedly underwhelming rollercoaster? The... spooky... noises... of a... graveyard? It's Mario Party 4. I'm talking about Mario Party 4. The challenge might be done on this game, but we're not done losing to win just yet!Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 18 YourGenderHere 2024-04-02 | INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit?usp=sharing(The rules for the challenge are in the above spreadsheet.)Oof. Ouch. Urk. Oh dear. Oh my. Several of these hurt, and they hurt bad. Just goes to show that masochistic tendencies are necessary for making it through this challenge run. I'm in good shape there, so we'll just keep at it and see how many more heartbreakers need to be endured before we make it all the way across the finish line.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 17 YourGenderHere 2024-03-25 | INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit?usp=sharing(The rules for the challenge are in the above spreadsheet.)There's still more to do. Waluigi's Island gives you choices - probably too many of them - but even the perfect choices become moot in the face of a particularly bad stroke of luck. There were fewer minigame deaths than the previous stream, but still no successful attempts.Perhaps there's a universe out there where it takes me as many streams to get past the island as it did for me to clear Chilly Waters, but I don't think that's this universe. And even if it is? I'll power through it.Also, go watch the Mario Party 3 TAS! Link is here: tasvideos.org/5662MBroadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 16 YourGenderHere 2024-03-18 | INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit?usp=sharing(The rules for the challenge are in the above spreadsheet.)Well dang, it was a pretty good streak of luck making it through nine total boards in my previous four streams, but it seems like Waluigi's Island is putting up an appropriately difficult final challenge - it seems I haven't cracked this one just yet.We did learn a whole bunch, though - not just about competitive strategies for lose-winning on Waluigi's Island, but also about minigames in general! The "Loser Meta" continues to evolve, and we're better equipped than ever before to make that final push to the Stardust Battle.The challenge could still conclude on my very next stream, and being this close to the finish line there's no way I'm stopping now!Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 15.2 (TURNBACK uh, wait, no, sorry BACKTRACK CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-03-11 | INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit?usp=sharingTake a sip of your beverage every time I say the word "turnback" to refer to the Duel Board BACKTRACK and its signature BACKTRACK spaces. If you're still alive by the end of this video, please leave a comment below :)This is a continuation of the same stream in which I cleared Creepy Cavern and Mr. Mover - the separation of the videos is the result of temporary internet issues that I don't anticipate being a problem in the future.Backtrack was way tougher than I expected, but I still managed to make it through in a single digit number of attempts (successful match begins at 1:08:34). They might have been a pain at times, but the Duel Boards are now fully behind me. Ahead, there are only that mustachioed villain Waluigi (along with two additional random CPUs) and the trivial grand finale for the challenge, Stardust Battle. How will I manage to make it past those two obstacles without winning a minigame, you ask? Well, tune in to my (final?) stream of attempts and find out...Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 15.1 (CREEPY CAVERN AND MR MOVER CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-03-11 | INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit?usp=sharingFour streams in a row of progress? Three streams in a row clearing a new Battle Royale board? Towards the beginning of this challenge, that kind of good fortune was unbelievable. And yet, while I still find it hard to believe myself, it happened - I played Creepy Cavern cleverly (successful match begins at 2:38:12), and bested Luigi's self-important older brother immediately after (successful first try duel begins at 3:27:46).Due to connection issues, this broadcast was split into two parts - the remainder of the time I spent in Turnback wait I mean Backtrack is in a separate video. Spoiler warning: the Backtrack attempt that gets bisected at the end of the video is not ultimately successful. The plan is still to compile all the footage of the successful matches and a bit of interstitial commentary into a mega-video to be released at a later date, so please bear with me in the meantime....although given the speed at which I'm finishing this challenge off, that date might not be much "later" at all...Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 14 (WOODY WOODS AND BLOWHARD CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-02-21 | NO MINIGAME WINS CHALLENGE INFORMATIONAL SPREADSHEET AVAILABLE HERE: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaIAnother short stay on the Battle Royale board - amazing! Woody Woods does not seem like a friendly board, but apparently if you get up to the northern part of the map and never stop exploiting it, you can make everything work. I simply must credit the CPU for some truly magnanimous decision-making that pushed the successful attempt over the top. Perhaps... could friendship be the true answer to this challenge's riddle? No, no, that's silly. Nevermind...Blowhard was fine.I'm really excited for Creepy Cavern though - now that's a board where a thoughtful human player is going to be able to get up to some shenanigans. Here's hoping the red spaces are kind...No Minigame Wins Challenge Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. I am not allowed to win Duel minigames.3. I am not allowed to win against Game Guy.4. I am not allowed to get 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.(I refer to this happening as a "death".)6. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files.(Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)7. Item minigames, which are not adversarial competitive activities, I am allowed to earn items from.(Succeeding is not the same thing as winning.)8. For coin minigames, I will let the game play out with zero input from my controller.(Coin minigames don't have "winners" and "losers", but to minimize controversy I've decided to abstain from playing them actively.)9. Chance Time is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.10. I can defeat the fake Millennium Star at the end, don't be silly. The game doesn't declare Luigi a winner afterwards. ;)Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 13 (SPINY DESERT AND PIPESQUEAK CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-02-18 | Only a short stay in the desert heat for us! Spiny Desert has been cleared on my ninth attempt, and Pipesqueak soon followed on my third. We're making excellent progress - I've essentially reached the halfway point of this run, and I won't let anything stop me now. :)The successful match I played on Spiny Desert is, to put it mildly, incredible. I've never experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions playing this game. It is 100% the most entertaining match I've played in this challenge thus far, and I highly recommend watching it in its entirety without spoilers on the details. It begins at 3:06:20 of the video.Pipesqueak was fine. I have the sense that the speedrunners must despise it. I tolerated it and now it's behind me.No Minigame Wins Challenge Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. I am not allowed to win Duel minigames.3. I am not allowed to win against Game Guy.4. I am not allowed to get 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.6. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files. (Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)7. Item minigames, which are not adversarial competitive activities, I am allowed to earn items from. (Succeeding is not the same thing as winning.)8. For coin minigames, I must let the game play out with zero input from my controller. (Letting coin minigames kill my run would be unsatisfying, but allowing me to intentionally earn coins through them cuts against the spirit of the challenge.)9. Chance Time is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.10. I can defeat the fake Millennium Star at the end, don't be silly.More information here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14VbiFZ10gVZK5qE8e5JPccBo1q9JQ7vDEDVl4zaWMaI/edit#gid=668371316Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Party 3: No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 12 (DEEP BLOOBER SEA AND ARROWHEAD CLEAR!) YourGenderHere 2024-01-28 | After a long hiatus, I return to Mario Party 3 ready to conquer the secrets of the deep. Fortunately, I succeed - and send Yoshi packing from his duel board a little while later (though without preserving my lossless streak of duel matches, sadly...) Some truly amazing luck carried me forward in this challenge, but skill played no small part in my victories as well. We'll have to see how Spiny Desert goes next time... whenever that will be! ;) No Minigame Wins Challenge Rules: 1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. I am not allowed to win Duel minigames.3. I am not allowed to win against Game Guy.4. I am not allowed to get 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.6. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files. (Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)7. Item minigames, which are not adversarial competitive activities, I am allowed to earn items from. (Succeeding is not the same thing as winning. Also, if I had to forfeit every single Item Minigame, the challenge would be unplayably unfun for me.)8. For coin minigames, I must let the game play out with zero input from my controller. (Letting coin minigames kill my run would be unsatisfying, but allowing me to intentionally earn coins through them cuts against the spirit of the challenge.)9. Chance Time is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.10. I can defeat the fake Millennium Star at the end, don't be silly. -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Wrong Category, Yoshi YourGenderHere 2023-05-19 | This is YOUR individual character run, Yoshi. Quit being such a kind babysitter and swallow the goddamn ball!!!
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Diddy in 10:21 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2023-05-16 | If a few little things had gone differently, this could have been wrapped up in under 10 minutes. Still, I got a pretty good Barrel Batter, a 17 PA Mario, and a 12 PA Yoshi- I'm counting my blessings and they're adding up quite nicely.Attempts of this are rough because you're usually reliant on the Boomerang Ball not going haywire at the end of an otherwise successful top of the first against Mario. Whenever I can I try and treat Boomerang Ball like a sacrifice fly, but sometimes it just isn't an option. Glad that this one went alright.You might have noticed that the wall catch looked funny- that's because I used a technique called Clamber Extension. If I press A to dismount the wall shortly before the ball reaches the ground, Diddy will shoot forward in an "I am on the wall ready to do a wall catch" state, and he'll stay in that state until he actually reaches the ground. This means that balls that would ordinarily be juuuuust outside of Clamber's usual reach are sometimes catchable after all if you dismount the wall with good timing. Here, I absolutely would not have caught that ball without using Clamber Extension. Considering how brutal the route for this IL is, it's a vital technique to master, trust me.Baby Mario's batting continues to astound me but I'm glad I didn't let him intimidate me too badly... and as for Birdo, well, I respect her and I fear her, so there. Now that I have a clean run on the board I'll pitch for strikeouts more aggressively, I think.Diddy's run is really demanding and has some pretty harsh RNG built into it so I'm surprised I got a run this fast this quickly- at the same time, I am satisfied with this and will be moving on to the next character soon.
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Paragoomba in 4:41.667 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2023-05-16 | There were some little mistakes here and there... the first Noki PA was long, I accidentally looked at Mario's Star Missions at the end... but hey, I got a 16 PA Paragoomba and the bottom of the 1st was well under a minute! I'm pretty happy with this. Still have a long way to go in terms of getting more consistent with the bunt-batting, but that's a very long journey so not sweating it too badly just yet.
Mario Party 3 - No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 11 YourGenderHere 2023-05-14 | Ah, the ocean. Full of uncharted mysteries, awe-inspiring treasures, and... way too many Battle Minigame spaces, if we're being completely honest. This board has ended up being more difficult than I expected, in part because many of the Star Space spawns are very quick to get to and in part because keeping pace in the race for Happening Star is much more challenging than it was in Chilly Waters. It seems like you can pursue Happening Spaces or Boo easily enough but you can't really work on both at the same time; considering that Happening Spaces and Boo are the two primary ingredients of my win condition, I'm going to need to think quite creatively going forward if I want to extract a win here.At least one of this sessions attempts made it all the way to Turn 15 and only died because of a one-in-ten minigame selection, so getting out of here is of course viable, but I have a feeling it's going to involve another low-scoring board and no outrageous snowballing, WARIO. YEAH WARIO. MAD ABOUT GATE GUY? I WOULD BE TOO. Jerk.No Minigame Wins Challenge Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. I am not allowed to win Duel minigames.3. I am not allowed to win against Game Guy.4. I am not allowed to get 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.6. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files. (Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)7. Item minigames, which are not adversarial competitive activities, I am allowed to earn items from. (Succeeding is not the same thing as winning. Also, if I had to forfeit every single Item Minigame, the challenge would be unplayably unfun for me.)8. For coin minigames, I must let the game play out with zero input from my controller. (Letting coin minigames kill my run would be unsatisfying, but allowing me to intentionally earn coins through them cuts against the spirit of the challenge.)9. Chance Time is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.10. I can defeat the fake Millennium Star at the end, don't be silly.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Koopa in 4:34.867 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2023-05-12 | All the hours of Yoshi Islanders runs ends up paying off in a way I never expected, but certainly appreciate.There's time to save on offense for sure, but I'm getting cleaner results more often as I improve with Funny Squeeze Bunting, and 3:25 isn't like, terrible, especially given that I must hit a Double in the Top of 1.For defense a Triple Play is definitely not the fastest way to get out of a match, and 56 seconds is meh for a three PA inning, but you can't deny the style and skill at work during Mario's plate appearance. Perfectly executed. Goomba seriously deserves the MVP for his dedication to victory.At the end of the day, this was the fastest finished Koopa run I was able to get after a few hours of continuous attempts, so it's the one that gets uploaded. I might circle back to Koopa if this run is beaten or I'm in a very good spot with the other single-game ILs, as they're very fun to grind, but this'll do for now.
Mario Kills My Run Trying to Pick Me Off YourGenderHere 2023-05-12 | Three in a row. Three in a goddamned row. Plus the Scout Mission on top!The nice thing is, a lot of these ILs are so easy to set up for and reattempt, it doesn't actually feel that bad. A little annoying, but mostly really funny.
Mario Party 3 - No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 10 (CHILLY WATERS AND GATE GUY CLEARED!) YourGenderHere 2023-05-11 | Chilly Waters clear begins at 1:53:33, Gate Guy clear begins at 2:49:47At long last... it took 109 attempts, some on Super Hard difficulty and some on Easy, but we have made it out of Chilly Waters and into the next stage of Mario Party 3's Story Mode! We're sticking with Easy difficulty and riding this save file all the way to the credits, baby. Luigi will Win By Winning Absolutely Nothing, and that's a promise!My CW win wasn't especially lucky- the initial Star spawn was ideal, I did get a 20 Coin hidden block partway through, and I was able to earn a Magic Lamp from an Item Minigame early on, but I would say the primary reason for the win was smart play and good map awareness. Future maps won't let me do as much Reverse Shroom Boo-bouncing, so I'll have to adapt my play accordingly.Gate Guy was super easy and I don't think the Duel Boards are going to be hold me up much, haha.The long term plan for this series is to keep posting the full stream recordings as I make them and then compile all of the successful matches (and maybe a few choice outtakes) into a single mega-long video. I'm looking forward to putting the successful footage together at the end :)No Minigame Wins Challenge Rules:1. I am not allowed to win end-of-turn minigames.2. I am not allowed to win Duel minigames.3. I am not allowed to win against Game Guy.4. I am not allowed to get 1st place in a Battle minigame. I am allowed to get 2nd place, though.5. If I win a minigame I must reset the board entirely, starting from Turn 1.6. No turn resets. Boards will be played without mid-match save files. (Allowing turn resets would make the challenge way too easy.)7. Item minigames, which are not adversarial competitive activities, I am allowed to earn items from. (Succeeding is not the same thing as winning. Also, if I had to forfeit every single Item Minigame, the challenge would be unplayably unfun for me.)8. For coin minigames, I must let the game play out with zero input from my controller. (Letting coin minigames kill my run would be unsatisfying, but allowing me to intentionally earn coins through them cuts against the spirit of the challenge.)9. Chance Time is not a minigame and I may take advantage of it as I please.10. I can defeat the fake Millennium Star at the end, don't be silly.Broadcasted live on Twitch -- Watch live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Dry Bones in 4:59.900 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2023-05-09 | At first I was going to upload a run that finished in 5:04, but at that point you just have to grind for the sub 5, right?Overall this run is pretty decent. My Top of 1 split was 10 seconds or so slower than my best, in part due to Scout Mission RNG that I have no control over and in part due to hitting a foul ball. I usually reset when that happens, but I felt like continuing this time. Then there was I think one more foul ball in the top of 2, which just shouldn't happen. In future runs, I intend for every single plate appearance on offense to take precisely one pitch- no missed pitches or foul balls period. That's especially hard for Boomerang Bro, notably, but doable.Defense is really where the run lives or dies, though, and I got a pretty good set of PAs overall. I never threw a single ball and the majority of the fielding outs were pretty quick. The Bowser bobble wasted a few seconds but didn't kill the run and it was extremely funny, so worth it for sure. Not much else to say, though; you're reliant on luck for the CPU swinging on the earliest pitch possible and hitting it in a way that you can field, so it's mostly a numbers game, albeit one that you need to handle delicately.Routing note: I was originally swapping Bowser for default Dry Bones on 1B to enable chem throws to first base, but realized that Red Dry Bones in particular has a Fastball Star Pitch unlike the other Bones- seeing as I don't rely on Team Stars at all for offense in this run, speeding up the strikeouts is my best way to use Team Stars, hence, Red Bones on the mound. I haven't yet run into accidental non-Bones MVP issues yet and I really like the change.This category is really fun and I encourage folks who like playing defense especially to give it a try!
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Waluigi in 15:43 (Former WR) YourGenderHere 2023-05-08 | So, fun fact, I actually got a 15:45 earlier on in the session that produced this run, but accidentally recorded my desktop audio together with the game audio, meaning the Runescape video I was half-watching while playing was audible the entire run. So I faced a choice: learn how to mute the video and wait for it to render, or get a better run. I chose the latter, and succeeded by two seconds. :PAnyway, behold the fruits of my research! Pitcher Laser Beam! It turns out it's just barely possible to have Waluigi intercept and rethrow a ball headed for home plate. The initial throw needs to be FAST, though. As in, Pianta (second strongest fielding arm in the game after Petey) with Laser Beam AND chemistry on catcher AND a smash input (i.e., pressing down and A at the same time rather than holding down and pressing the A button. A smash throw gets a hefty speed multiplier). It also helps to do this against literally the slowest character in the game, which Pianta R and Pianta Y are tied for along with Petey, Bowser, and three of the Magikoopas.I haven't tested Pitcher Laser against the Nokis and I fear that it's not possible because those lil gals are speed demons compared to their palm-tree pals, but if it's viable it's a way to get this match done in 1 inning rather than 2. That's more or less the last big improvement remaining for the route for Waluigi. We'll see how it develops.Gameplay-wise, I'm mostly happy. I made batting with the Piantas look much, much, much easier than it actually is and it felt great to strike Luigi out with just three pitches. That said, there's plenty of room for improvement for both offense and defense in the Mario match. You WANT to throw slower strikeouts to secure Waluigi MVP, but you might not NEED them, is the thing...PP and CCS went fine, WB was literally free, BOD was the expected 4-bomb, and I handled as well as I could some very underwhelming patterns in BB, so no big complaints for the minigames.Waluigi's run is fun!
Mario Party 3 - No Minigame Wins Challenge, Part 9 YourGenderHere 2023-05-07 | After some recent successes with Mario Superstar Baseball, I decided it was time to do something hopeless and that I was nearly guaranteed to fail at. Hence, a return to Mario Party 3!This challenge is still frustrating, but Easy difficulty is much less frustrating, and I'm more confident than ever that I will get a clear if I keep learning and doing my best. There were some heartbreaking moments in this session, but my heart yet yearns for suffering, so expect more Mario Party 3 content in the near future!NO MINIGAME WINS CHALLENGE RULES- I can't get 1st place or be declared a winner in standard 4P/1v3/2v2 minigames, Duel minigames, Game Guy minigames, or Battle* minigames. I also can't be "one of multiple winners" (such as if multiple people score in Chip Shot Challenge), but draws are OK because by definition they are not wins (and they don't award coins).*I AM allowed to get 2nd place in Battle minigames, because 2nd place is merely placing as opposed to winning. (This makes this challenge much more interesting- it's sometimes tricky to get 2nd without accidentally getting 1st instead.)-I am allowed to get items from Item minigames, because Item minigames are not competitive and result in success (Got Item!) or failure (Miss!) rather than a win or loss. (Disallowing items from Item minigames would be cruel and probably make the challenge too difficult.)-I am allowed to make full use of Chance Time because Chance Time is not a minigame.- In the event of a coin minigame (yellow text on the standard minigame roulette), I must let the game play out without making any inputs. Whatever coins I get, I get, but I'm not allowed to influence the outcome. This rule is in place as a compromise between the spirit of the challenge and a potential way to exploit it.-I may not quit out of the match and load back in to restart the turn. (Allowing this would make the challenge trivial and uninteresting.)- If I win a minigame despite my best efforts, I must reset the board from the beginning and start over from Turn 1. *No reloading*. (These are the "deaths" referred to in the count in the upper left corner; losses refer to me conceding the board intentionally or losing at the end.)Watch me play live at twitch.tv/yourgenderhere :)
Mario Superstar Baseball - Superstar% Wario in 17:17 (World Record) YourGenderHere 2023-05-06 | It's always tough when you've gotten past the "hard" part of a run and just want to end things as quickly as possible.The Toy Field in this run was *excruciating*.I lost around a minute or so to optimal Toy Field play. By contrast, the minigames were essentially perfect (4-bomb BOD, 4-ball BB, everything first try) and the Mario split was excellent- no Bowser Jr. trolling, either.Is it worth continuing attempts of this category so that I can get a more elegant Toy Field finish? Not at this time, but I'm not ruling it out in the future. And of course I intend to defend my presence on the leaderboard if this time is beaten.At the end of the day, though, I got everything first try and every task except one went great. That's something to be proud of.
