TASVideos.org now accepts .lmp submissions!

[Aqfaq]

Hi,
I just noticed that TASVideos.org now has the capability and political will to accept Doom .lmp files. This is great! I immediately and wholeheartedly recommend Akse, Rambobones and Alexander Nikulin to submit their full IWAD runs there. Those full runs should be easily acceptable by TASVideos standards.

Anybody should be able to submit any other .lmps too, but TASVideos has a quite a high standard as far as ROM hacks and in this case PWADs go, so your nuts.wad TAS might not be accepted no matter how well you execute it. Some high quality TASes of high quality PWADs might be accepted as long as your goals are well defined, non-arbitrary, so those are surely worth a shot. Obscure categories like tyson or respawn are probably considered trivial outside the Doom community, so I would not recommend submitting those unless the run demonstrates something absolutely extraordinary.

If you don't want to register to TASVideos.org for some reason, I can submit a run for you, if you want. Just post some run comments here and link to your TAS, so I can make the submission for you.

http://tasvideos.org/SubmitMovie.html

Go ahead, make my Doomsday!

[dew]

As far as I'm concerned... my pl2 and SoD 30uv TASes are just "a human using segmenting ad nauseam" with no sr50 automation or building and manipulating the straightest routes, so I don't know if they fit the bill. pl2 was already improved by akse (although he used a wider variety of tools), but no one was insane enough to try and optimize sod yet. If you decide they might be worth uploading, I would leave it up to you, cause I'm lazy. :)

[Akse]

Yes, hallelujah!

[Aqfaq]

Yo, dew! I watched your SoD run. I liked how you managed to pull off an insane AV jump or glide in pretty much every level. I keep being astonished by the number of individual players who all have so comprehensive understanding of the game. While your run is awesome, I believe the quality is not quite what would be expected from a TAS today at TASVideos. One thing would be to make the waiting time more interesting in map30. There would be plenty of time to do some crazy stunts while waiting for the boss to reveal himself.

Akse's PL2 run is worth submitting in my opinion.

It would be cool to have tutorial videos for Doom tasing. Are there any?

TASVideos has a wiki that can be freely edited by registered users. Just ask for edit privileges and you will get them. There seems to be a Doom page under construction, so feel free to contribute:

http://tasvideos.org/Natt/Doom.html

[Akse]

I'd registered and... there's lots of rules there. It'll take a while.

Aqfaq said:

Akse's PL2 run is worth submitting in my opinion.

I'm thinking about Scythe.

Aqfaq said:

so feel free to contribute:
http://tasvideos.org/Natt/Doom.html

I'll try.

[Aqfaq]

No need to worry about the rules. They may seem overly pedantic and confusing. In the end, it is the TASVideos judges who, together with some active forum users, decide what happens to a submission. There is no harm in submitting any file. I'm sure the reception will be very positive for any Doom submission!

[Aqfaq]

Hi, Akse! I can also submit one of your runs for you, if you want to. It would be interesting to see how things develop when a first doom run is submitted to the site. I'm thinking about your EP2 run, because it has the awesome void glitch, which should appeal to the TAS audience. What do you say?

[Akse]

Aqfaq said:

I'm thinking about your EP2 run

Sounds good. I'd like to see how description section should look like.

[Aqfaq]

Okay, I submitted the run to the site:

http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16510

Looks like the site calculates the file length automatically, so the time is shown as 04:43.6. It also counts the time spent in transition screens. Maybe score screens should be done as fast as possible in future runs?

[Memfis]

Aqfaq said:

Maybe score screens should be done as fast as possible in future runs?

I dislike this idea. In my opinion it is aesthetically pleasant when the intermission screen stays for 2-3 seconds, not to mention that it helps you to actually see the level time before it disappears. I don't want to see people abandon this tradition just because some other community counts the time differently. We are Doomworld, we make the rules and shall not succumb to some outsiders. :P Ok, that last sentence was obviously a little humorous but you get what I'm saying.

[4shockblast]

Memfis said:

I dislike this idea. In my opinion it is aesthetically pleasant when the intermission screen stays for 2-3 seconds, not to mention that it helps you to actually see the level time before it disappears. I don't want to see people abandon this tradition just because some other community counts the time differently. We are Doomworld, we make the rules and shall not succumb to some outsiders. :P Ok, that last sentence was obviously a little humorous but you get what I'm saying.

I agree on the intermission screens, I think seeing the time is more important than conforming to some new set of timing standards. I generally skip the text screens in my TASes as fast as possible, though.

[Aqfaq]

Yeah, I totally agree about the aesthetics of it.

Maybe standardize the intermission waiting time? Because in a TAS environment absolutely everything is in the player's control, so it would make sense and it would look even more pleasing/badass, if each intermission screen was exactly the same length, like 3 seconds or whatever the author chooses.

[4shockblast]

Aqfaq said:

Yeah, I totally agree about the aesthetics of it.

Maybe standardize the intermission waiting time? Because in a TAS environment absolutely everything is in the player's control, so it would make sense and it would look even more pleasing/badass, if each intermission screen was exactly the same length, like 3 seconds or whatever the author chooses.

For my built TASes, I always have one wait tic after level ends then the use tic to generate the stats, and then 50 wait tics to the skip. Those are just numbers I chose arbitrarily, though.

[Akse]

It should go under "aims for in-game time instead of real time" branch.
Edit: oh, it does. Ok then.

[Akse]

Aqfaq, if it doesn't bother you, can you send me (or even better post it here) a copy of that form filled with episode 2 stuff you've already wrote?

form.zip

[Aqfaq]

You can access the whole submission message here: http://tasvideos.org/4609S.html

If you are logged in, you can edit the page freely. There is an "edit" link on the right side of the screen:

http://i.imgur.com/nPtulyh.jpg

Edit: Any player can edit his own submission message at any time. TASVideos has a wiki system, so pretty much all pages on the site can be edited freely by any user who has the edit privileges. Edit privileges are granted easily by just asking an admin.

[Akse]

Aqfaq said:

You can access the whole submission message here: http://tasvideos.org/4609S.html

If you are logged in, you can edit the page freely. There is an "edit" link on the right side of the screen:

http://i.imgur.com/nPtulyh.jpg

K, thanks!

Edit:

Aqfaq said:

There is an "edit" link on the right side of the screen:
http://i.imgur.com/nPtulyh.jpg

No luck. It said:"Access blocked because of missing/unacceptable referrer information".

[Aqfaq]

Akse said:

"Access blocked because of missing/unacceptable referrer information"

Oh, I don't know why it says that. Maybe ask somebody in the submission thread?

By the way, your run now has 34 "yes" votes. That is a quite a lot. For comparison, I have submitted 58 runs over the years and only one of them got more than 34 positive votes.

[Akse]

Aqfaq said:

By the way, your run now has 34 "yes" votes. That is a quite a lot. For comparison, I have submitted 58 runs over the years and only one of them got more than 34 positive votes.

Heh. And what's also important it's only 3 "Meh" and 0 "No". You've got a pretty nice community there (DW is still the best >:o)). I'm glad.

Aqfaq said:

Oh, I don't know why it says that.

Then whould you kindly help me with e3 form filling? I'm not dumb or something, i just wanna do it right.

[Aqfaq]

Sure. You can post your comments/form here, and also the fixed lmp file. I can then make the submission for you, if you like.

Edit:

Akse's EP2 TAS was accepted for publication at TASVideos. Congratulations, Akse and Doom! Based on this, I believe the other episode runs will be easily accepted too and should be submitted to the site. Rambobones' Doom 2 TAS would probably be accepted too, if it was submitted. Is anyone working on an improved full Doom 2 TAS?

[ClumsyDoomer]

Aqfaq said:

Is anyone working on an improved full Doom 2 TAS?

Xepop was working on it and his run was ~1 minute faster than 30uv1402, but he didn't show up here for a while.
BTW, I'm working on Plutonia Experiment UV movie and there's not much left to do.

[Aqfaq]

Interesting, where can I find Xepop's run?

This seems to be the current consensus on how to make the runs for TASVideos:

* UV and Nightmare runs are both accepted as separate categories
* Clear intermission screens as fast as possible
* Include the full ending and keep recording until the music has looped once

I believe full game paficist runs and max runs would also be accepted as those are general categories that apply to all games. Also, after watching some Akse's tyson TAS run, which was very entertaining, I believe a full game tyson runs might also be worth submitting, even though there is some chance that they get rejected due to "arbitrary" goals.

[Looper]

Aqfaq said:

* Clear intermission screens as fast as possible

Wtf? That's one of the stupidest things I have read in a long time. Why not just calculate the map times like it should (CNdoom style)? I don't see any problems with that.

Xepop's run is progressing slowly, but progressing.

[MD922]

Does TASVideos have any interest on PWAD TASes, like Scythe?

[Fredrik]

Yes, there are already lots of runs of mods (example).

[Aqfaq]

Don't worry, Looper. The author is the artist, so he is totally free to do whatever he likes. I don't think any run is going to be rejected because of intermission screens. It is just a common trend to be as fast as possible in all games, even during menus and other non-gameplay situations like intermission screens. All the statistics can be read from the submission comments, anyway, so being fast and getting back to the action is commonly regarded as a virtue and it usually makes the run more fast-paced and entertaining as there is less downtime. This tradition may also have something to do with the fact that the site automatically calculates the file length (from power-on to the last frame of input), so comparing times is very easy when everyone does everything as fast as possible and ends input as early as possible. Some movies are tagged with "contains speed/entertainment tradeoffs", which means that time is wasted in order to make the movie more entertaining. This would apply to intermission screens, if somebody wants to make them slow.

Theoretically, time could be wasted in the intermission screen to manipulate RNG. Manipulating identical result faster would technically be a better movie. Hypothetically there could even be a time saving glitch that can be triggered during the intermission screen. The same reasoning applies to all games.

High-quality PWAD and mod runs would probably be accepted. Has anyone TASed Action Doom? That would be great! Can Zdoom wads be TASed? Are there any tools for that?

[Looper]

Aqfaq said:

This tradition may also have something to do with the fact that the site automatically calculates the file length (from power-on to the last frame of input), so comparing times is very easy when everyone does everything as fast as possible and ends input as early as possible.

IMO, this rule has always been a bit questionable because it's faster to go slower in the last level/boss by shooting the last projectile from mile away or in worst case, let the monsters infight and kill the last boss some how. In this way the fastest way to complete Doom2 map30 would be to use arch-vile jump near the lift button because it takes 3 seconds for the rocket to hit the brain which means you can shoot the last rocket 3 seconds more early.

Edit: It probably doesn't work that way actually in Doom2 map30, unless it's possible with infighting. Let's say mangu shot clips through a wall after the players has been idling for 60s and that clipping shot kills the brain, but only the last input frame was counted.

[Sp00kyFox]

what about the issue with SR50 turning? I can't remember the exact rules of TASVideos but I think basically a demo file must be reproducible with manual inputs on the original game / hardware. but to my knowledge SR50 turning is something which is only possible in the DOOM demo file format itself. since this became a defacto standard for TAS demos wouldn't that clash with the TASVideos community?

this reminds me of the Zelda ALTTP glitch where you have to simultaneously input down and up. but this is actually possible with a modified controller.

[Aqfaq]

Looper said:

IMO, this rule has always been a bit questionable

Indeed, you are correct. Ending input is a grey area, because each game is a bit different. No big deal. There is no problem with Doom/Doom 2, because the final intermission screen requires one more button press to roll the ending sequence, so no matter how you finish the last level you still need input after it.

Sp00kyFox said:

what about the issue with SR50 turning?

It was accepted, because: the file format accepts it as legit input, it makes TASing easier, it may be possible with modified controller anyway(?), it does not make a huge difference in any case and it can be compared to pressing left+right simultaneously which has always been accepted at TASVideos (although sometimes the resulting movie is significantly different, so two categories are accepted, as in Zelda II where pressing left+right causes major glitch).

[Aqfaq]

Akse's EP2 TAS has finally been published, it is on the front page now: http://tasvideos.org/

Usually the publication process doesn't take this long. The delay was mostly due to this being the first published Doom TAS, so there were technical issues and stuff like that.