How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
arstechnica.com
How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
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Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#2Not mention of classic DooM.
Many "relative" modern mod WADs, add new variations of monsters and randomize the spawn of these variations. So playing the same map, never is equal. And for my, this make the game far fun and playable.
Anyone, should try Complex Doom mod...
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#3Not mention of classic DooM. Many "relative" modern mod WADs, add new variations of monsters and randomize the spawn of these variations. So playing the same map, never is equal. And for my, this make the game far fun and playable. Anyone, should try Complex Doom mod...
> And for my, this make the game far funnier and playable.
It's interesting how little the English words "fun" and "funny" have to do with each other; a game like Doom is indeed fun, but it isn't funny in the slightest unless you have a very odd sense of humor. It's also interesting to see how this oddness between "fun" and "funny" translates into people trying to learn English and stumbling over it.
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#4Not mention of classic DooM. Many "relative" modern mod WADs, add new variations of monsters and randomize the spawn of these variations. So playing the same map, never is equal. And for my, this make the game far fun and playable. Anyone, should try Complex Doom mod...
> And for my, this make the game far funnier and playable. It's interesting how little the English words "fun" and "funny" have to do with each other; a game like Doom is indeed fun, but it isn't funny in the slightest unless you have a very odd sense of humor. It's also interesting to see how this oddness between "fun" and "funny" translates into people trying to learn English and stumbling over it.
While it probably was a mistake on the part of the original poster, randomizers actually can make games more funny too, for example (language potentially NSFW):
https://clips.twitch.tv/CarefulReliableCheeseYouWHY
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#5Randomizer speedruns are an awesome recent innovation in speedrunning, where the aim is to beat the game as quickly as possible (in a category called "true any%" [0]).
For most popular speedrunning games, randomizers reward a completely different skillset than standard speedrunning. Typically, world record speedruns are a result of a community collaboration between theorizers, glitch finders, and routers, who devise the optimal "route" through the game -- what are the minimum objectives necessary to beat the game? What is the fastest order through the objectives? Then, running the game itself can require technical skill to move the character at speed with precision (particularly relevant in platforming games like Super Mario, etc) and execute tricky, timing-dependent glitches (notorious are 1-frame tricks, which require a certain input at a specific frame in a game running at 30 or even 60 frames per second).
Route optimization is somewhat equivalent to solving a traveling salesman problem, and is usually performed over the course of days or weeks in online chatting groups. In randomizer speedruns, however, the speedrunner must come up with a good route on the fly, since the particular randomization is essentially guaranteed to never have been seen before, as well as actually run the game. Needless to say, this demands, and shows off, a huge amount of expertise from the runner, and is a big treat to appreciate.
Personally, though, I think bingo speedrunning competitions are even better. Here, the goal is to win bingo on a randomly generated 5x5 grid of in-game objectives - but any square completed by you or your opponent becomes inaccessible for the other player! This retains the difficulty of routing on the fly while adding direct head-to-head competition between speedrunners. In some of the best cases, mindgames can ensue when speedrunners are aware of their relative skillsets which give them a comparative advantage at completing certain in-game objectives. Sniping squares becomes a fascinating strategy.
[0] True any% stands for beating the game with any percent completion. Communities for certain game sometimes rally around other categories that restrict or ban certain un-fun glitches (any% with certain limitations) since speedrunners ultimately want to have fun.
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#6I would imagine most randomizations render the game impossible, since the first dungeon will require a specific item to complete, and any other item won't help you. Are players forced to leverage glitches? Or is there some way to restrict only to "viable" randomizations?
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#7I would imagine most randomizations render the game impossible, since the first dungeon will require a specific item to complete, and any other item won't help you. Are players forced to leverage glitches? Or is there some way to restrict only to "viable" randomizations?
The people making the randomizes usually have pretty good understanding of the game and it's obstacles. By building up a logical tree of what items are needed to reach which locations, you can make sure the randomized game is possible to clear.
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#8I would imagine most randomizations render the game impossible, since the first dungeon will require a specific item to complete, and any other item won't help you. Are players forced to leverage glitches? Or is there some way to restrict only to "viable" randomizations?
The randomizers I have followed (Link to the Past, Final Fantasy) only choose viable randomizations.
They are aware of the items that are required to progress and make sure they are available appropriately.
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#9I just finished a run of Link to the Past / Super Metroid crossover randomizer. And it's one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. The items for both games are randomized and distributed across both games. For example, I found the first sword in Link to the Past above Samus's ship in Crateria in a secret area.
Re: How “randomizers” are breathing new life into old games
#10I would imagine most randomizations render the game impossible, since the first dungeon will require a specific item to complete, and any other item won't help you. Are players forced to leverage glitches? Or is there some way to restrict only to "viable" randomizations?
A lot of effort goes into ensuring that you don't randomize the game into an unwinnable state. Many of these games are so well known by speedrunners and fans, that they know what items are required for each part of the game. The Link to the Past randomizer, IIRC, actually gives you the option to randomize the game in a way that requires no glitches, or randomize the game so that glitches may be needed.