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Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

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Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#31

Post by HerbManic »

wk_end wrote: post #21
autoexec wrote: post #6

> While SHiFT insists that the method of smudging your disc will give you enough time in a lag to beat the SpongeBob game, he adds a clear caveat that it's not worth the risk of permanently damaging your game or original Xbox console How would reading a scratched/dirty disc permanently damage a console? That seems like a very bad issue for a device expected to read frequently swapped discs.

There's a belief in certain corners of the gaming community (and maybe other communities that deal with optical discs) that if the disc drive's laser has to "try hard" to read a disc it will eventually "burn out". Not sure if this is backed up by any actual data or facts - it sounds plausible to me that a laser might dynamically adjust its power level as needed, and that over time that might be bad for it; but it als…

I would be more conserned with the laser motor wearing out. That is what killed my Dreamcast. The laser was fine but the motor to move it just gave up from too much use.

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#32

Post by tantalor »

Dwedit wrote: post #7

If you put tape on cartridge pin #14 of NES Platoon (or other bad connection), the game will boot to a glitched version of the ending, thus making it a zero-second speedrun. Pin #14 is the CPU R/W pin, and if it's not properly connected, the game will be unable to write to the MMC1 mapper to perform bank switching. Platoon happens to be programmed in a way that address 0x8000 of every bank is an entry point that will…

Really stretches the definition of speed run.

If I record the game to VHS, and fast forward to the end, does that count?

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#33

Post by TimorousBestie »

tantalor wrote: post #32
Dwedit wrote: post #7

If you put tape on cartridge pin #14 of NES Platoon (or other bad connection), the game will boot to a glitched version of the ending, thus making it a zero-second speedrun. Pin #14 is the CPU R/W pin, and if it's not properly connected, the game will be unable to write to the MMC1 mapper to perform bank switching. Platoon happens to be programmed in a way that address 0x8000 of every bank is an entry point that will…

Really stretches the definition of speed run. If I record the game to VHS, and fast forward to the end, does that count?

Speedrunners are perfectly capable of defining categories better than that.

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#34

Post by vanchor3 »

phire wrote: post #29
kodt wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems to me that hardware modification would be a banned technique.

Speedrunning communities generally hate it when having more money leads to an advantage. If you ban deliberately smudging/scratching the disc, then some runner with a lot of money will just buy a lot of copies of the disc, find the one that glitches the most consistently (because of pre-existing scratches, or even manufacturing defects that aren’t visible) Allowing some kind of mod is the most equitable compromise.

They typically ban the glitch entirely. For example cartridge manipulation or "CD streaming" glitches in Zelda speedruns are banned, and if you submitted a run containing them while claiming the game did it on its own, they would probably tell you to get a new copy of the game.

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#35

Post by shimman »

Dwedit wrote: post #7

If you put tape on cartridge pin #14 of NES Platoon (or other bad connection), the game will boot to a glitched version of the ending, thus making it a zero-second speedrun. Pin #14 is the CPU R/W pin, and if it's not properly connected, the game will be unable to write to the MMC1 mapper to perform bank switching. Platoon happens to be programmed in a way that address 0x8000 of every bank is an entry point that will…

This comment is how I find out there was a Platoon game based on the movie. Legit hilarious, and for a movie tie in game it doesn't look half bad! Like a mixture of Contra + those dungeon explorer RPGs around the time too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiXkbQ17frY

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#36

Post by jjmarr »

tantalor wrote: post #32
Dwedit wrote: post #7

If you put tape on cartridge pin #14 of NES Platoon (or other bad connection), the game will boot to a glitched version of the ending, thus making it a zero-second speedrun. Pin #14 is the CPU R/W pin, and if it's not properly connected, the game will be unable to write to the MMC1 mapper to perform bank switching. Platoon happens to be programmed in a way that address 0x8000 of every bank is an entry point that will…

Really stretches the definition of speed run. If I record the game to VHS, and fast forward to the end, does that count?

This was the technique used by American Dad speedrunners. Unfortunately, speedrun.com banned it after years of controversy, since fast-forwarding videos doesn't count as a speedrun.

Summoning Salt Documentary: https://youtu.be/yPvKhFXc7ck

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#37

Post by HerbManic »

glouwbug wrote: post #9
loganc2342 wrote: post #4

I’ve been following this game’s speedrun for years; I never expected to see it on the front page of HN! This post could use a (2021), because this trick was discovered years ago. For anyone interested in speedrunning, this game has some of the most insane tech I’ve seen in any game and is definitely worth checking out.

How close was it technically to Jak2? I consider that the defining technical mastery of that generation

I would consider Jak 3 to be even better than that BUT the darker art direction really hid a lot of what it was doing. Shame really.

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#38

Post by aaron695 »

shimman wrote: post #35
Dwedit wrote: post #7

If you put tape on cartridge pin #14 of NES Platoon (or other bad connection), the game will boot to a glitched version of the ending, thus making it a zero-second speedrun. Pin #14 is the CPU R/W pin, and if it's not properly connected, the game will be unable to write to the MMC1 mapper to perform bank switching. Platoon happens to be programmed in a way that address 0x8000 of every bank is an entry point that will…

This comment is how I find out there was a Platoon game based on the movie. Legit hilarious, and for a movie tie in game it doesn't look half bad! Like a mixture of Contra + those dungeon explorer RPGs around the time too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiXkbQ17frY

[dead]

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#39

Post by Lammy »

HerbManic wrote: post #31
wk_end wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a belief in certain corners of the gaming community (and maybe other communities that deal with optical discs) that if the disc drive's laser has to "try hard" to read a disc it will eventually "burn out". Not sure if this is backed up by any actual data or facts - it sounds plausible to me that a laser might dynamically adjust its power level as needed, and that over time that might be bad for it; but it als…

I would be more conserned with the laser motor wearing out. That is what killed my Dreamcast. The laser was fine but the motor to move it just gave up from too much use.

This is why I keep my optical drives' moving parts clean and well-lubricated and freshen them up every few years

Re: Smudging the game disc to make speedrunning 'SpongeBob' faster

#40

Post by autoexec »

Lammy wrote: post #39
HerbManic wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be more conserned with the laser motor wearing out. That is what killed my Dreamcast. The laser was fine but the motor to move it just gave up from too much use.

This is why I keep my optical drives' moving parts clean and well-lubricated and freshen them up every few years

What do you use to lubricate them? I've got a few PS2s that are starting to give occasional disc read errors and a little laser maintenance might be overdue
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