Niftski clearly has an advantage because he plays on emulator with a keyboard. Oh, wait, what's this? a 4:54.93 on console? ua-cam.com/video/lnZLC1W6yTc/v-deo.html
As someone who sees just a little glimpse behind the scenes of Bismuth's creation process, the passion and stringent commitment to detail is incredible. He goes to great lengths to research the mechanics and create visuals, and the result is often beyond the level of understanding of even top level runners of the game. He dives into code and documentation and comes out with an explanation for something we had only speculated about in the past. These are my favorite videos on youtube.
it was awesome , cleared a lot of doubt I had. Still needs a full explanation why double accel on the 8-4 is tas only tho (the sixth frame). or did I miss it
At 15:46, I'm honestly amazed that no one pointed out that I said the level ending sequence has three parts, and then I listed four. Well, I'm pointing it out then.
Speedrunners' dedication to their craft is mindblowing to me. At 14:35 "Niftski realized he only slowed down by 1 subpixel instead of 2 and fixed it frame-perfectly on the next pillar" Really? He could tell that he was one SIXTEENTH of a pixel off and adjusted for it in a few tenths of a second? That's actually insane. That level of mastery is crazy.
@@AnonymOus-ss9jj he wouldn't actually see it, but after doing it so many thousands of times he would've felt the amount of time he was on the ledge for
@@taylorskidmore2760 it probably is, but this kind of diminishes the sheer amount of time and effort needed to get something so precise as a reflex. That you can tell when a sub pixel, something you cannot see in the game because it is so small, is off. That shit is wild
Thank you for being the first UA-camr to ever explain *why* framerules exist. That global timer stuff was the first time I'd ever understood what the point of them was.
@@vincent_lvl1 i dont wanna be that guy, but thats wrong. tas is not a computer. tool assisted speedrun, is where a human can play a part of the level over and over again till he gets it perfectly, and then puts it together to create the theoreticaly perfect speedrun.
@@coengrutterThey also write down the inputs to be executed for each frame. It's a bit like a routine, like an algorithm without branches. Might as well be a computer.
How humans can figure this shit out is almost as impressive as the speed run. Im sure some people outside the speed run community may taking a glancing look at this is and think it’s dumb, but as someone who’s outside the speed run community let me say, this is probably the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen someone do in a video game. Insane achievement, I’m sure after thousands of hours of grinding. Congrats to the player.
At face value it seems stupid and a waste of time. However, people who can figure this stuff out are mastering a skill called reverse engineering. At the last, it's a workout for your brain.
Some stuff you'll discover accidentally while playing the game multiple times. Especially when you try to rush through the game. Like i learned most of these secret rooms , reverse run speeds and the hit box region of plants just by accident.
"To achieve this time, Nifski stood on the shoulders of the giants that came before him." And the records shown after that line were enough for me to get really emotional. So many people have worked incredibly hard to achieve perfection and to see the previous world records that contributed to the community has almost literally led up to this point. It's the most inspirational thing I can ever hope to see and find.
Yup, the music got me in the feels too. It's incredible that this is the last time we'll ever see a second barrier broken in this game, barring a huge groundbreaking discovery which is unlikely at best. However, there are SO many other amazing games out there just begging to be optimized to this level. Speedrunners will never run out of things to break crazy records with!
This deserves praise if nothing else than the fact that this is a Super Mario Bros speedrunning breakdown video that doesn't mention a bus in it's 30+ minute runtime
@@ThinkAboutVic Not sure parrallel universes is the best comparison. It got memed due to how absurd it sounds to someone without tas knowledge. The bus metaphor got memed because a lot of speedrun content creators make content for beginners and so needed to explain it each time. In short one got memed because of the community and the other got memed because of the creators.
I'm a month late to this, but after Miniland beat this record with a 4:54.914 (yes, on an actual NES this time), Niftski took it back with a 4:54.881 on December 2nd, 2021! Watch the run here: ua-cam.com/video/aukKeS8LdDI/v-deo.html
also Niftski has gotten 50+ Lightning 4-2 framerule saves, including one in a run -- he said that he can get it roughly 8% of the time, so he'll be trying repeated runs with it soon
These videos always make me nostalgic for the old internet, when there were entire websites dedicated to discovering and explaining arcane stuff like this about games. What a special thing for someone to take it upon themselves not just to preserve that wacky world, but to make it so much more approachable for so many people who would never otherwise be able to enjoy it. Thanks for all you do, Bismuth.
@@recmonika9751 Yeah, I didn't say that and I'm sorry you had to wait for your pay this month but it got confused with the 13th month which somehow glitched onto the next framerule, so we had to adjust it a couple of subpixels and only got one. Being only a god and not a wizard, so I didn't notice or correct it in time. It's fixed now so you'll have this month's and the 13th month paid eh... yesterday. December's pay will be exactly on the solstice. Happy solstice everyone! :D Oh, and don't mind the beheaded angel; he got the blame for the mix up. Don't worry about it, it's a god thing.
13:15 The fact that you included that on screen description of why B or something else needs to be held during fast accel because of the “insta stop when speed is in between -10 and 10” mechanic blows my mind, and makes me so happy to see. As of like a year ago, little to no RTA players knew that, and still now very few people know of mechanics like that. It’s ridiculously impressive that you put in effort to learn small details like that, and it’s just as impressive that your able to work in those minor details into a video without it getting too lengthy and over complicated. Amazing work bismuth, this level of detail is seriously ridiculous.
Check out this bit of code, it's the function that checks if Mario should stop quickly. This was done intentionally to make directional changes quicker and feel more responsive. i.imgur.com/dlq1Xyg.png The highlighted line is where the bug is. The game masks out the A button, but reads every other button, and then checks if the result is 0 (i.e. if no buttons are being pressed except for A). If it's 0, Mario decelerates slowly to a stop, and if it's not zero (i.e. if any button is being pressed), it checks if he should be stopping instantly. When it checks if he should be stopping, it masks every button except left and right (03 = 00000011, 1 is right and 10 is left). Then it compares the resulting value with the moving direction (again, 1 is right and 10 is left). If it's the same, that means you're pressing the same direction that you're moving, so you should not be stopping. If it's not the same, that means you're pressing the opposide direction that you're moving, so you should be stopping. But here's the catch! If you were not holding left nor right, but you were holding some other button, the and #$03 returns 0. When it compares against your moving direction, 0 is not equal to right (1) and it's also not equal to left (10). So no matter which direction you're moving, it's not equal to your button presses, and it stops you instantly. This is why it works when you're not holding left/right but you're holding any combination of B, up, down, and select. Technically it should work for start as well, but in practice I haven't found that to work, so maybe something else happens here.
The mechanics of mario are so fun and interesting. I've had some stuff happen before while playing through that seemed crazy and impossible at least for my knowledge, I wish I had recorded them. Probably from that every other frame hit detection thing I learned about in this vid, can make bouncing off some enemies work in strange ways sometimes.
@@Bismuth9 There’s so much stuff I know about for Smb1 that I am almost certain is true and accurate, but never looked at the code to be certain (for example, I have known about this speed between -10 and 10 thing for a long time, but only because I figured it out when TASing and eventually understood how it worked). It would be really cool to be able to check the code to confirm all the stuff I know and understand it all better.
31:11 “while on paper it could be humanly possible, it’s doubtful anyone would be able to pull it off” and now, 2 years later, it’s been done in the world record run. only 8-4 remains
I know what you mean, 8-4 in a full run. For individual levels, two players tied the TAS on 8-4, LeKukie and Niftski. The perfect run can now be combined from 2 segments. Maybe one day the run will be perfect in RTA...
The final minutes, with that gorgeous piano piece and the world record holders' times and celebrations, the final scene with toadstool, it all adds up so much, Bismuth. The way it closes out without a word, just piano and the text "Thank you Mario! Your quest is over." It feels like you're being told that your hardship is over. It's enough to bring anybody to tears, your worn down and tired, you've grinded away at a possible best time for months, if not years, at a goal. Watching a group of people finally break down a barrier so small yet so important actually broke me down, I cried at the end, but it was without a doubt the perfect ending to something like this.
The current world record is 4:54.631 by Niftski. He has tied the TAS to 8-4 and is now 22 frames off perfection. Watch it here: ua-cam.com/video/Khu9BB2g4Ks/v-deo.html
I bet in 10 or 20 years the best time will be 4:37.769 because it will never be perfect so some one will eventually be like omg something new and beat the game a lot faster
This video is amazing. The "shoulders of giants" section was genius and moving. The whole thing is explained so well, and the visuals are top notch and super clear. Fantastic work as always and well worth the wait.
7:04 I still remember when I found that pipe clip thing. When I first went through that pipe, I felt top of the world. It was like....I found some hidden treasure. One sunday afternoon I called all of my friends and showed them. We spent hours doing that and for a brief period, I was the coolest dude in my circle Lol Good old days!
As of September 7th, 2023, nearly 5 years after Kosmic set the first 4:55 run, Niftski, who first broke the 4:54 barrier, has completed a run tied the TAS going into 8-4.
I've seen enough videos on Niftski's record where I thought I could really skip this one, but the impeccable visuals with counters and overlayed comparisons are just so thorough that I learned way more from this video than I would have expected. Amazing vid
3:20 "When Mario runs into the wall, for one frame he actually runs into the wall." I would assume he does at one point run into the wall when he runs into the wall. Otherwise, he wouldn't be running into the wall and therefore couldn't be running into the wall.
@@cranberrysprite3704 The timed splits on the left side of the screen are done manually, so that's an unofficial time. The top SMB runners have studied the patterns of what Bowser does depending on what frame the room is entered on, so that's how he immediately knew it was a record. I think that's also why he was confused by Bowser, I guess he thought he was a frame ahead of where he actually was.
When you said he stood on the shoulders of the giants and showed the previous world record beating moments, that was truly inspirational! Amazing what humans can achieve when they set their minds to something - just incredible!
I just want to say that the animations comparing two different ways of doing things (EG: grabbing flag VS glitching into the block) really makes the small differences very apparent. I likes 'em.
Bismuth, the segment at the end where you show all the ghosts of previous runs with the previous WR holder reactions brought tears to my eyes. So well done! It really goes to show that for a game like this, every new achievement really does build on all the history that has come before
I’m super pumped to sit down and watch this. I feel like it’s going to be a good conclusion for me. I love this community, it’s runners, creators, and watchers. Thanks for all your work, bismuth. You’ve helped bring so many people into our little community
26:30 this section seriously made me well up. To see so much hard work finally pay off as each of these players takes their moment in the spotlight as the greatest player in the world, and their sheer joy and excitement. It's beautiful.
@@iluvdawubz no real beef I assume just playful jabs. Edit: crap... I just whoooosh myself. I was half asleep when I replied, i totally didn't see the playful sarcasm 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Man this video is so good, the amount of info in this is insane and we thought the old videos were already well in depth. But like you said this is probably not getting outdated unless a miracle happens and a completely new timesave is found but... That's just not a thing right now.
The production quality of this video is stunning, and the explanations of what is happening are the clearest I've heard. Nevertheless, I continue to be amazed that human hands can execute such feats of precision, and it's a testament to the dedication of players themselves and collective accumulated knowledge of the speedrunning community. It's amusing that a new generation remains so interested in keeping this classic game alive. Perhaps it is because, despite its simple appearance, the game's mechanics are relatively complex. I have fond memories of playing Super Mario Bros. with my best friend all night during sleepovers. Three decades later, we're still good friends, and the game still makes me nostalgic for those simpler times. P.S. As a pianist, I would pay good money for the score to the background theme music.
Making sheet music is quite time consuming, and so I don't do it unless I played it a tempo closely enough to be able to convert it into a readable sheet music in a few hours. I would have to either make it from scratch, or somehow turn this into a readable score. i.imgur.com/MyKBTwO.png
I was born way after SMB1 but it's one of my favorite Mario games because like you said, even though it's a simple game there's also a lot of complexity if you dig deeper.
Amazingly done video! The detail, the editing and the music! And I actually never even thought about Speedruns ever. Still this video to me is truly one of the most memorable ones on this platform
I'm so impressed by this video, your attention to detail, great explanations and incredible "on shoulder of giants sequence", it all just blow my mind. I didn't known anything up to this point about Mario speedrunning and I understood everything you said, which just goes to show how good this video is. On the last note you're voice is perfect for this kind of video
This is literally the best video in youtube. You explain all of the tricks down to the tiniest details and in the perfect way for everyone to understand. Thank you very much for this master piece!!
"A number of fireworks equal to the final digit of the timer go off when the final digit at the end of the level is 1, 3, 6, or of course 0" You are technically correct. The best kind of correct
I’ve watched this run a dozen or so times and I’ve watched a lot of breakdowns, and I still learned new and interesting things about the game and this run from this video. Kudos for that.
This was an epic breakdown! Well done! When I was playing this back in the 80s I would have never guessed it would ever have been analyzed like a physics proof 35 years later. 🤣
I’m in utter awe at how amazing all of your visuals and investment to explaining things is such depth and simplicity thank you for the absolute service you’re doing (also for the beautiful piano renditions you play)
Thanks for breaking this down and explaining it so thoroughly. I loved the montage of happy footage of each person who broke a big record along the way.
This is by far the best video I've seen explaining the tricks of these top tier speed runs. I've known about the FPG and frame rules but never understood exactly WHY they worked until now. This video is so awesome.
But- but these buses leave every third of a second, they must be fast... Why not take one directly to 8-4? Why walk all the way? Man, these speedrunners need less brawn and more brains. I mean Mario should really get hooked with a bus pass.
Caution, pixel perfect is actually no. Frame perfect is true in most cases. For any random wall jump, 2/5 chance to be impossible, 2/5 chance to be frame perfect, 1/5 chance to be 2 frames. For every wall jump discussed in this video, they are all frame perfect.
Bismuth: "Why is this speedrun perfect?" Me: "Well, Niftski made several precise movements while having extremely compr--" Bismith: "IT'S NOT." Me: Visible dread.
I thought it was the background music used in most speedrunner videos that gave them the edge-of-your-seat feel, but you nailed it without any music at all! I love this video, thank you for providing such detailed info on how Super Mario works and the steps used by Niftski. Awesome!
I have never been into speedruns but this was a great video, it's fascinating how truly skilled the competitors are to pull these insane runs off. Thank you for the detailed explanation of each step of the run 👍
It's pretty crazy how it works. His popoff is a good 10 or 12 dB lower than the peaks of my voiceover and about 6-8 dB lower than my average volume and yet it still sounds louder somehow
There are multiple reasons it's not possible. Notably the fact that you can't manipulate the RAM significantly without being able to move objects on both axis. In SMB1, the only way to do that is either Mario himself, or having an enemy or object walk off an object. This doesn't allow movement up though. This also implies that there is a way to warp to the Peach animation
I know it's been researched to death and found its almost impossible already, but I really wish it's not possible. I don't dislike the speedruns that make use of it, but I think one of the beauties this run is that despite using a bunch of glitches, it plays out the game almost just as intended. Ofcourse I know there will be a no credits warp category if it's found and is also likely to be the more popular one.
Niftski said it's unlikely anyone will ever get a sub 4:54.3, unless we find easier ways to get lightning 4-2 and save time on 8-4. But I think both of these will happen. Remember, we thought 8-2 was impossible, but that's because we didn't know as much about it as we do now. And people will just get better at the fast accels needed for 8-4.
@@ThaAwesome10 4:54.282 is theoretically possible, and people are figuring out how to do the first room falling fast acceleration. This makes 4:54.265 theoretically possible, but it may take millions of attempts across many speedrunners.
The golden rule of speedrunning is to never say something is impossible - but with literal decades of examination, I'm tempted to really believe that this is the last second milestone. I suspect even a fuzzer wouldn't find any new glitches. It's kind of astounding the game has been reverse engineered to this degree. Unless cosmic ray bit flips (or holding a radioactive source next to your ram) becomes a standard speedrunning tactic, I think this is it.
Although, if some sort of hardware deficiency is responsible for future time savings, it would be very interesting to see how that situation would be handled on emulator. Theoretically, the emulator perfectly emulates the behavior of the hardware in something approaching a genuine physical simulation. But I doubt emulators simulate the exact details of, idk, RAM timing, or if they do, in enough detail to actually capture bugs found with real hardware.
People claiming Niftski has some advantage with emulator ignore two important things: 1) the techniques for allowing humans to setup tricks like FPG were developed around using a NES controller. Niftski has to finagle his own input method to make these techniques similarly convenient. 2) he's using an LCD, as opposed to a lagless CRT. Having to compensate for both input lag and response times when performing frame-perfect inputs is unquestionably more difficult on Niftski's setup. Of course, take any top level runner using a console/CRT combo and they'll be terrible on Niftski's setup, and vice versa. But all things being equal, Niftski's approach is harder -- that's why the vast majority of runners take the much less convenient route of using original hardware.
Not really accurate. Digital encoding is always slower but lowest latency monitors make that pretty irrelevant. Learning on keyboard might be a bit harder/less intuitive, but you can practice faster on emu anyway so kind of irrelevant again. And once you're at high level keyboard is objectively better
@@Kosmicd12 All fair points. Particularly, the difference between a d-pad and discrete keyboard keys might be especially good for avoiding accidental inputs. I'm not sure the difference between a 'good' modern LCD and a CRT is irrelevant at this level of play, but I'm not an expert, and you definitely are.
I love watching them break these records again and again but it makes me kind of sad that there’s almost no room left for improvement. Truly incredible they’ve gotten this far!
Niftski clearly has an advantage because he plays on emulator with a keyboard. Oh, wait, what's this? a 4:54.93 on console? ua-cam.com/video/lnZLC1W6yTc/v-deo.html
First
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As someone who sees just a little glimpse behind the scenes of Bismuth's creation process, the passion and stringent commitment to detail is incredible. He goes to great lengths to research the mechanics and create visuals, and the result is often beyond the level of understanding of even top level runners of the game. He dives into code and documentation and comes out with an explanation for something we had only speculated about in the past. These are my favorite videos on youtube.
it was awesome , cleared a lot of doubt I had. Still needs a full explanation why double accel on the 8-4 is tas only tho (the sixth frame). or did I miss it
I haven’t been able to find editing that beats his
i love you dad
Agreed
Seeing all y’all on the bridge in 8-4 at once was amazing! Thanks to everyone super video :)
22:57
Guess you're right. It's too bad, I thought I got my info from reliable sources, such as this video - ua-cam.com/video/_FQJEzJ_cQw/v-deo.html
When are you releasing your disstrack?
LOL
Hello Summoning Salt
LOL
Hey I recognized my faults at 23:09
At 15:46, I'm honestly amazed that no one pointed out that I said the level ending sequence has three parts, and then I listed four. Well, I'm pointing it out then.
Correcting one in this regard seems not kind :D
because the level ending sequence is known even outside of speedruns so no one really paid attention to that
Bismuth have you seen the new strategy that makes it possible to beat the game in 4:53? Will you do an update video?
@@asianpablo1574 lol why u so mad over a video bro its a fucking youtube video on your screen
@@asianpablo1574 Touch grass.
Speedrunners' dedication to their craft is mindblowing to me. At 14:35 "Niftski realized he only slowed down by 1 subpixel instead of 2 and fixed it frame-perfectly on the next pillar" Really? He could tell that he was one SIXTEENTH of a pixel off and adjusted for it in a few tenths of a second? That's actually insane. That level of mastery is crazy.
It's just reflexes
Yeah how could he see he was a sub-pixel off, when by definition, they are too small to see.
@@AnonymOus-ss9jj he wouldn't actually see it, but after doing it so many thousands of times he would've felt the amount of time he was on the ledge for
@@taylorskidmore2760 it probably is, but this kind of diminishes the sheer amount of time and effort needed to get something so precise as a reflex. That you can tell when a sub pixel, something you cannot see in the game because it is so small, is off. That shit is wild
@@jambott5520 I agree, there is beauty in the dedication
Thank you for being the first UA-camr to ever explain *why* framerules exist. That global timer stuff was the first time I'd ever understood what the point of them was.
It really makes my framerule explanation from the warpless video look completely stupid in comparison
Ok, so there is a bus...
@@Robert_McGarry_Poems and it has a schedule...
@@nikhilkumarav3021 And no one asked...
Ok, so imagine a bus...
First of all, let's address the obvious: Niftski is NOT eating pizza and drinking coke while achieving his world record.
I love how the speedrunning community made that guy a massive meme without giving him any attention for it
or eating an entire pack of oreos
@@Thedestroyer2031 im eating with no milk btw
It's unfortunate, if he had a coke and pizza during the run 4:53 might have been possible
@@fort809 I wish they’d learn another joke.
As of 9/7/2023, Niftski has now tied the TAS all the way up to 8-4!
He pulled off the 4-2 frame rule save and got the WR first try!
This is so fucking Crazy. I swear.. they Just trained and dedicated they're Life to Just accomplish THIS, TIENG with a TAS, COMPUTER
@@vincent_lvl1 i dont wanna be that guy, but thats wrong.
tas is not a computer.
tool assisted speedrun, is where a human can play a part of the level over and over again till he gets it perfectly, and then puts it together to create the theoreticaly perfect speedrun.
@@coengrutterThey also write down the inputs to be executed for each frame. It's a bit like a routine, like an algorithm without branches. Might as well be a computer.
@@vincent_lvl1 ment made me google how to spell the gerund form of "to tie". weirdly it is "tying".
@@tapiocaweasel sorry for using my second language 🥲 ich könnte auch deutsch schreiben xd
Dude. That ending, showing each previous world record at the same place in his game...that was EMOTIONAL as hell. Well done, well edited.
I nearly cried hahaha
g*mers will get emotional about anything
And that music..man I got little tears. If I'm Shigeru-san, I'm gonna be so proud lol
I cried, yes
yes I was feeling the same man, that moment is so touched
How humans can figure this shit out is almost as impressive as the speed run. Im sure some people outside the speed run community may taking a glancing look at this is and think it’s dumb, but as someone who’s outside the speed run community let me say, this is probably the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen someone do in a video game. Insane achievement, I’m sure after thousands of hours of grinding. Congrats to the player.
Humans made the game, if we played a game made by intelligent ai I’d like to see how we would stand
At face value it seems stupid and a waste of time. However, people who can figure this stuff out are mastering a skill called reverse engineering. At the last, it's a workout for your brain.
@@AntonioGarcia-wn7ut that would be interesting I would like to see that
Some stuff you'll discover accidentally while playing the game multiple times. Especially when you try to rush through the game. Like i learned most of these secret rooms , reverse run speeds and the hit box region of plants just by accident.
@@AntonioGarcia-wn7ut game was made by humans but all the difficult tricks were put unintentionally
"To achieve this time, Nifski stood on the shoulders of the giants that came before him."
And the records shown after that line were enough for me to get really emotional. So many people have worked incredibly hard to achieve perfection and to see the previous world records that contributed to the community has almost literally led up to this point. It's the most inspirational thing I can ever hope to see and find.
ngl i cried
It's so beautiful to see how speedrunning is competitive, but at the same time a beautiful community effort to reach perfection.
This line hits exactly why speedrunning is incredible. Even if it is “just a game”
Hahahaha yes, I guess same could be said about how I am able to type on my phone without a physical keyboard
Yup, the music got me in the feels too. It's incredible that this is the last time we'll ever see a second barrier broken in this game, barring a huge groundbreaking discovery which is unlikely at best. However, there are SO many other amazing games out there just begging to be optimized to this level. Speedrunners will never run out of things to break crazy records with!
This deserves praise if nothing else than the fact that this is a Super Mario Bros speedrunning breakdown video that doesn't mention a bus in it's 30+ minute runtime
True. Whether I enjoy or hate the bus metaphor that has essentially become a meme very much depends on the day.
What's wrong with the bus metaphor though?
@@emperortgp2424 it being overused and people making fun of how overused it is, it’s the parallel universes of the SMB1 community
Im disappointed, its tradition
@@ThinkAboutVic Not sure parrallel universes is the best comparison. It got memed due to how absurd it sounds to someone without tas knowledge. The bus metaphor got memed because a lot of speedrun content creators make content for beginners and so needed to explain it each time. In short one got memed because of the community and the other got memed because of the creators.
I'm a month late to this, but after Miniland beat this record with a 4:54.914 (yes, on an actual NES this time), Niftski took it back with a 4:54.881 on December 2nd, 2021! Watch the run here: ua-cam.com/video/aukKeS8LdDI/v-deo.html
Cool
Great Video.
Amazing Info.
Thanks For The Update.
Instant Subscriber.
Nice, so we're getting closer and closer to the perfect speedrun! :)
Wow
also Niftski has gotten 50+ Lightning 4-2 framerule saves, including one in a run -- he said that he can get it roughly 8% of the time, so he'll be trying repeated runs with it soon
31:18
Its impossible to understate just how incredibly precise and difficult-
Y E S! Y E S! OH MY GOD I D I D I T !
I was falling asleep with the video playing and that almost gave me a heart attack.
한국분이시네요..와우
@@꾸자님good thing there is a translate button 2 years later
*Mario literally walking through a wall*
Bismuth: How did Mario not die when touching the piranha plant?
But the piranha plant is something that's supposed to kill you. Wallclips are normal.
@@deleetiusproductions3497 yeah i concur
@@deleetiusproductions3497 "wall clips are normal" yeah I'm sure that's how the game is normally played xD
@@LvLdGhost I mean from a speedrunner’s perspective
Makes sense to me
These videos always make me nostalgic for the old internet, when there were entire websites dedicated to discovering and explaining arcane stuff like this about games. What a special thing for someone to take it upon themselves not just to preserve that wacky world, but to make it so much more approachable for so many people who would never otherwise be able to enjoy it. Thanks for all you do, Bismuth.
I can completely see myself re-watching videos like this in 50 years time, reminiscing about 'the good old days'.
There's a great wiki for super Metroid speedrunning that does that
In case anyone's curious, he did it again and now holds the world record with 4.54.631
180bpm
The detail, wow. Your explanation makes things extremely easy to understand, thank you!
Hi
eeee
@Repent to Jesus Christ Repent to Jesus Christ buddy i work for god and i dont remember him sain that ever
@@recmonika9751 Yeah, I didn't say that and I'm sorry you had to wait for your pay this month but it got confused with the 13th month which somehow glitched onto the next framerule, so we had to adjust it a couple of subpixels and only got one. Being only a god and not a wizard, so I didn't notice or correct it in time. It's fixed now so you'll have this month's and the 13th month paid eh... yesterday. December's pay will be exactly on the solstice. Happy solstice everyone! :D Oh, and don't mind the beheaded angel; he got the blame for the mix up. Don't worry about it, it's a god thing.
@@stylis666 shure thing boss
13:15 The fact that you included that on screen description of why B or something else needs to be held during fast accel because of the “insta stop when speed is in between -10 and 10” mechanic blows my mind, and makes me so happy to see. As of like a year ago, little to no RTA players knew that, and still now very few people know of mechanics like that. It’s ridiculously impressive that you put in effort to learn small details like that, and it’s just as impressive that your able to work in those minor details into a video without it getting too lengthy and over complicated. Amazing work bismuth, this level of detail is seriously ridiculous.
Check out this bit of code, it's the function that checks if Mario should stop quickly. This was done intentionally to make directional changes quicker and feel more responsive. i.imgur.com/dlq1Xyg.png
The highlighted line is where the bug is. The game masks out the A button, but reads every other button, and then checks if the result is 0 (i.e. if no buttons are being pressed except for A). If it's 0, Mario decelerates slowly to a stop, and if it's not zero (i.e. if any button is being pressed), it checks if he should be stopping instantly.
When it checks if he should be stopping, it masks every button except left and right (03 = 00000011, 1 is right and 10 is left). Then it compares the resulting value with the moving direction (again, 1 is right and 10 is left). If it's the same, that means you're pressing the same direction that you're moving, so you should not be stopping. If it's not the same, that means you're pressing the opposide direction that you're moving, so you should be stopping. But here's the catch! If you were not holding left nor right, but you were holding some other button, the and #$03 returns 0. When it compares against your moving direction, 0 is not equal to right (1) and it's also not equal to left (10). So no matter which direction you're moving, it's not equal to your button presses, and it stops you instantly. This is why it works when you're not holding left/right but you're holding any combination of B, up, down, and select. Technically it should work for start as well, but in practice I haven't found that to work, so maybe something else happens here.
The mechanics of mario are so fun and interesting. I've had some stuff happen before while playing through that seemed crazy and impossible at least for my knowledge, I wish I had recorded them. Probably from that every other frame hit detection thing I learned about in this vid, can make bouncing off some enemies work in strange ways sometimes.
@Bismuth oh wow interesting. I never learned how to understand Smb1 code but I should
@@kriller3771 It's definitely a trip. I got my first real taste of assembly language during the SMB3 credits warp research.
@@Bismuth9 There’s so much stuff I know about for Smb1 that I am almost certain is true and accurate, but never looked at the code to be certain (for example, I have known about this speed between -10 and 10 thing for a long time, but only because I figured it out when TASing and eventually understood how it worked). It would be really cool to be able to check the code to confirm all the stuff I know and understand it all better.
The fake feud with SummoningSalt gives me life
"fake" mhm. Diss tracks are soon, this drama is far too deep
There's probably some real rivalry there, but not in a mean-spirited way. You can have respect for your rival and still wish to outperform them.
Summoning salt is such a bogus speedrun analyst.
@@garrysekelli6776 he makes way more digestible content then most of these guys lol to each their own
@@garrysekelli6776 without him this genre of video wouldn't have blown up but ok😐
31:11 “while on paper it could be humanly possible, it’s doubtful anyone would be able to pull it off” and now, 2 years later, it’s been done in the world record run. only 8-4 remains
I know what you mean, 8-4 in a full run. For individual levels, two players tied the TAS on 8-4, LeKukie and Niftski. The perfect run can now be combined from 2 segments. Maybe one day the run will be perfect in RTA...
The final minutes, with that gorgeous piano piece and the world record holders' times and celebrations, the final scene with toadstool, it all adds up so much, Bismuth. The way it closes out without a word, just piano and the text "Thank you Mario! Your quest is over." It feels like you're being told that your hardship is over. It's enough to bring anybody to tears, your worn down and tired, you've grinded away at a possible best time for months, if not years, at a goal. Watching a group of people finally break down a barrier so small yet so important actually broke me down, I cried at the end, but it was without a doubt the perfect ending to something like this.
...and then: "We present you a new quest."
You cried? Get help you need it :(
How the fuck people cry at anything
Alternate Title: "The Closest Super Mario Bros. Will Ever Be to Perfect"
this is a meme btw also holy cow how is Bismuth so good at everything like seriously how
poor Kosmic
if kosmic was the first to get 4:54 and the only contender for 4:54:
At least he beat it himself rather have someone else do it.
Really should be the title tbh
26:30 This part really shows the *_years_* of work by this community. Insane.
TF? How do you know the end before the video even gets there?
@@charliegriswold1445 Bismuth premiered the video on his Twitch channel before premiering it on UA-cam. It blew everyone away
@@hitzcritz oh, thank you. i didn’t know. Sorry
@@hitzcritz I would actually love to see a clip of that with the Twitch chat on. I'll see if I can get it on twitch.
decades*
The current world record is 4:54.631 by Niftski. He has tied the TAS to 8-4 and is now 22 frames off perfection. Watch it here: ua-cam.com/video/Khu9BB2g4Ks/v-deo.html
First
I bet in 10 or 20 years the best time will be 4:37.769 because it will never be perfect so some one will eventually be like omg something new and beat the game a lot faster
@@nintendo_legend no matter what people find, the time will never go down THAT much. At most, it could hit 4:50s if some crazy discoveries happened.
@@nintendo_legend the time will definitely not go down to that the tas hasn’t lost much time in the last 10 years
@@Halosuperboy the TAS isn't based on real players plays? They can't discover new tricks?
This video is amazing. The "shoulders of giants" section was genius and moving. The whole thing is explained so well, and the visuals are top notch and super clear. Fantastic work as always and well worth the wait.
I swear the community understands this game even more than Nintendo does
facts
@@black_forest_ that’s kinda sick actually can u send me the link
@@black_forest_ thanks man
Precisely
Absolute FAX.
7:04 I still remember when I found that pipe clip thing. When I first went through that pipe, I felt top of the world. It was like....I found some hidden treasure. One sunday afternoon I called all of my friends and showed them. We spent hours doing that and for a brief period, I was the coolest dude in my circle Lol Good old days!
You didn't find that pipe clip. You lie so much
@@vkvk3525 it's possible to pull off accidentally while messing around
Required a lot of luck but is believahle
@@Xnoob545 If u believe that I got a bridge to sell u with your name on it
@@Xnoob545 yea but u can’t just “show ur friends” it’s a frame perfect trick
@@neonicplays may or may not have recorded it
As of September 7th, 2023, nearly 5 years after Kosmic set the first 4:55 run, Niftski, who first broke the 4:54 barrier, has completed a run tied the TAS going into 8-4.
“A certain other speedrunning youtuber told 2 million people that wall jumps were pixel perfect”
“that’s just a bag of lies”
Followed right away by "but yeah, 1 pixel for this case..."
smol amuse.
@Robert i'm pretty sure the first jump of unnerfed innards is pixel perfect but apart from that yeah
"Oh, turns out that certain other speedrunning UA-camr was me all along 😜"
@@naonna1 no, one *frame* for this case, because niftski was off by a pixel.
"There Will Be Consequences" loved that
@@blamingskill1146 m
I've seen enough videos on Niftski's record where I thought I could really skip this one, but the impeccable visuals with counters and overlayed comparisons are just so thorough that I learned way more from this video than I would have expected. Amazing vid
Never had an interest in speed runs, but this man was so passionate about this particular run I couldn't stop watching.
I always find it incredible to see over 10 years worth of world records being only 2 screens apart.
your pfp is *bup*
your pfp is (still) *bup*
3:20 "When Mario runs into the wall, for one frame he actually runs into the wall."
I would assume he does at one point run into the wall when he runs into the wall. Otherwise, he wouldn't be running into the wall and therefore couldn't be running into the wall.
This run has been beaten! Miniland achieved a 4:54.914. Watch the run here ua-cam.com/video/xrt1HiTTvrU/v-deo.html
Wow. Now was a good time to rewatch this video from my suggestions.
Is this why this was recommended to me again? LOL
I'm confused, time said 4.55 something. How did he beat it?
amazing
@@cranberrysprite3704 The timed splits on the left side of the screen are done manually, so that's an unofficial time. The top SMB runners have studied the patterns of what Bowser does depending on what frame the room is entered on, so that's how he immediately knew it was a record. I think that's also why he was confused by Bowser, I guess he thought he was a frame ahead of where he actually was.
When you said he stood on the shoulders of the giants and showed the previous world record beating moments, that was truly inspirational! Amazing what humans can achieve when they set their minds to something - just incredible!
Very well made and explained video as usual! :)
GG on your record!
Here, take my cannoli, godfather.
Oh look, it’s the god gamer Niftski! All hail the KING of SMB1
This needs to be pinned
GG :)
I just want to say that the animations comparing two different ways of doing things (EG: grabbing flag VS glitching into the block) really makes the small differences very apparent. I likes 'em.
Bismuth, the segment at the end where you show all the ghosts of previous runs with the previous WR holder reactions brought tears to my eyes. So well done! It really goes to show that for a game like this, every new achievement really does build on all the history that has come before
This is, genuinely, one of the most well put together videos that I have ever watched on UA-cam. Amazing job. Instantly subscribed!
I’m super pumped to sit down and watch this. I feel like it’s going to be a good conclusion for me.
I love this community, it’s runners, creators, and watchers.
Thanks for all your work, bismuth. You’ve helped bring so many people into our little community
26:30 this section seriously made me well up. To see so much hard work finally pay off as each of these players takes their moment in the spotlight as the greatest player in the world, and their sheer joy and excitement. It's beautiful.
6:50 I love how the hitboxes were ranked from normal to weird.
I didn’t notice that lmao
He gave Bowser too much credit, he has a large disjoint in front of his arms
@@MeesterTweester I agree. Bowsers hitbox can be realy anoying.
@@iexist1300 Luckily he has 2 so you can give him double hits :)
Bowser’s fire had such a long sprite but it’s hit box is so tiny. It’s kinda funny to look at.
I like the use of Luigi to show different things such as not waiting on the bullet or not doing backwards accel. Makes for good comparisons.
The salt and bismuth beef is so funny, it's also how smooth and discreet each roast is
What? Beef?
@@iluvdawubz no real beef I assume just playful jabs.
Edit: crap... I just whoooosh myself. I was half asleep when I replied, i totally didn't see the playful sarcasm 😂🤣😂🤣😂
this is so punny i love it
"not very many subscribers"
Salt and Bismuth beef sounds like what a stoned chemist cooks at the end of a very long day.
Man this video is so good, the amount of info in this is insane and we thought the old videos were already well in depth. But like you said this is probably not getting outdated unless a miracle happens and a completely new timesave is found but... That's just not a thing right now.
@Smiley Face hi
Show us the back of your TV! We want to see the cables...
@@juandager5220 I will when I get 454 ok
Have you even watched karls 2nd video at all?
@@LeKukie I think he's just memeing. Btw gg on 8-4 and gl on 454!
hi lekukie come to brazil!!!!
The production quality of this video is stunning, and the explanations of what is happening are the clearest I've heard. Nevertheless, I continue to be amazed that human hands can execute such feats of precision, and it's a testament to the dedication of players themselves and collective accumulated knowledge of the speedrunning community.
It's amusing that a new generation remains so interested in keeping this classic game alive. Perhaps it is because, despite its simple appearance, the game's mechanics are relatively complex. I have fond memories of playing Super Mario Bros. with my best friend all night during sleepovers. Three decades later, we're still good friends, and the game still makes me nostalgic for those simpler times.
P.S. As a pianist, I would pay good money for the score to the background theme music.
Making sheet music is quite time consuming, and so I don't do it unless I played it a tempo closely enough to be able to convert it into a readable sheet music in a few hours. I would have to either make it from scratch, or somehow turn this into a readable score. i.imgur.com/MyKBTwO.png
I was born way after SMB1 but it's one of my favorite Mario games because like you said, even though it's a simple game there's also a lot of complexity if you dig deeper.
@@Bismuth9 That image is good enough, thank you!
Amazingly done video! The detail, the editing and the music! And I actually never even thought about Speedruns ever. Still this video to me is truly one of the most memorable ones on this platform
The most in depth framerule explanation on UA-cam.
Yes, I love it
No mention of a bus even
IMAGINE
A BUS
Next video: Is this framerule explanation PERFECT???
@@Bismuth9 need to learn speed-talking techniques like those radio medicine side effects. Speedrun the explanation itself 😂
So THAT'S why on some levels the vine doesn't grow to the top of the screen and weirdly stops below the scoreboard!
Yeah, isn't that crazy?
@Bismuth why do you think it was programmed like that?
@@singlereedenjoyer I don't know but it definitely has to do with the HUD
The "1, 3, 6, and 0" joke is underappreciated
How come?
I admit. I only got it only after I read your comment.
@@thisisfyne i laughed at it and then scrolled down and didn't see any comments about it
20:45
@@Cloiss_ Haha alright, fair enough
I love the joke beef between you and Summoning Salt now lmao
this video was made with insane quality and dedication, if only more creators followed your standard. well done
"When Mario runs into a wall, for one frame he will actually run into the wall."
-Bismuth, 2021
I'm so impressed by this video, your attention to detail, great explanations and incredible "on shoulder of giants sequence", it all just blow my mind. I didn't known anything up to this point about Mario speedrunning and I understood everything you said, which just goes to show how good this video is. On the last note you're voice is perfect for this kind of video
Your*
Your*
Right, sorry, I missed it
truly amazing. this has to be one of the most well-researched and most greatly visualized videos i've ever seen. i am in awe
Hi Jerome
This is literally the best video in youtube. You explain all of the tricks down to the tiniest details and in the perfect way for everyone to understand. Thank you very much for this master piece!!
I teared up a bit when looking at all the other world record runners, that was beautiful! Amazing work breaking this incredible run down.
Incredibly well made video, thank you. Really enjoyed watching it. Congrats on the music as well, very nicely played and utilized perfectly!
"A number of fireworks equal to the final digit of the timer go off when the final digit at the end of the level is 1, 3, 6, or of course 0"
You are technically correct. The best kind of correct
I’ve watched this run a dozen or so times and I’ve watched a lot of breakdowns, and I still learned new and interesting things about the game and this run from this video. Kudos for that.
This was an epic breakdown! Well done! When I was playing this back in the 80s I would have never guessed it would ever have been analyzed like a physics proof 35 years later. 🤣
I’m in utter awe at how amazing all of your visuals and investment to explaining things is such depth and simplicity thank you for the absolute service you’re doing (also for the beautiful piano renditions you play)
Salt x Bismuth when? Also insane video man, please continue doing it.
Did you watch the video where he 'at least for now' deconfirmed it
Perfect crossover
Nazdar cloude
Time to write a Salt x Bismuth fanfic and post it on Wattpad-
nečekal jsem že tu najdu tebe
This video is a literal work of art, the dedication, editing, soundtrack, visuals and narration. Probably the closest UA-cam will be to perfection.
Thanks for breaking this down and explaining it so thoroughly. I loved the montage of happy footage of each person who broke a big record along the way.
Niftski has tied the Any% TAS into 8-4 in his WR today!
This is by far the best video I've seen explaining the tricks of these top tier speed runs. I've known about the FPG and frame rules but never understood exactly WHY they worked until now. This video is so awesome.
26:07
*175*
Bowser: Ah yes, great advice
I mean it is true
imagine that at the end of the level there is a bus that takes the player to the next level
not this time, lol
Well then mario can’t get to 8-3 by bus lol
But- but these buses leave every third of a second, they must be fast... Why not take one directly to 8-4? Why walk all the way? Man, these speedrunners need less brawn and more brains. I mean Mario should really get hooked with a bus pass.
I love how the speedrunning community values its history. Showing previous world records was heart warming.
"This wall jump is frame perfect."
"Well yes, but actually no."
Caution, pixel perfect is actually no. Frame perfect is true in most cases. For any random wall jump, 2/5 chance to be impossible, 2/5 chance to be frame perfect, 1/5 chance to be 2 frames. For every wall jump discussed in this video, they are all frame perfect.
@@Bismuth9 I misspoke. I meant pixel. Sorry.
Bismuth: "Why is this speedrun perfect?"
Me: "Well, Niftski made several precise movements while having extremely compr--"
Bismith: "IT'S NOT."
Me: Visible dread.
Bismuth: "Why is this speedrun perfect? The answer is very simple: it's not perfect"
Me: The title is a just bag of lies!
Fucking fax ☠️☠️☠️
4:54 is PART OF the perfect speedrun
I thought it was the background music used in most speedrunner videos that gave them the edge-of-your-seat feel, but you nailed it without any music at all! I love this video, thank you for providing such detailed info on how Super Mario works and the steps used by Niftski. Awesome!
I have never been into speedruns but this was a great video, it's fascinating how truly skilled the competitors are to pull these insane runs off. Thank you for the detailed explanation of each step of the run 👍
Summoning Salt and Bismuth need to settle this dispute with a boxing fight
LMAO
LMAO
I'd be rooting for Salt, not because I prefer him over Bismuth but because he's played MTPO a lot so hes got a better chance
Ss holds 2 world records in a boxing game and bismuth has 0 so I know who would win
@@ThaAwesome10 Salt streamed coin collecting once and maybe he found a "Combat Coin" which gives him +10 Combat
Bismuth saying he won't do a Summoning Salt collab. AND YET...
bro your videos give me legit chills. the visual editing, the music, your choice of words, just completely excellent
31:21 just about gave me a goddamn heart attack
It's pretty crazy how it works. His popoff is a good 10 or 12 dB lower than the peaks of my voiceover and about 6-8 dB lower than my average volume and yet it still sounds louder somehow
@@Bismuth9 you just have that buttery smooth narrator voice
@@Bismuth9 I guess the brain just assumes that shouting = loud
Also, Bis' let himself be cut off by Nifski popping off, only to resume narrating as if nothing happened.
@@Bismuth9The ear perceives some frequencies louder than others
I appreciate how technical this is, especially when referring to the pipe warps
Just wait until they find the credits warp
Not possible in this game
If they knew, then it would already implemented in TASs
There are multiple reasons it's not possible. Notably the fact that you can't manipulate the RAM significantly without being able to move objects on both axis. In SMB1, the only way to do that is either Mario himself, or having an enemy or object walk off an object. This doesn't allow movement up though. This also implies that there is a way to warp to the Peach animation
I know it's been researched to death and found its almost impossible already, but I really wish it's not possible. I don't dislike the speedruns that make use of it, but I think one of the beauties this run is that despite using a bunch of glitches, it plays out the game almost just as intended. Ofcourse I know there will be a no credits warp category if it's found and is also likely to be the more popular one.
you can't have a credits warp if there are no credits!
25:40
Bowser: *”MARIO WHAT THE HELL HOW ARE YOU HERE ALREADY I CAPTURED YOUR PRINCESS LIKE 5 MINUTES AGO”*
Thank you bismuth for continuing to make awesome detailed content. Its been fun watching this run get perfected.
Finally, a good explanation of the framerule without "imagine a bus..."
Huh? Explain
@@superguy9834 you dont get it? Its a really popular video on a speedrun do t remember which doe
@@TrulyAtrocious sorry. Randomly got this in me recommended. No idea the ins and outs of speedrunning
@@superguy9834 me neither (:
I absolutely love how Bismuth and Summoning Salt digging at each other is a running gag now
I can not overstate how much bismuths music adds to these videos. This mans production is just as impressive as the speedruns he talks about
This video is amazing, but dang Bismuth’s piano skills are on point.
finally someone notices
This was so very informative with an incredible level of detail to the explanations all while still remaining entertaining
2030 Mario Record: Saving the last frame
I feel like this will happen this decade
Niftski said it's unlikely anyone will ever get a sub 4:54.3, unless we find easier ways to get lightning 4-2 and save time on 8-4. But I think both of these will happen. Remember, we thought 8-2 was impossible, but that's because we didn't know as much about it as we do now. And people will just get better at the fast accels needed for 8-4.
It actually happened a few days ago.
Edit: not the 4:53, I meant the last frame has been saved
I am 99.999999999999999999999999% sure 4:54.265 will never ever ever be achieved with current strats
@@ThaAwesome10 4:54.282 is theoretically possible, and people are figuring out how to do the first room falling fast acceleration. This makes 4:54.265 theoretically possible, but it may take millions of attempts across many speedrunners.
Mario: warps, clips through walls, jumps and run, avoiding death by mere centimeters in just under five minutes
Princess: thanks
The golden rule of speedrunning is to never say something is impossible - but with literal decades of examination, I'm tempted to really believe that this is the last second milestone.
I suspect even a fuzzer wouldn't find any new glitches. It's kind of astounding the game has been reverse engineered to this degree. Unless cosmic ray bit flips (or holding a radioactive source next to your ram) becomes a standard speedrunning tactic, I think this is it.
Although, if some sort of hardware deficiency is responsible for future time savings, it would be very interesting to see how that situation would be handled on emulator.
Theoretically, the emulator perfectly emulates the behavior of the hardware in something approaching a genuine physical simulation. But I doubt emulators simulate the exact details of, idk, RAM timing, or if they do, in enough detail to actually capture bugs found with real hardware.
Are you suggesting rowhammer as a speedrunning tactic? 😄
Are you saying Todd Rogers will be the first to get 4:53?
People claiming Niftski has some advantage with emulator ignore two important things:
1) the techniques for allowing humans to setup tricks like FPG were developed around using a NES controller. Niftski has to finagle his own input method to make these techniques similarly convenient.
2) he's using an LCD, as opposed to a lagless CRT. Having to compensate for both input lag and response times when performing frame-perfect inputs is unquestionably more difficult on Niftski's setup.
Of course, take any top level runner using a console/CRT combo and they'll be terrible on Niftski's setup, and vice versa. But all things being equal, Niftski's approach is harder -- that's why the vast majority of runners take the much less convenient route of using original hardware.
What stops him buying a crt? Those things are basically free
@@the1barbarian781 NES and Famicoms aren't tho
Not really accurate. Digital encoding is always slower but lowest latency monitors make that pretty irrelevant. Learning on keyboard might be a bit harder/less intuitive, but you can practice faster on emu anyway so kind of irrelevant again. And once you're at high level keyboard is objectively better
@@Kosmicd12 All fair points. Particularly, the difference between a d-pad and discrete keyboard keys might be especially good for avoiding accidental inputs.
I'm not sure the difference between a 'good' modern LCD and a CRT is irrelevant at this level of play, but I'm not an expert, and you definitely are.
I love watching them break these records again and again but it makes me kind of sad that there’s almost no room left for improvement. Truly incredible they’ve gotten this far!
Well,To be honest,this was the best documentary-like video i have ever watched.Good job man
Despite being 35 minutes long, as soon as it was finished I immediately went back to the beginning to watch it again.
Wow, a framerule explanation that is not "imagine a bus..."????
Bismuth you are a legend
Imagine a counter. Actually, multiple counters. Some are short, like a short bus, others are longer, like a long bus.
@@u.v.s.5583 NOOOO U RUINED IT :(
imagine a 🅱️us
@@PeaShooterAutoHunter SU-
Biggest beef of 2021: bismuth vs summoning salt
I swear, this has to be some of the nerdiest video I've ever seen, well done!