Author Topic: Ocarina of Time Race (Read 21104 times)

Colorful Arty · « **on:** September 10, 2018, 10:06:06 PM »

This is an idea I had today that I would really like to try out. Would anyone be interested in doing a race to see who can complete The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time first? My idea is that we set up a session where we all play the game while talking with each other, we each record our own game footage, and then once it's over, I take all of the footage, put it on one screen, and upload it to Youtube.

This could be myself and 1-3 others trying to beat the game as fast as possible, or alternatively, I would also be interested in racing someone who hasn't beaten it before to see if they can beat the game before I can beat it 100%. If anyone is interested in this, PLEASE let me know, and I'd love to set up a session; I think it would be a ton of fun!

Also, I'm not talking about a hardcore speedrun exploiting crazy glitches like the Door of Time Skip or Wrong Warping; I'm thinking of a very casual race between people who aren't experts, but have beaten the game at least once before.

Flopsy · « **Reply #1 on:** September 10, 2018, 10:12:19 PM »

Seems like a good idea and didn't someone mention doing something like this with a Lemmings pack once before?

I'm interested in doing something like this myself but I have no interest in Ocarina of Time.

Also can't we race Sonic 3 and Knuckles instead?

Nessy · « **Reply #2 on:** September 10, 2018, 11:50:07 PM »

I'm so down for this

The only problem is that I might have to emulate the game on my computer as I don't have access to the original hard copy of the game right now and no capture card even if I did

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #3 on:** September 11, 2018, 12:44:09 AM »

Yeah Flopsy; Simon and geoo raced kieran's Lemmings 2 pack a while ago. If you want to start a separate topic for a Sonic race, that'd be sweet! I'm sure people would join that one and I'd love to watch it!

Nessy, if you have to emulate it; that should be fine if you're willing. It may lag a bit, but so does the N64 version.

nin10doadict · « **Reply #4 on:** September 11, 2018, 12:59:31 AM »

Sounds like a neat idea. Could even try randomizer seeds and give everyone the same randomized game to mix it up even more.

A downside for me is that I can't record more than 10 minutes at a time without having to reset the recording...

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #5 on:** September 11, 2018, 01:28:15 AM »

Doesn't the randomizer require you to be able to pull off the crazy glitches though? I don't even know how to pull off bomb hovering, let alone major skips like the Door of Time skip.

Also, is your 10 minute limit due to recording software? If so, OBS is free and has no limit to the length of footage you can record at once.

nin10doadict · « **Reply #6 on:** September 11, 2018, 05:24:38 AM »

My computer is too old to run OBS.
Edit: Scratch that, it works fine. Maybe I was remembering some other program I couldn't use, or maybe it's since been updated? Either way, looks promising...

The randomizer can be set up so that it forces a glitchless run to be possible. However, there is still the risk that key items could get put in really unpleasant places, such as behind the fishing minigame or the ten Big Poes...

Flopsy · « **Reply #7 on:** September 11, 2018, 08:19:22 AM »

Isn't a randomiser run not really a race though because it's not going to be equal for everyone, some people will get bad runs and some will get good runs?

I might start a S3&K race in a separate topic if there is interest but there's no point doing it right now while this topic is going.
Arty, you should join the S3&K race too because even though you haven't played the game, Nessy was able to beat it quite quickly on his first try.

nin10doadict · « **Reply #8 on:** September 11, 2018, 03:37:11 PM »

The point is to give everyone the same randomizer seed. The game will be randomized but it will be the same for everyone.

That all said, randomizers are better for people who are very experienced with the game in question and who know where everything is in vanilla. It's very easy to get stuck by having a key item that you need get placed in some obscure, easy-to-forget-about location.

I could try racing Sonic 3 as well... I've only played it a tiny bit and am horrible at Sonic games in general though.

607 · « **Reply #9 on:** September 11, 2018, 05:36:10 PM »

I've never played Ocarina of Time, but this sounds like a fun idea. I don't think I could beat it blind, though.

(certainly not in one sitting)

Nessy · « **Reply #10 on:** September 11, 2018, 06:26:02 PM »

nin10doadict is correct. Technically a randomizer run is equal for everyone if they use the same seed: the items will be switched up randomly but they will still be in their same random place for everyone using that same seed (correct me if I'm wrong). However you can always get the bad luck of going through all the trouble of completing a longer task (the 10 big poes for example) in order to get a random item that wasn't worth it at all while the other player got a more useful item with a shorter task. However, the player that got the useful item might check that same longer task item the other player completed already so it might still balance out. Regardless there will always be that bit of luck involved for everyone still.

I think we should keep it simple and just do a normal run. I think those types of runs can still be fun because there are still lots of glitchless tricks that causal players can do in order to go faster. Walking backwards is an extremely simple and good example. Thinking on the spot and quick planning are more complex yet very critical, glitchless ways to go faster. A player can think about what optional items are worth going out of their way for in order to get a good advantage. For example, if the player needs more hearts then what pieces of hearts can they get quickly? How many empty bottles are they willing to get to have multiple items in them for later on? It'll be interesting to see each player's thought process on that.

One last question though: how far is to far for a certain trick? Will it be a "whatever wasn't intended in the first place isn't allowed" or is there some wiggle room? Some things like getting the Golden Scale early is definitely a glitch, but there are some gray areas. For example is damage boosting with a bomb item in mid-air already going too far? Is crossing the Haunted Wasteland without the Lens Of Truth too much? Is taking a death on purpose to warp to the beginning of an area okay? These aren't as hardcore as wrong warping but they could help give an edge since this is essentially a race.

Anyway look forward to this

Proxima · « **Reply #11 on:** September 11, 2018, 07:55:10 PM »

I just posted in the Sonic race topic, so I'd feel bad if I ignored this topic completely.

I've never played any Zelda, and I've already decided how I'm going to make my debut. I have a short list of games I intend to LP when I have time -- and since I've just started a PGCE, that might not be for a while -- including A Link to the Past. I don't want to spoil the experience for myself, so I'm staying strictly away from Zelda until then.

All the same, I hope this race goes ahead and everyone has fun

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #12 on:** September 12, 2018, 12:27:59 AM »

So it looks like Nessy, nin10doadict, and myself are interested in this. Let's try finding a time that works for us all. It's going to have to be a weekend for me, since I work Mon-Fri and we'll need several hours for the race. Does Saturday the 22 work for you two?

nin10doadict · « **Reply #13 on:** September 12, 2018, 01:13:50 AM »

Saturday should be fine for me around 1 PM (9 PM UST).

Dunno if I want to play Ocarina of Time all in one sitting though... Even the vanilla game takes a while if you aren't using crazy speedrun tricks.
Then again, who's to say we have to do it all in one sitting? We could always break it up into multiple sessions if need be. Just save and quit, then pick it up later.

Should probably stick to the vanilla game first. The randomizer could be interesting, but it's very easy to get a seed that will get you stuck running around like a ninny for hours looking for that one thing you're missing.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #14 on:** September 12, 2018, 11:23:11 PM »

I agree. We can probably break up the race into 2-3 sessions, unless people feel like going all the way. Of course, we should decide ahead of time how long we will be playing for so people aren't forced to quit at an inconvenient time.

I also would be totally up for doing a randomizer race later on.

mobius · « **Reply #15 on:** September 12, 2018, 11:46:39 PM »

I'd love to watch! And I'd love to watch a randomized game

Nessy · « **Reply #16 on:** September 18, 2018, 11:25:53 PM »

Just a reminder that I am still free to do this race this weekend

I do agree that we should break up the session among multiple days. This is mostly because I will have to play at my parent's house this weekend because they will be out of town and I have to watch over my grandmother in the meantime. Shouldn't affect anything but I mention it just in case something happens during the session and I have to take a break or something. Additionally I am not sure if I would have the stamina to play everything in one sitting even if I wanted to $:-\$

I agree that starting around 1 PM EST (17:00 UTC) and ending around 5 or 6 PM EST would be a good amount of time to actually get into the game. I'm open to other suggestions as well and who knows maybe we might actually be able to finish the game in that time

Finally I wanted to bring this quote from a previous post up one last time to see what others think:

Quote

One last question though: how far is to far for a certain trick? Will it be a "whatever wasn't intended in the first place isn't allowed" or is there some wiggle room? Some things like getting the Golden Scale early is definitely a glitch, but there are some gray areas. For example is damage boosting with a bomb item in mid-air already going too far? Is crossing the Haunted Wasteland without the Lens Of Truth too much? Is taking a death on purpose to warp to the beginning of an area okay? These aren't as hardcore as wrong warping but they could help give an edge since this is essentially a race.

@Everyone: Will anyone else have to use an emulator? I will have to because I don't have the proper hardware to record on a console. It shouldn't be a big deal though but I want to know other people's thoughts on best practices to record it and the like.

nin10doadict · « **Reply #17 on:** September 19, 2018, 01:19:44 AM »

I also have no means of recording it off of my console. Even if I did, both of my N64 controllers have janky control sticks. One is super loose and pretty unresponsive, the other is a pointed spike that digs into your thumb because it was a 3rd party controller and the cap for the stick popped off and was lost.

I won't be able to play until 1PM PST (which is 3 hours after the time Nessy proposed, I believe.) My time in service is more important than this, sorry. Gotta focus on the race for life before the race to beat Ocarina of Time.

607 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 19, 2018, 07:57:09 PM »

I wonder how you'll play without a Nintendo 64 controller? Or do you have another good controller? I used to play games on emulator on a keyboard, but it was really quite a handicap. I've got an N64 to USB adapter nowadays.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #19 on:** September 19, 2018, 09:11:04 PM »

I am still planning on doing the race THIS saturday at 1pm EST (17:00 UTC). I think damage boosting, skipping unnecessary items (like Lens of Truth or the Tunics), and save/reset warping are all completely allowed. If there's some disagreement, we can discuss it before starting the race on Saturday.

As long as you can play the game and record it, it doesn't matter what you play it on, whether it's the N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, or an emulator.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #20 on:** September 21, 2018, 09:39:06 PM »

Forgot to mention, think of a funny name to give Link. I already have mine selected. XD

Proxima · « **Reply #21 on:** September 21, 2018, 09:40:40 PM »

I hope at least one person will go with "Recht"

Ramon · « **Reply #22 on:** September 22, 2018, 10:50:48 AM »

Whoa! I totally missed this topic. I'd love doing OoT randomizer races with other people (it's not the same alone). However right now I have nothing set up and I'd need to prepare a little for it. I'll keep an eye on this thread for future developments.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #23 on:** September 22, 2018, 05:09:03 PM »

My bad, the race starts at 4pm EST (19:00 UTC).

ColbyPin · « **Reply #24 on:** September 24, 2018, 11:49:08 AM »

I love the idea of OoT racing. I'm afraid I'd suck at it so much though. Are you guys all super skilled at this? lol

Simon · « **Reply #25 on:** September 29, 2018, 11:36:02 AM »

(Hmm, none of the racers replied to this.

)

Hi ColbyPin,

They have all beaten unmodifed OoT several times, but none of them speedrun OoT regularly or are on an OoT leaderboard.

They have an adjourned race from 2018-09-22 and want to finish that. Besides this thread, coordination happens in IRC #neolemmix on Quakenet. Daily chat there is most active around 00:00 UTC.

Sounds like your skill level would be a nice match -- nobody is an OoT speedrunner, we can't tell in advance how everybody's skills relate, and you should race to find out.

Welcome to the forums!

-- Simon

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #26 on:** September 30, 2018, 01:37:47 AM »

Shoot, I didn't see this until now.

Welcome to the forums ColbyPin!

The first part of the race is finished and I will upload the video hopefully within the next several hours. None of the racers are super skilled at the game; we aren't speedrunners and don't use glitches of any type, nor are we doing crazy things like skipping the Lens of Truth. We are all casual players who have played the game many times so we know where to go and what to do, but we are far from optimal.

If you would like to join in the next part of the race, you are very welcome to! We are starting at the start of the Adult Link section right after you pull the Master Sword and talk to Sheik. I'd encourage you to watch the video when it's up to get an idea of how we play to see if you're interested. It will be uploaded to my Youtube channel.

I think we should try to set a date for the next race. Saturdays and Sundays are the days that work for me; timing on those days is flexible.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #27 on:** October 15, 2018, 10:14:32 PM »

Nessy and I were planning on continuing the race this Saturday at 17:00 UTC. Anyone else who is interested is welcome to join; just let us know and have a save file that starts at the adult Link portion, and you can join in no problem. Any version of the game is accepted, but this is a casual race with no glitches.

Also, if people aren't interested in racing but would like to join in the commentary, we welcome that as well.

Nessy · « **Reply #28 on:** October 18, 2018, 10:51:19 PM »

@Colorful Arty I feel very bad but I unfortunately can't continue the race this weekend. My dad is a bit under the weather and I want to take care of him this weekend plus help out with anything else he needs.

Hopefully we can do it next weekend instead, or any other time. Once again so sorry about this

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #29 on:** October 19, 2018, 01:19:39 AM »

No need to apologize at all Nessy; to be honest I forgot about this myself.

Your dad is far more important, so please don't feel bad.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #30 on:** December 11, 2018, 09:34:14 PM »

Alright, it's been way too long since we did part 1, who is up for racing the second part of the game (starting with adult Link) this weekend? Friday after 19:00 UTC or all day Saturday work well for me. I think we should try to finish the race before Christmas.

The race needs to include Nessy and I (since we raced part 1) but anyone would be welcome to join in for part 2. All you need is a copy of the game with a save file to the start of the adult Link portion of the game (after pulling the Master Sword for the first time and talking to Sheik). Just make sure you can join the voicechat on Mumble if you plan on joining! (You do not need to record your footage if you don't want to or don't have the means).

nin10doadict · « **Reply #31 on:** December 12, 2018, 07:26:14 PM »

I was wondering what happened to this. I might join in for the second part, though as you might remember from the first time I can't record and chat at the same time.

My Fridays are usually open.

I'm also looking forward to doing a race/co-op of a randomized OoT at some point. I think that would be a blast. Maybe we should just start that instead? Let's see what everyone thinks first.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #32 on:** December 13, 2018, 02:26:50 AM »

I'd love to do a randomizer race!

Nessy is on vacation until 2019, so I'd be up for a randomizer race relatively soon. Of course, I'd need to get the randomizer working on my computer (I've tried getting it to work before, but with no luck. I may need help)

nin10doadict · « **Reply #33 on:** December 13, 2018, 06:14:19 PM »

I could walk you through it. It looks like there's a place to type in a seed, so we should be able to get the same randomized ROM without having to send each other files, though I could just send it over if all else fails.
I'm open tomorrow... 19:00 UST would work if that's ok with you.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #34 on:** December 13, 2018, 09:51:17 PM »

19:00 UTC corresponds to 3:00pm EST where I am. That should work well for me! Do I need a specific emulator? (I've heard Project64 which I use does not work properly)

nin10doadict · « **Reply #35 on:** December 14, 2018, 02:42:10 AM »

I use Project64 and it works just fine. There is only one potential big softlock, which can happen when playing the Song of Storms to drain the well in Kakariko village. However, I discovered a workaround by messing with the settings. From what I've seen the whole game should be playable with that emulator. If we get to that block I'll show you what I did to get around it.

nin10doadict · « **Reply #36 on:** December 15, 2018, 01:17:31 AM »

Had a fun time playing with Arty; we even lost track of time!

As for the block where we decided to call it for now, I thought of what could be the problem. The Fire Temple boss could have a small key that we need to progress. We might need to come back with the Hover Boots so we can jump straight to the boss and open up the rest of the dungeon by beating him.

I look forward to continuing this another time!

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #37 on:** December 15, 2018, 03:10:21 AM »

Indeed, that randomizer is amazing! The surest sign that I've immensely enjoying a game is when I lose track of time while playing, especially when it's dinnertime and my stomach doesn't start letting me know!

That makes a lot of sense about the Fire Temple, and a really sneaky method of proceeding at that!

Unfortunately, I think this means we're either going to need all the spiritual stones, or we'll need to go fishing...

nin10doadict · « **Reply #38 on:** December 15, 2018, 04:36:15 AM »

Well, got some mixed news about the fishing. The adult prize is a Piece of Heart, I just checked it. The child prize... Well, I don't know. You can't use the fishing pole unless you have a sword. We need to find the Kokiri Sword before we can even check.

Ok, I'm getting carried away. No more touching it until our next session, I promise.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #39 on:** December 15, 2018, 02:24:22 PM »

Thanks for checking! Child fishing is a lot easier than adult fishing, so that's not too bad. Another bad thing would be requiring us to complete the advanced Gerudo Archery challenge.

Ramon · « **Reply #40 on:** December 17, 2018, 10:36:19 AM »

Hello! I totally missed that you started again and I'd love to join the next randomizer races.

But another question on the side, do you also play A Link to the Past for SNES? That one's randomizer is extremely well built and probably one of the most thorough in existence. That one would also be much shorter to complete if there are time constraints for specific sessions.

nin10doadict · « **Reply #41 on:** December 17, 2018, 06:51:37 PM »

You're more than welcome to join in next time, but after finishing this run we'll probably leave some space before we do OoT again. Don't want it to get stale by doing it too much.
The Link to the Past randomizer could be nice too. I've done a couple of runs with it personally and it's quite good.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #42 on:** December 17, 2018, 09:17:04 PM »

Honestly, I've been playing the randomizer in my spare time after our first race part, and I am loving every second of it! I don't think I'll get tired of it anytime soon.

I have played the Link to the Past Randomizer, and it is incredibly fun too. That's what made me want to try the Oot Randomizer. I like Ocarina more though.

Next race we do, if we get a few people, we should try Multiworld, which basically gives each person a connected rom so you can get other peoples' items in your rom. It's really cool.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #43 on:** January 12, 2019, 08:37:15 PM »

Gotta ask, are people still interested in finishing the original Ocarina of Time Race? I'd be OK finishing it or just leaving it as a Young Link Race.

mobius · « **Reply #44 on:** January 13, 2019, 03:30:08 PM »

I'd be up for participating. Just be aware that I haven't played the game (let alone a randomized version) in several years so I likely won't be much competition.

But if you set up a date I'm available I'll give it a try. I also found ranomizers incredibly fun!

Ramon · « **Reply #45 on:** January 14, 2019, 12:58:32 AM »

I want in a new (rando) race

But I have a different proposal: Since a randomized run could take very well a few hours, we could play the same seed cooperatively (either just by communicating where key items are, so people can split up the checks to get everything faster - or by using Multi-World generation, which is some sort of true co-op mode where only specific players get specific items, and they need to find them to provide them to other players or something of the sort, haven't really found a proper description of it yet). That would definitely cut down the time needed to complete the whole thing and will be way more managable in a single run.

Colorful Arty · « **Reply #46 on:** January 14, 2019, 09:39:44 PM »

So general consensus seems to be: people want a randomizer co-op run, rather than finishing the vanilla game race. This sounds great to me! I will be unable to do this for a while, as I am going on vacation next week, but when I'm back, we can try to set something up.