Thanks a million to everyone who made ESASummer19 possible, especially behind-the-scenes people. Pretty sure you heroes don't get enough credit for what you do, so here you go!

It's still amazing to me how ideal the location of the hotel is. You pretty much can't improve on that. Weird how the 3rd elevator often seems to out of service though, I wonder if it has anything to do with the event itself or if that's just how it goes there. That being said though, I can tell you the elevator situation was actually an improvement over last year. There, you were limited to 2 elevators pretty much apart from Friday, maybe.

Stream 2: I got mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, I understand giving stream 2 just as much space as stream 1 because in doing so, you avoid the notion that stream 2 is just a lesser version of stream 1 and that's that. On the other hand though, maybe a decent chunk of people actually preferred the more "low-key, comfy" vibe (a bunch of vague words that barely mean anything I know) that stream 2 had last year with the smaller setup. That definitely led to some playful shenanigans, but I understand it might not be realistic to always keep stream 2 in the shadow of stream 1. When I watch a game I like, I don't care whether it's on 1 or 2 because why would I? I'm not sure how the average viewer feels about this. Overall, stream 2 is probably something that has yet to be "figured out" properly but I don't really have any advice to contribute, sorry about that.

Feasel carried the tournament room so hard it's actually not funny. He WAS the tournament room. It didn't look to me like this man got all that much time by himself, so huge props for all the effort!

I'd like to briefly talk about communication at ESA, as strange as that sounds. As far as I can tell at every ESA, people find themselves in a situation where they need access to equipment or are faced with a problem they can't solve by themselves. I'm confident about 95% of ESA people are very understanding, polite and helpful when it comes to these things. I understand situations where you're like "hey, I need that CRT to practise my run" are uncomfortable. If there's one opportunity for you to leave your comfort zone and face problems like this head-on, it's ESA or never I think. Of course, situations where you have to essentially beg for things that are supposed to be readily available in the first place need to be kept to a minimum. This section is plenty weird already so I'll just stop it here lmao.

I'd also like to mention all the people who organised side activities, especially because many of them were done rather spontaneously. I really think playing silly games or watching movies together can be a real highlight at any ESA, so I hope these side activities carry on to future events!

Shoutouts to the Double Dash crew and everyone who brought hardware and/or played! Double Dash LANs aren't about to run out of steam any time soon as far as I can tell and I love it. In fact, I'm pretty excited how we can improve the experience even more for future ESA's. I think it can be done if we're just eager enough!

Finally, the Sunshine relay: thanks so much to everyone who helped out with it, whether that be organisation or helping the players practise. A decent amount of people spend a surprising amount of time making sure as many people as possible could learn the essentials for their shine. It's true that commentary style was different this time around. The SM64 relay was also much more chaotic overall, not just in that aspect. I have to wonder how many players appreciated the fact that you couldn't hear what they were saying, which probably allowed them to fully concentrate on their parts. However, I can definitely see that people would have liked it more if the commentary had been more interactive and incorporating, just like SM64. So since the organisation was pretty amazing this year, this is probably the main aspect that future relays can improve/reconsider. Overall, I would no doubt describe the Sunshine relay as a big success. We had some tough problems to overcome, but we more or less pulled through in the end. Thanks so much for helping and playing again!

Ok guys, not long until most of us depart for ESA. Make sure to bring the things you said you would either in this thread or on Discord! Feel free to use this thread during the event too. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Hey guys, thought it would make sense to make a post after a week. Thanks so much to everyone who has already offered their support. Most people actually contacted me on Discord without leaving a post in here, so you can't see that. But they absolutely exist that's for sure.

I was expecting for things to really only get rolling much closer to ESA, but I already received a bunch of replies on the first day. We already have more than half of what's needed for the best 8 Gamecube setup. Really the only thing we can't get enough of now are backup Gamecubes in case people forget/can't fit them inside their luggage anymore and controllers. There really isn't a "too many controllers" for this.

So don't think it'd be pointless to bring stuff if you haven't already. Any help is much appreciated!

Hey guys, I wonder if we can set this up again like we did last year? The reception from all players and contributors was overwhelmingly positive and so I'd love to try again.

If you're new to this, here's the deal (also last year's thread https://www.speedrun.com/esa2017/thread/cnvee )

Mario Kart Double Dash can be played with far more than 4 players (up to 16 in fact if every kart gets controlled by 2 players). The setup is seriously complicated and intricate though, so most of the time it can't really be done. Usually, one of the main reasons these LAN events can't take place is because no one has enough (or any) Broadband Adapters. But I've got more of them than anyone should ever see in one lifetime, so that's a big hurdle out of the way from the get-go.

Here's the list of all the things we'd need:

Up to 8 Broadband Adapters (I've got em all so no need to worry about this one) Up to 16 Gamecube Controllers (so ANY controller you can contribute greatly helps) Up to 8 Gamecubes (we don't need the maximum 8 but we should aim for it like last time) Up to 8 Double Dash Discs (see above) Up to 8 Ethernet Cables (we got them on-site really easily last time and I assume this time will be the same) One switch with 8 Ethernet ports (you plug the ethernet cables in there and the consoles get linked)

I myself plan to bring along the adapters, 4 controllers, 1 Gamecube and 4 game discs.

If you can contribute anything, even just one console or just one controller, it would really help out a lot. Thanks!

I'm male and am staying from the 20th to the 30th. Looking for a roomate because all triples and quads are full. Even at events like this I go to bed at reasonable times usually, if that helps.

EDIT: Not looking for roomates anymore

During the Mario Kart Double Dash LAN, I connected my LAN adapters with many Gamecubes that aren't mine. Unfortunately, it seems like one person at some point took their Gamecube back and did not remove the adapter, taking it home with them. If you brought your Gameube to ESA, I'd like to ask you to check the bottom of it. You should immediately see the adapter plugged in if it's actually there. It should have a sticker with my name printed on it as well, but it's also possible it has since fallen off. It can really only be mine though because only one other person brought another adapter and they definitely took theirs with them. There is no doubt I didn't lose the adapter myself before/at ESA because we gathered all 8 together at one point and played with them.

If you know anything or you are the person who took the adapter by accident, please reply in this thread or message me on Twitter or Discord or whatever you want. Thanks!

EDIT: Forgot to mention that we found a black cover for the port the adapter goes into where the LAN was held. So in all likelihood the Gamecube in question is a black one. Should also pretty much confirm the theory of how it went missing.

I'd like to thank anyone who supported this LAN play by helping with the setup, bringing their accessories or just playing the game. I think it was a big success and I still can't believe we pulled a full 8 Gamecube setup off in the end. Seems like the reception to this was overwhelmingly positive by anyone who played or just noticed the LAN as it was going on and wondered how everything came together. Maybe this isn't the last time we can make this happen, but let's just wait and rest for the time being.

(And if anyone has info on my missing adapter, it'd be great if you contacted me on any platform really)

Ok I've been thinking around now would be a good time to try setting things up but I don't really know where to start. If some people could talk to me so we can do the setup together that'd be great.

@popeter45: The English manual only mentions hubs, so I guess we need to go with that. Though to be completely honest., I don't think I really understand the difference between hubs and switches.

Speaking of those, we need ethernet cables as well. I just kind of assumed at this point that ESA would have plenty of those flying around, but maybe not? Guess I should ask someone about the situation there as well.

Dude Dante, I met you at last year's ESA under a slightly different name right? Really nice to have you on-board again this year :)

So I just talked to KrazyRasmus and he said he can give us some space to work with. Hell yeah bois and girls, talk about smooth sailing

Wow, you guys are already talking about precise details, I love it! Honestly thought the chances were pretty slim for this, but it's looking pretty rosy right now!

@Zephyyrr: Yeah, I'm going to try talking to people via Discord if a spot in the venue can be used for this. Maybe it'll be way less problematic than I thought.

@Grukk: It would have been cool if I was there at the time, but that wasn't the case. Maybe we can create something even better than "just" 8 players this time around though! If you were the one who organised the last LAN, then are there any pro tips you can give us? Something special other than getting all the accessories together?

I see others chiming in that they'll be bringing stuff which is just fantastic. I got some extra copies of Double Dash to bring along with the adapters. I want to bring a gamecube and controllers along as well, but I don't know how much room I have in my suitcase. It's tough to estimate. I guess I will have to just try out different stuff and see what's possible.

So I'm not sure how feasible this is, but I figured "if there was any way to make this possible, it would have to be at an event like ESA".

You may not know this, but Double Dash has support for more than 4 players. Problem is, it's crazy to set everything up.

The worst aspect has got to be these pesky, ever-elusive broadband adapters that nobody seems to own. Well, it just so happens that I have 8 of them and they all work, so that's not gonna be the issue here.

It's too early to celebrate though. You still need a bunch of Gamecubes (NOT Wiis, the broadband adapter doesn't fit anywhere), Controllers, Double Dash Discs (I don't think different game regions are compatible btw), TV's, an Ethernet HUB and some LAN cables.

The most luxurious setup is this: 8 TV's, discs, Gamecubes etc. for 16 players. Each TV has a team of 2 players for each kart (remember that this is Double Dash with 2 Characters per kart).

Even for ESA, this may be too ambitious. In that case, the next option is to cut all of these above numbers in half. 4 Gamecubes still provide 16 controller ports for 16 players. It's just that each TV will be occupied by 4 people instead of 2 with splitscreen action. Sounds like a reasonable compromise.

The most minimalistic setup would be only 2 Gamecubes and 2 TV's for 8 players (with 4-way splitscreen on each TV). Here you don't need a HUB, just a single "crossover" cable.

Well, what say you? Does anyone have experience organising something like this? Is it feasible to gather all the equipment and set everything up on-site? What setup should we strive for?

And most importantly: Do you guys even WANT this or are you guys like, nah I'm good.

I see. Well as long as the payment eventually happens it's all the same I guess. Also just so I'm not misunderstanding things, my previous post was enough to get signed up right? No sign up document I'm missing here or anything?

Holy Guacamole, where has this sport been in my life? You guys have room for one more do you not?

Also, I can't pay via paypal yet because the price isn't final right? Would like to pay up as soon as possible though. The sooner we get 40 people the better I guess!