Hey, I'd be up for this too. I used to play randomised Red/Blue back when nobody wanted to do Randomised Bingo so very keen to join In!

Yeah grab me if you need a hand!

I was volunteering as a host but not running this year (unless you count the star in the SM64 relay, which was a brilliant experience and I really hope that next year there is a massive relay race or possibly a 120-star relay!)

I had an absolute blast this year, of particular highlights were the big screens for easy stream viewing, the general layout of the venue, the arcade machine, easy food, and the bikes (I had my own in the end since one of the bikes went missing, but this was a great idea)

Trash has already been mentioned. I didn't notice it until after the event finished but it was a bit of a shame, since there were a lot of bins about.

Regarding hosting and especially ¤that¤ ad, I sat down for my first hosting session on Tuesday and played that ad and was immediately greeted by twitch chat complaining about how many times it had been shown. From my perspective, I had not seen any of the stream at that point and didn't know which ads were overplayed. Part of that is on me but I think if we have a similar setup next year the ads should be randomised or play in a pre-defined cycle, rather than giving it to hosts who probably don't have a good context to choose specific adverts. Letting hosts choose WHEN to play the adverts was a good move. Maybe have a tracker showing us the length of time since x ad was last played?

Not all of the layout buttons worked as planned. I tried to change the stream to show second stream between games and was presented with a big screen of my ugly mug :( Keep the buttons though as it was a good idea.

Next year, can we get a short highlight reel of each game to show off between runs, where you see upcoming games? It might be more interesting and get viewers hyped up for the next run, rather than host faces :)

Donation incentives and goals didn't always show up in order and didn't auto-update in the tracker, meaning it was sometimes hard to see where different incentives were and what to plug without cross-referencing it with the schedule. I'm also not a fan of the foot pedal and would prefer a hand switch for the mics.

For those complaining about long FF runs, I get that you're not a fan of them but I don't particularly care about Mega Man or Super Mario Galaxy - I found something else to do during those runs (and there were a LOT of excellent options!). I only got to see FF8 but I thought the runner and commentators were amazing, and kept it up for the entire run, preventing it from being a 9-hour menu-fest (plus they didn't seem to mind me jumping in every so often!)

The PayPal thing was a shame as I lost a donation I made during My Summer Car (looking forward to whatever next year's meme-game is!), for some reason when I donated with PayPal it didn't make the tracker, but when I used my card, it did (even though PayPal uses the same card!)

Big props to everyone involved in tech for the amazing job and especially for the ridiculous amount of work it presumably took to get a co-op Game Gear game on stream!

Nobody has mentioned the fact that the timetable linked to the games and runners profiles on Speedrun.com - when hosting this was invaluable to look up things like PB/WR times (cos chat always wants to know WR times), other games the runner runs, level of activity in the game (are there 3 runners or 300?) etc.

I'll add another post if I think of anything else.

I like the way that the only one of my games got through was a) SMS and b) the one that requires the least work for me :) thanks for letting us do more Master Mondays games! I'll be sure to get a better run up.

Is it possible for someone to delete my submission? I figured out why I couldn't select the Mega Drive version so I want to fix that and also I want to write a decent blurb for it :)

Hey, I've been late to all of this planning stuff but I love Bubble Football (that's what it was called when I did it in the uk). Can I sign up please?

So I know I've been a shit when it comes to communication (I would blame RL because that's been busy, but I'm bad at communicating there too...), but I finally got round to booking everything today! Going to be there from Monday to Monday, look forward to seeing you all soon! <3

Hi,

I'm also happy to help out with hosting duties whether or not I get a game, but I'm only available Friday or early Saturday. Also, if you need help creating a highly professional overlay I'm happy to lend a hand.

Game Name: X-men: Mojo World System: Sega Master System (emulated) Category: any% Suicidal Mode Gameplay Estimate: 6 minutes Ending/Bonus Estimate: none Possible Donation Incentives: Possible incentive to play Maniac Mode instead. We could pretend there's a noticeable difference between the two ;) Description: When's Mahvel? One of the highlights of the SMS Master Mondays series of blind races. The key turning point of this race was figuring out that, as long as you can deliver consistent frame-perfect inputs for 5 1/2 minutes (and also if you can't do that), Storm is automatic God Mode as she flies past everything and wrecks all bosses because Storm is the best X-(Wo)Man ever. I saw that John already offered it and willing to race him, or any of the other Master Racers. This race would require all of our skill and is ridiculously technical and not a joke game at all... Sample run video:

Game Name: The Flash System: Sega Master System (emulated) Category: any% Gameplay Estimate: 17 minutes Ending/Bonus Estimate: 3 minutes Possible Donation Incentives: Read out the mission briefings in the most comic book voice I can manage. I'm mostly offering this because the FlashFace is amazing and deserves to be seen! Description: For those of you who can't get enough of Mark Hamill after the glory of Star Wars, the plot of this game is that the Trickster is on a crime spree and only Red Batman can stop him! This is a very fast-paced game where I have to use a limited SuperSprint(TM) meter to dash through a number of levels as quickly as possible and then throw Flash-arangs at a series of nearly identical cars. There are no game-breaking glitches although the three trolliest levels in the game have shortcuts made possible through damage boosting and tight platforming. Sample run video:

Game Name: The Great Giana Sisters System: Amiga (emulated) Category: any% with warps Gameplay Estimate: 15 minutes Ending/Bonus Estimate: 0 Possible Donation Incentives: Glitched ending is possible, takes about 10 seconds longer to do. Description: Totally legitimate original non-derivative and highly creative un-clone released for the Amiga and C64 in the 80s featuring the world's most popular Italian platforming siblings. Features a fun and unique glitch called warp-deathing to skip bits of levels and a non-unique game mechanic called "hidden warp blocks" to skip most of the levels. Sample run video:

Game Name: Plat-Man System: Amiga (emulated) Category: any% Gameplay Estimate: 7 minutes Ending/Bonus Estimate: Nope Possible Donation Incentives: None Description: Plat-Man is obviously far more popular now that he has joined the roster on the latest Mash Brothers game, so it's good to see the game that made his platforming exploits famous. This only features the first level as all extant copies were unfortunately lost by the original developer so this is all we have left! Most of this run is tight platforming with a couple of deathwarps and jumping through things that look like walls and act like walls until you jump at them in a certain way. The soundtrack was ripped off of Captain Dynamo, as I'm sure you'll all realise, but other than that it's totally original. Sample run video:

Game Name: Alien Breed System: Amiga (emulated) Category: any% Gameplay Estimate: 17 minutes Ending/Bonus Estimate: 1 minute to read out the ending text? Possible Donation Incentives: Just the ending text. Description: This non-licenced gem by Team 17 (yes, they did do games that don't feature worms!) is a fast-paced top-down shooter. It's not as good as Alien Isolation (although you are VERY isolated if you play in single player) but it's approx 6x10^23 times better than Colonial thingy, so that's worth remembering. I must use limited ammunition and a dwindling supply of keys (that sometimes glitch themselves out of existence) to descend into an underground base and destroy a swarm of Aliens(notTM). And by "swarm" I mean "only the bosses and any that happen to be in the way" Also features tight resource management to upgrade to the best weapon and a couple of skips available through tight routing. Plus my dude explodes when he dies and, as we know, sometimes you have to explode yourself to be free of the Aliens(notTM). Sample run video:

PogChamp

Personally, I wouldn't run this category - as was mentioned above, Scarecrow is brilliant in casual play, but it just feels really slow in a speedrun. Imo the run is much more interesting as there is almost no downtime at all.

Having said all that it's pretty clear that whatever falls into the glitchless category is going to be pretty arbitrary but it sounds very odd that you're considering including Bell Skip in that category given that it's the biggest skip in the game!

Low% (which has had interest in the past) forces you to complete Scarecrow 2 and was the go-to category for "glitchless" runs (since you also cannot collect/dupe trophies, and it would be useless if you did), however, that doesn't stop zipping so wouldn't prevent you from skipping Scarecrows 1 or 3. I think you need the Crypto range upgrade to skip the fights before Elevator Titan as well.

I would recommend a "no major skips/glitches" category, which would rule out all Storages and Zips as well as Bell Skip and Trophy duping. However, skipping fights / pred rooms should be allowed, if only because the game makes a very clear distinction between the fights that it expects you to complete and the ones that are optional. Also if you did ban fight skips, you'd have to define what a fight is. Is the group of goons you face in the corridor on the way to the Penitentiary a fight? What about the snipers? Are they not Silent Predator goons? What about the goons in the Medical Building right before the elevator down to Scarecrow 1?

As I said it's a category that I would have no interest in running myself but we've seen "glitchess" categories fail in other games plenty of times because of badly-defined rules and I don't want that to happen here, just my two cents :)

Hey Flicky, sorry about doing this at the last minute but I might not be able to make it at all anymore :(

Will confirm for definite either way in the next few days.

Kitty: It's a joke based on the fact that I run Batman games and The Flash, and I never run (and barely play, come to think of it) Marvel games. Not because I don't like Marvel, it just worked out that way...

However, if the rest of them play like Mojo's world, I might have to change that...

Also, Hpye is spelt correctly. I worked my fingers to the bone creating the most professional ESA overlay that has ever existed! (the only reason it wasn't used as the official one is that it was TOO professional and detracted from the more informal feel of the event).

Quick Update: I might not be able to make it on Friday depending on whether I can get the time off from work, so I might arrive Friday evening / Saturday morning.

Also, I'd like to add another game to the lineup - I don't have a SMS everdrive so I would need to rely on someone bringing that or emulate.

Game: X-Men: Mojo's World Console: Master System Time: 7 minutes.

The SMS crew had a blind race of this yesterday and within a couple of hours the record was 5:24. It might even be lower than that by now. My PB is currently 5:47. Despite being a Marvel superhero game, I really enjoyed playing this. There are two difficulty modes available: Maniac and Suicidal. We THINK that you take slightly more damage on suicidal, but other than that there's no difference.

Like anything and everything to do with X-Men, Wolverine is in there as the default character but he isn't Rogue and therefore can't fly so we don't use him. I can't even make a good pun out of his name like Rogue-oSparkle! He does have the swaggiest Forward Crabwalk that I've ever seen, so I might show that off if there's time after the run...

Warning: This is a 1996 TecToy port of a GameGear game, so the cropping is... nothing short of amazing and therefore Naegleria absolutely does not need to watch this!

So, I can offer to bring the following:

Screens / Monitors.

1. 20" Samsung LED Monitor (I will only bring this if there is a specific need for it, I'm nervous about breaking it)
2. TV of indeterminate size (probably 27") and inputs, going to get this from my mum this month so will let you know the specs later. It's not a CRT.
3. Small (15"?) CRT. IF I can get the/a remote working on it (it's been temperamental lately and there's no way to get the AV channels without the remote)

Equipment.

1. Hauppage HD PVR. I will only bring this if we need to stream off of a HD console. It only runs through Total Media Extreme and there's an unavoidable 2-3 second lag for the stream (not the console). If we don't need, I won't bring - to be fair it's designed for recording and not streaming (hence the name) :)
2. Multiplugs - 2 x 4-way plugs.

Consoles.

1. Mega Drive (and master system converter) plays PAL or NTSC. I have no everdrive.
2. Amiga (and composite converter)
3. Xbox 360 (and component cables but not HDMI)
4. PS1 (PAL)
5. PS2 (Fat - PAL)

I also have a number of controllers for each, and multi-taps for the MegaDrive (bomberman hype!) and PS1 and PS2 if needs be. I have a couple of working light guns that I can actually bring to the event too :)

I will be driving up, and I used to go to University of Warwick (which is actually closer to Coventry) so I somewhat know the area and will be happy to pick people up if they are between Guildford and Coventry (so, Heathrow airport, for example), or if they come to me beforehand and agree to help load/unload stuff. If you ask super nice I might even pick you up from Coventry Train station (again, sort of on the way for me) as it's about 15-20 minutes out from Ricoh.

I had an amazing time this year and already cannot wait for next year!

I will forget a lot of people in this but let's go for it anyway:

Flicky, Edenal, Grukk, AMVX, Oasiz, Niss3, Crippe, Bang, Joka, Alko, Tompa, Planks and everyone else involved in running the event, you guys did a fantastic job.

To all those who entered (or attempted to enter) my mystery tournaments, sorry about the lack of organization but thanks very much for joining in and putting up with my shit. Special shoutouts to Primal85 and Carska who won the races and vs. tournaments respectively, and also to Bangerra, Rueake, Goost and Chucat for helping make sure they actually happened!

To the guys on the poverty bonus stream (the real one, not those fake-ass pretenders), thanks for making the journey home so much more enjoyable.

Tompa: Munchkin games did happen but I very much regret that we didn't get to play together! Next time...

Flicky: You got me a couple of times but I had a lot of fun playing our little game, even when you recruited Oasiz to do your dirty work for you. Eventually I will have an ESA run that doesn't get mercy-killed or run over estimate, you'll see!

AMVX: Thank you for trying to make Arkham Knight happen, and for saving the SWAT4 run, and for just being awesome in general.

Bangerra: I have one of your Myth Makers games, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not... Thanks for lending me your PS3 for the Mystery PS1 tournament!

Fatzke: There were so many questions I didn't get to ask about your moustache!

Naegleria and LLCoolDave: Thanks for opening my eyes to the magic that was Chess 3.0 - we should totally submit that to the stream next year! I will also help you find a counter to Zerg army that doesn't involve more nerfing :)

Nami: Thanks for being brave and sitting on host station, hope you enjoyed it!

Alko: Hosting partner in crime! Your ability to ask questions nearly as fast as I could answer them came in very handy :) same again next year? Thanks for the water in Asylum. Also, if you want more of that tea then you can go to Kusmi, there's a shop in Berlin near the zoo!

Shrimp: But where is the Buckfast? I love you anyway, try not to get too worked up if Adam is more charming than you. Hope you enjoyed the whisky :)

Oasiz: Here's to more C64 and Amiga wonderfulness next year!

SMS Crew (Rasmus, Btrim, Pogington, Maxie, Fingers, Adam, probably someone else I'm forgetting): Taking over one of the rooms for SMS everdrive goodness was a great idea! How about an 8-way Ys race next year?

Guys: You've got 2 minutes left now. Either lynch someone or go to sleep!

I need to get back to work now. I'll finish writing this later.

I have left my green swimming trunks ¤somewhere¤. They aren't in my case, so they are somewhere else, probably at mass housing or on one of the drying racks in the dressing room behind the stream computers.

Qualifiers are now underway! If you haven't already, please head to the two megadrives set up in the outer ring of the marathon area and submit your times! By the megadrives will be my laptop and some paper to note your times.

ROAD RASH II MYSTERY RACE QUALIFIER

Rules: Reset the console, name your rider in the game options if you wish, then race each of the five tracks (Alaska, Hawaii, Tennessee, Vermont, Colorado) in any order, noting down your game time in each case.

Controls: B – Accelerate A – Brake C – Punch (can take out your enemy riders or steal their weapon; however this probably won’t improve your time. You cannot punch cops)

Hints: If you earn enough money, you will be able to upgrade your bike in the bike shop, which can help in the final races.

After the race you are given a time to 1dp, write this down (if you have a witness) or take a picture. If you get Busted or Wasted then have another go on the same track.

Last call guys, I'm compiling the list now. Also I'm taking game suggestions and goals for either tournament if you want to bring them too me. I'm currently on one of the couches in the main room with my laptop.

So, the mystery tournament will start soon; please post in this thread if you are interested in participating (or use one of the sign-up sheets I've posted at the venue). Let me know if you want to enter the Mystery Races, the Mystery vs. tournament, or both, and whether there are any days you won't be able to take part (I intend to start the tournaments on Monday). I will do my best to accommodate any scheduling difficulties.

For more information on the actual tournaments, or if you want to submit games (completely optional) please see this thread: http://www.speedrun.com/esa2015/thread/8tb2r

Good luck!

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