SM64 - Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses (Commentated) [OUTDATED]
Why Hacker News recommends it
Held up as a legendary deep dive into game internals, explained lucidly and with humor, and a gateway to the channel.
What it is
Pannenkoek2012's commentated tool-assisted Super Mario 64 run collecting the Watch for Rolling Rocks star with half an A press, using parallel universes and QPU movement. The video is marked outdated in favor of a newer version.
Recommended by 13 HN commenters across 12 different months, 2016 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec meanduck · 2016-05 · on “Flappy Bird Clone Code Injected into Super Mario World for SNES by Hand”
This[1] was mentioned in its other thread. Not related to programming but the amount of thought process went into it is just amazing. [1] "SM64 - Watch for Rolling Rocks - 0.5x A Presses (Commentated)" : [this video]
Strong rec baconomatic · 2016-09 · on “Super Mario 64 – 1996 Developer Interviews”
If you're at all interested in speedruns, this is a great video that takes it to the extreme for Super Mario 64: [this video]
Strong rec joshguthrie · 2017-05 · on “Jailbreaking Super Mario World to Install a Hex Editor and Mod Loader [video]”
Pannenkoek2012 is both genius and crazy awesome at the same time. Its video "0.5x A Key Presses" provoked a riot in video game circles some times ago: [this video]
Strong rec kchoudhu · 2018-09 · on “'Super Mario Bros.' speedrunner hits nearly inhuman 4:55 world record”
Did you ever see this one? [this video] This guy literally has a PhD in SM64. It's insanely complicated, and surprisingly lucid.
Strong rec ruytlm · 2020-08 · on “Spherical Geometry Is Stranger Than Hyperbolic”
At 5:45[0] in that video, he makes a reference to one of the greatest weird explanations of video game things ever: the explanation[1] of how to beat the Watch for Rolling Rocks level in Super Mario 64 with only half an A-press, which is highly worth a watch if you like this stuff about geometry. And if that was interesting, I also recommend the history of any percent speed runs for Super Mario Sunshine.[2] [0]: [LINK] [1]: [this video] [2]: [LINK]
Strong rec keepamovin · 2023-07 · on “Super Mario 64 – Watch for Rolling Rocks – 0.5x a Presses [video]”
I kind of lost it at the point where he "builds up speed for 12 hours". AHAHA [this video] His mind is so clear. I love how there's so many super super smart people on the internet! :)
Strong rec RadiozRadioz · 2024-05 · on “Super Mario 64's unopenable door has been opened [video]”
I recommend this channel in general. He has extremely deep knowledge of the inner workings of the game, and presents it in an approachable way. Other classics: A 3 hour 45 minute deep dive into the game's infamous invisible wall bug (useful for understanding the linked video): [LINK] His most famous video, a summary of the extremely involved and complex methods required to beat a particular level using the lowest number of A button presses - in this case, 0.5 : [this video]
Recommends CM30 · 2016-03 · on “The Rest Is Advertising – Confessions of a Sponsored Content Writer”
Depends what kind of info you're looking for. Are you looking for information on the current middle east geopolitical situation? Then not really. Same deal if you're looking for some sort of longform investigative journalism like the recent one about one of the Truecrypt founders. But if you're a web developer or programmer looking for information about the latest Javascript frameworks or what not, then yes. You're going to find better information in blogs and on social sites that on a mainstream news site or publication, because the former cares about the specific subject and the latter has to try and cover a wide range of things to less of a degree. And in gaming... well, the 'professional