SM64 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow - 0x A Presses

I collect the star Somewhere Over the Rainbow in Rainbow Ride using 0 A presses. For the record, this is TAS.
This video is an improvement from my previous video in which I collected this star in 1 A press. You can find that video here: • SM64 - Somewhere Over ... . Since then, I worked out a strategy to use fly guy's twirl to get to the island from the ship's mast.
Here is a play by play of the strategy. First, I go down to fly guy to lure him out of his starting position. You see, in order to manipulate fly guy's movement, he needs to be 2000+ units away from his starting position, and so I need to lure him away. I also use him to get off at the top of the pole, because Mario is unable to do that by himself. I then deactivate fly guy while he's in the direction I wish to transport him. From there, I manipulate him into a lunge, and activate him so that he lunges up to a particular height. While he's at this height, I repeatedly manipulate him into a lunging state in the direction of my choosing, then reactivate him right when his lunge runs out. In doing so, I am able to move him laterally without him moving up or down (if he moved up or down, I would lose the ability to manipulate him easily). Once fly guy is at a certain checkpoint, I ride the carpet up and allow fly guy to lunge up to another particular height. Then once again, I repeatedly manipulate fly into lunges at particular angles, effectively transporting him horizontally to another checkpoint. From there, I manipulate lakitu such that I use him to get onto the ship using vertical speed conservation. Then, I climb up the ship's mast, reactivating fly guy while he is in a spinning state. I strategically climb up and down the pole to manipulate fly guy just right so that he flies into the top of the mast. I also position Mario just right so that fly guy knocks into him while also causing Mario to bounce on him and twirl. The twirl's slow descent combined with the initial momentum of the knock back is just enough for Mario to reach the island. And from there, it's a simple matter of having chuckya throw Mario into the star.
I put a lot of effort into studying fly guy in order to have the necessary tools to perform this strategy. Here is a video explaining how to manipulate fly guy: • How to Manipulate Fly Guy . Additionally, here is a diagram of how fly guy turns back towards his starting position as his lunge ends: imgur.com/rou6WMy. This was important so that I could maximize his displacement with each lunge. Also, here's a picture of my calculations [imgur.com/zqoFP8t] and here's a picture of my setup [imgur.com/8IBuFiM].
If you don't know about the vertical speed conservation trick, it works like this. When Mario does a dive recover and lands, the variable that maintains his vertical speed does NOT reset to zero. So, if Mario lands while he is falling, then this vertical speed will be negative. But if Mario lands while he is still ascending (as is the case when he diver recovers between the falling blocks), then this vertical speed will be positive. This vertical speed WILL reset to 0 if Mario moves at all, but punching and breakdancing will not affect it. Anyway, once Mario becomes airborne, then his vertical speed takes instant effect. So by storing a positive vertical speed and not resetting it, I am able to have Mario "pop up" when he punches his way off of the falling block. The reason I needed this vertical speed bounce instead of a regular dive recover is because Mario is able to ground pound with the former, which can ascend just enough height to make it to the ship platform.
.m64 stats:
Length: 24 minutes and 47 seconds
Re-records: 16280
Frames: 89221 (44573 input)
Time to Make: ~13 hours
ABC Playlist: • Super Mario 64 - A But...
ABC Routes: docs.google.co...

[@WannaKnowMyName]

-Hey pannenkoek2012, wanna play some Mario 64? -Ok, sure -One problem though, the A button doesn't work -No problem for me

[@connfdm]

*reaches BitFS* -well shit

[@thatoneguy9582]

funny dog man -just Up B dude

[@Benjamslikestrains]

Up B does literally nothing

[@thatoneguy9582]

Smash Bros joke

[@Benjamslikestrains]

unless this is a SMB64 joke

[@chrismason1839]

There you have it, and you didn't even have to clone 72 Goombas.

[@iamahater4318]

Because there are no Goombas in dat level

[@jibvil]

@@iamahater4318 I know this is a year late but there is 1 goomba

[@ddnava96]

7:00 the devs purposely made this game completable without A presses. Just barely possible to have the exact distance so you could twirl toward that island and land exactly in the edge. They developed the game with no A presses in mind so 25 years later people would already have discovered a way to complete the game without any A presses.

[@Sehon13Ultd]

I hope you're joking.

[@ddnava96]

Sehon13Ultd I am. But still, It's pretty impressive that floating island has the exact distance for Mario to just make the twirl from the top of the pole. Also, I've always wondered why all stairs but the main stairs on the castle have collision for each step, while the main stars have the collision of a slope. So many unanswered questions lol :P

[@isaacthered]

Also there's that one star in WDW that's literally one unit above what you can normally get without a presses.

[@UltraAryan10]

Not really, without glitches the count would have been at 100 or something like that. Though I do believe SM64DS was purposely made to be completable without pressing B even once. SM64DS BBC does not abuses glitches and mostly uses advantage of the new mechanics. Now there's also an Any% 0x video of it.

[@jongyon7192p]

When Tyler joined several years ago, he was looking into castle movements to make any% possible. He exhausted *all* possibilities and resorted to repeatedly diving into a corner for no reason but hoping smth random just happens. So he discovered 207DR. This repeated like a dozen times, even to this day, so "ABC is intended" became a long-running meme in the ABC Team.

[@Whitefright]

Watching this makes me too nervous

[@ShadG]

This is incredible, man. I cannot express just how impressed I am by your knowledge, creativity and dedication. Amazing work.

[@pannenkoek2012]

Thanks! I appreciate your compliment!

[@Glockenspheal]

I can't even... this is... what... you... are... AMAZING!!!

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

Isn't it just grand how Bowser's minions are the ones helping Mario get these stars?

[@Shrek_es_mi_pastor]

In fact, if there wouldn't present there, you couldn't kill bosses.

[@Architector_4]

3:42 Sick remix, bruh!

[@VollkinSea]

Architector #4 WWOWOWOWOWOWWWWWWWWWWOOOHHHH

[@Sheecacaa3]

Annotations are awesome! I love the creativity and effort that go into these videos.

[@pannenkoek2012]

Thanks!

[@Joselle_Astrid]

And after all that, the fly guy twirl gets you JUST enough distance... wow. Since the manipulation process is quite complex, it was certainly helpful to get play by play explanations in annotation form.

[@notchmath9642]

Same. I think he should do a video where he messes up and his reaction.

[@notchmath9642]

I know, but it would be cool to see failed ideas to improve.

[@pannenkoek2012]

TheLoneWolf You can see failed strats and my progress on my alternate account at kzbin.infovideos?live_view=500&sort=dd&view=0&flow=list

[@JakesFable]

You seriously must have genius level thinking to know all the relays and time that everything correlates together so flawlessly. Very amazing my good sir indeed.

[@MattCrafter]

He is very skilled, but obviously TAS is used

[@randomviewer896]

This is absolutely phenomenal. I am simply in awe, I would have never expected this to be possible.

[@Lugmillord]

wow, crazy. (and interesting annotations. It was interesting to read through them) That poor fella is so mind-controlled.

[@bkdjTAS]

The amount of care, planning, creativity, awesomeness, and, let's face it, sheer stubbornness and tenacity you show in each of these stars is incredible. I never comment on YT, but I just had to say thanks for the entertainment in WF's and RR's latest 0x A button videos :)

[@Jdtendo]

These annotations are a good idea! I probably woudn't understand all these crazy techniques without them, and it's easier to read them *during* the video than in the description of the video!

[@exterminator9676]

Sometimes I wonder if pannen plays any other games than Super Mario 64

[@mymyscellany]

Games?

[@lapotato9140]

you think this is a motherfucking game

[@jrw630]

Dude these aren’t games, he doesn’t even get up from his computer. (Aka “life”)

[@treyforest2466]

Pannen doesn't so much "play" SM64 as "bend it to his will."

[@garrettmccloskey274]

this isnt a game

[@ToxicOxygen124]

Wow manipulating 2 enemies to be at very specific positions plus having to worry about cycle timings... that probably took so much planning. Amazing

[@tb8495]

The annotations are great, there's no way I would have kept up without them :p keep up the amazing work!

[@balneor]

Poor poor fly guy... Being manipulated all the time must be a burden.. A truly crazy video.

[@MegaQwertification]

Watching this video reminds me how knowledgeable you are about this game. Well done dude.

[@Berg8793]

Wow... this is amazing. I have no other words for this. Well done! Also, thanks for the annotations, you do a really good job of explaining all these crazy strategies.

[@NXeta]

I love the annotations man helps a ton with understanding!

[@istaffa]

I really like the annotations. It explains all that's happening and can be turned off whenever we want.

[@travisheck5979]

I love all the TAS swaggin while waiting for carpet ride haha

[@BenRitter]

LOVE the annotations. Please continue them. Much more understandable and technical this way.

[@temp6t]

I was always thinking of the easiest way to beat this level! Thanks a ton!

[@WestTwoEast]

I can't like this video enough! Great work!

[@YEWCHENGYINMoe]

mario hates carpets, that's for sure

[@0x7d8]

0:40 Y E S this text is beautiful, it filled my schreen

[@jgcodes2020]

*can't dive-recover into star* Pannen: "I'm gonna get yeeted"

[@lucasscmpa]

this is art

[@affrimatt]

I really like the idea of using annotations on the videos. Keep it up if possible, plz! :) Also, this was some amazing work you did. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[@windowsforvista]

Oh my god, that was amazing! Also I love the captions, normally with the descriptions it's hard to connect what's going on with the explanation, but this made lots of more sense :)

[@littlemcminer614]

7:02 That was so satisfying... That moment when everything goes just right :D

[@FUZxxl]

The annotations are great, but please put them a bit higher up because the progress bar hides the bottom line of text when pausing the video to read annotations.

[@TylerKehne]

pannenkoek2012 ^

[@Pika250]

Manipulating all of those actors (mainly the fly guy) simultaneously was tough for pannen. Even the island itself required an actor (namely a chuckya), else Mario couldn't grab the star without pressing a. Good thing the chuckya is there naturally. #getrektrainbowride

[@milothemightyalouf569]

*ACTORS* YOU THINK THIS IS A PLAY

[@PowerHaters]

I like the annotations.

[@bluebreathx]

Just.. Amazing! Nice work pannenkoek !

[@notchmath9642]

I love the annotations. Also, I think I figured out how to kill the mystery goomba and commented under ideas to kill the mystery goomba. But seriously, you have awesome videos.

[@chainchump]

Who knew that fly guys would come in THIS handy? Great job :D

[@dwitt500]

uh wow ok Also the annotations were excellent; would love it if you kept doing those!

[@jseakle]

This is amazing and the annotations are amazing.

[@jgcodes2020]

Pancake Man spends 15 minutes convincing a helicopter guy to fly up to a floating ship, only to die so Pancake Man can reach a floating island

[@Christer2222]

I liked the annotations, they explained a lot, and if someone doesn't like them, they can just turn them off :D

[@notchmath9642]

Same!

[@Carsonist]

I like annotations, but ESPECIALLY for this one, I would have had no idea whatsoever what was going on otherwise.

[@toniconge7003]

I really loved the annotations!

[@Patashu]

Godlike fly guy manipulation :D

[@bencarrington3743]

The timing with that Chuckya tho

[@jnub]

I think he's just having fun in most of this.

[@UmbraVivens94]

now we just need a documentary narrator for this video :D

[@thearcticdivineon4351]

Wow to get through that without any a presses you have to go through all of these glitches and par-core variable stuff

[@Char42]

Awesome! Very amazing. And yes, the annotations are great! :D

[@Gaxelmusic]

Love your videos, very fun to watch. You plan on doing other N64 games as well?

[@pannenkoek2012]

nope, only SM64

[@redflag500]

your giving me small panic attack when your on the magic carpet fucking around on the edges. makes me feel like your about to fall off! Good job!

[@doootuz]

i liked being able to read what you were doing, otherwise i just thought you were insane :P

[@OlmiOP]

I still can't believe you went flying through the skies without pressing A once, but you can't get past a freaking pole.... Curse you BitFS

[@fffianist]

Definitely keep the annotations!

[@RedBlueProductions1]

i like the annotations

[@GlitchShark]

You are a genius! But i'm sure you've heard that several times already.

[@hypatobayt2855]

There needs to be a “follow the yellow brick road in galaxy 3”

[@aMkinfinity]

YOU GOT IT!! :D :D OMG I was waiting to see if it'd be possible. Get rekt indeed.

[@Fritzafella]

Ngl I was really hoping you were gonna simultaneously screw around for 7 minutes doing the fly guy manipulation AND do a green demon challenge at the end there *all* without any A presses. Also, the fact TASers try to make a run as entertaining as possible while needing to wait is just awesome. Willin to bed atleast 80% of the random tricks on the carpets where unnecessary

[@TheHylianJuggalo]

No matter how many times you explain it, I just can't ever get my head around this A press science. :/

[@lauraluvbi]

7:10 imagine if the chuckya throws mario in the wrong direction...

[@ScarletMomiji]

Rektbow Ride :)

[@leonardofernandez4864]

ScarletMomiji Awful Joke, i like it :D

[@YoYoCheese6]

The annotations are interesting. I say keep them.

[@AllurinGirl31]

Amazing!

[@Carlosk12]

And the mistery goomba??

[@ElementalDomino2007]

For a bit near the end of the video you were doing the Green Demon challenge.

[@LegacyCrono]

Would it be possible to use closed captions instead of annotations? I really like the explanations, but the annotation box is a bit annoying. With closed captions it would look much better! (and it also allow us to customize how it looks like :P)

[@pannenkoek2012]

Tried it, couldn't figure it out :/

[@TheFatPunisher]

Closed caption more confusing than parallel universes

[@thermodyne5064]

Wow I've never seen M64 played like this. Makes me think I wasted my childhood playing it mot this way

[@milothemightyalouf569]

*MOT*

[@omnipixilgaming5340]

those jumps.... scare me

[@carlosr8563]

So you're basically playing 3D One More Line with the fly guy until he's at the ship and you can stomp on him. This is too complex, I can't even.

[@anonymoususer9837]

TFW you do all this in real life but the Chuckya at the end doesn’t throw you into the star... but into the pit

[@anonymoususer9837]

And yes, I know this can’t realistically be done without TAS

[@UAUU-on5pb]

I agree.

[@fisch37]

Sometimes in the past you can discover greatness. Sometimes it's revelation. And sometimes it's this. I don't understand anything of what's going on there. I believe, from what I could gather from the description, that the falling off of the carpets and the jiggling around on them is to move the fly guy around somehow while not moving it vertically. When moving to the next carpet you move it vertically a very calculated amount and the part with the Lakitu I didn't really capture. As far a I'm concerned you could've summoned the ghost of the N64 to help you in your endavour or something

[@80zbaby62]

You're the most creative sm64 player I've found yet. Good job, and here I was thinking I was good for learning all those speedruning strats. You're in a whole other class though. Is the chuckya completely random or is there a way to manipulate the direction it throws you?

[@pannenkoek2012]

80z baby Thank you :) Chuckya is random. Hence, I made dust right before he grabbed me in order to manipulate the RNG just right so that he'd throw me in the correct direction.

[@80zbaby62]

Oh ok, that's good to know. I'll probably never be able to do the technical tricks you do, considering all I have is the N64 version. But some of the things like the impossible coin and cloning I'm thinking about attempting. You inspired me to pick the game back up, so you just earned a new fan.

[@TheWASHINGMACHINEBOY]

0:08 *somewhere over the rainbow plays*

[@quagmireforsale]

Keep the annotations. But I would also like if you did more narrations. Those are fun and nice to listen to. Also probably take less editing work.

[@computercat8694]

7:02 Can you delay collecting the 1 up until after you've collected the star?

[@rufuswholsten]

I think this IS WESOME! haha puns

[@casekoenig1481]

(sung slowly) somewherrrrre over the raiiiinboooow, (said really fast) pannenkoek2012 got the star without jumping...

[@eduardolarrymarinsilva76]

I suggest you reupload this vid with the explanation at the end.

[@ocarinaofmasks2241]

Weird question I've been trying to get a answer with but do you understand how you get glitchy wallkicks?

[@pannenkoek2012]

Nope. Ask Tyler Kehne

[@TylerKehne]

Idk either, but I can give an educated guess. Most likely the wall Mario wall kicks on is the 'other' wall on a corner, not the one you'd expect. So the angle of the WK is based off of that wall. Someone like SP would know better tho

[@msgasmdc107]

This video got me thinking; with all of this RNG manipulation, when you can finally make a full 0x A press run, can you just copy/paste your actions from these ILs into where they're needed? Will the RNG be the same, or will you have to redo all of these strats in one massive movie? I hope to see a rerecord count if you do, if that's applicable to the programs and techniques you use. And when you are finally able to make the full run, you should end it, after saving Peach, by getting max coins in every level. Not 255, max.

[@msgasmdc107]

It wouldn't be a challenge if it were easy!

[@Amateseru]

Finally :o gg :D

[@notchmath9642]

You got first comment!

[@bumbaladardioshombot]

but could you find the six secrets on tiny huge island?

[@Tyler-qh9jm]

Sir when will you be doing the 120 star sub 40 a-press non-TAS speedrun? I will donate a dollar if you do it under 12 minutes. you can do it

[@Carlosk12]

And the impossible goomba??

[@acousticpark6881]

How many hours were put into this route?

[@Sehon13Ultd]

Read the description.

[@acousticpark6881]

Sehon13Ultd That doesn't include planning.

[@Sehon13Ultd]

ah i see what you mean

[@TheDarkLink93]

Mind Blowing shit but awesome mind blowing shit :)

[@PlushSM64]

RR 0X LOL K

[@aGrafimir]

I wonder how many A presses are required to finish the game from start to finish.

[@waffledoctor87]

ONE.

[@aGrafimir]

orochimarujes Well, that's some interesting information :)

[@nexinex6049]

What's the current a press counter at

[@shadybandit7]

the 12 dislikes are probally persons that dont have B button

[@the0mini0prutt]

how many A presses is needed for a 120 star run now?

[@pannenkoek2012]

It's currently 45, though it is expected to drop to 43 in the near future. You can find out more in the ABC Routes link at the bottom of the description.

[@mybloodythanksgiving3040]

I never even beat this game

[@keeganator2000]

What's the commotion with annotations? I'm on mobile so I can't see them....

[@MarcinKralka]

what are you talking about? You can turn on annotations on mobile (at least on Android).

[@keeganator2000]

Marcin Kralka Not on my phone. I tried looking through the settings and never found a setting to turn on annotations. And I'm using android. :(

[@xianlucax9343]

4:07 UH

[@randomviewer896]

On your spreadsheet showing the total number of A presses required for a given star, some of those numbers are in blue. Why is that?

[@PlushSM64]

Yeah I was wondering that too *waits for **pannenkoek2012** *

[@notchmath9642]

What spreadsheet?

[@notchmath9642]

I still don't know where the spreadsheet is. However, the answer is in the google doc in the description: A blue number means that it requires A not to be held, so if you are trying for a star that needs it held beforehand, you can't use that one.

[@notchmath9642]

TheLoneWolf OK, found the spreadsheet.

[@pannenkoek2012]

From the first page of the ABC doc: "Furthermore, some stars are classified as “terminating stars”, denoted with a blue A press count. What distinguishes these stars is that the strategy to collect them requires the A button to NOT be held. Thus, if one were attempting to hold A through several stars, this A press would terminate on the first terminating star. Strategies that require the A button to not be held include the need to punch, to pick up heavy objects (i.e. chuckya, King Bob-omb), and to clone. For half A presses to successfully be subsumed under the previous A press, it is necessary that (1) each half A press is preceded by a full A press, and (2) there are no terminating stars between that full A press and the half A press. If these conditions are met (and I make sure to meet them in the routes), then the half A presses can be rounded down."

[@jimothygooseshire]

Why do you always have a random amount of stars?

[@pannenkoek2012]

Jim Goose I deliberately start the star with a number of lives and stars equal to my favorite numbers ;)