The History of the A Button Challenge - Part 5: Mario Enters Parallel Universes

Additional Notes: pastebin.com/wwDy5Q9A
Playlist: • The Complete History o...
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:23 - Goomba cluster and Goomba oasis
03:55 - Mario Wings to the Sky 0xA
05:08 - No Translation Loading
07:27 - Pole-Jumping for Red Coins 0.5xA
08:34 - Goomba chase extension
09:45 - Watch for Rolling Rocks 1xA
12:50 - A-maze-ing Emergency Exit 0.5xA
13:58 - Scuttlebug transportation
15:36 - Enter Secret Aquarium 0xA
18:32 - Parallel Universes
24:56 - N64 vs. Wii VC
26:43 - TTC Upwarp Bounty
28:49 - Pedro Spot
31:05 - Scuttlebug raising
32:28 - Watch for Rolling Rocks 0.5xA
35:13 - Pannenkoek's struggle
39:25 - Scuttlebug raising applied in HMC
40:14 - Scuttlebug raising applied in BBH
43:26 - Beginning of the Modern Era
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[@Bismuth9]

I'm noticing a lot of people are expressing concern for Pannenkoek's well-being. I just want to remind everyone that this happened over 6 years ago. He fully recovered and has been doing well ever since.

[@retrogamestudios7649]

Wow pretty late get well soon card.....it fell between the seats and I didn't see it sorry......merry 🎄

[@Kaitri]

we are also concerned about the same happening to you :)

[@feelgoodmusic8722]

You probably haven't seen my other comment. I just wanted to say "thank you" - you're doing ABSOLUTELY amazing work and since I've seen the video where you show how much work goes into creating one single video - I'm mind-blown. I appreciate your videos, as much as a Hollywood blockbuster! Thank you!

[@TaIathar]

Glad to hear he's recovered and I hope you don't fall into the same pit. Your videos are very educational and I'm looking forwards to seeing a full 120 star TAS minimal A-button run someday. Regardless of how long it may take. I will wait for it.

[@Kaitri]

@Mike will who cares, let him. Not worth the attention

[@DatHypnoboi]

"This problem can be solved with the right amount of planning, which, as it turns out, is a shit ton of planning"

[@KrazyKyle-ij9vb]

This is like the first time Bismuth says a swear in his videos, but it perfectly highlights how much planning I assume it takes. Getting all the angles right, planning the speed in a way that allows everything to work, and then actually executing it in the game? Yeah that sounds like a s**t ton to me! Edit: I also think it's really funny because it comes out of nowhere and there's no break in the music. You expect there to not be one at this point, but then he hits you with it and you kinda have to laugh.

[@sirapple589]

@@KrazyKyle-ij9vb There’s a moment in Pannen’s watch for rolling rocks video where he shows a series of slopes that he worked out could be used to traverse the ground in the way he needed. The level of planning needed to achieve what they want is insane.

[@JGMeador444]

That is probably my single favorite line in the video. I didn't expect Bismuth to cuss/swear/say a worty dird. The fact that he did REALLY drove the point home for me; it must be more planning than I've done for anything in my entire life 😂

@@JGMeador444 Or perhaps in your entire life? ;)

[@hoobidibahbidibah8119]

Timestamp for future reference: 22:40

[@TJ-Henry-Yoshi]

6 years later, the culmination of that one video is just as incredible and mindbreaking. Thank you for your amazing documentation and story-telling, Bismuth!

[@bengoodwin2141]

It's him :) hope the comments aren't too much for you.

[@SaotomeLuna]

Say the line, Bart!

[@TJ-Henry-Yoshi]

@@bengoodwin2141 Everything I've encountered over the past 6 years is more than enough for me to handle what the comments could throw at me now

[@AhriBestWaifu]

Heya TJ, i heard you think Pikamee is a funny girl

[@thejaykay97]

The man, the myth, the legend himself. Started following you for the meme and stayed for your wholesome personality :)

[@ericpeterson6520]

22:46 "There are two problems with this plan. First, Mario has to navigate parallel universes while storing speeds several times in excess of the speed of sound lest he be forever trapped in an invisible and empty simulacrum of his world with no hope for escape. But the second and by far more concerning problem, is stairs"

[@dewyocelot]

I love the “ceci n’est pas une escalier” joke too lol.

[@llawliet7434]

@@dewyocelot yeah, thats some reference only a small amount of people would get. "Ceci n,est pas une pipe"

[@Pablo360able]

“I warned you about the stairs, bro.∏

[@diegopugaquintanilla4344]

@@Pablo360able I told you, dog!

[@fredthebetter140]

Quote of the year.

[@typhoonthunder]

- "Parallel Universes" title card appears - piano rendition of the file select theme starts playing - instant chills

[@GDZipper]

love letter hahahahah (hi og hub)

[@lurkingstar]

I can't believe that video is almost 3 years old now! feels like yesterday...

[@typhoonthunder]

@@lurkingstar that video came out in 2016

[@lurkingstar]

@@typhoonthunder oh, I guess I'm thinking of a different video.

[@cameronduncan4801]

I got chills at the end with the piano.

[@prismaticc_abyss]

"Mom can I watch a KZbin video?" "what is it about?" "cosmic rays, parallel universes, integer overflows, and quadratic growth" "oh, so like a science video?" "no, a mario video"

[@09cf]

but also a science video : )

[@sarysa]

When I was a small child, making the mustache man run and jump and fall into pits, I never thought I would ever hear the term 'Goomba engineering'.

[@KrazyKyle-ij9vb]

A regular oasis doesn't cut it for me anymore. If it's not a Goomba Oasis then I don't even want to hear about it!

[@bsharpmajorscale]

@@KrazyKyle-ij9vb A regular party doesn't cut it for me anymore. If it's not a Scuttlebug Jamboree, I'm not interested!

[@autumn64fromdeltarunechapter3]

@@bsharpmajorscale regular long jumping doesn't cut it for my anymore. If I dont see a backwards long jumping game at the next olympics, then i'm going to riot!

[@DoorknobPlus]

@@bsharpmajorscale skuttlebug jamboree is not gonna happen :(

[@J_-_]

i dont think you ever conciously thought of the phrase as a small child though. it is a great phrase nontheless

[@denpadolt9242]

Hearing about Pannen's despair over making the Watch for Rolling Rocks star is very moving for me. 3 years ago, I tried to take everything I had learned about drawing to make a comic that I'd make into my magnum opus for the time. I strained myself ever harder to try and get it done by a certain point, but by the time that deadline came, my finished project was so rushed that I felt like I should go back and iron out its many flaws. I burnt myself out on it that I didn't draw for the better part of a year after that. Learning that Pannen fell into the same trap and how he managed to escape it is an inspiring tale that I'm glad I've heard.

[@WizardOfDocs]

+1

[@Ultimaximus]

I also related a lot to it. I read that in order to try to force himself to work, Pannen wouldn't let himself do *anything* at all unless it was the work, which instead ended in him doing literally nothing for days since he still couldn't bring himself to do it. I've had the same thing happen to me, which came with the lesson that I just can't force myself to be continually productive all the time. I *have* to allow myself the room to not do certain things (as long as they're things that don't really truly *need* to be done), and that's okay, and I shouldn't hate myself for it. We just have our limits

[@leaffinite3828]

@@Ultimaximus thats just how i live my life. Not fun

[@bsharpmajorscale]

I take that lesson. Maybe a bit too far, since none of my projects have gotten done lately. But hey, no stress! :P

[@CaTastrophy427]

I did the same thing with writing (3 series at once, trying for weekly uploads, while my mental AND physical health were getting worse and worse). Ended up burning myself out so hard I still, ~3 years later, can't bear to look at the novels I'd been working on at the time. New pen name, new site, new novels in new genres and I'm doing much better mentally and somewhat physically, though my writing speed is WAY lower, uploading every few months only. I like to think the quality has greatly improved... and thinking about it, the size of each chapter is 5~10x those weekly part-chapter uploads, so it's not that much slower if you don't consider how many different novels I'm doing that with. 3x 1k words/week vs 1x 8k words/2~3 months... yeah, slower even on a single-novel comparison, but the quality is better, far less padding and better dialogue, multidimensional characters, it's carefully edited due to not being rushed, and I actually have a plan for more than just, like, the rest of the chapter. In fact, I've got 6 books in the series *well planned out* with copious notes, and 4 more with a general overview and a few notes each here and there between those 6. The other series I'm working on in parallel with that one has plans for 5 or 6 books (can't really decide if I should add another arc to the plan, have a small arc be its own book, or shove that small arc into either of the already kinda long books on either side of it) and it's going along well too.

[@joethebro]

Pannenkoek: *gets down to 0 a presses* Peach: “We present you a new quest. Click A to select a world.”

[@uykolyx]

time to break out the dimension travel book

[@MDLuffy1234YT]

@@uykolyx Time to gather the Scuttlebugs into one big jamboree.

[@Kosmicd12]

17:26 this scene is sick. As well as the rest of the video of course! You always know how to end the video on a chill inducing cliff hanger

[@bedwarspro1752]

Hi kosmic,how did you get 4:55 in 9 tries?

[@matheuscabral9618]

he ate vegetables, eat vegetables kids!

[@retrogamestudios7649]

@@bedwarspro1752 alot of Adderall lol

[@KrazyKyle-ij9vb]

@@retrogamestudios7649 not to mention coke and pizza

[@KrazyKyle-ij9vb]

@@bedwarspro1752 I'm pretty sure Bismuth has a video on this

[@meikamo]

"Complex Goomba structure" is now my favorite phrase

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

something in a mathematical research paper from Dr Goomba

[@anshsgh6092]

CBS, for short

[@TylerChamb]

@@anshsgh6092 a generalization of the well known theory of Goomba-bridges and goomba-clusters.

[@katacutie]

Always sad to hear what happened to Pannen. You just can't help but respect the abc crew, so much creativity and clever thinking

[@tiggerbiggo]

it's very common to see these kinds of mental issues occur in those who achieve unexpected popularity unfortunately, it can force them to put so much pressure on themselves to give the fans what they want that it becomes too much. Good to know from the pinned comment on this video that he's doing alright now :D

[@MAMAJUGO]

From goomba engineering to cosmic rays and parallel universes, this challenge has it all!

[@gadgetlab7]

to 13 hour waits lmao

[@charmandergamer1287]

@@gadgetlab7 you mean 25 hours

[@llawliet7434]

@@charmandergamer1287 actualy it can be done in 13 hours, have you seen the video 0.5 A presses in rolling rocks?

[@charmandergamer1287]

@@llawliet7434 I'm talking about the newest save in LLL

[@llawliet7434]

@@charmandergamer1287 ok

[@randomperson1418]

On the quest to get 0 A presses in a Mario game, the world's smartest people like pannenkoek breaks the spacetime and reality to get 1 less A press.

[@CadenAC]

Imagine spending 25 hours breaking spacetime and learning that it doesn't work on N64 because the camera doesn't lock in the castle

[@gamewarrior2216]

He is Doctor Strange 64.

[@River_StGrey]

Breaking spacetime and mindspace simultaneously.

[@himynamesbob2268]

Everyone: you can’t beat sm64 in 0 a pressed Pannenkoek: haha breaking space time go brrrrrr

[@perdu6603]

The ABC crew is my last hope at solving climate change, because they might fix that in the process of saving a 0.5 A press

[@Patashu]

Your handling of the Pannenkoek 'mental health winter' was excellently well done. I can relate a lot to that kind of thing - a monolithic project that's either entirely done or not done and full of tedious, painstaking, unfun steps is a perfect way to destroy your motivation.

[@dimitreze]

12:30 no way Mario would still have his cap after that

[@E-102_Gamma]

Clings to Mario's head as he moves at faster-than-light speeds. Gets blown off by a little cloud guy. Scumbag Mario cap.

[@Bismuth9]

Maybe if it was a soft cap, but like I said, it's a hard cap.

[@terrafail]

@@Bismuth9 i get it

[@koth_harvest_final]

@@Bismuth9 lol

[@youtubeneedstochange4414]

@@E-102_Gamma Cloud guy's wind moves faster than faster-than-light confirmed

[@NinF37]

Dang, that section about pannenkoek and mental health - I had no idea. Having to constantly be reminded of a tough time is not fun.

[@B3Band]

It's really not, though. Not one single person means any harm when they reference those memes. He chose to be offended. If he had a sense of humor about himself, there would be no issue. Remember, he caused TJ "Henry" Yoshi to become a meme, and he STILL has people yelling memes at him on his channel. Should be offended? It's the same situation, except that pannen caused it to happen to TJ. If he can dish it out, he should be able to take it.

[@mr.cook5]

@@B3Band this take sucks fyi

[@Gardivanyth]

@@B3Band If you actually watched the video Bismuth points out that *Pannen himself* only partially credits the mental strain of WfRR 0.5x to the memes. Most of the anguish was caused by self-induced crunch. A sense of humor doesn't save someone from having to relive their self-made personal hell every time certain jokes are made.

[@tejanerella2004]

@@B3Band his problem with the memes wasn’t that he couldn’t take the joke, it was that that project caused him too much suffering and those memes reminded him of it

[@8bitdee]

@@B3Band you really watched this Bismuth video where he has an entire section talking about what actually led to his mental state deteriorate and completely missed the point that it wasn't the memes and jokes? What exactly are you doing watching youtube videos like these if you're not gonna pay any attention to them in the first place? Gtfo

[@dr4gonia]

Watch for rolling rocks in 0.5 A presses is one of my favorite youtube videos. To a casual viewer it looks absolutly bonkers but if you actually look deeper into it it's even more bonkers how much dedication and research are required for even a piece of a puzzle piece that have a chance of saving an A press.

[@AzureLazuline]

It doesn't matter how difficult it is, how much research it took, or how many hours you needed to build up speed... after it works, every runner ALWAYS pushes Z+B to celebrate 🤣 Thank you for this series and thank you to everyone involved in the challenge itself, you're all wonderful!

[@jongameaddict]

It's the same for Spin Attacks in Zelda. Going strong for over 15 years, Quick Spins are just the universal celebration and marking of the end of the video

[@samuelthecamel]

I'm glad you finally brought clarity to what happened to pannen. I always had a feeling that the common explanation wasn't the full story.

[@EVPointMaster]

pannenkoek has an FAQ where he explains the whole story about the misery he felt during the time. Needless to say, it's not a fun read.

[@samuelthecamel]

@@grapesurgeon I didn't see that document, I just heard about it from other sources which were apparently misleading

[@mariofuentes4493]

@@grapesurgeon the common explanation is that he hated the memes so much that he quits because of them pannen has said (multiples times i believe) that while he disliked the memes they where NOT the main reason he quit they just reminded him of the bad time he had while making the video but a lot of people are ignoring that and blaming and attacking the people that made the memes

[@jero37]

Can we all appreciate how much of a literal artist Pannen is in a very traditional sense because of how he suffered for his art creating the Watch for Falling Rocks video? I hope that as time goes by he does feel long term the sense of accomplishment it really should have given him if he weren't so demoralized and depressed at the end. Also this series has been such a fantastic documentary.

Not sure suffering for anything makes it art? (He's probably still an artist in some sense, but not because of any suffering.)

[@Smogshaik]

As a comment on that video says, it's both an involuntary and voluntary classic.

[@jero37]

@ It's not the suffering in and of itself, it's more the drive to make the thing that lets you push past suffering. Course once it's done the suffering comes crashing in and you no longer have something you're running with to fight it off. Which is really where the suffering hits and tends to hurt artists.

[@casedistorted]

When Bismuth says something takes a "sh*t ton" of planning, I believe him because Bismuth never seems to swear.

[@vms8166]

And here I was a few months ago, surprised that the red coin star in WDW took 14 hours. Literally every other star mentioned in this video takes multiple hours to complete. It’s coming to the point where every single new strategy to lower the A press count is straight up absurd (well except for the slide kick in Wing Mario). Can’t wait for the TTC stars, since I still don’t understand some of the strategies used in that stage.

[@udinkun7051]

anything for 0.5 less A press

[@dtracers]

Just wait till you see next couple months release of TTC press saves

[@Splax77]

WDW Red Coins is actually down to 14 minutes now, there's been a bunch of improvements over the years.

[@johnhawkins5314]

Have we covered the BitFS a press save exclusive to WiiVC yet? That one is new meme in time length

[@skill_issuesmo7367]

@@dtracers no need to wait for months, technichally the a press count is already down to 16 but we need to wait for pannen to tas the whole thing

[@queenofnarnia1011]

I hope Pannen is doing a lot better mentally now. I recently took a leave from college to recover mentally myself so I hope he's been recovering well. Big respect for the amount of work he's put into this

[@B3Band]

If you don't go back quickly, you never will. It gets harder the longer you wait. Get that shit done. Remember, pannen actually finished the job before taking a break. He has something to show for it. It's not the same.

[@emanresu2425]

@@B3Band yeah, the takeaway here is definitely "overworking and pushing himself past his limit was a good thing", you very much understood the video

[@Hue_Sam]

Oh boy, this is where it goes buck wild. And now I understand why working average of 10 hours a day for two weeks can be taxing…

[@Kaitri]

Damn im close to the end and now my mind is just filled with "i never knew pannens mentality suffered so much from the video effort and time" Bismuth your vids are also insane quality, i hope you dont suffer from our expectations aswell. Please make sure to take your breaks and dont burn yourself out

[@viniciusjdasilva8555]

This ^^^^

[@quinn7894]

This needs a lot more likes and replies.

[@Kaitri]

@@quinn7894 im sure bismuth saw it, so im happy :D

[@tubebrocoli]

thisthisthisthisthis

[@mcfighter2923]

I can't wait until the Enter the Secret Aquarium in 0x A presses is brought up. Edit: I meant the strat used without use of Hazy Maze Cave, and instead Shifting Sand Land. It’s crazy.

[@Voidling242]

The Sifting Sand Land Strat is, in my opinion, the largest jump in complexity between the intened and the ABC optimal Strat.

[@mcfighter2923]

@@Voidling242 Yeah, it turned one simple flip into the aquarium into a journey to get to SSL--without collecting any stars and without using A--to build speed in SSL to bring it to the lobby and clip into the aquarium. But it's all right because we saved an A press!

[@justanothergreenguy]

"The scuttle bug is raised..." yes? "Only about 10 times." oh... "Sorry, 10 hours." Oh. "Until it reaches a vertical parallel universe." OH

[@jonpatchmodular]

THE SCUTTLEBUG IS THE KEY TO THE MULTIVERSE

[@KOrgan0414]

I want to praise Bismuth for everything he does to help educate us in the science of Mario games. The visuals are astounding, the "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" jokes are hilarious, the music is calming, and outside of his channel, his editing for Kosmic is great as well! I've been watching since the beginning and it has only ever improved. Wonderful job, Bismuth!!!

[@ramuthra1]

Interviewer: "So eh, let's kick off shall we? To be transparent, this is a *_highly_* technical role, suited only to those who possess *_exceptional_* intelligence and creativity. We're looking for only the *_finest_* minds to join our research team... but I can see from your resumé you have no formal qualifications. What makes you think you are suitable for this position?" Me: "Well, I once used a Scuttle Bug Raise to build a Goomba oasis in a VPU, saving half an A pre-" Interviewer: *"-Congratulations! You start Monday."*

[@GordoFabulous]

The year is 2253. Scientists celebrate as they achieve the first mission to the center of the galaxy using only 1 A press.

[@Eidenhoek]

*Half-A press. They held it from the previous galaxy's run, which is separate.

[@GordoFabulous]

@@Eidenhoek That was only on Japanese equipment, and there were still bitter feelings from the War of 2241.

[@whee2390]

I feel bad for pannen. I hope he's in a better mindset now, the increased views on his 2nd channel must be an issue for him.

[@lojybtdty]

Nah, he has said he doesn’t even look at them. He purposely denied monetizing those vids for that reason

[@cheesebiscuit6453]

I love when he says, "and it's a shit ton of planning "

[@Memo-yh4nc]

Damn. I’d never learned about how toxic the Watch for Rolling Rocks video was for his mental health. It really sucks that he was also constantly reminded of it everywhere he went. My heart goes out to him.

[@jarroddobben]

Beautiful stuff bis, your sensitivity around pannenkoek's personal issues and the narrative eof an exploding community at the cliffhanger end were especially evocative with me.

[@herisruns]

i love how completely unpredictable these solutions are. at the beginning of every chapter, you describe a problem that sounds completely impossible. and then pannenkoek figures out how to combine mechanics in a way that i never would have thought of in 1000 years and he solves the problem

[@woosix7735]

ABC gameplay : I am 4 parallel universes ahead of you! ABC lore: He pressed on. But in the end he pressed himself too hard. Pannankoek was in a terrible mental state

[@darthtace]

Okay, following a flat "This problem can be solved with the right amount of planning, which, as it turns out, is a shit ton of planning" with a The Treachery of Images reference is the best thing I've seen on KZbin in months. I'm becoming a Patron because that was, by far, the hardest I've laughed in ages. That was, at minimum, a $100 joke.

[@theSwoderman]

It's a silly little thing but it made me so happy to see TJ Henry Yoshi's iconic comment featured in this

[@sneakysam6564]

When you’re done with this series can you release a supercut of all the parts together?

[@scottygagnon4287]

Ya got my signature on that petition

[@victor_creator]

I'd love to see that!

[@Bismuth9]

It's been the plan all along!

[@marqimoth6987]

@@Bismuth9 nice

[@aaron-b]

@@Bismuth9 how many parts do you anticipate there being? Awesome series btw!!

[@Raebybbid]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for pointing out the pain and suffering pannen had to go through to make that video. His "rolling rocks mindset" was just insane.

[@nnaryo6323]

22:50 there is no actual way you just did that!!!! i would've expected anything but a Rene Magritte appearance in these videos

[@ChicDead26]

Honestly Bismuth, this might be the best video game documentary series that will ever be made. I congratulate you on the quality of your work and your research (been watching pannen since the henry comment), and i wish you a fanstatic life

[@plazolaferreyro3416]

Man sometimes i wanna tell my friends about this incredible stuff but they wouldnt be so interested oh man the ending... sooo good

[@LRXC1]

I feel this, I wanna find someone that wants to binge watch all of these with me

[@Eagle_SFM]

You have to get them hooked with the most interesting video, then introduce a bigger one like this after they're hooked. Then you can talk to them about it, and your other friends will get interested if multiple people are talking about it

[@pixelator5312]

the development of the A button challenge and its strategies has always been fascinating to me, and i personally had been following pannenkoek's content since even before that fateful WFRR video. it's crazy to think that back then, i had no idea i was watching internet history unfold

[@J3ff_K1ng]

24:40 Snap back to reality, ope there goes gravity Ope, there goes Rabbit, he choked He's so mad, but he won't give up that easy? No He won't have it, he knows his whole back's to these ropes Also this song fits well with sm64

[@mooodeuce]

Rolling rocks really broke new boundaries at the time and is still my favourite youtube video ever made. It is what brought me to this channel and others like it which continue to carry the torch that Pannen lit. Finally it's coming full circle in this video and excited to see where the A press challenge goes from here.

[@schrodingerskitten7206]

"super mario 64 expert 'sm64expert' " is underrated and I'm here to rate it

[@BeckyScottFairley]

This is more things I knew about Pannenkoek's stress over the voiced videos. It is interesting to see how low it is down to now...and thinking about how even with this series on the history of the ABC that A presses have been saved either 1/.5 press at a time.

[@WannabeMarysue]

Although not to the degree of Pannen, I have experienced a post getting a lot of attention around the same time as a personal tragedy. My post was magnitudes smaller, but it was still a surreal experience. Thanks for breaking down what Parallel universes means throughly here. I see a lot of people misunderstanding the idea. Which is fair, computer numbers are complicated (I don't even understand them).

[@aturchomicz821]

What a truly beautiful series this is, really makes me tear up seeing how far we have come and all that😭

[@thekilla1234]

The beauty of this series is that we are finally getting commentated Pannen after all. Bismuth is currently the voice of Pannen. Pannen can do what he enjoys and the fans are getting what they have been asking for.

[@Shydau]

Bismuth: _"This video is a part 5, make sure to watch the previous parts first."_ Me: _I´m 4 parallel universes ahead of you._

[@ProPPlayer]

so you could say you're *QPU aligned*

[@tucatheman]

Made me laugh tbh

[@Lugmillord]

I remember this period pretty vividly. I had sunk deep into Pannen's videos at that point, so to relive it here with excellent explanations is simply beautiful. :) But I never knew about the size of his mental struggle. That is quite heart-breaking. Thankfully, he is now in a better head-space.

[@Bismuth9]

Funny, I just stumbled upon a comment of yours on a Tom Scott video and clicked on your profile thinking "Huh! I remember this guy, I wonder what he's up to now." Then, I clicked on my notifications and there you are! Small world isn't it

[@Lugmillord]

@@Bismuth9 Well, people with similar interests tend to enjoy the same channels. ;)

[@Mushroomhead671]

Man, I was genuinely fascinated with Watch for Falling Rocks in 0.5 A Presses back in 2016. I loved the memes of it, but I was also fascinated by the amount of work that went into doing such a task that I wanted to genuinely learn more about it. Even though I was knee deep into Half A Press memes (hell, I referenced it in my high school senior graduation speech and even went as far as try to memorize the entire video), I was still genuinely amazed by the science of it all, even though I didn’t fully understand it. Hell, I even asked Pannen a question about item alignment in one of his other video, and I was happy to see a response from him. He seems like a genuinely cool guy who’s more than willing to share his knowledge on his expertise, and it kinda sucks how much hell he went through to put out a video that mainly got memed on, with not many people actually being interested in learning more about the topic at hand. I’m glad he’s still making content and still dedicated to the challenge, even without commentary. There’s something therapeutic about hearing him passionately explain how this game works in and out with thorough detail, but if he’s happier not making any more commentated videos, then that’s ok. I’m just happy the state of mind he forced himself into during the making of that video didn’t make him completely quit doing the ABC challenge.

[@MegaTuroc]

I had no idea what was going on with Pannen, I rarely ever look into stuff beyond a face value, I had no idea that a passion project turned into a nightmare for him.

[@saito853]

"Building complex Goomba structures" isn't a series of words I would ever expect to hear in one sentence.

[@The5lacker]

"This problem can be solved with the right amount of planning, which as it turns out, is a shit-ton of planning." The math checks out, one metric shit-ton of planning right there.

[@Bearpigman]

Honestly one of the most underrated part of this amazing video series is the piano and background music. The best musicians are able to say something not only with the notes keys and arrangement but just in how they play their instrument, especially in piano. It has a passion and genuineness to it that complements every section it's played in. Stellar work

[@vizonex4316]

Great Video bismuth :) Im happy you went into detail with why pannen stopped making commentated videos for newcommers that were asking that question

[@joshuaw8873]

Mario 64 was one of the first games I played as a kid. Exploring this world when I didn't know anything about video games, everything was so wonderful and mysterious. Seeing what people like pannenkoek pushing the physics and game rules, it brings back that feeling of not knowing what's possible or what I could find next. So thanks for keeping some of that childhood magic alive in me.

[@Luigiman-rc9fi]

Oh god, I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow afternoon until I'll be able to watch this, aagh! Can't wait, I rewatched the rest of them recently so I'm fully hyped.

[@Norrieification]

I really appreciate the way you told the mental health story including showing off all the positive comments. It was so tragic as an audience watching this amazingly lovable video and realizing its genius creator couldn't appreciate the positivity that the audience mostly felt about it.

[@NotaSkeleton]

I'm always impressed by the ingenuity of the people coming up with these elaborate ideas and routes and how well explained and narrated these videos are. They genuinely make my day a little better whenever they show up in the feed.

[@CubemasterXD]

this is the best documentary series on youtube! i cant wait until you get to the pole in BitFS Also the *other* pole -omg we are about to save 3 A presses in TTC-

[@mathphysicsnerd]

*ground-pounds upwards in excitement*

[@TechSY730]

@Bismuth, I think you did really well with the Watch for Rolling rocks star video and "fallout". Very respectful and fair to everyone, while not letting that overshadow the technical accomplishments from the vid and after it. How many times did you have to rewrite that section to get that and be as fair as it was?

[@Bismuth9]

No rewrites, but I had a discussion with Pannen to make sure I wasn't overstepping boundaries. He doesn't actually read the scripts for a couple of reasons.

[@Koushakur]

I'm really glad you tackled the topic of the darker side of Rolling Rocks and what it did to Pannen

[@sparky8689]

This series is amazing, I'm always looking forward to the next part! Make sure to take care of yourself as well though. As you said in the video, depression and burnout are quite real. So take your time! Also, I finally get all the references in TerminalMontage's video now! So thanks for that as well

[@dblockjumper6929]

Even though I don't personally play sm64, it's SUPER Interesting to hear how these genius people are pushing the game to the absolute limit

[@NoriMori1992]

Same. I find it so odd that one of my favourite things to watch on KZbin is people explaining how to speedrun or challenge run games I've never played. Even when I go in knowing nothing about the game, it doesn't matter because this stuff is endlessly fascinating.

[@extremechimpout]

This series is so good best content i've ever seen on youtube

[@VaterOrlaag]

8:34 Pannen & Tyler, my favourite magicians.

[@River_StGrey]

Hearing about Pannen's mental health at the time almost made me cry. What an interesting and wonderful person who deserves nothing but good things. Also, I hope your mental health is always in good standing as you make these.

[@phanna9775]

turns out I'm terrified of scuttle bugs, I hope there's none lined up in a vpu from me to collide with a wall and snap to my vertical position

[@accuratechicken]

Great stuff. it always blows my mind how in depth and out of the box you have to get to come up with these concepts, let alone make them useful. great video, very informative as always. keep it up. :)

[@velvetbutterfly]

So much time has passed I feel like I need to binge the entire playlist again. Still, major kudos to you for making all this, I can only imagine how hard you're working behind the scenes

[@mantaray116]

So excited to see this video, incredible work as always. Pannenkoek is a unique genius, and everyone involved with this is brilliant. I'm sure I'll need to rewatch this graduate level gaming content because much is still over my head, it just seems impossible that people discovered and executed these tricks.

[@deinemama6303]

I just love how the fanbase of this game still cares so much after all these years. They love the game by heart and the more of a bummer it is, that Nintendo treats it, and its fanbase so poorly

[@ryanrodrigues5355]

Can we take a moment to appreciate … that Bismuth does the best “To be continued” of all time ❤️🤣

[@jarroddobben]

22:52 incredible, a Treachery of Images sight gag in a Mario 64 TAS video

[@thisisfyne]

22:51 I was NOT expecting to see such a cool art reference in a Mario 64 science course. Kudos to the editor!

[@Bismuth9]

I'll relay the kudos to my editor!

[@thisisfyne]

@@Bismuth9 Awesome :D Ton channel est vraiment débile en passant! Keep it up!

[@lojybtdty]

When you started talking about entering the secret aquarium using PUs I was immediately like, ‘you can’t use PUs in the lobby’. I didn’t realize they came up with that strat on emulator so early

[@dianaf1902]

This nearly made me cry. (the struggle part) I also thought uncommentatedpannen was his main channel. I really enjoy watching that channel. I just didn't know the actual original was there.

[@Bebeu4300]

I really appreciate the little reminders of things from previous videos. It's not the easiest thing to remember all the details because of the time gap between releases.

[@horrisnorris6478]

This series is an absolute masterpiece! So glad Bismuth has taken on the legacy of the watch for rolling rocks video

[@dblockjumper6929]

Can we just appreciate how bithmus puts sooo much effort into these videos? Like come on he deserves more attention

[@DragonFangXV]

Each video has amazed me even more than the last one and I can't believe there's still more to figure out, there's still 32 A presses to go! Btw the arrangement at the end sounds absolutely amazing, I always love hearing the new arrangements you add in each part.

[@staudinga]

Bismuth would never say "*shit*-ton". I'm literally crying and shaking right now! Stupid jokes aside, this was, once again, an amazing video. I can't wait until the whole series is done, and I can force my friends to watch it all in one go with me.

[@identitymatrix]

It just gets crazier as this series progresses and just when I think it's not gonna get weirder it gets even weirder

[@marcgomez8391]

I was part of the thousands of people who got on board thanks to the amazing Watch for Rolling Rocks in 0.5 A presses video. It is sad to hear that such a great video took a toll so large on Pannen, but I'm glad he recovered enough to keep uploading less effort videos on his secondary channel, which I follow to this day. I hope he is doing great in life, regardless of his uploads.

[@COlimar788]

Spectacular. This series is truly a great watch! Thanks for making it!

[@BLUEFIRE444]

I am profoundly impressed with not only how well you explain such complex ideas, but most of all, the amazing sense of storytelling! There's such an amazing sense of narrative, with compelling characters and an engaging flow/rhythm. Thank you for your awesome work!

[@Luigiman-rc9fi]

It's very exciting to start getting to the points where I will actually remember when these things first came up. The moment I see that BitFS 3 days save I'll be so happy.

[@rtyuik7]

if only KZbinPremieres had Background Music...this waiting screen Definitely needs more SM64-FileSelect...

[@UltraLuigi2401]

Nothing's stopping you from playing this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6rLnZ98eL9qj5Y in the background.

[@rtyuik7]

@@UltraLuigi2401 uhh, yeah, there is...KZbin only lets you watch One Video at a time :-P

[@UltraLuigi2401]

@@rtyuik7 Well how am I supposed to know you're on mobile? On a computer you can have as many videos as you want playing at the same time. Though you could accomplish that in the mobile browser as well.

[@rtyuik7]

@@UltraLuigi2401 yeah but now the Video is up, so i wouldnt be able to hear the music anyway :-P

[@dblockjumper6929]

Best series I've ever watched, you are a super underrated KZbinr. I check this channel probably once a week or even more waiting for the next video In the series to come out, keep up the good work!

[@ikercalderon163]

You can follow him on Twitter! He posts like 2 weeks before he publishes a new vide

[@dblockjumper6929]

@@ikercalderon163 awesome 👍

[@asterie_e7126]

I am among the numerous people who discovered the A Button Challenge via Pannen's Watch for Rolling Rocks 0.5x A Presses ; and it really made me watch every other video and improvement on this challenge ever since, even unpolished ones, even the ones that were very hard to understand for casual gamers. It was pure science and research, but applied to gaming. Such incredible discoveries. Such creativity and investment in one single game. Such passion. And while this commentated video is unquestionably one of the biggest gaming/Internet masterpieces I've ever seen (it will obviously have a special place in my heart forever), in fact this whole challenge IS the masterpiece. I'm super happy to see that the improvements are still going on even right now in 2022. And everyone who contributed to this challenge is praiseworthy and deserves respect. Pannen and all the others, and also Bismuth, you are all gaming and Internet heroes, forever \o/

[@alotario]

I love seeing this game get torn apart so smart people like you could show us why it's so utterly busted. It boggles my mind how crazy this game is. Keep up the good work man

[@broran_]

Man I don't even remember how long I've been watching Pannen, since his secondary channel was named Pannenkeok2012 (very confusing name btw), but this series is bringing back so many memories! Always looking forward to the next part :)

[@dukemagus]

Infinite speed, goomba engineering, the multiverse... Yup, there's enough in Super Mario 64 to make a master thesis in three or four different fields

[@CaptainJZH]

Ok but can we talk about how relatable Pannen's burnout is?

[@honestabe411]

3:08 “The idea is actually fairly simple.” Me: 🤔