In the ending segment of the video on Nico Nico Douga, I briefly touched on my thoughts and some discoveries made during development. However, it was far too short to say everything, so I’m writing it all down here on my blog. There’s a lot to cover.
I became a TASer around November 2013. About six months prior, in May 2013, there was already a 120 Shine TAS project underway. That project had progressed as far as Bianco Hills Episode 5 and had been released to the public.
The route used back then was a bit different from the one used now—it included collecting red coins from secret stages, grabbing shines from the beach and the slide, and even collecting blue coins in Bianco 4. Although the video is likely no longer available online, the level of refinement in the movement shocked many Sunshine players, myself included.
I wasn’t involved in that project, so I don’t know the exact details. But I suspect it was frozen with the thought that Sunshine still had room for further research.
Watching that TAS left a strong impression on me—it showed what was possible if you really pushed the game to its limits, and I think it’s what inspired me to give TASing a try.
When I first became a TASer and had learned a bit about using Dolphin, I thought I’d try replicating an any% run. At the time, Yashi-nuke (Palm Skip) hadn’t been discovered yet, so I was worried about what to do with Petey 2, but figured as long as it was faster than the original 49 Shine TAS or existing RTA runs, it’d be fine. I wasn’t taking it too seriously.
After finishing up to Bianco 5, I realized due to a Dolphin settings mistake, the TAS was prone to desyncs, so I had to start over. Around that time, Yashi-nuke was discovered, which allowed me to skip Petey 2 entirely.
That motivated me to fully commit to making a proper any% TAS. My motivation and stamina back then were insane—I managed to complete the 44 Shine TAS in just two months. I even made 3 shines in a single day at times. I remember other TASers from different games being surprised at how fast I was progressing.
After finishing the any% TAS, I shifted my focus to RTA (especially Hoverless runs), since I had set up a Nico Live streaming environment. Then in 2015, I created a 20 Shine TAS, and it was around this time that my movement began to resemble what would later become the standard in my TASes.
After the 20 Shine TAS, I began working on a Hoverless TAS, but after finishing up to Ricco 4, the discovery of EYG (Early Yoshi Go-round) meant I’d need to roll back over 5 minutes of progress. On top of that, others pointed out potential improvements using Chain Grab Cancel in Chain Chomp, and there were other shines that could be better optimized. So realistically, I’d have to start over. That was the first time I lost motivation and abandoned a TAS mid-development.
Still, I gained a lot from that Hoverless TAS. Without the hover, I was forced to carry momentum more efficiently with Mario’s movements. This led to breakthroughs like the inertia jump from the bridge slide in Monte 5 to land on the mushroom instead of using the grate, and I even developed the prototype for the fastest route in Pinna 3 (which I later improved upon years later).
Then in September 2017, I began work on an updated any% TAS. I think I decided to revisit it after seeing an any% WR history video posted by overseas players.
Around the same time, Goldfire posted an approach video for Bianco 3 on YouTube, and I reached out to collaborate. While I only directly asked him to work on Bianco 3, I also borrowed input data from him for Bianco 5.