darbian and SMB1 any% FAQ - 10-6-16

Preface: Many of these questions are answered in the SMB1 any% tutorial that the man himself created. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/PInZ2-qfKEU However, this tutorial is now out-of-date with the recently-implemented flagpole glitch.

**Q. How old is darbian?**

A: He is of the 18-35 demographic.

**Q. What's the number with the heart next to it?**

A: That would be his actual heart rate. You can find information about displaying heart rate here https://www.reddit.com/r/speedrun/comments/3rauke/information_for_displaying_heart_rate_on_stream/

**Q: What time is left to save?**

A: Flagpole glitch has still not been optimized for the two remaining levels in any% with a flagpole: 8-1 and 8-3. In 8-1, a fast acceleration is necessary to allow Mario the time needed to set up and perform the flagpole glitch. In 8-3, subpixel positioning is much harder to manipulate, though there recently has been an IL RTA 8-3 FPG run that saved the FR by the incredible mav6711 as seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2CYzpS_8oc

There is also Fast 4-2, previously in every WR run in the last year until the discovery of consistent RTA FPG, that can be reimplemented. However, with how inconsistent Fast 4-2 is, it'll likely be quite some time before the god run of 2 FPGs and a Fast 4-2 happens (or it could be tomorrow, who knows anymore?!)

**Q: What about flagpole glitch in 8-2? He did a different one here.**

A: That thing he did at the end of 8-2 is the Bullet Bill Glitch. You're able to skip the flagpole drop animation AND the castle walk animation by timing your jump just right at the end of the level. It uses a similar set-up to flagpole glitch, but the Bullet Bill makes it much easier to clip into the block and causes the castle walk animation skip, saving even more time than regular flagpole glitch. However, to even have a chance at this glitch, you have to start and play the entire run on the right frame rules.

**Q: What's a "frame roll"? Sounds delicious.**

A: Explanation of frame rules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PInZ2-qfKEU&t=4m41s In short, level transitions happen based on a group of 21 frames (0.35 seconds) called a "frame rule." No matter how quickly you play, you are limited to moving on to the next level based on the frame rule you finish within. There's a fantastic analogy in the video link above that describes this all perfectly.

Frame rules also regulate different game events, such as enemy spawns/patterns. This is why darbian waits at the title screen; this manipulates RNG in his favor so that he might have a chance at a good Bullet Bill glitch attempt *if* he plays perfectly up to that point.

**Q: Wait, he totally messed up in 8-3! He bumped into a block before hitting the flagpole! I could've done that better!**

A: Unless you're a TAS-bot, no, you couldn't've. Darbian has to stop there so that he doesn't land on the flag while the timer has a 3 at the end of it, which would've triggered 3 fireworks and lost him considerable time. If you are a TAS-bot, though, you can finish the level with 244 instead of 242 through some much harder fast acceleration strats.

**Q: What about all those times where it looked like he jumped through the pipe snakes?**

A: NES hitboxes at work there. The hitbox of a Piranha Plant is actually the stem, not the mouth. Those are actually fairly easy jumps considering the context; you have a ten frame window to make them.

**Q: DID HE JUST DO A WALLJUMP?!**

A: Yep. It's a pixel and frame perfect trick, though, so don't think you've missed an easy trick in your childhood. You have to land on the pixel between groups of pixels on the pipe AND press jump on the very frame that Mario lands on that pixel. It's not easy to do at any time, but there are set-ups for them, as evidenced by the one done in 8-4. The set-up involves sliding off that pipe just before making the jump; it helps move Mario's position into a more favorable one.

**Q: So, this seems incredibly difficult after all. Why does he keep trying to beat his time if he has the world record already anyway?**

A: Because having a really good time in a game doesn't mean it isn't still fun to play every now and then.

**Q: Alright, darbian's passion has me hooked. Where can I find more of him?**

A: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/darbian , YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/darbianSRL/ , and Twitter: https://twitter.com/darbianSRL

**Q: I wanna be the darb! I wanna run SMB any%, too! But, how do I learn?**

A: From the master himself. https://youtu.be/PInZ2-qfKEU