TwitchPlays_Everything Advice and Tips

TwitchPlays Tips
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Some general play advice and tips for handling common situations

General
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-Cooperate with other players - Communication is key!
-Savestate often to prevent losing progress. Savestate into new slots each time in case there's a need to revert
-The character(s) you control in the game cannot perform certain actions until other actions are done; consider the duration of these actions when inputting commands
-Type !macros to see a list of macros that can help with timings and performing some commands. !show macroname will show you what the macro does (Ex. !show !spama)
-If you have an idea for a new macro, feel free to tell a Moderator to add it
-Don't hesitate to ask questions if you don't understand the syntax
-Patience and perserverance: it takes longer to complete games through Twitch Plays and there are many challenges unique to it, so sometimes there may be dull and difficult moments
-Have fun!

Delay
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Since Twitch Plays playthroughs are done on Twitch, there is some delay before your commands go through. Your delay can be seen by clicking: Settings > Advanced > Show Video Stats and looking at the "Latency to Broadcaster"

The delay makes it tough to deal with anything requiring quick reactions or timing, such as combat in many games. One safe way to go about this is to utilize Pause Buffering with savestates.

Pause Buffering
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A common way to get through tough challenges is to pause buffer.

Pause buffering can be achieved with the following steps:
1. Perform your commands, adding a pause at the end
2. If the result is satisfactory, save a state in a slot.
3. If the result isn't desired, load a state and go back to step 1
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until done

Examples:
https://clips.twitch.tv/ShakingWimpyFoxOhMyDog
https://clips.twitch.tv/UnsightlyTenderHawkDerp

Pros:
-Desired results most of the time
-Easier to handle RNG situations

Cons:
-Can't be used if the game doesn't allow pausing during certain challenges
-Sometimes very slow

Long Macros
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Another way to handle some situations is to build a long macro through trial and error.

1. Save a state at the start of the challenge
2. Repeat any previous commands that worked (skip if first attempting)
3. Add new commands at the end of the previous commands to progress
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until done

Examples:
https://clips.twitch.tv/CourteousRichGarbageRaccAttack
https://clips.twitch.tv/ShakingRudeAlpacaMoreCowbell

Pros:
-Can be used when pausing isn't available
-Looks nicer when it comes together

Cons:
-Can take longer than pause buffering for precise challenges due to bot mistimings and repeatedly waiting for long commands to finish to see results
-Won't work if the full command needs to be longer than the input limit (varies by game)
-Generally won't work well for RNG situations (varies by game)


Advanced
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There are rare situations that are either RNG-dependent or involve a time limit and simultaneously don't allow pausing. Combined with the stream delay, this makes these tasks seem daunting.

Examples we've encountered include:
-The Adult Archery Range in Ocarina of Time
-Combat and timed challenges for Grunty's Furnace Fun in Banjo-Kazooie
-Jarvis' Whac-A-Mole game in Luigi's Mansion

Here's an approach to dealing with them:
1. Save a state at the start of the challenge. Don't save over this state until the challenge is completed (important)
2. Start the challenge, ideally inputting your commands as well
3. Time a savestate so that it will save as soon as your command is finished
4. If successful, immediately load the previous state saved and input new commands to progress
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the challenge is completed

Potential Issues and Workarounds:

If you're not a channel Moderator, it may be difficult to save/load a state and immediately input a command due to spam protection in Twitch chat. If the challenge's timing is strict, it may be preferable to have one player handle saving and loading states while another inputs the commands.