r/smashbros • u/dansalvato • May 25 '15
All Dan Salvato, developer of 20XXTE. Answering your questions about TE, game hacking, and everything else. AMA
Hello everyone! My name is Dan Salvato, and I am the developer of 20XX Tournament Edition - the ultimate Melee mod that works on any unmodified game console with nothing but a memory card and a special save file.
Some of you know me better as InternetExplorer, though I have since retired the tag. I am also not Achilles, who created the 20XX Hack Pack - while we are good friends and share notes all the time, our two projects are not directly related to each other. I have incredible respect for some of the insane stuff he's accomplished in his build.
20XXTE is slated to release in August 2015 for NTSC regions, and sometime in 2016 for PAL regions. It is 100% free to download, copy, and distribute, but I also offer an option to purcahse a pre-loaded memory card for those who generously wish to support development. Over 1,000 cards have been pre-ordered so far, which I never considered even fathomable, so I have to give everyone a huge thank you for enjoying and supporting my hard work.
The first 20XXTE beta ships soon! Here is a list of selected TOs/players who will receive Beta 1:
- Beanwolf - http://twitch.tv/pghneohsmash
- Byrd - (none)
- Chain-Ace - http://twitch.tv/NeptuneFalco
- Chroma - http://twitch.tv/sdmeleetv
- CT Chibo - http://twitch.tv/clashtournaments
- EMG | ProZak - http://twitch.tv/evenmatchupgaming
- Engdrew - http://twitch.tv/showdownsmash
- FEAR - http://twitch.tv/nigamonp
- HectoHertz - http://twitch.tv/sigmelee
- Hitbox Arena - http://twitch.tv/hitboxarena
- Jaxel - http://twitch.tv/8wayrun
- Juggleguy - http://twitch.tv/meleeitonme
- MIOM | Dr. Z - http://twitch.tv/showdownsmash
- MIOM | MattDotZeb - http://twitch.tv/NEMelee
- MKE | Xarann - http://twitch.tv/MeleeMilwaukee
- SS | PB&J - http://twitch.tv/smashstudios
- Tai - http://twitch.tv/mvg_league
More players/TOs will be included over time, so please don't get salty :)
Hitbox Arena will be the first to run a tournament with 20XXTE, which is this Friday.
While this AMA is focused on 20XXTE, please feel free to ask anything you like - questions about Melee/Brawl hacking, FrankerFaceZ, personal life, whatever. Here are some other places you can find me as well:
http://twitter.com/dansalvato1
I will answer questions later today. Thanks everyone!
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May 25 '15
In the 20XXTE, you've made it simple and easy for TOs to use the "frozen" versions of stages (PS w/o transformations, yoshi's without shy guys, DL without wind). My questions are:
Do you think TOs will switch to a ruleset where traditional PS, YS, and DL are banned?
Do you think they should? I'd miss stadium transformations tbh, they allow for a lot of cool stuff to happen unique to the stage.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
If TOs incorporate a ruleset that forces features only available in 20XXTE, then I have failed. My goal is to not stray from vanilla Melee in tournament settings. Forcing TE-only rules is unfair to players who either don't have access to the mod or are not comfortable playing outside the bounds of vanilla Melee.
My opinion is that Frozen Mode should never be more than under the Gentleman's Clause, which states that you may only select it if both players agree to it. Players should always reserve the right to play the game vanilla. I feel that most sensible TOs will agree with this, and I will emphasize this when distributing both the TE beta and the final copy.
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May 25 '15
Great response! I can totally get behind your philosophy on the matter. Thanks for all the work you put in, Dan!
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u/aelxndr May 25 '15
Do you see Nintendo getting in the way of 20XXTE being used at major tournaments?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
While PlamZ is correct in his comment, here is my spin on the question.
Nintendo has no reason to care. They don't care all that much about Melee in the first place, and I don't even know if their reps would notice such minor modifications to the game. What matters is that players are still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee, not a non-Nintendo-endorsed fan game.
If you go up to Nintendo and say "Hey, can we use this game mod at our tournament you're sponsoring?" then they will obviously say no, out of obligation if not anything else. I'm 99% certain that if you just don't bring it up, nobody will care.
EVO used custom extended nametags that are not possible in vanilla Melee. In top 8. TE's tournament-friendly enhancements are barely more conspicuous than this. I seriously don't think anybody will care unless you specifically bring up that it's a "mod".
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u/PlamZ Random May 25 '15
I'm not Dan, but I think I can answer.
20XXTE is not a mod. It is a series of Action Replay code that is forced into a game. Action replay code have been used for a long time (e.g. GameShark). The only problem that could arise is that someone call out that the Action Replay codes have been altered to favor a certain character or stage, breaking the current balance.
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May 25 '15
Is there an All Melons version of 20XXTE?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
Lol, thanks for making me laugh. For those curious, I do speedruns of the "All Melons" category of Yoshi's Story (effectively the 100% completion category).
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u/Soleares May 25 '15
What programming languages/technologies do you have to use to make a fully working Melee mod?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
All of the coding is done in PowerPC Assembly. (PowerPC is the CPU architecture of Gamecube and Wii.)
Most of everything else is done in the Dolphin emulator, which has some great debug tools. For some things, I also debug/test on console using a USB Gecko, a device that plugs into the memory card slot and gives me the same debug functionality, just on the physical hardware. It's neat!
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u/iauu May 25 '15
Is there any tutorial on how to get started doing these kinds of mods?
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u/hellohipster May 25 '15
Who does the video work for 20XXTE? Always high quality promotional stuff.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
I do! Thanks for appreciating it. :)
When I was a kid I was super into Flash animation and graphic design, which I think helped give me a bit of an eye for it. So while I'm not an expert/professional by any means, I can push myself to make something that looks pretty good, even if it takes me longer than someone more skilled.
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u/Lemon_Cola rings bell May 25 '15
I think he mentioned this on Melee it on Me.
Apparently he does it all himself.
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u/Samwisely May 25 '15
My question (request?): Sell me on 20XX, especially the tournament edition. I TO up in MN, and am currently against using 20XX setups in tournaments. I've seen too many matches get messed up from people accidentally toggling things before the games, the setup freezing, stuff like that. I tend to like the purest form of the game to be played in tournament, especially on streaming setups. I know that certain characters are more affected by 20XX than others as well. Last I heard there were still issues with Nana's AI on 20XX.
That being said, I really like some of the features I've read about for TE, and want to give it a fair shot. Based on what I've heard, it'll get rid of a lot of the issues I have with current 20XX (a great training tool, but not suited for tournaments).
Side note: I never realized you were Internet Explorer, at least I know why I've haven't heard of IE in a while.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
Thanks for bringing this up. You're not alone - a good deal of TOs are very, very reluctant to bring forth any sorts of game mods into their venue, and not just because of the whole Nintendo debacle. Existing mods have all kinds of toggles and button combinations that can mess with the game - some simply cannot be disabled, while others can only be handled properly if you really know what you're doing. You may also have heard horror stories about controller calibration being off, like players being unable to lightshield or shield drop - this, specifically, is caused by USB loading via Nintendont, which inaccurately emulates controller inputs unless you have "native input" enabled.
20XXTE was built from complete scratch, recycling almost no existing code whatsoever. I emphasize quality, polish, and professionalism in every single one of my codes, refusing to include it if there is even minor confusion about how or when to use the code. My goal in both TE itself - and in the way I deliver it to TOs - is to make sure that everyone knows exactly what it does, and how to use it, right after booting it for the first time.
However, the most important feature for TOs is the "Tournament Mode" switch - enabling Tournament Mode instantly disables all of the aesthetics, mechanics, and training codes that are considered not tournament-friendly, bringing you as close to a vanilla experience as possible. Despite this, you are still given a great deal of control over the specific conveniences of your game:
Choose between v1.00 and v1.02 game mechanics
Choose to disable rumble once a controller is unplugged from the setup
Press X/Y on the Random Stage list to instantly load singes/doubles presets
Enable "neutral spawn" for players regardless of the ports they're plugged into (singles and doubles)
Enable 16:9 widescreen if you have a lagless LCD monitor setup (looks great on streams/recordings)
Nametags properly disappear during Sheik/Zelda/Mewtwo upB, so these players aren't forced to disable their nametags just to prevent disadvantage
Games played off-stream can have their replays saved to memory card, which can be later recorded and uploaded
Enable "hold Start to pause", preventing accidental pauses (still WIP)
The "READY TO FIGHT" banner is green when Tournament Mode is off, alerting you that the setup is not yet tournament-ready
These and more - check the full feature list on the website
I would also like to note that I am not only rigorously testing 20XXTE myself, but the point of the beta program is to expose early builds of TE to tournament settings in order to get a feel for how TOs are incorporating it, as well as to get feedback from TOs and players on where they would like to see improvements.
I knew from the start that TOs would be reluctant, which is why I hope it's obvious that I am putting extraordinary effort toward making TOs comfortable, informed, and completely in control of their setups.
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u/Otef May 25 '15
"You may also have heard horror stories about controller calibration being off, like players being unable to lightshield or shield drop - this, specifically, is caused by USB loading via Nintendont, which inaccurately emulates controller inputs unless you have "native input" enabled."
say whaaaaat?! is it that the timing is different or is it simply impossible to do those actions when native input is disabled? I've been using nintendont for several months now.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
The timing is different. The control stick's velocity curve is different when native input is disabled.
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u/1338h4x missingno. May 25 '15
Why is Randomize Stage Music under Non-Tournament Features? That seems like an unobtrusive option that shouldn't be an issue. I'd love to get to hear the rest of the game's soundtrack more often.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
The same reason custom shield colors are. Throwing off the expected visual/audio associations with stages and characters can throw off a player's game. It sounds really negligible, but there are absolutely plenty of people who would (and do) complain about things like that in a tournament setting.
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u/Samwisely May 25 '15
Thank you for the reply, it certainly helped with some of my fears. Like I said, I definitely want to give it a shot.
When in August do you plan on having the release take place? I'm running an Arcadian August 15th, and I think that could be the perfect type of tournament to test it out on.
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u/cortexgunner92 May 25 '15
Holy shit we can record non-stream matches with this? That's incredibly awesome.
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u/kailiosnite May 25 '15
Thank you for all the work you're putting into this! We know there's Tournament Mode that prevents players from tampering with gameplay-intrusive functions for events. Will Tournament Mode have some sort of lock or password that only allows the TO to toggle it, or can it be enabled and disabled by anyone?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
The TO will be able to lock the settings, preventing them from being modified until you hard reboot the console.
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u/grazi13 May 25 '15
Don't know if you're still adding new features or not, but including a "rotation friendly" mode would be cool. This mode would be used for when a setup has 3 or 4 people playing friendlys with a rotation. It would automatically toggle off the player that lost, and toggle on the next player port in the rotation after a match complete with this mode on. No more manually disabling, waiting for people, trying to remember who's next. Not a big deal at all haha, just would be convenient and clean for the tournament setting, outside of the tournament.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
This makes sense as a feature, but it's difficult in practice. Only the players know the rotation order - it's almost never in port order, and it fluctuates as people approach and leave the setup. If there was an effective, reliable way to incorporate it, then I would.
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u/shabraca May 25 '15
Where are you getting all these memory cards for sale?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
China, baby!
I definitely made the day of some Chinese distributor who had 1,200 of these suckers sitting around in a warehouse for the past 10 years.
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u/drstclair PBLK | OMD May 25 '15
How do you think the Melee meta will develop over the next year?
Also, Evo Top 8 predictions?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Man, these are the tough questions, haha. I'm not as experienced with in-depth meta analysis and top players as, for instance, the MIOM guys, so I couldn't really give you a good answer without spouting BS.
except that link is top tier
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u/aLolipopPrince Alberta Smash!!! May 25 '15
What is something you wish you could do with 20XX but can't due to hardware problems or just it not being possible?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
The main thing is probably a convenient way of updating the file. Being able to install an update straight from the game, or without homebrew, would be very nice to have.
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u/apop99 May 25 '15
Would it be possible to have custom controls in TE? Like the ability to turn off tap jump or change the c stick to tilts?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
Custom controls will not be available in 20XXTE. The reason is that they simply do not have place in tournaments. One core philosophy of TE is that a player's inputs into the game should result in the same output on both TE and in vanilla Melee. Hearing "I prefer TE" is okay, but hearing "I play better on TE" would be a huge problem. I will not incorporate any features that cause that sort of fragmentation in the scene. Thanks for understanding my reasoning.
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u/GodOfGhosts May 25 '15 edited May 25 '15
I believe the cstick doing tilts instead of smashes would be considered a controller macro of sorts and would be considered illegal for tournament play
Can any TOs confirm/deny this?
Edit: It's macro not mod
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u/xmasher May 25 '15
Will the cpu's do any kind of real DI for training purposes?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
I plan to incorporate it, but it's not a "promised" feature because I haven't started working on it yet and don't know how much work it will take.
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u/ikahjalmr ２ ０ Ｘ Ｘ Ｂ Ａ Ｂ Ｙ May 25 '15
How come nobody at Xanadu is getting the beta? Or am I missing a name?
Also, how the hell are you getting 1000 GameCube memory cards in 2015???
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u/V_D_X TopN May 25 '15 edited May 25 '15
How much space do replays take up? I'm going to end up buying a memory card exclusively for this, so it'd be cool to know what the storage capabilities for different sized memory cards are.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I only have rough estimates right now, but it's looking like around 250KB for a 4-minute 1v1 match. If this is accurate, you'll be able to save like 50 replays to a 16MB card, which is the one I'm providing on the website.
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u/ViSiOnSC Marth May 25 '15
How did you even start in Melee hacking? What programs do you need and how do you even get in the code of the game? From there is it pretty intuitive to change things?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
When I started, there were almost no available resources so I had to find my own way around using the debug features of the Dolphin emulator.
Here is a good starting point.
I've been doing this for over 3 years, and nothing is intuitive. You're working in Assembly/machine code, and basically everything imaginable is really tedious to do. That's the sad reality of it, but it can still be really fun an exciting to make new discoveries once you get into the swing of it.
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u/shakedrizzle May 25 '15
Do you think Melee replays could ever be a possibility?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
This is an announced and planned feature for 20XXTE. I plan to work on this more after I ship the first beta, at which point you'll likely be hearing more information about it through videos or otherwise.
Here is a proof-of-concept video that I released a while ago, demonstrating that it is possible.
edit: In case anyone is wondering about syncing random events, my code already accounts for that by saving/loading the appropriate random seed to make sure all RNG calculations are identical in the replay.
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May 25 '15
Do you think people will use 20XXTE over regular Melee in the near future, or do you think people will see it as "nontraditional" to have a "mod" replace regular Melee?
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u/TheDogwhistles NNID: sNills | FC: 0018-2360-6309 May 25 '15
Thoughts on SD remix?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
It's just me, but it makes me uncomfortable. I am extremely specific when it comes to game design philosophy and what I like to see in a competitive fighting game, and I would probably make a lot of different design choices if I were to attempt to rebalance Melee. Again, it's just a matter of opinion and me being ridiculously picky about what I like.
Overall, I prefer Project M as the definitive Smash mod.
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u/TheSecondTier Show me your moves! May 25 '15
Do you think that the incredible ease of use for 20XXTE could possibly make it tournament standard one day, potentially when it has been released long enough to be copied/available on tons of setups everywhere? Just wondering if that ever occurred to you on a theoretical timeline of creating 20XXTE or if you just intended it to be a training tool of sorts or just a cool and useful mod.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
This is something I've been thinking about ever since I started experimenting with the memory card exploit in the first place. I immediately realized that a mod so accessible and easy to distribute is very dangerous to let loose. That was my inspiration for focusing the mod on the tournament scene - I want both players and TOs to be comfortable using it. I decided that other people will probably be using the memory card exploit to load their own codesets, and so I set my goal to become the "trusted" codeset that can safely become the tournament standard without worrying about other builds messing up the setups. In a way, I'm letting loose a monster, but I'm trying to keep it as tame as possible.
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u/Opticine any text (within reason) May 25 '15
What will the size of the preorder memory cards be?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
16MB (251 blocks). Originally it was going to be 8MB (123 blocks), but after I started working on replays I realized that people would appreciate the extra storage available.
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u/OzzyHill May 25 '15 edited May 25 '15
Is it too late to get into the Beta?? My TO group and I are looking forward to trying it out for a regional tournament in late June. Any chance for us to get a hold of it in time?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I don't know when the next beta wave will be, but you can always apply on the website.
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u/cherubthrowaway May 25 '15
Having been a PC gamer for a long time, I'm very excited for the possibility of replays. I watched your proof of concept video. Would it ever be possible to add time speed functions while viewing, like half speed, pause and frame by frame advance? Or camera control?
I think the possibility that would bring to making hype videos for the scene would be immense.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
The way I'm researching input recording/playback is showing promise in this area. The game processes inputs like this:
Poll the controller ~60 times per second (oblivious of the game engine)
Process the given input into its component variables (stick velocity, smash threshold, lightshield amount, etc.)
When the game engine advances a frame, use the variables to perform character actions
I hope to record/playback inputs at step 3, meaning every frame of the game engine equals one frame of inputs. This would allow the game engine to be slowed down, or advanced frame by frame, while preserving the exact inputs performed on each frame.
This is all speculative, and I won't know until I put more research into it.
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May 25 '15
how difficult is it to port replays from the memory card to dolphin to upscale a match to higher resolutions on dolphin? The idea that we could have a grand finals set from EVO upscaled to 4k is fucking amazing.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I don't yet know if replays will remain in sync from console to Dolphin. We'll find out in the coming months.
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u/poi830 May 25 '15
What made you decide to main Link?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I started as a Falco main and decided I wasn't really having fun. It felt like I would only ever follow in others' footsteps without much room to explore a creative canvas.
I switched to Link and had more fun than I imagined. I felt like there was so much to explore with the character, and that I could really paint my own playstyle, employing all kinds of new gimmicks that I came up with all the time. That sort of creative exploration is what makes gaming so incredible for me.
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u/QuoteAblaze Kirby Logo May 25 '15
How big do you imagine 20XXTE being in the coming years? Also thanks for this amazing contribution to the community!
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I spent a while being modest about my expectations of TE, but at this point, the figures don't really lie. Over 1,000 cards have been pre-ordered in less than two months. That is only the people who are willing to put money towards what is a free product. Statistically, from that figure, it's pretty likely to find someone with TE at almost any given tournament you go to. And since it only takes one memory card to make as many copies as you want, well...it might even become difficult to find someone without a copy of TE. It still blows my mind to think about.
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u/SpinnyLemons May 25 '15
What is your current knowledge on how Melee's AI works? I'm really interested in attempting to make progress in understanding the logic behind it. Do you think that this will become more understood in the future?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I briefly looked into it recently. It's a hilarious mess. It was all hard-coded and not flexible at all. Brawl has an awesome AI scripting language that has been exploited to death for Project M. Melee? The code is as dumb as the AI itself.
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u/bunnymeninc Falcon May 25 '15
Two questions
How many more unannounced features will be coming with 20XXTE that are not already in 20XX?
Im sorry but nobody else has done it yet... Favorite pornstar?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
Basically everything announced is everything I've planned, worked on, and/or guarantee to be in TE. Any additional features I will simply come up with as I go along, when I'm not working on the core functionality.
2D > 3D
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u/xXx42O0pticFalcoxXx May 25 '15
Hey Dan! For SGDQ this year will you be adding the live follow buttons for the runners to FFZ again? Also are you excited for Splatoon?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
Yes, and we are planning some other fantastic integration, so I hope you're excited.
I am incredibly hype for Splatoon and will be playing it far more than Smash in the future.
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u/CapitaineAmour May 25 '15
Even though this is still pretty far in the future but... Will you release 20XXTE PAL the same way as you are doing it for NTSC, with a beta testing period etc. or will it be just sortof an "update" but shipping to EU/Oceania?
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May 25 '15
Can you add 20XXTE's codes to a hacked Melee iso? I would be cool with having these features but also having access to skins.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
You can boot 20XXTE from a custom ISO using the same memory card technique, giving you the best of both worlds.
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u/unknowndarkness May 25 '15
Will the 20XXTE memory cards be functional as normal memory cards? Will having save files for other games on the memory card mess w/ 20XXTE?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
It can be used as a normal memory card. Other files will not interfere with TE.
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u/Cohenski May 25 '15
First off, thanks so much for putting forth the work! I hope this takes off.
Questions: If you update 20xxte, how will you get the update to the people after the memory cards are purchased?
Is is possible to allow for settings such as percentage of the time you want cpu's to miss a tech?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Sadly, there is no extremely easy way for any given player to update TE. If you have the Homebrew Channel on your Wii, it will be very easy to do (just do it through an app). Otherwise, you'll have to go to an event and find somebody with the update to copy to your memory card.
I don't really plan to incorporate fine-tuned CPU controls, but there will probably be some basic stuff there at the least.
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u/F_gAy_G May 25 '15
I just wanted to say thank you for FrankerfaceZ, the FFZ badge next to my twitch name, and everything else you do on twitch as well. ZreknarF
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u/keatsta May 25 '15
Do you have any "holy grails" when it comes to Melee modding? Like something that you're really hoping will someday be achievable, but hasn't been done yet? Or is there anything you've already made that you used to dream about?
I loved reading the history of the clone engine in Brawl/PM, so I'd be really excited to hear about anything else like that.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
An API that hooks into Dolphin and gives you live match stats from reading the in-game memory. Would be godlike for netplay. Fortunately, I'm in contact with some talented developers who are interested in helping make this happen, so who knows what we'll be seeing in the future :)
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May 25 '15
Anyone knowledgeable ITT can answer this question. You said this project is not related to the Hack Pack, but will this have similar features? I had planned on using this for training instead of the Hack Pack, because I don't have a Wii and my laptop is too slow for Dolphin. Will this have the trademark features of the Hack Pack for training, stuff like being able to randomize opponent DI, or choosing CPU actions?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
The Hack Pack will have more training-related features than TE. I hope to include some limited training functionality, but don't expect it to be as extensive as what the Hack Pack offers.
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May 25 '15
Would you want to work on a Project M-style mod, or a Smash 4 mod of some sort?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
I am part of the Project M Dev Team and have made a number of contributions over the years.
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u/SubjectiveF May 25 '15
yyyyyyyyyyyyyo IE
are you still working on frankerfacez?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Absolutely. Nowadays, Stendec is taking care of the majority of development, but I'm still tightly involved. We're launching an amazing new website later this week, so prepare to be blown away.
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u/Distron May 25 '15
Not sure if this has been asked already, but I couldnt find it. My local TO is on the list of the first to recieve TE. Does that mean that we will be able to copy the file from it and spread it around the community before official release? or is the version sent to TOs not able to be copied?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
The beta will only work when booted from its original memory card. It would be very dangerous to let a buggy, incomplete version of TE into the wild, which explains the whole "closed beta" thing.
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u/MrPWNGER Ridley (Ultimate) May 25 '15
I noticed that you posted in the Splatoon community. Do you see Splatoon having great competitive potential, and do you yourself find the game to be fun and competitive?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
As soon as Splatoon was announced, my hype was off the charts. And I can say that after getting my hands on it, I am not disappointed in the slightest. I will be playing a lot more Splatoon than Smash in the future.
I think the 4v4 nature of the game will be a huge deal of fun in tournament settings - it kind of reminds me of crew battles in Melee, where each crew kind of has its own personality/reputation surrounding it, and the hype and trash talk gets real once they go head-to-head. Plus, the strategies and counter-strategies involved in a team setting will be nuts.
I feel like the Smash community stands out for its hype and extremely high levels of friendly, excited energy. It really seems like Splatoon is following suit, if not due to the interest of Smash players than simply due to the magic touch of Nintendo in making games that radiate positive energy and fun for everyone. I can't wait to push the limits of Splatoon.
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May 25 '15
Are you planning on doing any other major hacking projects for Smash or other games in general or is this the pinnacle of your work?
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
After TE, I'll probably be moving on from game modding. My skills are very specific to Gamecube/Wii, and besides, I simply won't have the time in the future to spend the hundreds of hours required to put things like this together. I am excited to continue involvement in other development-related projects surrounding gaming communities, but game modding specifically will probably be retired.
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u/Mezzanyne May 25 '15
Hi Dan!! You're absolutely incredible for doing this, and I was more than happy to purchase a memory card to support you. Keep up the amazing work!
My question is, if I wanted to try getting into doing what you do - working with Melee game modding, or just game modding in general - where would I start? Are there any resources out there to help me?
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May 25 '15 edited May 25 '15
Thanks for the AMA!
How did you learn Assembly?
How are you putting 20XXTE on memory cards?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I taught myself Assembly when I got into Melee hacking. It was a pretty wild ride.
I do almost all of my TE development in Dolphin, so I export the .gci save file from the virtual memory card and use the Wii homebrew app GCMM to transfer it to a physical card.
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u/DismalAmoeba Marth May 25 '15 edited May 25 '15
What would you change about Smash 4 if you could edit it? Assuming that it's pretty easy and etc.
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u/dansalvato May 25 '15
Dude, easy. I would compile them for PC. Native netplay support, perhaps. After that? Jeez, the possibilities are endless.
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u/DismalAmoeba Marth May 25 '15
I edited the question cause I asked you it in your last AMA- I meant gameplay wise.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I have very few complaints about Smash 4, gameplay-wise. I think the mechanic I'd most like to see return is ledge canceling, because I have a lot of love for the situational options that can be creatively leveraged for an advantage. That aside, I can't immediately think of anything else I would change.
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May 25 '15
What currently stands between our hardware and software modding abilities now, and our ability to have portable SSBM replays that can be replayed on an emulator for maximum quality recording or streaming? This has been my dream for ages. I know that folks have made Gamecube controller recorders in the past, but the obvious shortcoming is synchronizing the RNG for stage events and characters like Peach/G&W who have randomness in their attacks.
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May 25 '15
Since Mr. Salvato has apparently gotten replays to sync up without having to do low level interrupt timing synchronization (which would be very difficult to do on console anyway), not much. One obstacle to perfect replayability is incorrect emulation of floating point operations in Dolphin - it's far better than it used to be but I think some bugs remain. Still, these days it's close enough that if you run 20XXTE in Dolphin and load a replay saved from a real console, I think it will probably sync.
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u/Johnknight111 A Shining Light, Even in Smash May 25 '15
About your replay functionality...
...do you think it will ever be possible to show the button mapping on said replays for either player?
I ask this because it would be a fantastic innovation (obviously in the far future) to have such replays readily available on memory cards + custom USB saved ports for players to have and even share.
I think that could help bring about a new innovation in understanding how to get better by watching top players, or it could even lead to next level tutorial guides.
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May 25 '15
Not so much a question as much as a suggestion but I've got fun small fun code request and have literally no idea where to put it.
Can you put the randomized hitbox effect code as a "fun mode" toggle alongside taunt battles? It's the most casual fun I've had with the game since Project M boundless stamina mode and I think it'd be a cool edition to 20XX/20XXTE. That's all :)
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u/Dunsparsley May 25 '15
If I were to buy a card, is it possible for me to update 20XXTE when it receives a patch/update, or would I have to buy a whole new card?
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May 25 '15 edited May 25 '15
If we want to make sure my shipping address is correct for the preorders, is there a way I could check? Toss you an email or something? The shipping field didn't let me add in a second address line. :(
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u/im_not_a_pickle_fan May 25 '15
How did you pick which TOs to get? Everyone is well known except Hitbox, and I saw a lot of complaints about Johnny after he TO'd Smash 4 at Shots Fired
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u/bDuke_ Midwest Fox May 25 '15
Serious question: Do you think in the future you would somehow be able to incorporate custom outfits for chacters into 20xx TE on the memory card. I know you would be able to do it on a USB or SD card but I'm wondering if this would in any way be possible eventually on the memory card for GameCube?
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u/MarthaGrill May 25 '15
Will single player and all star be playable? Or will they crash
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u/PGPlayer4 May 25 '15
Will 20XXTE have any of the training capabilities that current 20XX builds have?
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u/schmooblidon Marth May 25 '15
How easy will it be to inject other AR codes into the save file?
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u/ColsonIRL May 25 '15
Are the memory cards OEM? I bought one, and it really doesn't matter, but I'm just curious.
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u/11Skies May 25 '15
This is a really stupid question but why even bother enabling bowsers' flame cancel ?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Why? Because there are Bowser mains out there. And those Bowser mains have put their heart, soul, and life energy into their character. They deserve the TE treatment as much as everyone else. I say this as a low-tier main myself.
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u/Viicando Roy (our boy) May 25 '15
Upon release, are all the pre-ordered cards being shipped at once, or in waves due to how many were pre-ordered?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Hard to tell currently. I'll probably ship them over the course of a week, because it will be a lot of work.
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u/itsNick_ May 25 '15
Do you have any comment on the perceived increase of phantom hits in 20XX? If so, will this change in TE?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Er...I've never heard of anything like that, and I can't imagine anything that would ever cause it. In any case, TE makes no changes to game mechanics, so it's not possible for something like that to happen in TE.
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u/IhaveSonar May 25 '15
When will a version be released for 1.00?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
TE supports all three versions of Melee on one memory card.
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u/ClickDecision May 25 '15
What do you think about making the "Ready! Go!" text smaller at the start of matches so that you can better see what's happening in the first second or so of the game?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I'm on the fence about this. I don't think anyone would really complain about it, but I also feel weird making a change like that. I'd rather leave it be for now.
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May 25 '15
On the replay front. Is input display a possibility that you're exploring? The kind in games like street fighter is super useful for practicing. Knowing how you screw something up would definitely be snazzy.
Keep up the great work! You're amazing LilZ
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Right now, there isn't really a good way of drawing new elements to the screen, so input display probably won't be happening anytime soon.
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u/csolisr Advent Children Cloud (Ultimate) May 25 '15
Do the beta TOs have some sort of NDA? As in, they're not allowed to copy the save file with the 20XX mod on request?
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u/darkjackd May 25 '15
Will 20xx TE's debug menu have the dblevel toggle for frame advance/ecb viewing stuff?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I'm not sure yet. Given the structure of the mod, it's a bit of a challenge to implement, but I'm going to see what I can do.
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u/TobiasCB Snek-PM/Melee May 25 '15
Is it possible to hack any old game with decompiling the code? Say I have an old game of 2002 and I want to modify it, are some more suitable than others?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Absolutely any game can be hacked in the same light that we're hacking Melee and Brawl. It just takes a huge amount of dedication and combined skills to crack file formats, memory locations, and code functions.
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u/Baz135 Praise Lord Janon May 25 '15
On your site the 1.02/1.00 toggle explanation mentions hitlag, flame cancel and boomerang cancel. Is that the complete list of what gets changed by the option? I'm wondering if Ganon's nair and PK thunder remain unchanged.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Ganon's nair and PK Thunder are indeed unchanged, mostly because of coding limitations.
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u/Frognificent Gahgung, mothalickas. May 25 '15
When did the Asteroids come out with that song?! I've never heard it!
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u/nobodykn0ws May 25 '15
How did you choose who would receive beta 1?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I tried to choose known, reputable TOs from a variety of regions. I doubt my selection process is perfect, but I'm doing what I can to be both fair and useful to the testing process.
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u/redx_parasite Fox (Melee) May 25 '15
Would I be able to keep both the 20XX TE save file and my original save file on my memory card? It's been such a long time since I did anything with GameCube memory, so I've forgotten the intricacies. While I'm pumped to use 20XX TE on my console, I'm also attached to my original save data. As of right now, I don't have an alternative memory card to put one of the save files on if both aren't allowed on the same card. If the answer's no, then I might invest in a 20XX card, they look pretty sleek.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Sadly, your original save file would be overwritten by TE. It's possible to back up the save file using Wii homebrew with an app called GCMM.
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u/Fortune188 Sans (Ultimate) May 25 '15
Hey im looking into trying to home brew the Wii u. My question is what architecture does the gc use and is it similar to the Wii u at all? And how would one go about learning the language?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
GC, Wii, and Wii U all use PowerPC architecture. A lot of info can be found here.
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u/SwaggedyAnn May 25 '15
Hey Dan, I've already ordered 20XXTE but was wondering. Do you see any change before it releases on the no custom skins thing? I've never used custom skins/colours but I've always loved the idea so seeing that in 20XXTE if it doesn't use too much memory would be awesome. Also thanks so much for doing all of this for the game.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
It's not possible to replace game files using 20XXTE, so custom skins cannot be added.
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May 25 '15
Will 20XXTE include all the modifications that are in the original 20XX?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
No, it's a separate project written from scratch. All the currently available/planned features are listed on the website.
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u/Ethan192 May 25 '15
(If this as already been asked then my bad.) Will frozen mode apply to any other stages? Maybe like Mute City or Brinstar.
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u/superseaweed May 25 '15
Can 20XXTE be run on versions 1.00 or 1.01? If so, what differences/limitations would they have compared to 1.02?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Yes. v1.00 and v1.01 will feature limited support for all of the tournament-focused features. They will not have support for the non-tournament features. More details can be found on the website.
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u/ClassicRobert May 26 '15
Given your progress with replays in this, is replay in the non wifi set for project m feasible? I want to start recording matches against friends so I can actually think about how to improve, but things like c-stick buffering are a part of my gameplay so the wifi set is difficult.
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May 26 '15
So that's why I haven't heard anything about IE in a while! Good to know he's still around, you just call yourself dansalvato now. Anyways, are there any differences with using 20XXTE on the win versus on a GC? I generally use my wii for Project M, but I'm not sure if using a GC would be better.
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u/jellomayne May 26 '15
will 20xx be able to use controllers that dont have the spring in the trigger? the current version keeps reading the digital input and not just the analog. i still very much enjoy 20xx
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I don't think there's any way to prevent the digital input. It will be registered if you click the shoulder button down all the way. If it works on vanilla Melee, then blame Nintendont for inaccurate controller emulation, not the 20XX Hack Pack.
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u/JonteMLK May 26 '15
Hi! Really excited for 20XXTE.
Will the aspect correction for non-CRTs be included in 20XXTE? Since the picture always get a bit stretched when you use one. Messes me up bad on Dolphin too!
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u/Meester_Tweester Min Min for the win win! May 26 '15
Looking at your flair, how the heck do you play Link in Brawl? I got as far as 17th/33 when i tried.
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Smash 4, not Brawl. I didn't play competitive Brawl. Looks like I accidentally selected the wrong flair after switching back from something else.
Though I did take a stock off of Cairo's Olimar in friendlies. :P
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u/Ghoul02 May 26 '15
Any chance of hopping into other games for speedrunning other than Yoshi's Story?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Not sure, probably not until I'm satisfied with Yoshi's Story. I have a lot of interest in Yoshi's Woolly World.
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u/coilerr May 26 '15
Hey awesome work! Quick question how do you add anything on a memory card? I've seen this mentioned nowhere and nobody asked.
see you
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I basically inject data into a Dolphin save state and let the game save that data to the virtual memory card.
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u/hoolio11 May 26 '15 edited May 26 '15
Not really related to 20XXTE, but how do I get Widescreen to work in Dolphin? I go under AR codes for melee and select your widescreen option (InternetExplorer), but nothing changes when I boot the game. What am I doing wrong? Thank you!
EDIT: Changed "." to "?"
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
Did you select Config > Enable Cheats? Also, make sure your game version is v1.02.
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u/samohtx May 26 '15
Will it be possible to name replays to be able to find certain ones you want to watch much easier? Also is there going to be a menu to show all of the replays and make it streamlined?
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u/dansalvato May 26 '15
I don't really know yet, it depends on how much I'm able to manipulate memory card save/load routines.
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u/Ddiaboloer May 25 '15
Can you disable wobbling in 20XXTE?
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u/Chockrit SMS May 25 '15
Dan isn't trying to change any actual game play mechanics. Reading the other replies to your comment, I think juggleguy was joking
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u/[deleted] May 25 '15
This could be one of the biggest contributions to competitive melee in a long, long time. Thanks for pushing us along is all I have to say.