Last Impact : Final Impact

[Plutia]

the thing that gets me is that kaze apparently spent 4000 hours on all this, and honestly, with what I know of the 64 hacking process, I'd believe it, but there are some things he really should have caught in those 4000 hours

[Piesonscreations]

I'm surprised raocow got the gear star so quickly, but thankful. When i played it, I got downwarped more times than i can count, so that would've made for an awful video experience.

[Leet]

It's one meter in diameter with a thickness of three nanometers. The ultra-thin space is supported by an inwardly-directed AT Field. The inside is an imaginary space, called a Sea of Dirac. I think it's probably connected to another universe.

[Alice]

the trailer video for last impact says it's hard so he acknowledges this is hard stuff at least and also advocates not going for 100%

it doesn't mean the level design couldn't be way better though

The issue isn't even really difficulty. It's Kaze trying to do so much that the engine is simply flat out unsuited for. Slopes all over the place that cause annoying issues with the platforming, a camera you constantly have to fight in enclosed spaces, those one tile blocks. All of this could have been worked around.

Being more careful about the slopes would have just resulted in slopes maybe being a little less severe in most places (als the thing about not having them all marked as slippery as others previously pointed out) so it doesn't cause platforming issues. I've already previously addressed the camera issues. One tile blocks like this where depth perception is a serious issue could be worked around pretty easily by having some sort of decorative objects coming from the walls and intersecting it in some fashion so the player can more adequately estimate its location.

[SpoonyBardOL]

Does anyone know what the BGM was for the Dark Mario fight? Because the opening kind of sounds like the final battle theme from Thousand Year Door, but the rest of it sounds so tortured filtered through the Mario 64 soundfont I really can't say for certain.

[CM30]

It's the final boss theme from Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door.



On the topic of today's video, well raocow was pretty unlucky with his star choices this time. That Rainbow Perils star is pretty much the hardest level in Rainbow Road, with only Rainbow Snakeblock Tour giving it any real competition in the difficulty department.

Ah well, at least he got one of the worst missions out of the way early on.

[Truhan]

I can't lie, it's upsetting me how much this game is upsetting raocow.

[Classtoise]

the thing that gets me is that kaze apparently spent 4000 hours on all this, and honestly, with what I know of the 64 hacking process, I'd believe it, but there are some things he really should have caught in those 4000 hours

Or at least he'd learn something about conveyance.

i repeat: has kaze ever actually played mario 64

Like most Mario 64 hackers, the problem is yes he has. Too much, to the point he doesn't realise that what's practical for longtime players (and speedrunners) is a lot less practical for your average Joe gamer.

This hack expects you to have absolutely mastered the original game's physics before playing.

This was a problem with the SMBX level he got for for GRaPE too; the person who made it made it with the intention of challenging someone who knew the ins and outs the engine to the point that they knew the glitches.

This is basically Super Mario 64 Kaizo.

Incidentally, QA testing is a big part of why a lot of hacks have a really long credits sequence; because a lot of times they got all their friends who also love romhacks to test it out blindly.

[FourteenthOrder]

Yeah, raocow picked like the worst star in Rainbow Road to go for, and Rainbow Road is the hardest of the courses by far imo. ^^;

At the very least, for me, nothing in the third hub was anywhere close to the difficulty of Above the Clouds 3. As a whole, it's harder than the second hub, though, as you'd expect, but it varies quite a bit course-by-course just like every part of the game up until now, so...

But yeah, I believe in you and so forth!

[Sebby19]

I'm not sure what you're supposed to do at the end there. Maybe Rainbow Mario can run up walls with enough speed. Because climbing that, thing with the point on it, just seemed absurd.

Does rao not watch for Mario's shadow?
I thought this when raocow commented on never knowing where he is in 3D space, and not ground pounding.

[Implo]

First of all I had huge problem with finding path to last hub. After fighting many times with a boss, I completely forgot about door at the beginning of Shadow Factory. As for the third hub it's the smallest hub in the game. Also I always found it weird that third hub is the Moon. After all , didn't Course 5 was on the Moon?

Course 11 is the smallest course in the game and the easiest in third hub. There is really only one problematic star there.

I'm not surprised that you went to Final Level afterwards. I think it could be better indicated.

Course 15 is probably the hardest course in the game. And like usually you chose the hardest star to get. I hate these Storm Lakitu. They are really annoying and hard to deal with. Also I believe that their thunder can hurt you even when you are invisible. But the worst part is the last part. Climbing this narrow slop platform with a star is weirdly hard. After many tries and watching video (because I seriously didn't know how to get a star) I managed to climb up only to overshoot at the end. And no, there is no tutorial. That's the thing about Last Impact. Most of the time you don't die because SM 64 physique, but rather because new stuff that you don't know how it works. And I believe Kaze assumed that everybody knows how the new blocks, enemies, platforms, powerups works, so he assumed there is no need to make a tutorial. And I believe that's the biggest mistake of this hack.

[Classtoise]

I'm not sure what you're supposed to do at the end there. Maybe Rainbow Mario can run up walls with enough speed. Because climbing that, thing with the point on it, just seemed absurd.

Does rao not watch for Mario's shadow?
I thought this when raocow commented on never knowing where he is in 3D space, and not ground pounding.

The geometry and camera make it super hard to really tell where the shadow is a lot of times.

[Nimono]

This is basically Super Mario 64 Kaizo.

oh trust me:

No it isn't

You think this is bad? There's waaaaaaaaaay worse out there. There's even a Kaizo Mario 64 itself. IIRC it's the original levels, but with flamethrowers slapped randomly everywhere to make your life hell. And there's a secret way to even get into the castle itself.

the trailer video for last impact says it's hard so he acknowledges this is hard stuff at least and also advocates not going for 100%

it doesn't mean the level design couldn't be way better though

The issue isn't even really difficulty. It's Kaze trying to do so much that the engine is simply flat out unsuited for. Slopes all over the place that cause annoying issues with the platforming, a camera you constantly have to fight in enclosed spaces, those one tile blocks. All of this could have been worked around.

Being more careful about the slopes would have just resulted in slopes maybe being a little less severe in most places (als the thing about not having them all marked as slippery as others previously pointed out) so it doesn't cause platforming issues. I've already previously addressed the camera issues. One tile blocks like this where depth perception is a serious issue could be worked around pretty easily by having some sort of decorative objects coming from the walls and intersecting it in some fashion so the player can more adequately estimate its location.

I think it's a combination. The engine overload certainly makes things worse, but he tries to shove precision platforming into SM64, too, because "hey, I'm a pro at this game, so it's ok!" Can't really use the excuse of "It was designed for the people who can beat SM64 100% with their hands tied behind their backs." because the beginning is clearly designed for newbies. The only part there that falters design-wise, is that Course 4 is so tough to find. (And the general wonkiness of everything he added... And the constant slopes for "realistic and interesting terrain"...)

But then it massively ramps up, with all these ideas he just throws around to see what sticks. I really do feel like all he did was take this to the experts and asked them to test it. Wouldn't be surprised if it was from that elitist board, too. This is why it's important to get testers who aren't very good at the engine you made! You need testers of ALL skill levels to truly test your designs.

[Mandew]

In Mario 64, the first star of any course is usually "follow the path through the whole level so you can get acquainted with it". Like, usually, the first star of each level is really far away from the start. And it makes sense, intuitively you go far and up to get a good lay of the land.

This hack does sometimes does this for its hardest stars instead. It's kind of funny actually.

[Nimono]

Oh yes, almost forgot!

Today in raocow: FORCE-FEEDING MARIO TO A STRANGE ALIEN FOR A STAR
Tomorrow in raocow: MORE FORCE-FEEDING MARIO TO A STRANGE ALIEN FOR MORE STARS (maybe)


I legit expected him to have to be told where this level was hahaha. I remember someone else having trouble finding it somehow, found every other level in the hub first!

[Piesonscreations]

[...] That Rainbow Perils star is pretty much the hardest level in Rainbow Road, with only Rainbow Snakeblock Tour giving it any real competition in the difficulty department.

I'd wager to say Snakeblock is a lot more difficult. This one was janky as hell, don't get me wrong, but past the initial obstacles, I don't think your odds of dying are all that high, but with snakeblock it's just

lakitu hell

. To me, it was truly one of the most unfun stars in the whole game.

Now, I imagine that raocow is not going for the super mega hidden star(s?), considering they're basically easter eggs, right?

[BobisOnlyBob]

But then it massively ramps up

Yeah, that was the whole point of today's star

[Awoo]

Now, I imagine that raocow is not going for the super mega hidden star(s?), considering they're basically easter eggs, right?

I imagine, if anything, raocow will stumble upon them in the awesome way he stumbles upon things like that

where are they?

i have no idea!

[Piesonscreations]

where are they?

i have no idea!

I'm talking about the first segment. Don't watch the whole video if you don't want further things spoiled, peeps!

[Crow]

i repeat: has kaze ever actually played mario 64

has kaze ever actually played a video game

[Awoo]

i repeat: has kaze ever actually played mario 64

has kaze ever actually played a video game

kaze IS a video game

[CM30]

Okay, I'm curious how he's going to deal with a certain upcoming star, namely:

The pinball machine in Gamble Game Gallery. It's basically like Mario Sunshine's pachinko, except ten times more awkward and glitchy to the point it really doesn't work. Shame too, the rest of the level is mostly rather forgiving, and generally lacking in bottomless pits too.

[Chirei]

I think this is 40% of the gameplay at this point

[Sebby19]

Would it have been too much trouble to put invisible walls and floors? Like the collision doesn't have to match the visible geometry. The Kaze can have his nice curved ledges, and the player can grab onto it.

Or does SM64 not work like that.

[Piesonscreations]

The pinball machine in Gamble Game Gallery. It's basically like Mario Sunshine's pachinko, except ten times more awkward and glitchy to the point it really doesn't work. Shame too, the rest of the level is mostly rather forgiving, and generally lacking in bottomless pits too.

While it is obviously not the intended way, kicking up the pinball machine can make the star fairly easy. We can only hope that raocow tries to do that.