YOU DIED
August 13, 2015 9:45 PM Subscribe
After famously playing through Pokemon (previously) and Metal Gear, the Twitch hive mind has decided to try its hand at Dark Souls.
With 22 discrete commands available to them through Twitch chat, players are currently fumbling their way through the tutorial area, Undead Asylum.
Dark Souls previously on the blue
With 22 discrete commands available to them through Twitch chat, players are currently fumbling their way through the tutorial area, Undead Asylum.
Dark Souls previously on the blue
49218 AD: Twitch beats the Capra Demon
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:52 PM on August 13, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:52 PM on August 13, 2015 [12 favorites]
Battletoads or GTFO.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:01 PM on August 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 10:01 PM on August 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Well, it'll be nice to have empirical research on the Infinite Monkey Theorem, if nothing else.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:09 PM on August 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:09 PM on August 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I will be surprised if they ever get out of the asylum.
posted by Pyry at 10:10 PM on August 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 10:10 PM on August 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
They seem to have even more trouble with forward progression than the TPP crew did. Maybe if they were able to map the controls to North, South, East, West, they could have a chance, but currently? My money's on the snowball making it out of Hell before they make it out of the Asylum.
posted by brecc at 10:14 PM on August 13, 2015
posted by brecc at 10:14 PM on August 13, 2015
This is the dumbest idea ever. I love it.
posted by naju at 10:14 PM on August 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by naju at 10:14 PM on August 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
BTW have a look at voice souls, in which someone beats the game with only voice recognition controls.
posted by Pyry at 10:14 PM on August 13, 2015
posted by Pyry at 10:14 PM on August 13, 2015
It's an interesting thing, because eventually people will get bored of the repetitive deaths and leave the stream, leaving fewer people to control it and theoretically improving the play. But once they start progressing it'll attract more viewers and the reverse will occur. I wonder if they it'll settle on some sort of optimal level of viewer/controllers or if it will just continually fluctuate up and down.
posted by Wretch729 at 10:26 PM on August 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Wretch729 at 10:26 PM on August 13, 2015 [5 favorites]
Keep in mind that Twitch has over a minute of latency-- even if it were a single person in chat it would still be pretty much impossible without doing something like having summons do all the work.
posted by Pyry at 10:29 PM on August 13, 2015
posted by Pyry at 10:29 PM on August 13, 2015
The total impossibility of this one is what makes it so uninteresting to me. It's a funny idea on paper but the actual thing is just kind of... limp. The tension between being able to make real progress and the constant self-defeating combo of command pile ons and delay is where the fun came from. Well, that and the weird cults and memes and fanart and stuff.
I don't see this developing any of that. But given that people have done everything from Guitar Hero controller playthroughs, to Donkey Kong bongos, to voice control... I guess this is the logical end point of that.
At least since they'll be dying so incredibly often they'll rarely have to worry about trolls invading the game and destroying them.
posted by sparkletone at 11:13 PM on August 13, 2015
I don't see this developing any of that. But given that people have done everything from Guitar Hero controller playthroughs, to Donkey Kong bongos, to voice control... I guess this is the logical end point of that.
At least since they'll be dying so incredibly often they'll rarely have to worry about trolls invading the game and destroying them.
posted by sparkletone at 11:13 PM on August 13, 2015
How can this even work? You need to press and hold down some buttons, such as the shield. But you can't do that with single chatroom inputs. Did they modify the game to make such things into a toggle? Otherwise it's impossible.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 12:04 AM on August 14, 2015
posted by Pyrogenesis at 12:04 AM on August 14, 2015
$20 says they beat it and y'all are wrong.
posted by gucci mane at 12:04 AM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 12:04 AM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well, it'll be nice to have empirical research on the Infinite Monkey Theorem, if nothing else.
This isn't quite infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters though, it's more like infinite monkeys all using one typewriter. Also, the typewriter is on fire and surrounded by bear traps.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:20 AM on August 14, 2015 [7 favorites]
This isn't quite infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters though, it's more like infinite monkeys all using one typewriter. Also, the typewriter is on fire and surrounded by bear traps.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:20 AM on August 14, 2015 [7 favorites]
It is... not going well so far. According to chat they've been in the same room for several hours.
posted by Drexen at 2:36 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Drexen at 2:36 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
They made it out of that room! And down the corridor a little way. Killed the archer (the first fight in the game), only losing about 90% of their health. And then back down the corridor, and back to being stuck in that same room with the bonfire. An attempt was made to quit the game, but without any success. Then some more Darksign.
posted by sfenders at 4:28 AM on August 14, 2015
posted by sfenders at 4:28 AM on August 14, 2015
$20 says they beat it and y'all are wrong.
You'd need to pay me a lot more than $20 to watch it happen though. Maybe if someone edited it down to a highlight reel afterwards (especially if said someone sped it up many times over and set it to Yakkety Sax).
posted by sparkletone at 4:34 AM on August 14, 2015
You'd need to pay me a lot more than $20 to watch it happen though. Maybe if someone edited it down to a highlight reel afterwards (especially if said someone sped it up many times over and set it to Yakkety Sax).
posted by sparkletone at 4:34 AM on August 14, 2015
I think this is a terrible idea. There are so many trolls that nothing meaningful will ever come of it. It's not even lulzy-funny.
posted by koucha at 5:42 AM on August 14, 2015
posted by koucha at 5:42 AM on August 14, 2015
I think this is a terrible idea. There are so many trolls that nothing meaningful will ever come of it.
Unlike all the meaningful things that came out of them playing Pokemon?
posted by Doc Ezra at 6:42 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Unlike all the meaningful things that came out of them playing Pokemon?
posted by Doc Ezra at 6:42 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wonder if this would be more successful if they disabled the menu and weapon switching. Probably not.
posted by sonmi at 6:51 AM on August 14, 2015
posted by sonmi at 6:51 AM on August 14, 2015
They killed Oscar (with a new headcanon), and now have Estus.
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
posted by mysticreferee at 6:58 AM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
posted by mysticreferee at 6:58 AM on August 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Except for the overlay, it looks pretty much like my first attempt to play Dark Souls on PC with a mouse and keyboard. I quickly learned that an Xbox controller was the One True Way to play Dark Souls.
Weird. I tried it both ways and found that the situational awareness and ability to easily target by controlling the camera with the mouse made the game much easier than playing with a controller. It almost felt like cheating. How can you run, dodge, and swing the camera around all at the same time using a controller?
posted by straight at 8:32 AM on August 14, 2015
Weird. I tried it both ways and found that the situational awareness and ability to easily target by controlling the camera with the mouse made the game much easier than playing with a controller. It almost felt like cheating. How can you run, dodge, and swing the camera around all at the same time using a controller?
posted by straight at 8:32 AM on August 14, 2015
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Anyone started a betting pool for how many hours Anor Londo takes? I'm betting it hits triple digits.
posted by sparkletone at 8:39 AM on August 14, 2015
Anyone started a betting pool for how many hours Anor Londo takes? I'm betting it hits triple digits.
posted by sparkletone at 8:39 AM on August 14, 2015
What's going to happen is some joker is going to attack the Crestfallen Warrior and we can look forward to about ten thousand hours of the player getting spawncamped by a vengeful NPC.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:27 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:27 AM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Keep in mind that Twitch has over a minute of latency-- even if it were a single person in chat it would still be pretty much impossible without doing something like having summons do all the work.
It's not nearly that high anymore. From my experience streaming it's usually 10-20 seconds. Still a problem, but at least what's going on as you enter your commands
posted by zodballs at 10:51 AM on August 14, 2015
It's not nearly that high anymore. From my experience streaming it's usually 10-20 seconds. Still a problem, but at least what's going on as you enter your commands
posted by zodballs at 10:51 AM on August 14, 2015
This is a bit like Reddit's "the button." I suspect it will be a few weeks before they leave the tutorial.
posted by naju at 11:59 AM on August 14, 2015
posted by naju at 11:59 AM on August 14, 2015
And the winner is: Never. Not even an infinite amount of time would be enough for Twitch Chat to beat Dark Souls. For lo, in the 35th hour of the attempt, those who wished to select from the menu the option to quit the game did succeed in getting stuck in character creation, the navigation of which requires the pressing of buttons which this interface provides no ability to press.
posted by sfenders at 4:44 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by sfenders at 4:44 AM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
And lo, there was much lamentation-spam and gnashing of ctrl-c ctrl-v.
posted by Drexen at 5:26 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by Drexen at 5:26 AM on August 15, 2015
After 29 hours and 30 mins they are still in the tutorial (Asylum) area, but occasionally they equip a weapon and drink a potion.
All in all, much like my own first playthrough,
posted by Dumsnill at 8:05 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
All in all, much like my own first playthrough,
posted by Dumsnill at 8:05 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
What am I even saying? 39 hours! They've learned to run forwards now, and they're doing it in style. (That gate needs to die.)
posted by Dumsnill at 8:14 AM on August 15, 2015
posted by Dumsnill at 8:14 AM on August 15, 2015
but why haven't they got the the dark wood grain ring yet? I am told it's a necessity?
posted by fido~depravo at 5:07 AM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fido~depravo at 5:07 AM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
but why haven't they got the the dark wood grain ring yet?
Too OP.
posted by Drexen at 9:19 AM on August 16, 2015
Too OP.
posted by Drexen at 9:19 AM on August 16, 2015
TWITCH HAS KILLED THE ASYLUM DEMON
I REPEAT, TWITCH HAS KILLED THE ASYLUM DEMON
posted by naju at 10:52 PM on August 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
I REPEAT, TWITCH HAS KILLED THE ASYLUM DEMON
posted by naju at 10:52 PM on August 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Twitch Plays Dark Souls goes turn-based, defeats first boss
Now six days into the experiment, the forces behind Twitch Plays Dark Souls have seen fit to actually modify the game in order to hopefully allow for further progress. Rather than running in real-time and contending with a frustrating delay between what's happening in the game and what viewers see on their screens, Twitch Plays Dark Souls now operates the game in a turn-based fashion.
What this means is that after every action performed by the player character (as chosen by the chat), the game pauses for around 20 to 30 seconds. During this pause time, every action in the chat is tallied up; the one with the most votes is performed immediately when the game unpauses. This gives viewers a chance to react properly to what's on screen and should, in theory, make progress possible, if still difficult.
posted by naju at 11:12 PM on August 19, 2015
Now six days into the experiment, the forces behind Twitch Plays Dark Souls have seen fit to actually modify the game in order to hopefully allow for further progress. Rather than running in real-time and contending with a frustrating delay between what's happening in the game and what viewers see on their screens, Twitch Plays Dark Souls now operates the game in a turn-based fashion.
What this means is that after every action performed by the player character (as chosen by the chat), the game pauses for around 20 to 30 seconds. During this pause time, every action in the chat is tallied up; the one with the most votes is performed immediately when the game unpauses. This gives viewers a chance to react properly to what's on screen and should, in theory, make progress possible, if still difficult.
posted by naju at 11:12 PM on August 19, 2015
Ah, so that's how it works. I'd seen chatter about the boss defeat and the new extreme delay mode but couldn't find details on how exactly it was implemented. I'm... still not interested.
But as far as memes go: After spending hours upon hours trapped in a pool, apparently parts of the chat did start worshiping the pool as a religious figure.
posted by sparkletone at 1:25 AM on August 20, 2015
But as far as memes go: After spending hours upon hours trapped in a pool, apparently parts of the chat did start worshiping the pool as a religious figure.
posted by sparkletone at 1:25 AM on August 20, 2015
Wow, I checked back in after a few days, and significant progress has been made. Oh, rule changes have occurred. Still...
posted by Dumsnill at 12:19 PM on August 22, 2015
posted by Dumsnill at 12:19 PM on August 22, 2015
A much more entertaining variant of this idea is happening today (dunno if it'll continue after today). A very experienced Souls game player has been streaming a run the last week or two where he plays with his own monitor off. He can only watch his own twitch feed (he still has audio cues). Given the lag it's functionally a blindfolded run since it's 10-30s before he can see what his inputs have resulted in. He's been making steady progress.
Today is even better though: He's currently streaming a playthrough where the game accepts his inputs but ALSO accepts inputs from twitch chat. (you can watch here to enjoy it with a chat devoid of input spam). He's out of the Asylum and into the game proper, but the camera is rather scatterbrained and he fairly regularly rolls off ledges and other things. It's been pretty funny so far.
posted by sparkletone at 9:56 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Today is even better though: He's currently streaming a playthrough where the game accepts his inputs but ALSO accepts inputs from twitch chat. (you can watch here to enjoy it with a chat devoid of input spam). He's out of the Asylum and into the game proper, but the camera is rather scatterbrained and he fairly regularly rolls off ledges and other things. It's been pretty funny so far.
posted by sparkletone at 9:56 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
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Looking forward to watching them tackle Ornstein and Smough.
posted by Shibboleth at 9:51 PM on August 13, 2015