TASBot

Key takeaways

TASBot belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect TASBot to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of TASBot from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

TASBot is a tool-assisted speedrun mascot created in 2013, developed by a team led by dwangoAC. A replay device takes a list of controller inputs which it then sends to a console such as a Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) directly via signals to the controller ports. TASBot is known for its appearances at popular speedrunning events such as Games Done Quick. In that context, "TASBot" also serves as a multiple-use name, standing in for the names of the run's true authors. This is mostly done for kayfabe (similar to how the Japanese-speaking community use TASさん "Mr. TAS"), but it becomes a necessity for runs with tens or hundreds of contributing authors.

History The idea for TASBot began around 2009 when a user of the tool-assisted speedrun website TASVideos created a device which could send a predetermined list of inputs to a Nintendo Entertainment System directly via its controller ports. Over the next few years a number of different people developed similar devices and techniques to automatically play video game console games directly through their hardware. dwangoAC first developed TASBot by building on the concepts and guides for these earlier devices along with assistance from their creators. The robot is now developed and maintained by a team. The first version of TASBot – which was initially named ROBBerry Pi for the R.O.B. model exterior and Raspberry Pi internals – debuted at Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) in 2014, playing Gradius, Mario Kart 64, and Super Mario World. TASBot contains a "replay board", which takes a predetermined list of inputs from a Linux machine and uses them to send signals directly to a console's controller ports. The list of inputs is written and recorded manually, tested on an emulator. Controller inputs need to be timed extremely accurately; some live runs failed as a result of slight electromagnetic interference from crossed wires.

Speedruns At its debut during AGDQ in 2014, TASBot played Super Mario World. By leveraging an arbitrary code execution glitch, the run allowed players to play Pong and Snake inside the game. At AGDQ 2015, TASBot used the same exploit to code a copy of Super Mario Bros. into Super Mario World, writing the game to the SNES and then playing it. It also played Pokémon Red, during which the event's Twitch chat was fed into the game in realtime. During the AGDQ event in 2016, it wrote a Super Mario Maker level editor onto an SNES in realtime while it was running a game, an improvement over stopping and then replacing the game as in previous events. At the summer SGDQ event of the same year, TASBot "completed" Super Mario Bros. 3 in less than one second by performing almost 8,000 inputs per second. At AGDQ 2017, after demonstrating similar runs from previous years, TASBot appeared to play Super Mario 64 and Portal, and make a Skype call on a SNES. This was achieved by streaming video and audio to the console after taking control of it via The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The bandwidth was sufficient to display a 128×112 video at 10 frames per second. At SGDQ 2018, TASBot ran Celeste, and at AGDQ 2019 it ran Mari0, using glitches with the portal gun to fling itself across levels and skip others entirely. At AGDQ 2019, the TASBot team showcased MASHBot, a new robot which physically presses controller buttons, rather than directly sending signals via the controller port. Initially designed to work with a Game Boy Advance SP, the robot debuted by playing Nintendo DS game Super Scribblenauts via the touchscreen. In 2020 the team set up TASBot to play on a Nintendo Switch. In this case, however, the source code will not be made available, to avoid legal issues with Nintendo. TASBot made an appearance for the "OoT Triforce Percent" run demonstrated at the 2022 Games Done Quick. This was a run of the game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 heavily relying on an arbitrary code execution (ACE) exploit in the game set up by Ocarina of Time speed-runner Savestate. The run demonstrated an ACE that enabled data to be transferred via the Nintendo 64's controller ports to access beta content and add new content both based on pre-launch articles and urban legends and on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, ending with messages displayed from the Twitch chat.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with TASBot

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what TASBot claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to TASBot before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about TASBot ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of TASBot

In research: TASBot appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses TASBot in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: TASBot is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2014 robots, Individual robots, Video game speedrunners, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for TASBot outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study TASBot in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what TASBot means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain TASBot out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is TASBot in simple terms?

TASBot is a tool-assisted speedrun mascot created in 2013, developed by a team led by dwangoAC. A replay device takes a list of controller inputs which it then sends to a console such as a Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) directly via signals to the contro…

Why does TASBot matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study TASBot?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on TASBot.