So, the Legends of the Hidden Thwimple SGDQ race happened last night, and it ruled. Just like the 2019 race, all the players had their own moments to shine, and all the creators definitely did too. Since Mike is away I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say that FerpyMcFrosting's level completely blew my mind. Amethyst, Kez, and MarkAlarm all did an amazing job on commentary as well. Donations were rolling in the entire time, and at risk of sounding corny, it really felt like a celebration of the best parts of the SMW community.
The hack itself is also available now, I played it earlier this afternoon and had a blast. It only took about an hour and 45 minutes, which felt pretty good given that the race itself took about an hour and 20. A few more detailed thoughts below, spoilered for Mike's benefit.
All in all, watching the race and then playing the hack myself both felt joyous. I hope you folks enjoy them as much as I did.
The hack itself is also available now, I played it earlier this afternoon and had a blast. It only took about an hour and 45 minutes, which felt pretty good given that the race itself took about an hour and 20. A few more detailed thoughts below, spoilered for Mike's benefit.
-sio and Bourgy's level kinda felt like an "easy mode" version of something that could've been part of Luminescent, and that's not a bad thing! I thought the twist in the final section of having the front of a pipe fall instead of a block was very clever.
-Gbreeze and MiracleWater's level was another clever sprite manipulation demo from the masters. A lot of this level felt very good to play where it otherwise could've felt awkward, with the exception of the disco shell setup. I couldn't figure out a really consistent way to do this, and the first time I actually got through I ended up beating the rest of the level. First try up-pipe.
-I will admit I skipped BeeKaay's level, because I don't know how to do Yoshi flight. For anyone who does this won't be too much trouble because it's so short, but I didn't feel like struggling through.
-Ferpy's level was so cool. Playing so much kaizo you kind of forget that Mode 7 was one of the major features of the SNES, but some of the ways he used it here are things I've never seen in any game. Rotating the level is one thing, but turning things at a 45 degree angle, or zooming in and out made the level feel so fresh and novel. I really hope this ASM shows up in future hacks, this level was a joy to play and super fun to watch too.
-Maddy's level was a much kinder version of her style. Even though it's a gravity flip level, it wasn't too bad once you learned the setups. It's got the usual amount of Maddy shitposting, but way more harmless than anything from Sonic Saves the World. The checkpoint troll before the end of the first section really gave the racers a chance to shine with both Shoujo and Barb nearly getting to the end on their first attempts.
-Idol and Margot's level was a blast. Seeing Idol's section for the first time felt a lot like how I felt watching kaizo before I started playing, when I'd see something and go "I don't know if I could ever beat that". In this particular case, it wasn't nearly as hard as some of the other things that made me feel that way, but what I'm really trying to get at is that it was an intricate and movement-focused section that felt great to get through. I know Idol's been working on her own hack for a long time now, I hope to see it soon. Margot's section was short and sweet, not much to say other than that it was fun!
-I was very curious to see what dtothefourth would come up with, and it turns out she came up with Crypt of the Necrodancer? Most of the level was super fun, but I found the final section kind of difficult to watch and play because of how the screen scrolled one block at a time. Luckily it was short enough that it didn't really ruin anything for me, but it was just tough on the eyes.
-Gbreeze and MiracleWater's level was another clever sprite manipulation demo from the masters. A lot of this level felt very good to play where it otherwise could've felt awkward, with the exception of the disco shell setup. I couldn't figure out a really consistent way to do this, and the first time I actually got through I ended up beating the rest of the level. First try up-pipe.
-I will admit I skipped BeeKaay's level, because I don't know how to do Yoshi flight. For anyone who does this won't be too much trouble because it's so short, but I didn't feel like struggling through.
-Ferpy's level was so cool. Playing so much kaizo you kind of forget that Mode 7 was one of the major features of the SNES, but some of the ways he used it here are things I've never seen in any game. Rotating the level is one thing, but turning things at a 45 degree angle, or zooming in and out made the level feel so fresh and novel. I really hope this ASM shows up in future hacks, this level was a joy to play and super fun to watch too.
-Maddy's level was a much kinder version of her style. Even though it's a gravity flip level, it wasn't too bad once you learned the setups. It's got the usual amount of Maddy shitposting, but way more harmless than anything from Sonic Saves the World. The checkpoint troll before the end of the first section really gave the racers a chance to shine with both Shoujo and Barb nearly getting to the end on their first attempts.
-Idol and Margot's level was a blast. Seeing Idol's section for the first time felt a lot like how I felt watching kaizo before I started playing, when I'd see something and go "I don't know if I could ever beat that". In this particular case, it wasn't nearly as hard as some of the other things that made me feel that way, but what I'm really trying to get at is that it was an intricate and movement-focused section that felt great to get through. I know Idol's been working on her own hack for a long time now, I hope to see it soon. Margot's section was short and sweet, not much to say other than that it was fun!
-I was very curious to see what dtothefourth would come up with, and it turns out she came up with Crypt of the Necrodancer? Most of the level was super fun, but I found the final section kind of difficult to watch and play because of how the screen scrolled one block at a time. Luckily it was short enough that it didn't really ruin anything for me, but it was just tough on the eyes.
All in all, watching the race and then playing the hack myself both felt joyous. I hope you folks enjoy them as much as I did.