So 'Twitch Plays Pokemon' just started the Elite Four

geK0

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For those of you that don't know yet; Twitch Plays Pokemon is an emulated version of Pokemon red or blue (not sure which) that is controlled by user comments. There are tens of thousands of users playing at a time so the entire thing has been a chaotic mess. SOMEHOW though, the hive mind at twitch (led mostly by Reddit and Tumblr users coordinating their efforts) have managed to make considerable progress in the game.

http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon

They have actually made it to the Elite Four and are fighting Glacia as I type this. Given the level of their pokemon and the chaotic nature of the input, I imagine they will wipe MANY times before actually completing the Elite Four; but this is amazing progress none the less.

What are your thoughts on this crazy phenomenon Escapist?

(I'm aware threads pertaining to TPP exist, this one is being posted because they are in the final stretch so I don't consider it a repost, please don't comment with "YOOS SERCH BARR ERMAGERD")
 

Melon Hunter

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It is pretty amazing that it's gotten this far, all things considered. Let alone beating all eight Gyms within two weeks! It's been a really fun thing to be part of, and the recent victory of All-Terrain Venomoth over a Dragonite nearly double its level was just a joy to watch. I think this'll be over quicker than you might think. The hivemind just made it all the way through the Elite Four (admittedly only to be instantly wiped out by the rival), and I think that was only the fourth run through.

Still, it'll be both great and sad to see Red become the Pokemon Champion in spite of all those voices in his head. It'll be one hell of a victory for crowdsourced game playing, but in a way I don't want it to be over. I know there'll be a Gen 2 stream from the same streamer, but it won't quite be the same as the original. It's been pretty amazing seeing the mythology of this flash-formed community evolve - two weeks from barely anything to a flood of fanart sure is something special.

Praise Helix!
 

Silvanus

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Love both of your avatars, by the way.

(Heheh, 'avatars', like avatars of a deity....Lord Helix works in mysterious ways).

Yeah, this is pretty incredible. Can someone tell me why they're calling ATV "the dragonslayer" and "dovahmoth"? Did it slay a tough dragon-type?

EDIT: never mind, just say Melon's explanation! Praise be to ATV!
 

geK0

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Silvanus said:
Love both of your avatars, by the way.

(Heheh, 'avatars', like avatars of a deity....Lord Helix works in mysterious ways).

Yeah, this is pretty incredible. Can someone tell me why they're calling ATV "the dragonslayer" and "dovahmoth"? Did it slay a tough dragon-type?
It managed to kill a Dragonite with poison because it was stuck in a loop constantly using agility.



And thanks, I saw this image in a random Tumblr post and thought it would make a neat avatar : p
 

Tartarga

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They're actually doing pretty well against the Elite Four considering their levels and movesets. If the chat could band together and buy some revives and healing potions they might actually manage to pull it off. I don't see them beating the champion right now without hours of grinding.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Wow, they've been going on for over 15 days! They're going up against Lorelei and it's hilarious. Zapdos is kicking ass. Never seen anything like it. And now they just won.

EDIT: What's with "praise Helix"?
 

geK0

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Wow, they've been going on for over 15 days! They're going up against Lorelei and it's hilarious. Zapdos is kicking ass. Never seen anything like it. And now they just won.

EDIT: What's with "praise Helix"?
The helix fossil is one of the early key items you get and was sitting in the inventory for most of the game

There were long periods of time where they would be stuck in the inventory screen repeatedly using the helix fossil to which Oak would reply "this isn't the time to use that"

It sort of became a running joke with everyone commenting "Consult the helix fossil!" "what do we do helix fossil?" sort of like it was some sort of spiritual entity (or a magic 8 ball). People joked that the Helix Fossil provided guidance.

When the helix fossil was revived at Cinnabar it sort of became somewhat of a "jesus" figure (despite pidgeot aalready being called "bird jesus")
 

Melon Hunter

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Wow, they've been going on for over 15 days! They're going up against Lorelei and it's hilarious. Zapdos is kicking ass. Never seen anything like it. And now they just won.

EDIT: What's with "praise Helix"?
After the stream chose the Helix Fossil in Mt. Moon, it kept getting accidentally used in battle. This happened so often that people started jokingly suggesting that Red was turning to the Helix Fossil for guidance, and began treating it (and Omanyte/Omastar) as religious figures. Similarly, the Dome Fossil is seen as a Satan figure, and Flareon (which was supposed to be a far more useful Vaporeon, but the stream messed up) is the 'False Prophet', as a couple of well-loved Pokemon got released around about that time.

You really couldn't make this up if you tried.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Melon Hunter said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
Wow, they've been going on for over 15 days! They're going up against Lorelei and it's hilarious. Zapdos is kicking ass. Never seen anything like it. And now they just won.

EDIT: What's with "praise Helix"?
After the stream chose the Helix Fossil in Mt. Moon, it kept getting accidentally used in battle. This happened so often that people started jokingly suggesting that Red was turning to the Helix Fossil for guidance, and began treating it (and Omanyte/Omastar) as religious figures. Similarly, the Dome Fossil is seen as a Satan figure, and Flareon (which was supposed to be a far more useful Vaporeon, but the stream messed up) is the 'False Prophet', as a couple of well-loved Pokemon got released around about that time.

You really couldn't make this up if you tried.
Funny I always picked out Dome for Kabuto/ps. They just lost too. How the hell did they make it this far anyway?
 

Melon Hunter

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Melon Hunter said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
Wow, they've been going on for over 15 days! They're going up against Lorelei and it's hilarious. Zapdos is kicking ass. Never seen anything like it. And now they just won.

EDIT: What's with "praise Helix"?
After the stream chose the Helix Fossil in Mt. Moon, it kept getting accidentally used in battle. This happened so often that people started jokingly suggesting that Red was turning to the Helix Fossil for guidance, and began treating it (and Omanyte/Omastar) as religious figures. Similarly, the Dome Fossil is seen as a Satan figure, and Flareon (which was supposed to be a far more useful Vaporeon, but the stream messed up) is the 'False Prophet', as a couple of well-loved Pokemon got released around about that time.

You really couldn't make this up if you tried.
Funny I always picked out Dome for Kabuto/ps. They just lost too. How the hell did they make it this far anyway?
Yeah, I think the Helix being picked over the Dome Fossil was just luck of the draw. As for how they got this far, it's really quite astonishing. There's a lag of about 20 to 40 seconds between commands being input in chat and them going to the emulator, and the rate of commands given far outstrips the frame rate of the emulator, so most are ignored anyway. It largely came down to luck and the stream gradually co-ordinating itself to overcome challenges (for example, the Ledge: 9 steps to the right without pressing down took 17 hours to overcome, but overcome it, they did). That, and a lot of blacking out.

I suppose it helps that Pokemon is a game that you will eventually beat by beavering away at it, no matter how bad you are. Considering the save file has been running for well over 300 hours, I think progress has mostly come about by brute force =P
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Melon Hunter said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
Melon Hunter said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
Wow, they've been going on for over 15 days! They're going up against Lorelei and it's hilarious. Zapdos is kicking ass. Never seen anything like it. And now they just won.

EDIT: What's with "praise Helix"?
After the stream chose the Helix Fossil in Mt. Moon, it kept getting accidentally used in battle. This happened so often that people started jokingly suggesting that Red was turning to the Helix Fossil for guidance, and began treating it (and Omanyte/Omastar) as religious figures. Similarly, the Dome Fossil is seen as a Satan figure, and Flareon (which was supposed to be a far more useful Vaporeon, but the stream messed up) is the 'False Prophet', as a couple of well-loved Pokemon got released around about that time.

You really couldn't make this up if you tried.
Funny I always picked out Dome for Kabuto/ps. They just lost too. How the hell did they make it this far anyway?
Yeah, I think the Helix being picked over the Dome Fossil was just luck of the draw. As for how they got this far, it's really quite astonishing. There's a lag of about 20 to 40 seconds between commands being input in chat and them going to the emulator, and the rate of commands given far outstrips the frame rate of the emulator, so most are ignored anyway. It largely came down to luck and the stream gradually co-ordinating itself to overcome challenges (for example, the Ledge: 9 steps to the right without pressing down took 17 hours to overcome, but overcome it, they did). That, and a lot of blacking out.

I suppose it helps that Pokemon is a game that you will eventually beat by beavering away at it, no matter how bad you are. Considering the save file has been running for well over 300 hours, I think progress has mostly come about by brute force =P
I think Twitch Pokemon may yet be the best argument to prove that the game is such an elementary kid's RPG that even a multi-polared hivemind can blunder its way through it. Eventually.
 

geK0

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Johnny Novgorod said:
I think Twitch Pokemon may yet be the best argument to prove that the game is such an elementary kid's RPG that even a multi-polared hivemind can blunder its way through it. Eventually.
It certainly has diminished any sense of accomplishment I've ever had in a Pokemon game.......
Although, I've never thought of it as a difficult game anyway, most of the fun is in the collecting and the link battles with friends. Also, using your guys from red/blue/yellow in Pokemon stadium is quite satisfying because THAT game is actually pretty damn difficult.
 

Leemaster777

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Just checked up on Twitch and they just started the Elite Four again.

I haven't been following this very closely, but I must admit, its both boring and fascinating at the same time. I wonder how much longer it'll take to beat the champ. Shouldn't be more than a day or two at their current rate.
 

TheNumber1Zero

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Somebody mind explaining the "Democracy - Anarchy" bar? Now I know, and knowing is the boring part.
Also how the hell are they beating Blue faster than I did?!
 

geK0

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TheNumber1Zero said:
Somebody mind explaining the "Democracy - Anarchy" bar?
Also how the hell are they beating Blue faster than I did?!
You vote for anarchy or democracy mode(which in itself is kind of ironic) in anarchy mode the game takes any chat message as input for the game, where in democracy mode it takes a poll of the most popular input selection . to be in democracy mode, at least 75% of the votes must be for democracy

The only issue with democracy mode is that it takes several seconds for each entry and makes the game feel sluggish. Also, a lot of the game's charm is from the fact that it's extremely chaotic, so a lot of people like anarchy mode.
 

Iwantstuff

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TheNumber1Zero said:
Somebody mind explaining the "Democracy - Anarchy" bar?
Also how the hell are they beating Blue faster than I did?!
By typing "Anarchy", you can make the bar move to the left. While the chat is in "Anarchy" mode, every command entered will be followed. By typing "Democracy" you'll move the bar right, an while in "Democracy" mode it will take a poll, and whichever command is used the most within a certain time frame will be chosen, and another poll will commence.

It took us about 10 minutes of walking around to get into Democracy, where it took another ten minutes to get Zapdos to the front of the party. Afterwards chat immediately dissolved into Anarchy where we switched out Zapdos in the middle of the fight and got most of our team wiped out.

But we HAVE made it to Lance using Zapdos, so I think we have a shot at beating the game within the next day.
 

EHKOS

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Someone should post their team. Or at least write a chronicle of the adventure. We should probably keep track for history's sake. Although I don't know why. The whole thing seems utterly moronic and amazingly awesome at the same time. I honestly have no idea how to feel about it.
 

tendaji

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EHKOS said:
Someone should post their team. Or at least write a chronicle of the adventure. We should probably keep track for history's sake. Although I don't know why. The whole thing seems utterly moronic and amazingly awesome at the same time. I honestly have no idea how to feel about it.
Here is just what you happen to be looking for. https://sites.google.com/site/twitchplayspokemonstatus/ All the major events are listed and the pokemon captured, released, etc also listed with time stamps.
 

Nymi

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EHKOS said:
The whole thing seems utterly moronic
Pretty much. I struggle to understand why half the internet has their knickers in a twist over random people playing Pokemon via Twitch. I mean, honestly, who gives a fuck? A lot of people, apparently. But I seriously don't get why. Play pokemon in a slower and more annoying way than if you just played it on your own, now on Twitch! What's the draw, exactly?