Toribash Blog

Archive for April, 2009

A new video from our current Wii build of Toribash.

Well, when I first applied to write about replays on a regular basis, I was excited. Then the overwhelming size of the endeavourer started to get to me. And finally Shook came along decided to post some replays after a bit of a break from posting, making my first review an easy, fun experience.
If you have been around the forums for even a little while like myself then chances are you have seen Shook around. Not only does he make some very nice replays, but a bit of forum digging showed me that he also makes mods and (if I am not way off) pixel art (smilies and such.). As far as I know though he is best known for his smooth, destructive, and stylish replays. His latest post of three is just a scratch on the surface, but it is what I am going to focus on. I looked into many of his previous replays however, and they are well worth a view.
The first replay “Class A – Raegtime amirite” (many of his replays are divided into class’ A B C and D, maybe more, I don’t know enough about it to say any more than that, though I am almost sure there was an explanation at one time or another.) Is a fluid, punch heavy, manipulation style replay. The first 170 or so frames are deceptively bland and disappointing, but from there things get excellent. The first hit is a punch to ukes central core, splitting him in half. Almost immediately following is another punch, this one decaping uke. About 70 frames later, by the time you think the replay is done and are satisfied that Shook has not lost his touch in his break, he springs up, in a near falcon punch way, breaking ukes hovering torso in two and grabbing the left arm. He then quickly swings the arm to his left left and proceeds to shatter it into three pieces with one kick. To top it off he finishes the replay on his feet, always a good way to end. 9/10.
The second replay I will review is actually in another post. It is called “class A – More or less whirly” and while it doesn’t stand out as much as the other two, is still a damn fine piece of Toribash. The replay opens with him collapsing in a limp manner so that his left foot is under his body. At about 150 frames in he uses this foot to sping him forward, then clip Ukes shoulder with his right foot, and knock off his head with the left, maintaining the forward/spinning momentum throughout the replay and ending, again, on his feet after a nice little flip. 7/10
The last replay is called “Class A – That looked fatal to me”. This time tori and Uke are start the match at what I am guessing is about a 700 Engage distance. The first 200 frames are calm and we see Tori simply lean forward, mostly relaxed (almost always a sign of good things to come.) At about frame 300 though Shook begins what would amount to a run in a higher gravity, but here only hits ground one time and ends up being more of a very nice forward jump. The first hit is a smashing kick that removes Ukes Lumbar and Lumbar block. Just before Ukes upperhalf flys away, it is quickly snatched and lowered into huge boom hit that breaks it into four pieces. From there Tori gracefully jumps out of the way, the match ends with him still in mid flight, but in the end he lands on one leg and one arm, being balanced until its over. 9/10.
What makes Shook’s replays so good, and is apparent to anyone who has made a good amount of replays themselves, is that it is obvious he spent time on making them. It is clear as you watch that he has a natural feel for how the games physics work, and working with that he is able to make some of the most stylish replays on “the game” right now. So many people simply let their Tori flop at the end, or post replays where they self DM, and while this doesn’t necessarily make a replay bad, it does give off a feeling of lazyness.
Which brings me to our next topic, I have named it the “weekly why the fuck did you post that?” and it will be set up to not only vent frustration over bad replays being posted, but more importantly it will give the poster advice on how to improve.
The first winner of this “>honor” is Boomshot, for his replay “Bitch-slapped to over 170k damadge”. Now, to be fair, Boomshot is very new to the game. I know all too well what it is like to just start playing and think your replays are THE SHIT!!1!. However, Boomshot decided to go the extra mile and say “watch and learn” in his post, and premptivly answer the questions of “OMG how did you doooo that?!? that never came because everyone knows how he did it. Also, he used triggerhappy, a smiley reserved for only the most epic of things, despite being 99% used for terrible things. The replay consists of Tori grabbing Ukes head, he then uses his other arm to “slap” the haead, all the while slowly falling to the ground in hold all. When all is said and done Uke and Tori are laying stiffly on the floor and Boomshot managed to break 170k. So seriously, Boomshot, why the fuck did you post that? I know you are new, and I know you may not have ever watched the default replays where Ukes heas is grabbed and released quickly and the score is much higher than the one you got, but seriously, why? The biggest mistake new people make is to just assume that everyone will be blown away by a replay you spent 2 minutes on and amounts to absolutely no skill. But the fact is no body is impressed by that, even other new people. So my advice to you Boomshot, and all other new people, is to lurk “the game” before you post. Download some replays that get really high ratings, become familiar with the sort of thing that people like to see, and only post if you think you have come close to it. To make it short, try and meet the minimum standards befor you go showing all your ub3r 1337 tutorial decap, we have all done that exact same decap, and don’t need to see it again, and we could all easily do the “bitch slapping” in this replay, so by posting it you are only opening yourself up to flames and wasting space on the forums. Keep practicing Boomshot, keep practicing.

All in alll,

Deady

Welcome to the first Toriblog Video Review. This week, we take a look at the Sigma Clan Video.

Let’s start off with a little background information, shall we? The video was created by Warcry over the course of almost 3 solid days of work. Over 120 replays were submitted, and it shows… This video is extremely long, too long in my opinion.

I’m going to simplify the review and make a list of the good AND bad parts of the video.

Good: The shader used in the video is pretty awesome, it suits the music well. A seekrit source of mine has even hinted that Warcry is planning on selling the shader.

Good It was nice to hear something other than techno in a video. Seeing video after video with the same old techno/metal gets a bit old, this was a nice change of pace.

Bad/Good: The music syncing could be better, the boomhits and dismembers do correspond to the drumbeat, but there is just something off about the sync, I can’t put my finger on it, but it seems off.

Bad: I really have an issue with gratuity, and lack thereof. Some of the segments in the video have upwards of five replays, while others have only one. Hell, the name flamey bit is longer than some people’s segments.

Bad: The length, oh god the length… Almost six minutes, it’s gratuitous and it gets a little boring. Having three second long intros for everyone didn’t help, nor did having one of the longest intros I have ever seen (the very beginning), both of these contributed to the monstrous length.

Overall Score: 6.5/10
I’m going to give Warcry the benefit of the doubt on this one. It’s his first video and he tried, the length comes with the territory, [Sigma] is a big clan. The fact that the video was a nice change of pace, slower song and darker feel, contributed greatly to the overall score. Good luck on the next one Warcry.

Download Link

YouTube Link

We have all, in recent weeks, become familiar with the new sensation that is Baby Tori. Displaying incredible feats of courage, agility, and leadership, Baby Tori has tugged at the heart strings of even the most harden Toribashians. Yet in the back of our minds, we have all wondered one thing: where on Hampa’s green Earth did that little guy come from? Well, we here at the Toribash Blog wanted to know that very same question. Be warned, the results of our search may be shocking, and should not be viewed by the faint of heart.

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The league got off to a start three weeks ago. In the opening round, nine clans received the full three points for their wins. Six clans were awarded one point for their loss, and the remaining five who failed to show up received no points at all. At the end of the second round, the number of leading clans was cut down to four. Alpha, Hack, RelaxAll and spirit received another 3 points, which meant all four clans had received maximum tournament points and kept their winning streak, while the four clans at the opposite end of the table had been eliminated. In the third round, RelaxAll and Hack won their matches which meant they were both tied in first place with 9 points, and another 4 clans were eliminated. The action is getting more intense each week! Which clan is going to take first place? Who’s going to keep the undefeated streak? RelaxAll vs. Hack, amongst other big matches, this Saturday!

You can see all details on the clan league here.

-2Bash