iMacmatician's videos

Here's a quote from me when i first saw this video.

"This guy's a freak of nature."
Seriously, your skill level is indescribably good.
Slalom was...Just, wow.
And, I thought I had one of the best times out there on block chaos and it wasn't played much. Your path totally demolished mine. My best is 56.xx or 57.xx.
Keep it up, Imac.

[MBU in MBP] Some paths



MBUsers and MBPlayers come together in Marble Blast Platinum 1.50 (RC 1)'s Marble Blast Ultra levels! This video shows some paths, most of which I haven't seen before. Due to the differences between games, I suspect that most of them were already thought of in MBU but are not used because they are not possible in MBU (like Hop Skip and a Jump). Also, not all of these paths are top time paths, but none of them are particularly challenging.

Platform Party: The "blast before the edge hit" path used in MBP with Ultra Blast can also be done in MBU in MBP.

Early Frost: The obvious path but I think I hit the edge of the bumper giving more speed towards the goal.

Duality: I tried finishing it the MBU way but the blast takes a bit too long to recharge to finish in a fast time.

Sledding: Note that I jump on a different place after the 3rd gem catch than in the usual run of this path. This (unintended) tweak seems to save 0.3 second or so.

Fork in the Road: Since this level is smaller than MBG's Spork in the Road and the MBU path already finishes before the time restarts, I wondered if, with additional speed, I could skip the Gyrocopter (which requires more time afterwards) and still finish.

Hop Skip and a Jump: This path is derived from a path used in MBG (different start and obviously no blast) that I tried many years ago. It doesn't save time in MBG (actually gets a fairly high time) but in MBU in MBP, it gives a good time (I don't actually know if it saves any time over a well-placed edge hit, if you want to compare, the time you see here is basically my best run of this path).

King of the Mountain: I think this tweak saves about a second over the regular path. The edge hit isn't optimal and my 5.3x in MBP is done with a finish on the right side of the finish pad (which is faster). I wonder if it can be done in MBG, if so, it would be slower because the blast allows the marble to get a lower angle (toward the finish) than otherwise.

Schadenfreude: I remember two times I successfully did the 2 edge hit variant of the 25-second path. The first was in 2009 or something for 25-26 seconds (can't remember) and the second was last year for 24.6x seconds (I think). MBU in MBP's larger marble makes edge hits in this level much easier.
(Also: someone try the 3 second path for this level.)

Thanks to JRONI and his "Who cares anymore..." video which, in addition to being my favorite MBU video, inspired the creation of this one.

Song: Blood Red Shoes - It's Getting Boring by the Sea.

Awesome paths and a great video! I still want to see what your pitfalls path is...

That was unbelievable!!!

RadiantVibe wrote: Awesome paths and a great video! I still want to see what your pitfalls path is...

My Pitfalls path is just the usual path, no edge hits or other tricks.

Brilliant tweak on KOTM! Fun to see somebody rampaging through the MBU levels for a change

That was awesome, thanks so much for the video!

Here's a double video special!

Marble Blast Levels: 33



I originally planned to upload MBL: 33 and MBL: 34 last month, but I had some issues with iMovie which were only fixed recently. Fun fact, MBL: 34 was finished first (read the notes for the reason why). It wasn't uploaded earlier because although it didn't suffer from the iMovie issues, MBL: 33 did and I wasn't going to upload 34 before 33.

Notes:

Diamond Round-Up: I was able to pull off the edge hit path.

Learn the Wall-Hit: More optimized compared to my previous 11.73 run.

King of the Marble: I tried the WR path for this level. It's quite fun to do.

Ramps: None.

Basic Agility Course: None.

Cyclone Launch: None.

NëonTech: The old WR path for this level.

Perilous Road: None.

Platform Race 2: Recall my 1:10 run in MBL 11. For some reason, I cannot seem to traplaunch to the same height as on that run, but I was still able to do the paths that I wanted. I got a 1:06 and had the videos for MBL: 33 and 34 completed when I thought of the new ending, which saves around 7 seconds.

Treacherous Path: I hit the nuke differently the second time so I don't hit the trapdoors.

Songs: Red - Run and Escape and My Chemical Romance - Fake Your Death

Marble Blast Levels: 34



I plan to include Marble Blast Ultra in Platinum levels in future Marble Blast Levels series.

Notes:

Learning to Roll: None.

Gem Collection: For some reason, I can't seem to get 2.370 while using screen recording software. I achieved 2.370 three times without recording and two of them finished successfully, but while recording I was only able to get 2.372.

Frictional Concerns: This run was the best I got using the ice wall-hit path.

First Flight: None.

Pitfalls: None.

Winding Road: I use the checkpoint restart tweak to improve my time.

Points of the Compass: I use the same tweak as above. I also found that if one hits the side of the last checkpoint, one rebounds quickly to the finish, but I didn't get that in a successful run.

Fork in the Road: A tweak to improve my time over my previous run.

Great Divide: None.

Black Diamond: I really enjoyed this path, especially when I can go really fast down the slopes. I tried Adustalarm's path tweak for ~0.5 faster, but I couldn't do it. Maybe I'll try again later.

(I think he has two tweaks, neither of which I can do, but the one I'm talking about is the one where you can get to the first Time Modifier in one fewer bounce than usual.)

Spelunking: You saw Winding Road and Points of the Compass, didn't you?

Slick Slide: None.

Ordeal: No matter what I tried I could not get to the edge before the block reaches it. I have to time my run so that I get to it shortly after the block. At least I can save the blast.

Song: Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars

Nadir [ice] (217, 222, 243)



So I've been trying these multiplayer maps for some time to get more practice at the gem collection game mode.

Here are three runs of Nadir, one of my favorite maps. I have added annotations because they should be easier for you to keep track of (there are few big divisions in the video, unlike in a Marble Blast Levels video where the different levels form the divisions).

In all three runs, I make lots of mistakes, which makes sense because this map is like a 4:30 long level with over a hundred gems, most of which I don't know the positions of until shortly before I get them. Thus multiplayer maps can be considered the opposite of a short level with a well optimized path. Still, I like playing in this mode, and it lets me practice on some types of moves and improve my reliability on them.

Another note: I spent about 2 hours recording to get these three runs.

Songs: From that CD.

Wow, u have pretty great mp stuff already! I understand what u were saying about getting used to the spawns, but nice job! Or should I say... Ice job
Maybe when my wrist is better we could 1v1 a little!

I think that's a good idea, mathmusicandmarbleblast. I'll get some more practice in over the next month.

In the meantime…

Skyscraper (23.229)



Since my Skyscraper run got beaten there is no reason to not upload this video.

Notes: I overshot the ending, so I hit the finish sign. But comparing this run with my earlier 23.435 shows that this "mistake" didn't actually waste time. Granted, the ending in the 23.435 was a bit slow.

Song: Taylor Swift - 22, which is appropriate since I turned 22 on the day that this run was recorded.

Happy birthday, iMacmatician!

CheepFishMBP wrote: Happy birthday, iMacmatician!

Uh, it's technically belated since his birthday is on August 18th.

And I see that iMacmatician (iceMacmatician for Winterfest) is uploading videos more frequently.

No Jumping: 8



Ever since No Jumping: 7, I had thought about No Jumping: 8. My question was the following: "How could I top No Jumping: 7?"

NJ: 7 was my favorite No Jumping video at the time (with No Jumping: 2 a close second). Not long after its release, I thought of a 1 Jump path for Mountaintop Retreat and a No Jumping path for Perilous Road. Also I thought of the creativity in my NJ: 7 Technoropes and Spin Practice paths and that some players such as Oaky made great videos of fairly long and complex levels many years ago. These paths inspired me to make NJ: 8 a video containing many long (by my standards) and difficult paths.

For various reasons, NJ: 8 was delayed from early 2013 to August 2013 to 2014/2015 to August 2015. But development went faster than expected during winter break 2014/2015 (December/January) (and I scaled back some unreasonable expectations), so I pulled up the release date to February/March 2015. For this video, the levels are not in game order, but are roughly ordered by the quantity and quality of tricks, techniques, and creativity in the paths used.

I will release a Bloopers + Alternate Paths video next month.

Also, I am announcing the No Jumping World Record Rampage, with details in a thread on the Marble Blast Forums that I will post shortly. The NJWRR was first thought of while NJ: 8 was in progress, and I didn't want to announce the NJWRR but at the same time hide my times and paths for NJ: 8.

Notes:

Pink-Fold Maze: You could go similarly to the 8.xx With Jumping path and get a 9.xx, but this tweak is faster when No Jumping.

Spork in the Road: Back in 2008, I saw an old video of No Jumping Spork in the Road where the No Jumping time was faster than my best With Jumping time at the time.

Triple Decker: There’s another path that can go sub-26 but it’s very hard to do right. 

Take a Stroll...: A different trim pattern that is faster than my previous run.

Divergence: None.

Twisting the Night away [1 jump]: You have to be very quick from the last gem to the finish to avoid getting knocked out by the moving blocker.

Grand Finale: I was much more aggressive overall than in the 39.944 run. I didn’t quite get the speed right on the “catching the Super Jump” part, but the rest of the run made up for it.

Convoluted Helix: None.

Marble Playground: None.

Learn the Friction!: None.

Ramps Reloaded: Tightened the Speed Boost part and got a faster and smoother finish. I have also beaten the original 15 second Gold Time for this level without jumping.

Basic Agility Course: I had an edge hit path (edge hit before the 9th gem, collect the 9th gem on the rebound, and then get to the TM platform on the second rebound), but this path is just as fast and so much easier.
Question: The ending of this path is taken from which of my earlier videos?

Tube Treasure: The ending was really slow but I had a surprisingly fast run around the 8th gem so I was cautious.

Orange-Fold Maze: One of my favorite paths in No Jumping: 8. Like many other No Jumping paths, this path can’t be done much better with jumping.

Tri Twist: You can hit the 5th gem directly, but that didn't happen in this run.

Powerup Practice: None.

Diamond Seeking Fun!: This run has, unintentionally, a faster tweak to the first diamond.

Combo Course: None.

Slip 'n Slide: Bumper edge-hit combo! The resulting launch kinda looks like one from a traplaunch, don't you think?

Bumper Training: That third edge hit was not planned and looks to be very hard to do deliberately.

Swivel: So the ending is still botched but the loop exit itself is 100% more awesome. It’s a tricky loop exit that includes a wall-hit on a pole, but in return it shoots the marble closer to the finish than most other loop exits (also see the MBP WRR2 run of this level). 

Marble Agility Course: I got all 4 gems in the "jump through the holes on the right side of the level" part in two tries, which is one fewer than usual.

Thief: I was a bit surprised at how closely one can follow the old WR path for this level. IN retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

Will o' Wisp: This path is 45% stolen from KidPlayer, 45% stolen from the MBG WRR3 path, 5% semi-inspired by Woody's start for the MBU level, and 5% putting all that together.

Treacherous Path [1 jump]: A few path tweaks enable me to finish before the time restarts. I think it’s also possible to not have to restart immediately after the 10 second TM, so one can do it using the .rec. I think that if you do the path fast enough, you won’t need the Speed Boost TM.

Whirl: Totally new path and I like it. As of NJ: 8, this level will have had 4 different No Jumping runs uploaded to YouTube (22.xx, 19.xx, 16.66, 15.09) and will be one of my most updated levels among all my videos.

Perplexingness: Really cool path, note that the slope of the end pad is necessary here.

Platform Race 2: I don’t think the WRR2 path is possible No Jumping. This path is even faster than the WRRU path. My thoughts when doing the ending: 1. “Yeah this probably doesn’t have enough height to get to the finish.” 2. “But I’ll take this run to the end.” 3. “Wow, I actually made it!”

Skill Zone: One can also double Speed Boost before the first edge hit, but that's unnecessary although it might save a tiny bit of time. The Random Force part is harder than it looks.

Pathways: So I had a 23.891 .rec which failed…. I spent 1:10 hours more than I should have, and to end with a worse time. In some senses, the third edge hit is “easier” here than in the With Jumping path. As long as you get to the moving platform in time you are likely to get times within 0.4 second of each other. That’s not the case for the With Jumping path. 

Gauntlet: I wonder if one can edge hit on the platform with the moving blockers to get to the Jump Boosts on the orange steps. I think I would have to get to the second step in order for this potential path to be faster than the existing path.

Mountaintop Retreat: This path was one of the paths that inspired me to make the NJ: 8 that you see now. (I would make NJ: 8 regardless because it’s part of an ongoing series, but if it weren't for paths like this it would look different.) Originally that path was a 1 jump path and I didn't think that No Jumping was possible, but after reading some posts on these forums I reconsidered and got a similar No Jumping path. There is another edge hit that I didn't do, and with it, this level can go sub-16 easily.

Perilous Road: I DIDN'T MESS UP THE EDGE HIT + SPEED BOOST!! I also found out that the first path (you'll see it in the Bloopers + Alternate Paths video, it was another path that inspired me to make this NJ: isn’t possible since it misses one gem, but a modification of it (which makes it even harder) is. But the modified first path is only 15 seconds faster than the easier path. P.S. I always miss the TMs on the ice. I don’t really worry about them.

Darwin's Dilemma: My old (2009-2010) 3 second path for Darwin’s Dilemma is resurrected here! Unfortunately the last part of the run is quite slow so I got 13 seconds instead of the expected 12 seconds. Acceptable because the TT edge hit is a major PITA (4 successful edge hits + TT catches in 1 hour!).

NeonTech: This path requires many edge hits and is quite tricky. I think it's also a very nice path. You can actually get the gem on the first edge hit, but it's very hard to do (I only got it about 3 times).

Bonus level: The final time really doesn’t matter. When you watch the run, you’ll know why.
Bonus question: Which level has a final time, visible in this video, that is faster than my (previous) best With Jumping time for that level?

Songs:
America - Sister Golden Hair
And Then There Were None - Reinventing Robert Cohn
Deas Vail - Under Our Skin
Nightwish - Dark Chest of Wonders
Thousand Foot Krutch - Untraveled Road
My Chemical Romance - Dead!
Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life
Fall Out Boy - Thnks fr th Mmrs

Didn't watch the whole video yet, but I have a question: Did you mean no jumping WRR or no gems WRR?

It's No Jumping. Apologies for the typo. (The "NJWRR" is correct though.)

Awesome video! And I like the idea of doing a No Jumping WRR.

I already knew about it, but excited for the NJWRR! I'll definitely be participating

Ramps Reloaded under 15 seconds. Screw you for being able to beat the impossible without even jumping.
Darwin's Dilemma was ridiculous.

No wait, everything is. And I cannot call hacks because it is damn legitimate.

Liked, favorited and made a second youtube account to subscribe.

Hahahaha loved that comment Matan. Yea he almost beat my best time on RR WITH jumping.
I can't say anything else really, whatever I wanted to say is on my essay on youtube. Don't worry I used double spacing and references

No Jumping 8: Bloopers



Matan: "I cannot fathom how and why he comes up with this, the sheer hours of time spent creating these beautifully executed pathways or the various ways iMac had probably been able to swear, probably making new curse words on the go."

Here is a sample of my failed attempts at some of the paths in No Jumping: 8.

Due to the song, I have only included bloopers here. Alternate paths will be in another video.

Song: HOLYCHILD - Running Behind.

Marble Blast Levels: 35



This video consists entirely of regular MBG and MBP levels, and there's not a whole lot to say.

Michael's Adventure: MBP: Many years ago, I often tried to get a low time without collecting any TMs. My best time was a 11.6x using a very lucky hit on the trapdoor. It took me a surprisingly long time to get lower.

Strategy Climb: I can't quite do the rebound to the finish tweak, but during my attempts I managed to get this very lucky save.

Michael's Final Adventure: My two previously uploaded runs of this level feature the time restarting before I can get to another TM. That doesn't happen here thanks to a change in the tweaks I use following the first TM catch.

Songs: Demon Hunter - The Heart of a Graveyard, Fireflight - Safety, Red - Darkest Part.

Those pathways were EPIC! Keep up the excellent work!