No Gems: The Second Compilation (1. Marble Blast Gold) —
After 11 months, I have finished the second compilation of No Gems videos. Here, you will see the first video of the compilation. (Apparently I'm still limited to 15 minute videos. That will give I think 5 parts (MBG, MBP Beg/Int, MBP Adv, MBP Exp, Bloopers + alternate paths.)
In this video you'll see many new paths and for the levels that kept the same path from NGC 1, a healthy speed increase. You also get to see the current Leap of Faith (With Gems) World Record, as the path is the same as the best No Gems path.
When I mentioned that my trailer was made in the style of the MBG WRR2 final trailer, that was a subtle hint to the composition of the videos (not counting the short clip of Platform Mayhem). I purposely used videos of runs that were already beaten or would be beaten in the trailer. You can see the improved run of Money Tree in this video, and improved runs of the other levels in the next videos. (Unfortunately, my plan backfired slightly, I wasn't able to beat my Skyscraper time (the new path proved harder than expected).)
Comments on some of the runs:
Marble Materials Lab: I shaved off 0.03 by not turning the camera at all (after the initial turn) for the entirety of the run.
Tri Twist: This path was surprisingly hard to do, the alignment has to be close otherwise you will miss the finish one way or another.
Marbletris: Surprisingly, I found out that using the Super Speed is actually faster (0.06-ish) than using the Super Bounce to go directly to the finish.
Marble Playground: One of my favorite MBG No Gems paths. I attempted it for the NGC 1 but wasn't able to (I had bloopers though). The start is a little slow because that gives me better control over the marble at the Super Speed part than with a perfect start. It's 0.2 seconds faster than the direct path, which just goes to show that sometimes a long way is the faster way.
Take the High Road (2.41, there's a mistake in the caption): This level was very annoying because you have to get the alignment perfect for a 2.41 (I got the time twice, once when not recording).
Money Tree: Awesome traplaunch because it pushed me towards the finish not away from or straight up like most traplaunches from that point.
Leap of Faith: I used my MBG recording and removed the gem from the level. I have a delayed start because that puts the marble where it needs to be for the rest of the level. When I hit the bottom platform I hit it away from the edge. That's very rare because usually I hit it on or close to the far trim (if I hit it) or miss it completely (much more common).
Stepping Stones: There's a path for this level which involves a delayed start and an edge hit on the second stepping stone. It is probably faster than the start pad trick path but it's surprisingly extremely hard to do (I only got it once, for a 1.84).
Skyscraper: This is a great run; it's the best TT catch I ever got using this path. But the best path is one of two 4.xx paths. They each involve getting the TTs first, then the Super Jump, then quickly get to one of the two available trap locations (more information in the bloopers and alternate paths video) and then trap to the finish. Either trap is very hard, I've only gotten to the finish once per location, and neither of them were in a real run.
Escher's Race: Notice the hard (as in opposite of soft not opposite of easy) edge hit? That saves ~0.04 second.
Will o' Wisp: This path is a product of some path exploration I did early on in the making of this compilation. Originally I could get the TT at 8.7-8.9 (I had a final time 9.16 run), but I retried it at the end (this was the last run I did for NGC 2) and found a tweak at the Gyrocopter part (and improved the part before it) so I could get the TT at 8.2-8.4.
Siege: There are two types of launches that are good for this path: the launch that gets 5.2-5.3 and the launch that gets 4.7-4.9. The problem with the latter type of launch is that you don't have much room to spin the marble back and so what happens if you even get to the TTs is that you get knocked off one way or another. I had two ways of overcoming that problem: edge-hit and try to stay on the TT part, or spin towards the 2nd TT so that the marble hits both TTs, falls off, and then try to get to the launcher as quickly as possible. This run is special because I didn't need either tweak, I was bumped up at an angle closer to the TTs than usual.
Acrobat: The other level of precise alignment. Even with a Super Speed generous space to finish, it's surprisingly hard to get the precise positioning required to finish. Here I also used only forward and backward where possible, because if I'd use left or right at the launch, I would Super Speed at some unpredictable angle.
Mudslide: The bumper hit was unexpected, but it looks to save at least 0.02 over just the edge hit.
Pipe Dreams: Had this path idea for a while but only recently got to doing it. The edge hit can go lower too, and even into the second tube.
Daedalus: Another of my favorite No Gems paths. The coolest thing about this path is that I go outside the level right after getting the first TT. I wonder if this path can be extended for a With Gems run without the time restarting.
Icarus: This level seems to have something against me because I've tried the mid-5 path (same as the one you see plus a Super Bounce at the edge hit) for hours for both compilations, without success (but I have close misses). Couldn't get sub-6 on video with this path either, but at least it's an improvement over the NGC 1 video (6.08).
Songs:
Nightwish - FantasMic
Nightwish - End of All Hope
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Q&A regarding No Gems: The Second Compilation
Q: Why did you decide to make a second No Gems compilation?
A: The first one was getting rather long in the tooth, especially because many of the long levels were not done particularly well.
Q: When did you start and finish the No Gems compilation?
A: I started on October 8, 2010 with a recording of Battlecube (2.66) (which was beaten since then). I officially finished on September 6, 2011 (11 months later) with a recording of Marble Playground (3.87), but I did a few runs afterwards, my actual final run was Will o’ Wisp (8.43) on September 9, 2011.
Q: 11 months, why such a long time?
A: I had schoolwork and other things which meant I couldn’t spend a lot of time per week on average on the NGC 2. Also, I wanted to still have ample time to work on the levels (the NGC 1 was a bit rushed).
Q: Why did you make a No Gems compilation to begin with?
A: No Gems makes levels shorter, simpler, and easier to do. At the time I made my first No Gems compilation, using No Gems was the only way I could do a compilation of most of the Marble Blast Platinum levels.
Q: Doesn’t removing all the gems from a level make the level really easy?
A: Depends on the level. Levels with the finish pad right next to the start pad obviously become trivial. Many levels end up at an easy to moderate difficulty range, in that they are easier than the levels with gems but aren’t so easy it’s boring or IC-dependent. There isn’t a level where the best No Gems path I know of is definitely harder than the With Gems WR path, but some paths (Skyscraper and Icarus, maybe some others too) are very hard. Skyscraper I’ve spent 6 hours or so on the 4.xx path without success, and Icarus I’ve spent over 10 hours on the mid-5 path with the same lack of result. Leap of Faith and Despair use the same paths for both No Gems and With Gems.
Q: Is this compilation a WR Rampage?
A: No, it’s not designed to be a WR Rampage (except for the Leap of Faith run for the MBG WRR3—that’s why that run is in MBG), and it isn’t. A WR Rampage has higher standards of run that this compilation lacks. The NGC 2 is meant to be a full compilation video showing paths and runs of levels done without gems.
Q: Okay then, are the runs all PRs at least?
A: Most of the runs are personal records, but not all of them. For example, I didn’t bother to match PRs on the numerous IC levels in the compilation, because not only might I not be able to hit PR with the PC I’m using, but even if I did, it wouldn’t really make the run any more enjoyable to watch. The only non-PR worth mentioning is Icarus (6.03), the PR is 5.94 (same path).
Q: How many runs from the NGC 1 did you beat?
A: Most of them; all runs with the grey/rainbow striped marble and black and blue marble were made after NGC 1. The runs from NGC 1 that aren’t for IC levels or Tunnel Vision that I didn’t beat are Skate Park (2.79), Pinball Wizard (1.57), and Arch Acropolis (2.52).
Q: Why do you have 5 different marble skins?
A: I change marble skins each year (I don’t replace one skin with another, I keep the old skin, put the new skin on a different default marble, and switch to that marble), so I have a high-level visual record of what run was done when.
Default MBG marble: MBG on Mac, January 2005 - Q1 2006, March/April 2008 - current
Rainbow marble: October 2008 - June 2009
White marble: June 2009 - August 2010
Grey and rainbow striped marble: August 2010 - August 2011
Black and blue marble: August 2011 - current
Q: Why did you do some runs on the Mac?
A: I did a few runs on my Mac (you can identify them from the lower (1152x720 vs. 1280x720) resolution, lower frame rate, and frame counter on the bottom left) because MBP on it has better camera turning (with the right display settings) than the PC (Eye of the Storm and Michael’s Final Adventure necessitated it). In Bouncing Fun on the PC, there was a weird lag at the first Helicopter part which doesn’t happen on the Mac. Siege I used MBG on my Mac since that is the only configuration I have access to that can do that path.
Q: Did you find all the paths yourself?
A: Since I’m the only one who has done a large No Gems compilation, I by necessity found most of the nontrivial paths. However, there are some that aren’t mine, such as Acrobat, Pathways, Rolling to Eternity, and Speed Attack.
Q: Which level had the most path changes?
A: Counting both NGCs, it would be Catwalks. There was the first path I used to finish the level without diamonds, and then 6 new paths / large tweaks afterwards. A number of other levels have 5 new paths.
The average number of path and large tweak changes across both compilations is MBG Beg/Int: 0.95, Adv: 1.82, MBP Beg/Int: 1.44, MBP Adv/Exp: 2.24.
Q: What’s a “large tweak”?
A: I divide paths and tweaks into three major types. I haven’t precisely defined the divisions between the types (yet), but it goes something like this.
1. Path (or large path): A significant change in how the level is played.
2. Large tweak: Most of the same general route, but a significant change in form within or related to the route.
3. Tweak (or small tweak): A minor change that affects only a small portion of the route.
Example 1: Ramp Matrix (with gems). Old 20 second path to newer 19 second path: New path. Newer 19 second path + Super Jump trim hit: Large tweak. Ending jump tweak: Small tweak.
Example 2: Icarus (no gems). 5.9-6.1 second edge hit path + Super Bounce on edge hit: Large tweak. Change to 6 second edge hit path on the other side of the level: New path. Change the start jump pattern: Small tweak (could be large tweak if it makes a significant difference later in the path).
The divisions also depend on the size of the path, so changing the start pattern on an IC level could be considered a new path, but wouldn’t even be considered a small tweak on a long level.
Q: Why are the light greens in the video (and to a lesser extent, everything else) so bright?
A: Apparently, a side effect of FRAPS (on the computer I use at least) and the export process. (This shows up in my other videos too.) I can’t change the brightness/color too much without making the colors wonky.
Q: Why didn’t you do MBP Director’s Cut or custom levels? Your first No Gems compilation did.
A: I didn’t do those sets of levels because I didn’t want to work on too many levels.
Q: Are you going to make No Gems compilations of other mods?
A: I am planning a No Gems compilation for Marble Blast Advanced, which won’t be released earlier than January 2012.
Q: Are you planning to make a third No Gems compilation?
A: I have no plans for one. What’s more likely is a few occasional No Gems videos with improved runs, since any improvements now are likely to be quite incremental over time. (After the NGC 1, I planned to make a number of runs 4-5 months after the release of NGC 1, but that plan never came to fruition. ~9 months after that, I evidently made a new plan to just make a new compilation.)
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