Will Patrick Klepek beat Dan Ryckert's SMM Challenge?

Man, people are taking this way too seriously. With that said, I hope Patrick smashes it with the greatest of ease.

I tried playing it. It's filled with music blocks. Fuck music blocks. Fuck Dan Ryckert.

edit: my vote is for Dan Ryckert

@lyrebird: Well that's good, as I was worried Patrick would spend most of his time stuck at a figurative brick wall, which would make for poor viewing. As long as there's some difficult platforming throughout, I imagine he'll die in a variety of ways even if he figures out what to do relatively quickly. Glad to hear there's a good amount of classic Dan trickery in there as well.

If Patrick is allowed to study it in the editor I'd say he has a shot. If not, no way. #TeamDan

@conmulligan: I'll hope he will not break and still keep humming his Mario Maker Morning song each stream when he tries to and hopefull beats it :)

I agree. I'm on #TeamPatrick, but after watching the playthrough posted earlier, I'm really not sure he'll be able to figure this out just doing a clean playthrough and not picking the level apart in the editor. In terms of execution, this level seems far easier than Spikeshoe Plains or the GB chat levels, but the "puzzles" are going to be extremely difficult to figure out.

Dan should stop trying to fix exploits, or else the level will never be finished.

I managed to skip the entire second half of the level where you need to backtrack for the POW Block. If you use the P-Switch in place of the POW Block at the end of the level, you can use that as your key to enter the door. When you step on a P-Switch there are a few frames where it acts as a platform. I've seen levels use these as platforms (for example, a P-Switch on a spike over a pit, so if you don't jump during those frames you'll hit the spike) and you can use this as a way to enter the door. So you could put the P-Switch on the spring and use it at the right moment to enter the door.

When Patrick left the last thing I expected was for him to turn into fucking Daniel Bryan against the Authority that is Dan Ryckert. This is all amazing

If you're going to post specifics about the level itself, please put it in a spoiler block for the benefit of those that want to go into Patrick's attempts clean and follow along with him.

Jesus I just watched that be played. Yeah, sorry Patrick is doomed. Dan is one crafty crafty sunnva gun.

Has anyone beat it without using level editor or other means I wonder, it seems like something you have to study and think your way out of, you are not giving many places to "stop" and look :)

I still cheer for Patrick but I wondered if Dan was the one playing the level without knowing it beforehand if he were able to do it. It's gonna be fun to watch for sure with Patrick.

https://www.gofundme.com/theryckoning

Here is the donation link if anyone here wants it.

Just watched, Patrick is toast. #TeamRyckert

Just watched SodiumEyes's run; Patrick is fucked

Also I'm surprised some of you guys didn't know that bob-ombs could destroy blue blocks! It gets used a lot in high-end expert levels

Just watched the run and it depends a lot on how well he knows the mechanics of World, I would say zero chance if he hadn't played GBlvl2.

I originally voted TeamPatrick, and I still hope he conquers Dan's level, but having watched that playthrough and knowing the time limit, I have doubts he will be able to.

Congrats to Dan on his win!

@elwood: I took it into the editor mostly to save time by seeing where the pipes and doors went. That just cuts down on the trial and error a bit. Even then knowing the path still took me quite a while to figure out how to execute it properly, and I had all but given up because a mechanic that I didn't know was even an option was standing between me and the ability to pull it all off (once certain tactics I had been using were "patched out").

It's really a fair level with all its cards exposed and on the table, with the exception of one little key component. Though had that mechanic been something I was familiar with going in it would have been much less of a struggle.

Long story short, a person could just as easily test the level the proper way and learn the same things I learned from the editor it would just take them longer.

#teamdan

Fuck Patrick

Any chance of this being live in the GB chat?

It only took me about two hours of trying to figure out that going underground is a waste of time and that my initial suspicion about the POW block and coins at the start of the level was probably correct. I still haven't managed to execute it though...I got as far as getting the P-switch a few times but died in stupid ways right after.

At least, I hope this path is not another dead end...but it sure seems like the only thing I haven't tried.

Unless Patrick gets stuck trying to figure out *how* to beat the level, I don't think there's enough of an execution barrier to stop him here. In fact, some parts of this are arguably forgiving.

@somethingclever: Ahh thx for that great to hear :)

I'm torn. Dan is a nightmare person, but his chosen charity is more personally important to me than Patrick's. Tough choice.

Can we get Patrick's stream and Dan watching it live on giantbomb.com/chat on Monday? Or at least Periscope.

alright so going through the level I gotta say im totally not a fan. its one of those things where you only are sure if you made the level or do A LOT of trial and error as most the strats to complete it are about going to things out of view. I do like all the misdirections.

anyway even more on #teampatrick than before

@vegoku: I think Patrick doesn't care really as he would rather figure out the level as intended and beat it that way. The level is just a big complicated puzzle with a a couple small sections of execution thrown in. I would rather the level be exploit free as possible just to see if Patrick can figure it out in time and do it. Think of it this way I would rather Patrick take the best Ryckert can throw at him and beat it than him exploiting it and it happening a week later.

No way is patrick gonna beat dan, dudes on a mission

Really hope Dan will take us through how he made the level and some of the design choices at some point. I love the idea for this whole thing, but half the fun of this stuff for me is seeing the monstrosity being built.

Team Scoops!!

Sorry Patrick, but you've got https://youtu.be/JMp8aDH8d9M?t=26s

Watching that playthrough again, I'd be surprised if Patrick makes it as far as getting that first p-switch.

Considering timezones and that patrick does it in the mornings I imagine dan will be tweeting about it. I hope we can at least get the stream in our chat though then maybe dan will be in the chat.

This is the greatest time in recent Giant Bomb history. I feel honored to have been around to witness this.

I just watched that playthrough, and now I'm doubting if Patrick will be able to pull it off. It doesn't seem especially hard, but it seems like there are a decent number of leaps of faith, and a specific order of execution that needs to be brute-forced (unless you examine it in the editor).

The big thing that stands out to me is, how did it take Dan 150+ attempts to upload it the first time if all the challenge is in the puzzle aspect, and the platforming is relatively standard?

I'm Team Patrick all the way. Having seen not just the way that he has approached the many Mario Maker levels he's played, but also games like Spelunky and Binding of Isaac, he has the right approach of breaking down and testing difficult sections in a game to advance. He's also pretty good at platforming. Given at least three segments of Mario Mornings (usually 45 minutes each), plus the possibility of some Mario Afternoon segments if he decides to add some additional time to his effort, he should have enough time to pass the level.

Now Patrick has run into Mario levels that have stumped him. "Suspicious Skyfort" is one, an elaborate puzzle level that he was slowly making progress on, but eventually put to the side because it was taking so long and these Rykert levels were incoming. Dan could find success emulating this level (and no, I'm not spoiling myself on his level until Patrick starts playing it), but just not sure how elaborate and obscure he wants to get with his own puzzles. The other was "The Underground Levels" which seemed simply unfair in its construction, requiring not so much skill on the part of the player as luck. As trolly as Dan can be, he and Jeff have repeatedly mentioned being "fair" in their level design, and this level is a good example of being unfair to the player. So Dan could take the approach of creating a level that requires players to basically brute force their way to victory, but I think he prefers challenging/trolly levels where if a player fails they feel that failure is on themselves, not on the level simply being unfair. Dan might be a monster, but he's not a "Castlevania level designer" monster.

I've been going back and forth on who I want to win this.

I admire weighing in on the topic while still trying not to be spoiled, but most of your comment doesn't really apply. His level is far more puzzly and open-ended and misdirecting than Suspicious Skyfort. That's why most people who have seen the level are calling it an uphill (we're talking 85 degrees, Mako going vertically up a mountain-uphill) battle for Patrick.

Dan Ryckert: Game Developer

I HOPE Patrick gets it, but after watching the vid, I just don't see it happening.

Everybody discounting Patrick, I watched the play through but he's a smart dude. Here's to having hope at least.

Patrick will prevail.

Also, Team Danvil, all the way. I feel my soul leaving my body as I say it but I love this heel.

I think a lot of it will depend on how seriously Patrick takes it/how much time he puts in. If he just does his normal 35-45 minutes in the morning stream for three days then I don't think there's any way he beats it. If he comes home from work and puts in an extra 2+ hours a day, then we've got a ballgame.

TeamDan, absolutely

Scoops all day, every day. Proved time and again over the years that when Patrick sets his mind to beating a video game, he gets his shit done.

Patrick Klepek made an update on his twitter:

My journey begins on Monday morning at 9:30 am EST. I have until Thursday morning at 9:30 am EST to finish it

to doubt patrick klepek is a fools errand

I tried to find a song with Patrick in the song title to show my support for teampatrick. This is what I found:

Some of the lyrics:

My name is Patrick and I live in the mountains

Outside Salinas, way up in the sky

My name is Patrick and the man who rides me

He feels what I feel

He thinks what I think

His touch goes down to my feet

Btw. the song is about a horse. I feel like that is important to point if anyone somehow still hadn't figured that out by now. Otherwise this would be a really weird song.

Actually thinking of this song in the context of this feud also makes it pretty weird. So if Patrick is the horse does that mean that Dan is the man riding the horse? I don't want to think about it anymore. Forget I ever brought it up! JUST FORGET IT ALRIGHT!

Hm, how much has the level changed? I was sure the goal was to take the trampoline through a pipe so you could spawn a second one. You should be able to keep the cape that way as well.

I didn't try it because he took it down again, and bunny-hopping through that tunnel four times seemed like a chore.

EDIT: Looks like it's still possible, actually, and way easier.