Will Patrick Klepek beat Dan Ryckert's SMM Challenge?

@jellybones said:

I just beat it (seems I'm #20). I didn't see the previous version(s) so not sure how much it changed, but on my path getting a trampoline was pretty much the final step. I only screwed up once after that point. Will have to watch others' videos to see if I did things differently. Be warned all these spoilers are for the currently uploaded level.

Also, I only had a cape for about 20 seconds and it seemed like this was by design. The only part I'm not sure I did the expected way was that I was "super" when I reached the very end. I suspect this wasn't the plan because it makes the 2nd P-switch irrelevant (though I did get it)...I thought being super was necessary to get the trampoline so came up with a strategy to achieve it, but maybe it just makes that part easier (or I missed a better way to do it). Other than that, I was always small in the tunnel so the only "chore" part of it was jumping back into the right side of it which usually took a few attempts. I suspect the tunnel has changed from what you're talking about...I don't think it's possible to get through if you enter it while big.

EDIT: I watched the stream linked previously in this thread. I did it basically the same way except for the difference mentioned above...which required less timing IMO but also was harder to set up. I came up with this without looking at the editor (I did get lucky that I tried the correct door at the end first)...it's pretty fair given that you're expecting there to be dead ends / troll pipes etc. As long as you know that you can fly with the cape (and also the stand-on-POW-block trick, which I didn't know before GB Level 2) I feel like the hints to the right path are present in the level.

Specifically:

All told this level took me about 6 hours of actual playtime to beat (note-blocks are the number one killer for me), but about 15 hours of real-world time since I had to put it down several times (which helped work through what possibilities I hadn't been trying). My successful run was near the beginning of a fresh session this morning.

I think Patrick has a chance (he solved GB level 2 way faster than I did, and I think he's less sloppy with platforming than me), but only if he puts some solid time in to methodically rule out all the dead end paths.

Some people just want to watch the world burn (aka. Dan Rykert)... Smh.....

Let's go #TeamPatrick!

@quantris: You can't keep the cape anymore, but yes, I'm saying if you take the trampoline through the pipe and back out, then grab the star and kill the dry bones with that, the bullet bill launcher will give you a second trampoline.

@jellybones: That almost seems like an unintended bug in the game itself, but a lot of the stuff with carrying items through screen transitions seems a bit weird.

Having now seen a play through of the level, dear good lord I don't see how Patrick will do it without looking at it in the editor first. I think Dan's got this in the bag.

This level is horrible and I'm 90% sure patrick won't be able to beat it without looking stuff up. #TeamDan

There is no way to cram even a tenth the amount of pipes for that combination into the game.

A long elaborate dead end is exactly like a normal level becouse you have limited space to work with. If you make a long dead end well then when Patrick finally power through it he just has the other path (the remaining space) left to go and so he would even if it wasnt a dead end becouse then he would just continue instead of restart and go the other path.

Nice. If I had tried that probably would have beaten it last night, but by the time I discovered the trampoline, I had already written off the underground. And formulated a strategy assuming that after killing the dry bones, that launcher would stick around for when I returned with the POW block (sadly untrue, but fixable). I guess that dry bones killed by goomba throw will return if you go through pipes, but ones you jump on will return if you go far away enough (weird).

Theoretically Dan could have just made it impossible to get back out of the underground, but I hope he leaves the level as is. I kind of doubt Patrick would try this, but would be neat if he came up with this solution for reaching the end.

@rethla: you probably don't need exponentially many pipes to set up a "guess the password" level with an exponential search space. Clearing a Mario level is known to be NP-hard -- Dan could (conceivably, hypothetically...look, I don't think anyone thinks he's capable of pulling something like this, but humor me) cook up some difficult 3SAT instance and embed it in a level, and Patrick might not figure out how to beat it in his lifetime. And that's even if he stares at it with the level editor!

@robbparris: Is there a link anywhere for this? I searched YouTube to no avail.

Yeah, I haven't seen this level in any form so far.

@aegon: @humanity: Here's a link to a playthrough of The Ryckoning: http://www.twitch.tv/sodiumeyes/v/20089234

@chaser324: Thank you

You are a hero and a gentleman

EDIT: dear lord, although I still think 3 full days is too long. If he had 1 day to do this I would say probably 100% no way, but within 3 days he will have it. It's crazy but the amount of possibilities to try out through pure brute force isn't that high.

Whether Patrick beats it seems like it will depend on how much time he wastes on false paths. I'll be honest, I don't find these levels that fixate on carrying stuff around very interesting, because the actual skills needed to complete it aren't really that much. Completion is more a matter of knowing which random bullshit to carry to what place at what time, which is largely a matter of trial and error because you have no idea of what's needed next because it's in parts of the level you haven't seen yet.

Wow... just... wow. Dan is kinda of a genius. He's totally right, too. There really is no "trick" and you don't even really have to do any crazy moves like throwing a trampoline into a wall and bouncing off of it or stuff like that. I never in a million years would have thought to use the goomba like that. To me that's probably the most difficult part of the level (along with not dying on the stupid note blocks).

@mrsmiley: I don't know...I kinda disagree with saying that there's no "trick" to it. In terms of execution, it's certainly far more straightforward for the most part, but discovering the correct path and the necessary series of events to access it will be far from simple. The level is covered with red herrings and places where Patrick could potentially waste a ton of time doing stuff that gets him no closer to actually figuring out how to reach the end.

Right, but those aren't "tricks" as much as they are simply figuring out the puzzles in the level. To me, "trick" levels are the ones that require insane maneuvers by throwing and bouncing on shells, hitting items as they fall in mid-air, and stuff like that. Dan's level is basically a more-complicated version of a Nintendo-made Ghost House level than anything else. Those levels often require back-tracking, have false endings, etc that requires trial and error before completion.

I've been playing this level for a few hours now. I've tried a lot of stuff so far, but I'm still stumped. Ugh, this level is garbage.

@razzuel said:

I had the same experience, but I felt it was the good kind of garbage where I couldn't stop trying to beat it. But partially it's because I know Dan made this level...if it was made by some random person I probably wouldn't have seen it through to the end.

That's why I'm #TeamPatrick. Because a world where Dan Ryckert goes unchecked is a world that nobody should have to see.

IMO the "puzzle" aspect of it is kind of impressive (but I tend to enjoy puzzles that require some head bashing)...and there are so many places where the level could have been more dickish (i.e. a fire piranha here, spikes on the wall there). As it is the main troublesome parts from an execution perspective are (as you'd expect) the note blocks and ice blocks; it did take me about 75 tries once I'd figured out a viable approach to actually perform it without screwing up.

After watching the playthrough I've completely changed my mind and I think it's going to be impossible for Patrick to beat it without looking at the editor. There are too many variables and specific things you need to do, it's like just making a gigantic pipe maze with a super specific path to beat it.

I'm pretty sure Dan saying it took 150 tries to upload was just mind games. It's not really that hard once you know what to do. That being said, I highly doubt Patrick figures it out.

I wonder how much total time Patrick will actually sink into this level.

It's pretty obvious from watching Patrick play is that he has the speluky devil in him and he will dismantle the levels and finish them with out Dan's cheap tricks and foreknowledge.

The answer is clear make a level with all ? Blocks and invisible blocks. No more note blocks or level platforms. Make dead end that aren't obvious dead ends. make him stay in a area wondering why there is two or three invisible blocks that lead to a Vine and and one or two clouds. If you don't up your game Patrick will do it to you. Then we end up with a scenario where Patrick beat Dan's levels and Dan couldn't beat any of his levels.

I finally figured out what I need to do, completely by accident, after exhausting every option. Even knowing what to do, this level is fucked. I'm rooting for Patrick, and I think he can do it, but it's gonna be real hard.

I thought I was gonna beat it this last try, but the game fucked me over. It spawned the trampoline in a spot I couldn't grab. I tried running out, but then it despawned the bill blaster as a final fuck you. Here's a picture of my suffering.

I'm gonna take a break.

I dunno; I thought about the reverse of this challenge a few days ago when some people mentioned it, and Dan seems like the type of guy who would spend 18 hours a day for the 72 hours trying to beat the level just so that he could say he did and rub it in Patrick's face.

Patrick could do this but I don't know.

Exactly what my theory was in the first place a few days ago.

E.g. create a bunch of paths where you can easily waste time and have only the right one be obfuscated by random things. This is just the pipe theory without specific pipes. "Find a goomba in a load of crap, grab a star, make a jump, take the left door, grab a goomba, make a jump, take another door, do more random things. It's certainly a "trick" in the sense that the only way to finish the level is to either brute force the solution or decrypt the secrets of the level using the editor and work backwards from the flag.

I hate note blocks. They're usually what ruin my runs.

Also, I guess everyone grabs the goomba in the ice to kill the dry bones to get the trampoline? That seems way harder and less reliable than the way I've been killing the dry bones. You can grab the star next the dry bones, run into the hole, and then jump up from the exit of the hole to kill the dry bones. It's pretty reliable and I thought that was the intended way to do it until I started reading about how everyone else was doing it with the goomba. I guess if Dan is reading this, don't fix this if it's unintended. The level is already fucked enough.

This stage is only a "puzzle" if a 1000 piece puzzle came with 10000 extra pieces that all look like they could belong but don't actually fit properly into the picture. Really want Patrick to win but it seems super unlikely to me, and I feel like Dan misrepresenting his stage is going to significantly handicap Patrick in his attempts unless he somehow can clear his mind of any expectations he might have.

I just beat it in 55 seconds with a difficult skip:

Also, screw music blocks.

@jmacdoug: Wow. That is pretty impressive, both in terms of having the imagination to see that path and executing it.

@razzuel said:

I would certainly not have beaten that level in 72 hours. It's way more creative than I expected.

I say Patrick the man does not give up.

Gonna have to go with Ryckert on this one. All of the previous levels (while dirty) were definitely beatable. The fact that Dan knows where to go and it still took him hours to beat it doesn't fill me with much hope for Patrick.

EDIT: Ok yeah, after seeing the playthrough I'm even more convinced that Patrick won't be able to do this. Would love to be proven wrong!

I really want Patrick to win but after seeing the level I can't fathom how anyone can finish it without knowing what to do / losing their mind.

Idk I played the level it was kind of boring. It's a lot of music blocks and a lot of "well I don't have this specific thing in this specific spot from this other part of the level so it's impossible to advance here" or "this entire section is meaningless" which is just really boring. I mean the trolling doesn't work when it's really predictable and that Dan has like ten other levels that do the same thing, it's just gimmick at that point. Hopefully Patrick can beat it, that would probably be more entertaining.

@samuelrgreen: That's how Dan wins - either Patrick gives up or goes so crazy that he's able to figure it out, but he ends up irreparably broken.

Man, Dan Ryckert's heel turn got dark.

@quantris: Oh, okay, I was misunderstanding how they were using the goomba. I didn't realize the bill blaster despawning was more of an issue than I originally thought. As for the P switch trick you and @jmacdoug mentioned, I actually had the same idea. I only tried it once and it didn't work. Knowing it works now though, I am totally trying it again!

I want Dan to win just cause it'll probably be funny, but Patrick is nothing if not one smart, persistent mofo so I'd be surprised if he didn't end up coming out on top.

The gofundme campaign is just $80 short of hitting $4000 which is pretty cool!

I think given 72 hours and depending on what else he has to do in that time frame Patrick will do it. Looking at the videos of people completing it the execution is no harder and is probably easier than previous levels Dan has made but figuring out what to do is the problem. Patrick could spend hours wasting time in the sub-world. I know some people don't like the idea that the sub-world is a complete misdirection but I think for this sort of challenge it's fine. It's a legitimate way to stress someone out in a challenge that's meant to stress people out.

So, Patrick has started. Was there a way for Dan, to only release his level when Patrick was about to start? He should have done it if there is, Twitch chat is on thin ice with some comments, and according to other comments in the water.

@chaoot: Let the misdirection begin.. I wonder if Dirty Dan has any other tricks up his sleeve.

Man, Twitch chat sucks even when it is mostly civilized people. They just can't control themselves. "Please no hints on the level." Seems like a pretty straightforward request, and not an opening to debate the semantics about "hint" while expelling all of the tricks in the level. Patrick seems to be doing a good job avoiding the hints, but I feel bad for the people who were trying to watch this thing without knowing the level beforehand.

89 Ryckonings (deaths) during Patrick's first run. He will tweet when he continues his mental bre.. journey. He approximated 6:pm as his starting time, which is in.. approximately 8~ hours from now.

@chaoot: Not particularly. In order for that to happen, Patrick would've had to give Dan the go ahead to upload it, but then wait for Dan to finish the level himself to actually upload it. Or the other way, Patrick sits by a phone waiting for the call from Dan that it's up. But realistically that's not a viable option because it'd result in Patrick sitting around waiting and putting everything else on hold.

What Dan could've potentially done would be to upload it using a ghost account and not give anyone the code for it other than Patrick but as this thread shows, giving out the code helped Dan find two short cuts that he then removed from the original upload.

@hatking - some people just can't help themselves. I think Patrick would be better playing this without Twitch chat enabled and anyone else who wants to see it happen clean do so too.

Yup... I came in blind, and didn't want any spoilers at all whatsoever. Luckily for me, as I was busy keeping the death counter going so I didn't read the chat. I hope Patrick turns off the chat completely from his side so that he cannot read it at all.

I do agree with you that it is annoying, but what can one do? Well, turn off the chat seems to, sadly, be the only option.

@hatking:

agree. I watched the first two GB levels created before Patrick played them, and the best part of watching him play them was his own little discoveries that no one thought about when making the level. I remember watching him play GB level 1 at first frustrated that he wasn't trying to run through the springs, then he did that cool double spring thing with Bowser and I thought "man, can't wait to see what crazy novel discovery he makes next." I'm pretty sure part of the joy Jeff and Dan get from watching Patrick's Mario Maker videos is due to that as well.

This time I'm trying to go in blind and just discover the level as Patrick does, but yeah the chat sure likes to spoil things. What's worse, having watched a number of Patrick's other live streams, is that Patrick's chat is normally pretty positive, fun and mostly spoiler free when he's only pulling 1000 or so viewers. The times when he's done the GB levels have tended to be both spoilery and (at least starting with the GB level 2 run) have a less positive atmosphere to them. I can understand some of the sentiment for the spoilery stuff, but considering that Dan made his level away from mass viewing and that he made a puzzle level in the spirit of Suspicious Skyfort, the spoilers here give away a lot of the fun to be discovered. Regarding the atmosphere, today especially might have been some of the most negative chat I've seen on any of Patrick's streams, and it was clearly coming from elements within the GB community. There are people here that really need to a) chill out and take video game stuff less seriously, and/or b) not feel the need to parade spoilers to show how much more they know.