Pin #14 is the CPU R/W pin, and if it's not properly connected, the game will be unable to write to the MMC1 mapper to perform bank switching. Platoon happens to be programmed in a way that address 0x8000 of every bank is an entry point that will run a particular level from the game. So you boot up the game, and it tries to switch to the Title Screen bank, then jumps to 0x8000. But the bank switch fails, and instead it runs code from the first bank. It just so happens that the first bank contains the program for the ending.
If the cartridge connection improves and mapper writes start to succeed, the graphics will return to normal as it continues to run the ending.
If I record the game to VHS, and fast forward to the end, does that count?
Summoning Salt Documentary: https://youtu.be/yPvKhFXc7ck
Given the context of this forum, I'd be interested to hear more about what's so interesting about the technology!
For example, I would describe a method to do something in a video game as "tech" but in my mind I would expand it to "technology" if I thought about it. I didn't realize that the word "technique" would be a better fit in those contexts. Looking at Wikipedia [1], it looks like the words are pretty closely related so I haven't been using the word completely wrong.
If you do want a run with some explanation, GDQ is probably your best bet[2]. Unfortunately, the run hasn’t appeared at GDQ since AGDQ Online 2022, but you still get a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about, even if you don’t get to see how the run has evolved since then. That one is also an Any% run, so you can get an idea of the differences.
If you ban deliberately smudging/scratching the disc, then some runner with a lot of money will just buy a lot of copies of the disc, find the one that glitches the most consistently (because of pre-existing scratches, or even manufacturing defects that aren’t visible)
Allowing some kind of mod is the most equitable compromise.
But it also relatively frequently crashed so I rarely tried using it for the better graphics, and at that young age never appreciated the cheating aspect of it.
This give me an idea. Here's my smudge pattern that works better: (shows a diagram with blotches in the shape of Rick Astley singing).
Similar thoughts on things like shiny hunting in the Pokemon community.
How would reading a scratched/dirty disc permanently damage a console? That seems like a very bad issue for a device expected to read frequently swapped discs.
That is not a core tenant of speed running. Software preservation is completely separate from speed running.
https://www.speedrun.com/pencil?h=In_Real_Life-Drillless-10_...
(Not to mention hardware preservation is separate from software preservation and hardware preservation is rarely referring to pencils.)
Him: So, have you ever thought about basing the hacking mechanics on Hyrum's Law?
Me: ...No, but I'm sure that if it ever develops a speedrunning community, they will do just that!
In Halo 2, there was a level where if you damaged a banshee in a specific way and made it follow you down a tunnel, you could hijack it at the exact moment when a new level loaded at the end of the tunnel (otherwise you couldn't use it). Then you could fly up to the top of the level and find a modified weapon that was incredibly powerful (scarab gun). There was another secret weapon (energy sword) you could obtain by performing typical boundary breaking moves and walking on invisible walls. Normally, you'd be doing this to skip combat but the game was also rewarding you for it.