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TWIN GALAXIES
10-01-2017 at 11:26 PM
Wanted to give the community a quick update on the goings on:
1) Database restructuring - Some of you may already be aware that @admin staff has stepped up efforts quite a bit and have been working on improving the database browsing experience. We anticipate being able to deliver an early version sometime this coming week.
This has required a tremendous amount of work to finally free ourselves of the "old" historic database structural limitations, and so hopefully we will be able to grow and expand the database in much more user-friendly ways as we move into the future.
2.) Tournament system - The team working on the upcoming tournament system has been making steady progress. The tournament system is being designed to support a wide range of tournament functions and types, and will be fully integrated into the Twin Galaxies site.
As a member you will be able to set up your own tournaments, prize pools, qualifications, etc. And all tournament results will feed into your Twin Galaxies profiles / records in the appropriate areas. The system will support evidence upload submissions, and allow tournament organizers to accept/validate them. Tournament types such as ladders/brackets will be supported and displayed as well.
3.) Dragster Dispute - We have been following all of the discussion as well as all the various TAS analysis videos and we are maintaining a complete awareness regarding the overall issue.
We are quite aware that there are many in the community who have personally decided that a 5.51 is not possible based on all the presented code analysis evidence.
Our 3rd party investigation is still in process of reasonably eliminating the possibility of a repeatable 5.51 on Atari 2600 hardware. This involves looking directly at the memory, CPU and other activity inside different functioning Atari 2600 hardware configurations with Dragster carts inserted and executing continuous "targeted" brute force inputs via microcontroller based on results read in active memory.
To access the raw chip information and tap the various buses inside an active Atari 2600 has required the creation of very specialized interfaces with lots of trial and error, but recently some progress has been made and they are slowly getting to a workable scenario that will allow them to completely get to the bottom of this important issue.
They are seeking some specific things:
a.) Is a 5.51 possible on Atari 2600 hardware and is it repeatable on any Atari?
b.) If it is possible, how is it possible? Why does independent code analysis suggest that it isn't? What exactly is the difference (if any) that actual Atari hardware is making?
The efforts and set up is being designed to answer these specific questions.
4.) Certificates - We are very close to completing the design work on the new Twin Galaxies Certificates. They are being designed to be difficult to fake/forge and to be of very high quality. Twin Galaxies is excited to be offering certificates again soon.
5.) Guinness World Records - We recently had a long conference call with Guinness World Records and expressed the community's concern regarding the reduced TG score presence in the last book release. We asked them if that was an indication regarding our relationship status with them and they were surprised by this and reassured us that Twin Galaxies is very important to them and they actually had increased plans and intention of collaboration.
To that end they are in process of sending us more challenges/tracks for the GWR section here at Twin Galaxies and they plan on promoting those tracks as well as all the new incoming tracks that they send us more extensively.
On a going forward basis, we have requested that GWR give the community more advance insight into what scores from TG they are thinking about including in their book for any particular year so that expectations can be managed and also opportunity to target those records can be gained.
Generally speaking it sounded like they were planning on filling the GWR section of Twin Galaxies with many more of the records/challenges they are interested in for the next year, and then they will also choose some of the TG records that are outside of that section as well.
They have already begun to send us additional challenges to be listed. They are currently being reviewed/entered and will appear in the GWR section soon.
6.) iPhone and Android Twin Galaxies apps - These have been in development for a while and should become available in the next couple months or so. They make mobile access to the site about 1000x better. Submission, walls, notifications voting, etc. are supported. We should be able to provide more screenshots soon for those who are curious.
That's it!
1) Database restructuring - Some of you may already be aware that @admin staff has stepped up efforts quite a bit and have been working on improving the database browsing experience. We anticipate being able to deliver an early version sometime this coming week.
This has required a tremendous amount of work to finally free ourselves of the "old" historic database structural limitations, and so hopefully we will be able to grow and expand the database in much more user-friendly ways as we move into the future.
2.) Tournament system - The team working on the upcoming tournament system has been making steady progress. The tournament system is being designed to support a wide range of tournament functions and types, and will be fully integrated into the Twin Galaxies site.
As a member you will be able to set up your own tournaments, prize pools, qualifications, etc. And all tournament results will feed into your Twin Galaxies profiles / records in the appropriate areas. The system will support evidence upload submissions, and allow tournament organizers to accept/validate them. Tournament types such as ladders/brackets will be supported and displayed as well.
3.) Dragster Dispute - We have been following all of the discussion as well as all the various TAS analysis videos and we are maintaining a complete awareness regarding the overall issue.
We are quite aware that there are many in the community who have personally decided that a 5.51 is not possible based on all the presented code analysis evidence.
Our 3rd party investigation is still in process of reasonably eliminating the possibility of a repeatable 5.51 on Atari 2600 hardware. This involves looking directly at the memory, CPU and other activity inside different functioning Atari 2600 hardware configurations with Dragster carts inserted and executing continuous "targeted" brute force inputs via microcontroller based on results read in active memory.
To access the raw chip information and tap the various buses inside an active Atari 2600 has required the creation of very specialized interfaces with lots of trial and error, but recently some progress has been made and they are slowly getting to a workable scenario that will allow them to completely get to the bottom of this important issue.
They are seeking some specific things:
a.) Is a 5.51 possible on Atari 2600 hardware and is it repeatable on any Atari?
b.) If it is possible, how is it possible? Why does independent code analysis suggest that it isn't? What exactly is the difference (if any) that actual Atari hardware is making?
The efforts and set up is being designed to answer these specific questions.
4.) Certificates - We are very close to completing the design work on the new Twin Galaxies Certificates. They are being designed to be difficult to fake/forge and to be of very high quality. Twin Galaxies is excited to be offering certificates again soon.
5.) Guinness World Records - We recently had a long conference call with Guinness World Records and expressed the community's concern regarding the reduced TG score presence in the last book release. We asked them if that was an indication regarding our relationship status with them and they were surprised by this and reassured us that Twin Galaxies is very important to them and they actually had increased plans and intention of collaboration.
To that end they are in process of sending us more challenges/tracks for the GWR section here at Twin Galaxies and they plan on promoting those tracks as well as all the new incoming tracks that they send us more extensively.
On a going forward basis, we have requested that GWR give the community more advance insight into what scores from TG they are thinking about including in their book for any particular year so that expectations can be managed and also opportunity to target those records can be gained.
Generally speaking it sounded like they were planning on filling the GWR section of Twin Galaxies with many more of the records/challenges they are interested in for the next year, and then they will also choose some of the TG records that are outside of that section as well.
They have already begun to send us additional challenges to be listed. They are currently being reviewed/entered and will appear in the GWR section soon.
6.) iPhone and Android Twin Galaxies apps - These have been in development for a while and should become available in the next couple months or so. They make mobile access to the site about 1000x better. Submission, walls, notifications voting, etc. are supported. We should be able to provide more screenshots soon for those who are curious.
That's it!
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