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I know that some Mario gamers have found the backwards long jump glitch in Super Mario 64. Some have performed speedruns of approx. 6 minutes. I have played the game and I cannot perform it anywhere. I have tried to copy what they do in the videos but it never works. Is it only possible through a cartridge or am I doing something wrong in Project 64?

Examples:

Mario 64 Speedrun

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  • ok so I'm able to start a BLJ (Z and A while moving forward; continue to long jump but continue moving backward) but I can't get him to complete part 2 (yyyyyyyyyyyyyahoo)
    – user239167
    Feb 21, 2020 at 0:26

4 Answers 4

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The higher FPS of Project 64 makes it far more difficult to achieve a BLJ (backwards long jump), as Project 64 runs at 60fps, whereas Mario 64 runs in 30fps. To perform a BLJ, you'll need to jump at least every 3 frames[citation needed]. Therefore, on higher framerates, it'll be harder to perform a BLJ.

If you're still unable to do it on an official console, try looking up a tutorial (assuming you're not sure where you can perform a BLJ) or attempt to speed up your button-mashing (if you know where and what to do).

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    If you're proficient with this technique, you may try to find a good tutorial and link it here to better help OP.
    – Zoma
    Feb 11, 2020 at 13:43
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    "Look up a tutorial" is not an answer. Feb 11, 2020 at 14:34
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    @FabianRöling It wasn't presented as the answer... They also explained that the issue likely comes from the framerate of the emulator. To me, the tutorial part seemed more like a "if this answer doesn't work you should try looking up a tutorial instead".
    – JMac
    Feb 11, 2020 at 17:49
  • @JMac This was posted as answer and only says "It's hard, because […]. Look up a tutorial.". It contains zero instructions on how to do anything. Feb 11, 2020 at 19:40
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    @FabianRöling The question they asked was "Is it only possible through a cartridge or am I doing something wrong in Project 64?" Which would be answered by "The higher FPS of Project 64 makes it far more difficult to achieve a BLJ (backwards long jump)" which seems to address the question pretty well; Project 64 specifically causes issues, which is what they were asking about. Perhaps it might be nice to elaborate on why the FPS makes it more difficult; but as far as I can tell the part you skipped is the part that directly addresses what OP asked.
    – JMac
    Feb 11, 2020 at 19:45
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First, I'm going to define a few terms for you that you'll need to know.

  • TAS - Tool Assisted Speedrun, which means that the speedrun was made using advanced tools and probably contains actions that are difficult/impossible for humans to perform
  • RTA - Real Time Attack, which means that a human player sat down with a controller and played the game
    • RTA Viable - means that the speedrunning community considers a trick or route to be possible to be performed in a RTA run
  • BitDW - Bowser in the Dark World, the first Bowser World, behind the 8 Star Door
  • BitFS - Bowser in the Fire Sea, the second Bowser World, behind the 30 Star Door
  • DDD - Dire Dire Docks, the level behind the 30 Star Door that you must collect the first star in to access BitFS
  • BLJ - Backwards Long Jump, the name of the trick that you're describing
  • Mips the Rabbit - this is the rabbit that you have to catch in the Basement of the Castle Twice in normal playthroughs
  • 16 Star - a category in Super Mario 64 speedrunning where the player collects 15 stars, uses a glitch using Mips the Rabbit to glitch through the 30 Star door, beat DDD, BitFS, and then uses BLJs to skip the 50 Star Door and the Infinite Staircase
  • 0 Star - a category in Super Mario 64 speedrunning where the player uses BLJs to skip the 8 Star Door, the 30 Star Door, DDD, the 50 Star Door, and the Infinite Staircase.

I used to run "16 Star" in Super Mario 64 years ago. Back then, the 8 Star Door BLJ was not considered skippable outside of TAS and the 30 Star Door required using a different glitch to skip using Mips the Rabbit.

I've long since quit speed running (and I wasn't very good at it even when I was doing it) but since then the "0 Star" route has become RTA viable. You can find the current RTA world record here.

I bring this all up because I'm guessing you're trying to do either the first or second BLJ in "0 Star". These are widely considered to be the 2 hardest BLJs in the route. Furthermore, the first BLJ you see in the video you linked isn't the one that is used in the current RTA world record. That video is a TAS run and the BLJ they use is much more difficult than the one in the link above.

The easiest BLJ to perform, by far, is the Infinite Staircase BLJ, which just so happens to be the last BLJ in the run. The second easiest is the 50 Star Door BLJ, which is the second to last BLJ. I would recommend starting a new game, getting to 50 Stars, and then practicing on the Infinite Staircase before even attempting to try the 8 or 30 star door skips. These two BLJs require no more skill than button mashing, and the Infinite Staircase gives you unlimited space to trigger the BLJ.

If you're still insistent on trying the first two BLJs...

Also note that if you are playing using the Shindou, IQue, or Japanese Virtual Console versions of the game, the glitch has been patched out of the game and is not possible in these versions.

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I can just use the "-" key and slow down the framerate to 30.0 fps during emulation. This helped me get past all BLJ doors and other things like the endless staircase.

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That is a Tool Assisted Speedrun. Your question doesn't specify that you are using a tool or TAS specific version of Project 64. Unless you are using a "Tool" you will not ever be able to duplicate their results. The tool they use provides EXACT inputs for each Frame of the game. Usually the emulator is modified to allow this level of precise input.

For N64 it appears that the preferred TAS Emulator is BizHawk.

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  • You raise a valid point about the video in question being a TAS, but it should be noted that 0 Star has been RTA possible for quite some time now.
    – DenisS
    Feb 18, 2020 at 21:19

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