Hey all - after a couple threads discussing randomizers and Archipelago, we should try to get a multiworld game going here! I'm thinking this would start the night of May 8th depending on availability and interest. If you are interested, just shoot a reply in here and let us know your planned game! I'll tag a post about a week out asking for YAML files, and I'll likely make a Discord server for the event itself so we can stream and share info.
BIGASS FAQ THINGY
Huh?
Per Archipelago.gg: This is a cross-game modification system which randomizes different games, then uses the result to build a single unified multi-player game. Items from one game may be present in another, and you will need your fellow players to find items you need in their games to help you complete your own.
Essentially, you choose a game and then load into it with few or no items. When you would normally obtain an item, it will either give you a random item from your game or send a random item to another player. Everyone must work together to finish their game!
That sounds hard!
It is, sometimes! But it's easier than you'd expect. Thankfully there are a couple things to get people moving:
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Even though the items will be out of order, the default logic will scatter the items such that every game is possible to beat as intended.
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Archipelago is asynchronous. There isn't a time limit, so everyone can take their game at their own pace.
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The settings are fairly flexible and let you set your own difficulty if you want to make things a little easier or harder. Don't want to deal with trainer battles in Pokémon? Turn 'em off! Want to start without a sword in Zelda and get creative? Ditch it! Want the duck dragon in Adventure to be four times as fast? Something is wrong with you!
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Almost every game has a tracker that actively tells you which checks would trigger an item in your particular game, where they are, and whether you are able to reach them with your current loadout. They'll help you figure out how the game logic works very quickly.
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Should you get stuck behind an important check - eg Link's bow, or Samus's morph ball - you can earn points and buy hints. These will tell you which specific check in which game unlocks that particular item.
What games can I play?
The list at Archipelago.gg should have you covered.
(...Almost! For anyone a little more savvy, there's also an extended list over here. Anything "In Review" or higher should be safe to run, if a little harder to set up.)
Don't feel like everyone needs to play something different! You can have as many instances of a game as desired within a particular multiworld setup.
What game SHOULD I play?
Whatever will keep you most interested is best! I've personally had fun with Sonic Adventure 2, Pokémon Red/Blue and Emerald, and Super Metroid. My friends really enjoy LttP, OoT, Kingdom Hearts / 2, Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, and plenty of others.
I think the only game I've seen people have a bad time with is OSRS due to the absurd amount of effort required.
How do you set the game up?
First go to Archipelago.gg, find a game you'd like to play, and follow the setup guide. You'll generate a YAML file off of the game's settings page, which will dictate the settings for your run. Then you can send that to me before we start - I will throw it into the generator and get the game started. You will also want to download the Archipelago client, which handles the connection between your game and the Archipelago server.
Once we start, games running from an executable will run a mod, patch, or side program which handles the connection to the Archipelago server. They're fairly easy to install as long as you follow the guide to a T.
For games using an emulator, you'll need a clean ROM of the game (can't help you there!) and a version of the emulator BizHawk specified by the guide. The client will come with an installer which handles patching the game for you.Typically you flip a couple settings in BizHawk and restart the program. Then when you run the patched game, you will also run a provided Lua script which reads the game to communicate to the client and everything magically works. It's pretty cool!
First-time setup is probably the most difficult part of the whole thing, so I'm happy of help anyone running into issues.
What settings should I use?
This tends to be a game-specific question. The first time you play a game can be a little weird as you figure out how the settings play - too easy and it's like blowing through on cheat codes; too hard and it can be frustrating. The Archipelago discord can probably give some good first-time suggestions, and I'm happy to ask around for anyone who needs help.
Generally would I suggest for anyone doing RPGs to take advantage of EXP multipliers or other shortcuts that don't have to do with actual objectives, as it will save a ton of time on grinding. It's definitely a good idea to triple or quadruple EXP in something like Pokémon to keep the game moving - there are other options available like level caps if you'd like to introduce difficulty back in a more dynamic way than gating time. Think about things that annoyed you in the vanilla game and turn those off!
Keep Death Link off for the first time. I'd also suggest using Remote Items if it's available as an option. (If you obtain items in your own game, it may not be tracked by Archipelago because it's unnecessary to use the server to track. However if your save file corrupts or your game freezes/crashes, you would need to collect them again because the server doesn't handle them. Remote Items makes it so, in the case you lose progress, the server will track them and give them back to you as you load if they're missing for any reason.)
Here are some game-specific first-time suggestions collected by friends, if desired.
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Pokemon Emerald: Set EXP to at least 3x and catch rate to minimum 30 (Snorlax's catch rate) if not higher or instant catch. Enable remote items. Add hidden items if you want more exploration checks and lean on the tracker plus a map. For shits and giggles: Randomize all parties and wild encounters, randomize abilities but blacklist Arena Trap / Shadow Tag, add all the extra roadblocks, add extra fly location, Turbo A (just be aware it's FAST). ALWAYS randomize music and fanfares. For some more difficulty based on progression add level cap plus bonus levels. You should blacklist Wonder Guard, but where's the fun in that?
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Pokemon Red/Blue: Similar stuff to the above.
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Hollow Knight: Randomize Dreamers, Skills, Charms, Keys, Mask Shards, Vessel Fragments, Charm Notches, Pale Ore, Geo Chests, Relics, Maps, Boss Geo. Set Egg Shop to 0.
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Mario 64: Get the thing to work first, then randomize everything but 1-up Blocks. Disable 100 coins stars if that's a boring thing.
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Ocarina of Time: Make sure it's not keysanity and shops are cheap. Everything is open. Lower big poe count to 1 and have all timesavers on.
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Super Metroid: Make sure that Layout Patches, Varia Tweaks, Elevators Speed, Doors Speed, Spin Jump Restart and Infinite Space Jump are enabled. Refill Before Save can also help if you struggle with health and ammo
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StarCraft 2: Grid for mission order and maybe turn off challenge/mastery locations.
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Sonic Adventure 2: Randomizing chao keys and gold beetles is very reasonable for extra challenge. Do not randomize item boxes. For extras Whistlesanity should be pipes only, Omosanity is mostly fine but might get grating. Highly recommend disabling missions 2 and 4 for all characters (100 rings is particularly repetitive, time limits aren't typically that difficult but make getting extra checks annoying); kart levels are however many you wish to do. Recommend setting level gate density to early so you have more levels to work with before getting stuck.
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Mystic Quest: Don't shuffle dungeons, keep Enemizer Attacks normal and Regions Strict for Progressive Formations.
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Secret of Evermore: Shorter boss rush is probably nice, put Exp modifier at least 300.
I'm not very good at a game I want to play!
That's OK! It's daunting, but the experience tends to be a little easier than expected. Don't throw really spicy limits at yourself in your settings and you should be OK. I never actually beat Ocarina of Time the first time I played it in Archipelago, but I still made it! (Hell, I still haven't played any of Ganon's Tower. I learned a skip instead off the entrance torches!) Having the tracker available helps a ton to point you in the right direction. There are also plenty of people on the Archipelago discord happy to give you suggestions if you feel stuck, as I'm sure we will be ready to help too.
How long does this take to beat?
Individual Archipelago worlds tend to play a little faster than playing the vanilla game, as the Archipelago versions of the game usually skip cutscenes, dialogue, etc. Occasionally you'll hit some gordian knot of backwards item progression which halts your progress; occasionally you'll get an overpowered item early and you can blow through half the game in a short bit. The progression balancing in every settings page can help you adjust if you'd like the earlygame to open up a little quicker, which will make the game go by a bit faster.
Multiworlds between my friends tend to take about a week to complete around 15 games.
Choices! I can't decide on one game?????
Have I got the deal for you! Technically, if you'd like, you can play more than one game. Just generate two YAML files, set both games up, and switch between them at your leisure!
I need out! This is too much! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMOOORE
I promise there's no pressure if you need to take your time! But if you would like to jump ship, you have two options. One is that you can give someone your file and let them complete your save via your username. Otherwise, there is a !release option that will end your game and send out all checks hidden within your game.
This is a bit far into the future and I wanted to make sure the date would work for people interested, so no need to send YAMLs or anything yet. But do let me know if you'd like to join - no matter your skill level, we'd be happy to have you!