Spelunky News!

 Newcomer Spotlight: BronxTaco

Posted by GC on April 2nd, 2019 @07:55PM

 

An Introduction: This series of spotlights of some of the new and improved members of the community is a spiritual successor to hb’s 21 Questions With series. Similar to its predecessor, various community “newcomers” (defined loosely) will be interviewed about themselves, their background, and their Spelunky goals (either run-wise or community-wise).

 

I will try to make this a regular feature, with articles coming out every other week (more or less, depending on interest level). Without further ado, our first interviewee is BronxTaco!

 

Newcomer Spotlight: BronxTaco

 

BronxTaco, also known as Tim from Melbourne, Australia, is a 34-year old oil rig piping designer - a draftsman job involving use of 3D modelling software. On the side, his hobbies include writing and performing music (on the piano, drums, and guitar, which you can check out here), video games, and rock climbing! It was his avid rock climbing, however, that lead Tim to begin playing Spelunky beyond casual playthroughs - After a broken ankle sustained while climbing, BronxTaco turned to Spelunky as a relief from the resulting pain and boredom.

 

From there, he began watching d_tea and Israel Blargh and then began playing more regularly himself, a fairly common route of entry into the community. Only a few weeks later he joined the Discord and submitted his first run - a 5:22 No Teleporter Any%. Now, with 74 submitted runs, he is one of the top 50 players! He says that one of his favorite aspects of the community is the all-around positivity and encouragement - a stark contrast from the negativity and superiority in many other speedrunning/gaming communities.

 

Bronx’s favorite categories to run are anything with the word “low%” in them, including the harder no% variants! In fact, he held the NG+ No% world record (only for it to be improved upon within the day). A few weeks later, he achieved the impressive Low% time of 3:13, which is his proudest run. Bronx’s contributions to the community don’t end there, however. He pioneered a pasteless Olmec strategy that some players find easier than the previous version (some of my PBs utilize this fight - I like it a lot!), as well as an innovative low% no gold safe fight.

 

In the future, Bronx plans to complete as many categories as possible, which include the two bonuses left for him - Low% Hell and Eggplant%. While these categories are the toughest of the main categories, Bronx certainly has the skill and motivation to complete them! In addition, he’s aiming for a No% completion - a tough category (though not as difficult as most people think), but one that he has the skill for (as his NG+ No% WR proved).

All in all, Bronx has been an excellent addition to our community and a fantastic new player (okay, less new than he was a few months ago). His rivalries with Yandie, Heinz, Suspense, and H0BT0R have given a competitive edge to his runs, and Bronx shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon (except for score, but that’s not a real speed category, now is it). Finally, a sponsored message: Robot sprites > All other sprites. FACT!

You can check out BronxTaco on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/bronxtaco