The game operates on a whitelist of approved emulators/systems, rather than a blacklist of illegal emulators/systems

Any time an option is added, a lot of testing goes into ensuring that it properly emulates the original hardware - and if it DOES deviate (in framerate), what the EXACT difference is, so that the end time can be correctly calculated to the millisecond.

It's possible for the emulator to mostly emulate accurately except small things that would be hard to notice, like properly emulating lag (for example in bowser levels where the hammers will significantly lag original hardware) - or other areas which do make a difference, but would be hardly noticeable outside of the precise timing of a run.

OpenEMU emulates the physics of roms 100% the same as other emulators - it just runs on Mac (although it does run at 60fps flat instead of the original framerate)

The one thing that DOES act as you described is the PAL version of the rom - backwards (and forwards) bumps move you significantly farther. Also - the music sounds faster and higher pitched.

Pick a run on the leaderboard and listen to the music - then listen to your music. Does it sound sped up relative to the "normal" (NTSC) version? You're playing on a PAL rom.

Also on the PAL rom - doing the 8-2 intro stairs is impossible without slowing down

Best easy way to do wrong warp is to add in another "bump" - all the normal routes do three backwards bumps. Just do four. Gives you much more wiggle room - and is still much faster than the vine. Although starting out learning the game, vine is great also.

There are a few beginners guides - but I don't know that they will offer specific thoughts on strats for 8-2 that you would want.

Most of it is... just do it over and over and over - and you'll figure it out by pure practice and repetition. Make a savestate at the beginning of 8-2 and do it - then do it again.

In terms of the entire game (not 8-2 specifically) - I think the best way to approach it for a BRAND NEW runner is to (1) beat the game with a recorded time.... even if it means you died a few times. Then do it again - you'll naturally get faster and figure stuff out.

Specifically 8-2 - I have a video showing "safe strategies" for the whole game, but still resulting in a 5:18 time

In that I take a warp pipe to avoid the three goombas near the end of the level, but other than that you just kinda... run through the level. You can also take the first stairs slow - but you lose a lot of time, and the stair jump is much easier to learn that it looks - and you can take the final stairs safely by sitting on the second step (as is done in my video) - although there is a small chance the "parakoopa" can still kill you that way.

Also Xeroxfiend came up with a fantastic method of forcing a certain type of parakoopa on the last stairs called "BBBB - Bonk Brush Boing Bounce" (otherwise you get a "randomly" chosen set of three types of parakoopas, and you have to react QUICKLY to which one you see) - which Tecate made a tutorial video of... and I don't know how to find it (if anyone has a link to that video)

Here's the video showing safe strategies throughout the game.

It's a legitimate question without an easy answer. If it has slight differences then it obviously can't be accepted on the main boards. Also doesn't seem like a ce either - given that it's nearly the same game.

If people are actually playing it and wanting to Speedrun it on g&w... That IS what this site is for. I'm not sure locking the thread and ignoring all questions about a console thats being played on a semi-wide basis is the right move.

It also could be added as a new "game" on the super Mario series. But even that feels weird because it's basically the same as smb1 NES. Category extensions halfway makes sense...

When the switch came out there were similar questions. Fortunately for the switch it turned out the mechanics were all the same other than running at 60fps flat, so it was added as an acceptable method of playing for the main boards. Unfortunately for g&w there ARE differences that make it very obviously not acceptable for the main boards.

It is a legitimate question though given that it's a console that's being widely sold and played on.

Just to clarify @Asgore89 post so people don't run a non-allowed emulator

Mesen is not allowed

Even that would be a lot harder to execute than it sounds

If you mean a prerecorded custom sound series? I'm not sure if that would be okay or not. Would need to be a call made by the mods. I would tend toward no? But I'm not sure.

If you mean somehow pair a program to give a sound indicating a jump required based on the screen itself, then definitely not.

@yeabruh "oh wait uhm also, would you be allowed to have someone sit beside you and verbally tell you where you are in the level? i assume this would not be allowed but just in case since there could be runs doing this strat"

It's not explicitly in the rules stated in those exact words, but definitely not. Defeats the whole purpose of the category. You're using someone ELSE'S eyeballs. It's a zero eyeballs category.

Category Extension requests would be voiced on the Category Extension forum page Here --> https://www.speedrun.com/smbce/forum

However, they aren't accepting new categories - they already have 41, in addition to the main categories.

I sure would like to see more people try it though. Even watching the attempts would be super exciting. To my knowledge it hasn't been SERIOUSLY attempted in a long, long time. I know several big mario runners that flirted with it, but nobody really gave it a serious attempt.

I tried blindfolded a couple years ago - routed 7 of the 8 levels. Could never figure out how to get INTO the bullet section for 8-2. The rest I figured out and did as individual levels:

Here's the blindfolded IL's for 7 of the 8 levels. When my eyes are open I'm looking at my metronome notes, but the screen is turned off - which I realize isn't legal, but... I wasn't submitting them - just recording first IL attempts

Sorry - I don't know how to link them without making the massive preview screens

1-1

1-2

4-1

4-2

8-1

8-3

8-4

There's an amazing runner "Katun24" - he does blindfolded Super Mario 64 70 star, blindfolded super mario world 11 exit, super mario oddyssey, celeste, portal, donkey kong country 2, Ocarina of Time. All that to say, he knows a thing or two about blindfolded, and he's talented. He tried SMB1 NES few years ago and determined that it was too hard to do.

The one guy that HAS done it did not use a metronome. I did - after asking the mods their thoughts about it.

I still have notes on my routing if anyone is interested.

With regard to the blindfold. I think the blindfold ITSELF doesn't really do much of anything to prove blindfoldedness. As my time as a mod here, I saw a couple runs where the runner was "blindfolded" and they OBVIOUSLY weren't blindfolded. Ironically, the blindfold may look more legit to a viewer, but from a real legitimizing perspective, it makes it almost more difficult to tell if it's real, since you can't see your eyeballs.

It would be difficult to PROVE you were blind. Trust and LONG documented practice history would be near essential in verification.

There are so many ways to cheat a blindfolded run - see-through blindfold seems to be the most common. But even with your back turned you can use a mirror. If the screen is turned off, you could have another screen, etc... It really would depend on trust and documented practice history IMO

Pretty much whatever you want except anything that gives you a categorical advantage, such as turbo or a+b, or any custom macro

Depends what you mean by "luck" - some posters have indicated that because an input is exactly "x", "y" then "z" that means it's skill, which is absolutely true.

but

Getting all your successes on those tricks to line up in the same run is effectively luck also.

If your success rate for 1-1 fpg is 20%, 1-2g is 20%, 4-1 fpg is 30%, and blazit is 40%, the odds of getting only those four skill-based tricks to happen in the same run is 0.48%, or about 1 in 200 runs.

If your success rate on ALL the tricks (1-1fpg, 1-2g, 4-1fpg, 8-2 TAS rule, 8-3fpg, 8-4) is 10% (which means you're skilled enough to do them) - your success rate for a full run would be 0.1^6, which is 0.0001% - or 1 in 1,000,000 runs, which is more runs than any runner would do in several lifetimes. However, TECHNICALLY you could get this on the first attempt with this skill level.

Two runners of equal skill level might take WAAAAY longer to get a certain time, because their tricks never lined up in the same run. Think of Kosmic when he got his WR on the 8th ever attempt doing 1-2g in runs (I'm certainly misremembering details), but that was lucky in the sense that all the tricks "worked" in the same run - even though he's obviously unbelievably talented.

One other non-mentioned aspect of luck is bowser's hammers. You CAN know what framerule you're on on any other level, but in 8-4 you're effectively randomized, or at best, on one of a few frames, and you won't know which one it is - meaning you won't know what hammers bowser will throw (and therefore when exactly to jump). Sometimes bowser jumps, which is a freeby, sometimes it's an easy pattern, and sometimes it's a very difficult pattern.

So - even the "skill" parts of mario have aspects of luck in the stringing together - if you think of it that way.

I made this video a while back demonstrating Mesen's "run ahead" feature, which is undetectable to know if it's been used in a run

Roopert is effectively the head moderator - it won't get any higher up the chain than him.

This game operates on a very strict whitelist of approved hardware and emulators. If it's not on the list it's not allowed.

Given that it's a modified NES - I'd assume it would not be allowed. It's definitely possible, maybe even probable that the NES you're referring it operates in an unchanged way from an original NES. However, it's also possible something is different, since... It's different.

Long story short, sorry you have difficulty getting a console, but I don't think that one will be approved. You can play any of the approved emulators or try for expensive shipping of an original NES - or play virtual console on switch or wii

Controller modification refers to adding actual functionality like turbo or any kind of macro.

Putting stickers on a button or otherwise raising the profile of a button is fine as far as I am aware.

I don't know why it wouldn't be allowed. There are no restrictions on controllers - other than ways that give you a categorical advantage like turbo functionality.

Nope - fast accel is definitely possible on legal NTSC - and is commonly used in 8-4 rooms where Mario is coming up out of pipe for the fastest few runs on the leaderboard.

The problem with fast accel in MOST stages, is that there's a second or two of black, with no "cues" - so it's nearly impossible to know the exact frame to start the inputs. If you wait until you see the first frame of the level to start your input, you missed it.

It's much easier when mario is coming out of a pipe, like the turnaround room in 8-4. You get a cue of EXACTLY when the first input will be necessary (when mario is fully visible). That's what makes the remaining framerule so hard - 8-1 (commonly called "Pl8-1" from Stuckinaplate) - you have no reference to know exactly when the level will start...

That and it wouldn't actually help in many of the levels because of framerules. Fast accel in 1-1? Great... but you won't actually save time.

The levels where it WILL help are 8-2 (apparently, thanks to the new WR) and 8-1, which has never been done on a run on the leaderboard, but HAS been done in runs which were not pb's