A separate category is what I said from the start there should be (and I would argue that using the kind of glitch in BK or FFVII or whatever should also be considered its own category). I still think it's the key glitch one that should be considered its own category, since with the current setup of categories, you can still use the key glitch in All Dungeons.

So, really, why don't we just do the following divide (and I don't really care which order they're put in): Glitchless. Here, the key glitch is not allowed. The categories should be any%, All Dungeons and 100%. The only character that it could maybe make sense to have a separate 3DS category for is Chain Sickle, since he plays differently (though I haven't actually tried Robot or Kunoichi in PC version yet), but I've switched to the PC version now (the new Chain Sickle route is disgusting in all the good ways) so why don't we just remove the 3DS categories and cross that bridge if anyone ever wants to submit a run for it, which seems unlikely now that the game has for some reason even been removed from the eShop. Glitched. Key glitch totes allowed. Should have any%, All Dungeons and 100%. PC only. (incidentally, it appears that the reason the glitch works at all is because the saveslotxx file isn't actually deleted/properly cleared out when the file is deleted, so there's some leftover data there. Good job, Q-Cumber.)

Those should cover everything, I believe?

I mean, I'm not trying to take away your record or anything, I just want categories that make sense and are clear as to what is and isn't allowed between them. And since we seem to have a spot of disagreement, why not just give both a denominator, so there's not actually just "any%" (or whatever other category) - just "Glitched any%" and "Glitchless any%".

Okay, I've switched to the PC version of Ninja Smasher! and things are getting more interesting. The route has been overhauled, skips an additional dungeon and does them in a different order. The estimate has been cut by 5 minutes down to 0:40:00 for now, and might go down a bit more. I'll record an actual good video to update the submission with soon.

No, I don't see where you're coming from. It's bringing items in from a previously made game file. It's the definition of NG+. Glitched NG+, even, since you're not meant to be able to do that. It's not regular any%. It's a really sketchy glitch as it is in my opinion, and it really shouldn't be considered kosher for any%. It absolutely must be a separate category, distinct from glitchless any%. Call it glitched any%, but it can't be rolled into regular any%.

Dungeon 2 isn't actually skippable with Chain Sickle, no. I would love it if it was, but you can't actually get out after Dungeon 3 without the wall cling, so that's a softlock. If it was possible to do that, then you could get bombs first which would speed up other things, but not doable. Trust me, I've tried. Everybody except regular Ninja can skip the ice dungeon, and Robot Ninja can skip the ghost house.

And key glitch really needs to be considered a completely separate category and not rolled into any%, since it's a NG+ thing and more importantly only works on the PC version. If it were up to me, In any% and 100%, the key glitch should not be allowed, and then glitched should be a PC-only separate category. I find the practice of doing something on a separate file first to bring advantages into another file and not have the first thing be included in the setup kind of sketchy, but if anything, it's NG+, which absolutely should not be considered regular any%.

Edit: Something's fucky with the 3DS version, it seems. From my googling, the PC version has been updated, and the 3DS version... is no longer on the eShop, at least not the EU eShop. The hell's going on here.

So if the updated PC version lets Chain Sickle do multiple chains in one jump, then yes, the haunted house can be skipped. Aaaand the update notes do state that they do exactly that. Okay, I'm going to need to play the PC version, but I don't use Steam...

Just got my first sub-40 with Chain Sickle and that can easily be sub-39 too, though I can't submit any runs anyway since I can't record from 3DS. Heh.

Also, I just confirmed that the key glitch does NOT work on 3DS, so that's going to have to be a separate category, and having an "all dungeons" regular Ninja category is redundant since you can't actually skip any dungeons with that guy.

Ninja Smasher even further update: Okay yeah got the sub-40 run, actually. ~39:16 realtime, had a death and some dumb stuff went on with the splits (managed to hit the "go back one split" instead of the actual split button at the end) and I had to pause the timer and connect the charger partway through. Sub-38 is def doable, can probably go even lower, and I've managed to smooth out the movement even more in some places, including long rooms where I don't touch the ground once after attacking the first enemy. I love the movement in this game, it looks super fluid and impressive.

It should be mentioned that as it is currently, for both this and Mighty Gunvolt I need a 3DS with capture mod to be on site, preferably XL since I really don't like using the d-pad on the regular. If the owner of said 3DS doesn't have the games I'll pay for buying them on the eShop. EDIT: And, what the hell, for some inexplicable reason Ninja Smasher is actually no longer available on the eShop. This is... troubling. I'm going to have to figure this out somehow.

Edit: And the proper categories and systems were added to the leaderboard today, so I have updated my submission to use those.

Also edit: Okay, I got a 38:49. On a trash run, because I'm good at this game, apparently.

Okay, yeah, the final verdict is that I'm going to have to play the PC version. The good news is that that'll make the run even shorter since it can skip one additional dungeon. The bad news are just for me. I'll get back to you once I've figured everything out.

So, progress report, I guess.

Well, Mighty Gunvolt is still at the point where boss RNG is the only big thing that can improve times by any significant margin, so there's not much more I can do with that aside from making sure I'm still consistent on the stage executions and a bunch of practice runs have made sure that's no issue, found some (very minor, but still) improvements in that area even. Even the runs I consider absolutely horrid, mostly because a bunch of bosses decided to waste a ton of time, are within a minute of my PB.

Ninja Smasher is pretty solid as it is, I have some additional derusting to do but today I got a run that would have been a PB by at least a minute if I hadn't died on the final form of the final boss. This is the one I'll keep working on the most, there's a few parts of the game I believe I can polish further. I know that sub-40 is within my reach.

Outside of finding something new major in Ninja Smasher I can't see the estimates for either of the runs changing. No progress videos since both are on 3DS. Working on my graduation project for my master's degree also means not having an abundance of gaming time, so fulltime hardcore practice can't really commence until June.

That's about what I expected.

I will, at most, be at ESA until the 25th (which means that I will probably leave that day, so it would be most preferable to have my run/runs no later than the 24th), as I have other obligations the other half of the marathon.

So the implementation of the co-op leaderboards is kind of janky, but there was no really good way of doing it. Using variables as subcategories does not work at fucking all when there's more than one variable, so co-op runs just get two boards: 2-player and 3-player. Assuming anyone even wants to do co-op runs at all.

At the time of this writing, character variables for IL runs aren't implemented. I'll get on that eventually just to have it there, but the way it has to be done involves manually adding a lot of values. I'll do it for the relevant category the first time someone submits an IL run to it.

Whatever I was trying to do with 2- and 3-player categories did not work at fucking all, but 1-player mode should now support every goddamn thing you want to run. I'll re-rethink the co-op categories later.

I am doing things. Stuff will look weird for a little bit.

Okay so here's the deal

Both genders of all classes have been added as categories. Yes, including M and F-Novice.

Currently, only F-Swordman is visible on the page. That's because all empty categories will be marked as Misc, and therefore hidden. Once a category gets a run, it will no longer be considered a Misc category, and appear on the main page. Because it looked dumb otherwise.

Edit: Fuck it, there's two and three-player co-op and ILs now. tbh I have no idea how to treat ILs though since that can't be done with fresh character. I guess those are always going to be NG+ by design? Bonus scenarios only on ILs right now. Full game NG+ categories will not be a thing, I've decided, if you want to use your max leveled characters, whatever the max level is, just go wild on the IL board. Full game including bonus scenarios won't be a thing for the same reason, really. So I think I've covered pretty much all of the bases now.

Send me an e-mail if you desperately need my attention for something. User name at gmail dot com.

Oh god I missed the hell out of this thread. Sorry about that. I'll get right on it.

In fact, I'm gonna make Enasper a mod of this game too.

Edit: Categories exist now, see the other thread.

So I started running this game last year on 3DS, only reason I didn't make a page here was that I couldn't record any run. I'm mostly running with Chain Sickle, though.

So how about adding 3DS as platform, and the other three characters as categories as well?

For all the ESA runners and viewers, remember that in addition to Twitch and that newfangled Discord thing, we still have the most classic kind of chat channel running.

So pop on over to #esamarathon at irc.quakenet.org to chat with the rest of us nerds (because only nerds use IRC, you see).

You can also use it throught Quakenet webchat: http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=#esamarathon

Well, a little sad, but since all my games got cut and I haven't been able to secure any good transport (train would not be an option for me this time around, for reasons), plus the fact that it half-collides with another event in Linköping the same week that I have to be at, to save on money and hassle I'll not be attending ESA this year. Hopefully next year's ESA will not be the same week as Närcon (please make it not be the same week as Närcon), and hopefully I'll actually have a goddamn job at that time.

So here's to 2017.

I'm gonna retract my intended participation in the sealed tourney for now, for a variety or reasons.

So I kind of expected Mega Pony to get cut (tbh I didn't even expect it to get through the first round), but that Mighty Gunvolt also was saddens and surprises me and the only of my games that got cut I'd like to know the reason for. If it was for lack of having videos of my runs, not much I could have done about that as I don't have the game on any platform I actually can record...

If it happens when I'm still there (that is, if it is before the 28th), I'll certainly participate in playing sealed. Would be up for trying cube draft, too.

As previously mentioned, I'll be there before it opens on the 23rd and then I'll be leaving either in the evening on the 27th or in the morning on the 28th. So all two of my runs, if they make it to the final schedule, woul dhave to be before evening on the 27th.

I've been practicing but not streaming, and I'm confident in both runs, there's nothing that can go wrong that's too costly. Haven't gotten anything faster than my current top spots on the leaderboards here, though, so no PB updates since. And now that some personal stuff is almost completely out of the way, practice will be intensifying even more in the coming weeks.