I havn't stumbled upon a segmented run on this site, even if a run takes half a day (how do you stay sane during and afterwards?!). The only segmented run I found (which I can't find anymore) was timed by days, which is really long time. There are reasons for a against this type of runs, but I can't list them without going too deep on this subject.
So I want to ask, are segmented runs allowed? In which games should they and should they not, and why?
They're allowed as a separate category for any game. You don't compare single segment and segmented runs against each other, but a segmented run allows for people to do the riskiest strats and show off how a level/section can be done optimally, so there's no harm in it in the end.
the reason why there aren't many segmented runs here is simply because they are not as popular nowadays and most games don't really allow for a segmented run. Most people just want to run the game as a whole rather than playing one segment over and over to optimize it to the fullest, which is actually a bit sad, because it is really good practice.
[quote=E_Dragon]Most people just want to run the game as a whole rather than playing one segment over and over to optimize it to the fullest, which is actually a bit sad, because it is really good practice.[/quote]
For game categories where most of the runs use the same route, they can use the Individual Level leaderboards to keep track of who has the best segment. It's something I'd really like to encourage.
That only works if the level is independent by what happened in the rest of game.
This is why it only works for some games, best example probably are RTS games.
GTA series is perfect for Seg runs. You need to chuckle (is that a word?) as many missions as possible before saving, becuase saving does requier you to go to a specific place. So it's a trade-of between consistency and saving the time driving to your save place.
Can anyone give a example of another game that works that way?
The Metroid Prime series works pretty much the same, there are save stations all over the place, but still using savestations cost a few secs and it sometimes ends up in some long segments, because there is no convenient savestation nearby.
This website kinda acts like a hub for the competition aspect of the speedrunning crowd, generally speaking, leaderboards and competition and stuff. People don't generally compete for the fastest segmented times (unless it's an IL heavy game or something but blah), segmented runs are more a "finished product" type of run, meant for a cool showcase and demonstration, not generally something that requires tracking on a generally leaderboard focused website.
See, I kinda wish said runs had some manner of repository because they're cool, but they serve a fundamentally different purpose.