Oregon, USAI don't mean to be a bother, but I also notice that my request about being the scrabble series mod, as well as the mod for the ps1 scrabble game, were not mentioned in the last big reply to people. Sorry if this is redundant, I don't know what your system for this is exactly, but I just want to make sure the request isn't getting lost. https://www.speedrun.com/scrabble https://www.speedrun.com/scrabble_ps
I was hoping to become mod for the scrabble series, which currently does not have a series mod. https://www.speedrun.com/scrabble
I made a new category for the ps1 scrabble game some months ago, and the series mod at the time made a category extensions page for the game and set me up as mod for it. https://www.speedrun.com/scrabble__category_extension
Since then, the previous series mod has deleted their account. I'd mostly like to have control of the main ps1 scrabble board so I can add a couple of new categories to that, but given that the series doesn't have a mod right now, I figured I could fill that void too.
I also dm'd the mod of the GBC and GBA scrabble games about joining me as series mod (assuming this request gets accepted). I don't usually like being the sole moderator on a board, so if they're interested I will add as a series mod as well.
I've been thinking recently about the miscellaneous categories people have run that we don't have leaderboards for (like 12 egg, sparxless 120%, etc). Sometimes we don't have leaderboards because there isn't enough interest in a category, or because it's too similar to an existing category, and I'm fine with that. I agree that we shouldn't have dozens of categories with only one run clogging up the official boards.
But it still comes up a lot that someone wants to run some random category, and they don't know what the best time is. To help with that, I just whipped up a spreadsheet for any and all miscellaneous categories we don't currently track anywhere else. If anyone wants to add their runs to this, or if they want to have a board for another category, feel free to add it, or dm me with a link to your video of it and I'll add it for you.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vD1RRWtY64OyhrZCART0OvCgOICwz0p37hIzEAjy6k4/edit?usp=sharing
I understand wanting video proof of runs, but fwiw the rules clearly have a typo in them. Time should end when the last level on 04 is completed, not 05.
We're still a small group, but communication is important for the building of a passionate community. I hope anyone interested in the game will join us to discuss ideas and strategies. There's still a lot to figure out in this game!
It's a relatively common precedent to start timing on the last menu input before the game really started. In this case, it seems like the game really "starts" when you go to the map the first time. So timing would start on "Main Game", the last thing you click on before going to that screen.
I noticed that it seems like everyone (including me) keeps starting their timers on selecting "Main Game" rather than "Play Game", so I changed the timing to start there instead. If anyone has any other opinions about timing, this is still a young game and now is definitely the time to bring it up.
I added rules for which emulators are allowed. Right now, we're allowing
for PS1: mednafen and bizhawk for PS2: PCSX2
I will be the first to admit that these choices are fairly arbitrary. These are the emulators that I'm used to seeing and using. If you would like to use a different emulator, or if you feel an emulator should be banned, bring it up and I'll consider it.
The only emulator I have considered and decided against is epsxe for PS1 runs. epsxe is known to reduce a significant amount of lag from many games, and that could save minutes for someone in this game. Unless someone comes up with a very compelling reason for me to change my mind, epsxe is banned for now.
I added subcategories for the different releases of the game! I'm really mostly familiar with the PS1 version, so if anyone wants to start running one of the other releases of the game, let me know! I'm interested in hearing what the requirements are, what the run will probably look like, etc.
This isn't formatted very well, but this is the document I was using to keep notes on the game: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u8J7dV2JO17ebsCNG_1AT_R9Xdkv71KKeyeQXYBokvo/edit?usp=sharing
I would have cleaned it up if I expected anyone else to use it, but I always assumed I'd be the only person to run this game tbh :P (not saying people shouldn't run it, it's a great game, it's just so niche)
If we could find the last floating gold ticket that I didn't figure out, or a more consistent way to get some of the other ones, we could get a good replacement for the "make a bunch of money" ticket we start with.
If you have IL turned on, the timer will reset when you reset a level, so that you can try to time Individual Levels more easily.
If you have G++ turned on, the timer should only split when you collect all the gold in a level. This is specifically for the Solo Intro Gold% category.
There are several level and episode transition techniques, and I'm not sure which one you are referring to here. The main level transition method I use goes as follows: -When you finish a level, do not press continue -Press retry to return to the starting state of the level -Press the level skip hotkey (page down on keyboard, Right bumper on controller) I believe this method saves roughly half a second per level. However, it only works in the categories that you play in level view (intro, x-row, the secret tabs).
More recently we figured out that you can use a similar technique in the other categories. Play in level view and use the above technique, but do the following on the last level of the episode: -When you finish the level, do not press continue -Press retry to return to the starting state of the level -Press the back button to return to the level menu -Press down and left 5 times to select the first level of the next episode in the run -Start the next episode from this menu and continue Episode transitions used to take a very long time. This technique speeds it up substantially.
I did a little bit of research, and it looks like ppsspp and DeSmuME are the best options for those emulators, although DS has multiple options that all work well. When I eventually submit runs with them, we should just be sure to compare the gameplay between emu and hardware to make sure emu isn't running fast or something.
After a lot of discussion in the discord, we have decided to add IGT as an optional timing method for runs. There is a new autosplitter that you can find on the discord that tracks IGT, but you can only use it if you're playing on PC.
You can also calculate the IGT of a run by checking your play time in your profile menu before and after a run. If you don't use the autosplitter, but you do want to track your IGT, then you need to show the profile menu in your video for the mods to verify the time.
If you don't track your IGT, you can fill that field with your RTA time.
If you do track your IGT, be sure to submit the RTA time for your run as well. RTA is mandatory.
If you have any questions or need clarification, feel free to ask here or in the discord.
Well I guess I'm glad that I decided to do these runs then! After playing the other games in the N series, it just felt so wrong to not see the entire level when playing. I wonder how long it would have been before somebody else thought to play zoomed out the whole time.
I notice there aren't any categories for XBOX N+ columns 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, or 45. Is this because there have not been any runs of those columns yet? or is there another reason to not have those categories?
I intend to do at least one run of each of those columns in the next few weeks, so I would appreciate having categories to submit the runs to. :D
I've also been thinking about doing a full game run (not including any DLC packs). But I'm going to wait until I see how long the last columns take before deciding if I want to do a run that long.
When you touch the open exit of a level, do not continue as you normally would.
Instead, press the retry button, and then press R1. This will restart the level, and then jump to the next level without a transition.
Doing the transition skip perfectly would save about 50 seconds in intro over playing normally with score submission disabled. I take the transition skip a little slow and careful, but I believe I still saved between 20 and 30 seconds with it in my current intro record. If you can't disable score submission on PS4, then you could do the transition skip very carefully and still save a lot of time.
If you compare my run to xela's (which does not use the transition skip) you can quickly see the difference it makes at the end of each level.
I don't know of a way to disable the score submission prompt, but I would recommend trying to do the level transition skip that I use in my runs. It's much easier on controller than on keyboard, so you should be fine doing it on PS4. It can be hard to do it well, but you don't have to do the transition skip at all quickly to save time over going through the score submission text.
Thank you for the answers :D
The biggest problem I was having with the physics was that sometimes the ninja would jump very low, like it would only get about half of the height of a normal jump. This seemed to happen at random times (jumping while running full speed, jumping from standing still, and all speeds in between). These low jumps killed more than a few runs.
The other major issue I was having is a little harder to describe. Bounce-blocks seem to have a variable amount of tension to them. By that I mean, in some runs, I will land on a bounce-block and the block will lower the amount I expect it to from my experience in the other games in the series, but in other runs I will land on the same block from roughly the same height, the block will hardly lower at all, and I can't make any kind of a useful jump from it.
If that doesn't make any sense, I can try to find a clip of what I'm describing and link it here. I appreciate the help. :)
I am unclear on some of the rules, and it doesn't help that most of the rule descriptions appear to be blank :P
My main questions are: -When does time start? -When does time end? -What is included in DLC Pack 1?
As far as timing goes, I've been timing my runs like every other game in the series is timed (time starts when you start moving on first level, ends when you hit the door on the last level). If N+ is timed differently, then my runs will need to be re-timed.
In addition, I'm having trouble getting the hang of some of the physics quirks, so if anybody wants to hop into the N community discord and explain some of the subtler details of this game to me, that would be much appreciated :D
haha, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was suspicious about that! That said, I became less suspicious shortly after I beat that time :P
