Video and Audio Proof Threshold: 1:05:00

Capture Card Threshold: 55:00

^I can understand requiring video and audio proof, but why is there a need for capture cards at 55:00? What could that showcase that someone recording their whole TV + setup cannot (assuming they somehow get a solid quality recording of their setup). I don't plan on running this game rn, but I'm just curious as this was brought up in the talk forums.

i think the capture card threshold is for quality purposes, not sure tho

Hey Sizzyl,

The requirement for a capture card after reaching the 55m threshold (something only the top 5-6% have done) reflects the need for higher quality audio and video that can be analysed by the mod team using techniques/tools that would enable them to more easily identify a splice or other tampering in a cheated run.

Btw I'm not a mod or anything, I'm just a runner who joined in October this year and initially submitted runs with no proof before providing proof once I got a tripod for my smartphone (I now have a capture card, so I'll be using that instead going forward).

Hope you give it a go, running this game is awesome.

There are many hints that tell of a spliced run that can unfortunately not be easily found with footage from a camera pointed at a television. A capture card requirement ensures that no time below 55:XX cannot be verified beyond a reasonable doubt.

additionally the capture card cutoff also acts as an emu cutoff since emu gameplay isn't capture card gameplay. it's just a way of saying "higher proof standards when you get to this time" and includes everything that gets wrapped under that bow

why the emu cutoff tho

People say the cutoff is because they wanna eliminate the chance of a spliced or TAS'd run getting on the boards, but this game is extremely hard to splice anyways because of the HUD animations needing to line up perfectly, SpongeBob's damage animations needing to progress sequentially, needing to have the exact right amount of socks and shinies, etc. And who's gonna bother TASing a run for GameCube anyways? Even if you did everything in the WR route first try, GameCube would be off by minutes. It's not possible to get a new record on Dolphin, so I honestly don't understand the cutoff. Probably just general "Emulator isn't REALLY playing the game" BS. People tend to get uppity about anyone who didn't pay for a console being allowed to submit runs for whatever reason.

exactly

but for the socks, shinies and other stuff DME exists

you would be suprised by how much people want to cheat in this game honestly

The emu cutoff is because you shouldn't be in a position where you're competing for a top time and still aren't playing on original hardware. The reason dolphin is allowed to begin with is because we as a community decided that the game is more accessible by having an emulator option that cannot be in contention for a top leaderboard time, because more people will be able to use it to get into the game. The leaderboards of some games do not allow emulator at all, and in an ideal world, every serious runner of nearly every game would be playing on original hardware (where it is reasonable to, of course). It should be seen as a privilage that emulator is allowed at lower skill levels at all.

The capture card cutoff, on the other hand, exists because we as a community want to ensure that the runs at the top of our leaderboards are a certain standard of quality (less so to reduce the risk of cheated runs. in fact, cheated runs are harder to do with a potato cam pointed at your tv that would qualify as acceptable video proof for slower times). We as a community generally agree that if you have put enough time into the game to get to the point below what we've set as the capture card cutoff, then you should care about the quality of your runs enough to submit a higher standard of video proof.

This is not to say that you cannot continue to run the game on your own if your way of playing / recording the game doesn't meet these requirements. It just means that your runs won't be accepted to the leaderboards.