Hello there,

You might have noticed that I recently stepped up as a moderator for Windblown SRC. I am opening this thread regarding some topics I believe warrant discussion in order to align our rules with the evolution Windblown has undergone the past 2 years. Since it was the Early Access, it was less important, but as the Roadmap states the full release will occur in 2026. I would like to collect community's opinion before a major release changes the player base. Here are the topics I am personally thinking about:

1. Custom start As a reminder, it was introduced pre-0.5 so that runners can still enjoy the game despite randomness by getting stuff from FREND before starting the run. Since, the Deck has been introduced, and even if you are still undergoing randomness, you can ditch irrelevant gifts from the pool to increase the amount of run you can finish. There has been not a lot of activity the past year, but among the 5+me different runners and the 30ish runs submitted none of them were custom start. With the Deck, custom start no longer serves its original purpose. Before 1.0, I want to know: does anyone still want this custom rule, or should we retire it?

2. Re-timing: Currently we use RTA with load time included. Loading time depends on multiple factors, especially in coop runs. I can mention: game version (and subversion), hardware (PC and probably future console release), software (optimization patch either for the game, the drivers...), network issue (as a bunch of people must use a VPN to access the online server). For 1.0, I suggest the followings: start and end of the run are left unchanged, but loading time are not accounted for the submission time. The idea would be to remove loading segments entirely from the timer (load time between biomes), showing only gameplay (and Real Time Cinematics, or RTC the skippable cutscenes). I'm exploring two approaches:

• LiveSplit + Unity event: It can work on Windows if someone manage to write an AutoSplit script for Windblown, but it won't work for console and requires extra step for MacOS/Linux users (including SteamDeck). This option probably means we split leaderboards PC vs console. Is this something that is important for the community?
• Manual re-timing: Moderators remove loading time via video, using a published guide and examples. It's accessible everywhere but requires consistent application. I'd create documentation so runners can verify the method themselves. Manual re-timing adds work, and I'm committed to finding automation to reduce this burden. I'm currently evaluating technical options, but welcome input from anyone with scripting/video editing experience who might want to contribute. I have recently verified some emoman's runs. For a 15 minutes run, the base verification process took me 25 minutes. I tried to re-time manually and it took me 5 extra minutes to remove 3 loading segments. Would this approach work for you, or do you have any other suggestion?

3. Kill All Enemies rule change: KAE would requires Secret Radar to be unlocked (it is a permanent upgrade and it doesn't affect the run just as the current requirements: Variant Bait and Challenge), plus clearing all secret areas and optional paths (not just the main path). As the sound and UI are currently mandatory for the entire run duration, it is easy for the runner to find them without spending time dashing towards all walls. For moderation it can be used to check if a secret area or optional path is skipped (unlike pre-0.9). Also, most locations of secret areas are now know (https://windblown.wiki.gg/wiki/Chunk), so checking completeness is no longer an after the fact impossible task.

4. Any suggestion you can think of!

I know stepping in mid-stream isn't ideal, and last minute change can be seen as suspicious. I'm a runner here too, so I care about getting this right. Since the full release date hasn't been announced, this discussion needs to happen while we still have the window provided by the future 1.0 beta. Ideally, we finalize decisions before beta ends. None of these changes will apply without community agreement. Also, a change will not affect the Early Access leaderboard, and for those version the rules are left as is. The potential future change will only affect Full Release version. Even if not official, we can expect a full release on the second birthday of early access (2026/10/24), so we have 2 months to discuss this. Thanks for your time, and the discussion you might start. If you have a concern you want to discuss privately, you can find me in the Official Windblown server under the user name "Angle".

Hi ngl, im glad you became a moderator!!

1. Custom start pretty much forces you to create and fully upgrade a new save file while unlocking only the best gear and not unlocking what you are going to use for the run. This is an extremely extensive task but if you're not doing that and only going custom start to get predetermined weapons and trinkets from Cuprik you are competing with people who have 4 op gifts from the start. I personally don't think this is fun and wouldn't want anyone to do it. That's why i think custom start should be removed, but for versions after Cuprik's forge was added allow to get only Weapons and Trinkets from Cuprik/Frend because you can already get the starting items you want if you just restart a thousand times.
2. I don't have an opinion but if this going to be a thing maybe make 2 collumns for RTA and time without loading.
3. Is secret radar now required for 0.10 and above?
4. There is currently 63 categories per update and 693 categories in total which is crazy numbers for a game that has 84 runs. I feel like each category needs to be interesting to speedrun and to watch, and think the amount of categories needs to be heavely cut down so that you're not competing with air. Here's what i would do:

• Change player count from 1,2,3 to singleplayer, multiplayer.
• Change difficulties to only 2 options: Clear Sky-Tempestuous and Cataclysmic (most people are going to either play the easiest difficulty because it's the fastest or the hardest difficulty because it's the only one that throws some challenge with fully upgraded save file, everything in between is just not interesting)
• For the start mode i already said, remove before forge update and partially combine with normal start after forge.
• For the updates i honestly don't know, but if i would change anything i would combine them by major structural run changes. For example 0.1-0.5 (before gift update), 0.6-0.8 (before break the path), and 0.9+ (after break the path)

Also i wanted to ask what's the difference between Gift Update and Gift Update - Old ruleset?

Hi emoman, and thanks for your feedback very appreciated!

1. Yeah custom start has been introduced to create a form of seeded category. Removing the tedious part you've just described feels fair, as getting all gifts from the start allows you to roll over the game which doesn't feel that fun. Using the Cuprik's Forge feels the most appropriate and is still close to a seeded version that requires no extra-work. If MT drops a game mode that would allow players to enter a seed to play, this would become the actual seeded category, and Cuprik's Forge would be banned in any cases.
2. Sure that's a great addition! We could try to have both columns in a category with small amount of submissions to check how it looks?
3. The changes I am suggesting would only apply (if the community agrees to the said change) for full release. Early access rules will remain as is: Secret radar not required, and you can run KAE as the current rules state "Secret Follow the Winds path are not mandatory"
4. Yeah that a great point you are suggesting right now. I don't really feel comfortable to edit the history of the existing runs (87 runs of 28 different players from the past 2 years is not negligible). Merging 2-3 players mode as multiplayer seems fair as there is no major difference between the two versions (they both have the revenge mode, contrary to single player). For difficulty, as it is still WIP, we don't know if cata is currently the last difficulty. In my opinion, with the recent release we had, I don't think there would be a very large time difference between an any% Clear sky or Cataclysmic, so all of them could compare equally. I however understand that judging the easiest and hardest difficulties in the same manner could discourage runners as the prestige doesn't feel the same. So your suggestion is the most appropriate. Except if MT decides to add a difficulty, or give cata additional content (with an additional biome as they did with Dead Cells), then the distinction should lean toward this change.

For the Gift Update - Old ruleset, The Dregorath and another runner already submitted times of KAE while the ruleset was still not complete: they skipped some optional arenas. The Dregorath already ran all 5 difficulties with the bad rules and submitted for verification. In order not to erase that effort to nothing MarsChaxor added this subcategory.

I will think about point 4 and try to see what can be edited and what can be suggested in order not to harm the actual leaderboards. Since all versions are still playable, it would be natural for runners to be able to dispute those versions even in some years.

I will check we Night if he can open a speedrunning channel in the Discord. I don't think former runner are checking this forum, and it would be easier to exchange less formally there, and let the forums for official stuff.

Thanks for reading, and get some nice time!

I feel like if the rules are going to change they need to change everywhere, and the runs made during old rules should stay in the leaderboard but maybe with a moderator note. I'm talking about Gift Update - Old ruleset and potential Secret Radar requirement but also future rule changes

That's something we should also consider. I will reference all existing runs to see where they should go. I have prepared a tool for retiming runs, I will retime them as well since I list all of them.

Hello. Small update on potential future for Categories. I have browsed all existing leaderboards, and gathered all entries from them. I have listed everything in a Google Sheet. Here are some numbers:

1. Traditional categories

• 20 any% runs
• 19 FreshFile
• 17 Kill All Enemies

2. Difficulties

• 24 Clear Sky (+19 from Fresh File)
• 2 Cloudy
• 1 Stormy
• 1 Tempestuous
• 9 Cataclysmic

3. Player Count

• 49 single player
• 7 multiplayer (7: 2, 0: 3)

4. Custom Start

• 7 runs with a custom start
• 2 are actually Normal runs that were submitted to both leaderboards

5. Versions

• least practiced versions: 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.10 with 2, 1, 2 and 1 run respectively.
• most practiced versions: 0.1, 0.6 and 0.7 with 11, 17, and 7 runs respectively.

Based on those numbers, some changes are suggested. Before going further, all runs that were previously verified will not be discarded. Here would be the total reshaping of Categories to reduce their amount drastically. For reference, those changes don't currently apply. TL,DR: Merge difficulties, single/multiplayer, Eras instead of Version, discontinuing Old Ruleset, among other.

Windblown is a rogue-lite multiplayer, that proposes the players to tackle the difficulty they want, and can be played in different manner. Managing leaderboards to differentiate entirely:

• Difficulty
• Player count
• Custom start
• Category itself
• Game major sub-release is not realistic, as each sub-release would add 63 leaderboards (FF: 3 players count; any%KAE: 5 diff x 3 players count x 2 start options each; for a total of 693 leaderboard: 10 versions + Old Ruleset). Drastic changes are suggested, but it should bring back the amount of leaderboards to 54.

Intermediate difficulties are not appealing players: they should no longer be accounted. Previously submitted runs in intermediate difficulties are not discontinued but will be considered as Clear Sky.

If a sixth difficulty above Cataclysmic is introduced, from that subversion, difficulties will be separated into Clear Sky to Cataclysmic and that sixth difficulty.

The distinction 2 players/3 players no longer exists. Only the distinction single-player, multi-player remains. Indeed, no major difference exists in 3 players mode compare to 2 players mode. Additionally, if the retiming without loads is introduced network issue should impact 2 players and 3 players mode in the same manner. The distinction still exists for one player mode, as Revenge Mode is not accessible.

Custom Start exists for historical reason before the "From the Leaper Update", when the Memory Deck was not existing. It allows the player to carry on a piece of equipment within a run. In earlier versions, truly optimizing Custom Start requires multiple hours of investment, only for speedrunning. In order not to encourage such behavior, clear definitions and changes are introduced.

Unlocking a gear from FREND's database to carry it at the beginning of the next run. Gifts are no longer permitted to be carried on in a run.

Gear obtained from the Equipment Box Upgrade (0.7) or the Cuprik's Forge (after 0.7). Items from FREND's database are no longer permitted to be carried on in a run.

If a major sub-release introduces a Seed Setting game mode, from that version, Custom Start is discontinued and becomes Set Seed, while Normal Start is Random Seed. From that version, no equipment can be directly carried on from the Ark.

Previously submitted runs for Custom Start will not be affected by this change to preserve their initial verification: they will remain the only exceptions.

Historically, it never has been easy to predict how dramatically an update would affect speedrunning. While each version brought a little something for at least one category, this is not sustainable as it divides runners in niche. Previous major sub-release will be merged in game's Era, and future will be shaped by players and meta changes.

Versions included in this Era:

• Version 0.1
• Version 0.2 (includes Revenge Mode, doesn't affect speedrunning's essence)
• Version 0.3 (includes Endless Mode, doesn't affect any category)
• Version 0.4 (includes Sanctuary, doesn't affect any category)

Avoiding Version 0.1 is recommended, as most i-frame from Alterattacks are not fully bounded to their animations. All 3 other versions are much likely.

Versions included in this Era:

• Version 0.5: introduced the Memory Deck. Builds can be optimized for the speedrunning sake
• Version 0.6 (includes Gift rework and Total Damage/Auto-Scaling, impactful but not significant)
• Version 0.7 (Alterattack rework and Lost Archipelago, impactful but not significant)
• Version 0.8 (Fungal Swamp redesign, doesn't affect any category)

Version 0.7 is probably the most optimal in this Era as it benefits from the 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7 changes, while avoiding the performance issue players can meet in the Fungal Swamp when they run on a medium computer.

Versions included in this Era:

• Version 0.9: introduced branching biomes and Anchor's teleportation. Getting to the end of a biome has never been that fast
• Version 0.10 (includes the new Memonites, doesn't affect any category)

Version 0.10 is maybe superior due to the Swiftness gift, but that's a small optimization.

Historically, a Normal run could also be considered as a Custom run, so that players could submit the same run twice. This policy is discontinued as it just makes numbers bigger, but does not provide actual content for people enjoying watching speedrunning. Previously submitted duplicated runs are not discontinued to respect runners.

Historically, Kill All Enemies had a prior rule set that was not explicit enough and leaded some players into confusion. In order not to erase their achievement, another leaderboard was introduced to keep the submission, but separated. The Old Ruleset no longer exists and the affected runs are introduced to the actual leaderboard: they are the only exceptions tolerated. This event shows that adding a category is not something easy to anticipate, and the community has learnt from its mistake. In the future, new categories should be beta tested before official release. Beta testers will understand that their submissions are potentially not retained once the ruleset has been properly established. This approach protects both the integrity of final leaderboards and the runners who participate.

I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback. Given that the full release is coming by end of 2026, we ideally need to lock in category changes by 2026/09/30. Agreeing on all those changes would bring the number of categories to a total of 54: 3 Eras x 2 Player Count x (Fresh File + 2 Difficulties x 2 Start Options x (any% + KAE)). That said, community input is essential here, what concerns do you have about the proposal, and are there specific changes you'd want to push back on? Would you agree on:

1. Difficulty gathering: is it an issue for you that intermediate difficulties are considered Clear Sky?
2. Player count: have you experienced a meaningful strategy shift between 2-player and 3-player modes?
3. Custom Start: would you agree with the stated changes, and the potential future of it?
4. Eras instead of Versions: do you think the boundaries are properly introduced? Do they make sense?

I really like how you separated versions, Era1 is mostly polishing updates that don't change much in speedrunning, Era2 has major changes (and deck) but don't change the structure of the run, and Era3 is Break the path. It's funny you say 0.10 doesn't affect any category because that fuckass koikoi dialogue in 0.9 omg i hate it (to be clear it's not major but so annoying).

For difficulties maybe instead of Clear Sky-Tempestuous it could be <Cataclysmic just to shorten. Also i don't think there will be a sixth difficulty, i feel like the current system is just a placeholder and difficulties will look completely different, just have to see.

I don't know how editing a leaderboard looks like but is there a possibility to add options [Singleplayer,Multiplayer,Any] where Any will have all single and multi runs? Could also be added for difficulties, versions, and start mode. Actually it would probably be a bad idea, scrap everything i just said.

I didn't quite understand custom start. So it stays but you will only be able to get weapons, trinkets, and fishes from Frend but not Cuprik? Also i don't understand why you don't want to delete duplicated runs, "to respect runners" but they are going to stay in the leaderboards tho??

Thanks for answering.

Yeah splitting "naturally" game versions was an objective. With the current submissions, it would spread quite evenly the submitted runs. For the difficulty, only time will say!

About custom start, maybe I was a bit unclear: you've shared to me the fact that being able to start with the gifts you want kinda makes it unbalanced towards players that can spend time to optimize their start versus those who canonot.

The idea is the following: for versions where forge/equipement box don't exist, we adjust the custom start definition to mimic what forge/equipement box provides: only weapons and trinkets, no gift/hex/fish (yeah sorry I forgot this one). Custom start is a community feature. Forge/equipment box is MT's definition of "Custom start". I propose to apply this definition to 0.6 and bellow, so that they stay close to 0.7 and above.

About the set seed suggestion, if let's say version 1.5 provides it, then we would get:

• From 0.1 to 0.6: custom start = purchasing weapons and trinkets to FREND
• From 0.7 to 1.4: custom start = purchasing stuff from box/forge. Nothing else.
• Beyond 1.5: custom start = set seed. Nothing else.

Does it sound fine to you?

Yeah i think it's fair

Hey, thanks for the discussion Mod team :) I got demotivated running the game due to it having way to many leaderboards for every single iteration of the game, good we got some clarity here, and with Version 1.0, I (and probably other runners) will join again. If you need someone to help verifying/support you guys moderating, just hit me up.

To the questions, to put in my two cent´s:

1. Difficulty gathering: is it an issue for you that intermediate difficulties are considered Clear Sky? For me personally, no. Maybe if the demand is there, we could possibly talk about this topic again.

2. Player count: have you experienced a meaningful strategy shift between 2-player and 3-player modes? I personally have never tried it, but I think that 2-player and 3-player can make a huge difference, due to path exploring speeds.

3. Custom Start: would you agree with the stated changes, and the potential future of it? Yes,

4. Eras instead of Versions: do you think the boundaries are properly introduced? Do they make sense? 100% Agree, don´t think this is the game where people go and patch it back just to run a specific patch :P

Hey TheDregorath! Thanks for your answer. Glad to see you are still there!

As you can see some changes already happened. I initially thought my french Bureaucracy would slow down the process to at least mid-September, but Bidju announced that they will share news next week, so we kinda moved on as 1.0 could drop earlier than expected.

Thankfully most of the changes aligned with your opinion, outisde of the multiplayer mode. For this topic, since there was no prior 3 players run submitted we went ahead the merge. If future tells us that it is actually fairly unbalanced for 2 players mode the split will be reconsider, but for now, we want to simplify as much as possible.

About other changes:

• RTA to LRT. I released a python script with gui to retime a run after the fact using run footage. I provided a resource to use it on Windows (there is no .exe, sorry)

• Starting and ending of a run are now clearly identified with specific instant: first frame of player moving (thus multiplayer lobby can wait each other to load, and players can inspect the starting gear without rush), first frame of the final boss cinematic trigger

• KAE rule past 0.9. Absolutely all kills required secret area included, no exception. In exchanged, time penalty of +20s per missed enemies instead of automatic rejection (more info on rules). For the "secret area included", the recent changes made it plausible for runners and verifiers. I talked about it with INVOKER in private. If the feedback about this change is mostly negative, it's something we can reconsider. For the resources about this, the wiki has a chunk page listing about 85% of all chunks that can generate a secret room and its location.

Feel free to check out our new discord channel, dedicated for speedrunning.

Hope to see you run soon!

Good Decision to keep it simple for the time being, who knows what will happen in the future. Let us see what the new announcement brings to the table.

Best regards!