So we've had about a week or so to play around with the game, to give us plenty of time to discuss and vote on at least these rules before September 10 arrives, I'd like to open a discussion to basic rules as a group by interested runners here as some may not necessarily be in the MGSR discord, which is completely fine.

Over the past few days in the discord the following topics have been brought up to being discussed/voted on. My brief thoughts on them included in comments.

• Separate by difficulty
• NG vs NG+
• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless
• Should patches be a variable?
• DLC Camo
• Timing method
• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC?
• Allow/disallow quick area reloading
• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs?
• Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks
• the issues with this game's "New Game" option
• Special Items

Worst case scenario here we push back the day we start putting runs on boards considering the amount of info slowly coming in and showing up. I still think there are a few things here that can be open and shut cases, allowing more time to discuss other things as they come up. If we can get anything concrete set sooner the better imo.

If there are other things I haven't mentioned here that you would like to discuss please feel free to do so.

• Separate by difficulty - should be default.
• NG vs NG+ - some have brought up the idea of these being separate while MGS3 itself does not separate these. NG however has its own unique weirdness (discussed further down)
• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless - with air walking we can skip 2 bosses and the Ocelot Unit (so far) which brings forth these category suggestions from runners in the discord. If we decide on an All Bosses category, do we count the Ocelot Unit as a "boss"? I'd argue no since no boss in the game can cause game over by looking at you. They also don't have a boss health bar, which should be our defining characteristic imo. A glitchless run should be required to run on the current patch of the game. As patches come, things might change but we shall see of course.
• Should patches be a variable? - other games that list patches list either the patch ID number (such as 1.1.2 for us right now) or a simple yes/no with the variable labelled "Current Patch?" or similar. Phantom Pain for example has "Patched" and "Unpatched" which using here is a problem as it's been reported that 1.0.0 could not do air walking. I'd prefer listing the patch numbers in a drop down or requiring runner to show the title screen with the patch number clearly visible.
• DLC Camo - Most seem to be in favor of banning these for the main boards. I agree with the current majority as pay to win is nonsense. Folks also seem to be generally ok with having them allowed in a category extension, which I also agree with.
• Timing method - We have a functional LRT autosplitter (Included under "Edit Splits" in live split setting your game to Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater) for the PC version already (made by TheDementedSalad), almost everyone that talked about it seems to agree with using this. The question then becomes at least for PC do we still require the score screen as we do with other games or do we stop the timer on the Ocelot duel on the WiG (Which is where the autosplitter currently stops) Console on the other hand has historically been IGT, however with reloading saves like the autosave the IGT is reset to the file's listed IGT.
• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC? - I think it would be helpful for verifiers to have the stats to compare with in the vods.
• Allow/disallow quick area reloading - With PC's LRT this should be a non-issue. Things get funny on console for reason above. There are also situations where bosses like The Fear become invincible, softlocking you until you reload the room. (Brought to me by SnakeSocom). Allowing this kind of forces Console to be RTA. I am also not in favor of allowing it on one version of the game and disallowing it on another. I'd prefer to keep the basic game play consistent if possible.
• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs? - the only real advantages to legacy style at time of writing to my knowledge are the lack of bullet drop and a much faster Fear fight. (And the fixed camera if that's your preference) Labs/Fear Skip has yet to be achieved in Legacy Style to my knowledge, likely due to the difference in animation of Snake going up against the door. Otherwise there isnt a worthwhile difference, the issue becomes changing styles mid game requires a room reset, a mentioned problem for IGT timing. on PC switching mid run should be a non-issue, time lost is opening the options menu with the current autosplitter.
• Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks - meh i don't like it but it's also in the game for everyone and the way the game tracks certain things, its impossible not to have it after completing the game once without editting the game's files or creating a new profile. *9/7/25 edit After seeing some other suggetions of disallowing the questionaire items to keep NG specifically more in the spirit of a proper new game I would like to suggest a disallow of "bonus items" and keep it to things you would only have on a real NG file, eliminating the need to delete files or create new profiles.
• the issues with this game's "New Game" option - the game tracks things oddly compared to other games in the series. Unlocking EuEx by completing the game is one thing but doing so also gives the player all the camos bonuses etc even when selecting "New Game" after its first completion. Editting/changing these files on PC may also lose the player's the option to run on EuEx on a proper "clean file" Creating a new profile would not be a unique problem to Delta, for example back when I was running Pokemon Let's Go runners had to make a new switch profile when starting a new run. However no EuEx once again becomes a thing on a fresh new profile. *9/2/25 edit; I've been corrected. you keep all bonuses including things like the patriot and the ez gun as well. which i never actually noticed until now.
• Special Items - historically these have been banned in general in MGS3 except for category extensions (EZ gun being the exception on very easy only) I'd prefer to separate NG and NG+ if we allow these on the main board.

-difficulties are a no brainer

-as of now any%/all bosses/glitchless sounds good cause we wont know what other skips we can achieve (also yeah unit isn't a proper boss just a tough encounter)

-game is too early to know if patches are a variable so better safe than sorry and list patch (as well as show in start-up screen for verifiers)

-No DLC camos and should be excluded to CE (still believe we should have a gold EUEX CE and Tux CE set up from the start)

-LRT (PC)/ RTA (console) sounds good as it removes reload variables with IGT

-not a verifier but showing score screen at end even if LRT stops with ocelot duel will make runs easier to verify and its really not THAT much of an inconvenience to skip a couple cutscenes unlike MGS3 where credits were unskippable and took about 8 minutes

-if we keep LRT and RTA as timing i don't see a problem with quick-loading

-havent played on legacy to know the difference bar issues with air walking in legacy probably just keep separate with a 3rd category allowing swapping if it really does become a thing you save time on

-while technically you can start with the grenade camo on a fresh file i feel like its sort of "cheating" and we should keep with stock/boss camos being used in runs as the "i like X" camos feel like special items with their effects

-im not even touching that mess of a "new game" system they have in place

-special items are as usual banned in standard runs

• Difficulties separated as usual.
• Feels like NG and NG+ are effectively similar enough not to need separating. If EEx forces a degree of 'NG+' in terms of unlocks, maybe that 'basic' form of EEx should just be considered NG.
• Agree that Any%/All Bosses should be categories - not sure how much demand there will be for Glitchless.
• Patches can probably just be listed for now, and possibly be separated later into 'Legacy' and 'Current' if significant differences emerge.
• DLC camos should be for cat. ex. only, otherwise gold camo becomes a requirement for the run.
• Timing method: LRT/RTA.
• Score screen is easy enough to show now that we can skip the credits, so why not?
• Not very familiar with the issues requiring area reloads. If softlocks are relatively rare, do we just disallow reloads and put runs lost to those issues down to bad luck?
• Imo, the game is functionally the same regardless of play style, so people will just play whichever one is faster. The differences between the two modes aren't big enough (yet?) to need separate boards.
• Only issue I can see with Grenade camo is potential abuse of smokes, but surely there's no real need to use any more smokes than are already used in the run, and you'd just be losing time by throwing more.
• As above, do we just allow the things you're 'forced' to get from completing the game to be part of further NG runs (inc. EEx)? I'm not 100% sure what the consequences would be, so happy to defer to people with more knowledge.
• As with DLC camos, special items should be cat. ex. only with the exception of EZ Gun for VE.

• Separate by difficulty - Absolutely, standard practice
• NG vs NG+ - I like the idea of separating these, even if EuEX ends up strange either way
• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless - Yes to all three, even if Glitchless is less popular, it's still been requested
• Should patches be a variable? - Possibly, especially if airwalking gets the boot
• DLC Camo - Banned, 100% or shuffled off to CE boards.
• Timing method - LRT if possible, RTA if not. Especially if PC gets separated.
• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC? - Yes, standard practice.
• Allow/disallow quick area reloading - Disallow for single segment. Perhaps a 'segmented' variable?
• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs? - Disallow switching during runs, but don't separate.
• Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks - Ban, infinite ammo is a no go, even on grenades.
• the issues with this game's "New Game" option - Disallow special items in higher difficulties (Easy+)
• Special Items - See above.

• This is a given ofc separate Very Easy - European Extreme.
• Yes separate it.
• Any%/All Bosses for main board I'd argue Glitchless could be on CE. As far as the collectibles: GAKO/Kerotan as one category and "100%" being all GAKO/Kerotan/Micro Film for CE as well? The main issue is the game tracks it game wide across all files so if you have a NG+ file with all of it you won't be able to see the checkmarks for count and microfilm won't show a pop up? (I haven't tested to 100% confirm)
• Lets be honest, Konami will likely eventually patch out Airwalking so whether it be now or later it should be a variable.
• Ban DLC Camo for main board and move it to CE
• RTA for Console and RTA LRT for PC. With the ability to quick reload any room and reset the IGT to that point I feel this is necessary.
• For future proofing just in case something happens later either with our decisions on timing or an update in the game itself, we should show the Score Screen. Now that we can skip credits it isn't that much of a time waste.
• Assuming we do RTA/RTA LRT quick loading is fine.
• Separate New Style/Legacy and not allow style switching mid run. Style Switch could be a CE category?
• From the early routing what I've seen Grenade Camo won't help out too much but we can also get it in NG from the questionnaire. I think it is fine as another option for players to use.
• NG would have to be done on a new profile for Console or you would have to make an alt account on steam/clear the %appdata% files to clear off your profile before every run.
• No special items at all.

The main issue is the game tracks it game wide across all files so if you have a NG+ file with all of it you won't be able to see the checkmarks for count and microfilm won't show a pop up? (I haven't tested to 100% confirm)

Pretty sure the films don't give the popup again after first collection, but you still 'collect' the film in terms of the animations that occur.

Also since I haven't seen much talk about it, AT-Camo may as well be a special item that I think should be considered for being banned for the main boards.

If Console and PC are running RTA/RTA LRT and quick loading is allowed

Would we be able to defeat the end via old age?

AT camo is def a special item if you need to go out of your way and collect all 64 gako's

@SuaveBeardson At this time this would require a relaunch of the game witch I dont think will be allowed as changing the system time during gameplay crashed the game for me on my PC

@Iridescence I just tested this on console, changing the system time on PS5 does not crash the game, but autosave/manual save does not work, even returning to main menu didn't work, requiring a relaunch, so yeah, I'd say nah as well

• Separate by difficulty

Definitely, a no brainer.

• NG vs NG+

NG+ seems like a huge bonus in this game. I vote separate. In the case of Euro, we could disallow the use of any NG+ items for the NG category, and since everyone would be on the same playing field, runs could be easily compared to each other even if each Euro inventory is slightly different than any other difficulty. The only quirk would be optimally not grabbing any extra camos or kerotans, etc.

• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless

I think this is the best setup. I don't like when runners are effectively encouraged to submit the same run to multiple categories as would be likely with All Bosses and Glitchless, but oh well.

• Should patches be a variable?

I think this is the best solution. I don't really think it's necessary to show the main menu version for each run, but this isn't a big burden.

• DLC Camo

Hard pass except for CE.

• Timing method

I'm fond of keeping as many comparable platforms in the same category as possible, so to this end I would like all categories to be primarily timed with IGT. I would like to know how big the load time delta is between various systems before coming to a final conclusion myself.

• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC?

I think so, it provides more versatility and it's a trivial task since credits and Ocelot's speech can be skipped.

• Allow/disallow quick area reloading

Definitely a disallow from me.

• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs?

As much as I would like to allow switching mid run, I think it would amount to another reload area feature. I'm undecided on this one and I'll listen to some more opinions of other runners. I'd need to have an accurate gauge of the time difference before coming to a conclusion on whether or not it should be separated.

• Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks

Grenade camo is a hard allow from me. It's allowed on the other boards, and for the same reasons I think it should be allowed here; the primary reasoning being that it's a camo, not a special item, and available in NG.

• the issues with this game's "New Game" option

I'm undecided on this one as well, mostly because I don't fully understand how the game's global save mechanics work yet. If a global save can easily be provided that mitigates these issues, I don't think that's a big burden to require PC runners to use.

• Special Items

That's an obvious disallow from me. I define anything as a special item if its item details window says it's a special item, or if it appears in the Special Items Used section of the score screen (in case there is or ever will be a discrepancy).

Regarding AT Camo, I think it should be allowed in NG+ runs, just the same as any camos collected are allowed. It's not listed as a special item, so I see no reason to treat it as one. I think it would also allow for some unique strats, as I've found that it changes some rooms on Extreme, and would be paired especially well with the new quick camo system. It's a powerful piece of equipment no doubt, but one that I think would make the game more interesting.

• Separated difficulties: This one is obvious

• NG/NG+: It feels like this would be a hassle with how they have it set up to get a true NG... I say just keep em together for simplicity.

• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless: This makes the most sense as I've seen debate as to rather the Ocelot Unit is a boss.

• Patches should be a variable. You never know what's gonna get patched out that breaks a given strategy or skip.

• DLC: Should be relegated to CE and outright banned from the main board

• Timing: I'm all for LRT on PC and RTA on console with quick reloads allowed, unless a major issue with load times occurs on console. If IGT is decided on then reloads should be banned.

• Score screen: I say show it. It's not a huge inconvenience since we can credits skip.

• Reloads: See Timing above.

• New/Legacy: These should be separate. Make a separate board that allows switching. The game plays differently enough in the two styles that allowing switching should be it's own thing, possibly a CE even.

• Grenade camo: Not a special item technically, and as Major_Zero points out it's available from the start in NG. I say it's fine.

• Special items: Allow them in a CE but not the main board, and this includes the AT camo. If we ban stealth camo, we ban AT camo. It's an item in the item window, not a camo, and allowing it gives basically the same perk as stealth camo.

Separate by difficulty Yes pls

NG vs NG+ Separation seems kinda wacky since rewards are tied to your account, barring boss camos. I say it doesn't really matter, I don't care if a "NG" run uses the Patriot, for example.

Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless Totally

Should patches be a variable? Definitely. I think just having "current patch/unpatched" is enough

DLC Camo Disqualified for main, allowed for ce

Timing method IGT for console plebs like myself. I agree with Kemist, getting to the score screen is easier than ever, so defo IGT for console guys. PC guys have at it

Do we want to require showing score screen for PC? No comment

Allow/disallow quick area reloading Definitely NOT. Being able to reload an area at the drop of a hat is great for multi segment, but I wouldn't wanna see it in any single segment runs. Obvi we're not talking about taking a continue, but loading from the "load" option when you pause.

Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs? Separate the two, Legacy operates exactly like the OG with the same tranq sniper and Fear stun strat. Do not allow switching midruns.

Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks No need to be concerned. It's given to us by the game via selecting I like everything. Does not affect your rank or show up as a special item. AT-camo requires the 64 gakos but it's not a special item and can only make the runs better/easier - so I would allow that as well.

Special Items Disqualified for main, allowed for ce

Excited to see how the runs go! Good luck everybody!

• Separated difficulties: Yes.
• NG/NG+: Yes. I know it's not as easy in Delta to start a "true" new game, but it's pretty easy to just not use NG+ items/weapons.
• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless: Yes.
• Should patches be a variable?: Yes.
• DLC: CE only or banned.
• Timing: I always prefer IGT but I'm not against LRT/RTA.
• Show score screen: Not a hassle to just show it.
• Allow reloads: Multisegment only.
• New/Legacy: separate.
• Allow Grenade camo: Having infinite grenades is cheese so no.
• Special items: CE only.
• Allow AT-Camo: If NG and NG+ are separated then I wouldn't mind it being allowed in NG+ runs. If they end up being merged tho... No.

Separated Difficulties - yeah this should always be a thing tbh

NG/NG+ - id like it separate but this game doesnt really allow that annoyingly

Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless - sure, whatever categories we might want

Patches - yes i see no reason to not allow downpatching if needed

DLC - banned on main boards, CE's only

Timing - im cool with whatever

Score Screen - yeah its nice to have that at the end plus we can skip to it now

Allow reloads - Only for Multisegmented runs

New/Legacy - Keep them separated and not allowed to switch mid run

Grenade camo - Eh its kinda cheese but i dont think its ever not been allowed

Special items - Only for CE

AT-Camo - Its cheese imo, id say not to allow it

• Separate by difficulty - Yes
• NG vs NG+ - Honestly not sure if there's enough to sway one way or the other to have them separate. Considering how it tags on items/ weapons that are unlocked globally makes it very difficult to remove if not impossible on console unless you delete game data. I suggest making it similar to MGSV: GZ rules where a NG run can use a NG+ file, but not the weapons in the containers at the start of the missions (the unlocked stuff) Or in this case, not using things like the Patriot, EZ Gun, etc that a NG+ would have access to over a "fresh" NG run.
• Any% / All Bosses / Glitchless - Acceptable main categories, similar to MGS1
• Should patches be a variable? - Unless something gets patched where glitches like air walk no longer function, then I dont see any reason to make it variable.
• DLC Camo - Ban the gold camo at a minimum, which can be its own CE. Not sure if the Croc Suit would be on the ban list since it's a meme outfit, but the PW sneaking suit/BDU I can see being banned.
• Timing method - For console I think it should be IGT if we're taking the stance of not allowing reloading autosaves, thus making it a single segment run. If it we do allow autosaves, then it should be RTA as IGT gets reverted to when it was first saved. Haven't played PC to know one way or the other.
• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC? - Like I mentioned above I haven't played the PC version, so I will defer to what the community feels is appropriate.
• Allow/disallow quick area reloading - My gut instinct is to not allow quick reloading if we aim to rely on IGT as the final time for console
• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs? - Separate and not allowed to switch mid-run.
• Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks - I dont see it as a concern since its part of rewards for answering the questionnaire or unlocked by beating the game.
• the issues with this game's "New Game" option - Explained in my notes on NG vs NG+ above ^
• Special Items - Nopers

• Separate by difficulty No brainer

• NG vs NG+ Unless there's something in NG+ that makes the run completely different, I don't see a need to separate; we didn't in the original. As has been said, most rewards being on your account as opposed to on a save file makes this difficult to manage, so would be easier on runners to not have this as a concern. Plus, if we're already considering 3 main categories, plus PC and Console split (I'm assuming?), then adding two more category modifiers is gonna make he boards pretty heavy.

• Any%/All Bosses/Glitchless Agreed - I don't know enough yet about glitches to know the difference between All Bosses and Glitchless, but if there is a big difference, I'm all for having all three categories.

• Should patches be a variable? Advising which patch you're on is probably wise, could be useful info to have in the future when stuff gets patched in or out.

• DLC Camo CE only

• Timing method RTA/LRT makes the most sense to me. I do believe there's a new tool for detecting loading screens on consoles too now, but I don't know how much different console loading times are as to whether it'd be useful. Whatever happens with timing though, I'd prefer to see it consistent across all versions, particularly start and end times. Was never a fan of Xenia runs ending earlier than every other run - cause inconsistencies for Multiple Metal Gear runs down the line.

• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC? Yep, keeps it consistent and praise the powers that be for credit skipping. You had one job Konami, and you did it, thank you.

• Allow/disallow quick area reloading Multi-segment only, I feel quick reloading isn't really in the spirit of the game and just acts as a mistake saver. If quick reload does get allowed, I would be advocating even harder for RTA/LRT, though banning seems to be the consensus anyway. Worth noting that quick area reloading would be a big advantage for Kero/Gako (AKAG) runs, as collection is globally saved the moment you shoot them - i.e. their collection status persists after quick reloading, dying, etc. So for some of the side rooms (Ponizovje West, Svyatogrnyj West) you could run in, shoot both, quick reload and be back at the entrance. That also returns any ammo you used on them. I'd much rather route in a death or fake death pill reload, or route in the backtrack for 0 continues, than quick area reload and have it for free.

• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs? No strong feelings either way, though the fact that switching essentially acts as a quick reload and I'm against them, separating them and not allowing to switch does make more sense to me. EDIT: If as others have suggested there aren't that many differences between the two strats wise, not separating them on the boards but still not being allowed to switch would be acceptable to me.

• Grenade camo was mentioned as a concern by folks Allowed, it's unlocked like many other camos that are allowed, and was never banned in the original.

• The issues with this game's "New Game" option Annoyed that I'm essentially gonna have to run AKAG on a separate account and wipe before every run, but hey ho, them's the breaks. It's odd Konami decided to tie stuff into the account rather than saves - I do wonder whether there might be patches or mods down the line that opens up more of this stuff. But with how weird it is, I think it's the main reason I don't see much point in separating NG & NG+, its gonna be complicated. Runners are always welcome to apply their own restrictions to their runs.

• Special Items CE only (excluding EZ Gun in VE). Keep it consistent with MGS3.

• Separate by difficulty No brainer at all.

• NG vs NG+ That one can be tricky because of the way NG works as mentionned by others. We could maybe lock AT-camo / SAA / Patriot / boss' camos behind NG+ but even so we haven't seen anything where these things do something special. This one is really tricky. And my main concern is that if we separate them, the leaderboard can get really messy really quickly with too much category. So my opinion is that mgsd is not mgs3, if that's what dev call NG, then let it be NG maybe? Not 100% sure of myself.

• Any%/All Bosses/Glitchless At the moment and with what got discovered so far, i think these 3 are great main categories to play on. For now those would result as airwalking whenever possible VS Doing bosses so less airwalking VS Dealing with every area the game offer (but svd place lol).

• Should patches be a variable It can open a lot of variety and strats depending on the patch and what is fixed / bugged in each version. I think that s reasonnable to orgnize by patch version.

• DLC Camo I love gold camo and i think that could be a great and fun routing, but for pay wall reason, CE is the best place.

• Timing method As a PC player i'm not gonna talk about console at all since i don't know what's happening there. LRT works well and will make any setups work closely. RTA is always great but i think LRT is just a better mesurement right now. IGT is pretty weird, i would love IGT if quickloading isn't allowed, but if so, IGT and LRT are pretty close usually (from my runs) so shouldn't really make a difference into a leaderboard. LRT > RTA > IGT (depends on the rule of quickloading)

• Do we want to require showing score screen for PC It's litteraly 12 clicks now, so i'm all for that. That will also show IGT that can be used as a metric, stats for foxhound and whatever else. It will add a minute to everyone's video but it's just so easy to access.

• Allow/disallow quick area reloading So this is the weird part of MGSD, as great of a QoL that is, autosaves are "cheaty" to me. The natural thing as many mentionned and i agree is that using quickloading can be used in segmented categories. For single segment ones this should'nt be allowed as it cheats on the IGT and allow for errors in a category where losing time because of a messup is totally normal to me. IGT could be used in segmented quickloading to me. As a bonus point, some categories like gako could maybe get uses of quickloading? Because oh boy missing a gako/kerotan during the bike chase is really easy and can ruin a run close to the end of it. But i don't really have a clear idea on this specially.

• Separate Legacy and New Style? or allow switching during runs If we could swap during gameplay that would be so easy. But it's not. I feel like having them separated is important for now with maybe the addition of a third category allowing a switch if something crazy is discovered and can make this category its own thing. (The fear cheese / the bulletdrops / "autoaim" / hip shots with a sniper rifles are enough of a difference for me to have them separated).

• Grenade camo as for now, the extra uses of grenades wouldn't make a difference. It's obtainable by a choice done before the game start. Therefore i'm not against it being allowed

• The issues with this game's "New Game" option Yeah there are not much difference between NG and NG+. It's a weird choice by them. I talked more about that on the 2nd section and i would just repeat myself here.

• Special Items As EZGUN is given to you in VE, i would allow it there. Else everything else don't really make sens. Infinite face and Optic camo are just for fun items and don't really belong into a main category at least. Maybe in CE but even then i could see only optic camo being used for fast A to B route. Disallowed in main categories for sure.