Hello!

I am trying to speedrun this game and after a few tries noticed that top times are skipping part of the loading screen before every race somehow. I've tried to mash every button (or hold them) but it is not working. Is there a specific trick to it? Is this a PS2-only feature?

I am playing on a PS1 emulator, don't have original hardware sadly.

Okay, I guess I got it? Default CD-ROM read speed in my emulator was 1x (just like in PS1) and it is impossible to skip loading on that speed. If I set a higher speed (2x) it seems to load just as fast as PS2 does and allow to skip loading screen roughly on the 4th car. Would this be legal for leaderboards?

If you use epsxe emulator you shouldn't have any issues, except for maybe having slightly longer loads being on emulator. However, I suppose if the game is running at the speed (but no faster than official hardware) then that's fine. I would check the times you get on tracks and compare it with the times that I get, to determine if the game itself is running faster being emulator. I replied to your YouTube comment in regards to how to skip, give the methods I highlighted in my reply.

Thanks

Thanks,

It works on 2x CD read speed by just tapping the X button and not working on normal at all, no matter the method, even the ones you provided. I tried espex, it does not allow to skip or choose CD read speed. I use Duckstation currently. https://www.speedrun.com/klonoa1/guide/hjy9m this closely matches my experience.

So here is two runs I did, one with normal speed, the other with 2x CD-ROM loading speed. and

For example, first loading into Temple of Vroom I skip the loading screen ~5 sec after it appears, in your run on PS2 it skips on ~5.3 sec. On Cars Attack it is ~5.8 and ~6.2 sec. Seems almost exact.

Times on track match with the real time on both.

well looks good to me then. If you're happy with the setup, no complaints from me.

I'm not sure how accurate loads are on console, I think they can vary somewhat. I don't see it being much of an issue seeing as most people run on emu anyway and the difference likely won't be significant.

PS2 has the fast disc speed option which is why PS1 emulators can't skip the cutscenes quickly, same thing happens when I play the game on a PS1 or forget to put on the FDS option on PS2.

It just means that runs on PS2 with FDS or emulator with 2x read speed will be way faster for RTA than PS1/normal runs and can not be matched. So it either of three options:

1. Subtract loading times
2. All runs should be on normal speed (with longer loading screens)
3. WR could be only on PS2/emulator

It seems that official hardware is and should always be allowed and/or preferred if you ever had a scenario where the WR can only be on one method of play.

I just want to know what should I do regarding platform to challenge for WR. I can get my old PS1 up and running, but there 1:09:XX is impossible (you lose ~5s each load).

Requiring buying PS2 seems unreasonable, since it is not the original platform and, in a sense, just an emulator (with sped up disk speed).

I'm no moderator of this game but, i'm fine with you using emu and wanting the competition, as long as the loads or FPS are not faster what so ever since it's an unofficial method of playing the game. Emulator is just awkward as you gotta be cautious as differing emulators have different load times as the loads are just dependent on the emulator itself. From my experience with following the most popular and highly competitive speedrunning games surrounding the PS1, they commonly only accept the use of "EPSXE" as an emulator for the PS1 due to it accuracy of actually emulating a PS1.

I am all up for using EPSXE, it was my emulator of choice for a long time, it just emulates loads at PS1 speed, so the same problem still stands.

If using duckstation with 2x read speed is fine I'll go with it. Submitted 1:09:41 already, waiting for moderators' approval or comments

In lieu of an load remover we should probably tread carefully. As a low-activity game, most people will be running this on emulator.

I've temporarily verified Alex's run in the mean time, but this should be community consensus. If we should restrict runs to the latest version of ePSXe to keep things fair, that's reasonable to me.

When I have time I'll do a thorough check of comparing our times per lap + loads to see if our game speed etc is equal. I had an emulator run in the 1 hr & 8 minute mark (forgot how many seocnds), but decided to remove it in case it was indeed faster than console.

Oh wow, I completely forgot about this.

First of all, thanks Vanessa, I greatly appreciate that.

Secondly, Zerker, I would gladly provide you with original recordings if you want something not compressed by Youtube. I am excited to have some competition in my favourite childhood game. When I'd be in a better place mentally, I am looking forward to having full game runs done and attaining some original hardware (or PS2).