I was going to put this in the other forum post, but I think this needs to be explained more in depth. Since starting runs back in October, I've experienced quite the amount of crashes throughout the months. This is mostly an emulator issue (for Xemu), so I can't speak for original hardware, however the same logic would apply for what I want to suggest regarding crashes.

I think that for any previous and future run, any run that has a crash should be retimed to get rid of that crash. I think it's unfair, and from my previous experience dealing with crashes, a bit demoralizing for your run to end by something you can't control that can happen randomly for no apparent reason. If this clause is allowed, defining how you retime it should be explained as well.

If a crash happens in a full game run then:

• The point where you started the level that you crashed on (the "press start" screen) to the point where you get back to that screen of the same level you were on (at the "press start" screen) should be taken out of the time of the run. Using an example from my 4:57:18 run, from 4:12:31 to 4:13:56 should be taken out of the run and retimed. There's 2 other crashes in the run, so those would have to be accounted for as well.

• During that segment of the run, I checked to see if the crash got rid of my paintjob progress. It did save my progress and I'm pretty sure that as long as you quit the race and the level select screen is loaded, your progress in the game saved. But let's say it didn't. I think how it should be retimed is that the player would do the previous level again (the one before the level that it crashed on), and from the start point of the previously played level (at the "press start" screen) to the point where they replay that level (at the "press start" screen), should be taken out as well. Hopefully that made sense.

• If the crash happens on the level select screen: I feel as if this has happened to me before once, but it's worth to note just in case. I think it should be retimed simply from the screen the crash happened on, to when the player gets back on to that same screen. This one might get complicated because of how the car selection section works (if it resets what car you would start on), so it's worth discussing further.

• The last thing I want to touch on is if the crash happens on a run with the DC easter egg activated. I think it should be treated the same as the first point I made, where the time where you get back to the "press start" screen wouldn't count against you, but as well as the time to get the DC easter egg reactivated. To add on for future reference, for when I do runs using the DC easter egg, I plan to reset the emulator (or the xbox if original hardware runs) at certain points to get rid of the easter egg so I can drive at normal speeds for certain levels. In my opinion resetting the xbox/emulator shouldn't be treated as a crash since the player is intentionally doing it, and as such should be timed differently (normally). (I only say differently because I would like the xbox/emulator leaderboards to be combined in favor for load times removed/IGT timer, but that's a discussion for another day :) )

I don't see Xemu getting fixed anytime soon, so I think this is a good middle ground to help current and future players enjoy running the game without the dread and annoyance of a run ending to a crash. If this clause is allowed, I will go out of my way to look for any of my previous runs that have crashes and retime them appropriately. I think the only other run that wasn't mine was from AndroidFanatic's All Required Paris Missions run just to note. Give any thoughts if you have some!

Hey all! I just wanted to share some ideas regarding the rules for full game speedruns:

1. Should we be able to change the settings for cruise mode before we do Max% run?

It didn't really occur to me until a few days after I completed my latest Max% run, but I do change my settings like my sound (and potentially the language in future), as well as my license plate. The sound and license plate doesn't change the run, however since changing the cruise settings actively changes how the cruise part of the speedrun plays, I think it should be left to its default settings that a new save gives you.

2. Should we pre get rid of the cutscenes for Paris and DC Undercover (both the black screen and the dialogue boxes) for All Missions/All Required Missions/Max%?

It doesn't save much time off the speedruns to prepare a file for these runs, however I thought it was worth mentioning after I thought of the first question. If not allowed, the first cutscene/dialogue skip of whatever city you choose to do first would be the only one skipped as the current runs imply with starting each run from the "press start" screen.

3. Is having DLC on a non DLC run allowed even though you yourself are not using the DLC?

This was a question brought up by Blurdecai since he runs the game with DLC installed. In checkpoint races your opponents pick a class of car based off the car you choose to do the race in, and with DLC installed they get to choose DLC cars in the same class. Since you don't get to choose what they choose, I think having DLC installed for non DLC runs should be allowed as it doesn't effect how you play all too much. This would only effect All Checkpoint Races and Max%, and in my opinion in a negative way since you have to scroll through more cars, at least for Max%.

Hello again, I just finished my first Max% run recently! (currently uploading lol) Since I've practically done every category (minus the recently added DLC categories), I'm going to be moving on to finding better routes and strats for every level and routing Max% more effectively. With that in mind, there doesn't seem to be a way to submit Undercover Job ILs, which looks like to be the last missing thing from the leaderboards.

The other thing I wanted to mention was that I discovered that there are 2 easter eggs in MM3 that I never knew about! One of which has the potential to change all of the speedrun categories. In the DC map, if you go to the Lincoln Memorial and look up towards it for a bit, the game puts on an old timey filter, but most importantly it speeds up the game SIGNIFICANTLY. Not just the car, but the entire game. From my testing, it continues working even if you exit out of the map and go into another race, taking off the filter however, which is definitely not a big deal lol. The effect goes away if you reset the console. My questions regard on how this could effect all the speedruns, both full game and ILs, since it's such a significant gameplay "advantage". I only put quotes since it's really hard to control especially with the fastest cars in the game. I'm not sure if it should be it's own category variable since it changes so much, or if it should be banned. However I will argue that it could be used in niche cases where you're controlling really slow cars and then be "turned off" by resetting the console, which can add more depth to the speedruns. You could theoretically just turn it on immediately and play every level like that for the most optimal run, but honestly I don't see that happening anytime soon. Let me know your thoughts!

Also I left the video where I found the easter egg to show how it looks, but I also recommend watching it full it's great!

I just started running the game recently and wanted to know why the leaderboards are separated by original hardware and emulator. From what I've seen using xemu, it only has visual glitches with textures not loading and somewhat common crashes, but other than that the game seems to run completely fine. Just wanna hear the justification between the split leaderboards that's all!