United StatesThis post will inform players on how to determine others' and one's own controller condition via gameplay, as well as how one may attempt to correct any issues that come up.
For those who use a controller, it is important that one does not have an advantage caused by extensive use. The topic of fairness in regards to the movement stick of the controller has been muddy for a long time, and most players have been unaware of the discussion that occurred in never-to-be-seen-again Xbox Live Party conversations. As a result, there were many players who, despite claiming to use an unmodded controller, unknowingly benefit from faster diagonal movement. Unfortunately, this is rather common with certain 3rd-party controllers. This will be moderated on SRC insofar that it is noticeable, and it will be assumed that most violations are unintentional.
The consensus is this: when moving through through the air without turning, diagonal acceleration should not exceed the acceleration that results from holding the stick straight forward.
Q: How do I test the condition of my left stick?
A: Load up Gem Collection, try pushing the left stick 45 degrees in the direction of the time travel, and hold the jump button from the very beginning. This should at least be done for both forward diagonals. If the time stops before 2.97s, it exceeds the best hold-forward result under these conditions, and the controller should be corrected or replaced.
Q: How can I fix the problem?
A: The obvious and potentially inconvenient solution is to try another controller that you may or may not have. PC players may try calibrating their controller through Windows (alternatively perhaps Steam or some other program, for those familiar with it). Anyone can try adding tape or some other thin obstruction to the corners of the bubble surrounding the left stick, though this solution can be quite temporary. As a last resort, you can avoid extended usage of diagonal movement in the air, but it will likely feel as though you are now the disadvantaged player. Since the goal of this rule is fairness, any of the previous options would be more suitable. You are welcome to ask here or the Discord server for more specific advice so we can work on it together.
Conclusion: Make sure your controller is not too worn down before grinding away at your times, as your hard work may be rejected if there is believed to be an unfair advantage (even if it simply comes down to heavy use or a misunderstanding of rules).
Your time has been adjusted to fit the rules. The timer begins when you hit 'play' in the menu (selecting the level).
Game time. If you're interested, I could probably add an RTA category.
The method you are attempting is pretty difficult. In your clip, you seem to hit the top edge of the platform, which usually doesn't give the right height or direction. You instead want to slide straight up the side of the platform.
Additional tips: make sure you jump + SJ + blast in that order and in very quick succession. You want to maximize your vertical speed (1) for max height, (2) so your horizontal speed doesn't cause you to bonk and fall backwards when you instead want to slide.
The resources tab now has a script you may add to Livesplit to account for load times and splitting. To my knowledge, you must use OpenMBU beta 1.6 specifically, but I have not tested many other versions. It may not work for everyone, so please let me know if that's the case for you.
Once you download and unzip the script file, right-click the Livesplit window and select Edit Layout.
Click the '+' -> Control -> Scriptable Auto Splitter Click the '+' -> Timer -> Timer (2nd timer for game time)
Click Layout Settings and set your 2nd timer's Timing Method to 'Game Time'. The Scriptable Auto Splitter tab has a browse button in which you will select the script you unzipped earlier. Once chosen, the Start and Split boxes should appear.
The timer will start automatically when you enter a level, will pause while you load the level, and splits upon finishing the level (the RTA timer should also be present).
When you practice, you'll want to uncheck 'Start' as it will start the timer upon entering a level.
Since I'm unsure of how universal this script is, RTA will still be the main submission time. Hopefully it works so we can better compare times for different builds + platforms.
If you know more about scripting than I do (and you probably do), please feel free to make a better one!
Hey there. Personally I am active with other games, but there has been no activity with Marble Skies speedrunning for a long time.
If you or someone else would like to work on it, I can add users to the mod list and help update it for any currently interested runners.
If I remember correctly, I only added levels that could reasonably have a stand-alone best time. I don't mind adding them all if you'd like to have them. Long time no see by the way, haha
'Modded' refers to moving faster diagonally on a controller. It comes from Xbox 360, where modifying the plastic part around the left stick allows you to push it further. You move fast on PC without modifying anything. You just hold two keys in the direction you want. For example, W + A. You get the most of it when you're in the air.
On a regular controller, you can't get that extra speed, so it becomes a separate category from the rest.
Since it's a different game, it would belong in the PlatinumQuest boards. They don't seem to have an Ultra category at the moment, but you can suggest it to them. https://www.speedrun.com/PlatinumQuest
I wouldn't mind changing it. One reason they're split is that PC might have an advantage through camera control. This may not lead to 'faster' times, but combined with holding 'w' to go straight will make some levels easier to achieve those times.
Another reason is they haven't released yet, so I personally wouldn't know if there's a difference. If you all prefer combining them that's fine too as long as they're basically identical.
I would like to put together a version with reliable loads, though I believe a base-game version is on someone's to-do list. It may be easier for me to look at the old version and throw in the screen settings that exist in recent versions.
If a solid IGT were made, then that would probably be the standard. This still wouldn't work for the 360 versions, and there simply aren't enough players to justify splitting them into 4 categories.
Sign-up is on old.vortexgames.org
While signed in, you click the profile circle on the upper-right and select 'View Key', which you should paste into your settings in-game.
Funny you mention that, I just had the same issue and resolved it.
In appdata/GarageGames/MarbleBlast/userprofile_pref1.cs, line 159 has pref::video::resolution, which you should change to your screen resolution. Near that line, you can set fullscreen=0 and enable vsync if that doesn't immediately resolve the issue.
Time starts when you select the first level of your chosen category. I'll add to the difficulty rules.
PC doesn't have traplaunches and the ball seems to slide more when trying to slow down.
(Modded/KB+M) assumes PC since I doubt any modded players will speedrun. I could change it to PC, if that is desired.
