I am curious if anyone is interested in one final category being added to Tecmo Super Bowl. I think it's different enough to justify:
I've been playing the "10 Goals" category of Ice Hockey a bit, and I think it's a great idea that could translate to Tecmo Super Bowl. In that run, you do not have to run out the game clock. You score 10 goals as fast as possible, and you're done. Because of the variety of ways to score in football, we'd just say "X Points" and then you stop the clock. Timer would stop on the full fade-out after any cutscenes involving the final score (touchdown/field goal/safety).
I'd also like to hear some thoughts from TSB runners. One big question I'd like opinions on is: how many points should be required to complete the run? Last but not least, if anyone has any questions regarding this category, feel free to ask.
I am curious if anyone is interested in one final category to Tecmo Super Bowl. I think it's different enough to justify:
I've been playing the "10 Goals" category of Ice Hockey a bit, and I think it's a great idea that could translate to Tecmo Super Bowl. In that run, you do not have to run out the game clock. You score 10 goals as fast as possible, and you're done. Because of the variety of ways to score in football, we'd just say "X Points" and then you stop the clock. Timer would stop on the full fade-out after any cutscenes involving the final score (touchdown/field goal/safety).
I'd also like to hear some thoughts from TSB runners. One big question I'd like opinions on is: how many points should be required to complete the run? Last but not least, if anyone has any questions regarding this category, feel free to ask.
Yeah most of that information can be found on gamefaqs or the game manual. Such as how to use the Supr Scare (place Supr Scare, go into different room, open map, then press A+B+C), what the different colors mean for the traps, etc. I also learned if you get a family member fully scared and they're in a room with an exit, if they begin to run to another room you can scare them again to re-roll where they run (possibly forcing them out the door and saving time). I used that in my run several times if you watch it. I'll scare a family member, then see if the exit door opens (it will do it almost immediately after the scare). If the door doesn't open, I initiate a 2nd scare that makes them pick a door randomly again, which can re-route them to exit immediately and save time.
I don't believe the order in which you scare them matters, it seems to be RNG but could be dependent on which seed you get. But that would require someone to look at the game code to figure out and definitively answer this. The only strat mentioned here that I personally don't use is the fireball to re-route the family on an exit door. I typically use both Supr Scare and the fireball to raise a brand new family member's fear to max instantly.
With all this said, I would still love to see Satyr's 30-ish minute run. I'm the type of runner that will watch the best runs, and try to emulate everything I can. Without a video though, I cannot recreate or even theorize on the strats used.
No worries. I'm not doubting the legitimacy of the runs, I wanted to see Satyr's though because I was curious what strats he used to save so much time. If you ever decide to get back into speedrunning or want to have your run back up, I'd be happy to have you back on the board as long as the video is public.
Take it easy sir. o7
There's a forum thread started 5 years ago that asks this same question, so I'm not hoping for much but trying to get an answer to a simple question: why have the WR videos been missing for over 5 years but still allowed to stand? I know this game isn't super popular but it's strange that my 3rd place run is the only visible video in the 100% category, and the WR for House% is also missing.
Both of SmilingSatyr's videos from Twitch don't seem to exist anymore, and he hasn't been on SRC in 3 years. The only active mod is Spookas_ so these questions are to you sir: Why is your 2nd place 100% run hidden/private on Youtube? Why are you allowing WRs that haven't existed in 5 years to stand?
Oddtom nailed it on the head with that video. I'm just an idiot who never realized you could change the in-game speed. I came here initially a year ago to run the SNES version which is the one I grew up with. The SNES version is much slower than the DOS version, but it also has options to change in-game speed so I should have known.
While I didn't put a lot of research into the DOS version myself, I feel pretty stupid now. It's a bit hilarious that none of the runners prior to you realized we could change the speed to Ultra.
But once more I'd like to apologize to you Izumi, for the assumptions and ignorance. And I'd like to apologize to Oddtom too, because I now realize he definitely does his due diligence when it comes to verifying runs. Thanks for the replies!
Okay so after doing some tests, I can verify that DOSBox runs "Auto" at 3000 cycles. I tested a few runs at the Ultra speed. Here's the video showing 5 different frame-counts between the last frame showing the yellow ant fighting, to the first frame showing the full "Red Queen dead" prompt:
I frame-counted each of the endings, and here are the results: 1st Ending: 2.717 secs 2nd Ending: 1.350 secs 3rd Ending: 1.083 secs 4th Ending: 1.550 secs 5th Ending: .833 secs
Izumi's Ending: .283 secs
In all fairness, the first ending was longer because the yellow ant was engaged in another fight after killing the queen, which extended the wait. Izumi's frame-count comes in at .283 seconds, which is insanely fast but overall I'm convinced I was wrong.
You followed the rules. You're not required to prove your DOSBox is set to "auto" or 3000 cycles. It functions identical to what I saw at 3000 cycles on DOSBox anyway. The only thing I haven't been able to personally replicate was your super fast red queen prompt, but it may be possible with a few more attempts. Also you are correct, the 3-4 squares the ant moves is purely due to in-game speed adjustments.
I apologize for the assumption. Also, GGs on the WR!
I appreciate your response Izumi. I'm curious of the difference between DOSBox with "Auto" cycles, and the website linked in the "Resources" tab. Because the game at https://classicreload.com/simant-the-electronic-ant-colony.html runs at 3000 cycles. I feel like DOSBox runs faster at "Auto" but I will test this out. Your red queen defeat prompt is immediate, which I cannot duplicate on the website even with "Ultra" speed. This tells me DOSBox might run the game at a faster speed, rather than the cycles being manually adjusted to be faster (which I initially thought was the case). So I do apologize a bit, as this discrepancy could genuinely be DOSBox vs. website.
"Emulator runs are accepted if the speed is the same as the original game"
I'm sorry but this run is clearly not the same speed as the original game. In one frame, the yellow ant covers 3-4 squares both in the nest and on the surface, teleporting every frame of animation. Even the red ant in the video is moving 3-4 squares per frame of animation as the speedrunner goes to the red nest. Also the red queen dies and immediately gives the "Game Over" text. These visual cues are easily proof that the game is running at a higher cycle count than the original, almost double! This run needs to be removed, as it does not comply with the rules in the category.
I'm all for someone beating my WR, but they should do it legitimately with the same speed I played the game at. This is cheating.
Okay, sounds good! I just wanted to talk about this, because I am not sure why my tunnels vary between 1774-1776 frames, but I would hate to get a new PB only to find the tunnel frame-count is reason for rejection.
I understand that emulators need to be comparable to SNES hardware and this will help ensure that. Thank you mods for clarifying on this.
I had something I wanted to discuss regarding this document, since it is now required to submit future emulator runs. I figured it would be best to post here, so everyone can see the discussion in case they plan on running Contra III on emulator in the future. The document can be viewed in the "Resources" tab on this website, under "Tools".
According to this document, Snes9x performs the Stage 4 tunnel in 1777 frames on Easy with 1 frame +/- of tolerance. Meaning a 1776 frame tunnel run would be accepted, but anything lower is grounds for rejection. Can you demonstrate this 10x in a row in a video, with identical frame-counts between 1776 and 1778? Because I've frame-counted every Snes9x run currently on the Contra III Easy leaderboard, and there's quite a variance. I've also listed the version if the runner did:
UltrosGambini 23rd place - 1777 frames (Snes9x 1.60)
Dewystine 29th place - 1766 frames (Snes9x Retroarch)
xenkaroshi 34th place - 1774 frames (Snes9x 1.60)
shwabteeve 40th place - 1766 frames (Snes9x no version listed)
HowDoUPlay 43rd place (current PB) - 1774 frames (Snes9x 1.60)
Headshotguy 44th place - 1775 frames (Snesx9x 1.60)
Kippe 49th place - 1778 frames (Snes9x 1.60)
HowDoUPlay 49th place (previous PB) - 1776 frames (Snes9x 1.60)
raffa_gs 51st place - 1774 frames (Snes9x 1.5.67)
NickBGoHard 55st place - 1777 frames (Snes9x 1.56.2)
combustibledan 63rd place - 1776 frames (Snes9x 1.60)
Sideswipe 83rd place - 1772 frames (Snes9x no version listed)
I think this is important, because it shows that people using Snes9x 1.60 have achieved between 1774 to 1777 frames for this count. It also proves that some Snes9x runs did have less lag. Two runs had only 1766 frames in the tunnel, but one is confirmed to use Retroarch and the other did not list what version. Maybe that's something worth taking a look at, but I don't think the majority of Snes9x runs are anything out of the ordinary.
I compared two of my own runs as well. My old 13:39 PB was 1776 frames, and the newer 13:11 PB was 1774 frames. I used the exact same emulator, exact same settings, on both runs. By these new rules, one PB would be accepted, and one would not. That is silly, and if this rule persists without change, I won't be running Contra III. I'm not going to frame-count future PBs and hope I have 1776-1778 frames in the tunnel so it will be accepted. Especially when I've shown my newest run, and over half the current PBs using Snes9x have variances bigger than this.