United KingdomWhile I don't run this game myself (for now...), I would probably say that unofficially released games playing on the PSTV and/or PS Classic would fall under emulation. Official release would include the PSN Store or being originally on the PS Classic before any mods are done to it.
The other thing to keep in mind I would say is the load speeds. PSTV tends to be the fastest for loads when playing official games (Which even surpass console for many games too, but PSTV is official and so are those games in particular). With this game potentially gaining advantage in load speeds if ran unofficially on the PSTV, that's definitely something to keep in mind for verification.
As for the PS Classic, natively it uses PCSX Rearmed. But you can load up different cores like Swanstation/DuckStation and that. What I'd recommend there at the very least is to make sure the load speeds are still on the "stock/default" options. If possible, running on the PC version of DuckStation would be your best option. And as for the emulator settings, you can follow this set which keeps things pretty stock (Upscaling is up to you of course)
These settings much be adhered to when using DuckStation for runs. To not mess up any settings for other games you run, you can set individual settings for that particular game by clicking on "Settings > Game Properties". With that, you can copy these settings down below and that will make your run legal.
Instead of using the OSD settings shown below (Or if you cannot do that), you can also show these settings either before or after a run by binding a key to the emulator menu. This can be done by going to "Settings > Hotkeys", and then binding a key to "Open Pause Menu". Then press that to show all the settings at the start or end of the run. This will also be accepted to help verify the run.
Disable = ❌| Enable = ✔️
Interface
- Pause On Focus Loss ❌
- Pause On Start ❌
- Pause On Controller Disconnection ❌
BIOS
- Fast Boot ❌
Console
- Enable 8MB RAM (Dev Console) ❌
- Enable Cheats ❌
- Execution Mode: Interpreter (Slowest)
- Enable Clock Speed Control ❌
- Enable Recompiler ICache ❌
- Async Readachead: Disabled (Synchronous)
- Read Speedup: None (Double Speed)
- Seek Speedup: None (Normal Speed)
- Preload Image To RAM ❌
- Apply Image Patches ❌
- Ignore Drive Subcode ❌
Emulation
- Emulation Speed: 100%
- Vertical Sync (VSync) ❌
- Sync To Host Refresh Rate ❌
- Optimal Frame Pacing ❌
- Skip Duplicate Frame Display ❌
- Enable Rewinding ❌
- Runahead: Disabled
Graphics (Rendering)
- You're allowed to adjust the graphics to your preference. However these settings are prohibited below
- Force Video Timing: Disabled
- Widescreen Rendering ❌
- PGXP Geometry Correction ❌
Graphics (OSD)
- Show OSD Messages ✔️
- Show Emulation Speed ✔️
- Show Status Indicators ✔️
- Show FPS ✔️
- Show Settings ✔️
Hope this helps!
Okay dokes then, Mars will be excluded from 100% categories due to the insufficient enemy spawns preventing it from being achieved.
Yeah I was recently made aware of that when I was playing the RetroAchievements set for it that Mars has some enemies that spawn outside of the playable/accessible area. I could simply set the requirement to 99%, but there is still a chance 99% will not happen too (As I wasn't able to hit it on a couple attempts no matter how much I tried).
I am looking to lean towards omitting the requirement for this level, and then I would have to make it clear to show the kill percentage at the end of every level (Even if it's just for 1 frame, but as long as I can see the final count on each level). What are your thoughts on that?
Latest build available here - https://github.com/stenzek/duckstation/releases/tag/latest
These settings much be adhered to when using DuckStation for runs. To not mess up any settings for other games you run, you can set individual settings for that particular game by clicking on "Settings > Game Properties". With that, you can copy these settings down below and that will make your run legal.
Instead of using the OSD settings shown below (Or if you cannot do that), you can also show these settings either before or after a run by binding a key to the emulator menu. This can be done by going to "Settings > Hotkeys", and then binding a key to "Open Pause Menu". Then press that to show all the settings at the start or end of the run. This will also be accepted to help verify the run.
Disable = ❌| Enable = ✔️
Interface
- Pause On Focus Loss ❌
- Pause On Start ❌
- Pause On Controller Disconnection ❌
BIOS
- Fast Boot ❌
Console
- Enable 8MB RAM (Dev Console) ❌
- Enable Cheats ❌
- Execution Mode: Interpreter (Slowest)
- Enable Clock Speed Control ❌
- Enable Recompiler ICache ❌
- Async Readachead: Disabled (Synchronous)
- Read Speedup: 2x (Quad Speed)
- Seek Speedup: None (Normal Speed)
- Preload Image To RAM ✔️
- Apply Image Patches ❌
- Ignore Drive Subcode ❌
Emulation
- Emulation Speed: 100%
- Vertical Sync (VSync) ❌
- Sync To Host Refresh Rate ❌
- Optimal Frame Pacing ❌
- Skip Duplicate Frame Display ❌
- Enable Rewinding ❌
- Runahead: Disabled
Graphics (Rendering)
- You're allowed to adjust the graphics to your preference. However these settings are prohibited below
- Force Video Timing: Disabled
- Widescreen Rendering ❌
- PGXP Geometry Correction ❌
Graphics (OSD)
- Show OSD Messages ✔️
- Show Emulation Speed ✔️
- Show Status Indicators ✔️
- Show FPS ✔️
- Show Settings ✔️
These settings are made for Disruptor and may or may not be permitted for other speedrun leaderboards. They are correct as of 10/03/2025
Didn't realise I accidentally made that text bold in my description :D
So how many runs have been removed/rejected now as a result of these changes?
