We've been messing with framerate for certain things, specially the Summit level 9 boost. I don't think that that's really something that we should be too concerned about. At least, speaking from experience with other games that have FPS-related tricks, I think it's fine to have it as it is.

I mean, it would only cut some pathing for certain levels, as there is no other sort of player interaction. I don't think it's particularly interesting to add a Multiplayer subcategory (imo).

and also, on the subject of rule reviews: is it mentioned anywhere on the rules that you gotta play alone? the current rules don't say anything regarding playing with other people on the server. and in that case, on levels with buttons, you could have someone else press the button for you or have someone end a level late to manipulate cycles (when cycles matter)

well, currently no but this could something that incites a rule review. grandfathering the run could a thing but it isn't advised because, as mentioned, the run shouldn't have been accepted

well, it's not a matter of thinking he cheated or not. it's just a matter of following standards. he could have cheated, and that's all that matters when it comes to verifying a run isn't it?

the main difference between All and Original is the version i'd say, because version 1.0 adds a few things to Original campaigns that i'd say make it a lot more interesting

L4D1 tank spawns are really annoying. This game in general is full of "I got a spawn that I can't do anything about". Sure there's a lot of learning involved with dealing with spawns, but sometimes you can't really do much.

maybe no one likes Chapter 8

I was doing some testing and I noticed that box stealing is a lot easier on lower framerate. But that conflicts with the framerate you would want to have for kickflips, because you want high fps for those. So I decided to clarify that you are allowed to change your framerate mid-run, as that allows for more tricks to be done.

Other games seem to follow a similar set of rules, so it feels like this is the right decision.

For the rare people that have loading screens between sectors (like me), opening the console to change your fps during a loading screen will be counted as part of the run.

Its not a huge debate. It's simply deciding not to make a category because of lack of real interest in the game.

L4D2 is a lot more popular than L4D1 and yet the Expert Realism categories don't get that much attention. It's pretty much just Failzz running longer categories and Master filling the categories that people didn't run. L4D1 doesn't even get runs for any category at all. Expert would get even less attention

If people are equally as good, then they should have the exact same time (assuming no luck involved). Retiming runs to remove loads is a very simple task and makes the competition hardware independant. And also as Lul_ecks_dee pointed out, there are factors that would separate runs. Even if it's just a couple frames, it's a difference and that's what people are battling for. See games like Dragster and SMB1 as an example.

I'm gonna upload the load remover I made on the Resources page. Still kinda incomplete since I didn't really have the time to work on it the past few weeks. But since I used it in the run I submitted, it's probably a good idea to have it up, to give an idea of the loadless time when runs are done.

So with the recent change from RTA timing to loadless timing, the proper timing method must be specified, which is why I'm creating this post: to clarify what is defined as loads precisely.

For chapter loads (or area restart loads, if you happen to do that on a run), it's trivial: every frame with the characteristical loading screen should be removed from the run time.

Now if you happen to have a lower end PC like I do, you might encounter a semi-transparent light blue loading screen inbetween sectors. When that loading screen pops up, the game doesn't stop, it just stops reading your inputs. Which means that if you jump right before hitting the loading trigger, you keep your momentum and your trajectory during the load. So in that case, only the time spent not moving in that loading screen should be removed from the run time.

I'm currently developing a load remover and autosplitter for Livesplit for this game. Currently it doesn't remove loads accurately, but it should at least give a general idea of the time without loads. It's current version can be found in the Resources section.

All the runs have been retimed! Also, rules have been rephrased to include the new timing method.

I downscaled the game beyond the actual Low settings (I edited the scalability file so the Low settings are even lower than usual) and I couldn't get stable 60fps when streaming. Kinda lost hope on Any% runs until I get a better PC.

So by tomorrow I should have everything retimed and should post an explanation of how to time the runs properly

I think I got an orb steal twice or 3 times ever (first time was during my casual playthrough on Sector 3 lol). I tried replicating it many times but the timing must be really specific and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work on all doors, just like I feel that stealing boxes through certain doors is harder.

Funny that you included Box Stealing. I had the same idea a couple weeks ago when I started running. Didn't submit any runs yet but I was using it in my attempts. Orb Stealing is also a thing but it is much much harder to pull off.

Hey, mod status finally happened! I'm gonna start working on the retiming now. Once I'm done with that, I'll add another column for time without loads (might change that before finishing retiming if I take too long to retime the runs)