So, I don't know about iOS because I haven't tried it, but shouldn't Android and Emulators be separate categories? There seems to be a huge advantage that the emulator has over regular Android devices
First, I think it's important to mention that most of the others frequenting this board don't stick around too long and it's usually their first speedgame so gauging a baseline for what a "good" time is can be far more difficult at a glance than you might first realise; there's still alot of untapped potential for non-Emu runs since I'm really the only one that's hard grinded every main level so far but I don't have an Android phone myself.
Sadly the game hasn't been avalible on iOS for over a year since it got taken off the Apple Store, it looks like we only ever had a single ioS submission 2 years ago as well so if there ever was a category split I think just doing Native vs Emulator is fine. If that change makes it to the boards I'd also like to see it for both full-game and IL's.
Now, I've done alooooot of Emu runs so I'll try to mention the most important stuff I've found. Firstly, the Android emulator itself (I used Bluestacks) actually isn't faster at all but it does have some inherant advantages; assumably because of how the controls were ported, especially after rebinding them for comfort.
- Acceleration RNG Normally there is a surprising amount of RNG present in the Fox's acceleration and momentum which is really the core problem with platform comparability; it's essentially possible to eliminate the RNG with the natural consistency that Emu can grant by how much easier it is to mash compared to the normal Tap/Touch control scheme on the phone glass.
There's actually potential for Android to be RNG-free as well so lemme be a bit more specific on how it works.
On Emu, the keyboard is considered a controller as well and for some reason pressing either A or D nudges the Fox forward; an alternating mash between these keys can be combined with normal movement in order to achieve more overall movement consistency - It's been my suspicion for awhile that simillar movement options probabbly exists for real hardware without being mentioned in the tutorial - but without an Android myself I can't test that. I really hope there is because that means we wouldn't even need a category split, Android would be able to compete against Emu easily with this tech.
- The game's physics engine is tied to framerate. I did some tests awhile back where I used my high-end CRT with a refresh rate of 160hz to play the game in 160fps with some halariously broken results. It's not that big of a deal since I let Grantolant know and we implemented the 60fps lock rule but the biggest concern with this is that it's potentially not just an emulator thing; I havn't been able to confirm this myself yet but theoretically if you had say, a Razor Android Phone that can do 120fps or simillar, you would see this behaviour in natural play as well.
It's also important to mention that changes in the Fox's speed based on framerate is also true in reverse; if your Emulator or Phone starts dropping frames for whatever reason, the fox will lose speed.
Here's links to those tests I did on my 160hz CRT that I mentioned earlier. Freakin' halarious. You can see in these clips that the extra speed from the increased framerate only activates 3secs into the stage (note how the Ghost Fox actually keeps pace with me until then) which leads me to believe that the entire 3secs is the natural "end point" of the initial acceleration RNG you usually see that we're subjected to at the start of every level.
- TL;DR Please let me know if you need clarifications on anything I've mentioned; personally I'd be fine with a category split but I also don't think anyone has put in the work to actually get an optimal non-Emu time yet. If anyone else has an Android and is able to confirm the movement tech I mentioned earlier or anything else please let us know. c:
Personally, I'm all for a category split if it were presented. Emulator just has inherent advantages because it uses a controller as opposed to the native controls. It is my belief that if an emulator causes any advantage or does not properly emulate the game, it should either be banned or separated. Due to the amount of the community that runs emu, a ban is off the table.
Refer to Habble's explanation for the explicit advantages of emu, as I don't want to reiterate what's directly above me. But to answer your question... yes, there should be separate categories.
How could I test the acceleration RNG on my Android? I noticed this RNG pretty quickly and it can be annoying. You said that you tap A and D on the keyboard. What would be the equivalent on a phone? Volume up..volume down? lol. Also, thank you for the detailed explanations.
