Had a page/board customization idea, what if we used the medals from the game instead of the default trophy icons on the leaderboard?

I can't decide if it would be better to use Gold/Silver/Bronze medals for 1/2/3, or Red/Gold/Silver/Bronze for 1/2/3/4. The latter would be a neat nod to folks who know the game but the former might be more clear to outsiders looking in. Thoughts?

Only other solution I can think of is reducing the number of modes... using filters to split into 6 different boards (four of which only differ by one or two levels) seems like a lot, and could lead to a lot of fractionalizing and trophy-hunting.

My proposal in that world would be "any%" (category rules state normal worlds only, bosses on, bonus races off) and "All Levels" (Normal + Apocalypse worlds, bosses on, bonus races on). Two categories that represent the "fastest" and "maximalist" extremes.

On second thought, that feels like a cleaner solution that creates an environment that's not so overwhelming to newcomers deciding what to run. Normally I would be worried about obsoleting runs with category compression like that, but for some reason it appears there are zero runs in "All Levels" at the moment?

I would double-check those category rules - some of them appear to be attached to the wrong category variations.

With regards to any%: it doesn't technically trigger the credits in speedrun mode, which is explicitly required in the category rules. Like I said, it sounds fun, but even the venerated SM64 doesn't have an any% category - they have filters for # of stars and platform, and that's it. Forcing an "any%" in there would be bad for organization.

We can keep informally calling "All Levels Boss On Races Off Apocalypse Off" any% as a community (I know I I'll keep calling it that informally), but formally, having duplicate categories on the board is pretty bad for organization's sake.

I would def leave apocalypse off by default, as well as bosses on by default and bonuses off. This would make the thing we call "any%" the first thing people see when they come here, as a nod to it being the way most ppl will see the credits first.

Finally, if we really want a formal "%" category... we could invent something fun. Something short and memeworthy. Kind of like Super Mario Odyssey's nipple%, Spyro the Dragon's Cheat%, Crash Team Racing's SKR%, etc. But a new category discussion probably deserves its own separate thread

A few suggestions to clean up the boards a little bit:

• "any%" and "All Levels (Boss) (No Bonus)" are the same category. It should be possible to combine these and have "All Levels (Boss) (No Bonus)" display as the new default category. (I know "any%" is a fun name and many boards use it, but other games in similar situations with potentially duplicative boards have abandoned it for clarity's sake.)
• The "Bonus" filter could be renamed to "Bonus Race" - in the English version of the game, Speedrunning mode refers to these levels as "Races," so that would help clarify for newer runners.
• "All Levels" category rules could use the same language as what's on the checkboxes for clarity. For example:

Play the Speedrun mode with "Whole game" selected, "Include bosses" on, "Include races" off, and "Include apocalypse" off.

Finally (and I know this one might be a long shot and goes against the "streamlining" thing I was just talking about, but:

• Add an "Apocalypse" "No Apocalypse" option for the "All Levels" board (alternatively, filters could be named "Base Levels" and "Base + Apocalypse", which is the usual convention for categories with a base levels mode and added post-game content)

Thoughts?

To clarify, my understanding was not that emulated FDS was the reason Duck ran faster, but that the emulation itself was faster. I was going to ask if there's been any testing since 2021 (Duckstation has had some significant updates since then), and (from the looks of the comparison sheet at the top of this thread) it looks like there has been some just in the last week. I'd be fascinated to see what conclusions are drawn from this! (Though I have to say comparisons aren't easy to make with the X and Y axes flipped as they are and with Duckstation segregated to a separate sheet in the file altogether. Also tough since there's not really any PS1 comparisons, or PS2 with FDS off.)

Just occurred to me submission overload really won't be that big a deal? Since it's IGT, verifier won't need to retime, just verify there wasn't cheating used for the highest-level runs, and even that should be relatively quick with ILs.

As for laps: whether we go with (3-only), (7-only), or (3 and 7), 5 probably isn't worth including just because it's probably not going to see many submissions and only take away from the other two.

Additionally, the idea of Bosses and CTR Tokens (including Crystal Challenges) have been brought up in the CrashSR/CTRTT Discords. Easy solution, add a variable. Easy/Medium/Hard/Trophy/Token/Boss. More options means more interesting variants in runs, and if it turns out in the future that any of those modes are problematic for the meta, having those variables will make for easy board-splitting if necessary.

(FWIW, I'm also willing to volunteer as a verifier for this.)

Does what it says on the tin. Gives SRcom an Individual Level category that doesn't tread on ctr4ever's time trial turf, and a shorter category that CTR desperately needs (any% barely counts imo). A few suggestions (based on convos in the Crash Speedrunning server:

• Uses IGT, so no need for hard platform separation, just platform variables
• Include variables for Easy/Medium/Hard, since each would have different strategies
• Include variable (not category split, just a variable) for NMG/Skipless, filterable means a lower barrier to entry for those intimidated by skips like Tizi/TA, but still keeps everyone competitive on one big unified board

Question that deserves consideration: how many laps? 3, 5, 7, or all?

3 laps:

• Pro: Could mean IGT from ILs in Adventure mode could be incorporated (using "Adventure" for the difficulty variable), which could lead to a great kickstart for submissions. (This could work out a bit like Spyro Flight ILs done mid-run, or MK8Dx where you can do a 16/32/48-track run in the middle of a 96-track run - got a good level in an Adventure category? May as well submit it to ILs too.)
• Con: Low barrier to entry could cause submission overload.

5 laps:

• Middle child, imo.

7 laps:

• Pro: Good test of consistency
• Pro: Higher barrier to entry, so fewer concerns about submission overload
• Con: Higher barrier to entry, so boards could get quiet

Category split for 3/5/7 laps:

• Pro: Low barrier to entry
• Pro: All the pros of 3 and 7 and flexibility of 5 laps
• Con: Potential for submission overload
• Con: Even if submission overload is manageable, not having a unified board could mean things look quiet for a while

Credit to Galaxian for bringing this idea up in the CB-running Discord. I think this would be a great category with a little more refining. Thoughts?

Just realized the 10sec shave from 18 tracks would be 180sec, or 3min. 3min off%? 3min save%?

(I'm ambivalent on the category itself, the names just came to me)

Have considered running this but not sure if ePSXe 2.0.5 would be valid as 2.0 is (there is no 2.0 or earlier version for Mac).

Also agreeing with the idea of opening up to Mednafen, whose core is also used in OpenEmu for Mac.

Duckstation also looks viable, there's been plenty of conversation surrounding that in the Spyro/Crash boards if you need to see some inspiration.