As many of you are familiar with this particular speedgame, Texas Hold'em will have identical hands as the RNG is seeded from the main screen rather than during gameplay. This makes RNG manipulation very easy when loading a certain save state on an emulator. Using emulator tools (such as save states) have an unfair advantage over console runners and are therefore not allowed during gameplay.
Upon close and diligent examination, this run loads a save state via emulation tools mere frames before the run is began:
It cannot be verified that the same hand is being dealt each time as this user does not stream multiple attempts, but it can be assumed this is a possibility in this case given a save state is loaded frames away from selecting "1-Table Tournament."
The problem is that this strategy does not break the current speedrunning rules, however gives an unfair advantage over console runners.
To keep the integrity and sanity of this community, the moderation team has decided to implement a "No emulation tools allowed rule," which is usually common sense and courtesy in most other speedrunning communities. The preceding speedrun has been deemed invalidated for the time being.
We will not let malicious emulator runners break us. We will not stand down.
All recklessness aside, thank you for the suggestion. I hope this comes across as part of a discussion and not a rebuttal:
This game is not quite ideal for an individual level leaderboard (no level selection from main screen, no IL IGT timer) so I am curious how it would end up working out over time. I am guessing people would just highlight parts of their full-game run to showcase a decent IL they had. And I am going to have to disagree with you about the idea of it an individual level leaderboard enticing new runners to play since you cannot even access the missions from a new file.
I am not opposed to your suggestion per se, but it just seems absurd to add 62 individual levels to a leaderboard whose levels cannot be accessed from either new game OR a completed game.
In the meantime, feel free to host a separate IL leaderboard for prospect IL runners. Speedrun times can be easily migrated over in the future if there is enough demand.
Thank you for the suggestion. This leaderboard does not need centiseconds yet because the top times are not all too competitive.
Very interesting project you decided to experiment with. I would wager we could see sub 3 RTA in the next couple years. You never know when a sneaky 2-second time save could be found.
Make sure to let the community know the Date, Time, and requirements of the event you want to organize to give the inactive runners sufficient time to crawl out of the bushes to join.
Also, we need to set up qualifying matches to get runners paired up before the tournament begins. I figured Sebastian can pair up with Maxico44 since they're so close in skill level and played in the same decade as each other. And maybe pair up hsblue with kitten_island to get all 0 fans of the game excited about an underdog match-up.
The only problem with scheduled match-ups is that very low-skilled runners, like ikkatosh23, will have vastly different times in a marathon setting. This is why a qualifying match a few hours before the tournament begins is crucial. This way the more talented speedrunners, myself included, won't necessarily have an advantage.
Wow, this is incredible work. Inevitably, some testing needs to be done before runs are accepted that deviate from the orginal version of the game/timing. And to be honest, I'm not sure where to start. I can't just retime every run that's been submitted and subtract the invalid time sitting at the light/crossing the tracks since each system is different. Therefore, should it be fair knowledge that a "new" version of the game is available at this one speedrunning website, and other speedruns become (somewhat) obsoloted? Or should a new variable be introduced that indicates the new timing vs the original timing? I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way and can be understood by everyone, but a fair method needs to be evaluated before a new timing becomes implemented.
Matt, thank you for the clarification. I now realize we still do not have the .swf file on its own here yet.
It's not a good idea to compare RTA times when people's machines run the game at different rates than others'. IGT gives the best comparison across as far as quality of the run goes.
However, some users think it's acceptable to slow down the game intentionally to play more accurately and abuse the the In-Game Timer, so RTA has it's advantage here. Oh wait, I forgot -- they also think it's okay to speed up the video file before submitting so it looks like a legitimate speedrun. So now they've abused both IGT and RTA! Amazing!
As far as sticking my neck in these woods, your question reminded me how the speedrun of this game was ruined given the shady speedrun tactics though it's not "technically" violating the rules. I'll go crawl under my rock again.
You can find the separate page for Syobon Action at https://www.speedrun.com/syobonaction
Thank you for catching this. Categories with similar names can be confusing :)
It's not a bad idea. But I meant it's also an extra step when running the game because you have to make the IGT timer visible for the video. How do we know what the IGT timer was for previous runs?
Thank you for the suggestion, MysticManiac. I am having trouble figuring out what makes this is an improvement from the current timing method.
How, in your opinion, does this IGT timer make an improvement from RTA? I'm not disregarding it from being a variable or an alternative version of the run time, but it just seems like more work (or an added step) in submitting a run that isn't necessary and doesn't show anything more about the run than the RTA time other than possible miscule differences in load times between different consoles.
Changing the timing for Versus can definitely be made if load times vary from different consoles/regions. If there is a difference in runs being submitted, I will make the change to the rules and retime the runs. However, there is a grand total of zero runs in the Versus categories, making your concern a bit irrelevant.
As for X2ndhandsarcasm's run: no. The run will stay. The user being inactive on SRcom does not negate the authenticity of the speedrun.
It is named Versus, but it's a miscellaneous category on the website because it's not too relevant to the main gameplay/story mode.
Also, why delete your runs? You're allowed to improve on your old runs. It seems a little silly to delete your old PBs while you're "working" on them. If you find the time, please submit your other run again so the community is able to review and benefit from your gameplay. Thanks!
Yes, submit your runs. It would be interesting to see who can get 9 Lives down the quickest, and with which character. I hope everyone is satisfied with the changes to the leaderboard for now and has fun with the versus mode!
I can adjust the variables for this category (and possibly split it) and see how it works out in the coming months to see if anything else needs to be tweaked.
Thank you both for your input!
