When was the live recording rule removed?

Happy Wheels

Hey everyone! In this post we will be announcing some very major rule changes for the SRC leaderboards. Incase you just want the summary, here they are very briefly: 

*NOTE: None of these rules will be enforced retroactively, just from this point (January 3rd 2025) onwards.*

**1. Every mobile WR on both iOS and Android now needs to have a real-time recording**

**2. Every PC WR will now require AUDIO alongside the real-time recording in order to be verifiable (tips on how to make this easier for you are included later in the post)**

**3. The following types of runs will now require a real-time recording to go along with it, regardless of whether it's WR or not:**

- Runs that use an **existing buffer** *(with slight exceptions; read post)*

- Runs that use what looks like a **slightly modified** version of an existing **buffer** or **run** *(grounds for rejection)*

- Every **helicopter launch** that is **top 3** for helicopter man within the given level

- Every run that uses **ghost hands**

- Every **Backyard Wrestling sub 4.60**

Those are the new rules, incase you'd like more details stick around

**1. Every mobile WR on both iOS and Android now needs to have a real-time recording**

Until now we were only enforcing this for PC runs, but due to recent discoveries we must also enforce it for iOS and Android runs. This means that the WR cannot be in the form of a replay, and can only be submitted if it was recorded in real-time. 

Also, this is obvious but might as well mention it, even for non-WR runs if you do submit a replay the replay needs to be accurate and showcased from start to finish. Only exception is the well known iOS bug where the replay is accurate but the finish screen with the final time doesn't pop up. In those cases, you should 100% show the beginning so that we know the time displayed with certainty.


**2. Every PC WR will now require AUDIO alongside the real-time recording in order to be verifiable**

This is *already upheld* by most top players (I checked the last **20** WRs submitted to speedrun.com for a sample, and ALL 20 had clear audio of the game in them) but we hadn't been enforcing it by rule until now. 

If you want to separate game audio from anything else you might be listening to, there's a tutorial on how to do that on OBS [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUa7mrpIFoE&ab_channel=SlurpTech). You can still have other audio tracks audible in the final recording as long as the game audio is still relatively audible. 

This rule only applies to PC for the time being because we recognize that depending on what phone you have sometimes recording exclusively internal audio can be hard. This might change in the future depending on playerbase needs. 

**3. The following types of runs will now require a real-time recording to go along with it, regardless of whether it's WR or not:**


**- Runs that use an existing buffer**

Any run that uses a buffer that is known to exist in the community, regardless of leaderboard placement, will need to have a real time recording to go along with it to make sure it was performed in real time. 

A very noteable **exception** is the beginning of any **combine** wrecking ball run (as in there is no need to get that in real-time). There are definetly more in this list of exceptions, so if you're not sure whether or not something constitues a live recording, message us and we will clear it up. We will attempt to take this on on a case by case basis to see which ones make sense to enforce this for and which ones don't.

**- Runs that use what looks like a slightly modified version of an existing buffer or run** *(grounds for rejection)*

This is to avoid people taking existing buffers or runs, changing a few inputs up, and attempting to bypass the previous rule. If we suspect a run is using this method and the run doesn't have a real-time recording, it will be grounds for rejection.

**- Every helicopter launch that is top 3 for helicopter man within the given level**

Due to the easy-to-buffer nature of helicopter launches, any helicopter launch that is within the top 3 runs for helicopter man in any given level will require a real-time recording to ensure its legitimacy. This may be expanded to more than just top 3 in the future.

*Note: Stuff like doing a small launch at the end of levels like Make Way do NOT count towards this rule. This rule is exclusively referring to levels where the entirety of the gameplay basically consists of a helicopter launch.*

**- Every run that uses ghost hands**


Here's a brief explanation by @LethalPotato on what ghost hands are: 

"On TJF, if your character's hands are grabbing something (either via holding space or grabbing a non character vehicle), and you reset the level, it will cause your hand(s) to not have collision upon eject, which can cause replays to desync and be inaccurate. 

Ghost hands in general gives an advantage on most levels, as ghost hands on irresponsible dads child stops it grabbing the vehicle, and also can cause clipping walls to be easier for some unknown reason (levels like speedbridge and king of pop)

Holding space before ejecting with ghost hands causes them to maintain collision until letting go of space, which allows launches with HM to be the same"

Here is an example of ghost hands being implemented by @Demonic_Ninja in his [Ghetto Dunk 4.67
](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpd3HN0dn2Y&ab_channel=Demonic_Ninja)
Due to how ghost hands interact with replays, any run that uses this bug is required to have a real-time recording.

**- Every backyard wrestling sub 4.60**

Similar to helicopter launches, due to how easy buffering a backyard wrestling run lower than 4.60 (4.60 because that's the lowest time you can get without using the trick specific to this level) is, we're requiring a real-time recording for all sub 4.60 backyard wrestling runs

**These are the new rules!** If you have any questions after reading the entire post, feel free to ask either in the [Discord](https://discord.gg/j8869puaMH) or DM any of the active moderators! If you have any disagreements, also feel free to voice them, although I hope it's understandable why these rules had to be put in place to ensure the competitive integrity of the SRC leaderboards. Thank you!
