There's a forum thread started 5 years ago that asks this same question, so I'm not hoping for much but trying to get an answer to a simple question: why have the WR videos been missing for over 5 years but still allowed to stand? I know this game isn't super popular but it's strange that my 3rd place run is the only visible video in the 100% category, and the WR for House% is also missing.

Both of SmilingSatyr's videos from Twitch don't seem to exist anymore, and he hasn't been on SRC in 3 years. The only active mod is Spookas_ so these questions are to you sir: Why is your 2nd place 100% run hidden/private on Youtube? Why are you allowing WRs that haven't existed in 5 years to stand?

I like the idea of a Dave% or solo run. I think it's a little more interesting than 2 kids as a concept.

In regards to the idea of disallowing New Kid, I can see both sides having pros and cons. If you disallow New Kid, you'll have to reroute or try to find new tricks that might not quite be as optimal. This would definitely make the solo route slower, and I'm not sure anyone would want to take the time to do that. It would make the category more unique from Any% though.

Also your aim is always to beat it as fast as possible, the Any% strats are obviously the most efficient way to end the game quickly. The current 2-Character category allows all strats too. But that's also why I've never ran the 2-Character category personally. Every run I did with 2 characters I counted as Any% because I never felt there were rules that separated them enough, so why not go for the main category?

That's my two cents. I will give this category a look sometime, but I think the rules should be determined between you guys since you'll be running this category the most. If anyone else has interest and reads this, hopefully they'll add their opinion as well.

I appreciate that Sei! Your guide was very helpful. Thanks to you and NESCard for providing the strats and resources to make this run possible!

Oddtom nailed it on the head with that video. I'm just an idiot who never realized you could change the in-game speed. I came here initially a year ago to run the SNES version which is the one I grew up with. The SNES version is much slower than the DOS version, but it also has options to change in-game speed so I should have known.

While I didn't put a lot of research into the DOS version myself, I feel pretty stupid now. It's a bit hilarious that none of the runners prior to you realized we could change the speed to Ultra.

But once more I'd like to apologize to you Izumi, for the assumptions and ignorance. And I'd like to apologize to Oddtom too, because I now realize he definitely does his due diligence when it comes to verifying runs. Thanks for the replies!

Okay so after doing some tests, I can verify that DOSBox runs "Auto" at 3000 cycles. I tested a few runs at the Ultra speed. Here's the video showing 5 different frame-counts between the last frame showing the yellow ant fighting, to the first frame showing the full "Red Queen dead" prompt:

I frame-counted each of the endings, and here are the results: 1st Ending: 2.717 secs 2nd Ending: 1.350 secs 3rd Ending: 1.083 secs 4th Ending: 1.550 secs 5th Ending: .833 secs

Izumi's Ending: .283 secs

In all fairness, the first ending was longer because the yellow ant was engaged in another fight after killing the queen, which extended the wait. Izumi's frame-count comes in at .283 seconds, which is insanely fast but overall I'm convinced I was wrong.

You followed the rules. You're not required to prove your DOSBox is set to "auto" or 3000 cycles. It functions identical to what I saw at 3000 cycles on DOSBox anyway. The only thing I haven't been able to personally replicate was your super fast red queen prompt, but it may be possible with a few more attempts. Also you are correct, the 3-4 squares the ant moves is purely due to in-game speed adjustments.

I apologize for the assumption. Also, GGs on the WR!

I appreciate your response Izumi. I'm curious of the difference between DOSBox with "Auto" cycles, and the website linked in the "Resources" tab. Because the game at https://classicreload.com/simant-the-electronic-ant-colony.html runs at 3000 cycles. I feel like DOSBox runs faster at "Auto" but I will test this out. Your red queen defeat prompt is immediate, which I cannot duplicate on the website even with "Ultra" speed. This tells me DOSBox might run the game at a faster speed, rather than the cycles being manually adjusted to be faster (which I initially thought was the case). So I do apologize a bit, as this discrepancy could genuinely be DOSBox vs. website.

"Emulator runs are accepted if the speed is the same as the original game"

I'm sorry but this run is clearly not the same speed as the original game. In one frame, the yellow ant covers 3-4 squares both in the nest and on the surface, teleporting every frame of animation. Even the red ant in the video is moving 3-4 squares per frame of animation as the speedrunner goes to the red nest. Also the red queen dies and immediately gives the "Game Over" text. These visual cues are easily proof that the game is running at a higher cycle count than the original, almost double! This run needs to be removed, as it does not comply with the rules in the category.

I'm all for someone beating my WR, but they should do it legitimately with the same speed I played the game at. This is cheating.

Yooo Deadguy, you legend.

The main reason people put Moon first, then Transylvania is RNG. You need to get the Moon Skip and fairly quickly to have a chance at a good run. Since the timer does not start until you select your first stage, it makes sense to deal with the heavy RNG first instead of having it kill runs at the end. Magica is the same: if she decides to go top route, hitting her is really tough and it will normally result in time-loss versus an optimal Magica. Once you have a good Magica in your PB, it's easy to lose time there. It makes the most sense to put the heaviest RNG upfront rather than at the end.

With that said, you can run any order you like. RNG is RNG after all, and you could get some good paces running the stages in the order they're set in.

GG Ress!

GG Zarc!

Okay, sounds good! I just wanted to talk about this, because I am not sure why my tunnels vary between 1774-1776 frames, but I would hate to get a new PB only to find the tunnel frame-count is reason for rejection.

I understand that emulators need to be comparable to SNES hardware and this will help ensure that. Thank you mods for clarifying on this.

I had something I wanted to discuss regarding this document, since it is now required to submit future emulator runs. I figured it would be best to post here, so everyone can see the discussion in case they plan on running Contra III on emulator in the future. The document can be viewed in the "Resources" tab on this website, under "Tools".

According to this document, Snes9x performs the Stage 4 tunnel in 1777 frames on Easy with 1 frame +/- of tolerance. Meaning a 1776 frame tunnel run would be accepted, but anything lower is grounds for rejection. Can you demonstrate this 10x in a row in a video, with identical frame-counts between 1776 and 1778? Because I've frame-counted every Snes9x run currently on the Contra III Easy leaderboard, and there's quite a variance. I've also listed the version if the runner did:

UltrosGambini 23rd place - 1777 frames (Snes9x 1.60)

Dewystine 29th place - 1766 frames (Snes9x Retroarch)

xenkaroshi 34th place - 1774 frames (Snes9x 1.60)

shwabteeve 40th place - 1766 frames (Snes9x no version listed)

HowDoUPlay 43rd place (current PB) - 1774 frames (Snes9x 1.60)

Headshotguy 44th place - 1775 frames (Snesx9x 1.60)

Kippe 49th place - 1778 frames (Snes9x 1.60)

HowDoUPlay 49th place (previous PB) - 1776 frames (Snes9x 1.60)

raffa_gs 51st place - 1774 frames (Snes9x 1.5.67)

NickBGoHard 55st place - 1777 frames (Snes9x 1.56.2)

combustibledan 63rd place - 1776 frames (Snes9x 1.60)

Sideswipe 83rd place - 1772 frames (Snes9x no version listed)

I think this is important, because it shows that people using Snes9x 1.60 have achieved between 1774 to 1777 frames for this count. It also proves that some Snes9x runs did have less lag. Two runs had only 1766 frames in the tunnel, but one is confirmed to use Retroarch and the other did not list what version. Maybe that's something worth taking a look at, but I don't think the majority of Snes9x runs are anything out of the ordinary.

I compared two of my own runs as well. My old 13:39 PB was 1776 frames, and the newer 13:11 PB was 1774 frames. I used the exact same emulator, exact same settings, on both runs. By these new rules, one PB would be accepted, and one would not. That is silly, and if this rule persists without change, I won't be running Contra III. I'm not going to frame-count future PBs and hope I have 1776-1778 frames in the tunnel so it will be accepted. Especially when I've shown my newest run, and over half the current PBs using Snes9x have variances bigger than this.

I agree with Jaquio on this issue. If you remap the controller, it should be done before the run begins. People who run on original hardware cannot remap their controls unless they use an EverDrive, so changing button mapping during a run should not be allowed.

As someone who emulates myself, the original layout is very possible to run with: middle finger holds right bumper, thumb holds fire button, and pointer finger toggles weapon swap. In certain situations, you don't even need to hold right bumper, holding the fire button alone will stop you from moving.

The way runs are frame-counted currently is as Ness stated: we start the run on the first frame that shows the entire menu loaded for the first time (including "CD Player in inventory). I have frame-counted Ness's newest run using two methods: I counted from the first frame showing all 3 character names after "New Kid" is pressed. Second count, I added 8 frames from the first frame showing "Go To" on the menu. Why 8 frames? Because I checked several other videos as well as talked to Nisse, and 8 frames is how much it takes from the first frame of "Go To" appearing, to the entire menu loading. First method counted his run at 2:54.167 second method counted his run at 2:54.267

The difference is 100 MS, or 1/10th of a second. Not a huge difference, but enough that it would benefit everyone who immediately clicks "New Kid" rather than letting the menu load. With that said, I think it would be easier to time these starts by adding 8 frames to the first frame that shows "Go To". We wouldn't have to adjust any times on the leaderboard either, as it would maintain consistency with the original method.

I get both sides. From a moderation standpoint, Any% currently has the rule "All known glitches allowed", thus 2-character glitch is part of the breakable systems built into the game that can be exploited for a faster time. On a personal level, I believe Any% should typically be exactly that: break the game and beat it as fast as possible with it's own mechanics.

On the other side, this does make 2-character runs seem pointless in a way, since I believe all future Any% WR-pace runs have to utilize the 2-character glitch now to minimize lag. I could be wrong, but there'd have to be some big timesave specifically requiring 3 characters that would justify the slower performance.

I also am curious about what other active runners think, and what people think should be done in regards to rules and categories.

That's a great idea, a guide would definitely be useful. On a side-note, you guys are truly doing some amazing work here. Transferring the Hunk-O-Match to another character, skipping cutscenes, lots of "New Kid" skips & manips, and a faster way to glitch the tentacle at the end. The route has changed so much, I need to take a long look at it before I try again.

This route would be, "Run upstairs, trigger hidden keypad, wait". While I think it's a good idea to encourage all the endings in this game, I think Hamsteak% already makes a more challenging Gameover% than what this would entail. You still lose the game, but you serve a microwaved hamster to accomplish this.

EDIT - I get that the house doesn't explode in this ending, so maybe this can be an extra category. But I still feel in terms of a "Gameover%" Hamsteak% already does it better.

All of the mini consoles emulate, even the official NES Classic Mini. However the official NES Classic does not come with Chip n Dale 1 or 2, so I'm pretty sure you have a Raspberry Pi, which can be outfitted with many emulators to accomplish the job. Some emulators are allowed for speedrunning, some are not. I would research what emulator your console is using to determine if it's valid. It's definitely not "original hardware" however.

I'm a bit late, but I feel like if you're going to do a true 100% run it might be more fun to include the rest of the game's features. For example, you could require winning a tournament, and rescuing a damsel and/or raiding a castle (since the last two play the same). Requiring the siege of all castles could be a good idea too, but I don't think it's enough on it's own to make a new category.