No it’s not an April fools, I really do want to get these categories setup.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted my thoughts on new categories so I think it’s about time to turn them into concrete proposals. I’ve tried to look at categories people had already shown interest in and have proposals for 3 new categories in-keeping with the style of the current rules.
Please feel free to leave any feedback. It doesn’t matter if it’s a suggestion for a change to the category, interest in another category or change to make the wording clearer. I’d love to hear it.
I’ve created a poll https://forms.gle/xc2RSnsfJZaDfVok8 to help gauge interest and show what should be prioritised. (Results visible on submission).
I want to give plenty of time for feedback and changes but also don’t want these categories to get stuck in limbo. 3 more weeks should be more than enough for this so I want to get everything set up by then (i.e 2022.04.22 at the latest). Maybe sooner if there is general interest and agreement in a category.
Here are the proposals:
Run requires the player to choose Vs CPU mode on a save file with any previous gameplay. Choose either character
[RTA - Run starts as soon as the player presses start after choosing the gem selection screen. Run ends as soon as WIN appears on the players side after defeating Princess Pinch]
{A save file with all gems already collected could be made available to use on the resources section}
Run requires the player to enter survival mode and select easy mode. Choose either character
[RTA - Run starts when a character is selected. Run ends as soon as rank "MASTER" is displayed]
Run requires the player to acquire 25 gems on a single character after all previous data is erased.
A second Game Pak may be used to facilitate trading gems between characters however only gems originally obtained on the first Game Pak or character starting gems may be traded (Freeze and Wall to Alchemist (boy), Speed and Up to Sorcerer (girl)).
[RTA - Run starts when name selection is confirmed on Sorcerer (girl) naming screen. Run ends when the brown new gem icon is shown in survival mode after the other 24 gems have already been collected]
Currently working on some stuff to try and make flash columns runs more accessible (in between alchemist runs). Should be interesting for anyone who’s as excited about flash columns as I am. So look out for that in the next few weeks.
Happy running. (don't forget to vote)
The boards used tohave a NG+ category tbf! I got rid of them sadly back when I thought there was near no activity for this game and the category was just there lifeless.
If runners want to bring it back though with some other categories, would love to see it!
I've been 3 weeks already! So it's almost time for the new categories. I've done some testing and watched a lot of gameplay. Seems like everyone agrees trading is required for at least 1 gem for 25 gems category. Although after working out the consistent method to get paralyze I think I might need to dig into the rom to double check.
I think the only adjustment that should be made is to the proposed survival master rules. Dropping the requirement to start on easy. It seems like most people prefer to start on hard. So it makes sense for the runner to be able to select whichever difficulty they want.
From my practices it looks like NG+ takes about 10 minuets, Master on survival takes 25-45 minuets and 25 Gems will take 2 hrs+. 25 Gems is the only one I've not done a full recording of yet. I'll manage a run eventually but I need a bit more time to prepare.
I've added my sequence prediction tool in the Resources > Tools section to help planning flash columns runs with consistent rng. I've also added a PAL save file with 5 of all 25 gems in the Resources > Saves section to make the NG+ easier to setup. (I'll get a JP save as well but it will take more time as I have to trade gems over and sometimes that makes the game crash for no reason).
One think I noticed while making the save file is the visual emulation bug with 'Quake' that Nost had mentioned before. I normally play the JP version with a JP bios and hadn't seen the issue before but switched both to Europe to make the save file. So it seems like the emulation bug might effect multiple emulators but only effect certain regions? I'd be interested to know if anyone's experienced the bug on the US versions.
Guides will be my next priority after this.
Good luck to anyone trying the new categories. I'll try and get things setup tomorrow evening.
So it can't have been two days since I created the categories. But I've been trying to plan the route for 25 gems and I don't think you actually need to trade to get all them gems. You do need to use multiplayer mode but you can use single cartridge multiplayer.
No one's run 25 gems yet, so assuming I'm right should the rules be updated? A few things that might be worth consideration:
- Trading is much slower so does it even need to be disallowed?
- It might be worth allowing a second game pak anyway for multiplayer (even though it's not needed). Single pak multiplayer is slow on real hardware (as it has to download the game) and seem pretty inconsistent on emulators (sometimes it takes multiple resets to get a connection).
Finally completed a full run for all gems in one sitting so I'll get that submitted soon. While the run wasn't the best (I lost time to dropped link connections and made a mistake costing almost 20 minuets at the end) I now have a much better idea of realistic timings.
24 gems (from new game to the princess Dazzle coronation 'ending' cut scene) looks like it will take around 1.5 hours.
25 gems (collecting all gems) looks like it will take around 5 hours.
Given the length and potential routing differences I think 24 could deserve it's own category.
While I would run the category if it existed, personally, it's not one if find very exciting (as it's basically just the Survival, Flash and CPU NG+ categories back-to-back with a three minuet intermission and a link battle at the end). However if anyone is interested in that let me know.
