Beware of replay breaks for replay footage speedruns (Remake)
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Beware of replay breaks for replay footage speedruns (Remake)
Updated 3 years ago by cmowla

If you prefer to reload save restore points to get a better battle turnout or undo a building mistake (without starting the mission over) AND you prefer to submit runs for the Remake (which we currently only allow r5503 and r6720 submissions), be aware of "replay breaks".

The following 30 second clip demonstrates a replay break - when the replay only works up to a certain point and then the replay player essentially crashes.

There is no fix for a "broken replay", but you can salvage a part of your play (provided that you save often).

  • Reload the save restore point before that time that you have in your save reloads menu.
  • Do some actions like move soldiers (don't just let the game run!)
  • Save the game.
  • Go watch the updated (test) replay in the replay viewer. (To save time, it helps to fast forward all the way through at x100 speed or more. See https://www.speedrun.com/kam/guide/og85b to fast forward at a rate more than x10.)
  • If the replay doesn't break (successfully completes), then you're OK.
  • But if the replay is still broken, then you need to reload the save restore point before the first one you chose.
  • This should be a safe resuming point. But be careful to save often and test the replay often on maps where you experience replay breaks more often than others.

Lastly, if you are interested in doing TAS runs (see https://www.speedrun.com/kam/guide/p0hnk ), then be aware of saving too often, because if a replay breaks, you may have to do the above procedure with 3 or more close in proximity save restore points (like if you save every second or so . . . which IS POSSIBLE with a TAS run!)

Potential Causes of Replay Breaks

Even the programmers of the Remake ("Remake Dev, Remake Developers") are unsure exactly what causes replay breaks (and there can be more than one cause, depending on the map that is being played), but the following is a list of potential causes.

  • There have been theories that the autosave feature (which can be disabled in the Options Menu under Gameplay:) can cause replay breaks.
  • There is solid evidence that maps with accompanying script files (like Invasion in the example video above) cause replay breaks
  • Hotkey presses (see https://www.speedrun.com/kam/guide/2wlqt ) may cause replay breaks.
  • Reducing the game time speed during gameplay by a large factor (slower than 1/9 normal game clock tick rate) (see https://www.speedrun.com/kam/guide/p0hnk ) can also be a cause. (I know of that first-hand, with my TAS 4m28s TSK 20 win!)