Arizona, USA
SupporterFellow fans of Buggos! The leaderboard has finally landed and is ready for runs to be submitted. Please feel free to reply here or message me directly with suggestions about how to organize the leaderboard. For now, I'm setting difficulty as an Annotation instead of a Sub-Category but this might change when more runs are submitted.
Also, since there are 36 levels in the base game and 60 with DLC, I think the IL categories should be organized by the 6 base game and 4 DLC Areas, as well as the 5 challenges, for a total of 15 ILs.
Happy running!
Thanks for your response again :)
If you actually watched the runs I submitted you would know that I did try to calibrate the mouse input to make it accurate, but it hasn't had any effect on the performance in the game (I read online that others have had this issue when emulating Sega Naomi). Single Segment is a name used in several speedrun categories specifically to denote exactly what I meant, which is a run that does not allow quicksaves and one that typically does not allow game over or continue. In the arcade context 1 Credit Clear can also be used, and it is not at all arbitrary since it's a demonstration of skill beyond the normal means of finishing a game (ie it may be slower in some games, like this game, to do 1CC).
"The solution would be to ban emulator runs" - I don't even know what to say to that. This website has been made for hosting/documenting speedruns of video games and I think it's very important that we don't lose sight of that. The chances of finding a Sega Naomi system equipped with this game are rare at best. Banning emulator is like saying "I don't want runs on this leaderboard", although the hyper-restricted ruleset, your dismissive responses, and the fact that you haven't even set up a color theme or anything here already kind of says that anyway. Oranges man I respect you for the runs you've done and for the care you've taken for the other games you mod. Can we not find some compromise here to expand the categories to better reflect what people are actually likely to run?
Thanks for your response :)
I can see where you're coming from. Both the save state and the 2 Gun system are features of emulator, but there is also a problem with emulating the aim of a lightgun on emulator that causes the shot to land far from where the cursor is when firing and the 2 Gun system and quicksave seem like a balanced fix for that (QS/QL is slow btw and it's obviously still best to just do it right the first time). You also have to do double damage to certain targets in the game when you use the 2 Gun system. Since the game is far more likely to be run on emulator than on an arcade machine, I think we should at least represent runs that take full advantage of what the emulator experience provides. I'm not saying that it's the only way or even the best way to run the game, but I ran what seemed like the most fun to run as a speedrunner who has run a lot of games and I do believe that runs of this nature should at least be represented here since this is the de facto place to host speedruns of games. Maybe an Unrestricted category would be a good fit, or separating Emulator and Hardware runs. I'll definitely run the game again using the Single Segment ruleset (1 Gun, no QS, no mission fails like what Any% does in the jewelry heist, and no Continue if 3 hits are taken). I'm trying to get my Sinden lightgun to work with the game, but no luck so far. I imagine lightgun (if it can be calibrated to be accurate) will be the best way to play the game, like what you'd have with real hardware. I think sub 15 might be possible with 2 Guns so I'll run that again too since that's the most fun run of the game without lightgun (2 Player with two cracked players on accurately calibrated lightguns would be faster than 2 Guns).
I love this game and I just want to do speedruns man
Hello :)
Thanks for setting up the leaderboard! I'd like to write some thoughts about the run categories since the ruleset seems a little restricted. I think there should be 3 categories for single player - Any% (One gun, quicksave is allowed); Any% 2 Guns (anything goes); Single Segment (no quicksave/quickload, one gun only, no missions fails, no continues). I think it's good when speedrun dot com leaderboard categories reflect what people actually want to run. Also, could we get a background image and a color theme? I like this image here: https://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=876448 and these colors for the theme: 
I'd be happy to join as a mod to add this stuff and help arrange the board since I'm the only one running the game
Thanks!
Hmm I've never had that happen before. Which emulator are you using? Let me know if you find a solution so I can post it here for others who might encounter the same problem. Nice runs by the way :)
I'll add Switch and other platforms ASAP! As for rules, so far the only rule for Any% is finish the game from start to finish with video evidence. We can add ILs for each puzzle section if gamers are interested in running them as well :)
Maybe my opinion isn't worth anything, but this seems to me like a mistake reminiscent of last year's minimum time ruling. Seems like a few runners and mods will like the idea and everyone else will hate it, just like last time, and honestly I'm a little surprised that this is even being considered. I don't see how this could possibly encourage growth or bring new runners into the mix - seems like it will do exactly the opposite, not to mention frustrate many existing and old runners. For the single centralized leaderboard that 99% of runners and community fans reference (this one right here), I think it makes the most sense to keep the console and difficulty options separated as they are so that runs can be compared with other runs of the same console/difficulty. If there's anything that could be trimmed for cleanup (or moved to the Google Sheet or maybe Cat Extensions), Segmented could be an option as it effectively doubles the number of total categories (with very few runs in them). Personally I think the board as it is looks neatly organized, really well maintained, and currently includes exactly what it needs to include. I think this consolidation idea might instead be better worked as an additional data sheet that just compares the most competitive versions/categories, possibly even using a load time adjustment function to compare all top 3 or so runs from each console + steam to create a single list of the most optimal runs adjusted by console/steam. If nobody ever ran most of the consoles and non-Pro difficulties the consolidation would totally make sense, but the board is already filled out with years of history. I'm just not seeing any benefit in wasting that history, agitating old runners, turning off potential new runners, and having to rework the board just to be less well defined and categorized than before. I love the gamers on the mod team and all the runners, and I want to see this community thrive and succeed. I really don't think this is it, guys.
As of yet I haven't found a way to set the banana count at zero. I've added a rule specifying that banana count in the banana store must be shown before time starts. For your run I counted your final scores at the end of each iteration, but future runs should all show the banana count in the store at the beginning. Hopefully we can find a way to set banana count at zero and restore previously purchased banana upgrades.
I've added a No Fail category, with banana levels listed as subcategories. In the future the main categories might be split as Normal and No Fail with banana levels as subcategories. Runners can comment here to add category suggestions and input :)
I'd like to add my observations to this after comparing Siren 2 on PS3 with emulating the game. Runs are now ranked by IGT, and emulating the game doesn't seem to have any effect on the IGT that would set it apart from playing the game on console. However, it seems playing the NTSC-J version of Siren 2 on emulator can cause a bug where the automatic firearms fire at a significantly faster rate than on console. The bug is both a benefit and detriment to players at different times, but it definitely saves some time on the Otoshigo fight. Because of that free time save (2 to 3 seconds), I'm not sure emulating the Japanese version of the game should be allowed on the board. This bug does not occur when emulating the PAL version, for some reason, so the PAL version should be fine for inclusion on the leaderboard.
Hello :) I've routed and run 100% (all coins, all notes, real heirloom ending) and I would like to add a category here for that. I think there should also be a Hardcore Any% category, as the enemies are more aggressive and the strats are definitely different enough to warrant separation as another category. Additionally, I'm confused about the Dev Commentary category - the run verified in that category touches some of the dev commentary nodes but not all of them, so what are the requirements of that category? Without activating every node isn't the run basically just Story Mode Any%? I've noticed there is no game image, no theme, no category rules, and no Individual Level leaderboards. I have a lot of experience moderating and setting up speedrun leaderboards and I'd love to set all that stuff up - add me as a mod and I'll take care of everything. Thanks <3
Equipping the glitched NAME item as armor is highly inconsistent from run to run, and might be influenced by version and user hardware. Runs that use the NAME item as armor will be separated from other Any% runs, categorized as 'Unrestricted' - a category where basically anything goes, including the use of Macros (as long as they're made during the run).
There is a glitch in the game that allows you to enter areas early by clicking near the top right corner of the level in the level selection menu. The other categories don't allow this, but Any% does.
Emulator is allowed, but there is a good chance we'll be splitting the main board (Any% Glitchless) between PS2 runs and Emulator runs like with SOCOM 1.
Here's an invite to our SOCOM Speedrun discord: https://discord.gg/9pYgHZbBJV
