Hello there, I am relatively new to running this game, and it has come to my attention that this game has something called "Timebug" that affects the final times of the runs, and I'd like to request an addition to the "Guides" section about it, explaining what it is, and maybe teaching the runners how to re-time their timebugged runs themselves. Thank you and have a good day.

Teaching the runners themselves couldn’t hurt but when you retime it yourself mods will be retiming it again anyways. Just assume that 99% of the time a run is timebugged.

Would still be interesting to inform the runners about what exactly timebug is. Just for the sake of knowledge, you know.

Most of the runners in our discord server know about it. You should join it, just click on the discord logo while on the page of the game.

There used to be an idea of recording an official video explaining timebug extremely in detail. We even had the script ready but nothing more ever happened, unfortunately.

It is basically like that:

1. Have the video file ready, of the time you want to retime (make sure your video file is saved in 60 fps, lower fps will make the retiming less precise)
2. Open Avidemux (http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/) and open the video file
3. Move the timebar exactly 1 frame before the lap starts (use keyboard left and right to have exactly the right frame):
- for Circuit the starting point one frame before the lap counter switches
- for Sprints and Drags the starting point is exactly one frame before the timer shows up on screen
4. Press Button "Set start marker"
5. Move the timebar now to the end of the lap (use keyboard left and right to have exactly the right frame):
- for Circuit the end point is the frame when the lap counter switches again
- for Sprints and Drags the end point is exactly the frame when timer disappears
6. Press Button "Set end marker"
7. On bottom right the time shown under "Selection" is your re-timed lap time

@wortexwortex: correct me if I made a mistake

Start is frame before always. Since frame of the lap itself the lap is already going for a bit.

The retiming method is quite easy to understand and execute. All that's left is the explanation of what the timebug itself is.
And also, what's the possibility of having it on the Guides section? Would be cool.

@goldenONXgoldenONX: Thanks. I will correct it, and later post it also in the guide section with some screenshots.

@JesSThePlayerJesSThePlayer: There is not so much to explain. Just that the Ingame-timer is not running exactly accurate with the real time.

Carter, it’s better if you let a moderator do that.

I mean, from what I saw, most of the time it decreases the final time. Although it did happen once that it ended up increasing the time, despite the IGT (In-Game Time) being way lower.
Which means it does not have a set behavior. That's why I think it's interesting to look further into it.
I also wonder why can't yt-frame-timer be used to retime runs, since it does the same as Avidemux does, practically.
Maybe it has to do with the timebug's said uncertain behavior. Anyways, let me know.

We just started using Avidmeux and it became the standard to it, nothing more. And yes it does not have a set behaviour, it can increase final time or decrease it. The amount of time it also lowers/ups is not set either. It’s all random, you even sometimes (although it doesn’t happen on a daily basis) have runs where there isn’t any timebug. It’s basically the BlackBox who coded the timer bad.

Yeah, I still didn't see a run with no timebug. These must be pretty rare.
Is it really random? That's a shame. But it's good that you have a retiming method that is universally applicable.
Nothing more to say then. Just waiting for a Guide entry.

It is pretty much impossible to avoid timebug simply because of how the game works. It is completely random and it appears in other Blackbox titles, with each game having their own quirks in regards to how the timebug manifests.

I wonder how did they manage to screw that up so badly.

Time Bug could be a good thing. If you use it correctly. I would never use it in my opinion. Cause, I don't like using the Time Bug in Racing Games. Cause, I don't like knowing the time that I am on when I am doing a full run Speed run on a game that I will be doing soon or later on this year or going into 2023.

1) you can’t use timebug, it’s fully random.
2) In full game runs timebug doesn’t matter since you are using RTA timing anyways.

Timebug seems to be related to the ingame FPS. Shared this video already on Discord:

That makes sense. Thanks for posting this.