After a few very lengthy days of discussing bhops between the mod team, top runners, and the general community we've come to a final decision as a mod team. Obviously, since this will be a big change, we didn't want something as simple as a binary vote when people's opinions are not as simple as a one-word answer.

From this point forward, flatground bhops will be banned from most categories, including all the main board categories.

The reason for this rule change is due to new discoveries in how bhopping works in Outlast. The consistency at which a runner is able to hit perfect flatground bhops is tied directly to the framerate of the game. At the game's default FPS cap of 62 FPS, a runner is only able to get a perfect bhop every other jump on flatground, even if every spacebar input is perfectly timed. However, on slightly lower FPS, it becomes possible to chain together multiple bhops in a row on flat ground. This creates an advantage for those with slower computers, as their FPS will dip more commonly and they will be able to bhop more than those with a constant 62 FPS.

Unfortunately, this discovery left us with basically no good options as to how to proceed. Either we enforce a lower FPS cap that allows everyone to hit consistent chained flatground bhops, or we ban flatground bhopping altogether. We decided upon banning flatground bhopping as we felt it would be best for community and would allow the run to be more enjoyable versus turning the run into a bhop fest.

This does NOT mean your runs will be deleted if you achieved or attempted flatground bhops. The only runs that will be archived will be the 8:05 and 8:06 runs in Any%, and the runs under 50:37 in Glitchless, as these times are borderline unachievable without attempting flatground bhops. Both Falex and Axes have agreed to archive these runs.

Although bhops are being banned from most categories, they will NOT be banned from: 10 Batteries, FAC, Death%, Wheelchair to Heaven, Superjump, and all IL categories. These specific categories will also allow the player to cap their in-game FPS at 61.81, to allow bhops to be more easily attainable to everyone. People do not need to do this however, as 62 FPS is perfectly fine to run on, and there will be a selectable variable when you submit a run under these categories.

These rulings apply to PC.

Thanks for all you guys do for this game. These changes will be rolled out within the next few days <3

If anyone has any questions please reach out to one of us on Discord

(update 2/17/22 - Please make sure you check the Game Rules and Category rules before submitting a run if you are unsure about everything that you need for run validation.)