This guide is for moderator use, but it can also be used by the runner to cross-reference the moderator's measurements.

Start Frame

First Actual Movement

For runs where time starts when the Prince starts moving, the starting frame is simply the first frame after the Prince has visibly begun to move. Note that idle animations and jumping in place do not count as movement.

The only exception to this - as explained in the rules - is if the Prince starts moving during the white screen when loading a save. In that case time starts when the Prince is able to move.

First Potential Movement

New Game

For runs where time starts when the Prince is able to move and are started from a new game, the starting frame is simply the first frame of visible gameplay after the starting cutscene finishes.

Load Game

For runs where time starts when the Prince is able to move and are started by loading a save, determining the starting frame is not as straightforward. This is because time starts during a completely white screen so no cues in the video can be observed to determine the exact moment the Prince is able to move.

Instead, a cue from just before the run starts is used, and then a consistent offset is applied to determine the starting frame. Specifically, whatever is the first frame on which the loading screen starts fading to white, we add precisely 44 game frames at 60fps (or 22 game frames at 30fps), and that is the starting frame of the run. If the video framerate is different, then the number of frames should be adjusted accordingly. For example, for a console run that plays the game at 30fps but a video recorded at 120fps, the offset should be 88 video frames, which will translate to 22 game frames at 30fps. If there is any doubt about which of multiple frames should be considered the starting frame (for example if the video framerate is not an integer multiple of 30), then the earliest frame should be used.

Images 1-4 below demonstrate this:

• Image 1: 16:04_60 video time (16 seconds and 4 frames at 60fps) - loading screen hasn't started fading to white yet
• Image 2: 16:05_60 video time - loading screen still hasn't started fading to white
• Image 3: 16:06_60 video time - loading screen has begun to fade to white
• Image 4: 16:50_60 video time - starting frame of the run

In practice, this starting point is about 1-2 60fps frames before the Prince is actually able to move, but nonetheless we set this as the starting point of the run, as a matter of definition. This means that even if it could somehow be proven that for some individual run the Prince was not in fact able to move until some frames later, the start of the run will still be defined as this exact frame. In particular, this means that sound, a LiveSplit autosplitter, or any other deductions should not be used to determine the starting frame of the run.

If the game happens to lag during this 44 frame intermission, then the run start will still be defined as the end of this 44 frame intermission - even if the Prince is not able to move for perhaps even several seconds from that point. The way to reason about this is that the run in fact starts on the first frame where the loading screen fades to white, but it starts at a time of negative 44 frames instead of a zero time. So if the game happens to lag while the timer is still negative, the runner will lose time, but this is no different from the runner losing time if the game happens to lag after the timer has turned positive.

End Frame

The ending frame is simply the first frame in which the cutscene that comes after the run is visibly on screen.