So I just got the WRs in 200cc Itemless- both 32 track and 48 track.
Why the big cut from my previous 48 track PB of 1:33:30? When I got that old PB, it was 3rd place, which was 8 seconds faster that Bison in 4th (I wanted to beat all other times using internal memory before I experimented with this stuff). However, I noticed that my times were not nearly as fast as those above me, despite me using a lot more drift strats and shortcuts. I basically would have needed a god run to WR, and even then it may not have been possible.
I did some research and found this video comparing loading times on Wii U using various methods of loading the game...
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw9533_peformance-comparison-of-wii-u-media_videogames
Basically in terms of speed, External SSD > Internal Memory > External HDD > Disc. If you don't know, SSD stands for solid state drive, which is basically a faster version of the hard drive that doesn't have moving parts.
So I tried it. I found a used 120gb SSD on amazon for about $30, then grabbed an external case for it as well as a USB 'Y' cable (you need one of these if your external case doesn't have its own power source- as I learned the hard way). It was about $45 USD total, and also worked as a solution to not having enough storage on the Wii U, so why not.
The result was a timesave of about two seconds per track purely from loading. Since my run was slightly weaker than my old pb in terms of gameplay, I estimate this method saved me in the neighborhood of 1:45 off using a digital copy on Wii U internal memory.
I'll do more timing later, but I believe the load times I now get match those Videowiz and burkhalter (who has removed his 200cc times) were getting.
So what we have here is the possibility of extra hardware helping with the speedrun. I consider this in the same category as OoT a few years ago, where players were buying Chinese N64's to save time.
Questions:
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Burk and Vid- can you guys confirm that you were doing something like this to get your load times?
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What do we think about runs that do this? Is it just another step up (like disc to digital) or is it unfair?
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What do other Wii U communities do about this?
OPINION: I think it is silly that load times work like this and silly that I purchased this (I am silly). However, you probably can't really prevent something like this in a ruleset, as load times aren't always consistent anyway, and I'm not sure if the mods want to be timing loads anyway.
I propose a new variable on the charts- "Game Save Type" containing a drop down list with the options (Digital- External SSD, Digital- Internal Memory, Digital- External HDD, Disc). Would be weird, since the leaderboards are already pupulated with dozens of times however.
So yeah, that's about what I've been researching the past week or two. I will be submitting my run, but we'll see what this post says about all of this stuff.