SM64 Rom Hacks - General Rules
6 years ago
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

The following rules presented here are the rules that are not listed in the rules section of a game/category itself (usually), mostly because these rules are either self-evident or applying to the majority of hacks/categories. However, keep in mind that these general rules have a lower priority than the rules a category has set. So if a category's rules section clearly has a different ruling than determinated here, the rule in the category's rule section is the one that counts. If you want to run a hack/category, always make sure to check the rules section of that category, too.

It is also important to know that these rules here are only counting for runs from after the 1st May 2017, any run from before that could be considered as valid even if it might not completely follows the listed rules. Also keep in mind that these rules are not final so there might be changes and additions over time. A run is valid if it does not break any rule from the time where they counted, it is not necessarily invalid if it breaks a rule that was introduced AFTER the run was done. If a previously invalid run fulfills all rules of a later date because of a rule change the run will count as valid and also not lose its validity to later rule changes anymore.

Furthermore, although these general rules are covering many topics it is not unlikely that there are loopholes left. It is definitely forbidden to use these loopholes to let a self-evidently invalid run be valid.

Since there are many cheat codes and possible modifications it is practically impossible to have a real list of those, that are allowed, however if you plan on using a cheat code or modification for runs that you can not find in this list it is highly recommended to request this exception, an exception will be forbidden until it gets accepted by a moderator.

The designation "Individual level (or IL) (run)" is rather known as "Single star/Stage RTA (run)".

The format the following rules will have is this: A rule number (for example §5.2), the rule name, the rule itself, the date when the rule got introduced (the obsoleted rules at the end will tell when the rule got introduced and when it got obsoleted but it will be shown at the beginning, there). Until the 31st July 2017, the format was orientated by when the rules got introduced.

General Rules:

§1 - Timing Rules:

§1.1 - Timing Start Rule (Full-Game):

  • The new official start timing for categories (by default) is now the first frame of the title screen appearing, however, it is still appreciated and highly recommended to still start the timer at the reset to make later retiming easier, the title screen appears 0.5-1 seconds after the reset in the most cases. The most leaderboard retimings may take a while to be done due to the amount of runs needing to be retimed. The reason for that preference is that if the timer is started on reset, it will already be going when the title screen appears (in the most cases), while if the timer is started on title screen intentionally, it will often happen that the timer is started AFTER the title screen appeared which makes retiming harder and more inaccurate. Every newly submitted run is supposed to get retimed directly. [Rule introduced on the 31st May 2017].

§1.2.1 - Timing End Rule (Full-Game):

  • By default, timing ends on fadeout or, if there is no fadeout, on star grab (many categories still need to be retimed yet). [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§1.2.2 - Timing End Rule Exception (Full-Game):

  • The timing only ends on fadeout if you collected a star that counted towards the star count and that has a fadeout right before, if there is a big star (like mostly right after the final Bowser fight) followed by a fadeout then the timing still ends on star grab, respectively the first frame of Mario being vanished. [Rule introduced on the 31st May 2017].

§1.3 - Timing Rules (Individual Levels):

  • By default, timing on stage RTA categories starts when an act is selected and ends on star grab of the last star collected. You can use any entrance to the stage. In the most cases, RTAs for Bowser/Bonus Stages are displayed on the leaderboard, but are not an actual category. This is due to the way stage RTAs are assigned for each course on the leaderboard on this website. Exceptions can happen, especially when the bonus stage has many stars (For bonus stages, timing starts when the fadeout ends on entering the stage). [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§1.4 - Timing Method(s) (Individual Levels):

  • Timing on single star speedruns goes by frames the way the two decimal timer does it (for perfect accuracy). By default, Timing on categories like that ends with a warp ends at the very first frame of the fadeout. You can use any entrance to the stage. Using the timer code is preferred but not necessary, a single star run without timer must definitely have a video available. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§1.5 - Timing Type (Individual Levels):

  • In general, ILs use IGT timing for single star runs and RTA timing for stage RTAs. If a single star run is not timed with an IGT timer (code), RTA timing will be used (lag is included). [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§1.6.1 - In-Game Timer Allowance:

Here is a detailed tutorial on how to set up the in-game timer on LiveSplit: https://pastebin.com/6eSmQFvM

This in-game timer is the same as the usual RTA timing (with a standard timer, which was used all the time as standard until today) and can be used the same way but excludes lag from the timing, therefore runners experiencing many lag during runs will have their disadvantage being compensated while runners experiencing no lag will not have any unfair advantage with this timer. A run can only be accepted with this in-game timing (IGT) if the timer is shown in the video. The normal RTA timer must be included in the video too. A run may still be submitted with the usual RTA timing. [Rule introduced on the 27th August 2017].

§1.6.2 - In-Game Timer Misfunction:

  • If the In-Game Timer by aglab2 is used and stops working correctly during a run it is allowed to substract the difference between IGT and RTA from the last point of the run where the IGT was still working correctly from the final RTA time. [Rule introduced on the 1st January 2018].

§1.7 - Built-In-IGT Speedruns (Individual Levels):

  • When doing "built-in-IGT" speedruns (where there are in-game times integrated into the game itself and available without cheat code usage, e.g. koopa races and slide times in the original Super Mario 64), it is forbidden to use an in-game time cheat code which makes the timing for these start before they would initially start.

It is allowed to use this cheat code to make the built-in-in-game timer display centiseconds without affecting the timing itself: https://pastebin.com/Fki75Dhb [Rule introduced on the 27th August 2017].

§1.8 - Koopa Race Speedruns (Individual Levels):

  • For built-in-IGT speedruns, respectively Koopa race IGT speedruns, it is forbidden to delay the textboxes the race timing is started with, which means the race has to be started in the intentional textbox trigger radius the Koopa has. Furthermore, the video needs to contain all parts from entering the area until the Koopa race timing ends. Save states can still be set and loaded before the timer starts running. A save state from which the Koopa race is started and finished has to be set in the same video recording. [Rule introduced on the 27th August 2017].

§2 - Gameplay Rules:

§2.1 - Pre-set HOLP:

  • Using a HOLP placement which has been set outside of a single star run or a stage RTA is allowed. Explanation of HOLPs: https://pastebin.com/i2ngTJWG [Rule introduced on the 10th January 2018].

§3 - Modifications And Cheat Ruling:

§3.1 - Save State Usage:

  • Using save states is forbidden (the usage of a save state is defined by loading it, setting a save state does not necessarily lead to an invalidity of the run). [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§3.2.1 - Modificated ROMs:

  • By default, only official versions released by the creator himself are valid versions for speedrunning. Any modifications that are permanent in the ROM such as the popular "Parallel camera" are forbidden (even an official version CAN be forbidden under special circumstances). [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§3.2.2 - Modificated ROMs of "kaizo" ROM Hacks:

  • Modified versions of ROM hacks were always allowed if they were released by the creator officially. However, if the hack is a kaizo hack (a list of all ROM hacks defined kaizo can be found below) then this version will only be allowed if it was allowed from before the 27th June 2017 already or if the release of the new version is within 3 months after the completition of the first speedrun of the hack. [Rule introduced on the 27th June 2017].

§3.3 - Gameshark Cheat Codes:

  • Gameshark (respectively other forms of) cheat codes are also forbidden the same way as ROM modifications are. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§3.4 - Speed-Ups:

  • Intentionally speeding up the game (to more than 30/60 FPS) is forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§3.5 - Slow-Downs:

  • Intentionally slowing down the game (to less than 30/60 FPS) is forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§3.6 - Freezing The Emulator:

  • Freezing the game or emulator is allowed since there are no advantages by doing so. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§3.7.1 - Additional Rule (Individual Levels):

  • Stage RTAs and single star speedruns may be started with cannons opened, caps unlocked, badges unlocked (Star Revenge series), stars already collected and any star mission selected. They may also be started from any entrance the stage has. [Rule introduced on the 13th May 2017].

§3.7.2 - Level Entrance Rule (Individual Levels):

  • A "level entrance" is considered the change of the current level you are in, any of these are allowed, such as the regular level entrance, secondary level entrances, dying or getting a star in a different course or overworld to get warped into the other course the single star run is done in. It is not allowed to start a single star speedrun from a warp within the level, an area change within the level, dying or collecting a star within a level without getting warped out or dying at a bowser/boss fight to do a star in the main bowser/boss stage. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§3.8 - Level Reset Code Rule (Individual Levels):

  • Using the level reset cheat code is allowed but only as long as everything in and about the level is resetted to an initial and default state. Nonetheless, it is recommended to use this level select + star select code for single star speedruns, instructions on how to use it are included: https://pastebin.com/r2NujX1d [Rule introduced on the 27th August 2017].

§3.9 - Macros + Rapidfire:

  • Using the "rapidfire" function of any input device which lets holding a button be recognized as continous button presses is forbidden. Using "macros" to re-map buttons, e.g. a keyboard button onto a controller, is allowed. [Rule introduced on the 27th August 2017].

§4 - Splicing/TASing/Stealing - Ruling:

§4.1 - Splicing:

  • A run has to be single-segmented, breaks are allowed; cutting parts out of the timing or adding/replacing parts that were done before or after the actual run with parts of the actual run, in other words "splicing", is forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§4.2.1 - Recorded "Movies":

  • Using the movie/recording function of an emulator (e.g. Mupen) as only proof, which includes the playback of TASes (= Tool-Assisted Speedruns) for the run is forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§4.2.2 - TASes:

  • Submitting TASes (= Tool-Assisted Speedruns) is forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§4.3 - Stolen Runs Ruling:

  • Stealing other people's runs and claiming them as their own is forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017].

§4.4.1 - Cheating In Non-ROM Hacks Affecting Run Verifications:

  • If someone cheats in non-ROM hacks then it can happen that this person will have their ROM hack runs and newly submitted runs being rejected. It does not necessarily need to happen and is managed subjectively. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§4.4.2 - Cheating In "ROM Hack Casual Playthroughs" Affecting Run Verifications:

  • Casual playthroughs of ROM hacks are quite popular. It also includes getting very hard stars in hard ROM hacks ("kaizo ROM hacks") savestateless. Here, the same applies as in §3.4.1, if someone cheats on getting a hard star savestateless and claims it being gotten legitally then it can happen that this person will have their ROM hack rns and new submitted runs being rejected.bAlthough it does not necessarily need to happen and is managed subjectively. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§5 - Timing Pause Rule:

§5.1 - Timing Pause Rule:

  • Pausing the run's timing is forbidden and only allowed in special cases (e.g. sicknesses that require breaks to be taken in specific timespans). This does not mean that only because the timer was paused on accident, the run would be invalid, it can still be retimed and maintain the validity. [Rule introduced on the 13th May 2017].

§6 - Categories:

§6.1 - Intended Any% Rule:

  • It is forbidden to use a glitch/skip to get to the part of the hack (without having the intentionally required amount of stars) from where it is possible to finish the hack without the usage of any glitch in an "Intended Any% Category", an "Intended Any% Category" is an any% category, where it is possible to theoretically beat the game without the usage of any (major) glitch/skip.

For simplicity, this is the rule expressed in a more understandable manner: Basically, it is forbidden to skip the star door (or similarity that takes you to the end. But if there is something following this star door, i.e. a star that takes you even closer to the end after it was collected which you could also skip, then skipping that star is forbidden as well as skipping the star door before. An example is this: A star door requires 80 stars, the star after that adds 1 star to the star count. "Intended Any%" in that hack is "81 Star". Skipping the star door but not the star would allow you to finish the game with 1 star, skipping the star but not the star door you would allow you to finish the game with 80 stars, both ways would not let you have 81 stars so it is forbidden. It is also forbidden to skip the star door even if you have the required 80 stars and it would not be allowed to leave out the required star but then get another star after to still have 81 stars. Anything not directly related to finishing the game is allowed, including the usage of BLJs and skipping doors as long as it is not a "final" star door like the just mentioned one. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§6.2 - Intended Any% Rule Introduction Criteria:

  • The above mentioned "Intended Any% Rule" is a rule applying to the most intended Any% ROM hack categories on speedrun.com except for a few ROM hacks where it actually not applies to, those are Super Mario Star Road, SM64: The Green Stars and Super Mario 74 until now. First of all, every new hack getting on speedrun.com/having an Intended Any% category that is being speedran will automatically use the Intended Any% Rule. Now the old intended Any% rule including BLJs and sequence breaks being entirely banned can be replaced in an agreement of the leading runners which will be explained below, in detail and for each of these 3 ROM hacks individually. People defined as "leading runners" are the people having the best times in a category but sometimes also former world record holder with times that are partially not considered as "good times" with today's standards anymore.

In general, every top runner will have a percentage of how much his vote to let the new Intended Any% Rule be applied count. A ROM hack will need 75% out of 100% to let the old rule be replaced. A runner will lose his voting right if the series mods determine an inactivity span including the entire past 6 months. This kinds of inactivity is defined as a "global" inactivity, which means that there was absolutely no activatiy of the user seen (whether it is on Discord, Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, speedrun.com or anywhere else). The voting right is given back once the user shows activity again. Note: Just to be clarified, Twitch hosts do not count as a sign of activity because the auto-host function that there is does not require any user activity.

If a runner decides to not pick any of the 2 options whether or not to change the rule and abstains from the "voting", this runner's percentage will be set to 0% while all other runners get parts of the runner's percentage, proportionally. If the runner changes his mind and does pick an option the percentage will be given back. That a runner does not want to pick an option needs to be explicitely said. Neither guessing what the runner would pick nor seeing a missing respond as equivalent to an abstention counts, the runner would maintain their 5% voting right and it would count as "unused".

For Super Mario Star Road, these are the leading runners and how much their votings count: SimpleFlips (20%), Pobo3 (15%), SpaceMan64 (10%), Tomatobird8 (10%), DaTimeLoss (5%), Foulco (5%), Puncayshun (5%), moose2435 (5%), zeldafan3478 (5%), Rambi_Rampage (5%), TriforceTK (5%), DerpFad (5%), IceAris697 (5%).

For SM64: The Green Stars, these are the leading runners and how much their votings count: SigotuSM64 (25%), DaTimeLoss (20%), SimpleFlips (15%), katze789 (8%), OcarinaOfTimeFan05 (8%), SpaceMan64 (8%), m0m0hd (8%), TheEpicFlame (4%), JazzyChoi1991 (4%).

For Super Mario 74 (Fixed Warps), these are the leading runners and how much their votings count: SigotuSM64 (25%), CaptainBowser (18%), DaTimeLoss (15%), SpaceMan64 (12%), TriforceTK (10%), FramePerfection (5%), katze789 (5%), zeldafan3478 (3%), JazzyChoi1991 (3%), GalladeGalaxy (2%), WatermelonSquach (2%).

For Super Mario 74 (No Fixed Warps), these are the leading runners and how much their votings count: SigotuSM64 (25%), DaTimeLoss (20%), zeldafan3478 (16%), Chaddems (15%), MitchFlowerPower (8%), katze789 (8%), InfiniteVoid316 (8%). [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017]. [Last updated on the 1st September 2017].

§6.3.1 - Category End Ruling - Any% Categories (Full-Game).

  • Usually, an Any% category must end with finishing the hack through the for the category counting, officially accepted ending the hack has to it, in the most cases this is a bowser fight with a big star, sometimes followed by the end picture and maybe credits before. However, if there is no official ending in the hack then this hack will not have any Any% categories. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§6.3.2 - Category End Ruling - 100% Categories (Full-Game):

  • Usually, a 100% category must end with finishing the hack through any officially accepted ending the hack has to it, in the most cases this is a bowser fight with a big star, sometimes followed by the end picture and maybe credits before. However, if there is no official ending in the hack, the run ends on the fadeout after the last out of all stars in the hack is collected. If there is no direct fadeout following, the run ends on star grab. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§6.4.1 - Full-Game Run vs. Single Star Run Ruling For 1-Star ROM Hacks:

  • If a ROM Hack only has 1 star to be collected as a 100% category and does not have any officially accepted ending, then doing a speedrun of this star is considered a full-game run and needs to be done following the usual rules applying for a 100% full-game speedrun. By default, this ROM hack will not have any IL categories to it then, exceptions can be made. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§6.4.2 - Full-Game Run vs. Stage RTA Run Ruling For 1-Course ROM Hacks:

  • If a ROM Hack only has 1 course with stars to it while there is no officially accepted ending, then doing a speedrun of this course is considered a full-game run and needs to be done following the usual rules applying for a 100% full-game speedrun. By default, this ROM hack will not get any "stage RTA runs" for it accepted then, exceptions can be made. [Rule introduced on the 16th August 2017].

§7 - Emulators:

§7.1 - Allowed Emulators:

  • Emulators used with loading time advantages over "standard emulators" (a/the standard emulator is Project64 1.6) are forbidden. [Rule introduced on the 15th May 2017].

§7.2 - Allowed Emulators - Exceptions:

  • A loading time adavantage is considered as "small enough to be tolerated" if the timesave altogether is under 5 seconds after 100 loading zones (must be confirmable by a moderator).[Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§7.3 - Counter Factors:

  • The only counter-factors allowed to be used for the Project64 emulator are "1" and "2". The initial counter-factor is "2" when it has not been changed at any time. [Rule introduced on the 13th August 2017].

§8 - Rule Applyment Clarification:

§8.1 - Rule Applyment Clarification:

  • It is said that these rules only apply in this way if the run was done after these rules were introduced, this does not mean the date a run was claimed to be done but the date there was a first proof of this run existing. [Rule introduced on the 31st May 2017].

§9 - ROM Hack Adding Requirements:

§9.1 - General ROM Hack Adding Requirements:

  • The general requirements for a ROM hack to get accepted for speedrun.com are that there need to be at least 2 runners. The category/hack should be somewhat optimized, not skillwise but considering how hard the runner(s) tried which does not need to be very hard (there basically needs to be at least a smaller amount of effort put into running a hack). The requested hack should have a significant differenciation from the original and possibly also other hacks, speedrunning it should come up with an own, new experience. [Rule introduced on the 27th June 2017].

§9.2 - ROM Hack Adding Requirements - Differentiation (Kaizo ROM Hacks):

  • The above mentioned "ROM Hack Adding Requirements" will be differenciazed considering 3 aspects with this rule, the first aspect are the requirements for kaizo ROM hack speedruns. A ROM hack, respectively a category of it, will be defined as either a "kaizo ROM hack" or a "Non-Kaizo ROM Hack" by the ROM hack series mods, if the mods decide that it is considered as a non-kaizo ROM hack, the usual and above mentioned criteria need to be met for the ROM hack to be added to speedrun.com, if it is decided to be considered a kaizo ROM hack other criteria need to be met which are these: The hack need to have at least 1 runner and 1 finished run. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§9.3 - ROM Hack Adding Requirements - Differentiation (Non-Kaizo Individual Level Run Sufficiency):

  • Besides full-game runs, a ROM hack can also be added only by having a certain amount of individual level runs/runners (a.k.a. single star runs/runners), respectively a combination of the amounts of full-game and single star runs/runners. Here there is a overview of how some aspects work together to etablish the adding requirements: First of all, there is a categorization of full-game and individual level runs into 3 groups. Group 1 consists of "High-Effort Runs", which means the runner clearly put quite some effort into running and optimizing a category. Group 2 consists of "Low-Effort Runs", which means the runner seemingly did not spend much time on a category at all but has some fair awareness of what to do while he tries to get the category to an acceptable level of optimazation. Group 3 consists of "No-Effort Runs", which means the runner is basically not even doing a real speedrun, i.e. clear missing awareness of what to do at parts or a missing presence of the will to actually go fast/trying the best to go as fast as possible. Knowing the run categorizations and weighting-differenciations between full-game runs and individual level runs the actual least adding requirements are now being shown (Non-Kaizo Speedruns), (Note: A run in this understanding means a personal best, obsoleted runs are irrelevant here. Additionally, a group-3 run can also be seen as a group-2 run or a group-1 run, a group-2 run can also be seen as a group-1 run):

  • 2 group-3 full-game runs; 2 runners

  • 3 group-3 full-game runs; 1 runner

  • 2 group-2 full-game runs; 2 runners

  • 1 group-3 full-game run; 2 group-3 IL runs; 2 runners

  • 2 group-3 full-game runs; 4 group-3 IL runs; 1 runner

  • 1 group-3 full-game run; 8 group-3 IL runs; 1 runner

  • 1 group-2 full-game run; 8 group-3 IL runs; 2 runners

  • 1 group-3 full-game run; 8 group-2 IL runs; 2 runners

  • 1 group-2 full-game run; 12 group-2 IL runs; 3 runners

  • 8 group-3 IL runs; 4 runners

  • 12 group-2 IL runs; 4 runners [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§9.4 - ROM Hack Adding Requirements - Differentiation (Kaizo Individual Level Run Sufficiency):

  • Besides full-game runs, a ROM hack can also be added only by having a certain amount of individual level runs/runners (a.k.a. single star runs/runners), respectively a combination of the amounts of full-game and single star runs/runners. Here there is an overview of how some aspects work together to etablish the adding requirements: Other than for non-kaizo speedruns, kaizo speedruns only have 2 groups for run categorization, these are those 2: Group 2 consists of "High-Effort Runs" which are pretty optimized runs. Group 1 are basically only "finished runs". This counts for full-game kaizo runs. Individual level runs are using the same categorizations as for non-kaizo speedruns. But here the difficulty also plays a major role, if the speedran star/stage is considered as "very hard" or considered "hard" but the speedrun is executed well, the run will be a group 5 IL run, if the speedran star/stage is considered "hard" or considered "medium" but the speedrun is executed well, the run will be a group 4 IL run, if the speedran star/stage is considered "medium" or considered "easy" but the speedrun is executed very well, the run will be a group 3 IL run, if the speedran star/stage is considered "easy" but the speedrun is decentl executed, the run will be a group 2 IL run, if the speedran star/stage is considered "easy" and badly executed, the run will be a group 1 IL run. Here there is an overview of how some aspects work together to etablish the adding requirements:

  • 1 group-1 full-game run; 1 runner

  • 3 group-5 IL runs; 1 runner

  • 2 group-5 IL runs; 2 runners

  • 8 group-4 IL runs; 1 runner

  • 5 group-4 IL runs; 2 runners

  • 3 group-4 IL runs; 3 runners

  • 8 group-3 IL runs; 3 runners

  • 12 group-2 IL runs; 4 runners

  • 8 group-2 IL runs; 6 runners [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

§9.5 - ROM Hack Adding Requirements - Differentiation (Full-Game Category Requirements):

  • Every ROM hack will in the very most cases only have leaderboards for a category belonging to one of these 5 category types, the previously presented adding requirements will only be met if the full-game run there is, is done of one of these categories, else the run will not count unless the amount of runners is big enough to validate the idea of having a leaderboard for such a category but the required number would be needing to be quite high. These 5 category types are valid:

  • Any% Category (Star-wise): Any% means beating the hack as fast possible with the least amount of stars for it, no restrictions (except these general rules).

  • Any% Category (Time-wise): This type of category is rare, there the hack is completed with a higher star count than the star-wise Any% but the category itself is faster than the star-wise Any% in the actual (that it is actually faster must be verified by a series mod). Collecting a star/stars is a timesave over skipping that star(s).

  • Easier Any% Category: These categories exist because some skips in ROM hacks are barely humanly possible and it's executions can be stressful and annoying, whereas following/later skips are (way) easy/easier to perform and therefore "finishing the game as fast as possible" becomes way easier and more enjoyable to do. The hack is still finished with less stars than intended (A category really being easier and more enjoyable (enough to deserve being an own category) must be confirmed by a series mod).

  • Intended Any% Category: The Intended Any% Rule is explained above, in this type of category you finish the hack as fast as possible with the amount of stars you are intended to have to finish the game but not less.

  • 100% Category: In this category you collect every star a hack has and then finish the game.

  • Glitched 100% Category: This type of category is very rare. Some hacks have stars that are not intended to be collectable, yet they are possible by executing glitches that can sometimes be very complex and difficult. If a hack has a star that needs a glitch to be collected which is not meant to be intended part of a kaizo ROM hack and which is so hard to collect that it can not be demanded by the player to be collected in the usual 100% Category then this star will result forming an own category, seperate from the usual 100% Category where you need to collect really all stars in the game, including the glitched star. [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017].

Obsoloted Rules:

§O.-1.1 - Former Timing Start Rule (Full-Game): [Rule introduced on the 1st May 2017]. [Rule replaced on the 31st May 2017].

  • By default, timing on full game categories start on reset, in some categories timing might start where anything visible is onscreen, however that will be found in a category's rule section then.

§O.-2.8 - Former Level Reset Code Rule (Individual Levels): [Rule introduced on the 31st July 2017]. [Rule replaced on the 27th August 2017].

  • Using the level reset cheat code is allowed for individual level runs. However, the level reset code can be used to prevent the water level (the height of the water) from updating to the initial state. Therefore starting an IL run off from a water level which cannot be started off from if no cheat codes are used is forbidden.

Allowed modifications:

  • Hiding or modifying HUD (can not add more info than in the original)
  • Different video resolutions for emulation is allowed. (16:9 instead of 4:3 for example).
  • The 2-digit timer code (only for stage RTAs and single stars) (Example: https://pastebin.com/y0LcLg87 )

Speedran Kaizo Hacks:

  • Kaizo Mario 64

  • Mario's Nightmare 64

  • TsucnenT's Treasures 2

  • SM64 Bob-Omb Richard's Mastertest

  • Super Mario 74 Extreme Edition

  • Star Revenge 2: Night Of Doom

  • Twisted Adventures: Intense Challenge

  • Super Mario Treasure World

  • Super Mario 64 Extra [only 31 Star]

  • TsucnenT's Boss Battle TesT [only 9 Star]

  • Super Mario 65: The Rainbow Stars

Violating one of the rules considering splicing, claiming a TAS to be a non-TAS run or stealing another runner's run can potentially lead to a lifelong suspension from speedrunning (in example, the EilaMario incident).

Remember to check if there exists more rules for the category you want to run or are submitting a run to.

If there are any more rules you are unsure about and you want to have discussed then request this rule in this forum and it will be added to this list as either forbidden or valid.

Edited by the author 6 years ago
supergamer3000, Riley_Tech and 20 others like this