New category idea: Is it okay to start Very Hard mode with a Save State?
1 year ago
Missouri, USA

Was wondering instead of going through hard mode in order to play very hard mode, i can just make a save state starting before the weapon select screen (during the Konami all rights reserved screen) for stage 1, after hard modes completion of course, in order to do very hard only for speedrunning? And since 3 ship lives is what you normally start with for easy/normal/hard, the save state must also start with 3 ship lives.

So the category would be called: Very Hard (3 Lives Start). With a save state that starts during the "Konami all rights reserved" screen... The timer must start as soon as the "Konami all rights reserved" screen turns to black, before the weapon select screen appears.

Would this unique category be okay for implementation? I think it'd be a real fun/challenging speedrun to add. :)

Missouri, USA

I just get tired of doing hard mode over and over, just so i can play very hard mode. lol Would rather make a unique category which fixes that specific issue. And starting with 3 lives only makes it a bit more challenging as well. It'd be a fair thing to do, since you're essentially skipping hard mode.

Edited by the author 1 year ago
Missouri, USA

Any changes to the idea are still welcome. :D

Jönköping, Sweden

I have no issue adding a category for Hardest aka "Monkey" difficulty. I would allow a save state, I'm not a fan of how Super Mario Land did it in forcing normal+hard as one consecutive run just to get a chance to run the game on hard.

Loading a state from Konami all rights reserved screen is fine and ya default rules is still in play. Just follow the rules and link a run here when you have something to show and I'll make the actual category.

The real concern I have as a moderator for verifying is whether HOW to tell that a run submission is on hardest difficulty or not, as I don't believe there is a tell for whether you did beat hard or not as you load from a state. So that is something I want resolved so I can easily tell that it was in fact played on hardest.

GL

Edited by the author 1 year ago
AbsoLootAaron likes this
Missouri, USA

The best way to tell that it's on hardest difficulty at the very beginning of the game: You know those enemies that circle around you at the beginning of stage 1? Well, on hardest difficulty there will be a total of 6 circles of enemies that'll appear. 2 rows of circling enemies back to back, eventually totaling 6 circles altogether.

On hard difficulty, only 4 circles of enemies will appear. And only 1 circle at a time, not 2 back to back in quick succession. :)

Edited by the author 1 year ago
Jönköping, Sweden

interesting, I will keep this in mind. Appreciate the visual reference!

AbsoLootAaron likes this
Missouri, USA

Here's a link showcasing what i meant about the circling enemies on hardest difficulty, at the very beginning of stage 1. 6 circles of enemies, also in VERY quick succession compared to any other difficulty.

It's definitely nutty. lmao

The pattern is 2 quick circles, 1 circle, then 3 quick circles.

Edited by the author 1 year ago
xenkaroshi likes this
Game stats
Followers
18
Runs
17
Players
10
Moderators