Can/does this count? (FF7 OG PS1 Speedrun)
3 years ago
United Kingdom

--NOTE-- Yes, this should be in the FF7 forum I know, but if I try and post this there the page refreshes and my account miraculously disappears along with my thread! So please forgive posting in the general forum!

I've just completed my 3rd speedrun of FF7 using the clunky ol' PS1 with an aim of sub-10 hours. Did a run a long time ago without a guide on the PS1 at ~15 hours and an Android attempt a year ago (10h57m). Phone controls were horrid so I knew I could do it faster... just didn't think about the 25-year old PS1's performance in comparison!

Nevertheless, I did it, just - 9h 59m 3s. I followed the Steam speedrun guide by Koolkit (modified from GarlandTheGreat's guide). No slots, any% and NMG. It does encourage soft-resetting for encounter avoidance (e.g. world map) though - not sure what the exact rule is on this.

Problem being, I didn't think about submitting it here as a full run. I did record the end from the final save in Northern Cave to the final strike of the end boss, alongside a timer and uploaded to Youtube. BUT - without the whole thing, I'm not sure if it can be submitted. It shows the final time check so you can work out the final time, but I can't prove NMG (but come on, NMG would get me a much faster time no? Better than 37th on the leaderboard anyway! It's a genuine run!).

Would be great to be able to submit it, especially as it'd be the only PS1 run on there (of course the PS2 will be faster and one day I might repeat it - more so if this run can't be submitted!).

Fingers crossed this thread goes up - not having very good luck and again apologies to mods this isn't in the FF7 forum (I've tried, twice!).

Edited by the author 3 years ago
United Kingdom

Yeah, I appreciate that's probably how it'd be viewed, but still worth asking as it's clear to see the final time check and to my knowledge this can't be manipulated on the ol' PS1; and given the levels and tactics used it is quite obvious a legit speedrun (and the point I made regarding the actual time - surely an illegal run would be way higher than a measly 37th place!) - but the old addage of "video or it didn't happen" is a fair one. Nevertheless, I have to ask - just hoping one of the FF7 admins can see this (I can't message them directly) as I can't use the forum there for some reason.

The soft-reset thing might be more of an issue but again I don't know, I followed a speedrun guide that said it was legit (before checking this website)!

United Kingdom

Not gonna lie I don't even know what a segmented run or livesplit are haha! But like I said, I'm pretty much expected to get shot down here - it's a genuine run but I know without the whole thing recorded I'm pretty up against it in a speedrunners community.

Like I said, as far as I know there's no way to manipulate the game timer on the PS1 FF7, so the footage I have showing the save file and final time check (combined with the levels and strategies you would only have/do on a speedrun) add a little credibility I hope, but rules are rules I know.

I'll try reach out to the mods beyond here as you suggest and see what they say :)

Argentina

[quote=Lupi_lui]Not gonna lie I don't even know what a segmented run or livesplit are haha![/quote]

Livesplit is just the software timer the majority of speedrunners use to time their own runs. If you're using the in-game time, you can disregard this I guess.

Segmented runs are runs that are done in separate chunks or segments instead of being done in one sitting, and typically people re-run each segment separately until they get a time they're satisfied with. This is a perfectly legitimate way to speedrun a game, but it also can't really be compared side by side with runs done in one go for obvious reasons.

[quote=Lupi_lui]Like I said, as far as I know there's no way to manipulate the game timer on the PS1 FF7, so the footage I have showing the save file and final time check (combined with the levels and strategies you would only have/do on a speedrun) add a little credibility I hope, but rules are rules I know.[/quote]

The thing is you could easily save/load before the start of the video until you get a perfect run for that last part of the game and the mods would be none the wiser. I agree that it'd be pretty silly to do this only to get a 35th place on a leaderboard, but if a rule is set in place to manage top times, it only makes sense to apply the same standard for all the rest of runs too.

It's unfortunate that this is the case, but I'm afraid you'll probably have to do another run, fully recording from start to finish. Hopefully this time is even better! Good luck :)

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Pear likes this
United Kingdom

Thanks for the info!

Yes, in which case it's a segmented run and there's no way in hell any of the top times for the FF7 speedrun aren't done in segments - the whole speedrun strategies involved require an immense amount of luck and re-attempts between saves to get right - so I'm pretty sure this is legit. Of course, in certain games this wouldn't apply (I'm currently playing Quake 1 for nostalgia - this is the kind of game you speedrun in one go, FF7 is a bit more complex and luck based!).

I've contacted 2 mods on discord (the only way I can get their attention to here), so let's see, but I'm prepared for the outright "no chance", even if it is legit... that video is key I know.

As for another run... well it'll be inevitable on a PS2... still not sure how to record it given the required amount of restarts to speedrun the game!

Belgium

Hello, not sure why u can't post on the FF7 leaderboard forum, that seems weird. Without a video proof the run can't be verified, sorry. Also all the runs on the leaderboard are done in a single segment.

Pear likes this