Hello everyone.
At some point this weekend I am planning on having a discussion with fellow moderators regarding the current timing method and modifications that are allowed to be used on SADX PC version.
Thanks to JellyFishSwimmer we have a timer script for livesplit that calculates RTA as if SADX was always running at 60FPS regardless of any PC or OS differences. I am going to be discussing the implications of using this balanced RTA as the official timing method and what would need to happen to the leaderboard should we go ahead with it. (I personally do not believe it is possible to retime any existing runs however I don't want to dismiss them outright either)
As for modifications, there has been some discussion recently regarding Camera Code Error Fix and if it should remain or should go as well as the 63 FPS mod which would hopefully become redundant should we move to Balanced RTA timing. There is also the fog emulation setting which could be discussed at this point as well.
I would like to hear as many opinions as possible on both topics so we can make an informed decision.
Completely remove all modifications that aren't 100% required. This includes Camera Code Error Fix and the 63fps mod, which as you said, will become redundant anyway.
CCEF is, despite what anyone says, absolutely an unnecessary game modification that has no reason to be allowed other than "people already use it". As I proposed in the Discord server, the move to this newer, balanced RTA system should include a full ban for ANY game modification, because it would make it much easier to deal with.
I've also repeatedly heard that people want to keep CCEF because "other game versions have it", which I think is not a reason to keep it at all because there's this mythical thing called 'version differences'. This means people will have to choose which version of the game they want to run depending on which features or differences they would like to use.
Last of all, I think you forgot to mention anything about BetterSADX, which is also an unofficial version of the game created through the combination of two different versions. There are known issues with BetterSADX that not only differs from any official version of the game, but also causes gameplay to differ whether good or bad.
tl;dr: ban all unneeded game modifications including CCEF and BetterSADX with the transition to balanced RTA.
If you want to ban CCEF, ban every run using it, that also include the runs having the WR ^^ The ones on the Top 10 mostly use CCEF, if you don't wipe that, no one will ever be able to beat them.
Either ban CCEF then wipe all the runs using them, or you don't ban it.
grandfathering runs is the worst thing to do, so if we ban CCEF (which I agree with) all runs using CCEF should be void
I've explained another method of keeping the runs with CCEF on the board in the Discord server too. Either method is fine to me.
if CCEF is banned but runs with CCEF remain on the board, that's grandfathering and it's awful
It sounds like either you haven't seen my proposed method or you don't understand it. The runs would still be void, except they would remain on the board until that person beats their own time, or until enough time has passed where the runs would then be removed anyway. Separated by a variable on the boards, of course.
That's the problem, they are remaining on the board when they shouldn't.
No CCEF, no runs should be remaining on the board even if you show if it uses the new rules.
ah, I remember, I thought your method was just for the IGT. your method definitely could work, but if we're going to do that we might as well just void them off of the board
Thanks for the strawpoll, I think it will help to know what the community wants ^^
As you all know i am a very new runner, ive only been playing for 8 months, and ive been using CCEF for the whole time so for runners that have been using it always, yes it will be weird but we can manage.
However having to change the camera EVERY time we want free will waste time, and the point of speedrunning is to beat the game as fast as possible. And taking away ccef will make the game slower all be it not by much, but we would be breaking the golden rule of speedrunning, going fast.
But thats just my Xinput, feel free to consider it or not, i just wanted to say a few thangs :)
I understand where you're coming from, but in the speedrunning sense, the most optimal way to play is to not switch the camera in the first place. The most popular places to use free cam, you could just use auto cam whilst holding both camera triggers.
There is NO reason to keep CCEF.
In my opinion CCEF should be banned and honeslty it surprises me it hadn't been banned before. Mods should never be allowed in speedruns (unless you're speedrunning a mod). And is only kept around because people are used to it. Btw Moustache is right, you really don't need it.
If it's not a native part of this version of the game and is not absolutely necessary to run the game (Xinput fix) then it should not be used. If the RTA timer is implemented, other versions of the game will be on equal ground and you can then choose to run a version which does natively have CCEF if that's what you want.
Thank you for the strawpoll and the discussion in the thread. I have created the following form to gather responses in one area. If everyone who wants to could fill it out that would be great but please continue discussing things here. Everything mentioned will be taken into consideration.
Hexaforce - It's a mod that has been brought up in discussion. I do not want to remove the ability to run SADX with your preferred controller however it is a mod so it was added to the form to get opinions.
ModifiedMonkee - From the SADX rules.
"No cheats of any kind, unofficial versions, or texture hacks are allowed for these runs. However, the following mods are approved for runs: (XInput fix and CCEF)."
Better SADX comes under an unofficial version and is not included in the approved mods list. It will most likely stay that way.
You may have noticed some very old runs being rejected. This is because we have decided to archive the leaderboards done prior to IGT becoming the main timing method. Prior to archiving, most of the runs prior to April 22, 2018 were at the bottom of the leaderboards due to only having RTA timing, wh
