If we've checked the box that says it's an emulated run, why on earth would you need to know the name of the emulator and version type?

I played on Nestopia, version whatever you get when you click the link that says download nestopia.

Thanks for going back and verifying in advance!

To answer your question. Concerns about emulator runs have been brought up recently in other communities. Here is one such example:

https://www.speedrun.com/littlemermaidnes/thread/4h5ds

As you can see, the belief is that emulator runs should be held to a higher standard due to how much easier it is to get away with cheating as opposed to console (especially with the knowledge we have today).

By at least giving us the basic information (name of emulator and version) we as mods can at least determine that the runner did/didn't have the tools to potentially create a fake run. Sure I could just verify the run and ignore the rule for your submission, but if someone accuses you of cheating in that run, there is little I or the other mods can do to help your situation without the necessary information. This is another reason why I support the current ruling for emulator runs.

It's an annoying rule for all emulator runners I'm sure and I'm almost positive you won't be the last person to complain about it, but it is the best compromise we can come up with to ensure integrity is maintained to the leaderboard.

I do hear Nestopia is a perfectly legal emulator though so that should suffice. As for the lack of version I'm going to ask some runners who also use Nestopia if they have the same issue you do. For now, your run will remain TBD. I may require another mod's approval on this depending on what I'm told so sit tight.

I guess I need to disagree with the generalization that emulator runs need to be held to a higher standard for this specific game. I do appreciate your openness about the situation though. The "true hardware" vs "emulator" debate is a laughable one as cheaters are going to cheat no matter what they're running on. To hold another class to a "higher standard" is a frivolous attempt at curbing cheating... at best.

Can you point me to where an emulated player has cheated playing Adventures in the Magic Kingdom? If it's happened before then I can understand the cause for concern.

I can not fulfill that request as I have not been around long enough to know of any past cheating on the game itself past 2 years ago. That is a question best left for one of the other mods to answer if they know the answer. Regardless even if there is no such incident on record, I don't think that should be reason enough to consider having the rule removed.

Also being that I wasn't the one who injected the rule I can only assume it was put into place after the case involving McBobX in the NES Little Mermaid community.

Which makes sense being that both Little Mermaid and AitMK were made by Capcom, both feature Disney properties, both are NES games, both leaderboards' primary super mod is the same person (Dugongue), and apparently (according to the new Discord link) both are being tied together as one whole community.

Do rest assured that the verification process is not singling out emu runners. One of the console submissions for instance was played on an HD modded NES for instance. He too had to be confronted with some questions on the submission before I could properly verify. And I also don't verify console runs recorded via a webcam pointing at the TV. So the pendulum swings both ways. Remember you're talking to a console runner here who no longer submits runs for a game unless I can provide both the livestreamed run AND the local recording of the exact same run. Yes...the standards for my own submissions are even higher than yours.

Sure cheaters will always try to cheat and I do understand where you are coming from but a change to the rule will require the community's voice on the matter regardless and that includes Dugongue. You are free to join the discord (right under the guides tab on the left side) and make your case there so that we as a community can talk this over and maybe come to a decision.

Anyways, after some investigating the main site of nestopia ( http://nestopia.sourceforge.net/ ) the conclusion I'm coming to here is you're using version 1.40 (the latest version and a version that hasn't been updated since 2008) or you run your emulator on a MAC or Linux.

Alright someone else who knows you better than I do was able to confirm that you use windows so that should be that. Time to find the run again and verify it for real. I'm closing this thread.