Unwritten rules?
6 years ago
Romania

My run got rejected for changing difficulty from 3 to 1 because I forgot to. The problem is that I wouldn't have done that if it was written in the rules that I can't.. ¤ Timing starts as soon as the map 'c1a0' is loaded and ends on the final hit dealt to Nihilanth (first frame that the blue lightning appears) ¤ fps_max must never exceed 100 (99.5 if playing on SteamPipe). ¤ Using inputs/saves from a previous playthrough is banned ¤ Demo submission is required to verify all runs. Even if you decide to record/stream the run you will still need to submit all demos from when the timer starts to when the timer stops. Demo recording guide: http://www.speedrun.com/hl1/guide/m3lo4 ¤ Runs must follow the command whitelist that can be found here: https://goo.gl/t8b3hh ¤ Runs must be done using the latest version of Bunnymod XT ¤ _bxt_save_runtime_data_in_demos must be 1

Runs done in this category must not use the 'wait' command or any scripts, aliases, macros, turbo buttons, hyper-scrolling and so on..

Romania

Still waiting for a moderator's response since skill is white listed in the row 870 with nothing specified. Even if they change it now the run should be accepted since the rule was changed now.

Lithuania

The reason why skill change isn't allowed is because you technically cannot change your game difficulty without the use of console.

You choose the difficulty before starting the game and it remains the same throughout the entire playthrough.

The reason why it's green in the whitelist is to avoid any confusion such as "why is it banned if I have to set it before starting the game?", but perhaps it should be changed or explained somewhere, since you have to set the skill setting outside the run anyway.

Romania

I understand, but how could we know if we're not allowed to use it when it's white listed? My run was rejected for a reason that's not written anywhere, I even have a friend that did the same thing and got accepted, rules are the same, different moderator, different outcome.

Lithuania

Apologies for that, we're going to fix this. There are many rules like that which are unwritten, it's hard to cover everything in just a few bullet points like we have now. For example, nothing is said about using sv_cheats 1 and other cheat commands, but it's simply not allowed out of common sense (even though it's banned in the whitelist now, this wasn't the case some time ago).

To stay on the safe side, it's better to not use something that you're not sure if it's allowed or not, or ask beforehand. In this case it's more or less our mistake too.

Lithuania

Coming back to your previous post, we're not going to verify your run just because this rule was not listed earlier. It's simply unfair to other runners, everyone else did not change the difficulty during their runs, so yours would be with a clear advantage over others. We have also unverified the other run you were talking about so that everyone is on the same page here.

You're still welcome to submit another time which follows the rules.

Sorry for the inconveniences.

Edited by the author 6 years ago
Romania

It didin't affect me at all so you don't have to tell me sorry. I made this post just to prove the point that having the skill command white listed without detail could mean anything. Thanks for explaining and resolving the cause of my problem anyway, keep this community alive.

execut4ble likes this
Russia

dont read; some detailed explaination about mentioned problems

speaking of the the reasons why mid-run changing difficulty is banned: currently the argument "it cannot be done w/o console" doesnt mean anything in the borders of the paradigm which is established in console-exclusive commands region of rules. it is way more complicated: skill is a console-exclusive cvar (not when you start the game, but while you are playing the game) just like all others (means that it's status must be decided by the majority), but there is also "Difficulty" column (where you submit the run) where there are only 3 game difficulties: "Easy", "Medium", "Hard". in the paradigm, there must be no exceptions, so we cant call skill a "special" command. therefore, while the current paradigm is in use, the argument doesn't make sense.

about "sv_cheats 1" problem exec said about eariler. currently it is not "generally banned by common sense", because the Whitelist -- the current solution to console-exclsuive commands problem (and sv_cheats 1 is a console-exclusive cvar like all others). and in the Whitelist sv_cheats is red, i.e. banned. Theoretically, it is banned because the majority of runners agree that it must be banned. Practically, this cvar was instantly banned without revealing the majority's opinion ("coz yeah, common sense, should be banned, everybody agrees"). So, sv_cheats 1 is absolutely not "special" by any means and making a bullet point about it in the rules is ridiculous (then we need to make a bullet point for all 600+ commands)

Edited by the author 6 years ago