[ALL RUNNERS SHOULD READ THIS] Transition to Loadless Timing for PC Runs
2 years ago
Massachusetts, USA

All runners (even non-PC runners, and IL runners) should read this post Hey all, we don't post often on the srcom forums here and I want to change that going forward, for the benefit of anyone who only follows this speedgame on speedrun.com (srcom) and not in our Discord server. If you are not in the Ty running Discord server, the invite link is found in the Discord tab on the game sidebar.

Recently, for PC runs, we've been in the process of transitioning from RTA timing to loadless timing, by introducing a loadless timer which pauses when the game is loading. This was done to help even the playing field for PC runners, as every PC loads at a different speed. Check the Guides section for information on how to set this up, if you are a PC runner and missed the discussions in Discord.

At the time of the most recent update to this (6/8/21), the transition process has been finished for PC runs, as well as all other categories and ILs. This post will remain to describe the changes we took, for the fullest transparency.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR The first step we took was to change the default timing method for Ty 2 to "time without loads", aka loadless. Unfortunately, this can only be done on a game-level, and not a category-level. In other words, even though we only want this to affect PC runs, all runs are affected by this, even if indirectly. The short version is that in order to maintain WR history graph functionality, we are forced to have non-PC runs have a loadless time for all submissions as well as RTA. More details will be below.

To best navigate this transition, a variety of runs have been edited.

  • Console runs (current and obsolete) had their RTA times copied over to the loadless column. This allows WR history to be maintained on the statistics page, as the graph there was ignoring all runs due to them not following the default timing method (loadless). Console runs will still use RTA timing going forward, and this copying is only being done to appease srcom. If a feature is added some day to allow specific categories to use different timing methods, this will be undone. You can either submit new runs with the RTA time as both columns, or the mod verifying the run will do it manually.

  • Current PC runs were manually re-timed to determine their loadless equivalent. This was not strictly required (we could have just copied the RTA times over like for console) but we wanted to make the transition smoother, given PC is the most actively ran version of this game. This avoids existing runs from being at an automatic disadvantage compared to new runs, even if they are years old. If you feel that your run had its loadless time calculated incorrectly, feel free to reach out to us and we can re-evaluate it.

  • Obsolete PC runs had their RTA times copied over to the loadless column similarly to console runs. There were no major objections here or in the Discord server to doing this, and it saved us a large chunk of time to not need to manually re-time every obsolete run as well, though the mod team is happy to do this for any run if requested to do so.

  • IL runs (races) have had their IGT times (in the w/ loads column) copied over to the loadless column, similarly to main game console runs.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE N/A

THE FUTURE This thread will be updated or replied to whenever progress is made on the above notes, or new things are changed related to this transition to loadless PC timing. Be sure to check out the entire game on srcom, as a lot of things have been added, changed, etc. recently to help introduce new runners to the game, and consolidate information and resources.

Edited by the author 2 years ago
Massachusetts, USA

Update: on 6/1/21, all obsoleted PC runs had their RTA times copied over to the loadless column, and the statistics page's WR graph now works as intended.

Massachusetts, USA

Update: on 6/8/21, all IL (race) runs had their IGT times copied over to the loadless column, similarly to console runs and obsoleted PC runs.