I had an idea and was wondering... would it be possible to get a category added for speed boost only for FF9 HD? I mean allowing just the speed booster and none of the others. Then the game could be run so much faster, but you would still have to use strats from a normal Any% no-booster run. I think it would be helpful for people who are put off by the game's length but also don't want to just Any% w/ all boosters cheese through the game.

Also, sort of quick question since I didn't see it mentioned in the rules for any category; would something like the Moguri Mod be allowed for PC HD runs? As far as I know, it's just a background upscale and music fix mod that allows for 16:9 aspect and doesn't actually bug fix anything or change game logic. My gut says it probably isn't, but I'd love it if it was.

Hey! I'm not a moderator so don't take my reply as law, but generally categories get added when there's active interest in them from multiple people, including finished runs. I think the idea of allowing the speed booster in a new category is a promising one, as I'm always in favor of finding ways to make the game more accessible to more people. But we would have to, as a community, define the rules for how it would work: namely, do we allow the speed booster only during cutscenes, or is it allowed on the field/in battle too?

Of course, having to figure stuff out isn't a reason to NOT add a new category, these are just some things we'd have to address before doing so. My opinion is that if you want to run the game a certain way that isn't covered by the leaderboards, you should do it!

Also, if you'd like to join the FF9 speedrunning discord, please feel free! It's a good place to discuss stuff like this: https://discord.gg/zXQ3hqy3We

Hope to see you around! :)

And when it comes to the mod, no, it's not allowed. Any and all mods are banned by default, no matter how tiny they might be. Some mods may be explicitly allowed in some games or categories for some specific reasons, like stability or overall enjoyability of the run.

As for the speedup booster run, I think it's a great idea. Years ago, when FF8 didn't have a booster category yet, a couple people ran with only the speedup booster (Called it F1 Any% or Hi-Speed Any%), but a category was never made and then later on the Booster% category became much more popular, and a category for that was made. After that, no one has touched the Hi-Speed only run as far as I know, which is a shame, since I think it's a much more interesting run. Of course, mostly it's going to be Any% strats, but it definitely has room for alternative strats in some cases. And as ceaselessly said, it's just mostly a case about no one running the game in that specific way for why that category hasn't been made.

The idea of ​​only the speed booster seems great to me, and I think that the only moment it should be removed is when you enter an encounter :D

Sorry to necro a 2 month old post, but ive been away from the speedrunning community for a few months working on Endwalker endgame.

As the others have pointed out, the easiest way to get a category added, is to show that there is a genuine interest in that category from multiple people. So I wont touch on that, im really replying to this in regards to Moguri Mod.

Moguri Mod does actually implement more than just upscaled backgrounds, it also offers features from Memoria Mod baked in, including 30fps fmvs, the ability to save anywhere, cheats, and a slew of bugfixes. I am aware that it is also entirely possible to custom install it without those features, but determining who does and doesnt have them installed is a moderation nightmare. This is why we have chosen to ban it.

That being said, there is a precedent for mods being allowed for use in speedruns within the greater community, and I wont say we are totally against it. I've told people in the past, that if the PC community were to make a fork of Moguri, one that doesnt alter the integrity of the speedrun (except speedrunning qol fixes which would need to be community approved), and one thats able to be watermarked for easy verification, I would support it. I cant speak for the rest of the mods, but I would be more than willing to plead its case with them.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a DM on discord, or ping me in the FF9 discord.

Cheers, Dubldrop