Hey guys. I don't know if the community is aware of this, but I just realized that you can actually see the position of the statue dials without going into the "dial screen". You just need a big screen and good resolution, and you can pause the game right in front of the statue and see them. They are harder to distinguish if you're looking at them through the pause screen but not impossible. This probably saves 1 sec compared to going into the dial screen, quitting and pausing.

(I didn't test this with the maiden statue because I didn't have the time yet, but it's possible with the unicorn and lion statues)

Now, in my opinion, pausing to see the dials shouldn't be allowed in either of the two forms. I think the best argument I have for this is that we are "removing" from the run something that requires some kind of skill (memorizing the puzzles, fast reflexes to turn them optimally) without a very good reason to do so. And now people with big screens + good resolution will have an advantage over people playing with small screens.

I know that allowing to pause the game in this case makes the rules simpler, since we don't have to add another "you're not allowed to pause to X" rule. However, I'm not aware if there are any other reasons why we should allow it. I'd be happy to hear them, and I'm making this topic so we could discuss this (or maybe on Discord).

I'd say pausing for the medallions should be banned. Speedrunning is about learning the mechanics of the game, not cheating medallions etc. So yeah i'm with you on this one.

I think I explained myself well enough but this is what I'm talking about:

I guess its just up to the mods i guess.

Would a mod just please tell me if this is being discussed among yourselves? Or if you plan to leave it to community voting? Or if there is no intention whatsoever of banning this strat?

Hi, currently we the mods and what seems like the rest of the community (unless others speak up) don't care if people do this. It is allowed as long as it does not exceed the 2 min pause rule.

Fair enough. Thanks for the answer.

I think it's lame people started doing that and takes away something it's skill based from the game, pausing right in front of medallion puzzles should be banned imo, that shit is aids.

This is absolute trash that most people find this acceptable. This limits the skill of the speedrun. I just can't understand why everyone wants to take the easy way. To allow pausing for buffers and what not I understand considering the game is slower on some consoles. It doesn't take quick wit to pause buffer the beginning zombie in RPD. But to pause the in game timer while you're still figuring out a puzzle? This doesn't feel dirty to anyone? What a shame. The ONLY way I'll use it is when someone else does and I have no choice. Otherwise this should be frowned upon.

People are already doing it OneCoolMan, super lame... There's a cheatsheet going aroud showing the right rotations and how many times you should rotate for every medallions combinations.

OneCoolMan, I agree with you, that's why I created this topic trying to get this strat "banned" the moment I discovered this even faster method. I'd hope more people would speak against it though, since this has 240 views now and very few people bothered to agree with me.

I know the mods already responded, but just to clarify why I think this shouldn't be allowed:

We either think that pausing the game should be an exception (don't pause the game except in these cases) or that should be generally allowed (you can pause the game except in these cases). The latter is the way how pause is treated by the rules right now. So of course I couldn't argue against meddallion pausing taking into account the current set of rules.

However, think about this: in general, speedrunning is mainly about one thing: finishing the game as fast as possible. This usually means finishing the game as fast as possible in real time. When we use IGT, it's usually because IGT is a reliable method of timing WHO IS FASTER. When it's not a realiable method of timing who is faster, we use real time. I think we can all agree on that.

What we have here is an absurd situation where two players, one who knows absolutely nothing about the game's puzzles and one who has all of them memorized, can have the same time in this game, by the current set of rules relating to pausing + timing method of IGT, He just needs to pause in front of every puzzle and not take more than 2 minutes doing so. How can this possibly be in the best interest of this game as a speed game?

And there is more: he can even completely forget inventory management, as he can pause everytime he wants and check what he has to pick up and when, what he has to put inside the chest and when, etc., "as long as it does not exceed 2 minutes".

My point is: this discussion is not only about this strat that I REALLY think should be banned. It is about how the rules treat pausing the game. Pausing the game should be an exception and the rules should reflect that in my opinion. Or we change the timing method to real time and everyone will have to pause the game as little as possible.

Two other things that I'd like to point out:

1. This strat does not in any way reduce the RNG influence on the runs: even if people pause in front of the statues, some of them will still get better combinations than others (the minimum number of necessary dial turns is 3 and the maximum is 9). So it cannot be said, in defense of this strat, that it lessens the effect of RNG over the runs.

2. I'm not against the pause buffer strats used in the Elliot room and before Ada's section (on Console), since they don't subtract from any gaming skills.

This is nothing new. Pausing to see the dials was discussed LONG ago, and none of the top runners of this game ever do it anyways.

maxylobes, the fact that this was discussed long ago does not change the fact that a lot of people (including me obviously) are getting familiar with it just recently. So if it was discussed long ago and there were good arguments for allowing it I would rather people would post them.

And the fact that the top runners of this game do not do this is supposed to be an argument in favor of allowing it / not caring about it? We have to wait for top runners to do something in order to discuss it? I'm currently 1st place on Console on Leon A Standard/Hardcore and 1st place on Leon NG+ and I'm currently thinking about using the strat on Leon B since I don't know the puzzles.

What you just said is not helpful at all. I'm trying to have a discussion about it and arguing in favor of my position. Please try to do so too.

I just think it should be banned lmao. Learning the games mechanics etc is what makes speedrunning fun and what not. Like mondomantra said, I dont really care about this topic. If people start getting extremely good secret room times consistently from this medallion thing then sure, maybe look further into banning this strat.

The thing is, mondo, if you can know what the position of the dials are before you go into the "dial screen", how can this not be faster than not knowing the dials before going into the dial screen? Do you at least agree that it's in principle faster, even if no one is using it right now? I don't see how it's unfavorable. Every run of mine would be at least 2 seconds faster with it, and I suspect that if we check the top runs on the site we would see that they they could also have had a time save with this, as it eliminates almost every possible error while doing medallions.

The only statue where I can see this being slower (although I suspect that turning the camera would solve it) is with the maiden statue. With the two other statues this is faster or the same (IF you don't make any mistakes).

I'm asking this sincerely: can you tell me how could it be unfavorable knowing the dials before going into the dial screen?

So since it eliminates RNG..... can i just pause my game and load my quick save to eliminate bad RNG in Sewers and NEST so I can keep my IGT?! Because that's what i feel like what we're doing.with this strat lol XD

My man thaivega spitting facts!

I am against the dial pause thing. It kills the fun part in speedrunning the game.

This thread is now locked and the discussion for "Pause Medallions" is closed.