There's been a whirlwind of ideas and WRs over the past few days. One idea was what is done in this video by Neerrm which is not a PB for him, but it is a unique route that runners should be aware of.
Using only Flybot's charged up slam move he does the run in six fights, same as my 1:45 and his 1:47 runs, but with Two At-Bats instead of one.
The obvious benefit of using a Flybot is being able to completely avoid being hit while charging up a massive attack as soon as the fight gets underway. The downside to Flybot is that hovering and charging drains its power so quickly that you need almost a full bar to deal over 200 damage with a charged attack. For a 6F/1AB route (used in the WR runs) to go fast, you must get into fights with the 3B at a distance no less than 76M from home plate, and then with the SS at 85M. At the start of every fight, the distance between your runner and the next base is counted up, and during that time your maximum power bar for the fight is drained. Flybot won't have enough juice to deal a massive hit during those fights. So our solution was just to do 2 at-bats, so every fight would start with a low distance value and a high power bar.
However, Neerrm theorized that a Flybot 6F/1AB route could be feasible if done similarly to the 1:45 and 1:47 Tank runs. Do 255 damage to SS, 3B and C in the first fights. In the second fight with SS and 3B, still using your first batter/runner, whittle down the opponent to about 46 with your gun, then do a small charged slam to finish them. We don't have any working math to determine if that would be faster or slower than the current prevailing route. Nor am I aware of what might be causing fully-charged attacks to sometimes have their damage reduced from 255.
We ended up launching "100% Plus" which is an expansion of the "100%" main board category.
In addition to everything required in 100%, 100% Plus also requires collecting all nine Maps and Compasses, and buying the Magical Shield. The player does not have to buy another the shield if one is lost to a Like-like.
Also, in 100% Plus the player has more freedom with regard to spending Heart Containers. You will be allowed to choose Red Potions instead of Heart Containers in the overworld caves, and you'll be allowed to pay old men in Second Quest with Hearts instead of 50 rupees.
The reason for allowing players to spend hearts, choose potions and lose the shield is to make the category more friendly at the entry-level via more routing choices, which has been one of the main tenets for the Category Extensions board.
(The reason the category name is written out as "100% Plus" instead of "100%+" is to avoid confusion between this category and "100%".)
The Quest variable-as-subcategory is game-wide. For any current of future category that does both quests, submit runs to the default variable, First Quest.
A previous discussion which took place in Z1 discord was summarized in the sheet linked below.
Some folks want a category that does main board 100% plus collect all maps, all compasses and purchase a shield. For that proposal, an ongoing point of debate is whether the player should be allowed to take potions from the Potion or Heart Container caves.
Out of the same discussion another idea was a category that finished with every item slot filled with any item. For example, a blue ring would be enough. Bombs do not count as an item slot, so upgrades are not required. The player doesn't need to finish with a rupee or bomb at all. One last idea was to finish the Letter side quest. This category seemed interesting in that the routing is a lot more open ended and could be approached differently by players of different goals or skill sets.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nL4eTEDE2Jv_CCVqwN7hN6ecgNspC_gwFbdyf3jZ3sM/edit#gid=0
Our extra categories, including TDOG, can be found here: https://www.speedrun.com/zelda1ce
Open RBO was previously called True RBO. It was renamed to dispel any notion that the other reverse categories were 'false' or 'less true'.
The run time end frame is now defined as when Aquamentus' heart container reward appears.
Thanks to a Randomizer update, Second Quest Open RBO can now be made to start the player with the Raft, allowing the bosses to be beaten in reverse order. As of this post, there had been no submissions for Open RBO 2Q.
Short version: Do not speedrun this game on RetroArch, it has settings which can cause inaccurate emulation. We recommend using current versions of Nestopia, FCEUX, Mesen, and higan/bsnes; or, OpenEmu with one of the those cores.
Full version: For the time being, we will not accept runs on RetroArch due to the potential for large scale inaccuracy which was recently discovered in runs of another game. It was detected when the run didn't experience what some call 'NES slowdown' during a well-known circumstance that should produce slowdown. The runner claimed to be using RetroArch.
In TLOZ, the most obvious manifestation of NES slowdown is on overworld screens with Octoroks and Moblins, and in the Blue Darknut and Turret rooms in Level-8. Slowdown also happens, less obviously, during screen transitions and while loading caves and dungeons.
The exact cause of inaccuracy is yet unknown, but the affected runner claimed to be using RetroArch with some of the latency reduction features turned on. RetroArch is actually a front end program that basically runs other emulators' cores (the program that emulates hardware). There has been limited investigation running the circumstance above on NES hardware, FCEUX, mesen, bizhawk, bsnes, and in RetroArch running each of those cores on default latency settings. Tests all produced more slowdown than the inaccurate run in question.
So, while RetroArch is at least capable of being accurate, there's still a question of whether and which of its front end settings employed by that runner created the inaccuracy. Not knowing the causes means we don't have a way to recommend correct settings in RetroArch.
I would prefer to not ban RetroArch under mere suspicion, but the burden on moderators to examine lag in runs is too high and we'd rather our runners not risk their runs using potentially inaccurate emulation. Given the number of other accurate and user-friendly emulators available the simplest solution right now is to warn runners off RetroArch and continue recommending current versions of Nestopia, Fceux, Mesen, Higan, and OpenEmu (with one of the those cores).
There is a solution to this that can work retroactively.
Go to your video manager: https://www.twitch.tv/Aerytheta/manager Your videos will be listed. On the right side of every video's box are 3 dots. Click that to bring down a menu. If the video has muted audio, there will be an option called "Appeal Muted Audio" -- click that. A new page will show all the audio which has supposed copyright. The typical bad claims to your audio come from DJCoverThis and Arcadia. Both are bogus. On the right a drop down box says "Appeal Reason", select "My video does not contain the audio identified" for all the bogus claims. After that, click below where it says "Appeal Selected" Fill out the form provided. Mutes are typically removed in about a week. 100% of the disputes I have made against the above bogus claimants have gone my way.
^ Pay very close attention to the visual cues here http://redcandle.us/The_Legend_of_Zelda#Screen_Scroll When attempting to learn a clip, first walk at least 16 pixels away from the block you're trying to clip before trying to set up into the position shown in the diagram. 16 pixels is one of the squares on the floor. Start with the Bow room in Level-1. Get into the position in the diagram. Swing your sword. While Link is swinging, press left or right. You must not be pressing left or right by the end of the swing. If you don't get it, walk away at least 16 pixels and try again.
Focus on the inputs you need to do. Once you get the inputs down, try it from the top like Overswarm posted. Also, in the diagram it shows Link's hat lining up against the inner line of a block. You can also clip when there are 2 pixels between Link's hat and the inner line. This is the same as what OS's image is portraying in the so-called Reverse Clip.
Categories could be added for Devil or World. But another option could be to add a variable to the Any% category for the ending card. That way, runners would already have the freedom to route any ending card they wanted without needing a category for some of the endings that are less likely to be run. If the variable's values do not obsolete each other, then every different ending card run by the same user would still display by default.
Then get the rules complete for the Best Ending category.
Best fit for the question you asked is probably this: The runs are of good routes without use of screen wraps. The game can be tough at first without a Blue Ring. If you find yourself wanting that, you can follow the route here: https://www.orderoftheate.com/the-legend-of-zelda/beginner-routes/blue-ring-route It's easy to modify the route to avoid needing screen wraps.
I also would like to make you aware of Zelda1's 3rd most popular category that is on the secondary Z1 speedrun board: https://www.speedrun.com/zelda1ce#TDO_Glitchless TDO Glitchless doesn't allow screen wraps, block clips, and a couple other minor exploits. However, unlike any% it does require that levels are done in numerical order so there is a bit of forced slower routing that way.
Have there been any recent issues that could have caused some consoles to disappear from a games' list of consoles? E.G. WiiVC being dropped from a console list without it appearing the game's audit log for game updates.
I'm looking into games that could be raced in a tournament I do with ~20 friends. We'd all at most have played the game casually. The game would be announced a month in advance of the tournament. I'm asking these questions rather than watching or playing because I'd like to limit my exposure to the speedrun so I don't have an advantage if it is chosen. (It's been 20+ years since I've played this)
My questions: Which versions of would be fair to race against each other? Does "PC" include the MS-DOS version (is it any good?)
The leaderboard makes it obvious that Tyris has the fastest potential. Are the slower characters easier in some way that in a race scenario they would be a viable choice, especially for the very casual participants? Basically, is Tyris a riskier choice?
How much time does it take to learn the speedrun and improve it? For example, what are the differences between a sub-10 run, a sub-9 run and a sub-8 run?
Since we'd be racing, the runs would presumably be no reset. This may be answered by the previous question, but how volatile is the run?
Thanks in advance for your guidance.
All Power Bracelet ILs will be listed in First Quest only, as Second Quest is exactly the same.
The categories TDO Glitchless† and Any% Twin Galaxies Rules are so-called glitchless categories. This post details exactly what is banned in these categories and why. It also gives examples of speed tech, including "glitches" and manipulations that are not banned and why. My hope is that this will give a foundation for the spirit of these categories both for present understanding and deciding on future discoveries.
NOT ALLOWED IN GLITCHLESS: Block Clips/Screen Scrolls Key Door Glitches Bait Storage Wrong Warps Arbitrary Code Execution, Save Corruption, Memory Corruption, Hardware Manipulation, etc.
Descriptions of tricks and glitches, and reasons for (dis)allowing.
Block clips/Screen scrolls The technique which allows the player to break through 1-pixel thick boundaries and do sequence breaks both small and large. It's easy to mindlessly clip when used to doing them in runs. If you clip through a boundary, immediately turn around and exit through the same boundary, or the run must be rejected. Being hit by enemies can also cause you to clip through boundaries. Your run won't automatically be rejected for something out of your control. If one happens in a submitted run, please bring it to the moderators' attention. Clips are disallowed because the game's obstacles have boundaries to prevent the player from passing through them and trivializing encounters.
Key Door Glitches The first practical example is re-entering Level-1 in first quest to pop the top lock. Another is known as "Khananakey" -- it is possible to walk through key doors without a key while a shutter door or bomb wall is opening. This is not allowed because doors are meant to stop players who don't have keys.
Bait Storage Using Up&A when giving a hungry goriya gatekeeper the Bait/Food to clear the gatekeeper and keep the Bait. In gameplay, the Bait is a useful item that can be repeatedly used to corral enemy Goriyas (and other monsters!) without being consumed. Giving up your Bait to the hungry Goriya is a sacrifice of a useful item in order to progress. From a role play perspective, the Goriya cannot have its hunger satisfied if you still have the meat. Be the hero, let the hungry Goriya have its meal.
Wrong Warps, such as Roocorder The only known wrong warp that does not have a boundary clip as a prerequisite is Roocorder, which is riding a warp wind across a dock to launch the raft creating new warp destinations. Other known overworld wrong warps simply take the player back to the starting screen.
All other known glitches and manipulations are currently allowed in Glitchless. New discoveries will be considered after exploration of the costs and benefits and how they fit with the design of a category.† If you're wondering why a trick or glitch is allowed or think that it should be banned, please consider the following. Some glitches are unavoidable. Some have negligible benefits which may come at a price, or have no benefit at all. Sometimes a glitch or a manipulation may improve the reliability of an outcome, but not change what is possible. On the other hand, the effort of avoiding glitches can force the player into taking slower paths or higher risks simply for the sake of avoiding a bug.
Take the Master Goriya room in Level-2 for example. If you defeat the master while boomerangs are flying, when the boomerang returns to a dropped item it will change into a bomb. Banning this would force the player to one of these solutions: risk nothing, kill the master last; be cautious, kill the master when no boomerangs are flying; be careless, reset when glitches happen; avoid fighting them completely.
Let's weigh the quantifiable the benefits of the glitch. Without the glitch, the player already has a blind 52.7% chance of getting at least one bomb (barring bad PRNG distributions or unknown glitches affecting the drops). Global count manipulation increases the drop chance to 64.8%. In the unlikely scenario that five boomerangs return to dead Goriyas, another item will change into a bomb 83% of the time.
The boomerang glitch doesn't create a previously unavailable routing opportunity or break a sequence, it merely improves the efficacy of an action that would be taken regardless of the glitch existing. So we allow it, and other glitches based on similar reasoning.
Green gleeok head's 3/8 heart damage is another allowed beneficial glitch.
Object timer manipulations, e.g.: Tooting after waking an Armos; placing a bomb before tooting vs. Digdogger; tooting after touching a bubble; tooting during the Gannon fight.
PRNG manipulations are allowed. Gannon "stun lock" is a manipulation of Gannon's Left vs. Right respawn RNG and the fixed duration of his invincibility. Standing in the middle of a room to attract enemies toward you is in fact a PRNG manip. During pauses and game-initiated freezes (recorder toots, medicine chugs, item hoists) some timers with fixed or randomly assigned values controlling enemy actions continue to run. Money Making Game runs on PRNG -- results can be predicted and manipulated.
The way enemies are counted is limited to number and not type. Partially clearing enemies in a room and re-entering will change the enemy type. You can also despawn a boss by half-clearing it and re-entering.
† A more accurate category name given the rules would be "Numerical Level Order, Limited Sequence Breaks". The category was called Traditional Dungeon Order because some of its progenitors saw the it as a way to play the game similarly to how they did as a child. As a point of fact, the game is open world and different people had different ways to beat the game, including going to Level-2 first. Having 'Traditional' in the name was not meant to imply that playing the game differently was wrong in some way. If every individual in the community were to ban anything they didn't know as a kid, the category likely would allow practically nothing.
FIRST / SECOND QUESTS First Quest and Second Quest are shown as subcategories in order to reduce clutter. Unless the category specifically states to complete both quests, the rules imply completing the goals for the respective quest only. For categories that play both Quests, please submit the run under First Quest.
TDO Glitchless For explanations, see the forum thread: GLITCHES GUIDE https://www.speedrun.com/zelda1ce/thread/b32yk
CO-OP (online) The emu-coop is currently still in development and new sync options may become available. Most likely, all current and future 2-player sync types will be allowed for this category. If there's any separation it would likely be to add a variable that defines the sync mode used. Submission videos should include both players' complete gameplay. Either add a comment to the second video link, or produce a single video with both players' gameplay. One easier way to do this is to capture your partner's stream on yours. They won't be perfectly synced but that's fine.
2P1C 2 players, 1 controller. One person on the D-pad, the other on B+A. I don't know that we care to specify how Select and Start should be divided. Your video may be more interesting with both players on camera showing hands, but it's not required.
One-handed Use only one hand on the controller. Stabilizing your controller somehow is perfectly reasonable. A run cannot be verified without a hand cam.
Reverse Dungeon Order (RDO) You're allowed to enter any dungeon in any order you want, but you should defeat the bosses who guard the heart container and collect the Triforce of Wisdom pieces only in descending order. That means Gleeok (4-heads) in Level-8 and collect the triforce, then Aquamentus in Level-7, Gohma in Level-6 and so on. In Second Quest, refer to how the dungeons are listed in the game's display. Level-8 is the green level with Goriyas and three Dodongos as the boss. The boss of second quest Level-3 are the Dodongos that guard the heart.
FDS Prototype This is the only FDS specific run on the board. Moderators will remove loading times in excess of the Famicom cartridge version in order to level the field between devices. Sheet: https://goo.gl/dRxwEk
Open 9/RBO (hacked ROM) Open RBO and Open 9 Any% are played on a ROM generated by Fred's Zelda Randomizer using a specific Flag String in which Level-9 is open without having the Triforce of Wisdom completed. Select Swap does not change the flag string and is allowed, along with any flag that keeps the flag string. See: https://imgur.com/tf3wDzk In order to make Second Quest compatible with Open RBO, the Rando flag string starts the player with the Raft, so that the player can get the Bow without first beating boss Digdogger in Level-4. Link to Randomizer is in Resources.
Minimum B Presses and Max Keys are two new 'puzzle categories'. The rules are only going to state what is required for completion, leaving players the opportunity to figure out how it's done and route it for speed. Familiarize yourself with the maps and available glitches. Arbitrary Code Execution is not presumed to be used.
Max Keys just means finishing a quest with the highest number of keys possible without buying keys from a shop.
Minimum B presses means using your B button items the fewest number of times possible to complete a quest. Don't miss your Gohma shot!
In particular, Minimum B Second Quest is unreasonably difficult to achieve due to requiring hitting 3 Dodongos with one bomb. We'd like to have it sorted by Time subordinate to lowest B score, but speedrun.com doesn't directly support that so we'll have to rig something up to make that work. In the meantime, feel free to submit runs that didn't one-shot all Dodongos.
Also make sure to post here if you're almost certain the min/max is inaccurate.
