I don't think there's an objectively 'best' category to start running SMO with, but Any% is definitely the most popular, and it's not too long.

Any% also has really good/beginner friendly tutorials (found in the resources tab), so it is pretty easy to start learning.

I can imagine a sort of glitchless category being added if Any% became reliant on some sort of crazy huge glitch that skipped a large portion of the game. Even so, I think said category would be more likely to be 'Any% no [name of glitch/skip]' than flat out 'Glitchless' (especially considering above arguments concerning what exactly is defined as a glitch).

At about 0:52 in the current WR vid for ADA Mario does an upside down death animation; is this the one you're talking about @0123xrulez ?

The resources linked in the video are for Any%, but I'm pretty sure the video talks about how to set up the autosplitter for other categories/games as well (my understanding is that the software watches for predetermined frames and presses the split button when it sees them).

To request a category extension, you can use the category request form and follow the instructions found on this https://www.speedrun.com/smoce/thread/ze0h9 forum thread.

DYK Nintendo is planning on disabling capture cards for most games ??? That sentence doesn't make complete sense. 'Disabling captures cards for most games' would likely mean forcing said games to only work in handheld (so that the game isn't running through an HDMI signal on which capture cards rely), making the system better off named the Nintendo Fixate.

As for unrecorded runs, I'm pretty sure this discussion happened a few years ago and iirc it boils down to - the 'No Vid; No Did' rule maintains leaderboard integrity, especially for one of the most popular speedgames on the website and it doesn't intend to accuse anyone of dishonesty. A capture card is not required for sufficient video proof, a phone camera pointed at the screen is fine as long as the video is of good enough quality.

iirc, the invincibility granted from the mario amiibo just makes you not lose any health when hitting an enemy but the knockback still happens when you get hit. (pretty sure the star theme isn't even original smh nintendo)

this ( https://www.speedrun.com/smoce/thread/ze0h9 ) thread outlines the process for suggesting a category extension.

however, it's unlikely this category will be accepted as it would very likely be exactly the same as any% 2p (afaik assist mode or amiibo don't provide any speedy assistance).

@DualieGMRS If you want to officially suggest No Coin% you can fill out the category extension request form found on this ( https://www.speedrun.com/smoce/thread/ze0h9 ) forum thread.

The game rules state that only 1P is allowed. The only category that's allowed 2P is Any% 2P which in the category rules state that only 2P is allowed (category rules trump game rules in this case). Since IL category rules say nothing about 2P, the game rules are followed for that aspect.

Livesplit is the timer that most people use. For splits, you can find a .lss file for Any% in this game's Resources page or you can make them yourself with Livesplit. Smallant has a good tutorial for setting up Livesplit where he covers getting the software, setting up splits and getting the timer just the way you want it.

You can find the CE request form on this forum thread ( https://www.speedrun.com/smoce/thread/ze0h9 ) and you are welcome to do a run of Klepto% and request the category. However, it will probably not get accepted as the route is too similar to Any%; it boils down to Any% until Lost Kingdom and then retrieve Cappy.

I think an Any% Glitchless category would either be too similar to Any% to be accepted or not be popular enough because of too many restrictions (depending on what you decide to be a "glitch" and therefore ban).

iirc the only glitches that were in 1.0 and are no longer present in 1.3 that affected any% are first moon skip (the jump is still possible but the madame broode fight doesn't start), sphynx clip (i think icicle clip is in the fastest 1.0 route for sand, routed in after 1.3 was released, and while i think it's still possible it's certainly much more difficult) and turnip clip. other glitches like nut clip/other moon clips, fish clip and moon cave skip are all still possible. and as mentioned above, definitely check out tomshi's beginner tutorials for the routes, including glitches used in any% (there's no moon clipping in the beginner route i think, but moon cave skip and fish clip are still there.)

i'm pretty sure having bjr set to help a lot is fastest atm (the current wr does it), because he takes the initiative to defeat nearby enemies which is useful for shines like the shadow luigi ones and shines where you have to defeat all the enemies in a certain area.

imo for learning, il's are good but for general practice as a beginner, it's probably best to do full game runs. when you're a beginner, you're not fully comfortable with the controls so doing full game runs will make you more experienced in controlling mario. i think it's best to do il's for practice once you're around the intermediate level, so that you know exactly what movement you'll do when. but for a beginner the most important thing is to learn the route and just get better at general movement.

the only IL's i could imagine being added are ones for each fury fight, but i doubt that would happen. i suppose there could be an IL for getting all 5 shines associated with each island (e.g. a scamper shores 100% il where you get all 5 shines there) but because the next shine isn't unlocked immediately, it would probably be messy.

Some moons require actions to be taken in other kingdoms to appear/become obtainable. These include hint art moons, outfit moons (especially the Style Sisters in Lake Kingdom, because you need a Sand Kingdom outfit and a Moon Kingdom outfit for a couple of them) and especially the Tourist moons (you talk to him in Sand before he appears in the next kingdom on his route, etc.). There are also seed moons that take approx. 20 minutes to grow, so the route is that you plant those in the first or second visit, allow them to grow and then get the moons in the next visit. As well as considering the route warp paintings take, all those factors (and probably more that I'm forgetting) make it so that it's faster to revisit some kingdoms multiple times.

Probably not 'cause all that would be different is 1 more hour of coin grind in the dino room, which sucks.

I feel it wouldn't make sense to have an IL run (at least on the main boards) of something that isn't run in any of the main board categories. The Any% category for the kingdoms Cap through Moon just does what is done for those kingdoms in Any% (which is why runners will sometimes submit their golds to the IL leaderboards) and Dark Side and Darker Side Any% is the split that's done at the end of the full Dark Side (253 moons) and Darker Side (503 moons) runs. However, an IL of either just the moon cave or the entirety of Moon Kingdom where Moon Cave Skip is banned does sound fun for the Category Extensions IL runs (which currently have All Purple Coins for each of the kingdoms with purple coins).