So the countdown is not "loading time", and skipping it requires some actual work during the levels, so it is a nice time save in an RTA run.

Can you elaborate on that? Is there a way to skip the countdown altogether? And is it allowed to increase RAM in an emulator?

Hey. This is another one of those scenarios that hold me back from running. If one uses WHDLoad, you obviously have the game on an emulated hardware which accesses data way way faster than Floppy. I just tested it and Floppy is way way WAY slower during the countdown. However, I don't think WHDLoad should be banned...

I think the correct solution would probably be to include both loadful and loadless times, but yeah, tough.

Actually, this category hasn't been run correctly. There's another orb hidden behind the door which is accessible using the crypt key. But you only need 3 to seal the demon away.

Technically, "all orbs" would have to collect 4.

So maybe "All orbs" should be renamed to "Seal demon away"? or "get 3 orbs"?

How do I go there? I'm terrible when it comes to discord

Thanks for uploading Niloqui. Any information on how we can get the leaderboards system updated to what we discussed?

Sounds very good. We can use Niloqui's tool. I didn't have time to get it running yet but it sure shouldnt be a problem. Furthermore, the leaderboards should reflect that, prioritizing the in-game-time / Niloquick's tool time over the time with loads. I saw that TrackMania Nations Forever does something similar, where Rank #1 has a higher total time than rank 2 but the in-game-time is the fastest: https://www.speedrun.com/tmnf

Edit: So I vote for a similar layout in the leaderboards! Edit 2: I saw you can even click "Real time" in the TMNF leaderboards and it ranks them according to that if you wish to see the fastest real time. That's a nice bonus.

How would you go about chaning discs when it asks you. I used to always have this problem that it sometimes does not recognize the 2nd disc and I have to change back and forth.

Hey. Not yet i cant Install livesplit because of missing .Net i need to Figure that first but im on a tight schedule right now.

Also: the Script removes loading times but then why not use sum of ingame times in the first place? Seems more accurate

Question do you split manually or does it split automatically for you? I can only test it later this week.

If nobody has a problem with adding up in-game time, we could at least adopt that for the all races category. I see that for crash courses it adds complexity and should be an optional measurement. I'd be willing to help calculating the existing runs.

There is a possibility to include both in-game time and real time including loads. Similar to what they did in Super Metroid, where the real time is actual a more accurate measurement. Here, in MM2 I think it's the other way round. For the races at least we do have an in-game measurement. All the load times do is skew the results.

Edit: See Super Metroid Any% where they include both times.

A Switch to in Game time for races would be the most fair, Independent of Hardware. Sure it Takes some Work to add Up but how often do people do full Game runs. Rarely.

Could still consider complete time including loads as secondary timing measure like some Others do (real time AND in game time submitted)

Tried for 2 hours to get that version running, even installing dgvoodoo on it after failing to run as is. Doesn't seem to run on my system so far.

Here is professional settings. Different traffic. This car is larger but stays a little farther away from my starting position. https://imgur.com/a/zeNSqfg

This is the case that I get, using amateur default settings. greenish car right in front of me. https://imgur.com/a/lEMRWNL

You write that traffic is generated using the traffic density bar. Are you implying that the WRs in SF Blitz: Hold On Tight are not using default settings? Or does it depend on your installation? Because at the very start of the race the traffic looks completely different for different players on this track.

At the start of the race of Hold On Tight: WR run (chiefguide): yellow car in front of your car 2d place (bangerra): brown car in front of your car 3rd place (grkmkprl): white car in front of your car 4th place (Mhmd_FVC): yellow car in front of your car (exactly same as WR run)

And I personally get a greenish car on default settings (amateur), and it's one that I cant manouvre around at the start without hitting him. This start scenario isnt contained in the submitted runs.

This is actually important as hell. That means there should be a distinction I believe, as I feel like some runs on Amateur could be absolutely invalidated by Professional's different traffic settings and vice versa.

Should there be separate categories? Default Settings Amateur / Default Settings Professional?

is there a way to manipulate traffic in default settings? I can restart the race or even the game as often as I want, but the traffic stays consistently the same in default settings. Like exact same cars start at exact same positions (but will take different turns etc).

But when I compare runs, for example in Hold On Tight https://www.speedrun.com/midtown2/SF_Blitz_Hold_On_Tight#Default_race_settings , this run is not beatable for me, because I always(!) get the same car stuck RIGHT in front of my car (even closer than in 2nd place run). Doing that turn around it costs too much time to make up, it's more than half a second that I lose. The actual WR can start pretty confidently, there is a car there but enough space to navigate around.

This also applies to a ton of other tracks by the way and I wonder if anyone else experiences that traffic stays the same no matter how often one restarts.

How are these different traffic situations possible?

I want to make an appeal here: Can we find a solution for inconsistent loading times?

As I wrote above, I lose time loading levels, and couldn't fix it. Maybe it's PC speed depending, I don't know. I did a test on all London races and I lost more than 3 minutes to loading alone.

I read that very often load removers are in use for certain games that remove the loading time and split the level timing automatically even - the point is: There should be a consistency in loading times. I can't participate in Full game and I'd love to. Again - for now I'll stick to individual levels, but a full game attempt would be fun.

Thanks a lot Mhmd_FVC!

I second that. Would be a nice addition.