please select only from the default starting teams listed for the 'World Cup' category.
there are 4 independent settings: bars/life, bombs, lives and difficulty level. it would be helpful to specify clearly which settings are to be used in each category.
there are runs up that are still running non-default settings, some runs don't even have videos to check settings, making this arbitrary decision to remove select runs several years old very confusing.
just pitching in, since I've been redoing this recently :
I'm for enforcing 50 for the main category, due to us knowing for sure how the game should run for the EU version. real h/w users can run fairly, there are no graphical glitches (eg. snow) or things generally feeling off compared to other versions (eg. amiga).
main is more an investment, previous runs exist there, running @ 50 is a switch for most runners. I think there are more reasons for than against (especially regarding the ambiguity of this elusive PAL-60 version).
the small category is another matter. people intentionally or otherwise ran @ 60 on a version it wasn't designed for. it makes sense to allow it there since everyone has already, plus the extra pace makes it more interesting too. perhaps not for main, though.
I think ordering is a setting in the 'Categories' edit page, when you press the sword/mod icon and select 'Edit Game'. it's listed as 'Timer Asc.' in there. it's a little tricky to find, but you'll see it.
would it be possible to change the leaderboard ordering (ascending/descending) as it seems to be the wrong way round at the moment. thanks :)
custom categories (non pop related) could be an option. as long as it's not too trivial, or copies existing categories, it should be fine.
for rules, using the 'create new region' is ok for the 1m categories. the rng is limited when creating regions this way (the same few patterns appear), but it would still be helpful to show this on a run.
please try to include timers also ! :)
I'd be surprised if they changed it being so old, especially the Italian campaign, but it's possible. If people are running different versions with different conditions then it does create a speedrunning issue, unfortunately. Technically, people should always run latest versions though.
rules updated. also considering removing the 100k category (too similar to 50k at this point) and adding either a 500k multi-tile, or 1 million. feedback welcome for this though.
Loans are allowed, yes. Mods are the main thing that are disallowed, anything that looks non-vanilla will be rejected. No connections. As the only version available these days is the deluxe version, it's expected people be using this, but original versions are fine too.
For simplicity, it's better to run single tile, no connections. An option is to make a second 250k category for multi-tile + connection use, but there was no feedback since the posts were made. Allowing multi-tiles creates some verification issues so single tile was given priority.
gg on the run !
I think for simplicity every race should be completed normally, we should enforce 1st for Championship overall, with the final table being shown on the video. With rng, the player usually wins in 1st anyway after all the races.
The suicide thing won't work as you get put to the Game Over screen, with no Congratulations, so technically you're not finishing the races. This does not mean every race needs to be finished 1st of course, as long as you finish 5th or above as normal.
It wasn't specifically stated as it was assumed you'd lose too much time if you didn't finish the Championship in 1st. This is more an issue in Medium and Hard. Yes, even if you have enough points you still have to finish the last race.
You could suicide the final race if you know you will win anyway, but I can't remember how that impacts the Game Over screen, or if you still get the Congratulations screen. If you get the end screens as normal, then a suicide will be acceptable, and would make for a new strat.
If you fancy trying again, please add a timer though, and gg on the Hard record !
more of a quick heads-up really, but I've noticed runs are not being verified with the supplied 'played' dates. it's a little trivial, but the statistics page records runs by these values. changing them to date of verification means record runs that did stand for some days or weeks (waiting to be verified) often get hidden or unrecorded because of the erroneous values. as the board is now getting busier, I thought I'd bring this up :)
smartphone emulation is a developing field, where the priority is not necessarily on to-the-frame accuracy. they are outright banned across a large number of other boards for this reason, they're just not accurate enough to keep a meaningful board. they can be too fast, or too slow, even for the humble atari 2600.
you are still free to try the 2 categories, there's still some way to go on both, but if you have the option I would recommend using some of the more tried and trusted options. hope you have another few attempts and have fun trying them out !
I have updated the rules to include a requirement that recent versions of emulators must be used.
The current leaders run, while being a good one, appears to have been made with a now obsolete emulator and game version (presumably ~0.90 of the game). As such, it has several issues (sound and timing). I am keeping the run on the board as a guide for others for the moment, but this may change if we get more runs.
To ensure a fair and meaningful board, if using emulation, please use recent versions where the game has been more accurately emulated properly.
Glitches :
There is a glitch on the Spectrum version whereby any legs (a single 501 round) the AI scores against you carry over into the next match.
This is easily identifiable with the leg scores on the left. This means if you lose a leg against an opponent in Match 1, for instance, the second match opponent will start 1-0 up instead of 0-0 (each match being best of 3).
Another glitch (possibly intentional) is that the Player only needs to win one leg in the Final against the AI to win. The AI (presuming match starts at 0-0) needs to win 2.
Runs & RNG :
Like many old games, there are patterns to the RNG the game uses to generate dog appearances and pints (that cost time).
When starting a game immediately (no practice attempts first), the starting opponent will always be the same, the dog will always appear in match two, with specific pint appearances.
For this reason, please ensure runs are made from restart, so runs and splits can be compared more effectively.
I certainly can, however this game had a lot of different ports. choose one you feel is something you want to run and I'll add it.
a quick update to the rules, mainly for 250k :
multi-tiles are still allowed, however the population must be met in a single tile (no spamming 50k on 5 tiles etc). creating the tiles must be part of the run, so timer will start when the first 'start new city' is selected.
- it is recommended that only single tiles are used, without connections, with empty neighboring tiles, until we get more feedback on this.
as mentioned in the rules, and discussed in the rules thread, official versions only are being accepted.
unofficial patches or fan-made mods are considered hacks and do not qualify on the same board, largely due to the minefield it creates in most games.
if there was a flaw in the original dos game code about match length, as long as all people are running the same official version/s, this isn't an issue.
the dos version may be split into its own subcategory/s if we get more submissions however: the game physics are sufficiently different, plus timing differences and emulation considerations (eg. dosbox).
@Playaveli moderators and site staff are not at the beck and call of individuals who think things should be run their way, or to jump when they say so. your tone, especially in recent posts, borders on bullying. enthusiasm is one thing, causing upset is something else entirely.
I am disappointed and surprised if you have some kind of personal grievance, but the rules in place have been made to try to ensure players from all communities can compete equally and fairly. I appreciate you have affiliations with other sites, I do not have such affiliations, and cannot expect every runner to have either.
