Hey, I've gone ahead and split the categories and fixed/added rules to keep things clear going forward. Please review the rules and if you have any questions/comments/concerns let me know!

Many of us seen it coming down the line when there would have to be a split in categories if runs that skipped cutscenes were submitted. Now is the time for that.

Besides this, the ruling on when time start begins was set to on character control. When Faust4712 and myself began speedrunning this game, the only run on the board we had to go off of was r3dninjajosh's, which began timer on pressing start on the title screen to begin the game. We opted to do the same since we both have speedrun experience in other Shinobi titles and that method of timing was used as well.

A new runner has appeared and it's exciting that this game is getting attention again but the moderation team now has to make a decision on how splitting categories will be handled, setting proper rules for timing and anything else that will help keep runs on a fair playing field.

I've been in contact with Faust4712 (as of writing, a verifier for this board) but none of the other moderation team yet. Hoping this forum post reaches them so we can work this all out but if not I'll step in and do what I can with mod position powers. I messaged Jesse_Lee earlier today about taking over super mod for the game since they don't have any runs submitted and haven't, as far as I know, had contact with any of the current runners of this game.

Until changes are made, don't expect any runs to be verified. I'm going to wait a couple days and if I don't hear back I'll get things moving myself. Until then, I'm open for suggestions on how to approach all of this. Thanks!

I'm definitely in the camp of completely blacks screen to end time. Just easier on the runners and verifiers to ensure it's on time rather than a slight screen fade to pick out

I like this idea. Splitting the characters gives poor ol' J.J. a reason to get playtime. It might also be more appealing to some new runners to learn the levels with J.J. and then see if they wanna dip their toe into running with Jeff. I certainly had a rough time jumping straight into Jeff and learning the levels on top of the crazy physics he has.

Some new things have come to light recently and the rules have been adjusted as of November 27th 2020. These new rules are as followed:

• Submissions must include showing the reset prior to the run beginning.

Emulator

• State the name of the emulator used in your submission.
• Gens is banned, do not use Gens or runs will be declined.
• Do not use savestates. This includes loading a state as a reset.
• Avoid jumping after defeating Shadow Master. This is known to reduce lag frames on emulator exclusively.

Further proof of it working on real hardware with retrospy input display.