Niss3, consider setting the video encoding settings encoder preset in XSplit (Broadcast -> Gear next to the Twitch entry -> Gear next to 'Extra Param' in the Video Encoding section) from 'slow' to 'medium' (or 'fast'). The quality hit will be negligible for Twitch, but you may get around the issue where Twitch videos are longer. FWIW, I run on an Core i7-2700K (3.4GHz base clock, ~5.5 years old) and medium is the best I can manage
If the encoder can't keep up (CPU bound) and XSplit can't render the frames fast enough, it occasionally will stuff multiple copies of a frame within a given keyframe/I-frame GOP instead of producing an empty frame (black image) or dropping the frame. Keep in mind since you're running AMARec (which may have less demanding H.264 encoder settings) you are encoding two streams at once -- one that's pushed as an RTMP stream to Twitch's ingest servers, and one that's written to local disk -- so your CPU usage is higher than just streaming to Twitch, and therefore a contested resource.
I don't, but they're likely separate games due to differences between them. Unfortunately, this game was not set up as a series, so we don't have the ability to easily spin up a new game.
Ideally this game would be a series with the following versions, but I'm not the one who requested the game:
¤ Smash TV (NES) ¤ Smash TV (Sega Master System) ¤ Smash TV (Sega Game Gear) ¤ Super Smash TV (SNES) ¤ Super Smash TV (Sega Genesis) ¤ Smash TV - Arcade Party Pak (Playstation) ¤ Smash TV - Midway Arcade Treasures (GameCube, Playstation 2, XBOX, PC) ¤ Smash TV - Midway Arcade Origins (Playstation 3, XBOX 360)
I would expect no material differences (including load times) between the different platforms for the Midway Arcade Treasures or Midway Arcade Origins versions. However, I would expect ¤very¤ material differences (load times, frame rate) between the later (post-2000) releases and the early 90s 16-bit releases.
Manually verified. No clock drift. Niss3 started his timer early, cheating himself out of some time, so I get to go back to adjusting people a bit faster as usual. Average of three timings was 7:28.983.
Glad we got the problem sorted (Niss3 is now recording at 30fps)!
Update: Long story short, Niss3's computer couldn't handle encoding at 60fps, which is what caused us to see clock drift. Niss3's run at 29.97fps had no drift -- though I got to make my usual adjustment of adjusting people faster because they started their timer early. Niss3's now recording at 30fps.
Note: I don't believe this is nefarious. No evidence of foul play, likely a technical explanation for the discrepancy.
Whenever I moderate a time, regardless of the length, I manually verify runs. This is regarding Niss3's River City Ransom speedrun submitted on April 2nd, 2016 (). After first manual verification, I noticed my timing was ~5 seconds off. Re-verified, to get the same result (to within 0.2s). Re-verified again to notice clock drift as I was watching the run.
Video here: Looking at ~5.1 seconds of clock drift between the end times (probably more like 6+ seconds of drift considering Niss3 split early when starting the run), against two separate devices (Core i7-2700 on 150Mbps connection, and iPhone 6S Plus). No evidence of splicing. Likely a technical explanation. However 29.97 vs. 30 fps would only yield about a ~0.45s difference. 25 vs. 24fps would yield a far larger discrepancy (~18.5 sec).
Niss3: If you can supply your Twitch broadcast settings for OBS/XSplit (particularly framerate), and also the original recording, that'd be great.
In the meantime, the frame-correct average of my three timings would be 7:41.867.
Need to write up an explanation at some point, but subtle timing differences on different computers (and in different emulators) result in a boundary condition where it flips between Frat Guys and Generic Dudes.
I'll do a writeup on this in the future, complete with annotations of the original 6502 assembler and how it's possible to end up on different sides of the boundary due to clock drift.
Edited my post to be -6.83. Forgot LiveSplit doesn't maintain more than two significant digits of precision.
For consistent start timing, I recommend runners start a countdown timer of -6.83 seconds when pressing the Start button to dismiss the ransom letter that is before the Title screen, then let the Title screen run its course.
Making another post here, so others can help.
I now have handled 5 different RCR carts. All of them, when put in my NES, give Frat Guys on the initial screen. They all have different imprinted numbers on the back, which are likely just lot/batch numbers. Feasel and Darkwing get Generic Dudes on the initial screen, even if they come from the same lot/batch. This made me think there were two ROM versions.
However... Feasel also has a "1 1" cart, but gets Generic Dudes instead of Frat Guys. Additionally the ROM provided by BestOfNES always starts with Generic Dudes on my computer in FCEUX 2.2.2, regardless of PPU. Toad22484 uses the same ROM in a PowerPak, and instead gets Frat Guys. Again, same ROM, different results. This points to there being a slight quirk in the RNG, instead of two ROM versions. I am desperately trying to find out what the actual reality is -- if there were multiple versions of the ROM released by Technos, or if there's just a timing bug. This matters because if there are two versions, I'm actually going to diff both of them and see what is different between the binary and other RCR assets.
How can you help? Well, if you have a River City Ransom ROM, regardless of where it's from, I would be eternally grateful if you can do two things for me:
- Tell me what gang spaws at the beginning of the game on Novice, Fast speed, choosing Ryan.
- The MD5 checksum of the ROM. You can do this with tools built into Windows 7.
To get the MD5 checksum of the ROM, enter the following command at the Windows command line (cmd.exe):
CertUtil -hashfile "C:\PathToRom\RomName.nes" MD5
With that said, I'm providing the first spawn/checksum.
Spawn: Generic Dudes MD5: 29 4e 4f a0 92 db 8e 29 d8 3f 71 e1 37 d1 f9 9f
If you have a different spawn/MD5 combination, please post it. If someone posts a result with a different checksum than the one here, it is immediately clear that multiple ROM versions exist.
It is becoming evident that there may be multiple version of the River City Ransom (NTSC-US) ROM that were released in the United States.
On my cartridge, the first gang encountered (outside of Cross Town High) is ¤always¤ The Frat Guys. However, if I use FCEUX with a ROM, the first gang encountered is ¤always¤ The Generic Dudes. Moreover, Darkwing_Duck_SDA's 7:40.35 run also starts with The Generic Dudes. Elipsis who is using either a PowerPak or EverDrive also always starts with The Generic Dudes. Again, this points to different ROM versions.
On my cartridge, the top of the label says, "NES-DN-USA MADE IN JAPAN". On the reverse, the numbers "1 1" are imprinted in the top-left corner of the label, and "REV-A" is printed on the top-right corner of the label in white text. I received this cartridge I believe in 1990, for my birthday.
If anyone has different cartridge labels than the above, please provide information so folks can identify cartridge versions. The differences between the runs likely do not provide any material advantage for speedruns, but in the event it is discovered that one particular version imparts some advantage, this information will be needed to provide separate categories.
Currently there are no listed rules for River City Ransom on speedrun.com. The goal here is to change this by ensuring rules are codified so timing can be consistent, and potential new runners can more easily find this information before they plan their own attempts.
I've heard multiple allusions to "SDA Timing" for River City Ransom. I've probably Googled for a course of 8 hours across three separate days, including manually trawling the speeddemosarchive.com forums for what timing may be. I cannot find a written record of SDA Timing for RCR. If someone knows where it is, bringing this information forward would greatly simplify this. In particular, if Darkwing_Duck_SDA or Feasel are willing to chime in, your input would be greatly appreciated!
Since there is no existing record, I have used existing runs by Darkwing_Duck_SDA and Feasel to infer timing, of which I believe my understanding is accurate. So using these runs as a guideline, I propose using their timing as a baseline, which is as follows:
"Timing starts when the player(s) gain(s) control outside of the Cross Town High scene. Control is gained when the scene has faded to full brightness, and "Th" of the gang announce text (ex. "The FRAT GUYS' turf!") is visible. Timing ends when the screen fades to black after Simon's post-defeat exposition, which is the exact frame when control of the player character(s) is lost."
