I just saw this tonight. Better late then never. Huge congrats <3

Uhm. Not that it really matters in this context but since this thread got some attention and for those curious I can clarify what the benefits of rng lock are. the timesave from the very best spaceship rng is less then 1.5 since you basically only save time on the very first hit which can be done faster (I have to test the exact save, I think I still have a savestate with optimal pattern somewhere). With the current NO-RNG kill all the hits are more or less done on first possible frames when his iframes run out after the initial one.

On the other bosses there are no timesaves at all. Robot used to be potentially faster/"easier" with a random pattern if he went out past middle of screen since it was free double hits. the rng-lock strat would kill you if he gave you that pattern so if you got the rng lock pattern you would loose time. However with the rng lock he never goes out and you can get all hits perfect.

With bad luck on fat cat you could get a puff of ash right in the face when picking up the ball so the RNG aspect could basically kill the run at the very last seconds.

The RNG lock also prevents extra flies from spawning on some stages (these can be avoided without loosing time. RNG lock just makes it easier) and it also always enables the crab despawn in H (not getting the despawn is a small time loss).

My best run before RNG lock was 9:54. 180 IIRC. However there are new strats since then. Main timesave being the implementation of the new axe strats in J which saves a big chunk of time. Some of the new strats might never have been added if rng lock wasn't found since most of them are fairly risky and a few stages in and the amount of runs getting out of spaceship was like... I dunno... 1 in 50? So you were not super happy risking the run doing something stupid by then. Nowadays with no RNG you can go ham.

So in conclusion. The only (known) part to save time without rng lock is on spaceship.

I'm with Hirexen here. On pure principle I don't want runs to start from savestates no matter what game or if it actually affects anything.

Tough topic. When NME and I battled back in the day neither of us used moonkicks and we both got 3:36. Even 3:35 is achieveable without. Just a sidenote since it's a point of interest "when" they are needed and as lucandor stated moonkicks is the only clear advantage with keyboard.

However. Keyboard definetely gives an unfair advantage, which they always do in situations where you need to press an -opposite- direction in a 1 frame window after the other. Doing that on a dpad is a lot harder, even more so when it's diagonal.

I'm not opposed to emulators since that is how most people find the hobby and it expands it in the first place but I do think different games warrants different rulesets where there are unfair advantages based on controller methods.

I think something needs to implemented in this case. If it's a separation of emulator/console on the boards or proof that a valid controller is being used I don't have a definitive answer for.

In response to intentionally delay 2-4 frames. It's also much easier to mentally prepare for what adjustment to do if you know exactly whee you are in a cycle. Not knowing what you'll get going into something and being ready for multiple options makes it a lot harder on the brain and reactions.

I agree with Zimond and st4nzzz. Even splitting with a foot pedal you can't do it frameperfect. The biggest advantage here is to get an exact read on all pattern related stuff down to the frame which is simply not possible (even if you can predict a plausible outcome based on other stuff) with manual splitting.

One could make the argument that having a timer on the side in itself is an advantage but at least that is something anyone can do and not just emulator users.

So while I do like the concept of autosplitters in most cases I do see the potential for an unfair advantage. Likely only at very high level play and deep knowledge about the game.

I agree. It's easy enough just changing the name of the previous any% to a new category name. Just as CC says it's just a definition of rules left at this point so there won't be any weird discussions later about what is allowed or not. Just calling it any% 1/2 controllers is probably simple enough because none of the screen warps are possible with 1 controller.

No problem Dresserball, there are no such things as dumb questions. Chip n Dale is a really fun game and I hope you'll have fun practicing. If you have questions feel free to ask.

What xcvazer said. However I did find by moving in a certain consistent way in the screen that I got the jump more often then not. It's really stupid though and there's no shame in leaving that strat out unless you're gunning for WR.

Regarding the original post and the 1st bosskill not being possible with controller. Well. Just watch Beco do it consistently. I do understand and also agree on a lot of points from different sides in this discussion but I'm not a fan of calling things impossible just because it's hard to replicate it. Felt I wanted to point it out since it was a big part of what started the entire discussion.

Glad we could help :)

To clarify, you CAN make a practice savestate -inside- the bossroom once the screen comes to a stop but to make sure you get it correct make a savestate just -outside- the screen on the bottom of the clocktower then just walk in, hold up+left on the stairs and make sure to jump at the 2 tile fall so you don't loose any frames in the fall walking off.

If you're having consistent trouble with health I recommend skipping one of the skeleton-damageboosts (the 1st one prerferably) and learn the strat for picking up the wallmeat without taking damage.

edit: also be careful when jumpwhipping the Candles for hearts that you don't whip late so you get recovery-frames when you land, even 1 frame difference alters the pattern. It's actually not as scary as it sounds not loosing any frames but the importance can't be stressed enough :)

Worth noting on the Dracula fight is that if you want to get the same 2 possible Dracula patterns you see in every top-run of the game you can not take an intentional Death at the bottom of the Clock Tower. The pattern is dependent on if you from the bottom Clocktower screen keep moving left all the time until you trigger the boss-fight without loosing any frames. Then depending on if you get the slow or fast bulletpattern from Dracula you can determine if he will try to spawn on top of you or away from you thus making the fight go the way you want and no matter what initial pattern you get you will Always be able to hit him with multiple crosses + whip when he on the third cycle spawns in the left corner.

If I remember correctly the NES mini runs at a slower framerate then original hardware (just like Virtual Console) so keep that in mind

Garadas experimented with that (might even implemented it. I don't remember) so if you can do it consistent you can ofc go for it. I don't remember if it was frametested in emulator but the difference is close to 0.

You need to get to a certain point to get that boost and the main thing in that entire strat is making the roboduck spawn as fast as possible while still making it all the way to the wall before he is descending so he gets as close to the wall as possible to minimize the time it takes to get back and forth for the hit.

Point being I think the roboduck can get spawned equally fast with a wiggle

Oh wait now. How did I end up as moderator on remastered? :P

I have extensive knowledge and am the current best runner of classic Ducktales for NES but I've only played remastered casually so far.

Knowledge of the game aside I do agree that videoproof is a must to get a run verified in the board and someone needs to step up when it comes to rules to not confuse new runners.

Japanese version is actually slightly slower in the any% speedrun because the textboxes are slower (even if there's less text). Otherwise there are no known differences

Thought I might as well give an update on my submissions.

Mitsume Ga Tooru - spent a lot of time and managed to find some completely new strats and optimize previous ones further which resulted in an improvement over the previous world record with 11 seconds. Some strats are not Marathon-safe but I'm confident I can go sub 18 minutes in more or less every attempt. I'll probably keep the current estimate as it is though, in the case Marathon-nerves would completely kill me and everything goes wrong :)

Moon Crystal - My current PB is 25 seconds from WR and I'm going to spend more time on this. From a Marathon-perspective the strats needed for me to PB are more or less all not safe for a Marathon so a new PB would not really affect the run from a Marathon-perspective. The current marathon-strats are already risky as they are since I'm going for Quick-kills on each boss which means 1 hit and you die. The only ones who notice a difference in the strats are people who have Deep knowledge of the game so the run itself would not look any less impressive as it is right now. I'll keep myself in shape in this one but I consider my skill in the game at this level to be sufficient.

Ninja Gaiden II - Need to derust this one still. My PB is pretty optimized as it is and similar to Moon Crystal an improvement in PB requires several new strats which would not be viable to do in a Marathon-setting since they're basically WR attempt strats with a 90% risk of dying. I'll be focusing on derusting the game with as hard strats as possible suitable for a marathon.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the "cut" is ongoing until 11:59pm CET today, right? If that is the case I guess people should wait with the questions until it's past the deadline.

edit: I guess that the fact that the original post actually exists means that phase 1 is done, so guess we can disregard my previous comment :)

A quick heads up. During time of submissions I was not aware that Frippen87 also had submitted Ducktales. I edited my submission but thought I might as well make clear here as well that if it makes the cut I'm fine with doing it as a race since our PBs are very close.

Also improved my Mitsume Ga Tooru last night and I now hold the WR. Going to edit the videolink in that submission too :)

If your computer can handle it I'd recommend FCEUX since Nestopia has a pretty common issue with delaying sounds the more you play :)