Thank you!

I added the rules regarding the load time issues and made an announcement.

EDF5 PC version has an issue where you get degradation in load time (i.e. load time gets longer and longer while you proceed from mission to mission).

To keep PC runs competitive against PS runs, we decided to allow restarts during a run.

The number of times of restarts is limited in proportion to the number of missions the run takes.

When you are a PC runner and want to reduce the loss caused by the game issue, please be sure to follow the procedure below:

1. On PC runs, you can restart the game to minimize time loss because of the load time issue.

2. For offline runs, you can quit the game on the menu screen.

   • Mission cleared -> (loading) -> Item confirmation (savedata updated) -> (loading) -> Menu screen (you can quit the game here)

   • You cannot change equipment and save it by going back to the title screen when you restart the game.

   • Moderators check the frame at which "NOW LOADING" disappears, and cut the time the restart took.

3. For online runs, you can quit the game just after you started a new mission.

   • Mission started -> (loading) -> Retreat immediately -> (saving and loading) -> you can quit the game after the savedata was updated.

   • You cannot change equipment after savedata was loaded and before starting the next mission.

   • Moderators check the frame at which "START MISSION" emerges, and cut the time the restart took.

4. The numbers of restarts allowed are as follows

   • All Missions (1 Player, Online, AP999 Inferno): 10 times

   • DLC Mission Pack 1 (1 Player, Online, AP999 Inferno): once

   • DLC Mission Pack 2 (1 Player, Online, AP999 Inferno): once

   • Mission 1-41 (AP999 Inferno): 3 times

   • Mission 42-83 (AP999 Inferno): 3 times

   • Mission 84-110 (AP999 Inferno): 3 times

5. Taking breaks during restarts is not allowed.

6. Please note where you restarted the game in the comment section.

7. For online runs, you must post other players' videos as well.

Thank you for your opinion.

Don't we need to allow a restart for DLC Mission Pack runs considering runners having worse load issues?

I confirmed that there are 4 loads per mission. Calculating load time of PS runs from the posted videos is not impossible I think, but it needs some compromise about time.

If the load time is calculated by checking the video frame by frame, the error accumulates depending on the frame rate of those videos, and it can go up to several seconds after more than 100 missions.

in my opinion allowing restarting the game and cutting the time restarts take is the best compromise.

So I agree with you.

I made a draft of the rules.

1. On PC runs, you can restart the game to avoid the load time issue.

2. You can restart on the menu screen.

   • Mission cleared -> (loading) -> Item confirmation (savedata updated) -> (loading) -> Menu screen (you can restart here)

   • You cannot change equipment and save it by going back to the title screen when you restart the game.

   • Moderators check the frame at which "NOW LOADING" disappears, and cut the time the restart took.

3. The numbers of restarts allowed are as follows

   • All Missions: 5 times

   • AP999 Inferno Mission 1-41: once

   • AP999 Inferno Mission 42-83: once

   • AP999 Inferno Mission 84-110: once

   • AP999 Inferno Mission All Missions: 5 times

4. Taking breaks during restarts is not allowed.

5. Please note where you restarted the game in the comment section.

Any thoughts and suggestions?

And do you have the same issue on online missions?

I see, so for example about All Mission, something like "you can restart the game 5 times" should work at least.

And I'll take a look at load time of PlayStation version to be sure whether there is something we can do or not.

I'm sorry for the late response.

Based on what I understand about the load time issue it is a constant and consistent degradation ...

So the loading gets slower and slower every time you proceed to the next mission. Hmm it is so complicated to solve.

Perhaps It's easier to modify PlayStation times to be equivalent to 'Time without Loads'.

the only issue left is the point at which I can quit the game to restart it.

Just after the mission started (or if you are certain that you have the load time issue, it can be before the load ends) would be simple, I think.

Example:

1. You cleared Mission N.

2. The game goes back to the menu (and the savedata is updated).

3. You edit the equipment and start the next mission by selecting the difficulty of Mission N+1.

4. Given that you notice here that the load time issue occurred.

5. You restart the game and load the savedata created at 2, and then repeat 3.

6. We can calculate the time loss which is the time from the first difficulty selection on 3 to the second one on 5.

How do you think?

So you can use the dialog skip glitch on PC too, can't you?

if you remove the voice banks from the game folder the game will basically act as if the dialog instantly ends ...

I think manipulating game executables or data is basically a no-no.

Only if problems are unavoidable without manipulating the game, then there is a room for considering it.

This time you confirmed that the dialog skipping works on the PC version as well, so I think we can go without accepting the voice file deletion.

Another thing entirely is that due to PC having various weird issues load times progressively get longer which is resolved by restarting the game ...

Load time means the time during you are waiting for a mission to start, right?

Can't we remove the time for restarting the game from the run?

For example you reboot the game immediately when you noticed the issue occurs, and if it took 30 seconds to restart the game, you can subtract 30 seconds from the resulting time.

Let me hear your opinion.

FYI I'm on my way of reviewing a new game run of all missions.

I would like to add a new yes/no variable to 'Offline 1 Player' leaderboard which shows the run was done using the initial savedata or not. New game runs will be shown together with other runs in the leaderboard, and if you want to see new games runs only, you can filter them.

Rules are as follows:

• Start from the initial savedata
• No pre-order bonus weapons
• Video must include the creation of new savedata slot

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Offline 1 Playerのカテゴリーにニューゲームの記録であるかどうかを示す項目を追加したいと考えています。 順位表にはそれ以外の記録と一緒に表示される予定です。 ニューゲームの記録だけを見たい場合は、フィルターを使うことができます。

ルールは下記のものを考えています。

• 初期データから開始する
• 予約特典武器の使用禁止
• セーブデータ作成を録画に含めなければならない

問題ないと思います。 記録の概要に記入しておいていただければと思います。

No problem I think. It is helpful that you add it to the description of the run.

申請を楽しみにしております。 順位はTime with Loadsで決まるよう変更しました。

Default Timing Method has been changed to 'Time with Load' since we don't have a load remover for console version.

PS4はロード時間を除外する手段が今のところないため、ロード時間を含めたタイムをTime with Loads, Time without Loads両方に入力してください。 順位がTime without Loadsで決まるためフェアとは言えない状況ですが、ご理解ください。

Here's a video of AP999 Inferno Ranger M. 1 - 41 sub5. I made 3 attempts and they were really fun because you can still go fast while you must keep safe. I'll also try WD some day.

Okay, thanks for your opinion. Anyway I will make a video during the holidays (which will be M. 1 - 41, because it's not too difficult). Let's see how it looks like.

There is a runner of EDF4.1 who did AP999 Inferno as Ranger exclusively. The time was 10:45:53 in real time.

"I'm mostly mentioning grinding because I've seen it be an issue on the EDF 4.1 leaderboards"

So would you prefer NG categories? I mean, runs start from empty save file every time. To be honest I don't like the idea because it's much dependent on weapon drops.

"DLC might be an issue for a potentially new runner as it tends to be a common issue in most categories that require DLCs to be ran at a competitive level, it does not affect most of the current runners but I feel like it's still worth mentioning."

If there is a new runner who wants to do Low-Armor Inferno without DLC weapons, then I can add sub-categories.