AntarcticaDownload Livesplit (most commonly used program) or WSplit (my personal choice). If you have a Mac, your only option is Llanfair.
Once you have it downloaded, you can run it and customize it's look and feel as you choose by exploring all of the settings an options (there are way too many to list here, but Livesplit is by far the most customizable). Once you do that, you simply add splits by right clicking on the program and choosing the Edit Splits/New Splits option. Then you put in whatever splits you want.
After that you can do save/save as to save the split file somewhere so you can always re-open those splits.
[QUOTE]The general consensus on this seems to be that a run is considered “tool assisted” if it cannot be done with the physical console, the original game, and a regulation controller (one that came bundled with the system). [/QUOTE] Some games have emu only categories that exist because emu does weird things to a game that console does not that allows for various things to be possible (Link's Awakening DX ACE as an example). These types of runs are not tool assisted, but are usually given a Misc. category due to their limitation of being emu only.
Also, 3rd Party controllers/adapters to use controllers on a different console are fine and do not make a run tool assisted (of course as long as you don't use something like a turbo button on it).
Your definition is on the right track, but not quite exactly it. Original/physical hardware really has nothing to do with a run being tool assisted or not. What makes a run tool assisted is simply using some kind of tool that gives you an advantage over someone playing the game without access to those tools (which is often on physical hardware but not always the case).
As always, the TASVideos definition of Tool Assisted is still the best (http://tasvideos.org/Glossary.html#ToolAssistedSpeedrunTas): A run is a TAS if it uses a tool of some kind. Your post covered the most common examples of what some tools can be.
Maybe I phrased it wrong. What I meant was that for a long time SDA did have the best runs (that people cared to submit anyway) and eventually people moved to their own LBs so more runs could be tracked efficiently in a competitive setting. So the current runs on there might have/probably were the best at some point, but aren't anymore because so many people stopped submitting them to the site.
You're gonna want to ask in the game forums or ask the game mods. They have very quick and accurate ways to frame count the runs, they'll be able to offer advice on how to do it efficiently (as opposed to one of us trying to give you step by step instructions on how to frame count it).
SDA's verification process was also notoriously slow, taking weeks or more to verify submissions.
It just got the point that people wanted to track more than just the best run of a game and wanted to have a place where all runs of all categories could be shown off and so LBs were born through google docs, separate websites and now srcom.
I know the rules say "Use Instant Action", but does it strictly have to be IA levels or can I submit ILs from the campaign?
(I only ask because doing campaign ILs is how I practice for full campaign runs and I was wondering if I can submit those. If not don't worry, but since there are no ILs posted yet I figured I'd ask).
[QUOTE]TAS runs are in a separate category for people with different interests. That is all I am trying to say.[/QUOTE] Wait if all you're trying to say is TAS runs are in a different/separate category, then why the hell has this thread generated 3 pages???
Literally one of the first things someone said is that this run isn't valid because it was tool assisted and should be treated as such.
We've already told you multiple times though why "beating the game as fast as possible" doesn't mean you can abuse mechanics like save states. The definition is complete, you're just trying to give it meaning where there isn't any.
Im honestly not even sure what you're arguing for anymore. You seem obsessed with defining "speedrunning" but to what avail? I doubt there will ever be a more complete definition for it other than "beating games as fast as possible". Sure, there are various restrictions that can be included in HOW you beat the game, but the core is the same - do it as fast as possible.
What you are either ignoring or missing is that beating a game as fast as possible doesn't mean you can circumvent rules. Rules are in place in order to keep competition up among various other things. Part of being competitive is knowing the rules of the competition you're entering. If someone decides to do their own rules, fine, but don't submit anything or act like its okay. At this point you're splitting hairs over a definition of this hobby and I don't understand why or what your end goal is.
It's not my problem if someone didn't have the decency or common sense to check with a moderator of a game before essentially cheating at it. (and before you argue it, using a save state to remove RNG isn't "ingenuity", it's cheating. There is no argument for it be otherwise. Save states to abuse RNG have been known forever, nothing ingenious about it. Using it in an RTA is cheating and slimy, not genius).
[QUOTE]The problem with your assertion that "it is not hard to ask the people of the community what the rules are" is that, first of all, most people only come here ¤after¤ speedrunning on their own by their own rules. Second, when their rules happen to be different from the community's accepted rules (which aren't stated anywhere), the reaction seems to be pessimistic.[/QUOTE] Why would you do a speedrun without first making sure you know and follow the rules? Would you drive a car without first knowing the rules of the road? What you're saying is that it's okay to break the rules because "it's your first time" but that makes absolutely zero sense. You dont do something like this without first making sure you're following the rules, you cant make up your own rules first then decide to use those, that's not how any of this works.
If someone is doing a speedrun, they find out the rules and what is allowed. If they have a question about the legitimacy of something then they ask, it's as simple as that. You don't get to use your own rules simply because its your first run of a game. You should always ask questions before doing something, especially when that something is trying to circumvent RNG by using a save state (something that clearly isn't intended or within the boundaries of console hardware).
[QUOTE]I am going to start asking around and gauging the larger communities to see what they have come up with and try to consolidate at least the major rules and definitions into a single document. At the very least, it would include solid definitions of terms like "tool-assisted" and "any%", which seem to have varied definitions based on community[/QUOTE] This is completely false. Those definitions do not vary based on community. TASing has been around for so long, the definition of Tool Assisted is very well known within the speedrunning community. So is the definition of Any% - beat the game with no restriction. Of course, you can't use features not present within the normal game or normal hardware to "cheat" at Any% like a save state does. These definitions do not vary, they have been defined this way forever. Idk why you think this is a gray area of sorts, this person cheated in a run because they didn't care to ask about the rules. There is no other way to look at it without making some shoddy excuses that have not substance behind them.
That's a question for the mods of the game. I would ask the mod who rejected it directly or make a post in the game's forums/discord server.
They should be able to give you a direct reason (although they should be giving one when it's rejected in the first place, even if it's for some reason they might think is "obvious", but that's another issue).
Huh?
Hour doesn't cap at 23, it goes to 999 too. Unless there is some oddball game(s) that has a limit on it (idk how they would even do that) for some strange reason.
Comments on runs wouldn't serve that big of a purpose and would mostly likely lead to more irritation as opposed to anything else. If I submit a run, I would be beyond annoyed to get a notification for a comment on my video that just says "nice run". Like, I get that's polite to compliment someone, but it would be terribly annoying to get frequently and disabling them would be obnoxious in case anyone does actually have a legitimate question or something.
There is also the problem of spam like Howdenking just mentioned. I could see spam bots would go ballistic on this if it was a thing, but it's not just spam bots. Imagine a run from a big streamer (50k+ followers) - I could easily see all of the stream monsters from their chat going onto their run and spamming copy pasta or memes and blowing up the comments section. This would be annoying for the runner and the moderators to clean up or control.
Also, Im not sure why you think the forums or discord are bad for this. If you find it abnormal to ask run specific questions in either of those, then you have some very rigid forums for your games because I see questions on runs and strats all the time in some forums for games I follow. Most discord servers have channels dedicated to practice and questions and I see run specific questions there hundreds of times a day as people learn the game. It's not like new runners are left in the wind with no resources to turn to.
All in all, I don't see comments providing anything beneficial since if the purpose of them is to just "get help or ask questions" then they seem useless since discord and forums exist already. If the purpose is to just congratulate a runner on a PB/WR, then I see it as unnecessary since it opens the door for so much more spam and abuse for practically no gain.
https://www.speedrun.com/user/hanaira9 https://www.speedrun.com/user/alpha1057code https://www.speedrun.com/user/gfgtgeretrft7 https://www.speedrun.com/user/appleadam137 https://www.speedrun.com/user/safetyorange33 https://www.speedrun.com/user/psycotic101
This has been your daily/nightly cleanse of the Ace Combat forum.
In general using a save state to manipulate RNG is frowned upon and not really allowed since it does provide an unfair advantage and basically limits runs to only being done on emulator or with a flash cart.
If RNG can be manipulated without a save state that's fine, but loading a save state at the start of every run is just kinda lame.
SDA timing is "time starts on gaining control of your character, time ends on last input/losing control of character". SRL timing is "time starts on file select or game start (whenever you leave the opening menu) and ends on last input/losing control of character". RTA isn't really a timing method, it just basically means complete the run in real time. In other words, once your timer starts, there is no stopping it or pausing it until the run is over. There is a timing commonly used by JRPGS that is JRTA timing and that usually means "time starts on console power on, time ends on the words The End".
https://www.speedrun.com/user/ahwzz158 https://www.speedrun.com/user/momon9085 https://www.speedrun.com/user/pards0026 https://www.speedrun.com/user/pards0027 https://www.speedrun.com/user/pards0029 https://www.speedrun.com/user/darkhamcity10 https://www.speedrun.com/user/itc482212 https://www.speedrun.com/user/alpha1000code https://www.speedrun.com/user/redclefairyf9 https://www.speedrun.com/user/hgghftrtrr1 https://www.speedrun.com/user/shawamm https://www.speedrun.com/user/ffdhdfh18 https://www.speedrun.com/user/sootaehyun01
