Hello :)

Thanks for setting up the leaderboard! I'd like to write some thoughts about the run categories since the ruleset seems a little restricted. I think there should be 3 categories for single player - Any% (One gun, quicksave is allowed); Any% 2 Guns (anything goes); Single Segment (no quicksave/quickload, one gun only, no missions fails, no continues). I think it's good when speedrun dot com leaderboard categories reflect what people actually want to run. Also, could we get a background image and a color theme? I like this image here: https://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=876448 and these colors for the theme:

I'd be happy to join as a mod to add this stuff and help arrange the board since I'm the only one running the game

Thanks!

Save states are not a feature of the game. They are an emulator feature which is universally agreed to be cheating. Binding two characters to one input is also something that is only possible through emulator, and is therefore also cheating. What you've proposed is that the leaderboard categories should be cheating, more cheating, and an unnecessary restriction that only changes how one stage is played (which is the only difference between a speedrun and a high-score run).

I don't think anyone else would want to run the game with save states or want to be on a leaderboard that allows them. I don't think it would even occur to anyone else that that would ever be allowed on a speedrun leaderboard.

Thanks for your response :)

I can see where you're coming from. Both the save state and the 2 Gun system are features of emulator, but there is also a problem with emulating the aim of a lightgun on emulator that causes the shot to land far from where the cursor is when firing and the 2 Gun system and quicksave seem like a balanced fix for that (QS/QL is slow btw and it's obviously still best to just do it right the first time). You also have to do double damage to certain targets in the game when you use the 2 Gun system. Since the game is far more likely to be run on emulator than on an arcade machine, I think we should at least represent runs that take full advantage of what the emulator experience provides. I'm not saying that it's the only way or even the best way to run the game, but I ran what seemed like the most fun to run as a speedrunner who has run a lot of games and I do believe that runs of this nature should at least be represented here since this is the de facto place to host speedruns of games. Maybe an Unrestricted category would be a good fit, or separating Emulator and Hardware runs. I'll definitely run the game again using the Single Segment ruleset (1 Gun, no QS, no mission fails like what Any% does in the jewelry heist, and no Continue if 3 hits are taken). I'm trying to get my Sinden lightgun to work with the game, but no luck so far. I imagine lightgun (if it can be calibrated to be accurate) will be the best way to play the game, like what you'd have with real hardware. I think sub 15 might be possible with 2 Guns so I'll run that again too since that's the most fun run of the game without lightgun (2 Player with two cracked players on accurately calibrated lightguns would be faster than 2 Guns).

I love this game and I just want to do speedruns man

The reason your aiming isn't accurate isn't because emulators are incapable of mapping mouse positions to light gun. It's because you haven't calibrated the light gun. If emulators weren't capable of running the game well, the solution wouldn't be to allow cheating. The solution would be to ban emulator runs.

By the way, the term "single segment" is redundant. A segmented run is when someone splices multiple parts of a run to make one video. A single segment run is just any actual speedrun. What you're describing is a 1cc (1 credit clear), but without being able to fail a stage which is totally arbitrary.

Thanks for your response again :)

If you actually watched the runs I submitted you would know that I did try to calibrate the mouse input to make it accurate, but it hasn't had any effect on the performance in the game (I read online that others have had this issue when emulating Sega Naomi). Single Segment is a name used in several speedrun categories specifically to denote exactly what I meant, which is a run that does not allow quicksaves and one that typically does not allow game over or continue. In the arcade context 1 Credit Clear can also be used, and it is not at all arbitrary since it's a demonstration of skill beyond the normal means of finishing a game (ie it may be slower in some games, like this game, to do 1CC).

"The solution would be to ban emulator runs" - I don't even know what to say to that. This website has been made for hosting/documenting speedruns of video games and I think it's very important that we don't lose sight of that. The chances of finding a Sega Naomi system equipped with this game are rare at best. Banning emulator is like saying "I don't want runs on this leaderboard", although the hyper-restricted ruleset, your dismissive responses, and the fact that you haven't even set up a color theme or anything here already kind of says that anyway. Oranges man I respect you for the runs you've done and for the care you've taken for the other games you mod. Can we not find some compromise here to expand the categories to better reflect what people are actually likely to run?

I'm not going to add a category that allows save states. 99.9% of moderators on this website would say the same thing. If you're having tech issues, sort them out before trying to speedrun the game. I've seen multiple videos of people who were able to calibrate the light gun and obviously I've done it myself.