Hello again, I just finished my first Max% run recently! (currently uploading lol) Since I've practically done every category (minus the recently added DLC categories), I'm going to be moving on to finding better routes and strats for every level and routing Max% more effectively. With that in mind, there doesn't seem to be a way to submit Undercover Job ILs, which looks like to be the last missing thing from the leaderboards.

The other thing I wanted to mention was that I discovered that there are 2 easter eggs in MM3 that I never knew about! One of which has the potential to change all of the speedrun categories. In the DC map, if you go to the Lincoln Memorial and look up towards it for a bit, the game puts on an old timey filter, but most importantly it speeds up the game SIGNIFICANTLY. Not just the car, but the entire game. From my testing, it continues working even if you exit out of the map and go into another race, taking off the filter however, which is definitely not a big deal lol. The effect goes away if you reset the console. My questions regard on how this could effect all the speedruns, both full game and ILs, since it's such a significant gameplay "advantage". I only put quotes since it's really hard to control especially with the fastest cars in the game. I'm not sure if it should be it's own category variable since it changes so much, or if it should be banned. However I will argue that it could be used in niche cases where you're controlling really slow cars and then be "turned off" by resetting the console, which can add more depth to the speedruns. You could theoretically just turn it on immediately and play every level like that for the most optimal run, but honestly I don't see that happening anytime soon. Let me know your thoughts!

Also I left the video where I found the easter egg to show how it looks, but I also recommend watching it full it's great!

Oh, wow. Funny Easter egg but kinda a pain in this case… IMO it looks to be intentional. Normally I would be against banning intentional game design, but in this case it would just make it, so every full game run is faster with this exploit.

Question: Does this also affect the in game timer? In that case for ILs it would just be pointless.

And detecting if this Easter egg was used is pretty easy because it just doubles game speed. Which is pretty easy to catch.

So for me the solution would either be adding a variable (another one…) or just banning using this Easter egg to avoid having so many category splits.

For now, if anyone uses it in runs I'll leave it in the queue till we (I say “we” but probably I) will decide what to do with this.

Also, to answer the question about undercover job ILs. I have thought about adding those but thought maybe it oversaturates the level leaderboard a bit. I'll think about it a little bit, but I might add them later this week.

From my testing, it does not effect the timer, which is weird since everything else in the game including the backgrounds of the menus move faster. So ILs would change if you decide to allow it. I do agree that since its intentional, that it should be allowed in runs. To avoid more category splits, I think it should be a variable that can be checked if it was used or not, but making it to where it's still the same category. The Mario Wonder leaderboards have something like that (showing if yoshi/nabbit is used) if you need an example. I also made a video showing the comparisons in the timer, and some vehicle comparisons as well. From using the Koenigsegg CC as shown in the video, it is really hard to control, you glitch through objects more often that you wouldn't normally, you sometimes get stuck in the ground at really high speeds, and you damage out really easily (not sure if it was because I kept crashing into objects more or if you get damaged more easily with the easter egg on). So in my opinion, it should be allowed because you need to be really really skilled to use it in any run, and would have to strategically be use it in places where it would be most optimal. If it does get added, the rules should reflect that, mostly in terms of how you start. It would be the same idea, timing would start on any loading screen start, since if you decide to get the easter egg first you would start on DC cruise first. That's just my opinion though but I hope it gave a better perspective on how you want to precede with this discovery.

Also in regards to the Undercover ILs, it would be the last thing to add to the level leaderboards to have the game's leaderboard fully fleshed out. Unless you wanna add another category or even paintjob ILs LOL, I'm pretty sure that would be the last thing to add on

Thanks for looking into this. Personally, I'm still in favour of banning the Easter egg. But I'll give it some thought over the weekend. But this has given me the needed perspective.

As for the Undercover Job ILs. I'll add them to the leaderboard sometime this week or next week. Should maybe be a good addition. Adding paint job ILs would be pointless in my eyes, so I'll leave those for now.

Thanks again, And I'll get back to you on the Easter egg

Okay after chatting with another MOD that isn't really active any more I've come to a conclusion. I'll make a variable for the ILs so that the sped up runs and the normal runs are split. And it shows the normal runs by default. For the full game runs, the Easter egg would be allowed, but it has to be activated within the time of the run.

So thanks again for pointing it out, and I'll start this/next week with implementing the changes.

No problem, glad to have helped!