Inverness, ScotlandI'm not sure when this change was made, but the platform column is gone on a leaderboard I moderate: https://www.speedrun.com/fffct
There's only one platform to choose from for this game (DS), but I'd still like the platform column to be visible to indicate which runs were performed on emulator. Could this functionality please be restored?
I have been involved in Pokémon speedrunning for about 8 years, and I recall @starcrytas being banned from PSR leaderboards too. His runs were in multiple parts, and I distinctly remember an Emerald run of his having a camera pointed at the screen (in an attempt to quash splicing or TAS playback allegations) with audio from his mic, but no sounds coming from the keyboard/controller where there should have been. There were certainly other telltale signs of TAS playback, but I was more involved in running newer Pokémon games, and so I wasn't part of the subset of the community that scrutinised these runs.
Nowadays, the videos of these runs have been set to private on YouTube. Here's another link with a bit of confirmation of the PSR leaderboard ban, in addition to what @AmoebaUK posted on page 5: http://wiki.pokemonspeedruns.com/index.php?title=Talk:Pok%C3%A9mon_Crystal/Times
There's a lack of consistency between how the leaderboards and the Recent Runs pane display relative time (leaderboards say my time and Kaeldori's were set 2 years ago, Recent Runs say 3 years ago). The Recent Runs pane below also says that Crrool's old PB was 6th, when there have never been any more than five runners on the Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales any% leaderboard.
Thanks for fixing the truncation of my name on the leaderboards!
My biggest personal gripe is that my name is cut off when displayed on the leaderboards: 
There's plenty of room there for "GarfieldTheLightning".
They're certainly not inactive. Probably the best way to contact the staff is via the Pokémon Fan Games Discord, which is linked on the sidebar.
That's all there is to it. Maybe you got the first massage after the day rolled over?
Thanks, everyone. I've considered all of your posts, and ultimately I agree with Crrool in that as far as Any% is concerned, the credits are purely an autoscroller. In order to provide a more accurate reflection of the quality of each run on the leaderboard, timing has been switched to RTA, and ends when the screen fades to black before the credits. Thanks again!
I recently found that the credits of Chocobo Tales vary in length depending on the version of the game: JP takes 9:47, NA takes 11:42 and EU takes 13:14. In light of this, I asked Crrool for his opinion on what should be done about timing in light of this, and I also asked the wider speedrunning community for their input since this isn't a popular speedgame (https://www.speedrun.com/speedrunning/thread/5idsy). Crrool and I shared the opinion that since the credits are purely an autoscroller in Any%, it would be a better reflection of each run if timing were changed from IGT to RTA, ending right before the credits began to roll. I enacted this change today, and all Any% runs will be timed in this way from now on.
Note that for 100% Collection, since the credits are an important gameplay segment in that category, timing remains unchanged. If you want an optimal 100% run, it is suggested that you run on the Japanese version of the game.
The game in question is Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. There isn't much of a community for this game, so I figure I'd pick the brains of the wider speedrunning community.
Up until now, I've been timing runs on the leaderboard by in-game time for any%. The in-game timer is accurate to the second, and the nice thing about this is that I can accept runs that don't have a full video. The DS needs a specialist capture modification to record runs, and this is a niche game, so I like being able to accept runs above 3 hours IGT that just show a short video of their final time. I understand that someone could do a segmented run in this case to reduce their IGT, but it's a trade-off I've been willing to make.
Today, I found out that the credits (which are timed in IGT) vary in length depending on the version of the game: JP takes 9:47, NA takes 11:42 and EU takes 13:14. Unlike most games, the credits in Chocobo Tales are a minigame of their own (you tap the o's in the text to get points), so even though the fastest thing to do in any% is not get enough points to get any prizes, it's technically a gameplay segment.
The only other differences that I know of between versions are text differences between languages, and the inability to get promo cards in the NA version (free cards you can get before the story mode starts so that you don't have to collect as many cards in-game to fill out your deck).
In light of this knowledge, I have a few options:
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Keep timing any% runs by IGT, and recommend that runners run on the JP version for the fastest time. This preserves the purity of the run at the expense of putting Western runners off unless they import another version.
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Change any% timing to RTA up to when the game fades to black just before the credits, and remove shoesockgaming's run from the leaderboard since they don't have a video of their complete run. This goes a long way towards equalising different versions, but removes a gameplay segment from timing.
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Take a fixed amount of time off a runner's final time based on how much time they lost to JP version credits. It feels more "fake" than option 2 to me, but I would be able to keep shoesockgaming's run because I can tell that it was done on the NA version.
I'm not clear at all on which option is the best right now, so I'd appreciate your thoughts!
It's difficult to predict what effect the Expansion Pass will have on the leaderboard before its release. The free update that went live on Thursday has no effect on the speedrun, so there won't be any change based on that.
Historically, how post-game categories have been handled by the Pokémon speedrunning community has depended on runner interest. For example, Elite Four Round 2 is a main category in Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, but not in Pokémon Black/White. The reason for this is that people are more interested in the additional content that is involved in OR/AS, but even then, it took two-and-a-half years for Elite Four Round 2 to be added to the leaderboards because that's how long it took for several runners to become interested enough to route and run the category seriously.
For Pokémon Sword/Shield specifically, there are a few possible category ideas that have been floated around (I think the one that people are currently most interested in is Catch 'Em All), and if interest progresses to routing and then runs, then these categories can be seriously considered for the leaderboards. If it's too early to determine what future categories that can be completed in the current version of the game have on the leaderboards, it's definitely too early to have any idea about categories based on unreleased DLC.
[quote=GarfieldTheLightning][quote=GarfieldTheLightning]I'd like to request that DSi be added to the site as a platform. The reason I ask is that games with DSi-enhanced features (e.g. Pokémon Black/White) load slower on DSi compared to the regular DS. Recently, a run performed on DSi was submitted to a different Pokémon leaderboard, so it would be good to pre-empt a submission to a leaderboard where the platform choice has notable speed implications by adding DSi as a platform.[/quote] What's the verdict on this?[/quote] A response would be much appreciated.
[quote=GarfieldTheLightning]I'd like to request that DSi be added to the site as a platform. The reason I ask is that games with DSi-enhanced features (e.g. Pokémon Black/White) load slower on DSi compared to the regular DS. Recently, a run performed on DSi was submitted to a different Pokémon leaderboard, so it would be good to pre-empt a submission to a leaderboard where the platform choice has notable speed implications by adding DSi as a platform.[/quote] What's the verdict on this?
I'd like to request that DSi be added to the site as a platform. The reason I ask is that games with DSi-enhanced features (e.g. Pokémon Black/White) load slower on DSi compared to the regular DS. Recently, a run performed on DSi was submitted to a different Pokémon leaderboard, so it would be good to pre-empt a submission to a leaderboard where the platform choice has notable speed implications by adding DSi as a platform.
Either uncheck "Appear on Streams page while streaming" in your settings, or put "[nosrl]" in your title.
You can use this lua script by MKDasher with any gen 4/5 game on emulator: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qx2fo1zc44p1jr7/Pokemon%20Gen%204-5%20Lua%20script.rar
Press 1 to change game mode, 0 to toggle between top and bottom screen, 3/4 to change mode (party, enemy etc.), 7/8 to change party slot.
I did a run, commentated and hosted. This was my first time at any live speedrunning event.
I'm pretty shy, so I didn't socialise as much as I perhaps would have wanted to, but I felt a lot more comfortable as the event went on, so if I were to attend again I would be more social (and try out Mafia!). I don't think this is a failing in the event at all, just to be clear. Everyone I met was very friendly!
I liked the event space. Hall A was nice and cool, which is great while you're running since you don't get sweaty hands. There were plenty of chairs, and Hall A was bustling without being cramped. Hall B was a fair bit emptier, so I'm not sure that space was utilised to its full potential. We probably needed the space, though. I filled up my water bottle a lot, and appreciated the water fountains. I used the kitchen (where the second stream was located) a fair bit, and there was no washing-up liquid or dishcloth as far as I could see. Plenty of paper plates, though!
Mass housing was really good for me! I was able to sleep fine in there. It was cold on the second night, but other than that it didn't feel too cold. I did lose my glasses in the mass housing toilets, but I don't know whether to blame the cleaning staff or an attendee for that. The info kiosk didn't handle that issue very well - only one person seemed to know who cleaned the mass housing toilets, and it took me four visits before I was told to contact ESA staff. The showers in Fortnox Arena were fine. I'm glad no-one took my towel!
Eating options were fine. I hardly felt the Burger King delivery was necessary seeing as how Max Burger was so close. The food kiosk was exorbitant, though. I used it for the first few days before realising that pretty much anywhere else offered better value for money.
My run went well. I used Jinny's 3DS because it was already plugged in and they had the capture software for it installed, which was absolutely fine. I wasn't used to sitting in that kind of chair, so I couldn't mash buttons the way I usually do (resting the 3DS on my leg) but it is what it is. Audio balance was perfect. I felt the hosts were a bit inattentive; there was a 3-minute cutscene where I mentioned that it'd be a great time for donations, and I was greeted by silence. There was also a point during a battle where I was asked whether it was a good time for donations, I told them to hold on, then after the battle I said "You can read that donation now" and was ignored for over 30 seconds. I wasn't really sure whether or not to say anything, and it made me feel a little silly.
For Epicdudeguy's Pokémon Sapphire run, the delay happened because tech didn't want to use component or something (I don't have much knowledge about this), and the setup they tried didn't work. So another GameCube was sourced and they set up Game Boy Interface, which mapped Select to the wrong button on the GameCube controller. In the end we did get the first GameCube working (not sure if tech tried their setup again or fell back on Epicdudeguy's component setup). I was worried for a second that tech would refuse to switch back from GBI for video quality reasons, but I'm really glad they switched back because I'm sure the quality of the run would have suffered otherwise.
Hosting was fun! I felt like there was plenty for me to say as host, and it felt pretty natural talking about games, the charity, or other stuff. Were there supposed to be prizes for donating, though? If there were, I didn't hear anything about them, and it was only afterwards where I wondered if I was supposed to have mentioned prizes. The PayPal donation issue sucked, but I'm sure people know about that by now. I also did not appreciate other people (who weren't hosting at the time) using the hosting station as a place to shoot the breeze. It was distracting, and there are plenty of spaces in the venue where you can go to have a chat. This was distracting as an audience member, too.
I gather that for the most part, the stream went smoothly. However, when it did go down, communication could have been better. I was watching SSBMstuff running Ape Escape, and the stream went down. Tech clearly knew the stream was down, as the timer was paused. However, Saboom kept playing for a good 30 seconds. Why wasn't he told that the stream went down? Neither the hosts nor tech stepped in for a remarkably long time. When the stream went down for GTAIV, I said that the stream was down as soon as I noticed, and tech thought it was still up, so I'm not sure what happened there.
Overall, I had loads of fun! It would depend on how financially stable I feel, but I would like to attend again in the future!
EDIT: Forgot to mention technical details about hosting. The Stream Deck was really easy to use, and I'm glad we had it! Donation incentives should have been in game order to make things easier. Overall I found the setup pretty intuitive.
