I have compared two of my runs that I used the exact same strategy during.

Time starts the instance you see the word "Loading" begin to appear. Timing ends when you can no longer see the word "loading" (It fades out, so you time it to the end of the fade, not the beginning.)

I am playing on a ps4. To time the run I used a digital stop watch and played the video back at 0.25 speed and then divided the time by 4 to receive the real load time. It's not frame perfect so if times are fairly close then it's considered equal.

Format will simply be.

• Name of load trigger A. (Game A time) B. (Game B time)

If there is many entries from everyone I'll make an excel chart.

• Ch.1 Load In A. 1.82 B. 1.68
• Ch.1 Load Out A. 2.64 B. 2.52
• Ch.2 Load In A. 10.71 B. 10.53
• Scaffolding Load Out A. 3.37 B. 3.37
• Scaffolding Load In A. 16.92 B. 17.05
• Ch.2 Load Out A. 3.32 B. 3.21
• Ch.3 Load In A. 5.32 B. 5.15
• Ch.3 Skip Load A. 9.08 B. 9.11
• Ch.3 Load Out A. 3.37 B. 3.34
• Ch.4 Load In A. 2.83 B. 2.87

As you can quickly tell, the load times are basically identical with only a couple of places having a very tiny slight discrepancy that won't effect anything in the same console.

I'm interested to see what ps3 is, and what other ps4s would compare to mine.

I think it goes without saying that if all systems are within a certain margin of each other, then merging is the only logical option, and if they are drastically different between the same console, then load times will need to be removed. Both directions are to encourage fairness and inclusionism. (is that even a word? Lol)

Chapter 1 load in was using the pre-loading strat, which is the same one that allows you to skip the first cutscene. By entering the first level and quitting, you could still use Play rather than continue, and the first load time was quite a lot faster as a result. That's why my first load isn't too much slower than yours. Back when I was running, I didn't want to allow myself to skip this cutscene as you don't skip any of the others.

• Ch.1 Load In A. 2.35 B. 4.05 (without pre-loading)
• Ch.1 Load Out A. 3.32 B. 3.31
• Ch.2 Load In A. 19.98 B. 19.53
• Scaffolding Load Out A. Not performed B. Not performed
• Scaffolding Load In A. Not performed B. Not performed
• Ch.2 Mid Level Load A. 1.11 B. 2.27
• Ch.2 Load Out A. 4.16 B. 4.44
• Ch.3 Load In A. 13.11 B. 13.16
• Ch.3 Skip Load A. Not performed B. Not performed
• Ch.3 Load Out A. 4.32 B. 4.51
• Ch.4 Load In A. 9.15 B. 10.35

Very significant difference. Our two comparable averages are 26.655 seconds to 60.395 seconds, a difference of 33.74 seconds. This is not including your scaffolding load in/out or your ch3 skip load as my runs didn't implement them, and assuming I didn't use quick load on ch1 load in as you didn't either, plus adding a random mid level load on ch2 that isn't on PS4.

Pretty safe to assume this gap would be even more significant if including the other loads you use, as my load in times are roughly double yours. On PS3 I can safely tell you that scaffolding load/in isn't even close to as fast as actually playing through it.

Like I said, the two consoles are incomparable, as I'm sure the others are too. Will be interested to see data from other PS4 runs, but you cannot have PS3 and PS4 on the same leaderboard while load times are included.

Thank you very much, yeah that is a huge gap. I did use quick load for my chapter 1. Ryan and I discussed skipping the first cut scene for various reasons which are basically. -The game doesn't save when you start the game, if you close it, you can't skip it again. It's just part of the menu code.

• The game doesn't save any progress on a server, we tested this by doing it offline. Therefore there is no data being stored and technically, you're still using a completely fresh save when you skip the first cutscene. -Other games allow set up before the run as well as long as it's a fresh save before you start. Final fantasy for example you set up your next seed before starting.

I also noticed that even in your own console, your times are significantly different in some places where as mine were almost identical. Like for example your chapter 3 load in is 1 whole second difference.

I think keeping separate lists is probably just the best course of action.

Are you going to run this game again?

I intend to run it again, yes. Potentially on both platforms? But it won't be for a little while, as I'm working on other things at present.

We'll have a bunch of new strats soon enough anyway. :p it's best to just wait so your time doesn't become obsolete.