Alright since there seem to be more people claiming to run Episode Shadow now and are asking for leaderboards, let's get things a little more organized. Here's what I need from y'all:

• Ruleset suggestions. Can't have a category without rules and now is the time to discuss them. Think timing method (Real time, vs in-game time), New Game vs completed file, etc.
• Links to the runs that have been done to verify that people are seriously running this ~ Please make sure these are properly highlighted, if your run is somewhere in a several hour long streamvod or just has a significant amount of other content before the actual run it will be ignored since they would be rejected from the leaderboard anyway.

As for my personal suggestions for the ruleset:

• In-game time as the timing method (in other words, just adding up the times gotten on each stage + any stage restarts). Real time would once again make PC the fastest by loads alone and unlike Any% there's nothing else of value going on in between the stages. This would make the category equal across all platforms
• Both running from new game and running on a completed file allowed. Nothing in the stages actually changes when running on a completed file vs a new game and this would cut out some unnecessary downtime for those that want to.

Discuss away I'd say!

For future reference, if you want to request leaderboards it would significantly benefit your request if you had a lot of this stuff already organized and ready to show along with making the request.

So, starting right off.

Rules can be relatively close to Any%, with some differences. Beat the episode from a new save, or with a pre-completed save. For a new file, time starts when you confirm a new file on the title screen, and time ends when the timer stops after touching the goal in Virtual Reality. Everything after the goal is mashing through cutscenes and textboxes, so this seems like the best place to end it. From a pre-completed file, time can start on pressing A to load the first level (Enemy Territory), and end time the same way as stated above. Note that these rules are all if we include/use RTA.

Hard/Normal difficulties will both still be allowed, no-brainer there. Now for the big differences, RTA and IGT, I personally would go with having both RTA + IGT, but I understand why just IGT would be preferred so I can go with that too. If we're going to allow both ways of going through the run, though (NG and NG+) then we probably should just stick with IGT. IGT timing should be self-explanatory; add up all your total level times (I'm so glad this game doesn't restart/reverse the timer when you die...). If you restart in any level for whatever reason, add the time before the restart on top of the time you got in the level(s) after the restart.

For reference, here's my Episode Shadow PB as of this posting:

That's everything I can think of.

Gonna voice my opinions on this: If this were to be done RTA with "either" a completed file or a new file would bring inconsistencies, so I feel it would be best to go with IGT, which promotes competition and eliminates the difference that PC would make in such a short category and also promoting the idea of playing optimally to get the best time you possibly can.

For Normal/Hard, it doesn't seem to be any major differences so I also believe that both should be allowed. Even if it ends up that normal is faster for a reason such as using invincibility frames to get through certain obstacles faster, having both options would give runners more choice and not force them to play on X difficulty unless they want to be competitive.

Edit: Also, as for showing times with splits, I feel it is not necessary to show splits since the total time is only adding up 3 IL times together which is relatively easy to check. However, if people want to show splits then it is okay too i feel.

Just my kinda rambling thoughts, interested in what others think.

Agree with Cyds Rules Ingame Time is way better to time it then just having real time other consoles should atleast have some chance to compete

Proof of people running:

Adding it all up? At that point there is no reason to make it all an Episode Shadow run at that point. PC has an advantage in the regular run as well, so I don't see why we don't just make it all one run anyway instead of just adding in game stages together. I suggest finding 1 start point lets say entering the Ep Shadow part, and ending it after third stage ring is hit

Except there is a point, because the entire idea is to do them all in 1 sitting which would be a rule? Whether you're adding up real seconds or in-game seconds doesn't matter there and I'd rather include as many people as possible since there's nothing worthwhile happening outside of the actual stages. Weak argument for Real time tbh.

I mean it wouldn't really disclude anyone. If adding the real seconds and in game seconds doesn't matter then doing real time shouldn't be a problem at all

Alright this thread has been up long enough for people to get their opinions in. It seems most people are on board with In-Game Time for the purpose of having no loading disadvantage for any of the consoles, so that will be the timing method going forward (I'll retime the current runs linked in this thread when I make the boards). I'm gonna go ahead and say no to the ideas of Real Time as main timing method or using both, because the only thing it really tracks that Game Time doesn't is "who has the faster loads". The current ruleset will look as followed:

• Complete the 3 stages of the Episode Shadow DLC.
• Both running from a new game and running from a completed file are allowed.
• In-Game Time is to be used for this category. Add up your final stage of every stage. If you restarted a stage, add up the time you spent in the stage up untill the restart too.
• The run must be completed in 1 sitting with minimal time spent in between stages.

If there's any last minute points y'all would like to bring up now would be the time, I'll make the leaderboard tomorrow. It'll be under misc for now, if it consistently gets a lot of traffic I'll move it to main. I'll leave the thread up afterwards as the go-to thread for discussion of the category.

Does it have to be recorded from a dazzle or screen recorder? I don’t have either of those and I can’t use the screen recorder because I have the Switch version. My phone has a good camera so it might work.

As long as your recording isn't completely unwatchable, it doesn't matter how you get your footage :)

Sayuri is correct. As long as we can tell what's going on you can record with whatever you've got.