Application for a Leader-board restructure and new run category sets with sample any% run videos at game Mods request To be reposted with timing screenshots on the COC discord
Please note: Apologies for the long post, but I have had a lot of time to think this through, having been planning this category over several months during 50+ practice and trial runs. I have tried to cover as much detail to eliminate any obvious issues or exploits, and answer as many questions as possible.
I will welcome any comments, or issues raised that I may have overlooked. I have been active in the game community and fully expect some extended discussion with the mods on discord before any changes are made, as there has been a lot of disagreement in the past around the broader subjects.
BTW I’ve been into watching all kinds of Speedruns since AndrewG’s SMB runs first broke through to mainstream, and I love playing Clash, 8 years in March 21! I never thought I would put them together and start running, and everything I’m suggesting is honestly intended for the long-term good of the game.
New Run Category Request
Let’s start by considering what makes a “Pure Speedrun”, as seen in the main category for almost every other game on SRDC: 1 Start at the start of the game. 2 Play to the end as fast as you can (where end = an agreed target)
If we apply this to Clash of Clans, which at its core is a Tower Defence (=Building) game, then logically the only Pure Speedrun CoC can offer must be:
Upgrade Town Hall (UTH) Start a new game account and upgrade the Town Hall to the required level as quickly as possible.
I have suggested the rules, sub categories, and the runs allowed below.
Leader Board Restructure Request
IMHO the runs suggested should become the “Full Game” leaderboard, because in this case it is actually what the player is required to do: play both parts of the full game, attack and build.
The existing full game board could then become a third main separate Attack Leaderboard for the (luck based, manipulated, and much debated) categories it now contains.
I think that the game would then become a much better “fit” and improve its poor reputation within the broader context of SRDC. It’s still not perfect in comparison to most other games, but I think it’s as close as we will ever get.
I would hope to see UTH5Any% eventually becoming the top “Gold Medal” CoC record, as it offers accessibility along with flexibility for finding different strategies, enabling new players to attempt new records for some time to come.
Why do I think it is it the purest run / good for the game?
Anyone can try, at any time, on exactly the same level as the #1 player: just download the game. It’s the same for everyone, every time. No external influence or luck, just the lone players’ skill, knowledge and execution versus the game engine. Multiple Required skills: attacking, resource management, sequencing and planning, execution and timing. The Multiplayer matching scales fairly for all, tracking base development and player’s skill/win rate. It’s very rarely affected by SC game upgrades :-) On trend – more suitable for streaming than watching someone grinding next’s for hours!
This is the sort of run I expected to find when I first looked for CoC on SRDC, there are no building records at all right now; we only have runs for half of the game.
I understand why it was not included at the start on SRDC as CoC was a very different game and difficult to restart back then, strictly 1 account per device, and long before Supercell ID and emulation instances came along. We now have a massive opportunity to change the mindset and attract new players.
It also negates the many pre-run inequalities, optimisations and manipulations which have created tensions within the games’ community, and made many players and ex-mods think speedrunning CoC is broken and unfair:
No need to buy gems, become tempted to use mods, or grind for years to get high level troops for Goblin Levels.
No need to create optimised/customised accounts, cup-drop, use modded private servers or search for hours to match with soft targets for Finish Battles
No need for multiple accounts or instances to engineer / organise a clan for 60%War
Rules – Upgrade Town Hall Any% Runs: Tutorial/TH2, TH3, TH4, TH5
1 Start a new game account and upgrade the Town Hall to the required level as quickly as possible. 2 Timing starts on the frame the player takes control on the “Hello Chief” screen. Timing ends on the first frame the required town hall level is visible on screen. 3 Paid-for Purchases of Gems or Special Offers etc; and purchasing gold and elixir with gems are banned. 4 Only earned in-game Gems from Removing Obstacles, Achievements, and the Gem Mine; and Gold and Elixir from Collectors, Mines, Multiplayer & Bonuses, Single Player and Practice Attacks are allowed. 5 Gem use for boosting barracks, finishing building upgrades, and finishing troop training is allowed. 6 Rebuilding and upgrading the Builder Base and Clan Castle are allowed, but creating or joining a Clan is banned. 7 Creating a Supercell ID, Linking to Google Play, Facebook or Supercell Friends, etc is banned as it could reveal personal information. 8 Runs which gave an unfair advantage during short-term special events, using temporary special troops, or any other special offers e.g. Anniversaries, Halloween, Xmas, 1 gem boosts, etc. are not allowed. No mods, hacks or private servers. Moderators’ decision is Final.
POSSIBLE SUB-CATEGORIES
Rules – Upgrade Town Hall 100% -runs: TH3, TH4 As any% except first line, remove “Builder Base” from line 6
1 Start a new account and upgrade the Town Hall to the required level as quickly as possible. All available buildings and troops must have started upgrades to their maximum available levels before the final Town Hall level is completed. Laboratory and Builder menus showing no upgrades available must be shown in video.
Rules – Upgrade TH AttackAny% Runs: TH3, TH4, (TH5?) As any% except first line, remove “Single Player and Practice Attacks” from line 4. (No TH5 = remove Builder Base from line 6)
1 Start a new account and upgrade the Town Hall to the required level as quickly as possible. Only Multiplayer attacks are allowed. All Single Player and Practice Attacks after the two completed during the tutorial are banned.
Notes:
Sorry #1 to the Moderators, I know you’re only used to checking sub-2m runs!
Sorry #2 that there is no TH5 video yet, I really want to try a run but it’s been personally difficult for me to find a long enough time window for a first attempt, never mind grinding trial runs to optimise the time.
For practical reasons the category must be limited to TH5. If you go any higher the run times would be impossibly excessive to record, upload and moderate as the upgrade times/available gems gradient becomes too steep. This will also exclude the Season Challenges and other new features which open at TH5, preventing the rules from getting too complex.
I expect UTH5Any% to take around 4 to 4 ½ hours to begin with, getting closer to 3 ½ when optimised. I have done it in a day several times in the past (when short of clan war numbers!), with about that amount of play time, but split over 3 or 4 sessions and taking breaks while upgrades ran down.
UTH5 100% opens builder base, which would just take too long, stop at TH4. UTH5 AttackAny% no idea! I personally would leave it off for now and see how the runs go...?
Tutorial/TH2 is always the same so it only needs to be in one category, if at all. It takes longer to setup a new instance than to run it. TBH it’s just pure execution, whoever can tap the fastest, but it is a nice short sub-2 m run if people wanted to keep shaving the .001ms. I could probably save a second or two just by playing on touchscreen instead of dragging a mouse, someone younger and twitchier will smash it!
Builder Base is definitely required to earn enough gems from obstacles and achievements to complete TH5, and also completes the category title as a part of the full game; so it must be included. However, it is unsuitable for its own separate records unless played without any gemming allowed, as players could easily manipulate the game e.g. stockpiling before rebuilding the boat. I don’t really see any popularity for in it in isolation if you have to start with zero gems or wait out all the upgrades.
If these requests are accepted I might try a few more runs to get UTH4Any% closer to my personal target of 25m, and maybe a th5 if I get a chance during the holidays, but I don’t intend to run the rest of the categories myself, I need a break from this one for now!
Oh ....... and finally, if you think I’m completely crazy or just greedy for more #1’s, then try and do it faster ;-) I have tried to set reasonably challenging times, but I know all these runs have plenty of errors and are beatable, let’s see who is good enough! CLASH ON!
Video links: Played on PC EMU: Windows 7/Bluestacks4/OBS Studio screen capture Timings@60 fps: https://somewes.com/frame-count/
#UTH2Any% 1m 57s 633ms
#UTH3Any% 8m 58s 133ms th2 split: 2m 05s 367ms
#UTH4Any% 26m 41s 933ms th2 split : 2m 02s 500ms th3 split : 11m 32s 833ms
#UTH5Any% TBC-4h?
Thanks, I expected any discussions to happen on discord Placed it here to be formal, following the site rules and guidance: https://www.speedrun.com/moderationrules
