Leaderboard Status

I am pleased to announce that the leaderboard for Red Dead Redemption is now open for run submissions on PC. Despite the date set for the 28th November in this post, an unexpectedly smooth transition to PC in terms of testing the new timing method, autosplitting and in general the game itself has allowed me to waste no time in having the board open now.

What's New?

There are a couple of changes made to the leaderboard:

• Load Removed Time (LRT) is now the main timing method for PC runs. Consoles will still use RTA only.
• A subcategory has been created to separate PC and Console runs. This is a decision I had to make despite announcing that wouldn't happen before to make rankings as fair as possible.

New Rules

There are going to be some new rules when it comes to submitting runs on PC, both applying to anyone going for the world record and everybody else. These rules must be followed as soon as this post is made and will be updated in time. Here is what is happening:

Applies to Everyone

The in-game FPS limit is 144 frames per second. You must limit your framerate to, at most, 144 frames per second.

Runs will now use the “Time Without Loads” (loadless) timing convention, which means it measures the real time that has passed from start to finish, minus loading times. Acquiring this time is accomplished by using the load time removal tool which is integrated with LiveSplit. You will need to use this tool in order to have an accurate time for the “Time without loads” column on the leaderboard. You can find the “Alternate Timing Method” here - https://livesplit.org/components/. Once properly installed, it can be added to your layout just like any other component. It’s found under “Information” in the layout editor. This timer must be clearly visible at all times during the broadcast and submitted proof video. I also highly recommend having an RTA time present in the video in order to save time with submissions in terms of having to have them re-timed.

Memory monitoring tools are outright banned. If you're using a tool which monitors the game's memory to provide you some sort of information, your run will be rejected. There are going to be exceptions to this rule, which are the following:

• Auto-splitters (starting/ending the run, splitting on mission start/end only)
• Loadless Timers

Because of how stable the PC port is, any and all mods are banned. Downgrading the game to its original version will be allowed.

Applies to only those going for the world record

• An FPS monitor must run while the speedrun is taking place and this same FPS monitor must be clearly visible at all times during the broadcast and submitted proof video.
• The FPS monitor must be of appropriate size and color.
• If you give your FPS monitor its own background (text background), make sure the font color contrasts well with this background.
• If the FPS monitor is not shown, even for a few seconds, at any point during the video, measures will be taken in regards to the legitimacy of the proof video.
• As long as the FPS achieved does not go beyond the limit of 144, any and all tactics used to achieve a higher/lower frame rate are allowed to be used prior to the run beginning, as well as during the run (hotkey toggling on/off the following: overclocking, underclocking, frame limiting, resource intensive processes (example: toggling on the recording feature in your streaming software, which will record at an extremely high quality, thus reducing your FPS for the duration of the recording, etc.), as long as the game's files are not modified in the process.
• You are allowed to have multiple FPS limiting tools running at once (i.e., you can have a program like RivaTuner limiting the FPS to 144, while also having a program like Bandicam prepared to lock the FPS to a lesser value when needed)
• RivaTuner can be acquired here -> https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/rtss-rivatuner-statistics-server-download.html

Closing Statement

For those of you waiting for this update, thank you for the patience. I would like to stress that the Undead Nightmare leaderboard is still CLOSED until further notice. That board will have its own update. Feel free to ask me any questions either here, the discord server or private message. Thank you for reading.

It's... Real?

Yes, the long awaited PC version of Red Dead Redemption is coming on the 29th October. Upon the release, there will be a 30 day leaderboard embargo period that allows me and anyone that is remotely interested in this game time to establish rules, strats and glitch hunting/testing. This embargo will last until the 28th November and will NOT apply to consoles, so runs can still be submitted on anything else other than PC. The current ruleset will still be considered during this period.

What's New?

There will be a change in the timing rules, with Load Removed Time (LRT) becoming the default timing method. The reason I decided to push for this change is because it gives everybody an even playing field in regards to load times, no matter what kind of machine is running the game. An autosplitter will hopefully be introduced so that there's no more manual splitting, creating the opportunity for more accurate community golds and in general more accurate times for speedruns. As I type this, Mattmatt has kindly offered to create both a load remover and autosplitter. Be sure to keep an eye out for updates on this. If for some reason, LRT cannot be established after the embargo, then RTA will contiune to be the default timing method.

What Is Happening With The Leaderboard?

Understandably, a few questions were asked regarding the leaderboard and the state it will be in. It would be too long of a post to go over everything so I will bring up the main points. Please note that these will apply to the leaderboard when the PC embargo is lifted but some are subject to changes.

• There will be NO seperate leaderboard for the PC version. I've always been a firm believer in maintaining a simple ranking of all sorts of platforms in which whatever is fastest is fastest, considering that PC is once again another port of other versions just reaffirms my stance on this because there won't be much difference in regards to the other platforms. If something were to happen that completely changes the way this game is played, then this can be a thought for the distant future.
• PC and consoles will never be seperated into different categories. Once again I state that whatever is the fastest platform is fastest. I do not believe in world records for every console or machine possible - you can literally filter these out anyway just so you know ;). Not much else to say here apart from the above bullet point.
• External frame limiter programs, such as Rivatuner will be allowed for use. Since this is an old game that is heavily framerate dependant, it will most likely be a necessity for use in order to lock framerate to a certain value to prevent game breaking bugs/glitches etc.

Closing Statement

If you have any questions regarding the leaderboard or just anything in general, feel free to ask in the Red Dead Discord or you can drop me a message, just find my Discord through my speedrun.com profile or the server. Thank you for reading.