Hello everyone. :)

This little board has seen a bit of activity lately, and when I created it I really didn't expect tons of people to run it. I think, furthermore though, the activity it has seen is starting to make some of the categories very competitive to the point frame counting (from my side) will be necessary soon. In the past, the final timing was when the box appears, but this was unclear and just when the box literally appeared.

So I think there's two options (and I'll go back and retroactively adjust all the times and also write that into the rules):

1. When the box appears stating you met a population goal, on the first frame, or -
2. When the box finishes drawing on the last frame.

Does anyone have a preference as to where to split?

I would like to hear from everyone before deciding. Thanks!

I slightly prefer option 2 over option 1, but I'm good with whichever. In my later runs I was timing to the first frame you can tell which congrats dialog you are getting... which is sorta in the middle of your two options time-wise.

Having given it some thought, yeah, option 2 seems like it would work. It's kind of like when you first see a confirmation of sorts that you achieved the goal. With my current run, I didn't really have it in mind, but it might've been closer to option 1 then.

Either way is fine but I lean towards option 2.

Option 2 seems better in terms of a visual cue in splitting. Plus, as janglestorm mentioned, it feels like a more complete confirmation of the goal. Option 1 would be fine as well, but I do prefer 2.

Thanks for making it an open question! I'm fine with either option, and I don't have any strong preference.

Ok, thanks for all the replies and feedback!

I'll verify everything new with that rule in mind (was waiting for "everyone" to respond here before verifying everything so I didn't lose track). I'll also update all the old times on the board before verifying the new ones. I feel I've given this enough time to act now.

And thanks in general with the patience with the queue on this game. :D

I understand it's definitely a little clogged while I waited, but I wanted to do things right the first time and not have to retroactively go back and figure out what I changed and what I didn't change and then adjust everyone's time according to what was voted as most preferable.

So, I'll literally download everyone's run, frame count them, adjust them, do the same with the new ones (and maybe make first place for now include milliseconds on each category until top 3 becomes close enough on each one) so if you get close and need to frame count yourself you know what to beat.

I'll likely include top 3 millisconds in general for town as it's competitive to that degree now.

Alright, so lastly:

https://imgur.com/a/loDSdlo < these are the exact frames I'll be using for timing.

There's a 1F fade out (and a convenient frame counter in ShesChardcore's best current town run) that shows that. The first frame of fade out is where I've always timed runs from where it turns the darker shade of green, and the end frame will be as highlighted by that yellow box, when that line on the box finishes drawing, but yeah, these are the exact frames and I'll write them into the rules later.

If you don't know or care about frame counting yourself, just submit runs as-is and I'll do it for you (maybe make a note saying it needs to be frame counted and I'll erase the note after.)

I made an old video last year showing how to frame count if you know the start/end frames of a run if you want to learn how to do it yourself (it's actually quite easy):

Thanks again for everyone's patience and feedback. :)

I'll go do all that stuff now/later and everything should be caught back up after today.

Thank you junkyard dave! I think we all understand that a lot of work goes into verifying runs and modding a board, and we kind of came at you out of nowhere with a ton of submissions, so no worries! Thanks for the communication and transparency.

You're welcome Bokonon!

And ok! I think we all survived the great Sim City queue of 2020. I have:

• Frame counted and adjusted all previous runs.
• Frame counted all new runs.
• Changed the rules to accommodate the new timing.
• Added milliseconds for just the #1 times right now, so you know if it comes close to 1st place what the exact time is to beat. I don't think it's necessary to litter the boards with milliseconds for 2nd/3rd/other times unless they're close and competitive to each other.

I really wanted to do this a couple of days ago, but Speedrun.com kept displaying it was under a lot of pressure and it made editing everyone's runs basically near impossible. Anyway! There is ZERO runs in the queue. I think there was nearly 20 waiting while everyone was voting on how to time this now.

Thanks again for everyone's patience and feedback. :)

Thanks Dave! It was a really fun experience with all of the runners finding new stuff like we did. The evolution of the strats was a sight to behold

Yeah, best time I ever had on Twitch or speedrunning in general myself was sharing games with people, like Kat or a runner most people might not remember or be aware of anymore named Baize. It's always fun when there's a shared interest and competition in the games you run.

The strats evolving were really cool to see. I never expected Metropolis to ever drop that low.

Sub 10 Metropolis will happen. Might not be me but it's on the table for sure.