BulgariaFor a while we've used frame-accurate timing for top times in the SotN community. A while ago we also started removing loads for certain categories to combat performance differences.
I've made this tool to make the process of doing that faster and easier without the need to download anything. But unfortunately the process is not ideal and not precisely accurate.
You can find the tool here: Segmented Timer
And a short video instruction here: How to use the Segmented Timer tool
EDIT: I made an issue request to the youtube team and they responded that they will not adjust their API to increase accuracy of the reported current time. This means that the only way for the timing to be accurate is to request the runner to provide the exact framerate, since they both don't have a visible framerate in their API and even if they did it would be rounded. My desire was for this to replace the need for yt-dl and avidemux, but it seems like it won't happen.
I suggest some slight changes to run timing conventions and definitions. I've edited this guide to my proposal: https://www.speedrun.com/sotn/guide/eho60
This includes a change in how we define loadless timing to better suit how we do it. Instead of defining the loading period, I think it is better to define the gameplay segments.
I've made a tool that can hopefully help make the process of timing runs with or without loads less cumbersome: Segmented Timer
Additionally I think it makes sense to round milliseconds to the second decimal point since encoding and capture methods make the thousands effectively meaningless.
It has been years since the feature was added and a majority of games are using it to organize leaderboards. It is downright inexcusable that there is still no routing set up for them, considering how much this impacts navigation on the site.
Oops I forgot to publicly share this when I left. Here are the old verification guidelines I made a while back for reference. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d71jr1UkLyGC7j63syY3kmzYzBTzxWzSkeNlRXwSbp0/edit?usp=sharing
Playstation emulation has always suffered from inconsistency, inaccuracy and performance issues. We have kept the restrictions to a minimum for the longest time to accommodate for people with low-end systems and keep it as accessible as possible. That said emulators have come a long way and we have been testing them.
At the center of the problem lies ePSXe, which is unfortunately both the most popular one to newcomers and the most inconsistent/inaccurate one. Thus far it has been allowed because it has been the most stable performing option for people with slow computers.
This is where Bizhawk and Mednafen come in. Bizhawk is a multiplatform emulator designed for accuracy and TAS. It can be a bit inconsistent on the performance end, but for everything except low end systems it is stable and accurate. Mednafen is actually the origin of the core that Bizhawk uses, but it is a much more minimalistic emulator, so it is very light to run and works on weak PCs.
The proposed new rule is to restrict all Playstation emulation to exclusively Bizhawk and Mednafen, which was already done for Sega Saturn a few months ago. While it can be argued that this creates restrictions, I would say that it will be much easier to just create two exact guides to set the emus up, instead of having to explain directions for every one individually.
When it comes to competition there aren't really any concerns, all the current top emulator runs are either done on these platforms or can be beaten on them. Current runs that are using epsxe, psxjin, etc. will of course stay up and verified.
What are your thoughts on this matter?
We want to change the timing for a single category (variable subcategory) to loads-removed on a leaderboard without affecting the others. We also want to keep track of RTA for it. From the looks right not it is not possible to use the built-in feature for just one category and turning it on for the whole game seems to reportedly have some catastrophic consequences due to poor implementation.
What would be the best solution for this without risking bricking the whole board? Would enabling IGT and using that field work? How does timing priority work? I don't want to turn it on just to test it. I am also hesitant to do so in case all the current times, which are RTA, get irreversibly shifted over to IGT for some reason. Safest bet seems to be for us to use the time field for the load-removed times and put RTA in the comments, though obviously not being presented very well.
Just caught user jolop trying to pass off a stolen run as his own in a submission. I see that they have some runs on this board and the yt channel is only 2 weeks old, so I wanted to let you know.
Just caught user jolop trying to pass off a stolen run as his own in a submission. I see that they have some runs on this board and the yt channel is only 2 weeks old, so I wanted to let you know.
Just caught user jolop trying to pass off a stolen run as his own in a submission. I see that they have some runs on this board and the yt channel is only 2 weeks old, so I wanted to let you know.
The version of SOTN in Requiem, the new PS4 release, is pretty much an emulated PAL SOTN from the Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP. It is not the original game, thus categories are separate for it. Additionally it is different and separate from the NTSC version of DXC. The game itself is not a very good port, sound can be messed up and color representation is poor. The lines were rewritten and voice acting was redone.
Currently there is no category for it here, but we will add it if it becomes active.
As some of you may know the Xbox Live Arcade version of the original game has a massive advantage over any Playstation release. This is both due to loading times being longer and graphical lag on PS. We have been tracking both platforms on the same leaderboards since the start.
Some games have used different methods to help level the playing field, I am going to explain why we haven't been using them.
In Game Time : Menuing and pause buffering are actively used in the game and are not measured at all in the IGT. Furthermore IGT does not discard loading times. Game time is also not shown after defeating Dracula.
Load Time Removal or Equalization : This is possible but highly time consuming. In addition this will not account for lag.
The Clock Rush Factor : Due to sub 8 being possible on Playstation platforms any adjustments would need to somehow take that into consideration. How would that even be done for runs that do not hit sub 8? Remove loads up to sub 8? How do we account for clock room jump timing? It becomes a bit of a mess.
Leaderboard Separation : This would be the most practical way to tackle this. The two versions are different enough to warrant that. We haven't done that in order to keep the participation very visible for the categories and have them look full. You can already use filtering to effectively view a Playstation leaderboard. The high-level competitive players are almost exclusively playing on XBLA.
For now there are no plans to change up the way categories are tracked. We will see how the Playstation 4 release may affect this. Do you feel less motivated to participate due to not playing on the optimal version? Would separation change that in any way? Please share any thoughts or concerns you have.
[section=Alucard Zero Bosses] WR 25m28s by Dr4gonBlitz
[section=Alucard Any% ACE/Save Corruption] WR 8m52s by Narcissa, old route
10m19s by nathan7878, new route
TAS by ForgoneMoose, old route
[section=Alucard Low% Wolf] 31m32s by BenAuton
[section=Alucard Pacifist / 0 exp] WR 1h09m15s by 3snow_p7im
[section=Alucard Blindfolded] WR 53m41s by romscout
[section=Alucard Low% Bat] WR 2h22m32s by 3snow_p7im
Here I will summarize some of what has been happening over the last few months and things we have discussed.
[section=Categories] I have archived the categories Low% Wolf and Ace due to severe inactivity and them not being currently competitive. Also neither me nor the rest of the mods here can even remotely verify an ACE run, nor do we frankly want to spend the time to learn that at the moment.
In addition I have added ABRSR (All Bosses & Relics + Save Richter) as a new misc category.
[section=Highlighted Stuff] I will be making a pinned thread that is meant to showcase all the cool categories that are not on this leaderboard, including the aforementioned removed categories and some others like Zero Bosses, Pacifist, Tases, etc.
[section=Console Performance] We have determined that there is a refresh rate and framerate difference between European and NA machines that impacts the game. 60hz vs 59.94hz This difference shouldn't affect loading times. We haven't decided whether to do something about this difference or not as of yet.
[section=Rules] There have been concerns raised about using third party storage methods to accelerate game loading. Not due to any unfairness of any current runs that use it, but because of the possible slippery slope and a potential arms race of hdd vs flash vs newer and newer ssds and so on. There has been no consensus or decision made yet, but this will be an ongoing discussion. If we make the decision to make this a rule, current runs that use it will almost certainly not be rejected. In addition we need to collect more data on how the different releases of the console perform.
[section=Wiki] Work on the wiki continues, still a lot of pages to fill. Goal is to have a decently well organized place that contains a lot of the speedrunning-related information we know about the game.
The progression has a new home: https://castlevaniaspeedruns.com/SOTN_Record_Progression
We have starter working on filling in some information over at the wiki provided by the dudes from the CastlevaniaSPeedruns Discord. https://castlevaniaspeedruns.com/Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night
While browsing the records you should also check out our SOTN Speedrun History video series presented by our Discord server The Long Library:
