Are there other emulators besides the snes9x and BSNES that are accepted among the community? I find that the load times, particularly during the 52 death part of Any% are slower than they are on console. I'm losing about a second per death when I compare it to couch23's run. Is there anything I can do about this, or is this just how it goes with an emulator?

that's just kind of how it goes. i use bizhawk, but that basically uses bsnes as it's core for snes. i wouldnt think you should be losing a whole second per death just because of the emu though. couch has some really great menuing that probably also shaves off a bit here and there.

ok i just looked at the 2 videos. the monster pack he is fighting is also quicker than the one you ended up with. Greasemonks have 5 more speed than Rhodoxes do. thats probably most of it right there.

Thanks for taking a look. Maybe I should try running another seed to see if I can find a better monster pack. I've had several runs where I was ahead of couch going into the save, and almost always end up a minute behind. Even my best runs are still losing 50 seconds. I'd love to have a chance to catch his time.

Since you also play on an emulator, is there an alternate encounter seed that you prefer from 110?

i am too lazy to set my seed. i also sometimes play on hardware. i am pretty sure everyone uses seed 110. try walking a different direction when you walk for your final step see if it changes then. pretty sure that if you follow things properly then that is the encounter you are supposed to get, but idk.

I've found that I definitely lose a step depending on whether or not I enter Figaro from the east vs the north. The encounter rate is always in step when I go through the South Figaro Cave, minus the one that I now intentionally take going into Figaro. I'm not sure where else steps are being lost, but I typically find that I'm behind about 6 steps by the time I get to Mt. Koltz. If my pathing is perfect, I get my first encounter on my 1st or 2nd step after coming out of the first cavern room. The other people running that same seed get it right after they enter the second cavern room. I've tried entering South Figaro from different directions/squares, but that has no impact on where I get my encounters.

My solution was to fix my steps before leaving Mt. Koltz, but that puts me on the encounter after the one that is being run by everyone else. The next task would be to grind through until I find another seed where I can hit that Greasemonk battle within a reasonable number of steps of leaving Mt. Koltz.

Your losing steps by skipping a large chunk of no encounter tiles from you walking path from Figaro Cave to South Figaro

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BDW5kHuP_Ry0B2J9AwG-Sdm5qML-IM8L/view?usp=sharing

This Image will show where they are located for that walk by the stone icons on the tiles. Movement in caves and such don't matter but overworlds do for most of the World of Balance. I haven't check anything else between your and couch's run but hopefully this is the reason why your losing those steps

You're absolutely right. I usually path south from the cave and then cut east, and I miss five of those tiles. +1 for the tile I lose going into Figaro and that is exactly the number I thought I was behind. I'll have to give this a try.

Good luck on your runs. May the Whelk be with you!

Yo thanks for figuring it out dyne! A+ work.