TL;DR Load removal won't work if your screen's vertical resolution isn't listed on the bottom of this post. HMU if you need it fixed for yours.

Currently the load remover script detects the "mission complete" screen by checking a certain memory address, which value depends on your screen's vertical resolution. There's no apparent logic to the values themselves which prevents me from doing a one-size-fits-all thing, so I bodged a solution by manually typing out the values for a couple most common resolutions.

Currently the loadremover supports the following vertical resolutions:

720p, 768p, 900p, 1080p, 1152p

Every other resolution will stop the timer on the "mission complete" screen, and will break the mission splitting.

If you wish for your resolution to be supported, first of all contact me over on Discord or through SRC's DMs. While that's worked on, please consider changing your resolution to a supported one (maybe you'll like it more!)

Effective immediately (06/05/2020), we're introducing two new rules for PC runs:

• Load Removal becomes the main timing method for singleplayer Windows runs, thus having the "loadless" time visible is required for the entire duration of the run

• All runs must have their framerate capped to 120FPS, and a framerate counter must be visible for the entire duration of the run

First of all, the welcomed change: Load removal. This change can be summed up in those points:

• We're introducing load removal to mitigate the differences in HDD/other hardware between runners' PCs that can influence load times
• Co-op runs will still be timed using the RTA method as there's simply no way to even determine what are "loads" in co-op runs. As such, when submitting a co-op run, please put your RTA time in both timing fields
• You activate it by clicking "Activate" in the "Edit Splits..." menu in LiveSplit with the game set to "Saints Row: The Third".
• Times of currently submitted runs will be moved to the "Time without loads" in order to keep it with line with new submissions (that's a thing with SRDC - all times with no loadless time get moved to the bottom of the LB)
• If your run on the LBs was posted before this rule change (thus it has no "Loadless" time), you may submit a faster run only if its "Time with loads" beats the current time.
• If you wish to submit a run to a non-Windows platform, please put your time into the "Time without loads" section. All of this is explained in this thread https://www.speedrun.com/sr4/thread/2qwdq Additional note: after a couple runs with the "Loadless" time happen, we will look into averaging the difference between "with loads" and "loadless" times, and subtracting that amount from every run submitted prior to today. This would be done to give a general idea of how a run places in the light of today's rules, and to organize them a little better.

And now, for the big one. Couple months ago the community has found proof that the framerate of your game influences how fast do certain in-game events happen (for example how long does it take for Shaundi to hack the computer during "Hit the Powder Room"). It has been established that introducing a framerate cap will be required to even out the chances for everyone, and the community has decided to choose between a 60FPS (no framerate benefits) and 120FPS (has framerate benefits, but doesn't open all the gates) by vote. The vote resulted in a tie (6 to 6 votes), but ultimately the moderation has decided to introduce the 120FPS cap, because we believe Saints Row: The Third is not a heavily demanding game hardware-wise and getting to or near the set cap shouldn't be a problem for most runners. Additionally, potential time differences between 120 and close-to-120FPS are too minor to consider getting the framerate cap all the way down to 60. For showing the current framerate you may use a third-party tool, such as Dxtory, Bandicam or Rivatuner. If needed, you may also show Steam's built-in FPS ticker, but it must be clearly visible (enable High Contrast color).

TL;DR Powertools and Tornado fix are back. Also Loadless is the main timing method. Plus there's extra requirements for WR runs

• (PC) Saints Row 2 Powertools and Tornado spawn rate mod are now allowed. The moderation has decided that to improve runners' QoL the Powertools (game speed fix) and Tornado spawn rate mod should be allowed. Powertools is a mod that can be used to fix your game not running at correct speed compared to the Xbox 360 version. You are not allowed to give yourself an advantageous game speed though. Tornado spawn rate mod increases the spawn rate of the Tornado chopper at the helipad of Stilwater PD which may encourage usage of more reset-heavy strats compared to the vanilla game.

• (PC) Runs that wish to be considered world record require execution of the Speedup Stopwatch test. In order to prove that your submission is legit, you must perform the Speedup Stopwatch Test (link in "Resources" tab) right after finishing your run. For the run to be considered legit, the first checkpoint must be reached within 1:42-1:44 range.

• (PC and console) Runs that wish to be considered world record require a full game restart between attempts Some values in the game's memory are not properly reset on a New Game, thus they can leak over to the next attempts. Thus in order for your run to be considered legit, the clean start (intro videos/copyright screen shown on video) must be performed and visible in the submission video.

• Loadless is now the main timing method. (PC) For your run to be accepted, its submission video must show the "Game/Loadless time" at all times. This has been done so that the PC players are put on even grounds regardless of their hardware. A "loadless" timer (link in "Resources" tab) script for LiveSplit will stop the timer whenever it detects that the game is loading. All the "In-game times" have been discarded due to not being a reliable measure. The loadless time is not required for console runs (your "with loads" timer should be put into "loadless" field), but we allow for "loadless" times if for whatever reason you decide to "remove" the loads manually. Many points regarding the Loadless timer are raised here https://www.speedrun.com/sr4/thread/2qwdq

• (PC) If you have a run with no "loadless" time on the leaderboards, you may obsolete it only with a run which has better "with loads" time.

Changes are effective immediately

TL;DR Now all PC runs must be measured using LiveSplit's built in SRIV Load remover. All current runs have their times moved to "without loads" to avoid unfairness caused by SRC's internal workings

From now on in order to have your speedrun submissions accepted into the leaderboards you must use a Load Remover.

• What's a load remover? It is a built in tool in LiveSplit that will stop the timer whenever it detects that the game is loading

• Why use it? Many runners have different PCs. Some might have better setups (faster processor, solid state drive etc.) than others which could affect load times, so to put everyone on even grounds it was most appropriate to eliminate load times from the equation entirely.

• How do I use it? Rightclick on LiveSplit's main window and go into the "Edit Splits..." menu. From there if you have the game set as "Saints Row IV", an option to activate a load remover should become available. Click "Activate" and you should be all set. To show the time without loads, set your current comparsion as "Game Time" (Rightclick LiveSplit > Compare against > Game time). Alternatively you can add a separate Timer to your layout that is set to show the Game time. On top of that, you have to make sure that the Game Time is shown on your video feed at all times as proof.

• What's gonna happen to the current runs? Their times will be moved to the "without loads" column. Manual time removal would be close to impossible because of lack of visible hints in most situations. This is the best next thing we can do.

• I've had a run on the leaderboards already, but I've done a new run with removed loads now. You'll accept it, right? If you've done and submitted a run prior to the timing change, a new run will be accepted under a condition that you beat its "Time with loads".

• What about console runners? For now nothing - the rules for console submissions are the same - just make sure you insert your final time into "Time without loads" column, so that you aren't automatically pushed to the bottom of the leaderboard.

The change is effective immediately in all SR:IV categories. Please post any questions in this thread.

Whipped this thing in literally 10 minutes. Splits when changing levels (entering level select menu), removes loads, automatically starts the run, resets when entering Main Menu. No final split yet. Haven't tested past first 3 levels

http://0x0.st/zHVf.asl

I've stumbled upon deleted_account's stream when he was doing CoD1 and was surprised by the lack of a load remover.

So as an exercise I've whipped one up.

With massive help from pitpo, here's a CoD1 full-game autosplitter/load remover. Tested under v1.0 and Steam v1.3 http://0x0.st/zsgJ.asl To enable it, add "Scriptable Autosplitter" to your LiveSplit layout and load the file from there

Functionality:

• Removes loads (stops the "Game time" when the game is loading in-between levels)
• Automatically starts when gaining control of the character in the training map and when triggering the final cutscene (can be toggled off in the "Scriptable Autosplitter" settings)
• Automatically splits when switching levels, or when the final cutscene is played (can be toggled off in the "Scriptable Autosplitter" settings)
• Automatically resets the run when loading into the training map (can be toggled off in the "Scriptable Autosplitter" settings)

The splitter start doesn't follow the rules, because only when writing this post I've realized that it's different than what I'm coding in. I will look into that, but for now I am going to leave it in. It can be disabled through Livesplit (make sure you also disable the Reset).

I haven't done much testing past starting a run, changing levels and final split, so you're more than welcome to do full-game testing - if you find any bugs (like splits out of blue), please post them in this thread - I'll look into them!

TL;DR Powertools and the Tornado spawnrate mod are not allowed in runs.

Submitting SR2 runs that make use of mods has been, and is not allowed. That also includes Powertools (mod that allows to change the game speed, in case your CPU is too fast), and the Tornado helicopter spawnrate mod.

To cut it short, these are not allowed because of two reasons:

1. If some mods were allowed, the dilemna of "where do we draw the line" would arise, and it would only furthermore complicate the issue.
2. Identifying those mods (to prevent bamboozles) would be hard for the moderation team, and also it would be hard for the runners to prove that they haven't gone too far with "fixing" the game without any cumbersome modifications.

For the Tornado situation, a mindful resolution for the runner would be to either keep grinding the Tornado (it's in the first 10 minutes - YGO guys throw runs even earlier and they hardly complain), or modify your route to not include that specific Tornado spawn, which would fix the issue completely.

About the game speed, if the game's running faster, in practice you're obviously at an advantage, and besides the game being a tad harder to navigate you're not losing much. Besides, if you were to use Powertools, how would you prove that you have not put yourself at an advantage by speeding the game up a bit more?

A friend (rythin) has set up a server for shovelware games, and there's a Maluch Racer channel in there! Feel free to hop in! https://discord.gg/AyRCyyg

Got questions about the games? Hop in to our Discord server! https://discord.gg/4Kz8vqZ

(apparently I haven't posted it on every forum so here goes :D)

Thought I'd throw this here - we have SR/AoM oriented speedrunning Discord! Come by at https://discord.gg/4Kz8vqZ

Hey I wanted to try speedrunning SoF (played it a lot back in the day), but there's no documentation of rules or allowed stuff. What would you guys consider allowed and/or not allowed in runs? Also is something like a frame limiter recommended?

Hey, I made a Discord server for SR speedrunninng Drop by if you wanna ? https://discordapp.com/invite/4Kz8vqZ

Hey, I made a Discord server for SR speedrunninng Drop by if you wanna ? https://discordapp.com/invite/4Kz8vqZ

Hey, I made a Discord server for SR speedrunninng Drop by if you wanna :D https://discordapp.com/invite/4Kz8vqZ

Hello I made this, feel free to drop in!

https://discord.gg/4Kz8vqZ

Some runners might not be aware of this, but this game has a SDA thread, in which many of the current strats were born.

Among them, there was a 100% route made by Sellz90, which attempts to make the run linear.

Here's the link to the original post https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/saints_row_the_third_78.html#saints_row_the_third_78

And here are my splits based on that route, which I used in my 11:08 run https://splits.io/2c3t

Ok, to be fair, it's not about if they're fair - now it's about if they ARE possible within CMR2.

I tried few windowed mode hacks, resulted in glitched intro videos followed by no game visuals (besides it worked fine, audio and input worked)