I've been appointed as super due to previous mod inactivity. I have self-verified my run and encourage observers to look that over for verification. As good practice I'd like to have a second mod - if you're interested let me know! You don't have to have mod experience as I'm happy to do the heavy lifting and/or guide you in how to mod, though ideally you should be a runner of the game.

As best practice I'd like to have a second mod for the game. Ideally you'd be experienced in running and modding SMS or other retro games but you don't have to be as I'd be happy to take you through the process. This is a tiny board so you would have barely any work. If you'd like to join in, reply here any time!

As best practice I'd like to tender for a second mod for the board. Ideally you should be interested in running the game and have some experience of SMS runs, you don't need to have been a mod before. Post here if you're interested!

Hi guys, just wanted to post and ask what area we think we should start using milliseconds in for any%. Top runners are currently working toward sub 5:50, I think a consistent approach would be to add ms either on runs below 6:00 or 5:55. Thoughts welcome!

Hiya, just a post to say I've updated Paszq's fantastic stage-maps with enemy info, etc, and made a basic tuto for new runners. I intend this week to update purchase guidance into an accompanying document. Hope to see new runners!

Hi! I've created the SR page for Zany Golf, and as good practice it'd be great if we can get a second moderator, who is familiar with Amiga/Atari/Apple/DOS speedruns.

If you're interested you can respond here any time.

Thus far I've grouped computer platforms together since I anticipate little interest, and I don't know how much loading/time difference exists between them. So if you submit runs for those platforms, the page will display all times in one board. Genesis is a separate category since the controls are radically different, and there is only a 9 hole option.

If you have any knowledge/experience of conventions of computer boards, or suggestions for management of this board, I'd love to hear from you!

I was pretty annoyed when a run died to this! After toying around it appears that if you destroy a target on the frame the smokebomb lands, it gets cancelled out. Beware!

While researching the Island dungeon puzzles I came across this longplay of the game featuring an interview with one of the developers that you may enjoy :) The dev says the switch puzzles are bit-masking: so some switches re-press others. For the 3 x 5 one, the outside hint seems to be best; go left to right in the top row, then the same on the bottom, then re-press the leftmost switch and the rightmost in that order, as they re-activate each other. For the 2 x 3 one you can get around in nearly one pass: start at the bottom right and go clockwise around (left through the bottom row, right through the top row), then you only have to re-activate the top-left corner. For the one in Mermon's Fortress, start with the second from the left in the bottom row, then the third and fourth. Then hit the bottom-left and continue around through the top row, and loop from the top-right back to the bottom-left for just one re-activate and done.

Hiya, just want to ask about a point of runs before I submit. I get overwhelmed sometimes so in my first run I paused a few times to stop myself glazing over; I only do that to take a few seconds rather than stop the level timer. Is pausing like that alright by you? I'm unsure I'd be able to finish the game without doing that but if it's a gray area in the rules I'm happy to work it out. :)

Curious what everyone thinks about adding a new category. There are only 5 moonstones and a few are already near the any% path so it may be a tad trivial; would it make more sense to create 100% and mandate grabbing every heart/both sets of daggers too?

My livesplit sound effects are responding differently than I wish at the moment. In Splits, I have delta to PB, and split time to PB (accuracy seconds). In Settings/Active Comparisons, Best Segments is checked for the Best Possible Time window. But sometimes when I'm ahead/gaining time, the behind/losing time sound plays and I can't work out why! Does anyone know what the program is comparing to and how I correct this?

Hiya! I was asked to do some admin on the board after we noticed an existing run may have the wrong time submitted. As good housekeeping I'll double check the times of every run and edit this post with any changes I need to make once that's done.

EDIT: done, changes to a couple of runs' ms to reflect the end point being results screen, each run has a note explaining whether there was a change. Thanks!

Just some firm data about frame timings for Arcade Mode to make it more transparent. Marking the frame you press START on the splash screen as f0, the run starts from f+133. You can see Rifle's shadow appear at f+135, and on emu it disappears every other frame, so that you can always tie your start time to these points. Run ends when the final boss explosions animation stops/you lose control: marking the frame boss HP goes to 0 as f0, this is expressed as f+254.

Hi,

I've been working on a full calculator for WOFD SNES, you can find a link to view current progress in its forum.

The project is going so well that I wanted to ask whether other communities are interested. The structure of the calculator can be used for other game versions but it would require volunteers to extract all a game's answers from memory, either by hand, or if you can use TAS tools, that way.

Then we could transfer the calc structure to a new document template, whack them in, and destroy every version.

Hi guys,

I'm having a lot of trouble with my thumb to the point where I'm beginning to be unsure I can use it a lot for runs. I wanted to ask do mods/other runners have any thoughts on if I started to run using keyboard for my d-pad movement. In theory that would be slightly advantageous as it may sometimes prevent unintended ducking or such. Quarbit, I'd especially like to know your position, because I don't want any advantages for getting the wr back. <3

EDITED. Youtube sometimes plays shenanigans with low-res videos and encodes them at 30fps. Any submission for Any Ending category can be literally frame perfect so that this is not a space for fudging, so if a vid is ever a top time you may need to send a raw file or increase the res for YT to show a 60fps encode.

Another thing: NES rules for example currently mention half-frames: I propose to remove such nonsense from our timing standards since it is very easy for mods to use tools to establish precise start/end times, that has been done before. I propose we re-express the start/end times for NES and GEN as functions of a solid on/off rather +- x frames, rather than fades. Fades are very hard for runners to judge and a clearer demarcation can make the runs more transparent. Does anyone have any objections? The run time would be the same; just the verbage would change, and I have no intention to retime historic runs unless requested.

If you pause the game you can enter various codes that can be useful. When I started running the game, without thinking, I entered UUDDLRLRBA to change character. I later researched and found other codes including health restore, suicide, etc. And one that beginners will find VERY useful for practice!

Pause the game, press Ax5 Bx5 times Xx5 Yx5 Lx5 Rx5 <LR shoulder buttons> and unpause. Now, hold Start to pause the game and while holding, press the directional keys to move anywhere on the stage map. If you wish, press R to remove the map from the screen.

What does everyone feel about exclusively using the character change code for runs?

I think it makes the game a tad more accessible, it's still an RTA cost. My use at Metalbee costs me approx. 10 seconds RTA, and it's very clear you can't do it much without haemorrhaging time you wanted to save. By analogy we already have a very easy method to get powerups back both in natural gameplay and by return to exits: and whenever we do that, we cost ourselves 6 seconds RTA of animation.

If the game had a character select between stages, I'd be less tolerant of this idea, but I can see new runners finding it very useful due to Winbee's twitchy control: the very last notched jumps in Factory 1 for example, or mis-charges of rocketboost. Having to die just to change seems a tad unfair.

As a followup, what do runners prefer the board to be tracked by primarily: IGT, or RTA? We may get a scenario one day where a significant run has a discrepancy between the two.

Ripped off the idea from the 100% TAS:

Just an extra bit of info on timing for transparency.

Timing begins at the frame you press on START. From that frame 0: -The screen goes black at f+3 -The scene text appears at f+16 -The level appears at f+175. NB: That's the first frame the game recognises a jump, if you jumped here, Jonathan's first frame is a duck at f+178 and a jump at f+182. -The game status huds: hearts, etc, appear at f+177 -Jonathan appears at f+178

Timing ends at 'Game Completed!' which appears 1 frame after 'harder skill'

I prefer you show framecounter on an emu and record at 60fps but these points make it easy to perfectly retime runs either way.