Hello Chroniclers.

First off, I apologize for not sticking to my original timeline of a few days for Part 2 of this. This was attributed to 2 main things:

1. I have been taking some extra time to think about how I want to approach this, which is very different than how I originally thought I was going to.

2. Anytime I sat down to try and type this out, IRL got in the way. (I know it's a lame excuse but I'm just being honest.)

PREFACE

This thread is intended to serve as a starting point for discussion regarding the topic I am about to bring up. I am referring to the variability of load times across all the different platforms and how they affect the RTA time. This is not an issue new to disc-based speedrunning games and their communities, but I believe we are at a crossroads for our community, though comparatively small, where we should at least begin talking about how this dynamic affects Chronicles. I am well aware that I am being long winded in the things that I say, and I apologize for that. I'm just trying to get all my thoughts out on this post, so I appreciate your patience.

LOAD TIMES AFFECTING FINAL RTA TIMES, AND ALL THE VARIABLES

It is already known that certain platforms are able to load screens and other parts of the game faster than others. For example, when running on a Playstation TV, the load time for the transition from the map scene to the first screen of the next stage is much faster than other platforms. Over the course of the run, that could add up to a notable time save against other platforms with longer load times. We have also learned, thanks to Krayzar's excellent research, that different platforms are faster at loading different things (my wording of that is probably sub-optimal), so it's not like one platform is necessarily faster than another across the entire run.

WHAT IS MY CONCERN?

I want to avoid the situation where the pursuit of the most optimized time means going out and getting the fastest loading hardware for the game, instead of just executing optimized strats.

WHAT ARE SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?

Some initial thoughts include the following:

1. The creation of some type of load removal program that can subtract loading frames from the total time of an RTA submission. To me this would be a perfect solution, but I have no idea how practical it is to make one for Chronicles or if it's even possible. Just spitballing ideas here.

2. The approval of certain disc speeds for emulator runs that can match, as best as possible, the fastest loading times of any original hardware. To me this solution is imperfect but doable. It would, however, take a LONG time to research to find out the exact load times for each individual platform, let alone each emulator and their respective disc speeds. In my research leading to this post, I think the Chrono Cross community did a great job conducting research for their game, which led to them approving Duckstation runs at a higher disc speed. I would like to conduct similar research for Chronicles in the future. I have a US disc of the game and can help with that. I know others have started to look at this as well, so I encourage you to share what you have learned thus far.

3. Just do nothing, relax and enjoy running the game. Do we really care about this all that much? Is it really that big of a deal? Are we OK with continuing to verify future submissions as long as everything looks fine in the run, even if someone went out and got a PSTV or used a faster EMU disc speed than someone else and it isn't immediately noticeable? Or should we strive for a little more regulation with the load times?

Again, this is only meant to be a starting point for discussion. No decisions need to be made, or should be made right now. I really want to know what you all think, and any insight or perspective on any of this is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

-TBS