[This thread doesn't talk about emulation.]
This is a thread dedicated to updating and explaining the new reasoning behind the way the platforms (broader term that encompass consoles, computers...) are currently selectable when submitting a run. It concerns the Klonoa GBA boards. Heroes is expected to come at a later date.
Link to the DCT mirror thread : https://www.speedrun.com/klonoadct/thread/1w6ud
Have you ever wondered why you cannot select a DS type console, or some of the less popular GBA consoles for your run ? Why's it so ? Well, that's the wonder I had one day, and I never once suspected it to lead me to this rabbit hole and shatter my world. Seriously. For about a month, I went to a couple servers and asked them questions about this. And this is the conclusion I've been led to. If you want to skip to the changes, search for "So, for our sanity and for simplicity sake". The content skipped is my reasoning behind this forum post and change. Feel free to challenge or complete it.
At front value, it seems to make absolutely no sense at all. Why not just distinguish all official consoles ? Why can't I submit using the console I played the game on ?? Well, before anything else, and to my surprise, not all GBA compatible platforms are available to bed used on src in the first place. Yup, that's right, Game Boy Micro ain't a thing for some reason. You'd have to ask the moderation team to add it in, so I guess it could potentially solve this problem for us. If they don't though... we could then do nothing but ditch the idea. Or create our own hosting website away from src. Which, in all possibilities, is a possibility ?!
But is bothering about the proper distinction of all consoles actually useful for us ? What actual good does it bring us ? The main reason why leaderboards are susceptible to group platforms together is because the grouped platforms (GBA, GBP, DS...) technically basically play the game the same way, with no meaningful differences. In this sense, despite what anyone could say about it, we technically have the right to group them under a term. While we know this would never be possible with the PS Klonoa games, it's a particularly common problem with GBA and below.
So why one could be against such this platform handling approach ?
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Well, one argument is that, as stated before, it would be very user friendly. Submit your console, which you obviously know what it is, and that's it. Whereas, having multiple consoles grouped as one term (GBA) is not at all intuitive. This can easily be circumvented however if we clarify what that term means in the rules. Believe it or not, but the boards of the way bigger games I've visited don't take the time to do that, even though it would only take a 2-3 lines. Apparently it's not perceived to be a big problem to them, like they've rarely got users being confused over it as much as me. Still, I think this doesn't hurt to add. So that our intention is clear on the subject of platform management.
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Another argument, and that originally was my main one at first, it would be meant for transparency purposes. It would for instance allow to know who played on what, make observations and statistics. Fun stuff, basically ! But also, if not more importantly, being able to compare ourselves on equal footing too.
But after studying it a bit more, I'm personally lead to think otherwise. Simply put, there are way too many GBA compatible consoles, and they either play the same, or with negligible time differences that would make it very difficult to justify separating them. Additionally, we are not at a level where these things matter much. Separating them adds more clutter than anything. Src is also made in such a way that you can only filter runs using only one variable. If you wanted to compare runs of many different platforms or variables, you'd need to constantly switch, take screenshots, or open multiple tabs at once. Although it is merely a limit on the system, it only seems to point out that simplification is better suited here. And finally, we don't have much ability in managing these things. This is a very tech heavy subject, that require a lot of testing and knowledge to lead well.
So, for our sanity and for simplicity sake, from now on players will only have a select few platforms to choose from. They will be :
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GBA. Most consoles will land by default. Game Boy Advance, GBA Special Edition, Game Boy Interface, Game Boy Micro... I also include Game Boy Player. It is know to have some input lag, but since it's not the game's fault, it's not really a difference even if meaningful under gameplay. Besides, I reckon input lag could still happen in other circumstances.
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WiiU Virtual Console. It has significant faster loads.
Of course, if we happen to find significant time-saves with a new platform, we might separate them.
There will be a rule line about this in the main rules panel : " Here are the two platforms you can submit on (more info on the stickied thread) :
- GBA. Designate the vast majority of GBA compatible consoles, such as GBA SP GBP, GBI, DS...
- WiiUVC. "
This would only affect one run, Haru's EoD GBP submission. So pulling or reverting the changes won't hurt if necessary.
So at last, this bit in our boards is made clearer.
