I want to discuss an issue I had while reviewing a recent submission for this game. I was confused because the player was beginning each of their runs at the "Choose your option" screen instead of the title screen. I was worried that the runner may have been using a save state to bypass the title screen instead of resetting the game after a failed attempt. After further testing I found that the player can cancel their current match and return to the "choose your option" screen by pressing the start button during the match. I feel that normally a speedrun should begin with power on or a hard reset. In this case a hard reset would bring you to the title screen. I feel that this game is a special circumstance because it has a built in mechanic that allows you to reset your match without affecting any RNG elements.
It has been brought to my attention that the top three times on this leaderboard are actually runs from another GB game called The New Chessmaster. I will be removing those times from this leaderboard and plan to migrate them to the correct leaderboard. If a leaderboard for The New Chessmaster does not exist then I plan on doing my own run of the game and creating the leaderboard.
Usually when approving a submission I will compare the run with another from the leaderboard to avoid these types of issues. I must have gotten confused because The Chessmaster and The New Chessmaster have very similar layouts. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes to the runners affected. Feel free to contact me via Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, etc..
It looks like the top of the leaderboard now has some very competitive runs. With the top times so close to each other should we change the timing format to milliseconds?
I would like to start a discussion with the ColAD community about the timing for Individual Levels. I feel that timing should start when the runner selects the dinosaur. I had a runner submit runs that began timing when the dinosaur appears on screen. I feel that proper timing is very important when speedrunning, especially for short Individual Levels. When do you think the timing for Individual Levels should begin?
I feel the most accurate timing method for this game is to start the timer at player control. There is some confusion because the original submission had started their timer on reset. From here on please begin the timer when you gain control of the character after the green "Plaza Hotel" screen.
I think there is a mistake on this leaderboard. The WR is listed as 1 second and has a video over 2 hours with no Monster in My Pocket gameplay. Can a mod please fix this?
Times will be accepted dependent on what is shown by the players timer. Here is a general overview of how times will be reviewed on submitted runs under 3:35.
If the player...
- Starts their timer late then the submitted run may be rejected.
- Starts their timer early then the time shown on the timer will be accepted.
- If the player stops their time early then the run may be rejected.
- If the player stops their timer late then the time that is shown on the timer will be accepted.
Players will be expected to stop/start their timer accurately. Any mistakes in timekeeping can only lose time for the runner. If the player gains time during the run by inaccurate time keeping their run may be rejecting. These are the general guidelines we will use when accepting/rejecting and determining finishing times for runs that are submitted under 3:35. I may change or amend these rules if necessary.