I noticed that there were discrepancies among players regarding how to calculate in-game time for all categories for SSBM, so I decided to make this topic as a sole resource for easy location of how to do so. First off, please note that you do need to record your speedrun in order to be able to refer back to the video for the in-game times for each level. That's important as you have no way of getting the in-game time otherwise. It is the player's responsibility to calculate their own total IGT, not the moderator who verifies the run.

To get the total in-game time for your run, you have to add up the IGT for each stage. You do the following for every stage: First note the starting time on the in-game clock and then note the ending time on the in-game clock. You subtract the finish time from the starting time which gets you the in-game time for that stage (the time that passed). For stages in which you used a continue or failed, you note the time that you failed the stage at, and subtract it from the starting time. This is so players cannot segment their runs, essentially making the categories ILs. Once you have calculated the IGT for every stage in the run, you add them all up.

Using a calculator for this process is highly recommended. There should only be 2 decimal places at the max as the game only tracks up to 2. The Master Hand battle in Classic Mode begins at 4:59.99 so be sure to note that when calculating your time. The clock in All-Star automatically counts up so the IGT is displayed on-screen for you.

Some random examples of timing:

5:00.00 (start) and 4:51.28 (end) equals an IGT of 8.72. 5:00.00 (start) and 4:46.81 (end) equals an IGT of 13.19. 5:00.00 (start) and 4:34.52 (end) equals an IGT of 25.48.

That being said, nothing more than basic math is needed to calculate in-game time. I admit this is a bit of a tedious process, but it's well worth it because IGT is the most accurate form of timing for Melee. Real Time Attack is useless for SSBM due to the fact that there are so many variations for loading times between consoles/USB loaders/emulators. Getting a common ground for speedrunning competition is important, and the fact that this game has an in-game timer makes using it a logical choice.

If you have any questions, ask me or another moderator and we will assist you.

Thanks for making this topic, it really clears up any confusion I was having in regards to the IGT calculation. Luckily I was doing it right, so my runs aren't void. Hopefully you'll see a few more records from me soon <3

I've created an excel sheet that calculates IGT automatically once you input the minutes/seconds/milliseconds into the correct fields. What it does is it converts each time entered to milliseconds, adds them together and then reconverts it back to a readable format (00:00:000). Here's a link to the doc with the excel sheet: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7hVdimfhoQYenpJdHpkdFpxNE0

If anyone is wary about downloading from a source you can create the same sheet by using the following layout and formulas: On each row, the columns are the stages(A), hours(B), minutes(C), seconds(D), milliseconds(E), totals in ML(F), results(E), time of different stages in ML(H). Column F's formula is : =E2+(D2¤1000)+(C2¤60000)+(B2¤3600000) (Would be E3, E4 and so on for the next rows). Column G is: =H2-F2 (Would be H3 and so on down the rows). Column F Row 18 is adding all the milliseconds together and the formula is: =SUM(G2;G3;G4;G5;G6;G7;G8;G9;G10;G11;G12;G13). Column F Row 20 then converts the total milliseconds back to the standard format and has a formula of: =CONCATENATE(TEXT(INT(F18/1000)/86400;"hh:mm:ss");".";F18-(INT(F18/1000)¤1000)).

The sheet that is in the doc is for melee classic but can be changed to the other sorts of runs easily. If google docs is not acceptable for hosting this document I'd be fine with uploading it to a better place. Also if anyone notices any fringe cases where it somehow does not work let me know but I've done some testing and it seems to work fine.

Here are screenshots of the sheet with and without the formulas: This was meant to help but if this isn't alright to post on the forums please me know, thanks!

ToxicToast: Having an IGT is not necessarily required, but it's highly recommended as it makes the leaderboards more accurate and will allow your run to be ranked properly. RTA for SSBM isn't really useful at all. So if you do runs, definitely calculate your IGT.

@ToxicToast1 Try using my method listed above. It works for me. It's definitely a lot quicker than doing it manually and once you set it up you have it forever.

@GoodleShoes I might be wrong but, isn't race to the finish 54000 miliseconds long?

@Pandora race to the finish is a different amount of time depending on what character you are playing

omg I never noticed that xD. Thank you @ncb1221

Someone can help me with the IGT in Adventure? Sorry i dind't understand how to transfer the calc for the category.

Here is a link to an IGT Calculator for Adventure. To edit, you can copy the sheet to your google drive by going to File > Make a copy and choosing "My Drive" as a folder. From there you should be able to edit the page. Let me know if this doesn't work but from my testing it seems to work great!!!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QM8glVDN2nGDn9sdm3qImF_xW8awOhbX/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101318267660157683732&rtpof=true&sd=true