Why are we changing the load remover?

As the old video-based load remover bas been causing more and more trouble due to increased variety of resolutions and video settings (yes, really) we have decided to move to a more standard memory based load remover. This comes with the downside of having to setup a bypass for Easy Anti-Cheat. While this is safe it is also a bit annoying, hence this guide. The load remover is in a very basic state right now and we would like it to become a more comprehensive solution as time goes on. If you'd like to contribute to it, please do contact us.

Setting up the load remover:

Download:

• Download the load remover from Resources (link).

Livesplit:

• Move the "SAOFL.asl" file from the downloaded .zip archive into your "LiveSplit\Components" folder.
• Remove the old remover (Fatal Bullet Load Removal) from your splits layout if you have it.
• Add a Scriptable Auto Splitter into your layout (+ -> Control -> Scriptable Auto Splitter)
• Open Layout Settings, go to Scriptable Auto Splitter, click Browse and select the "SAOFB.asl" file.
• Make sure that the Start option is checked. If you can't check the box make sure your Livsplit is up to date.

Game (Easy Anti-Cheat bypass):

• Move the "steam_appid.txt" file from the downloaded .zip archive into "YourSteamFolder\steamapps\common\SWORD ART ONLINE FATAL BULLET".
• Run the game from "SAOFB.exe" in the same directory.
• Confirm that EAC didn't start (would be "EasyAntiCheat.exe" in Task Manager details).

Important note on online play:

With EAC not running, online play will be disabled (You get an error when trying to use the online counters – don't freak out if you see it, you haven't been banned or anything like that.) If you want to play online you don't have to delete the "steam_appid.txt" file, instead simply launch the game via Steam, not via the .exe.

What the load remover does:

Removes the following loads:

• Black loading screens.
• Loading screens with logo in top left.
• Blue loading screen when loading from save file.
• Loading box in main menu after the "press any button" prompt.
• Counts credits as loading. (To keep parity with runs on older patches where credits were skippable.)

Auto starts after character naming (for NG/NG+/True End).

Keeps gameTime at 0 until a black/logo loading occurs – used for starting BoBS and DLC after loading.

A side note:

The loading starts earlier than the black screen detection we've relied on previously, which means that this load remover will save a non-trivial amount of time over the course of the run compared to the old load remover.