Hi everyone,

There have been requests from multiple runners to address the use of custom capsules in the Tournament categories.

Currently, there is a poll running in the discord linked on the leaderboards under the "DB-General" channel asking for feedback on what runners would prefer for the category.

The options are:

• Allow customization as part of the default rules of the categories, and keep all runs together under the same category whether they used customized capsules or not.

• Create a separated subcategory variable for Capsule use, which would split the category down further into "Default" and "Custom" subcategory variables. The argument for this is that the use of capsules drastically changes strategy in runs, especially in the categories of Tournament that don't allow out of bounds. Capsule equips will have to be shown before or after a run for verification in this case, but runs verified before this rule implementation would remain verified.

If you would like to give feedback on what you would prefer, please comment here or join the discord and vote in the poll/discuss in the sparking-zero channel.

Also, if you performed any runs in the Tournament Category with capsules equipped, please let us know here. If the categories are separated, we will have to move the runs using capsules to the "Capsule" subcategory. We will manually look through all of the runs for any runs that did use capsules, but it would save time that could be used for verifying new runs if we were told ahead of time that you used them.

Yo guys!

It's been awesome to see all of the runs and activity right out of the gate for Sparking Zero! In just one day of the boards being open, we already have almost 30 runs across multiple categories from many different runners. There are still many categories yet to be explored in the full game and in the individual sagas boards, so keep up the great work fellas!

I'm making this post to clarify a slight rule adjustment that has been made for the accessibility of runners and moderators.

• Timing rules have been adjusted across all categories to end After the HUD Disappears on the final match of the category. When the HUD disappears, a sound effect is made and all of the HP bars on the screen disappear.

This was done because not all categories fights end on a "Final Hit", and can end after a set period of time or set condition. It's also just an easier indicator to follow when hitting your final split, and reduces the need for moderators to retime runs overall.

Every currently verified run has been retimed to match these end timing rules. If i missed your run somehow, feel free to let me know and it can be adjusted.

If you have any further questions or requests, or need clarification on any other rules, feel free to comment here or join the discord to discuss further. Thank you guys, have fun running!

Console and Emulator variables have been created to separate the two versions.

RCPS3 Emulation outperforms PS3 console, running much smoother and loading a lot faster than Console hardware, so this was done to encourage Console players to compete without being forced to switch to Emulator for world record competition.

Run was completed on a Retrofreak console

The game files are not widely available online. If you want information on how to acquire the game, join the discord server and ask us for help. - https://discord.gg/k5wmNCSaVE

Here's a Video Tutorial for how to get the game working once you have it:

This is the only video of a completed run, found by @nd606. This run was completed by user 太平洋ホエールズ on niconico.

Hello everyone,

It's been brought to my attention by other runners that a lot of the end time methods for certain categories are inconsistent and unclear/arbitrary. I will be updating the timing methods for the following categories:

Console Any% NG and NG+: Time will be changed from ending on the final results screen to the final hit on sasuke to be consistent with the timing method for PC.

Console Tales: Time will be changed from ending on the final results screen to the final hit of each individual Tale, to be consistent with PC timing methods.

Survival Cups: Time will be changed from ending on the "white screen after results of the fight" to the final hit of the final cup. Rules will be clarified to indicate that you can do the cups in whatever order you'd like.

Existing times on the leaderboard that followed the previous rules will all be manually retimed by me, so this will take some time but should not affect any placements on the leaderboards.

The rules will be updated shortly, so for any runs submitted from here on out ensure to follow the new rules.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I'm really happy to see so many new runners for this game! I wanted to let you all know that I updated the leaderboard to add our community's discord server, in case anyone wanted to join and discuss strategies and socialize with other runners.

The link is here, but now it's also accessible via the discord icon near the follow button. https://discord.gg/YtMMvcB5Su

You can play this game in 2022 and onward using Flashpoint, a flash game emulation program. The program has the game built into it.

Download Flashpoint infinity here: https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/

You can play this game in 2022 and onward using Flashpoint, a flash game emulation program. The program has the game built into it.

Download Flashpoint infinity here: https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/

You can play this game in 2022 and onward using Flashpoint, a flash game emulation program. The program has the game built into it.

Download Flashpoint infinity here: https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/

What happened to the old ODB run that was done on mobile phone emulator? I feel like other runs were missing too but i could be misremembering

Globku has brought to our attention that many runners on the leaderboard have submitted runs using the 60FPS mod for PC. This is a mod that functions separately and differently from the most recent patch on console that supports 60FPS.

**The 60FPS mod, along with all other mods in general, are now officially banned on the main leaderboards after discussion between the main moderators. **

We initially were not aware of the usage of the 60FPS mod in these runs, so the runs were verified without our knowledge of this issue. Due to this, and the fact that beforehand it was not explicitly specified that mods were banned on PC, no runners who submitted runs using the mods will be penalized. Any runner who submitted a run using this mod will still be allowed to submit further runs.

To those runners, we just ask to uninstall the mod along with any other mods downloaded, and we will be more closely monitoring submissions from here on out. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reply to me in a comment here, or join the discord and ping me or any mods with an @.

Thank you!

Emulator has been added as a separate category variable and is now allowed as a submission option for Kingdom Hearts 1-E and 1-J! After discussing the request, the moderators have decided to instill a "trial period" for emulator being on the leaderboards. This period will last 9 months from going live. If it gains a remote amount of traction, it will stay. PCSX2 will be the only emulator allowed for the time being.

Detailed Emulator Submission rules can be found in the "Game Rules" Section of the leaderboard.

Thank you to all who requested this and completed runs to show interest. We hope this makes the game more accessible to those interested and hope to see more runs in the future!

Your video will be blocked and unviewable in most countries, including the US, on Youtube 100% of the time if it includes the copyrighted music in the game. We suspect this audio is in Chapter 8, but have not fully confirmed which part of the OST causes videos to be blocked in most countries.

For runs to be verified, they must be completely viewable, so this poses a problem for submissions. Your submission will be denied if it's not viewable and blocked in countries, but due to this issue, submissions without audio or with music will be accepted.

Here are the recommended solutions:

1. Mute the music audio in the game settings.

2. If you do not mute the music, please stream the run on Twitch and Highlight the VOD of your PB. It will automatically mute copyrighted audio segments and allow the video to be viewable 100%. If you choose this method, you must have the option to save past broadcasts enabled on your twitch channel. (Tutorial: https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/video-on-demand?language=en_US#:~:text=You%20can%20navigate%20to%20this,to%20enable%20or%20disable%20archiving.) .

From there you must turn the past broadcast into a highlight, so that it does not expire. Past broadcasts alone expire for non-prime users within 14 days, 90 days for prime users. Your submission will then be acceptable.

Here's the link to the discord that hosts Inuyasha speedruns/info https://discord.gg/YtMMvcB5Su

The following changes have been made to the leaderboard:

Nintendont runs are being rejected on the grounds of being emulation and unofficial hardware. Nintendont runs faster than any official hardware noted to date, including the Backwards Compatible PS3, which is the fastest official hardware by a landslide. It creates unfair competition and leaderboard organization issues.

If there is a major pushback to this decision, the mods and I are open to considering moving Nintendont runs to the "Emulator" section of the leadearboards with the rest of the unofficial hardware. However, Nintendont will likely not be able to compete with PC emulators.

The Category tabs have been changed.

The new main category tabs will be Original - Original release on PS2/Gamecube HD - HD Release on Xbox 360/PS3

Each category will have runs separated by console for both the Original and HD versions to maintain fair competition, due to console load times varying wildly between platforms.

Backwards compatible consoles are allowed, but will be separated by console as well due to having major advantages from faster loading times. The exception to this rule will be the Wii due to its better accessibility and smaller advantage from load times over GCN.

Misc. Categories will remain merged and largely unchanged for HD, due to the fact that loads are competitive and nearly identical between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions for these categories.

Currently, I am not making a BCPS3 category for Misc. until there is more interest. BCPS3 runs will not be accepted under "PS2" in misc.

Feel free to post or reach out to us moderators if you have any questions/concerns. Thank you!

Dedicated discord server for both Dark Cloud 1 and Dark Cloud 2 speedrunning.

https://discord.com/invite/5Z7heTh

So what exactly makes "Fast stage 5/10" happen? Is it totally RNG or is it dependent on how you play somehow?