United KingdomIf I go to the Black Ops 2 Zombies leaderboard (https://www.speedrun.com/bo2zombies) I only see a fraction of the categories, sub-categories, etc that should be visible [image 1]. I can successfully tap on the "blank space" confirming that the categories are still there, and bizarrely I can zoom in to reveal the categories bit by bit [images 2 & 3]. I'm experiencing this on a couple of game leaderboards, but not all.
Image 1 - 
Image 2 - 
Image 3 - 
When I go to my profile page and select Level Runs, the game at the top is a game that I haven't touched for 4 years and the game I've been actively running is underneath that.
Why are games under Level Runs not sorted newest to oldest the same as games under Full Runs? Is this something we could change?
Cheers.
This thread mainly applies to the original trilogy since those are by far the most active of the Spyro series, but I guess this also applies to the other Spyro games too.
So as well as the standard categories for each game (Any%, 14 Talisman, 100 Egg, etc) there are plenty of other "silly categories" that people have run where the end-goal is completely arbitrary by all means, but multiple people have run and to a fairly competitive level. For this reason, myself and a fair number of other runners I've heard from would like these categories added as misc categories so we can track PBs.
Now ordinarily I probably would have just thrown up a bunch of misc categories without hesitation, but this topic was raised earlier in the year and a few people seemed to disagree with the addition of misc categories in general. I might have forgotten since then but from what I remember the main counter-argument was that too many misc categories could clog up the boards (particularly for Spyro 2 considering all the NG+ and No Double Jump categories).
In response to this it makes sense to me that we just limit which misc categories are added to the boards. In practice this would be easy since there are only a few misc categories that are actually somewhat competitive anyway (the vast majority being "meme" categories that have been run only a couple of times ever).
In particular, the categories that myself and others would like to see are 10 Portals (Spyro 2) and Bone Dance (Spyro 2, Spyro 3). If people want more categories in the future then we can always discuss them.
So there you have it: all the information you could possibly need for such a petty topic. And what kind of a thread would this be without a vital Strawpoll?
Okay. At the end of this post is a poll that you can vote on to have your say on the definition and timing of the 100% category for Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (which I will refer to as Spyro 2). This post aims to give you all the information you would possibly need to know so that you can make an informed decision on said poll.
Up until this point, our definition of 100% for Spyro 2 has been the following:
- Timing starts upon gaining control in Glimmer.
- Collect all 14 talismans.
- Collect all 64 orbs.
- Collect all 10,000 gems.
- Defeat all 3 bosses (Crush, Gulp, and Ripto).
- Timing ends upon dealing the last hit to Ripto (the final boss).
However, a valid point has been brought up recently that suggests there is no need to end on the Ripto fight and instead we should be allowed to fight Ripto earlier in the run and end elsewhere once the last gem, orb, etc is collected since that is still 100% game completion. In short: ending a 100% run on Ripto is not an in-game requirement, but a rule that we as a community have set in place.
“Why fight Ripto earlier?” you might ask. Once Ripto is defeated:
- Sparx’s gem collecting range is increased.
- Spyro is granted the swim, climb, and headbash abilities even if you did not buy them.
- All 8 instances of Moneybags throughout the game are automatically paid for, at no cost to you.
Theoretically, defeating Ripto earlier will save time in a 100% speedrun because of the above-mentioned points, as well as the fact that you will cut out a few load screens since you won’t have to revisit Winter Tundra or exit whichever level you choose to finish in.
In the context of speedrunning 100% categories: if a game has an alternate ending that is only triggered upon 100% completion, then the run must end at that point. There are many games that follow this concept, but I feel that Crash Bandicoot: Warped (which I will refer to as Crash 3) is a good example since many Spyro players are likely familiar with the Crash Bandicoot series.
In a 105% run of Crash 3, the Cortex fight is the final boss. When Cortex is defeated, you are rewarded with the running shoes which counts for 1% of your total. It is entirely possible to fight Cortex before you have the other 104%, but it is defined in the category that, if you do fight Cortex early, you MUST fight Cortex a second time at the end of the run. This is because defeating Cortex with 105% gives an alternate ending cutscene than defeating Cortex at any other point in the game.
This brings us back to Spyro 2. Defeating Ripto with 100% game completion presents absolutely nothing different compared to defeating Ripto with minimal game completion. Defeating Ripto at the end of a 2 hour 100% run is absolutely no different than defeating Ripto at the end of a 10 minute any% run. And this is what stems the question “Why do we need to end a 100% run at Ripto?”.
With the current definition of Spyro 2 100%, if a player chooses to fight Ripto earlier in the run then they must fight Ripto a second time at the end of their run - despite the fact that nothing different happens. If the community decides that ending at Ripto is unnecessary however, then players are free to defeat Ripto at any point in the run and end their timer upon collecting the final gem, orb, etc in whichever level they choose to finish in.
Hopefully I didn't go too overboard, but I feel as if I covered all the necessary points in good detail. If you have any questions or remarks, feel free to respond. Thank you for reading.
“Should a Spyro 2 100% run HAVE to end at Ripto?”: http://strawpoll.me/3695597
