Hi!

I noticed we have a new Gitaroo runner on emulator. While I don't have anything against runs on emulator, in this situation I don't think it's fair to compare PS2 to a PC. It's a bit like saying you won the moped race even though you brought your 300 cc motorcycle. In other words, saving a minute on loads does not mean someone beat Atobe or me.

I don't think it sets a good precedent for the leaderboard and people running on real hardware (PS2 and PSP). I understand that we have few runners at this point, but it isn't appropriate for an RTA rhythm game. I shouldn't have to emulate to compete.

In my opinion, EMU should be filtered out by default, or have a separate variable.

I wasn't sure whether the load times were emulated the same or not. i do appreciate you contacting me as i did watch your speedrun for guidance :) From what it looks like we'd end up with the exact same time if not a second either way without loads. entirely. The only fair way to see the timing would be to remove loading zones from the count. As i don't have a ps2 capture card and don't really plan on buying one just so i can beat gitaroo man for the 600th time xD. The admin has told me however that they have opened a master mode version for speedrun. So i might see you on that soon ;)

I don't think we'd end up with the same time Snappy. If you look at Stage 10, you had a slow song (extra charge and attack), Atobe and me had a fast song. In case you are wondering, that has nothing to do with RNG; it's just doing enough damage (just like in Stage 5) to trigger the next phase of the song. Heck, maybe if one played perfectly they could do one attack/charge phase and go to the outer space phase of Stage 10. Unless you had a golden goose console with really fast load times, it wouldn't have happened.

Yeah, that's the issue with some emulation. They remove lag/reduce loadtimes that make comparison hard to do. It's not a simple matter of removing load zones, since part of the run is exiting cutscenes quickly and there's load transition between song and cutscene. From a quick comparison I did, your load transition to cutscenes is faster than mine.

Like I said, I know it isn't feasible for everyone to get the equipment to record off of console. If people want to do emulator runs, go for it! It's a fun game to play. Just don't compare it to Atobe and me.

Thanks for the response :)

Didn't actually notice i got the slow version of stage 10 i might go redo it now to be honest. i thought it was slow. but didn't really notice because of the -1 minute save on stage 5.

Honestly i just uploaded the run, i didn't know if loading times were included initially and if it would even be accepted because it was on an emulator. and it being put on this section of the speed run wasn't really up to me. i just uploaded it under "gitaroo man any%" since no one really runs this and there isn't a separate section for emulated ones. I'll probably be doing the master mode any% as well, and redo'ing the normal mode any% to try for a faster stage 10. Good luck with your runs :)

Have a good one!

I don't want to imply that it was up to you, if I made it sound that way. Just wanted to talk about this on the forum since it's worth discussing. :) Hoping PurkisM responds soon

Hey guys! Sorry for the late response, had no idea there was a conversation happening here. I'll probably end up splitting the categories, emu does have a huge advantage over console, but I left it merged to make the leaderboard a little more fleshed out, also my run is done on emu, so it felt a little hypocritical to not allow it. What would you guys rather do? Split leaderboards, or manually time the loads and compare times using IGT?

I'd rather split the leaderboards. At the time you created the board it made sense to have a run on the board. If EMU is more accessible for people (which it is given the rarity of this game), I have no problem having a separate section for it.

And yeah, may want to have alerts on (click the follow button) for the game in case more conversation comes up ;)

Didn't realise Gitaroo man was a rare game in the states, it's not too uncommon over here :) I'll get the leaderboards separated over the weekend, provided Snappy and Atobe are cool with it. Probably makes sense, as pcsx2's framerate isn't always accurate, which could affect any manual timing overall.

On another note, has anyone figured out any reliable "speed tech"? I've not tested too much myself, but I was wondering if anyone knew what caused for shorter sequences in the songs. I pretty much just play as well as I can and hope for the best.

As I understood it, you just need to play well enough in Songs 5 and 10 to skip phases. Do enough damage and the game pushes you to the next part of the song. I got to wonder though if that is the same for any other song? I don't think it is for Song 8, Greg can have no hp and still do that final barrage of notes.

Hey guys, leaderboard's updated now, I've moved everyone's runs to where they need to be. Now we just need a few more runners :)

Can anyone confirm that the only timesaves in this are in stages 5 and 10? I love this game but havent played it in a couple years. Wouldnt mind picking it up for a speedrun if there were enough ways to save time.

Plywood seems to think so, I've not really tested anything in this game, I just did a run because I play through this game like once a year and figured I may as well time it :) But with it being a rhythm game, the only real way to save time is just to play well, no notable 'speed-tech' as such. If you could get this game into a GDQ though that would be fantastic :)