Over 3 years ago, switching the leaderboard to in-game time (IGT) was first brought up. Many of the initial objections to it were that it would be too difficult to migrate existing runs over to IGT.

In October 2017, I started calculating IGT out of curiosity. To my surprise, I found inconsistencies in load times in a few runs, and after calculating IGT for all the 'Cups' runs, I made this post.

In retrospect of the 2018 post, there are a few things I regret that I'll note here quickly:

• I feel bad about removing Insane's runs from the leaderboard. If we legalize ISO loaders, I'd love to see them back.
• Using audio spectrograms to detect Dolphin turned out to be a fluke of where the menu music was when you pressed 'OK'. There still may be something of value in analyzing the audio, but it's not as clear cut as it was in the image.

In April 2018, I started the mass conversion of all old runs to IGT, in which I requested help from fellow runners.

Also in April 2018, the category extensions leaderboard was created, which was a crucial testing grounds for the IGT-based leaderboard. This helped immensely in forming a ruleset that prevented abuse of the IGT timing method.

In July 2018, I created mkwii-igt-calc, a purpose-built web app that makes it easier to add up in-game times.

And 2 years later, we've finally finished converting all old and new incoming runs to IGT.

Here's some interesting (not entirely accurate) stats of the IGT conversion process:

• 1243 runs converted
• Cups: 690
• Nitro/Retro: 255
• 32 Tracks: 298
• 16376 total tracks converted

Huge shoutouts to the folks that helped convert runs:

• @AmayaMKWii
• @Estaloy62
• @Francesco
• @Jeroen
• @MangoMan
• @NicoPlaysThings
• @Storster

You can preview what the leaderboard will look like by viewing a leaderboard and clicking the "In-game time" header. Runs with an IGT will appear first, followed by any runs with RTA-only (usually proofless runs). This makes IGT serve as a sort of "Verified" variable that you might see on other games. If you want to compare an RTA-only run to runs with IGT, you can still sort by "Real time".

The switch will come with some rule updates, most of which come from the category extensions page. Some have already been put in place.

• A submission with video requires IGT. IGT requires video proof.
• Course order restriction and idle time limit between races
• Intentionally pausing the game mid-race is not allowed.
• USB GC Mode in CTGP is allowed again

Unfortunately, there are many videos from expired Twitch past broadcasts, or terminated YouTube channels that could not be converted to IGT. If you are one of those runners and still have the video, please re-upload and edit your run with the new video and IGT.

Other runs were so poor quality that IGT could not be seen from the video, or a part of the run was cut out. Going forward make sure that IGT can be calculated from your video.

Most major changes to the rules and leaderboard were put off until after the IGT switch. Once it happens, here are some topics of concern. I'll likely spin up a topic for each in the future and run a vote.

@MangoMan proposed setting video-less runs' IGT to the same as their RTA time, effectively giving them an IGT penalty, but still appearing grouped with the "Verified" IGT runs.

Many old runs were performed on USB/SD Card loaders, or just had fast load times that indicated the use of a loader. Legalizing ISO loaders after the IGT switch introduces more accessibility to the game, reinstates old runs, at the risk of more cheating.

Similar to the ISO loader question, but with the added risk of TAS playback and emulator accuracy.

There seems to be strong support for the switch, but I'll leave this post up for about a week to let people show any objections or ask questions. If all goes well, I'll flip the switch.

In the mean time, newly submitted runs won't require IGT, but it is always appreciated.

This leaderboard hasn't had video proof requirements throughout its history until the Random Tracks categories were added.

I'm proposing we add a video proof requirement for only WR in all categories (which is what Random Tracks currently has).

I would grandfather in any proofless runs. If there are any proofless Individual Cup runs that seem unreasonably fast, let me know and I can look into it.

Let me know of any objections. Just wanted to be transparent about the change.

All the standard speedrun type categories (32/16/cups) now allow Balanced, Strategic, and None item settings, similar to how 200cc was created. Existing runs have had their variable defaulted to Balanced.

These are setup as variables that don't obsolete each other, so if you do a run in each Balanced, Strategic, and None items, all 3 runs will appear on the same leaderboard. You can use filters to see the best run under an item category. This setup reduces leaderboard clutter and prevents this change from tripling the number of categories.

To accomplish this elegantly, the Time Trials leaderboard had to be moved to a separate parent category. It can be found in the 'Misc.' dropdown. All existing Time Trial runs were migrated manually.

There were a few runs I rejected for not using the correct items. I'll try to go back and approve those now. Shoutouts to @Schipjee for bugging me to get this done.

A topic has come up recently for this leaderboard regarding the rules surrounding IGT timing. Since the rules here are likely to transfer to the main board eventually, this is an important discussion to have.

A couple runs have been submitted recently that play the Mushroom cup out of order. The player uses manual course select rather than 'In Order', which allows the player to do the MG glitch early in the run. Due to the nature of in-game timing, it doesn't affect IGT duration, only real time.

I want to get an idea of how players feel about this, and about playing with an in-game time priority rather than to minimize real time.

##Advantages of not enforcing non-play time limits:

• Playing the hard parts first. Being able to play the courses out of order means players can reduce the amount of wasted time while grinding runs.
• High level of execution. More resets means better runs. The quality of gameplay would increase overall.
• Players can take breaks (stretch, water, restroom). We're humans with needs, and we make the rules for runs. Why unnecessarily stress the human body to play fast?

##Disadvantages:

• Unfair comparison to legacy runs. All of the past runs have played to minimize real time. It's unfair to old runs that new runs require less effort to grind out.
• Negative outsider view. A random outsider watching a run would expect the player to go fast. If the WR run is taking 2 minute breaks between each course, using course select, or pausing during a race, the outsider would likely lose respect for a player not displaying the "spirit of speedrunning".
• Unclear non-play limits. What stops a player from having 2 consoles running, and practicing a track immediately before performing it mid-run?

##Possible solutions:

• Limit total non-play time (RTA minus IGT)
• Limit time waste between tracks
• Ban pausing
• Enforce track order
• Any combination of the above

The 2D sonic games use IGT, here's their rule as an example: Pausing without unpausing for more than 20 seconds voids the run. Pausing for more than 10 minutes in total over the entire run makes it void.

I have my own opinions, but let me know what you think in the replies here.

https://www.speedrun.com/mkwextracategories/full_game#200cc

Download the latest CTGP update to get it!

Updated rules are being implemented starting today. This is mostly to clear up any ambiguity that existed in the rules. The biggest changes are: • Team mode is not allowed • Mirror mode can be played an alternative to 150cc (they share the same leaderboard)

##FAQs My disc drive broke/I lost my disc/I don't own the game, are ISO/USB/SD card loaders allowed? No. The load times are faster than disc. ISO loaders may be allowed after the switch to IGT, but that is to be discussed after the switch.

Is emulator allowed? No. The load times are faster than disc. Emulator may be allowed after the switch to IGT, but that is to be discussed after the switch.

Are splits required? No. Only video is required when faster than the video requirement time.

What are the item category equivalents in PAL English? Recommended = Balanced; Basic = Strategic

If you use different language, use the order in this screenshot to find the correct item setting for your language:

When will the leaderboards switch to in-game time? When all the video recorded runs' in-game time are logged. There are currently less than 100 32-track runs left.

Can I submit the beginning of my 32 Track run as a Nitro track run? Yes! As long as the run starts from the course select screen, you can submit any sub-segment of a run. Example: A 32 Track run started on Luigi's Circuit also contains a valid Nitro Tracks and Mushroom Cup run within it.

Feel free to ask any new questions in this thread.

Here are the rules for easy reference:

##Category Rules/Timing • Complete all 4/16/32 tracks in any order. • RTA timing begins when "OK" is selected from the course selection screen. • RTA timing ends on when you hit the finish line of the last course. • In-game time is calculated by summing each course's time as displayed on the in-game timer after crossing the finish line. Use this tool to calculate IGT easily. • RTA time is required in your submission (don't include milliseconds with RTA). In-game time is appreciated (milliseconds is required).

##Platform Rules • Wii and WiiU loaded from a game disc are allowed. • Emulator (Dolphin) is banned. • SD card/USB ISO loaders are banned. • CTGP is allowed with these settings. (GameCube controller patch on WiiU is banned) • No Ocarina/Gecko/Action Replay codes (obviously).

##Video Requirements • Video proof is required if your RTA time is equal to or faster than specified here. • Your in-game timer should be in frame and readable

##FAQs Learn and ask new questions about the rules in this thread.

##Skip/No Skip Rules • Skips are/are not allowed • List of skips found here

##In-game settings • VS Mode • Solo Mode • Class: 150cc/Mirror • CPU: Hard • Items: Balanced/Strategic/None

Continued from here for more visibility.

Since the last ruleset revision, there has been some room for interpretation on some settings for runs. The current rules regarding in-game actions (besides items/track count) are as follows:

"Run begins when "OK" is selected; ends when you hit the finish line of the last course. 150cc, Hard COM. [ISOs are banned]"

There are 4 current settings we don't acknowledge in the current rules: VS Mode/Grand Prix, Team/Solo mode, 150cc/Mirror, CPU Vehicles, Course Order, Course Count.

We don't need to enforce Course Order or Course Count because if you're just straight up slow if you go to the menu mid-run, and order doesn't matter.

Otherwise, here are the concerns with the remaining settings:

1. VS Mode/Grand Prix: There are individual cup runs submitted done on Grand Prix. The 150cc/Hard CPU rules were originally written to simulate the settings of Grand Prix mode, although I've never seen proof that 150cc Grand Prix mode actually uses the same Hard CPU AI as VS Mode. I think the only other difference is that Grand Prix shows your time on the course finish leaderboard.

2. Team/Solo Mode: I've only seen runs lately get submitted in Team mode, which is why this was brought up in the first place. Obviously you only get hit by half the items, and there's likely some other team mode trivia that I'm unaware of, so enlighten me in the replies.

3. 150cc/Mirror: The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe leaderboards allow mirror mode. Technically, it's no different from 150cc, so I don't see why it even needs to be a separate category. Yeah it's maybe harder, but it's the exact same execution...just mirrored.

4. CPU Vehicles: I think I've seen a few runs submitted with Karts only maybe? CPU impact on runs varies, so I'm not really sure what to enforce here. There may be benefits to both Karts only and Bikes only depending on the tracks. Again, let me know your opinion.

My goal is to make the rules more specific to keep new runs in line with the rules past runs used, but also leave some options open for experimentation.

What I'm thinking at the moment is the following:

##Category Rules/Timing • Complete all 4/16/32 tracks in any order. • RTA timing begins when "OK" is selected from the course selection screen. • RTA timing ends on when you hit the finish line of the last course. • In-game time is calculated by summing each course's time as displayed on the in-game timer after crossing the finish line. Use this tool to calculate IGT easily. • RTA time is required in your submission (don't include milliseconds with RTA). In-game time is appreciated (milliseconds is required).

##Platform Rules • Wii and WiiU loaded from a game disc are allowed. • Emulator (Dolphin) is banned. • SD card/USB ISO loaders are banned. • CTGP is allowed with these settings. (GameCube controller patch on WiiU is banned) • No Ocarina/Gecko/Action Replay codes (obviously).

##Video Requirements • Video proof is required if your RTA time is equal to or faster than specified here. • Your in-game timer should be in frame and readable

##FAQs Read and ask rules questions in this thread.

##Skip/No Skip Rules • Skips are/are not allowed • List of skips found here

##In-game settings • VS Mode • Solo Mode • Class: 150cc/Mirror • CPU: Hard • Items: Balanced/Strategic/None

Runs on CTGP are allowed and people have been doing them for a while now. CTGP is nice because we can ensure players are loading from disc, not using Gecko codes, and Wii U players can now use GameCube controllers via the USB adapter. Here are the required settings just to be clear what is/isn't allowed.

• Custom Tracks: OFF
• Remove Game Music?: NO
• 'My Stuff' Folder: OFF
• Save game on SD card?: NO
• Special Fonts: OFF
• SD Compatible Mode: OFF
• Item Rain (Offline): OFF
• All Items Can Land (Offline): OFF
• Menu Transition Speed: Normal

USB GC mode is allowed.

• Ultra shortcuts are patched on CTGP versus mode, so don't use it for "Skips" categories.
• CTGP may have increased load times over vanilla MKWii, so don't use it for RTA-based runs (100%).

I was contacted by a site mod asking me to help moderate this leaderboard after a lack of moderation. A couple changes were made:

1. Added version number variables. It's required you include a version number with your submission. Any version past 1.03.1000 is now allowed.

2. All pending submissions were taken care of. Currently videos are not required, but that may change in the future.

Don't bother submitting milliseconds for the Real Time section of the submission page. Final times measured by LiveSplit are not accurate to milliseconds due to human error.

We will be using milliseconds for the In-Game Time section in the future, which is accurate to milliseconds. If you want to calculate your In-Game Time for your submission, feel free to do so.

Shoutout to GothicLogic

A while back I made a post about my findings from recording in-game time (IGT) data for all the individual cup categories. That data can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ca6Hl5ra8b8rX3KSsgQKXDgenjlEpOOGvHBq6z1bjec/edit?usp=sharing

To make the transition to IGT for the whole leaderboard (except 100%), I'm going to first need help recording IGT times for the 32/Nitro/Retro categories.

I can keep up with the individual cup runs on my own for now, but I'm going to need some dedicated individuals to start recording the other categories.

I made a brief tutorial video of the process here:

If you're interested, let me know.

The previous time requirements (found here) lacked specific time requirements for the individual cup categories and the 100% category.

As a note, make sure you do not submit a Twitch past broadcast as video proof. They only last 14 days and may result in your run being removed from the leaderboard in the future. Twitch highlights are even known to be unreliable. I recommend you export or upload your run to YouTube and submit that as your video proof.

The New Video Requirements

• 32 Track No Skips/No Items: 1:16:30

• 32 Track No Skips/Balanced: 1:19:00

• 32 Track No Skips/Strategic: 1:19:00

• 32 Track Skips/No Items: 1:15:00

• 32 Track Skips/Balanced: 1:17:00

• 32 Track Skips/Strategic: 1:17:00

• Nitro No Skips/No Items: 0:40:30

• Nitro No Skips/Balanced: 0:40:30

• Nitro No Skips/Strategic: 0:40:30

• Nitro Skips/No Items: 0:38:00

• Nitro Skips/Balanced: 0:38:00

• Nitro Skips/Strategic: 0:38:00

• Retro No Skips/No Items: 0:39:30

• Retro No Skips/Balanced: 0:39:30

• Retro No Skips/Strategic: 0:39:30

• Retro Skips/No Items: 0:38:30

• Retro Skips/Balanced: 0:38:30

• Retro Skips/Strategic: 0:38:30

• 100%: 8:00:00

• Mushroom Skips/Balanced: 0:07:45

• Mushroom Skips/No Items: 0:08:30

• Mushroom Skips/Strategic: 0:07:45

• Mushroom No Skips/Balanced: 0:08:30

• Mushroom No Skips/No Items: 0:08:15

• Mushroom No Skips/Strategic: 0:08:30

• Flower Skips/Balanced: 0:08:15

• Flower Skips/No Items: 0:08:00

• Flower Skips/Strategic: 0:08:15

• Flower No Skips/Balanced: 0:09:45

• Flower No Skips/No Items: 0:09:30

• Flower No Skips/Strategic: 0:09:45

• Star Skips/Balanced: 0:09:30

• Star Skips/No Items: 0:09:30

• Star Skips/Strategic: 0:09:30

• Star No Skips/Balanced: 0:10:45

• Star No Skips/No Items: 0:10:30

• Star No Skips/Strategic: 0:10:45

• Special Skips/Balanced: 0:11:15

• Special Skips/No Items: 0:11:00

• Special Skips/Strategic: 0:11:15

• Special No Skips/Balanced: 0:11:15

• Special No Skips/No Items: 0:11:00

• Special No Skips/Strategic: 0:11:15

• Shell Skips/Balanced: 0:07:15

• Shell Skips/No Items: 0:07:00

• Shell Skips/Strategic: 0:07:15

• Shell No Skips/Balanced: 0:07:15

• Shell No Skips/No Items: 0:07:00

• Shell No Skips/Strategic: 0:07:15

• Banana Skips/Balanced: 0:10:30

• Banana Skips/No Items: 0:10:15

• Banana Skips/Strategic: 0:10:30

• Banana No Skips/Balanced: 0:10:30

• Banana No Skips/No Items: 0:10:15

• Banana No Skips/Strategic: 0:10:30

• Leaf Skips/Balanced: 0:10:30

• Leaf Skips/No Items: 0:10:15

• Leaf Skips/Strategic: 0:10:30

• Leaf No Skips/Balanced: 0:10:45

• Leaf No Skips/No Items: 0:10:30

• Leaf No Skips/Strategic: 0:10:45

• Lightning Skips/Balanced: 0:10:45

• Lightning Skips/No Items: 0:10:30

• Lightning Skips/Strategic: 0:10:45

• Lightning No Skips/Balanced: 0:10:45

• Lightning No Skips/No Items: 0:10:30

• Lightning No Skips/Strategic: 0:10:45

About

These new requirements were discussed here. The 32/Retro/Nitro category requirements were not changed to reduce the number of runs removed. The new requirements were placed within 4% of WR on average, which is similar to the requirements for 32/Retro/Nitro.

Existing videoless runs with times faster than the time requirements will be rejected. No runs will be grandfathered in. A list of the deleted runs can be found in this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OPyhCVOJbQReUIkoTxMgs3Oqg_L6iZmKMK4upmyUAL8/edit#gid=860669351 109 runs were rejected in total.

It is still possible to get videoless WR in some categories, but only because the category's WR is undeveloped. The video requirements can be changed to be stricter in the future if necessary.

One of the most requested changes even before in-game time argument was updating the minimum video proof times originally posted here: https://www.speedrun.com/mkw/thread/c029i

It's currently possible in many categories to claim a WR run without video proof. I've thought up a few solutions to this and I'd like to hear feedback and other solutions from the community.

This solution involves coming up with extra minimum time requirements for all subcategories for each category (such as Balanced, No Items, Strategic for the cup categories). An issue that arises here is what to do with the video-less runs faster than the minimum requirement. We can either grandfather those runs in, or reject them (which is what I believe most other leaderboards do).

This is similar to a solution the OOT community currently uses for console requirement. The idea is that video is required for all runs within 10% (or any other percentage) of the current world record. When a new WR is set, the minimum required time will change. The two issues here are again the existing video-less run problem, and more so what to do when the WR run does not have video, which is now the case on some leaderboards.

This is the most blunt solution, where we remove all non-video runs and explicitly require a video for a submission.

The original post found here. This is just a mirror/slight adaptation in case the link goes down again.

Here is a list of glitches/shortcuts that are not allowed for times being submitted as "No Skips". Certain things that are allowed are also mentioned.

For the images, red is the banned shortcuts. The green lines and curves are allowed shortcuts/paths.

Mushroom Gorge (MG)

• No riding on walls/mountain
• The 'Canyon Gap' that cuts the final turn is allowed, only if you don't ride the wall/mountain, clipping the wall is okay.

Toad's Factory (TF)

• No clipping any boxes/creates to go through the factory walls.
• Using the lake shortcut near the dozer area is allowed.

Mario Circuit (MC)

• No clipping any trees to land on the track below.
• Using the ramp by the Chain Chomp is allowed.

Coconut Mall (CM)

• No going out of bounds (below the Mall, through the Mall's walls, the car parking lot, etc)
• No using the shroomspot exit to skip the first U-turn

Wario's Gold Mine (WGM)

• No hopping on/off any pipes or beams.
• The right-turn gap after the bat cave is allowed, only if you do not contact any of the beams.
• No using Lakitu to respawn you before the last turn to trigger a lap.

Koopa Cape (KC)*

• No falling off the track near the finish line to create an ultra shortcut

Maple Treeway (MT)

• No going out of bounds/skipping checkpoints of any kind to make the No-Lap-Count SC after the Cannon
• The U-turn gap (after the Wiggler area) is allowed.

Grumble Volcano (GV)

• No riding the rock by the start/finish line
• No jumping on/off any rocks (Yes, this includes the 'Rock-Hop' SC)
• No skipping across the lava next to the Rock Hop SC to force a Lakitu respawn glitch.

Bowser's Castle (BC)

• No using any halfpipes to jump to the upper section of track (right before the triple thwomps)

Rainbow Road (RR)*

• No jumping from the beginning of the downhill to the last ramp.
• Using the gap right after the Figure-8 area is allowed.
• The 'Moonjump' at the beginning is allowed.

GCN Peach Beach (rPB)

• No clipping of any trees to land onto the beach below.

SNES Ghost Valley 2 (rGV2)

• No clipping of any walls/beams to skip portions of the track.

N64 Sherbet Land (rSL)

• No clipping the start/finish pole to land in the water behind.
• Bouncing off the wall to help aid in the shroomspot is allowed.

GBA Shy Guy Beach (rSGB)**

• No clipping the bomb that lands a little past the start/finish line to land in the deep water to achieve a respawn glitch

(Dotted red line represents the path traveled from before to after the respawn by Lakitu)

GCN Waluigi Stadium (rWS)*

• No bouncing on top of the banner to land before the halfpipe section

DS Desert Hills (rDH)

• No clipping the wall at the beginning to skip the lake.
• Jumping on top of the wall to skip the lake is also considered a glitch.

GBA Bowser's Castle 3 (rBC3)

• No using ANY of the yellow ramps to skip the two straights (Yes, this includes the 'Non-Ultra SC')
• You're still allowed to ride on the walls.

N64 DK's Jungle Parkway (rDKJP)

• No clipping the tree to bounce off the start/finish line to land in the cave below.
• No jumping up through the fence to skip the spiral before the Cannon (known as the 'Spiral SC/Cut')

DS Peach Gardens (rPG)*

• No clipping the tree to bypass an invisible wall and landing before the final turn

GCN DK Mountain (rDKM)

• No clipping through any fences to land in any area down below.
• The chasm SC right before the final turn is allowed.

N64 Bowser's Castle (rBC)

• No clipping the starting pole to respawn after the final ramp.
• No clipping the wall at the bridge (before the spiral) to fall into the lava to spawn up above.
• Riding the walls is allowed.

[1] It's unlikely anyone can make any glitch on these tracks to save time. They're just here to match the original post. [2] The rSGB glitch is only viable for fast lap runs at the moment, but is here for consistency.

[big]tl;dr[/big] Math can detect cheaters, load times are inconsistent, people cheated (intentionally or not), RTA is bad. The leaderboards should be in-game time. Dolphin should maybe be legalized.

[section=Introduction] Yeah, I wrote 5 pages about Mario Kart load times, but I spent 3 months on this so what do you expect.

[big]Why[/big] I was curious how easy it would be to add up times for a 32 track run using a spreadsheet and I got very carried away. I’ve already been interested in load times and the in-game timer from previous forum posts on here, and compiling all this data produced some helpful results.

[big]The spreadsheet[/big] [big][big]Here it is <-- This is a link, it's hard to see[/big][/big] This spreadsheet contains all the data I will reference in this post. This consists of data from all of the runs in the individual cup leaderboards with a full video and mostly legible on-screen in-game timer. I didn’t do the 16 track and 32 track categories because I’m sane and I’d prefer not to watch even more runs. If anyone want to help log those times, feel free.

The Suspicious Runs sheet is discussed in detail in the Suspicious runs section. The All Cup Stats contains a data summary for all the non-play times calculated in the spreadsheet. The median non-play time was used instead of an average was used to rule out any skew caused by the mistimed runs like cookie587’s 51 second mistime. The 1st Quartile is the 25th percentile time for each cup representing an approximate best-possible non-play time for each console. The Wii Non-Play and WiiU Non-Play sheets are the Google statistics add-on output for the lists of non-play times at the bottom of the All Cup Stats sheet. Look at these if you love statistics and graphs. These are one of the few things I have to update manually, so they may be out of date occasionally. The X Cup sheets contain the specific data for each run. Runs submitted to two leaderboards (like No Skips and Skips) are listed twice. Runs that were mistimed are listed twice with both the mistimed time and the corrected time. The Real Time column on these sheets is the time claimed on speedrun.com unless noted as a corrected time. These sheets also make up an unofficial IGT leaderboard if you’re interested in that. The Deleted Runs sheet will contain reported runs that were removed from the leaderboard and also removed from my X Cup sheet.

[big]Terms[/big] IGT – In-game time. Timing a speedrun using Mario Kart’s on-screen timer. You time a whole run by adding up the on-screen times for each track. RTA – real time attack. The method of timing a run using an external timer (or video timecode) without pausing the timer. This is the method used by most speedrun leaderboards and is currently used on the MKWii leaderboard. Claimed time – The time the runner submitted to speedrun.com. Note this doesn’t always match the actual time of the run. Non-play time – The time you get when you subtract the in-game time from the real-time of the run. This consists of load screens, cutscenes, menus; the parts where you’re not really playing and just mashing buttons.

[section=Where the non-play time can fall] The non-play time for each run can fall into 3 categories:

• Outliers greater than the median
• Around the median
• Outliers less than the median

Runs with non-play time greater than the median can result from 3 things (in order of likelihood):

• Slow load times
• Not mashing well through menus and cutscenes
• An actual time lower than the claimed time (claiming a time slower than the run actually was) These runs are pretty uninteresting, but are helpful for the runners that fall into this category to understand why a similar (or even faster) run may result in a slower time.

Runs with a non-play time around the median are regular data and are important to help find outliers.

The most interesting runs are ones with non-play time less than the median. They can result from 2 things:

• Fast load times (due to alternate forms of loading such as Dolphin or a USB/SD loader)
• An actual time higher than the claimed time (claiming a time faster than the run actually was) This category is great because with this data, we’re able to consistently find what some would call ‘cheaters’ by just inputting a few numbеrs. Not all the players in this category are cheaters. They’re probably the minority. I believe most of the ‘cheated’ runs here are not intentionally malicious; many of the runs are here due to a timing error or maybe a misunderstanding. Detailed coverage of these runs can be found under Suspicious runs.

[section=Suspicious runs] The first tab on the MKWii IGT spreadsheet is a list of the all of the suspicious runs found from my data. Most of these runs were found because the non-play time was an outlier. I have a rule on the spreadsheet that highlights any time that is less than 1.5*IQR for each console. This is a standard statistical method for finding outliers in a normal distribution. Here I’ll cover a few of the runners here and how I made my conclusion.

[big]RobBobTheCornCob[/big] Mushroom Cup/Skips/Balanced is the fourth most popular category on the MKWii leaderboards and this guy got WR by just lying about his claimed time. This is one of the most egregious examples of the poor moderation on these leaderboards. In the submission comment, RobBob says, [quote]For some reason the Roxio extends black screens and these also mess up the audio. So,the audio is annoying in this whole video and I used Insane's time to confirm the time of this run.[/quote] What I’m concluding from this comment is that he used his capture card as an excuse to just copy Insane’s time. The non-play time for this run is 7 seconds faster than the 1st quartile for Mushroom Cup Wii U times. Timing by the video it’s 7:22.126 which puts his run within a second of the median. To be clear, the run is great and deserves 2nd place, but I’m not sure how this got by the mods. I even reported this in the Discord in October and nothing was done about it. Please just watch the videos.

[big]Gabbbii633[/big] Gabbbii’s runs are an example of what I might consider intentional cheating. Gabbbii has 4 verified runs that pretty obvious cheats by just watching the video. In the 3 (actually two, one is just submitted under two categories) Lightning Cup runs Gabbbii shows a phone timer at the start and after the run. The times on the phone are wildly different from just timing using the video. Even comparing the amounts cut off by what I’m assuming is stopping the timer early offscreen yields different amounts, which rules out a ‘slow’ timer. In Gabbbii’s 7:10 Shell Cup run, only the last two tracks are recorded on video, but with that I’m still able to conclude that the time is probably false. Getting the claimed time would require WR level in-game times on tracks 1 & 2. This seems too unreasonable, especially considering the skill level and other suspicious times submitted by the player. I wouldn’t expect the mods to catch this, especially when the submitted times are outside of the range that require a video. I don’t want to punish someone for submitting a run with a recording (which is uncommon on this leaderboard), so I’d recommend just editing the time to be proper.

[big]Menozen[/big] Menozen has two runs (including one WR) in Mushroom Cup that have outlier non-play times. The 8:05 WR No Skips/Strategic run has already been discussed a bit here. This run does not suffer from any timing errors, and it’s evident that the load times are faster. An interesting fact about this run is that timing by IGT, Francesco’s run is 8 seconds faster. Timing by real time, Menozen’s run is 9 seconds faster. That means Francesco loses 17 seconds to Menozen in just load times. This is exaggerated by the fact that Francesco has the slowest Wii I’ve documented in my data. The No Skips/No Items run also features people getting screwed by RTA timing. Timing by IGT, Spoofy’s 8:08 run and Spec’s 8:13 run are both faster than Menozen’s 8:06 run. These 3 people are all playing better runs and yet are still slower than Menozen due to RTA. So how are Menozen’s load times so fast? The possibilities are either Dolphin or a USB loader, so how can one tell which? Recently I figured out that each console has a unique audio signature visible in a spectrogram. Luckily, Menozen included audio in his run so we can check it using that. In the following image, I show samples of the audio from runs done on various consoles. You can see that the Wii has a distinct noise in during the load times which is due to the analog audio output the Wii is limited to. The Wii U has a different audio signature with less low frequency sound going into the load and no noise due to the nature of recording diɡitally through HDMI audio. Dolphin also uses a purely diɡital route, but shows an audio signature unique to itself featuring strong low frequencies and a light noise elsewhere going into the load. Just by looking at the image, it’s clear that Menozen’s run matches up with Dolphin’s audio signature. The image also shows how much faster his load times are compared to Wii, Wii U, and even the Dolphin build I used.

[big]TheSeineTV[/big] Similar to Menozen, TheSeineTV has two runs that have a fast load times. The 8:11 Mushroom Cup Skips/No Items run has already been discussed a bit here. An interesting fact to point out about TheSeineTV is that they have a point-a-camera-at-your-TV Shell Cup run with the Wii in frame in that has legit load times, but the game is in German. All the suspected Dolphin fast load runs are in English, not to mention the high resolution and anti-aliasing. Just by that, it’s clear the suspected runs are Dolphin. TheSeineTV’s Mushroom Cup run also features Spec’s 8:13 getting screwed by RTA timing due to fast loads. I’ll also note that TheSeineTV also has a Retro Tracks run that is in English and high resolution that I’d suspect is Dolphin.

[big]Insane[/big] Insane, the king of individual cup MKWii speedruns. He seems to have first place in nearly every category. Unfortunately, all of the runs done on his Wii have load times 9 seconds faster than the median time for a Wii. Insane switched to Wii U recently, and his load times are perfectly normal on there, but his Wii load times are well…insane! I asked Insane about his load times in a YouTube comment: He claims he left his Wii on as long as possible to improve load times, and ultimately its demise. I have never heard of this method to improve load times, and research turned up nothing, so I’m still skeptical. My guess is he was just using a USB loader. Regardless of his load times, his IGT is still really impressive. Unfortunately, he gets a 9 second head start compared to others attempting to beat his times on Wii. In my opinion, this is one of the strongest reasons to switch the leaderboard to IGT. A few of these times are unbeatable on disc with console using RTA. Some of them have already been broken in IGT, but place 2nd on the leaderboards due to Insane’s load times. There’s no way for Insane to prove he had a magical Wii, and he deserves no punishment. His runs are super impressive and deserve a spot on the leaderboard. Just give other players a chance and switch to IGT.

[big]Other suspicious runs[/big] Most of the other suspicious runs are too low on the leaderboard to discuss individually, and many of them are just mistimed. I still don’t understand how these get past the mods; all you have to do it watch the beginning and end of the video and do some subtraction. It takes less than 30 seconds. cookie587 claimed a run 51 seconds faster than it actually was and no one noticed! Some of these ‘other’ category suspicious runs have faster load times, but are low enough on the leaderboard that it’s not worth my time to figure out exactly why.

[big]Conclusion[/big] Don’t ban these people for claiming a faster time or having faster loads. For the mistimed runs, just edit the run time to be correct. For the fast load time runs, it gets trickier. The obvious answer is to switch the leaderboards to in-game time, but you still must question if we then start allowing USB loaders and/or Dolphin. I think USB loaders are fine if we switch to IGT, and I’ll discuss Dolphin in the Dolphin legality section.

[section=Dolphin legality] To be honest, I’m still unsure about whether or not Dolphin should be allowed. Pros:

• Easier recording of runs, therefore better proof standards and better capture quality
• Better accessibility for people without a console and capture card Cons:
• Easier splicing of runs using savestates. Submitting a Dolphin movie (.dtm) file alongside the run to check for rerecord counts would NOT work due the ability to easily hex edit the rerecord count.
• Possible run speed/stuttering of Dolphin running game at lower speed to give players an advantage when timing with IGT.
• Ease of locking an RNG variable to have consistent RNG throughout the run.

On the topic of Gecko codes, cheating is no easier on Dolphin than console. Cheats like a speed modifier can easily be done on console with homebrew, as well as on Dolphin without changing the code.

The first two cons could be resolved by requiring that the Dolphin frame be shown in the recording. This ensures we are not watching a movie playback, and that the game is running at or near 100% speed. The values shown here usually vary, so just superimposing a static image of a Dolphin window over a movie playback could be detected.

Locking the RNG variable in the RAM is maybe possible, but I haven’t figured out how to do that. I’m also still unsure how much that would help in a run. Memory access is always a threat with emulators and there’s really no way to prevent it. I’d also imagine it’s possible to do the same with a Gecko code on console.

[section=Next steps]

1. Update proof standards. Either require video or update the video requirement standards for the individual cup runs.
2. Switch to in-game time to resolve unfairness in load times. This brings up the issue of runs without videos. I think it would be okay to subtract the median non-play time for the appropriate console. Most of these runs are not near the top of the leaderboard, so 100% accuracy is not needed. For the 16 track and 32 track leaderboards, it’s going to take more work, but it’s doable. We should still require/encourage a real-time field when submitting a run to encourage players not to take long breaks between tracks to ensure the spirit of a speedrun.
3. Remove or edit suspicious runs appropriately.
4. Legalize Dolphin and require video with Dolphin window in view

I made this video today showing the load time differences between many versions.

Loading on console from a hard drive is very fast and definitely should be not allowed.

Wii U appears very slightly faster than Wii but it adds up to a 12 second difference throughout a 32 track run.

I also tested Dolphin running from a backup disc because it technically is allowed according to the rules (it's not an ISO). The gameplay is quite inconsistent, but if you eliminate frame stutters it would be slightly faster than Wii U.

I feel like the challenge tasks added in update 1.07 could improve the run time. You pretty much get free staff and GMP for doing mundane tasks.