i wanna run this game, but the only version i have that wouldnt be emulated is the GB version. will this affect my run at all?

That's a great question. I would need some input from other people on how platform differences are handled for other games. I just now compared a few differences between SNES, Genesis, and GameBoy. In my opinion, the list of differences below would almost certainly effect the time it takes to complete 10 levels.

Differences in Genesis

1. Vertical columns in SNES have 5 pieces, 4 in Genesis.
2. Transition screens between levels seems quicker in Genesis.
3. Zooping the 5th squiggly spring appears to clear the screen quicker in Genesis.
4. The number of pieces required for the upper level is different as noted below.

Differences in GameBoy

1. Horizontal rows in SNES have 7 pieces, 6 in GB.
2. Transition screens between levels is instant in GB.
3. Springs also appear to clear the screen faster.
4. The number of pieces required is different for levels 1 and 2, and levels above 6.

Pieces required to pass each level SNES - GB - Genesis - Playstation 1 Level 1 - 40 - 30 - 40 - 40 Level 2 - 60 - 50 - 60 - 60 Level 3 - 90 - 90 - 90 - 90 Level 4 - 100 - 100 - 100 - 100 Level 5 - 110 - 110 - 110 - 110 Level 6 - 120 - 120 - 120 - 120 Level 7 - 110 - 140 - 130 - 140 Level 8 - 130 - 160 - 140 - 160 Level 9 - 140 - 180 - 150 - 180 Level 10 - 150 - 200 - 175 - 200

I'd say running and submitting GB versions for now would be fine. The biggest concern for an advantage I can see are level transitions being instant. I'd imagine that it's a second or two faster than the consoles, and you'd be doing that 10 times, so you already have a pretty good time save right there. For now though, I think that until the board gets active and more competitive times come in, doing platform organization and what not can wait.

I'm trying to get a full 10 levels completed on GB for a rough baseline time. The higher levels are more difficult on GB, I think mostly because they require more pieces. I'll post the GB run/time/video soon hopefully.

@sto1crose Are you able to complete Levels 1-10 on difficulty 4? Here's my closest attempt so far, game starts around 49:43.

So...I wasn't aware emulators are banned. I thought I saw emu times on some runs for other games. Regardless, for the past 3 days I've been cranking out Zoop speedruns on a GameBoy emulator to at least check or set a reasonable expected speedrun for Zoop on GameBoy. The times are 30 seconds and almost 4 minutes faster!

Level - Continual -

In my opinion, we should keep different leaderboards for each platform. Level transitions are instant, plus clearing the screen with 5 springs will subtract/carry over any extra pieces into the next level.

@sto1crose Thanks for giving me something to do for the past few days. Zoop on GameBoy difficulty 4 seems harder than SNES. It was fun!

Yes I realized very quickly when I made Zoop a speedgame that different versions of the game have different load times/music/piece count all of that, and that emulator would probably save time over non emu in all the circumstances albeit maybe be a bit harder to complete. So the game at least for wr contention is a SNES leaderboard. No emu allowed or other systems. You may still play the game no one is stopping you but the SNES version of the game is what we started with for running the game and has to stay consistent for the leaderboards. Anyway, nothing is as legit as doing Zoop runs with a SNES controller on original hardware. Thanks to TheGuardian for listing the differences so proficiently, makes it easier to show why they don't belong on the same leaderboard in the slightest.

Essentially although Zoop is the same "concept" among all the systems, they are basically all completely different games. To clear up confusion, I cleaned up the mess of platforms it says underneath the game. Now it only says SNES. Sorry for any confusion.

For instance, 4th place currently for level mode is played on Genesis. But it's like 2 mins off wr so the differences don't matter. It's only if you want to compete for wr where these differences make it completely unfair and pointless to use different systems

lol just saw all of this...why not just add different categories for each console. And banning emulators with no specific reasoning seems pretty aggressive. I'm a firm believer in having emulator restrictions but man...are you guys just trying to get people to not run this game lol?

I haven't exactly been keeping up with this game lately, just verifying runs every once in a while, so excuse me if this is a tad late.

Banning emulator and clearing out "the mess of platforms" and making SNES the only allowed platform for this board is asinine. This is not SM64. There are an entire 7 people who have done a run. Version differences are not a big deal. Emulator is not going to be different enough to warrant a blanket ban.

If you want to compare only SNES runs, there's already an option for that - there are filters in the top right of the leaderboard page that you can use to compare only the times of a certain platform. This is much preferable to just banning platforms that YOU, personally, do not care about, and stopping players on those platforms from being able to run the game.

If you're legitimately concerned about emu runs being inaccurate to original hardware, you can do what many other games do and ban them for WR, but allow them otherwise (e.g. currently emu runs longer than 12:55 for Continual and 11:19 for Level would be allowed).

Irie, I fear you're falling into the trap of thinking "I am the moderator, I make the rules," rather than allowing the community as a whole to decide how the game should be run.

As it stands now there are mislabeled runs on the board, and the game is closed off to would-be runners that might not have a SNES. Suffice it to say it's a mess.

Thanks for speaking up Coolestto. Let's use this as a learning opportunity though and get this game some attention it deserves. I do think splitting up the game into different versions makes sense (Genesis vs SNES difference is huge in practice for example). Also, firmly agree about emulator. From my understanding it's typically emulators not handling lag well that makes a big difference. I don't think zoop sees much (if any) lag so the differences between emu and console should be negligible. Also, I would love to be a mod if possible. I will be playing a lot of zoop in the future and can help with verifications and/or decisions of this nature.

p.s. - I had my friend hold a (sealed) copy of zoop on the SGDQ couch. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9_S90nU8AAaIM7.jpg:large

soooo....let's add the other systems as separate categories then yeah?

So why are emulators banned anyways? If emu is different than hardware, make a subcategory for it

Good question.

I'm mildly offended at your accusations but to show that I would LOVE to see the game grow, rather defend my lack of moderating a fairly inactive game, I will add stormcrow56k as mod. I will apologize for seeing this so late, but you guys have got to look at the bigger picture and realize all this was going on without me and you are calling some grand conspiracy. I love Zoop and it hurts to see you've assumed otherwise. Good luck and cheers.

Irie, I don't actually think you don't want the game to grow but it did seem like the decision was not given much thought especially when someone was actively running it on gameboy and I had a run on genesis. I do apologize for being a bit harsh however. I'm just glad we can get some extra categories added now. All emulators can run a bit different depending on the system and the emu itself so I think we will just have to take things on a case by case basis. I think leaving it open for emu for now makes sense. If we see a run that is clearly running faster (which I will be happy to do the legwork on) then we can ban that specific emu and/or make a separate emu category. Also, for now it seems that adding a Genesis and Gameboy category makes sense. Thanks for adding me on as a mod and I hope there are no hard feelings. ZOOOOP.

Also, if anyone is wanting to add other console versions just post here and we can review any differences to ensure it needs it's own category. Irie and the rest of the community, please provide your opinion on my suggestion for emus.

There's multiple threads going on here, for what appears to be the same basic conversation.

Regardless, I'd first like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has posted a run on this game. Competition makes it so much fun! Irie thanks for your moderation and enthusiasm for this game. Stormcrow56k thanks for pushing to expand this to other consoles and stepping up to moderate those submissions and scores.

I'll try to help out as well by submitting some emulator runs on each platform. Stormcrow56k is clearly the best ;) but I'll try to at least give us a rough baseline on each emulated console version.

No hard feelings mate. I ditto guardianpm, you are all Zoop prodigy's and it's been cool to see people pick the game up. Keep on Zoopin. Regarding emu's i'm fine with your suggestion stormcrow.