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Mkay, so there's a new glitch in Skyward Sword that breaks the game fairly significantly, and I'm wondering how this would be handled at SDA. Basically, you kill yourself, then on the Game Over screen, select "continue" and immediately reset the game in the home menu. This results in being spawned on the title screen, so you can access the file select screen while running around in Skyloft. If you go to a bird statue, then save and load a file with the same A button press, then you'll spawn in the map you're saved at, but at the XYZ coordinates of the statue in Skyloft. This leads to breaks where you can be teleported to rooms halfway through dungeons or to OoB spots which allow you to access places early.

The spawning on the title screen glitch itself has already been greenlighted for Twilight Princess, but there's some notable differences in Skyward Sword that require some extra consideration. The questions I have are:

1. How does this affect segmented runs? The warp glitch necessitates saving. This'll load you in the map the file was saved at before, but after the save the file will actually be saved in Skyloft, so if you do the glitch then reset the game and reload the file it won't be the same as when you load it while doing the glitch. So it seems strange to me to label the save as the end of the segment when the save is not actually the end of that play session.

2. When you do the glitch you can save over and load any file. This means you can say, have file 1 somewhere you can kill yourself quickly, then have file 2 being the actual run. You save in file 2, reset the game, load file 1, kill yourself, then activate the glitch and load file 2 to teleport somewhere in file 2. This allows for a few breaks that aren't possible using just one file. For example, after you rescue your Loftwing, the game prompts you to save. After the save you immediately start a 3-minute cutscene, followed by the race and obtaining the Sailcloth. If you save and then use a different file to activate the glitch, then you can skip all of that stuff by warping somewhere else in Skyloft and just go straight to getting the Goddess Sword. Is this allowed? The consensus on ZSR is that it's ok as long as the second file is created over the course of the run.

3. While you're on the title screen doing seemingly random things can cause the game to load things from different files while you're still on the title screen. For instance you can get your items and Rupee count, among plenty of other things... so while doing the glitch for a run, depending what kind of uses are found you could end up loading things from a file completely unrelated to the run. I can't really see much issue with this since the effects don't actually carry into the file after you load, but I'm wondering if theoretically if you could say, get the Clawshots on the title screen and use that to navigate to one of the bird statues quicker, would that be legal? Note there's not actually any use for having any extra items on the title screen so far, though, so this is purely a theoretical question.
Thread title:  
Claimh Happy
1) Segments should only end when loading a save will bring you to a consistent location/game state. Since the point of BiT in this case seems to be that it does not do this, it seems to me that this would just end up being one segment with saving in the middle of it.

2) I agree that as long as the files are created over the course of the run, it should be allowed.

3) If these effects are based on your save files, those files should be created during the course of the run.
Yes, a cucco riding the ground.
1. I think the segment break should be at the point where you actually stop playing, though a single-segment run that uses the glitch should be labeled as SS with resets.

2. That sounds fine as long as the creation of the extra file is counted as part of the run. It seems like starting a new file, killing yourself, and doing the glitch would be slower than doing the race unless the new file is in Hero Mode, in which case the run should be new game + IMO, even if the main file is in normal mode.

3. I agree with mapler.
Both files would be hero mode, there is absolutely no reason to do a non-Hero Mode run. So yeah, obviously it would be labelled NG+.

You wouldn't actually have to create a whole new file since you could simply copy the file you're already using. It definitely saves time since the glitch takes about a minute to do and skips 4-5 minutes of stuff.
Agreed with everything in the topic so far. I'd expect such a run would have to be labelled as something like "Segmented with Crazy Shit".
Claimh Happy
Quote from bmn:
"Segmented with Crazy Shit".


I second this.
This I really like!;D
What would be considered "creating another file during the run"? Could you just copy your main file at any time or what?

(also I don't really like this idea considering the file the run starts with has already been created previously, but anyway...)
Claimh Happy
Everything related to the run must be created during the run. Copying a pre-existing file is obviously breaking that rule. The only valid things you can do are to save in a different slot (leaving your previous save where it is) or to copy the file you are doing the run itself on.

It should be noted that this will be very confusing to verifiers without detailed notes. If possible, all pre-existing files should be backed up and deleted to make things easier, but obviously that will never be grounds for rejecting the run. Runs (of any game) which involve saving to multiple files and/or copying your file should require submission comments explaining (at the bare minimum) when this is done, what the files are before the change, and what they are after the change. I would also encourage adding notes about how it will come into play later in the run.

**This is especially important if you cannot backup and delete your pre-existing saves, because verifiers need to be sure those saves do not affect the run**

Without this, verification would become much harder, possibly being limited to those who actually run the game, as it would be hard for anyone else to follow the run.
Makes more sense to me to use all three slots anyway. One slot for the run, one for the corrupt insta-death save, and one for a copy of the blank Hero Mode file/copy of the save at the start of the segment for easier re-attempting.

mapler: I'd propose just copying your save file onto an SD card before starting the run and sending it to the verifiers, it's pretty easy to do and would let them see whatever for themselves.
Edit history:
Manocheese: 2012-01-03 12:34:31 pm
Yes, a cucco riding the ground.
Since we have a Skyward Sword rules topic, I might as well bring up the question of bugs and treasures in Hero Mode. For those who don't know, the bugs and treasures you have at the end of normal mode transfer to Hero Mode. This could save time, since you can use the transferred items to upgrade your equipment. Some people on ZSR were saying that you should have to get rid of all bugs and treasures before starting a run in Hero Mode, but I disagree; I think you should be able to transfer anything you want. This is consistent with the way NG+ is handled in other games on SDA. In Chrono Trigger, for example, you're allowed to transfer items. What do you guys think of this?
Quote from Manocheese:
Some people on ZSR were saying that you should have to get rid of all bugs and treasures before starting a run in Hero Mode,

Those people are idiots.
Claimh Happy
ZSR is free to handle Hero Mode however they like. By my understanding, SDA treats it as NG+, and transferring certain items is almost a part of such runs.

Parax: What I meant was that the runner should have notes explaining what happens to the files throughout each segment, because it's not a part of gameplay and therefore the files could be copied without affecting the run itself. An example for a 10 segment run might look like this:

Segment 1: Started a new game on file 1. Files 2 and 3 are empty. Saved to file 1.
Segment 2: Continued file 1, saved to file 1.
Segment 3: Continued file 1, saved to file 2 (file 1 is left where it is for quick deaths).
Segment 4: Continued file 2, saved to file 2.
Segment 5: Loaded file 1 for BiT, loaded file 2 to start halfway through a dungeon, saved to file 2.
Segment 6: Continued file 2, saved to file 2.
Segment 7: Continued file 2, saved to file 3 (leaving file 2 as it is allows me to have super jet pack boots during the execution of BiT).
Segment 8: Loaded file 1 for BiT, got jet boots because of file 2, loaded file 1 to spawn at glitched location. saved to file 2 for even weirder stuff during BiT.
Segment 9: Continued file 1 for BiT. Weird stuff because of file 2. loaded file 3 to spawn at Final Boss' save. saved to file 3.
Segment 10: Continued file 3. Beat game.

Maybe it'll never get as complicated as this, but since save files aren't a part of gameplay, but it seems like this isn't something we can always expect verifiers to be able to understand just from watching the run. As popular as SS is, it may not be a problem to find people that do understand it, but if more obscure games ever have runs like this, people that understand it may be few and far between.
Edit history:
Paraxade: 2012-01-03 03:42:01 pm
Quote from Miles:
Quote from Manocheese:
Some people on ZSR were saying that you should have to get rid of all bugs and treasures before starting a run in Hero Mode,

Those people are idiots.


^

mapler: you can't save to any file, you can only save to the file you're playing on. You'd have to exit out of the game and copy the file.
Claimh Happy
I was trying to make my statement generalized to any game where using multiple files would be beneficial. Regardless of how you end up with an extra file where you need it, it should be noted. Segments where you just load a file and save over it don't need any mention, though, now that I think about it.
Ganondorf = Donkey Kong LOOK IT UP!!
I feel sorry for those people who expected something stable and well made to come out of this game. I mean, it's literally the exact same fatal error in programming as Twilight Princess. They got yo money, sucks to be you ^_^

And from what I've gathered, fuck ZSR, keep the bugs and treasures, otherwise you are just doing it to skip cutscenes, which is honestly a pathetic excuse for a NG+ Tongue
Edit history:
mzxrules: 2012-01-04 03:21:23 am
zeldaspeedruns.com
Actually, all but the intro cutscene can be skipped on normal mode as well. Skyward Sword has an internal file called skip.dat that records which cutscenes have been viewed on a per file basis. This doesn't work for the first cutscene of a Normal game run because the game does not auto-save on creation like the 64 and GCN titles do.

Also, activating bit is quite different from Twilight Princess, in that you can't activate it the "Twilight Princess" way without crashing the game. It's activated by resetting after selecting continue, which only works in Windwaker. Strange how it doesn't work in TP...
1-Up!
lol you can skip cutscenes using "skip dat."

OK imma try to hit the big points here.

Easy to classify this as SS w/ Resets. If you build the 2nd file during the run then it all counts towards your time and it's easy to time bc it's SS w/ Resets.

For Segmented this gets weird. Traditionally your segments ends when you leave the field of play - in this case, resetting from Home Screen. I get the impression that the running around in Skyloft is only an option after the Reset and you can't actually turn your console off or make mutliple attempts at the skyloft section as the glitch is dependent on the preceding reset. I guess what you would do is

1) Segment starts, Game Over, continue while resetting
2) Go to bird statue and save/load with one A press
3) Continue to play until you save normally

Basically this one video contains the glitch but is technically 3 segments, since the act of loading in skyloft would typically count as segmentation. Each video will just travel from regular bird save to regular bird save and any instance of the glitch will be contained in the video but count towards your segment count.

Seems to be the most fair way to handle this since you can't re-try in the middle of the glitch like you normally can between segments of a run.
Claimh Happy
Quote from Flip:
Basically this one video contains the glitch but is technically 3 segments, since the act of loading in skyloft would typically count as segmentation. Each video will just travel from regular bird save to regular bird save and any instance of the glitch will be contained in the video but count towards your segment count.

Seems to be the most fair way to handle this since you can't re-try in the middle of the glitch like you normally can between segments of a run.

I'm confused. Are you saying a segment with this glitch would actually count as multiple segments?
1-Up!
Basically, since it's impossible to retry the middle sections they'd all have to be in the same video. It would technically be considered 3 segments, though. I'm fairly certain we have another run on the site with a similar "2 segments 1 video" situation but I can't remember.
Claimh Happy
Even if there's precedent for that, I don't think that makes sense. If you can't retry it, shouldn't it be the same segment? Otherwise what's the point of having segments?
^ Yeah, that's kinda what I'm thinking. If we're acknowledging that it needs to be in one video and it can't be retried then why not call it one segment? Also: since you're still in control of Link on the title screen and file select, then aren't you still in the field of play?

None of this really has any impact on the run so it's just a question of how we label it. Calling it one segment seems to make more sense and simplify timing as the whole section would just be timed as one segment instead of stopping and starting three times (if that is indeed how you would do it, which doesn't make any sense to me).
Edit history:
TheOthin: 2012-01-17 03:20:29 am
If you couldn't just load a file from starting up the game system to turn out there, it's not really the beginning of a segment, is it?

Edit: Wait, that's not right. Looking at, say, a Metroid Prime 2 speedrun, the checkpoint after Emperor Ing is counted as a separate segment even though you can't load there from a reset, but just because you can retry the segment even though no saving occurs. So that seems to confirm that it's the retryability that matters, not the saving.
1-Up!
It doesn't matter too much, honestly. This way just seems to mesh with our rules the best. All that really changes is your segment count and that doesn't matter anyway.
Edit history:
Paraxade: 2012-04-12 01:40:11 am
Paraxade: 2012-04-12 01:28:35 am
Paraxade: 2012-04-12 01:28:23 am
Ok so, new (related) glitch found, new questions. I'm not completely clear on how this is performed and haven't done it myself, but basically, on the title screen it's possible to load data from an existing file and make a cutscene play, then load up a different file and have that cutscene play out on the new file. From what I hear this allows for some pretty massive sequence breaks, namely you can get into Sky Keep early which lets you skip half the fifth dungeon, the sixth dungeon and the entire Song of the Hero quest (which is over two hours of shit)... plus other stuff like raising the Tower of Light early (skips another ~15 minutes of filler), and activating the light columns early which lets you skip half of the first and second dungeons. So this is actually quite massive.

The question is is it allowed? Even if just as a separate category or considered NG+ or something? The consensus earlier in the thread was that you couldn't load from other files that weren't created during the run, and while I still kinda agree with that myself, it would be a damn shame if a glitch this big wasn't legal.

edit: also worth noting is it evidently requires the already existing files to be set up in a pretty specific way to be able to get the right effects during BiT