I'm beginning work on running Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3

2016-03-09 04:01:09 pm

I haven't recorded/submitted a full run of the game yet, but I wanted to mention a few key details about the run itself beforehand. As far as recording it goes for submission purposes in the future, I will be using OBS and a Logitech USB headset, with XSplit for the timer. Before the bullet points, should a first submitted run absolutely have commentary, or is it alright to not have it at first?

#1. With my first impromptu test run of the game, I was able to beat it in just over 2 hours though admittedly wasn't 100% timing myself during it sans a rough estimate in my head. I should easily be able to get down to under 2 hours with some more work, however.

#2. I'm a little unsure about the exact time of when to start and end the timer for a run. The FAQ had stated that it starts as soon as you have player control and ends when you lose control of the character at games' end, though I've seen it done differently before; A runner would start the timer as soon as they hit "new game" and would stop it as soon as the final boss is defeated prior to any final cutscenes. Is either of these more preferred over the other/which is more correct to use?

I think that's all I needed to ask. I'm excited to continue my practice with this game and should hopefully have an official run submitted before too long!

Thread title:

I haven't recorded/submitted a full run of the game yet, but I wanted to mention a few key details about the run itself beforehand. As far as recording it goes for submission purposes in the future, I will be using OBS and a Logitech USB headset, with XSplit for the timer. Before the bullet points, should a first submitted run absolutely have commentary, or is it alright to not have it at first?

#1. With my first impromptu test run of the game, I was able to beat it in just over 2 hours though admittedly wasn't 100% timing myself during it sans a rough estimate in my head. I should easily be able to get down to under 2 hours with some more work, however.

#2. I'm a little unsure about the exact time of when to start and end the timer for a run. The FAQ had stated that it starts as soon as you have player control and ends when you lose control of the character at games' end, though I've seen it done differently before; A runner would start the timer as soon as they hit "new game" and would stop it as soon as the final boss is defeated prior to any final cutscenes. Is either of these more preferred over the other/which is more correct to use?

I think that's all I needed to ask. I'm excited to continue my practice with this game and should hopefully have an official run submitted before too long!

ymh

Edit history:

ymh: 2016-03-10 05:12:14 am

2016-03-10 05:11:43 am

Hello MrMovees and welcome,

Commentary is not required for submitting.
Be careful not to record any visible timer on your video. SDA wants a clear video and audio output, so no timer overlays, watermarks, etc, just the original game feed.

Re #2: Not 100% sure, but I assume SDA timing starts after you select the difficulty setting and the first cutscene starts rolling.

MrMovees87

2016-03-10 03:42:10 pm

Thanks very much for the response and welcome, ymh!

I just wanted to make 100% sure for the timer in the video though, as per your point. This is a picture that I took right after I finished my first full run and any videos that I would record/upload to YouTube or stream on Twitch would have the game window and timer side by side, as shown below. This is something that I've also seen many a runner do before, though if that'll cause issue to post it here then I can easily fix that. Thanks again.

Here's the aforementioned picture. My apologies if it's blurry, but that should be visible enough.

Attachment:

CdN1dtZUAAABK10.jpg

Judgy

2016-03-11 02:08:35 am

Borderlands 2 Glitch Hunter/ router.

Having the timer next to the run is fine when streaming, but not if you are planning to submit a run to SDA you would need to set up a way that captures ONLY the game audio and video.

For example when I stream my set up is like this : https://www.twitch.tv/judgy_/v/15184643

But when I submitted to SDA I recorded the game only : http://speeddemosarchive.com/demo.pl?CallOfJuarezGunslinger_NewGamePlus_Easy/CallOfJuarezGunslinger_NewGamePlus_Easy_Level04_316

Also as for timing your RTA "Real Time" can start from where ever you want (such as the start of the first cutscene) However!, your official SDA timing will be done from the first frame you gain control of your character.

ymh

2016-03-11 03:06:12 am

Or he can just crop the video so it only shows the game window, right ?

Judgy

2016-03-11 05:58:08 am

Borderlands 2 Glitch Hunter/ router.

Quote from ymh:

Or he can just crop the video so it only shows the game window, right ?

Would kind of depend if his 'stream' recording also recorded mic input. SDA is fine with audio commentary on a separate channel but not hard embedded into the video on the same channel as the game audio.

So in short: Yes, if you have ONLY Gameplay audio then cropping the timer out should be fine.

MrMovees87

2016-03-11 07:54:21 pm

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone!

To clarify a couple points, whenever I do stream the game on Twitch the stream recording afterward would have mic input and all that along with the game audio itself. I can always just record any and all runs I'd submit to SDA sans commentary and without the timer as well with no issue.

Regarding when I'd start the timer, I started it as soon as I confirm the character sprites you choose from as the game begins right after that, and end it as soon as the final boss is completely gone from the screen. Would that be alright, then?

Thanks again for the responses!

Judgy

Edit history:

Judgy: 2016-03-12 07:38:55 am

2016-03-12 07:38:10 am

Borderlands 2 Glitch Hunter/ router.

Quote from MrMovees87:

whenever I do stream the game on Twitch the stream recording afterward would have mic input and all that along with the game audio itself. I can always just record any and all runs I'd submit to SDA sans commentary and without the timer as well with no issue.

Regarding when I'd start the timer, I started it as soon as I confirm the character sprites you choose from as the game begins right after that, and end it as soon as the final boss is completely gone from the screen. Would that be alright, then?

point 1: Yep!, you should get a feel for when your times have improved enough that you are happy to record offline and submit.

Point 2: Yes that is fine for your own RTA timing, SDA's official timing will be different, (lower) because it is a PC game and any loading screens will be removed from the playing time also.