SDA-submission rules

2020-08-30 10:32:24 am

The purpose of this thread is to inform about rule changes, but also to have a place to discuss the rules (both the generic rule set and game-specific rules). For game-specific rules, it's however preferred to initiate the discussion in the respective game thread in the forum. There it's more likely to be seen by other people familiar with the game.

SDA operates based on a generic rule set for speedrun submissions, found at https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Rules.
However, it can be difficult to define one set of rules that works for every single game. It's unavoidable that some games won't fit into this description or require further discussion. For other games, there have already been established de-facto rules that numerous people actively playing the game are following and that deviate from the SDA rule set. For such games, a more game-specific approach can be used on SDA.

If you have questions about or would like to discuss SDA-verification, please use https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/verification_guidelines.html instead.

Thread title:

The purpose of this thread is to inform about rule changes, but also to have a place to discuss the rules (both the generic rule set and game-specific rules). For game-specific rules, it's however preferred to initiate the discussion in the respective game thread in the forum. There it's more likely to be seen by other people familiar with the game.

SDA operates based on a generic rule set for speedrun submissions, found at https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Rules. 
However, it can be difficult to define one set of rules that works for every single game. It's unavoidable that some games won't fit into this description or require further discussion. For other games, there have already been established de-facto rules that numerous people actively playing the game are following and that deviate from the SDA rule set. For such games, a more game-specific approach can be used on SDA.

If you have questions about or would like to discuss SDA-verification, please use https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/verification_guidelines.html instead.

ktwo

2020-08-30 10:36:07 am

The rule for individual level (IL) submissions has been changed. It was previously stated that a complete IL table always must be submitted for the initial submission. There are many games for which this becomes very unpractical, due to a vast amount of levels. The rule has been changed to only require a sub-set of levels. A few examples of such sub-sets are given in the rule.

The other change was only to update the wording, not an actual rule change. The "system modification" rule has been given a more generic wording. It was perceived that the examples given with the previous wording could be misunderstood.

ktwo

2022-03-31 06:02:03 am

There have recently been a few examples of PC submissions where the recordings were at 30fps, while the games were running at 60fps. The technical requirements for recording at full framerate can limit the availability to an extent that isn't necessarily outweighed by the benefits. As a result, the wording about the native framerate requirement in the rules has been amended by the text in italic:

Quote:

Speedruns hosted by SDA should be captured at the native framerate and dimensions (depending on region and platform). Exceptions to the framerate requirement can be accepted, where hardware limits the accessibility of a speedrun, and the video quality otherwise looks good without critical loss of detail.

This change is mainly aimed at accommodating the capturing of PC speedruns. However, the recordings still need to contain relevant details such as 1-frame tricks, flickering effects, not result in a noticeably choppy recording etc, depending on the game. For console speedruns, capture devices that allow recording at full framerate are considered to be generally widely available.

There have recently been a few examples of PC submissions where the recordings were at 30fps, while the games were running at 60fps. The technical requirements for recording at full framerate can limit the availability to an extent that isn't necessarily outweighed by the benefits. As a result, the wording about the native framerate requirement in the rules has been amended by the text in italic:
[quote]Speedruns hosted by SDA should be captured at the native framerate and dimensions (depending on region and platform). [i]Exceptions to the framerate requirement can be accepted, where hardware limits the accessibility of a speedrun, and the video quality otherwise looks good without critical loss of detail.[/i][/quote]
This change is mainly aimed at accommodating the capturing of PC speedruns. However, the recordings still need to contain relevant details such as 1-frame tricks, flickering effects, not result in a noticeably choppy recording etc, depending on the game. For console speedruns, capture devices that allow recording at full framerate are considered to be generally widely available.

ktwo

2022-06-05 09:55:02 am

The rule about config file modifications

Quote from Deleted rule:

Configuration files can be also edited for cosmetic changes. As a general rule, you can't increase a run's difficulty by this method because it's impossible to find a non-arbitrary category definition. Exceptions may exist.

is part of bigger question concerning software modification. This rule has therefore been replaced with the following:

Quote from New rule:

Software modification: the general rule is that an unmodified, official release of a game should be used for speedruns on SDA to ensure there is a level playing field. Manually editing/adding/removing game files is generally not allowed. Note that there can be good reasons to make game-specific exceptions to this rule (e.g. changes that keep competition fair or compatibility reasons). If in doubt, start a discussion in the forum. Also, make sure every change is documented when submitting for the sake of traceability.

This rule includes such things as e.g. not deleting game files to skip cutscenes. In practice this doesn't change anything as the new wording was in essence already the mindset here on SDA.

An example of an exception to this rule is Marble Blast Gold, a game with a very big pool of active players and with a long speedrun history. In this game, different OS have different fps limits. To make comparison easier and competition fair, speedrunners have decided to use a modified version of the game, which allows playing with unlimited fps.

The rule about config file modifications
[quote="Deleted rule"]Configuration files can be also edited for cosmetic changes. As a general rule, you can't increase a run's difficulty by this method because it's impossible to find a non-arbitrary category definition. Exceptions may exist.[/quote]
is part of bigger question concerning software modification. This rule has therefore been replaced with the following:
[quote="New rule"]Software modification: the general rule is that an unmodified, official release of a game should be used for speedruns on SDA to ensure there is a level playing field. Manually editing/adding/removing game files is generally not allowed. Note that there can be good reasons to make game-specific exceptions to this rule (e.g. changes that keep competition fair or compatibility reasons). If in doubt, start a discussion in the forum. Also, make sure every change is documented when submitting for the sake of traceability.[/quote]
This rule includes such things as e.g. not deleting game files to skip cutscenes. In practice this doesn't change anything as the new wording was in essence already the mindset here on SDA.

An example of an exception to this rule is Marble Blast Gold, a game with a very big pool of active players and with a long speedrun history. In this game, different OS have different fps limits. To make comparison easier and competition fair, speedrunners have decided to use a modified version of the game, which allows playing with unlimited fps.