Z
Zealkin
Guest
trying now
Final Fantasy Racing
- Thread starter Flintlock
- Start date
Flintlock
Pro Adventurer
Time for a draft of the rules and regs. A final version of this will go in a new thread eventually, once everything is sorted.
The official FINAL FANTASY VII RACE thing (I'm working on a better title)
Flintlock, Prince Lex and Zealkin will be racing from the start to the end of Final fantasy VII in real time. Real time means that it doesn't matter what the in-game clock says; for example, if one of us decides to pause, or save and reload, the rest of us will keep on playing. If someone gets a Game Over, that's their problem.
The race will take place over three days, with the following schedule. All times are in UTC. Try this website if you want to find what that is in your own timezone.
Day 1, Friday the 20th of April
Playing from 14:00 until 16:00
Break from 16:00 until 16:15
Playing from 16:15 until 18:15
Break from 18:15 until 18:45
Playing from 18:45 until 20:45
Hanging out in IRC from 20:45 until at least 21:00 (to discuss how it went, answer questions etc)
Day 2, Saturday the 21st of April
Same as day 1.
Day 3, Sunday the 22nd of April
Same as days 1 and 2 except that the last playing session will go on for as long as it takes for two of the three of us to complete the game. We'll arrange more breaks on the day if it seems like it is going to take a lot longer than two hours. Once two players have reached the finishing line, the third player is welcome to keep playing to the end, but they don't have to.
We will all be playing with the same emulator, pSX, with NTSC copies of the game running at 60 FPS. We'll all be streaming our games on a TLS page which I understand is very kindly being set up for us. We will also be in the #tls IRC channel at the same time.
On each day, there will be a designated timekeeper, who will follow the three streams and post updates in the IRC channel. Those updates will include: when to start, when to take a break, when to carry on playing after a break, when to stop playing for the day, and some description of our relative progress (for our benefit, as we won't be watching each others' streams). The timekeeper will also be responsible for adjudicating any disputes (though I honestly can't see why any would come up), and it'd be nice if they could answer visitors' questions about the race. We haven't nailed down three timekeeping volunteers yet, so let us know if you are willing and able to do at least one of the days.
For the first and second breaks in each day, the players will simply open the emulator configuration menu to pause the game in real time, upon the instruction of the timekeeper. We'll then be free to do whatever we want to do until the restart, including chatting in IRC. At the end of the third playing session, once the timekeeper has said "time's up", we will all play to the next available save point, be that on the world map or otherwise. If we are in a vehicle that doesn't allow saving (Tiny Bronco, Highwind, Submarine), we will be allowed to continue to the place we were intending to visit next before leaving the vehicle and saving. At that point, we will all indicate that we have finished in the IRC channel, so that the timekeeper can make a note of the discrepancies between our finishing times. The next morning, those discrepancies will be corrected. For example, if Zealkin finishes at exactly 20:45, Prince Lex at 20:50 and Flintlock at 21:00, Zealkin will be able to start the next morning at 14:00, Prince Lex at 14:05 and Flintlock at 14:15.
The finishing point of the race is the end of the third and final fight with Sephiroth (the one-on-one battle with Cloud).
It has been agreed that in-game glitches (such as W-Item) can be exploited. No externally activated glitches (for example using the emulator) or cheats will be allowed. The emulator's save state functions also cannot be used - all saving must be done the conventional way, in the game, at the player's discretion.
If one player is unable to play for a reason outside their control (e.g. power cut), the other two players will pause their games and wait for the affected player to return and catch up (unless their whole save game has been deleted in the middle of disc 2, which would be most unfortunate).
Anything I missed?
The official FINAL FANTASY VII RACE thing (I'm working on a better title)
Flintlock, Prince Lex and Zealkin will be racing from the start to the end of Final fantasy VII in real time. Real time means that it doesn't matter what the in-game clock says; for example, if one of us decides to pause, or save and reload, the rest of us will keep on playing. If someone gets a Game Over, that's their problem.
The race will take place over three days, with the following schedule. All times are in UTC. Try this website if you want to find what that is in your own timezone.
Day 1, Friday the 20th of April
Playing from 14:00 until 16:00
Break from 16:00 until 16:15
Playing from 16:15 until 18:15
Break from 18:15 until 18:45
Playing from 18:45 until 20:45
Hanging out in IRC from 20:45 until at least 21:00 (to discuss how it went, answer questions etc)
Day 2, Saturday the 21st of April
Same as day 1.
Day 3, Sunday the 22nd of April
Same as days 1 and 2 except that the last playing session will go on for as long as it takes for two of the three of us to complete the game. We'll arrange more breaks on the day if it seems like it is going to take a lot longer than two hours. Once two players have reached the finishing line, the third player is welcome to keep playing to the end, but they don't have to.
We will all be playing with the same emulator, pSX, with NTSC copies of the game running at 60 FPS. We'll all be streaming our games on a TLS page which I understand is very kindly being set up for us. We will also be in the #tls IRC channel at the same time.
On each day, there will be a designated timekeeper, who will follow the three streams and post updates in the IRC channel. Those updates will include: when to start, when to take a break, when to carry on playing after a break, when to stop playing for the day, and some description of our relative progress (for our benefit, as we won't be watching each others' streams). The timekeeper will also be responsible for adjudicating any disputes (though I honestly can't see why any would come up), and it'd be nice if they could answer visitors' questions about the race. We haven't nailed down three timekeeping volunteers yet, so let us know if you are willing and able to do at least one of the days.
For the first and second breaks in each day, the players will simply open the emulator configuration menu to pause the game in real time, upon the instruction of the timekeeper. We'll then be free to do whatever we want to do until the restart, including chatting in IRC. At the end of the third playing session, once the timekeeper has said "time's up", we will all play to the next available save point, be that on the world map or otherwise. If we are in a vehicle that doesn't allow saving (Tiny Bronco, Highwind, Submarine), we will be allowed to continue to the place we were intending to visit next before leaving the vehicle and saving. At that point, we will all indicate that we have finished in the IRC channel, so that the timekeeper can make a note of the discrepancies between our finishing times. The next morning, those discrepancies will be corrected. For example, if Zealkin finishes at exactly 20:45, Prince Lex at 20:50 and Flintlock at 21:00, Zealkin will be able to start the next morning at 14:00, Prince Lex at 14:05 and Flintlock at 14:15.
The finishing point of the race is the end of the third and final fight with Sephiroth (the one-on-one battle with Cloud).
It has been agreed that in-game glitches (such as W-Item) can be exploited. No externally activated glitches (for example using the emulator) or cheats will be allowed. The emulator's save state functions also cannot be used - all saving must be done the conventional way, in the game, at the player's discretion.
If one player is unable to play for a reason outside their control (e.g. power cut), the other two players will pause their games and wait for the affected player to return and catch up (unless their whole save game has been deleted in the middle of disc 2, which would be most unfortunate).
Anything I missed?
Z
Zealkin
Guest
Do you think we could do this a little earlier in the morning? I don't mind if I have to get up earlier, but I don't want to impose on your sleep XD
Friday is okay for normal time, but Saturday and Sunday there's a problem :/
Friday is okay for normal time, but Saturday and Sunday there's a problem :/
Z
Zealkin
Guest
The only time that works makes it so Lex will have to wake up at 9 and I don't think that's fair to him(especially for a Saturday). Would it be possible for me to start my speedrun on Thursday and finish with you guys Sunday(eliminating Saturday from my playtime)?
Flintlock
Pro Adventurer
Are you sure you have this right? If Lex is waking up at nine, that means you are going to start playing at four AM. Do you work night shifts? I can't think of another reason why you'd want to start so early.
I don't think it'd really be right for us to play on separate days. This is a race after all. An important part of that is seeing how your opponents are doing and adjusting your strategy accordingly.
I don't think it'd really be right for us to play on separate days. This is a race after all. An important part of that is seeing how your opponents are doing and adjusting your strategy accordingly.
Z
Zealkin
Guest
I have to be somewhere at 10, and I absolutely cannot change the date :/
I might have to sit this one out
Z
Zealkin
Guest
At around 5 :/ Which would be late for both of you. Sorry about this.
Z
Zealkin
Guest
EDIT: I actually cannot do this at all this week, I'm really sorry for bailing on you guys, but I jut have too much to do this week.
Last edited by a moderator:
Fangu
Great Old One
I tried making a draft post/article about the race for the Front page with the streams, but apparently WordPress posts does not support twitch.tv embeds. Source
If we want to put the live streams on the frontpage, we have 3 ways of doing this as I see it:
- Install a WP plugin that handles embed tags (I think there is one)
- Hardcode a page and link to it from the news article (I volunteer for this but Yop will have to upload it)
- Find some other way of transferring the stream to one of the sites mentioned in the link above (though really, a hard code is much faster)
Edit: WTF I think it works! Link is old perhaps?
Edit2: Okay the article author is now you Flint. The embeds might now show up when you press 'preview', you have to press reload in the browser window for some reason. (I've only opened the preview in Chrome though.)
If we want to put the live streams on the frontpage, we have 3 ways of doing this as I see it:
- Install a WP plugin that handles embed tags (I think there is one)
- Hardcode a page and link to it from the news article (I volunteer for this but Yop will have to upload it)
- Find some other way of transferring the stream to one of the sites mentioned in the link above (though really, a hard code is much faster)
Edit: WTF I think it works! Link is old perhaps?
Edit2: Okay the article author is now you Flint. The embeds might now show up when you press 'preview', you have to press reload in the browser window for some reason. (I've only opened the preview in Chrome though.)
Last edited:
Fangu
Great Old One
2 hours to go 
I tried using that UTC time converter link Flint - I think your link has timed out. Also that site isn't as good as timeanddate.com IMO.
Maybe a time table in the article would be a good idea? Like the one we do for the drinking nights, that shows the time in a few major points. (Should probably include Asia/ Australia too.)
I tried using that UTC time converter link Flint - I think your link has timed out. Also that site isn't as good as timeanddate.com IMO.
Maybe a time table in the article would be a good idea? Like the one we do for the drinking nights, that shows the time in a few major points. (Should probably include Asia/ Australia too.)
Fangu
Great Old One
It does spark an idea for me regarding the new Front Page though. There's a top space reserved for "featured" stuff. It would be awesome in a situation like this to have a bar that say "Now playing!" "15 mins pause" etc.
And yes, trying to cover content for the entire world is troublesome. I know which timezone I'm in, but I know there are a few namings Americans use (pacific east central standard something) that I haven't learned yet - I mean I keep forgetting them. Just as I haven't learned those, they probably have no relationship with UTC or GMT either. And you can't put your entire explanation of UTC that you wrote here in the article either. Not saying you can't use correct terms, but if you want to drag traffic towards something, you have to hand it out "on a silver spoon" - anything that needs looking up will make people not bother. It's part of Web theory.
Anyway I'm talking very in general here, not just about the race. I'm only saying it cuz I'm a dumb bitch and screwed up and came to the chat two hours early.
Oh and kudos for everything you've done, Flint. I know I hate when I've worked hard on something and all people do is complain. I know how it is and still I do it. Sorry for that. But you know - I'm only trying to help
And yes, trying to cover content for the entire world is troublesome. I know which timezone I'm in, but I know there are a few namings Americans use (pacific east central standard something) that I haven't learned yet - I mean I keep forgetting them. Just as I haven't learned those, they probably have no relationship with UTC or GMT either. And you can't put your entire explanation of UTC that you wrote here in the article either. Not saying you can't use correct terms, but if you want to drag traffic towards something, you have to hand it out "on a silver spoon" - anything that needs looking up will make people not bother. It's part of Web theory.
Anyway I'm talking very in general here, not just about the race. I'm only saying it cuz I'm a dumb bitch and screwed up and came to the chat two hours early.
Oh and kudos for everything you've done, Flint. I know I hate when I've worked hard on something and all people do is complain. I know how it is and still I do it. Sorry for that. But you know - I'm only trying to help
Flintlock
Pro Adventurer
I know you are, and I do appreciate it 
I updated the link, so it should take you straight to 14:00 UTC now. The old one didn't "expire"; I just had the generic page where people could put in their own times. Just in case someone wanted to know when the playing was going to end, for example. I think it's better now.
I updated the link, so it should take you straight to 14:00 UTC now. The old one didn't "expire"; I just had the generic page where people could put in their own times. Just in case someone wanted to know when the playing was going to end, for example. I think it's better now.
Fangu
Great Old One
....and they're off!!!!
http://thelifestream.net/ffviirace.htm
The Reactor 1 bombing mission - and they're almost exactly head to head!!!
http://thelifestream.net/ffviirace.htm
The Reactor 1 bombing mission - and they're almost exactly head to head!!!