HLD NMG ruleset discussion notes

SRC Rules:

	All Major Glitches are banned. This includes the following:

	Any clips or out of bounds exploits (Clippy, door clipping, ledge clips, etc.)
	Zips
	Healing to skip cutscene triggers
	Controlling the drifter during any cutscene that would normally remove control
	Using damage boosts to extend midair dashes or allow for a dash activation while airborne

Ambiguities:

1 - Damage Boosts
When taking projectile damage, you can dash out of the damage animation regardless of your current slowdash counter or whether you are airborne. Also, holding no movement directions when the hitlag ends will keep your dash speed for the duration of the damage animation. Either of these techniques can be used to cross gaps that would otherwise be too far. In what cases should the use of these techniques be allowed?

2 - East Boss Skip
East boss can be skipped by dashing into the loading zone during the fight, which does not require any actual glitches. However, this is a major skip, and should arguably be banned for not being in the spirit of NMG. If it is banned, how should this generalise to other skips involving similar techniques? Requiring the boss to be killed would work for standard categories such as any%, but applying an additional goal to a restriction-based ruleset would cause problems for categories which do not require beating the game, as well as being generally awkward. Possibly 'pillars cannot be activated without first killing the corresponding boss'?

3 - Definition of a 'cutscene'
There are 3 cases where the player cannot control the drifter:
A) When the game's physics is not updating, e.g. module cutscenes or pausing the game;
B) When another object takes control of the drifter, e.g. monolith/pillar/dog cutscenes;
B) When the drifter's current state ignores certain inputs, e.g. victory sword twirl or bonking;
In case A, the only way to perform actions is to disable the physics pause, such as by opening the map.
In case B, the object will have a certain requirement (usually a fixed timer) for the cutscene to end. At both the start and end, the drifter will be set to a fixed state (exception: the cough animation already has a fixed length, so it is not reset by the cutscene itself).
In case C, the sets of inputs or interactions which will affect the drifter depends on the specific state. For example, sword bonks ignore all inputs except heal and sit. In any vulnerable state, taking damage will set the drifter's animation and allow control.
Based on these mechanics, considering cases A and B as 'cutscenes' and case C as 'animations' is sensible, where only animations are allowed to be interrupted for the purpose of controlling the drifter.

4 - Other methods of skipping cutscenes
Cough cutscenes are essentially ground triggers that set the drifter's animation, and by the above ruling should be skippable or interruptible by any other animation. In particular, healing or bonking on the same frame the trigger would apply will stack both, and the cough will be overridden. However, the judgement cutscene outside the monolith room is overlayed on top of a cough cutscene, and only begins once the cough ends. Hence, skipping the cough (which would otherwise be legal) will skip the entire sequence. How should this apparent contradiction be resolved?

5 - FPS Swapping (dash extensions, breaking enemy AI, medkit hovers, etc.)

6 - Spawnwarps
The game stores the drifter's 'last safe position' or LSP as they move around, and falling respawns them at this point. However, if the LSP is not a valid place to stand when falling, they will be sent to the default spawn point of the room. This can be performed in any room with falling platforms. It is not currently useful in any categories, but could theoretically be used to skip arenas when entering rooms from behind.

7 - Inbounds Ledge Clips
Ledge clips are a side effect of being able to drop down ledges while keeping horizontal momentum, which is also a glitch. However, should horizontal ledge drops be classified as major even if they are not used to clip or cross large gaps?

8 - Ledge Climb Boosts
Climbing a ledge while attacking will continue the attack animation, and by holding a movement direction as the climb ends, the momentum from the attack will be stacked on top of the normal walking animation for a short duration. Also, if the drifter would be inside collision after climbing a ledge, they are instantly pushed upwards until they are inbounds again. Both of these are negligible in timesave, and don't lead to any other glitches, so they should probably be classified as minor glitches.

9 - Select Holding
When the map is open during some type A cutscenes, physics updates as normal. Repeatedly opening and closing the map to buffer inputs is disallowed in NMG, as it essentially allows movement during a cutscene. However, simply leaving the map open without closing it again is okay. Should opening the map to continue activating an object during the cutscene be allowed, as long as the activation was started before the cutscene? Also, should opening the map to regain stamina or refresh cooldowns be allowed?