RNG Manipulation Info for the 1:19:28

This run was very good. The run category is Any% No Card Duplication. This run used RNG manipulation.

RNG manipulation in Forbidden Memories was found and developed roughly 1 year ago. The two main contributors to this discovery were GenericMadScientist and GCAH2006. Since then, I myself have also added to the route.

I am going to briefly explain what RNG manipulation in Forbidden Memories is.

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Everything in Forbidden Memories is determined by frame counts. Okay, not EVERYTHING, but most things are. (It isn't TECHNICALLY a frame count. It's actually just a seed number, but it's much easier to think of it as a frame count, so I will be referring to it as such.)

Forbidden Memories runs at 60 frames per second. Keep this fact in mind.

In the beginning of the run, I first have to get a specific deck. Your starting deck is determined by what frame you begin the run on. This means I type in my name after hitting new game, and as soon as I skip the last text-box on the name entry screen (where it talks about not being able to trade with files that have the same duelist code), my deck is determined. So, to reiterate, as soon as I skip the final text box on the name entry screen, the game looks at what frame I am at and gives me a starting deck.

The game starts counting frames right as it loads the cutscene that comes after the second white KONAMI screen not long after I turn on the console.

So, from that point to the last text box at the name entry screen, I am aiming for either 706 or 711 frames to go by. I want to skip that last text box on either frame 706 or 711. In this run, I hit frame 711. Keep in mind again that the game runs at 60 frames every second.

Now that I have the starting deck, I can play some rehearsed duels to win specific cards.

So with this starting deck, GenericMadScientist and GCAH2006 started dueling Heishin 1. They wanted to win Meteor B. Dragon.

The frame you enter a duel on (when you're on the deck edit screen right before the duel) determines what cards you draw, what card the AI draws/plays, and what cards you can win.

So, if I enter the duel against Heishin 1 on frame 468, 470, or 472, I can do a previously rehearsed duel to win MBD. Since I know exactly what cards I will draw, and exactly what cards the AI will play, I can play the duel in a rehearsed fashion and be guaranteed the drop I want (Meteor B. Dragon).

I do this in the run three times. The first time is the hardest because there are just three frames I can hit, which are 468, 470, or 472. The new stategy for getting the second MBD (which is a minute faster than before) requires you to hit frame 470 or 472. Luckily, I hit one of those two frames in this run, so I was able to attempt the new strategy.

Typically, after winning this MBD, you would replace Basic Insect with it in your deck, save the game, and reset the console. By resetting the console, you are setting the frame count back to 0. Once the frame count is back at 0, I can do the same (slightly modified to accomodate the new MBD in our deck, but basically the same otherwise) strategy 2 more times to end with a total of 3 MBDs. However, resetting the console is slow. Just days before this run, GCAH2006 created a new strategy that allows you to string together the first 2 MBDS. So, instead of winning MBD, saving + resetting, and then winning the second MBD, you instead win the first MBD and then immediately enter a duel against Heishin 1 again to win the second MBD. This is the strategy I used in this run. It was one of the only times I have ever hit the strategy (as it is difficult to do and quite inconsistent at the time of this run). This timesave was a very big deal.

So now, you are very early in the game but have three MBD. This makes things incredibly easy for a very long time. From this point on, I play the run normally until Meadow Mage. This is where a new strategy comes into play. Over the past few weeks, I developed a strategy to manipulate Meadow Mage and Kepura. This was one of the first times I used it in a live speedrun, and it worked out quite well!

Next, we play things normally until the final 6. Once we hit the end-game, we manipulate those 6 duels. Or, we try to anyways.

Remember how we were able to manipulate winning three MBD early on? We entered duels on specific frames in order to get duels we already knew the outcomes to (such as what cards we would draw and what cards the AI would play). We use this exact concept on the final 6. If we enter all 6 duels on specific frames, we will know EXACTLY what we will draw and what the AI will play. If we have this information, we know exactly what cards to play and in what order to win 100% of the time.

However, final 6 manipulation is more complicated than MBD manipulation. If you noticed, the previous manipulations I did in the run all reset the console in between attempts. This is because, by resetting the console, I am resetting the frame count back to 0. This allows me to hit, say, frame 472 over and over again. Things are not this simple in final 6 manipulation because you cannot save in between duels.

For this reason, as soon as I turn the console on to do this manipulation, every movement is calculated. My menuing and my text skipping are all calculated. I use audio cues to signal when to enter the duels to hit the right frames. I then look at the card that drops to determine what frame I am exactly on. Then, I move to the next duel doing specific text skipping movements in order to advance exactly perfectly to the next duel, so that I can enter in within a frame pool of about 15-30 frames so that I can win it 100%. If this sounds complicated, it's because it is.

There's a lot more to final 6 manipulation, but what I just said is the gist of how it works.

In this run, on my first attempt at the final 6 duels, I was able to manipulate successfully up to Heishin. I actually failed the manipulation against Heishin, which therefore made manipulation against the remaining duelists impossible. This typically means the run is over, because Seto 3rd and Nitemare are HUGE run killers. However, I got some incredibly good luck. Combine that good luck with 4 years of speedrunning this game WITHOUT RNG manipulation, and you get the final 6 you see in this run.

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So, everything I stated above is a brief explanation of RNG manipulation in Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories.

*If you'd like more information, please feel free to join the Forbidden Memories Discord server. The link to join is www.discord.gg/ygofm . You will need to be verified by a moderator upon joining, so introduce yourself in the #welcome channel so we know you're there!*

Before I go, let me just quickly address a common comment I see a lot. It's something along the lines of, "Why don't you just play the game normally? This is cheating! This is not a speedrun if you cheat!" My response to this is that RNG manipulation in this game is 10000% more difficult and requires 999999% more skill to execute than if you played the game normally. Remember, Forbidden Memories runs at 60 frames every second. These tricks I'm doing require me to hit button inputs with 1/60th of a second accuracy. That's a lot harder to do than it is to cross your fingers throughout the entire game.

Giant thanks to GMS, GCAH, and everyone else who helped develop this manipulation and get it to where it is today.