Minish Cap Speedrun FAQ

The Minish Cap Speedrun FAQ

Q: Can I use emulator?

A: Yes. Note that currently the only allowed emulators for running are mGBA, BizHawk with the mGBA core selected and NanoBoyAdvance with the GBA BIOS enabled on all of them.

http://tasvideos.org/BizHawk/ReleaseHistory.html - BizHawk download
https://www.speedrun.com/tmc/thread/ev4wd - mGBA usage
https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance - NBA download

Q: Can I use a flash cart?

A: The Minish Cap utilizes an EEPROM chip for saving the game. To put it simply, this takes time, around 5 seconds on average. Because the EEPROM chip is in the cartridge itself and not part of the game, it gets ignored in emulators (with the exception of mGBA and NanoBoyAdvance) and flash carts that save the game by different means. This results into gains of several seconds and is more of a grey area when it comes to Minish Cap speedrunning. Due to this, the community has decided to place a ban on flash carts.

Q: What about 3DS, Wii U and Switch?

A: Over 10 game saves compared to a real cartridge:
The 3DS Ambassador software saves the game around 5 seconds faster.
The Wii U VC emulator is about 20 seconds faster.
The Nintendo Switch Online emulator is about 13 seconds faster.

As these options are "official" unlike flash carts, they are allowed for running. Really it's up to you if you decide to take advantage of save speed by playing on any of these consoles.

Q: What version should I run on?

A: The fastest version to run on is the Japanese version, followed by the European version and lastly the US version.

The EU version is the earliest and buggiest version of the game. Some might thus assume it's the fastest version to run on, though this isn't the case. Late in the game you have to fly out of the second to last dungeon, but for whatever reason, the European version lacks the ability to do so. This causes a loss of around 45 seconds compared to the Japanese version, not including the time lost from slower text which has yet to be measured.

Both the European and Japanese versions also have a trick called "Portal Items" which was patched in the US version. This trick is used to skip the boss key of the third dungeon, saving about 3 minutes over the US version.

It is also to be noted that the run employs a few RNG manipulations, which have been specifically been made for the Japanese version. In theory these could be converted to the other versions but no one has got around to doing it.

Regardless, running on anything but the Japanese version isn't recommended.

Q: What options do I have for capturing the game footage?

A:
PC Emulators: "Perfect" quality, cost nothing. Has potential input lag.

Real GBA + webcam strats: Good luck.

Game Boy Player: The most costly part is the disc, assuming you already own a GameCube. The disc software gives decent quality, but consider the Game Boy Interface homebrew if you want something better. The GBI homebrew also works as an alternative to the disc, meaning you only need the GBP unit itself. http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2782 read here if you're interested.

GBA Consolizer: "Perfect" quality but really expensive if you lack the installation skill. Capture can also be difficult to setup due to needing to route the audio separately. It is ESSENTIAL that you show the 60Hz option in the System Settings is disabled or your run be will be disqualified.

DS Phat capture mod: Costs about 50 dollars for an installation, might not be easy to find. Great quality otherwise.

3DS capture mod: Costs around an eye-watering 250 dollars for an installation. By default, the game is scaled rather blurrily to fit the 3DS screen. If you hold Start or Select while booting the game up, it shows up in native resolution. This does result in a smaller screen though.

Wii U VC: Good quality, though the screen is a bit dark. You will need a Japanese console (or some modding) to run the Japanese version.

Nintendo Switch Online: Great quality but you will need the Expansion Pack to access the GBA games which costs 50 dollars a year if you don't have a family membership setup.



All that said, the game is quite easy and fun to learn and run as long as you're not doing the fastest route. Don't forget to enjoy zebra cakes on your road to the holy Sub 1:52:52 crew.