Metal Arms GITS : Any% Rules

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Any% Full Game Rules
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Revised : Feb/17/2023

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::Goal::
Trigger the end screen of all 42 levels and beat the game on the selected difficulty.

::Proof::
Video proof is required showing from the beginning of profile creation until after the completion screen for "Final Battle" post credits. Runs may be rejected for poor video quality at the Verifier's discretion.

::WR Timing::
Cumulative IGT (In Game Time)

::IGT Table and IGT Sum::
All runners are required to mark down their in game times (IGT) shown at the end of each level in their runs description. The total of those times is the value for the "In Game Time" column on the leaderboards.

::RTA Timing (Optional, but encouraged)::
Starts when you take control of glitch and ends when the game fades to black at the end of final battle.

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::Controls::

• Triggers may only be mapped to triggers and sticks to sticks. The same input (with the exception of melee) cannot be mapped twice.

• Controller Inputs must be 1:1 no macros or turbo.

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::Consoles and Versions::

• May be run on any official release/console.
(NTSC, PAL, NTSC-J / Gamecube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, 360 Arcade, PS2, BCPS3)

• Playing on modded consoles (USB/HDD loaders, custom dashboards, modchips, etc.) is allowed.
(CPU, GPU, RAM upgrades and overclocking are banned.)

• All emulator runs must be done on Dolphin Version 5.0-16380 or newer.
(Emu exclusive rules - https://www.speedrun.com/metal_arms_glitch_in_the_system/guide/j3uw6 )

• Changes to game files outside of the approved ISO + XBE cutscene skip mods are banned.
(Container changes such as split ISOs, CCI, and extracted ISOs are fine)

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::Other Rules::

• Pre-made profiles are banned, each run starts with either a freshly created or no profile.

• Cheats and cheat filenames are banned.

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Any% Full Game Rules
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Revised : 3/04/2021

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::Timing::
RTA (Real-Time Attack)
+19 Minutes 17 Seconds For Playstation Consoles

::Goal::
Trigger the end of all 42 levels and beat the game on the selected difficulty.

::Timing Starts::
As soon as the player gains control of Glitch.

::Time Ends::
When the screen fades to black after General Corrosive collapses to the ground.

::Proof::
Video proof is REQUIRED showing from the beginning of profile creation until after the completion screen for "Final Battle" post credits. Runs may be rejected for poor video quality at the Verifier's discretion.

::IGT Table and IGT Sum::
All runners are encouraged to mark down their in game time (IGT) shown at the end of each level in their PBs description. The total of those times is the value for the "In Game Time" column on the leaderboards. A guide can be found in the resources on this page.

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::Other Rules::

• May be run on any official release/console (NTSC, PAL, NTSC-J / Gamecube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, 360 Arcade, PS2, PS3)

• All emulator runs must be done on Zstorm's custom fork of dolphin found on the SRC resources page.
    (The only option that MUST BE UNCHECKED is "speed up disc transfer rate")

• All runs done on PS2 or PS3 will have 19 minutes and 17 seconds added to the final RTA time, IGT will remain unaffected.

• Pre-made profiles are banned, each run starts with either a freshly created or no profile

• Any changes to the game source files are banned

• Playing through soft-modded/hard-modded methods (usbloaders, custom dashboards, etc.) is banned

• Cheats and cheat filenames are banned

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::Tips / Notes::

• It is ideal to not create a profile as it saves over a minute on all consoles by skipping the saving profile screen.
    (With the exception of crashes/soft-locks there is no risk unless you're Friendo and press B on level complete screens)

• Metal Arms is incompatible with most PS3 systems
    (See https://www.speedrun.com/metal_arms_glitch_in_the_system/guide/1tlax for reference)

• Playstation is the only version to have skipable cutscenes. Its added time is the exact time advantage it has over other consoles.

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::Resources::

• Glossary - http://www.speedrunslive.com/faq/glossary/

• Thesaurus - https://www.speedrun.com/metal_arms_glitch_in_the_system/guide/4t4bt

• Leaderboards - https://www.speedrun.com/Metal_Arms_Glitch_in_the_System#Any

• Help Calculating IGT - https://www.speedrun.com/Metal_Arms_Glitch_in_the_System/guide/pyvxr


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Metal Arms: GITS - Any% Rules Revised : 8/16/2020

::Timing:: RTA (Real-Time Attack) Note: As of 8/16/2020, Cutscene time is included across all versions. for PlayStation versions, your timer should start at exactly 19 Minutes 17 Seconds to account for the skipped cutscene time.

::Goal:: Beat the game on the selected difficulty.

::Timing Starts:: As soon as the player gains control of Glitch.

::Time Ends:: When the screen fades to black after General Corrosive collapses to the ground.

::Proof:: video proof is required from beginning to end. Runs may be rejected for poor video quality at the Verifier's discretion.

::IGT Table and IGT Sum:: While not required, all runners are encouraged to mark down there in game time (IGT) shown at the end of each level in there PB's description. Just copy the table found here https://pastebin.com/6zYaWPMA into notepad, enter your IL times and paste the result into the description when you submit your PB to Speedrun.com. Take the total of those times and use that as the value for the "In Game Time" column on the leaderboards.

::Other Rules::

    May be run on any official release/console (GCN, Xbox, PS2, 360 Arcade, Wii, 360, PS3)

    All emulators are banned with the exception of Zstorm's custom fork of dolphin. The only option that MUST BE UNCHECKED is "speed up disc transfer rate"

    You may not pause your timer mid-run for any reason or the run is void

    Using glitches and/or exploits is allowed

    Pre-made files are banned, each run starts with a freshly created profile (if you choose to use a profile at all)

    Any changes to the game source files are banned

    Playing through soft-modded/hard-modded methods (usbloaders, custom dashboards, etc.) is banned

    Using the KltaShlz filename is banned

    Cheats are banned

::Tips::

    It is ideal to not create a profile as it saves over a minute on all consoles by skipping the saving profile screen. (There really isn't any risk in not saving with the exception of crashes/soft-locks or if you're friendo and press b on level complete screens)

    Most settings can be changed in game at any time.

    The PlayStation version of Metal Arms allows you to skip pre-rendered cutscenes. To account for this, all runs done on PS2 or PS3 will have 19 minutes and 17 seconds added to the final time.

    The X360 Arcade release has the fastest load times of all official versions.

    Metal Arms is incompatible with most PS3 systems. see shorturl.at/gEM26 for reference.

::Resources::

    Glossary - http://www.speedrunslive.com/faq/glossary/

    Leaderboards - https://www.speedrun.com/Metal_Arms_Glitch_in_the_System#Any

    PC Split Program - http://livesplit.org/

    How To Read Splits - https://pastebin.com/ZiDqqP7C

    Help with calculating IGT - https://www.speedrun.com/Metal_Arms_Glitch_in_the_System/guide/pyvxr

    Metal Arms History Archive - https://pastebin.com/b9nYNVWG

    Metal Arms Versions/Releases - https://pastebin.com/YyJ91s9n

    Console Load Times Archive - https://pastebin.com/PxfypL3K



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Metal Arms: GITS - Any% Rules
Revised : 3/4/2019


::Timing::
RTA (Real-Time Attack)

::Goal::
Trigger the end of all levels and beat the game on the selected difficulty.

::Timing Starts::
As soon as the player gains control of Glitch.

::Time Ends::
When the screen fades to BLACK after General Corrosive collapses to the ground.

::Proof::
Official hardware and video proof are REQUIRED for 1st through 3rd place. Showing from the beginning of profile creation till after timing ends. Runs may be rejected for poor video quality at the Verifier's discretion.

::Other Proof::
If you are submitting a run below 3rd place on official hardware you ONLY need submit your split file as proof. Though video is still preferred, any quality will do.

::IGT Table and IGT Sum::
While NOT required, all runners are encouraged to mark down there in game time (IGT) shown at the end of each level in there PB's description. Just copy the table found here https://pastebin.com/6zYaWPMA into notepad, enter your IL times and paste the result into the description when you submit your PB to Speedrun.com. Take the total of those times and use that as the value for the "In Game Time" column on the leaderboards.



::Other Rules::

* May be run on any official release/console (GCN, Xbox, PS2, 360 Arcade, Wii, 360, PS3)

* Emulators are BANNED

* You may NOT pause your TIMER mid-run for any reason or the run is void

* You CAN pause the GAME for as long as you like, as long as the timer continues through said time

* Using glitches and/or exploits is ALLOWED

* BUT using the 0 second level exploit is BANNED

* Pre-made files are BANNED, each run starts with a freshly created profile (if you choose to use a profile at all)

* Any change to the game source files are BANNED

* Playing through soft-modded/hard-modded methods (usbloaders, custom dashboards, etc.) is BANNED

* Using the KltaShlz filename is BANNED

* Cheats are BANNED


::Tips::

* It is ideal to NOT create a profile as it saves over a minute on all consoles by skipping the saving profile screen.
    (There really isn't any risk in not saving with the exception of soft-locks)

* Most settings can be changed in game at any time.

* The PS2 version of Metal Arms allows you to skip pre-rendered cutscenes for shorter runs.

* The X360 Arcade release has the fastest load times of all official versions.

* Metal Arms is incompatible with most PS3 systems.


::Resources::

* Glossary - http://www.speedrunslive.com/faq/glossary/

* Leaderboards - https://www.speedrun.com/Metal_Arms_Glitch_in_the_System#Any

* PC Split Program - http://livesplit.org/

* How To Read Splits - https://pastebin.com/ZiDqqP7C

* Help with calculating IGT - https://www.speedrun.com/Metal_Arms_Glitch_in_the_System/guide/pyvxr

* Metal Arms History Archive - https://pastebin.com/b9nYNVWG

* Metal Arms Versions/Releases - https://pastebin.com/YyJ91s9n

* Console Load Times Archive - https://pastebin.com/PxfypL3K


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 Backup of the rules as they where on SDA as of
 Copied: 3/4/2021

 Date Started: March 25th 2014??? by Riveted
 Last edited: July 19th 2016 by ed58
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How to Run Metal Arms
Introduction

If you are speedrunning this game, please introduce yourself in this threador this forum.

We also have a leaderboard set up here.


Setup and Timing

Beat the game on the selected difficulty. Timing starts as soon as the player gains control of Glitch. Timing ends when the screen fades to black after General Corrosive collapses to the ground. Please note, the PS2 version of Metal Arms lets you skip pre-rendered cutscenes. This saves around 20-30 minutes on estimate.


Emulators

Emulators are allowed only for IL's since In Game Time is not affected by loading times

Runners should note that most emulators for this game require a rather powerful computer to both play and record without slowdown. If the in-game time does not match the time spent in the video, the run will be rejected.

Editor's Note: These rules may change at any time if runners abuse them. ~R


Continuity

While the game is separated into levels, you bring the state of every weapon and ammo count with you. The only thing that changes between levels is that your health is refilled.

When a level is finished for the first time, the game records the state of your gun and ammo and loads it into the next level. Replaying a level does not affect the state of your weapons for the next level.


Cutscenes

The PS2 version allows you to skip all pre-rendered cutscenes.

The GC and Xbox version allows you to skip all cutscenes *only* if you are replaying a level.


Checkpoints

If you die after a checkpoint, the game will restore you to either the health you had when you hit the checkpoint, or 1.5 bars(Xbox version does 2 bars), whichever is higher. This can be abused to gain health and continue on a mission without going out of the way for health drops.

Reloading the game to a previous checkpoint does strange things to the game also. Enemy units are reset to their original positions, but their AI is left on the state that it was at when you died. This means that enemies who were alert to your presence before dying will still be alert after you reload the checkpoint, and are likely to behave differently as a result.

Authors note: as an example, in Into The Trenches a Titan that I would usually be able to sneak behind on the first run through, would instantly turn and shoot at me on the next run through.

These points hold true for resetting the level as well.


Item Drops

All enemy units have specific items that they drop upon death. This includes washers, ammo, and health pickups. Learning which enemies drop which items is absolutely necessary for efficiently completing runs.


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Backup of the rules as they where on SDA
Revision as of 13:10, 26 August 2015 by Riveted
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How to Run Metal Arms
Introduction

If you are speedrunning this game, please introduce yourself in this thread.

We also have a leaderboard set up here.
Setup

Because the introductory cutscene is quite long, the best way to run this game is to create a profile, complete the first level, then just copy that profile to a different memory card every time you want to start a new run. This will let you skip the first cutscene, and even though it will save the coring charge and washer count of the copied profile for the start of level 2, those shouldn't be changing anyways on normal runs.
Emulators

The use of emulators will be allowed on 2 conditions:

    The emulator has been proven to have an accurate in-game time
    Single level runs must include video evidence of the run, with a time on the "scoreboard" screen at the end of the level that reflects your video time.
        Because of how resets work in this game, you will need to fully exit the level and enter again in order to reset the in-game timer.

As of 5.0 RC-1, Dolphin Emulator has been proven to be accurate enough to submit runs from.

In order to determine if an emulator is accurate enough for submission, record a level that displays an in-game timer during the level itself, along with the end of level time. If both of these timers match the length of your video, then that emulator can be considered accurate. Wasteland Thunder and Race to the Rocket are both good levels to test this with.

Runners should note that most emulators for this game require a rather powerful computer to both play and record without slowdown. If the in-game time does not match the time spent in the video, the run will be rejected.

Editor's Note: These rules may change at any time if runners abuse them. ~R


Timing

For single-segment runs, it is handy to keep a save file that has the first level completed, so that any time you start a new run you can simply copy that file and replay level 1, which will let you skip the intro cutscene. The only thing to be wary of is that you should always finish the level with the same amount of coring charges: the typical any% run should finish with 4 charges, while the 100% run should finish with 9.

Splits should be marked the instant you are able to continue past the stats screen at the end of a level; mostly because it's easier to hit the shortcut key there instead of when the save window comes up.

The final split of the game should occur the instant that the screen goes black after you defeat Zombie Corrosive. This lets the runner skip the final 3 minutes of cutscenes and credits.


For segmented runs, the time starts the first frame that you can see the player, and ends on the first frame(inclusive) that you can see the "Saving Profile" notification.

Note: In-game times are only accurate on two conditions: You don't die, and you don't reset. Dying sets the timer back to what it was at the last checkpoint, and resetting doesn't reset the timer.


Continuity

While the game is separated into levels, you bring the state of every weapon and ammo count with you. The only thing that changes between levels is that your health is refilled.

When a level is finished for the first time, the game records the state of your gun and ammo and loads it into the next level. Replaying a level does not affect the state of your weapons for the next level.


Cutscenes

The GC version allows you to skip all cutscenes *only* if you are replaying a level.

The PS2 (and xbox?) version allows you to skip all cutscenes.
Checkpoints

If you die after a checkpoint, the game will restore you to either the health you had when you hit the checkpoint, or 1.5 bars, whichever is higher. This can be abused to gain health and continue on a mission without going out of the way for health drops.

Reloading the game to a previous checkpoint does strange things to the game also. Enemy units are reset to their original positions, but their AI is left on the state that it was at when you died. This means that enemies who were alert to your presence before dying will still be alert after you reload the checkpoint, and are likely to behave differently as a result.

Authors note: as an example, in Into The Trenches a Titan that I would usually be able to sneak behind on the first run through, would instantly turn and shoot at me on the next run through.

These points hold true for resetting the level as well.


Item Drops

All enemy units have specific items that they drop upon death. This includes washers, ammo, and health pickups. Learning which enemies drop which items is absolutely necessary for efficiently completing runs.


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Earliest MA Ruleset i can find from Speed demos archive
Copied: 3/4/2021
Originally by Riveted: March 25th 2014
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How to Run Metal Arms
Timing

For single-segment runs, time should start when you select the difficulty level. Splits should be marked the instant you are able to continue past the stats screen at the end of a level.

For segmented runs, the time starts after the level is finish loading, when the first cutscene starts playing, and ends the instant you can continue past the stats screen at the end of a level.

Note: In-game time isn't necessarily accurate: it takes the cutscene time into account whether you skip it or not, and any time you die it resets the time to whatever it happened to be at the last checkpoint.

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6/2/2014
source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AaeRcAL_O9_ulwvauWLEknux0m-JupsE4JQ8HfqwTcE/edit#gid=0

Any% consists of beating the game as quickly as possible with no restrictions