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This is a deep and complicated question, but the top-line answer is it's the best way to prevent cheating (note I didn't say perfect). A big part of these class

This is a deep and complicated question, but the top-line answer is it's the best way to prevent cheating (note I didn't say perfect). A big part of these classic games is how the random events are generated. It would be fairly easy to modify the game in an emulator to more often generate ideal random events, giving you an edge over people playing on the real hardware. So the community agreed that for the purposes of the leaderboards in question here, the game must be played on real hardware.

LanceH 6y ago
To add, the biggest deal with altering the random events for a game like donkey kong isn't that the player would know what is coming up next. Depending on the random spawns in the game, there are more points to be scored. So you could play a perfect game and score 100k less than the record. So they're chasing the perfect game during a perfect random spawn.
Garlef 6y ago
As an interesting example: In speedrunning, certain movement patterns of bosses can be cleared faster than others. If such a pattern only shows up in 1/4 of the runs and you need a good combination of three or more such patterns over the course of the game, the ability to control this will make reaching a world record much much easier. You still need a lot of skill, though. There are some excellent documentaries on speedrunning on YT: For example Ninja Gaiden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1tVD7UEqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1tVD7UEqw
anonymfus 6y ago
It is also possible to modify a real arcade machine hardware. And it's also possible to put some visual or aural indicators for player when to press which buttons, so the player would be just following computer's instructions. An ability to sync your actions to background music not provided by the game itself is also a possible avenue for cheating. So the idea that somebody can set a recognisible world record while streaming from home is ridiculous. A proper procedure must involve all hardware and software provided by competition organizers and checked by independent judges.
- coldpie 6y ago
  Of course. I said it isn't perfect. It's a balancing act between preventing cheating and practicality. The requirements you laid out would result in no leaderboard at all.

LanceH 6y ago

To add, the biggest deal with altering the random events for a game like donkey kong isn't that the player would know what is coming up next. Depending on the random spawns in the game, there are more points to be scored. So you could play a perfect game and score 100k less than the record. So they're chasing the perfect game during a perfect random spawn.

Garlef 6y ago

As an interesting example: In speedrunning, certain movement patterns of bosses can be cleared faster than others. If such a pattern only shows up in 1/4 of the runs and you need a good combination of three or more such patterns over the course of the game, the ability to control this will make reaching a world record much much easier. You still need a lot of skill, though. There are some excellent documentaries on speedrunning on YT: For example Ninja Gaiden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1tVD7UEqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1tVD7UEqw

anonymfus 6y ago

It is also possible to modify a real arcade machine hardware. And it's also possible to put some visual or aural indicators for player when to press which buttons, so the player would be just following computer's instructions. An ability to sync your actions to background music not provided by the game itself is also a possible avenue for cheating. So the idea that somebody can set a recognisible world record while streaming from home is ridiculous. A proper procedure must involve all hardware and software provided by competition organizers and checked by independent judges.

coldpie 6y ago
Of course. I said it isn't perfect. It's a balancing act between preventing cheating and practicality. The requirements you laid out would result in no leaderboard at all.