Candy-Coated Carnage
2022 Fall League
Rules & Policies
Welcome to the 2021 FFR Fall League. This is our yearly event that pits teams of racers against each other for a chance at glory. The Fall League is a six-week event, the first four of which are open to all teams, with semi-finals and finals taking place in weeks five and six respectively. We invite all interested players to come and join the league, form a team, and get ready for the delightful chaos of this year’s event.
The Basics of the League:
Players will group up in teams of four (4), no more or less. Each week of the league will feature different flags (listed below in the “Schedule” section) and four races of that flagset (with different seeds) each week. Each player on the team must race once each week (and only once unless prior approval is given that week by the Fall League Staff).
During the first four weeks, the League will be open to all teams. Once the first four weeks are over, points will be totalled and the top four teams will then compete in Week 5 for semi-finals (all other teams are, at this point, out of the League). At the end of Week 5, scores are totalled again and the top two teams will complete in the “Gold Medal” match, while the other two teams of week five can complete, if they so choose, in a “Bronze Medal” match. There is no plan, at this juncture, for a “victory lap” bonus race after the League is over.
Dates and times for the specific games will be settled closer to League start. A “sign up form & scheduling survey” is posted and will allow teams to register for the League and state what dates and times (from a full range) they are available to play.
Scoring for the races will be handled via “bins” (meaning that players that come within a certain amount of time from each other will score the same amount of points). This helps to “flatten” the scoring curve and keep competitive teams within closer distance of each other.
How the Scores Work:
With 12+ simultaneous racers going each race, each week, we wanted a system that would allow the top spots to earn a meaningful amount of points while keeping the middle of the field very competitive.
Scoring System:
- The first player to finish the race will automatically be placed into bin 1. All other players have 1 minute (0:01:00) to finish in order to be placed into bin 1 as well.
- Once that threshold has passed, the next player to finish will automatically be put into bin 2. All subsequent players will now have 2 minutes (0:02:00) to be placed into bin 2.
- Once that threshold has passed, the next player to finish will automatically be put into bin 3, with a time threshold of +4 minutes (0:04:00).
- Once that threshold has passed, the next player to finish will automatically be put into bin 4, with a time threshold of +8 minutes (0:08:00).
- Once that threshold has passed, the next player to finish will automatically be put into bin 5, with a time threshold of +16 minutes. (0:16:00)
- Once that threshold has passed, all other players that complete the race will be placed into bin 6.
- A result of DQ, DNF, or DNR will result in 0 points.
Note that additional points will be awarded for:
- Fastest overall time during the week (3 points)
- Lowest level (based on the highest level character in your party, not an average) taken into Chaos (or Alt. final) that successfully beats the game (2 points)
- Assisting with race crew during the week (1 point per slot filled, maximum of 4 points per team).
Tournament Schedule
Races are spread across four days during the week, each with their own specific time. These days/times will comprise a set schedule for the League for the first five weeks of the League. The week six schedule will be up to the player schedules and their availability.
The League will start with a “Reveal Stream” on Sept. 10, 2021. Games will then start that week (based on the day settled up from the signup form & scheduling survey). The full League will run six weeks, and proceed as:
- Week 1, Free Enterprise
- Tue Sep 14 @ 8:00 PM
- Thu Sep 16 @ 10:00 PM
- Fri Sep 17 @ 9:00 PM
- Sat Sep 18 @ 2:00 PM
- Week 2, “Floaterless Classic”
- Tue Sep 21 @ 8:00 PM
- Thu Sep 23 @ 10:00 PM
- Fri Sep 24 @ 9:00 PM
- Sat Sep 25 @ 2:00 PM
- Week 3, Deep Dungeon
- Tue Sep 28 @ 8:00 PM
- Thu Sep 30 @ 10:00 PM
- Fri Oct 1 @ 9:00 PM
- Sat Oct 2 @ 2:00 PM
- Week 4, Oops All Loose E/F/T Shuffle
- Tue Oct 5 @ 8:00 PM
- Thu Oct 7 @ 10:00 PM
- Fri Oct 8 @ 9:00 PM
- Sat Oct 9 @ 2:00 PM
- Week 5, Spoiler Week (Semi-Finals)
- Tue Oct 12 @ 8:00 PM
- Thu Oct 14 @ 10:00 PM
- Fri Oct 15 @ 9:00 PM
- Sat Oct 16 @ 2:00 PM
- Week 6, “Rally” Week (Finals)
- Day and Time Scheduled By Participating Players
The current schedule will allow a full week between the end of the League and the start of SG Live “seeding qualifiers”, giving all players a chance to rest before that mini-event begins.
Tournament Flags (Updated to 4.2.2)
- Week 1: Free Enterprise
- Week 2: “Floaterless Classic"
- Captain and Squabbie:
- Tues - Forced Fighter, Banned Black Belt
- Thurs - Forced Fighter, Banned Red Mage
- Fri - Forced Black Belt, Banned White Mage
- Sat - Forced Black Belt, Banned Red Mage
- Captain and Squabbie:
- Week 3: Deep Dungeon
- Week 4: Oops All Loose
- Week 5: Semi-Finals - Spoiler Week
- Seeds:
- Tues - 10292695
- Thurs - 3473D9EF
- Fri - E2715B73
- Sat - 483129a9 (please note, previous seed didn’t work and wouldn’t render on the site, had to reroll to a new seed)
- Seeds:
- Week 6: Finals - Rally Week
For Floaterless Classic, one character in the player’s team will be forced (the “Captain” of the team), and one character class will be barred (forced to “walk the plank”). This is in homage to the “Sail the High Seas” flags from Spring Tournament 2019.
For the Spoiler Week, all four seeds that week are posted above. Players are able to play the seeds and see where all the secrets lie. Looking at the spoiler log (but not Hackster or other hacking tools), playing the seed ahead of time, taking notes, and planning out your route with the other players on your team is allowed. Play functions the same as any other week of the league, except now you know where everything is and can go as fast as possible. One seed will be run on each of the four days of the League that week with no repeats so plan accordingly.
For the “Rally” week, the seed (which will be rolled the night of right before the race) will be run “co-op style”, 4v4 on a single night. All players from both teams will run the same seed and all will need to be in the race room, online, and ready to run for race start. They’ll get the seed, set up their party, go to the overworld, and “ready up”. The trick here is that only one person from the team will start playing at race start (with player order chosen by the team); the other three will be “waiting their turn”, sitting on the sidelines, watching (via discord) and taking (shared) notes. When the first player (call them Player A for the sake of this discussion) kills their first fiend (any fiend), Player B on their team gets to go. Player A and B continue playing and and when Player B kills the second fiend (they need to light a second orb, any orb, and while they can also kill the first fiend as well, that doesn’t count), Player C gets to start (Player A killing a second fiend also does not count). All three players continue to play, and when Player C kills the third fiend (lighting a third orb, and not killed by Player A or Player B), Player D gets to start. All four then continue playing, and once Player D kills the last fiend (lighting the last orb, and not killed by Player A, B, or C), the players are all then allowed to light the Black Orb, enter the final dungeon, and hunt down the final boss. The team is finished when all four players kill the final boss.
Please note that during the “Rally” week, players are allowed to sit in discord and not only chat with each other in a voice room but also share their screens (to assist with taking notes and planning out routing) and your notes. They are not allowed to watch other teams, nor may they take their rom into Hackster and check it over for spoilers. This flagset is intended for Co-Op and, as such, will require the use of the co-op script and the emulator that can use that script, Bizhawk.
Prize
Last year the winning team simply got a “champion” title on the Discord and bragging rights. This year, for the winning team, all four members will get a free stream layout (designed by DarkmoonEX), if they desire it.
Requirements for Participants
- All races must be streamed with a vod of the race required after race end. On Twitch (and on YouTube), your vod should automatically record into the system as you're racing. If your channel doesn't save vods of all streams make sure your settings are adjusted. A vod will be required for verification purposes. We also strongly recommend you make a backup recording of your stream that way, if your stream goes down or your vod doesn't auto-save into the system, you have a backup for verification purposes.
- A stream delay of 10 minutes (600 seconds) will be required for all racers participating in this event (even during “Spoiler Week”). If you need assistance setting this up, please contact the League Staff via Discord PM.
- However, as always, cheating is not tolerated. As such:
- Players may not hang out in any chat other than their own. Do not be in the broadcaster network’s chats/streams at the time of your race.
- Players may not hang out in the opponent’s stream or chat during the race.
- Players’ own chats must be set to “emote only”.
- If any player in a race somehow gains outside assistance during a race (barring the team finals, during which the only assistance may come from their own team), they will be disqualified from the race.
- Do not post spoilers in racetime.gg chat during or after the race - please use the #post-race-spoiler-discussion in the public Discord. Please limit any post in the chat to ggs and serious questions/reports of technical difficulty.
- If you experience technical difficulty during the race, message the racetime.gg chat and a League Staffer will communicate with you via Discord PMs.
- Matches will be conducted on racetime.gg. Players will be required to have a racetime.gg account and be in the racetime.gg rooms 30 minutes before their race to allow for setup time of the stream.
- Players must have a timer on screen for synching and timing of the races.
- The “Tournament Safe ROM” flag will be on for this League, so all players must use a ROM that will pass the verification of this flag.
- While on stream, and in interviews afterwards, players must comport themselves and act to the expected standards for on-air behavior. This includes, but is not limited to: no cussing, no rants about the other players, no rants about the tournament, no rants about the format, no rants about the streaming service. This extends not only to the on-air portion of the event but to Twitch chat and public-facing Discords as well. Anyone that acts in a manner counter to the professional attitude and bearing we expect from our players at this event will be disqualified from the League.
- Finally, following the completion of your race, you may be asked to join the broadcast for an interview. Despite the outcome of the race, please comport yourself in a professional manner. There are no hard feelings - we are all here to have fun. If you find yourself unable to behave with good sportsmanship during the post-race interview, you will be removed from the broadcast booth. Also, bear in mind, our broadcast partners have policies against swearing or use profane language on their stream.
- All participants must be on the FFR discord for the duration of the League.
If you are selected for the restream the following additional conditions apply:
- If the sprites are not recognizable as the traditional heroes of the game, the players must name their characters after the classes being used (i.e., FI, TH, BB, RM, BM, WM).
- Spell damage and tile flickers must be turned off
If you do not want to follow these rules do not volunteer for a restream. You can participate in the tournament without taking part in the restreams.
Some players have asked what they will be allowed to use in the tournament. Of the concerns raised so far, the tournament will allow:
- Reset buttons (hard and soft reset) may be mapped to controllers.
- Players may use their fun graphical hacks for their game. That is, of course, with the caveat that the ROM must pass the “Tournament Safe” flag, so players will really only be able to edit their light warrior sprites. And, of course, character names, and hero sprites, must conform to the above standards listed (so no swear words for character names, and no offensive sprites of any kind, etc.).
- Auto-tracking for both key items and the map may be used.
Note: you cannot use the turbo button or bind it to any buttons on a controller.