Astos Falls GP
Spring Duck Derby 2024
Rules and Guidance
The time has come to once again unleash our webbed friends from their wading pond. Our new player tournament is ramping up and you, yes you could be part of this year's event. If you're new to FFR, and want to see how you would do against other players at your skill level, then now is the time to rustle your tail feathers and show the world how you quack!
About the Derby
Following on the heels of the Duck Bootcamp, this tournament will be a series of four weekly races followed by a grand championship. Participants divided into two groups based on availability and these two groups will race each week. At the end of those four weeks the top two players from each group will move on to the championship, with the winner of that fifth and final race being crowned the new Duckling Supreme.
Tournament Structure:
Sign ups for the Derby will be pinned in the discord. Any “duckling” (a newer player that has not placed at least in the Top 8 in a major tournament, and who has not won a major or minor event) may participate. After the signups for the tournament have closed the entrants will be divided equally into two groups (Team Agama and Team Eye) based on their availability (sign up now to register your availability). Every effort will be made to include the most participants possible. Team Agama and Team Eye will race on two separate days using the same flagset but different seeds. There will be four (4) weekly races to determine who goes to the finals.
The top 2 players from each group after the 4 weeks of races will proceed to a single 1v1v1v1 match. If a tie in groups occurs, leading to more than a top two players according to score, the top three (or four, or however many) players will advance. This keeps players focused solely on their own performance and not worrying about factors outside their own control. Just race as well as you can to try to advance.
Note: a tie among the top finishers in the finals will results in a run-off between those top races to determine the winner. All other ties in finals will not affect the final outcome and will not be re-run.
Important Dates:
- Duckling Bootcamp: Week of March 24th, 2023 through May 4th, 2023
- Tournament Registration Deadline: April 27th, 2023
- Week 1 Races: Week of May 6 - TBD (Group A) and TBD (Group B)
- Week 2 Races: Week of May 13 - TBD (Group A) and TBD (Group B)
- Week 3 Races: Week of May 20 - TBD (Group A) and TBD (Group B)
- Week 4 Races: Week of May 27 - TBD (Group A) and TBD (Group B)
- Duckling Derby Finals: Week of June 3rd, 2023
Tournament Points:
The winner of each race gets two times (2x) the amount of points as the number of initial entrants. The second place finisher gets 10% fewer points (rounded up). The next finishers all get a cumulative 5% fewer points (rounded up) until 66% of the winner’s points are reached. Points then decrease by 1 per finisher until a minimum of 40% of the winner’s total is reached. All subsequent finishers will receive that amount. It is possible that there will be a different number of entrants in each group. Since each group is considered independent, one group's scoring will not affect the other. Initial calculations for points will be used throughout regardless of drops from the tournament. In case of finishers being within 3 seconds of each other, a re-time will take place. If two or more racers finish within one second of each other, they will all be considered tied and will receive the same amount of points.
Before the first week of the Derby, the updated scoring example for each group will be posted and pinned in the discord.
| Table 1: Point System Breakdown - 20 Participants Example | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st - 40 points | 2nd - 36 points | 3rd - 34 points | 4th - 32 points | 5th - 30 points |
| 6th - 28 points | 7th - 26 points | 8th - 25 points | 9th - 24 points | 10th - 23 points |
| 11th - 22 points | 12th - 21 points | 13th - 20 points | 14th - 19 points | 15th - 18 points |
| 16th - 17 points | 17th - 16 points | 18th - 16 points | 19th - 16 points | 20th - 16 points |
Tournament Flags:
- Week 1: Floaterless
- Week 2: Entrance Shuffle
- Week 3: 2 Loose Shard Hunt
- Week 4: ST 2021 Redux
- Finals: WT 2024
Tournament Flagsets will also be pinned in the Duck Derby discussion channel in the FFR discord.
Prizes:
The top 2 finishers from each group will receive a themed profile picture. The winner of the event will also receive a twitch layout, as well as the title of Duckling Supreme. All art prizes are courtesy of DarkmoonEX.
Requirements for Participants:
Some players have asked what they will and will not be allowed to use in the tournament. Of the concerns raised so far:
- 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.).
- Autotracking for both key items and the map is allowed.
- You cannot use the turbo button or bind it to any buttons on a controller.
Tournament Staff:
If you have any questions, feel free to shoot them at the derby bosses: LuffyDV and Serisan.
¶ Previous Duckling Events
- 2024 Fall Duck Rally: Dirt Track Waddle GP
- 2024 Spring Duck Derby: Astos Falls GP
- 2023 Spring Duck Derby: Gaia Mountain Underpass GP
- 2022 Summer Duck Derby: Highwind GP
- 2022 Winter Duck Derby: 2000 Time Loop Grand Prix
- 2021 Summer Duck Derby: Cardia Isles Grand Prix
- 2021 Spring Duck Derby: Racing Towards Ryukahn
- 2020 Summer Duck Derby
- 2020 Winter Duckling Derby
- 2017 New Player Tournament
Note: New player events were not held during 2018 and 2019.