Movie Rules
This page describes the rules for acceptable movie submissions. Failure to abide by these rules will result in rejection.Table of contents [expand all] [collapse all]
- The movie must play the game from the beginning
- The game must be real
- Use the correct version
- The movie must be good
- Cheat-keys, debugging codes and arcade continues are not allowed
- The movie must be complete
- Obsoleting a published movie
- The movie must be reproducible
- Moviefile metadata must be correct
- Console specific rules
- Acceptable Movie Files
- NES
- Super NES
- Nintendo 64
- Game Boy & variants, and Game Boy Advance
- Nintendo DS
- Sega Master System
- Sega Game Gear
- Sega Genesis/Megadrive
- Sega Saturn
- PlayStation
- Arcade / Neo Geo
- TurboGrafx 16(PC Engine), Neo Geo Pocket (Color), WonderSwan, Atari Lynx
- Virtual Boy
- Gamecube / Wii
- PC-DOS (x86)
- MSX Home Computers
- Windows
- For other systems
- Multimedia files (AVI, WMV and so on) are not accepted
The movie must play the game from the beginning
Giving yourself a headstart is not allowed, you have to start from a common starting point, the very beginning of the game.
The movie must begin from console power-on
The movie must begin from the game power-on state (no loading of saves). That is to say, you must choose ‘record from power-on/start’,
not ‘record from reset/sram’ or ‘record from now/savestate’.
We do not allow save-anchored movies.
We want a standard starting point for movies (power-on). Saves are not standard, as there are many of them, and each may cause the game to behave differently compared to starting from power-on. They can also can be hacked, allowing nearly transparent cheating.
However, there are certain games with unlockable modes that can only be accessed if a save file (or an otherwise "dirty" SRAM) is present. If you really wish to submit a movie made on such mode, you will need a verification movie first. Any input file that starts from power-on (for example, a previously submitted or published movie for that game) and creates the exact circumstances for your submission to sync will generally do. Note that you don't have to optimize the verification movie: it only serves as a save or SRAM generator that makes it possible to claim the legitimacy of your effort. A good example is this submission.
No skipping to the end with a password
The point is to beat the full game, skipping major sections of the game with a password defeats the purpose.
The game must be real
The movie should look like it could have been played with authentic hardware. This makes it more familiar to the audience.
This details to the following points:
The ROM must be good
- Do not use bad dumps if a good dump is available.
- Do not use an overdump ROM if a non-overdump ROM is available.
- Do not use fan-translations or otherwise hacked ROMs ― translators do not want you to use obsolete versions and we prefer non-hacked games.
- Good dumps are often labeled [!].
- Bad dumps, overdumps, and hacked versions are often labeled [b], [o], and [h] respectively.
Play games that are emulated well
Emulation of several platforms such as Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation is still far from perfect, and some games work better than others. This is really a vague rule, but because we aim to publish videos that look like they were played on the original video game system. Movies of games that are not emulated well (have graphical or functional glitches that do not exist
on the real console) should not be submitted.
Accurate emulation is preferred over inaccurate!
If you are trying to beat an existing movie and it exploits an emulation bug on an old emulator, do not do the same. The same goes for exploiting a bug in a bad ROM dump. We would prefer the slower version that represents a more accurate play through. The goal of our movies is to show what could "theoretically" be done on a real console. Exploiting emulation bugs go against this goal.
Hacked and homebrew games
Hacked games are allowed for submission. However, they go through more scrutiny than other games. This is because the hack itself is under judgment. It must be a quality hack and have an audience following. It must be a quality TAS on its own merit but also must show something interesting compared to other games of the same game engine.
Do not use fan-translations for your movies ― see below
for more on this. This rule is strict.
Codes that manipulate ROM or RAM directly (e.g. Game genie codes) are not allowed
They count as hacked versions of the game if they touch rom areas. Either convert it to a real hack or don't use it.
No questionable emulator settings
The emulator should be set to emulate the system as closely as possible while still allowing the game to be played. You should not depend on a particular emulator hack to gain speed.
The PAL/NTSC settings must be correct
If you are running a NTSC game (U or J), you must set your emulator to record in NTSC mode. Likewise, if you are running a PAL game (E), you must record your movie in PAL mode. Any other setting will get your movie promptly rejected. Note that such settings are enabled automatically in most emulators, but it's better to check before you start recording.
If you are obsoleting a movie that was recorded with the wrong settings, that movie's completion time will be increased 20% when comparing them to adjust for the fact that PAL games run at 50 Hz and NTSC at 60 Hz.
This rule only comes into effect on NES games and possibly Genesis games that have badly programmed region lock-out.
The BIOS must be real
If the system you are using makes use of system BIOSes, only use real BIOSes, not hacked ones.
Match the BIOS region to the game's region.
If BIOS images are region-dependent, do not use an image from a different region. Only use USA BIOS for (U) versions, Japan BIOS for (J) versions, and PAL BIOS for PAL versions ( (E) or other). See above for details in general about using non-US region games.
In the case of PCSX, the region is determined by the last number in the BIOS revision, SCPH-xxx0 or SCPH-xxx3 is Japan, SCPH-xxx1 is US and SCPH-xxx2 is PAL. (see wiki for detailed list). SCPH-1001 is preferred for (U) versions.
Use the correct version
- If it exists, use the (U) version of a ROM unless there is a good reason not to (as an example a shortcut/trick which only works in a different version, or superior music).
- Good reasons for J over U
- A big time saving trick or glitch that isn't possible in U
- Less in-game lag vs U
- Marginal reasons
- Better graphics
- Gray area
- Less fade-out lag J vs U
- Bad reasons for J vs U
- A shorter title screen
- A shorter text
- If you decide to start to a run using a version other than (U), make a post on the forum detailing why — this is to prevent future complications.
- It is generally safe to use (JU) (generic NTSC) or (JUE)/(W) (worldwide, autoadjusting) versions, as this usually means no separate (U) version has ever been released.
- Good reasons for J over U
- In addition, English text is preferred. Thus the use of Japanese text in the movie would be a negative aspect towards a switch to the J version.
- If there already is a published video, do not use a different ROM than what it uses, unless the new ROM is obviously better, and you can show how it should be compared to the existing movie.
- If the situation arises that you do want to use a different ROM than the currently published run, make a post on the forum to make sure the differences between the two are large enough to warrant the change.
- A movie made with an older version of emulator is not allowed to "beat" a movie made with a newer version of emulator, except when the timing differences are irrelevant or the "beaten" movie is not accepted in the first place.
The movie must be good
In particular:
A speed-oriented movie must beat all existing records
If your movie is going to beat something, be sure it beats it.
If your tool-assisted movie is slower than the non-tool-assisted world record of the game you play, your movie will be rejected. This only matters if the goals are directly comparable between the TAS and unassisted record, though. Do your research! Look for the existing unassisted speedrun records. Look for previous TAS movies in the submission queue or on the forums. Check places such as YouTube or nicovideo for TAS movies (or speedruns). Failure to beat existing movies will result in a rejection.
If your tool-assisted movie is slower than the non-tool-assisted world record of the game you play, your movie will be rejected. This only matters if the goals are directly comparable between the TAS and unassisted record, though. Do your research! Look for the existing unassisted speedrun records. Look for previous TAS movies in the submission queue or on the forums. Check places such as YouTube or nicovideo for TAS movies (or speedruns). Failure to beat existing movies will result in a rejection.
The movie must be of an acceptable technical quality
Don't be lazy. We will try and beat your movie. We should hopefully not succeed.
See the Guidelines on how to make a movie that meets site standards.
Cheat-keys, debugging codes and arcade continues are not allowed
Such as the Konami Code.
If the key sequence is mentioned in the manual as a normal means of playing, it is (usually) allowed. Additionally, continues used in arcade games bought through the use of coins is considered similar to a cheat code, as it provides advantage to the player, and goes against the typical concept of a TAS. These rules are not strict, but are motivated by the same concept as the guideline that says you should play on the hardest difficulty. As such, you can use a code to unlock the hardest difficulty, although it's better to first ask on the forums if this is a good idea
If the key sequence is mentioned in the manual as a normal means of playing, it is (usually) allowed. Additionally, continues used in arcade games bought through the use of coins is considered similar to a cheat code, as it provides advantage to the player, and goes against the typical concept of a TAS. These rules are not strict, but are motivated by the same concept as the guideline that says you should play on the hardest difficulty. As such, you can use a code to unlock the hardest difficulty, although it's better to first ask on the forums if this is a good idea
The movie must be complete
Your movie should begin from the console power-on
and end when the last decisive action has been delivered. There are no specific rules for an exact endpoint but it must adhere to the following rules:
- It must beat the game.
- It must be able to reach the credits or end screen without the viewer needing to do anything; all input must come solely from the input file (e.g. configuring the emulator to autofire after the end of playback is not allowed). An exception has been allowed for Rygar.
- It should end with the last input. Don't leave any blank input at the end of the movie.
Obsoleting a published movie
When obsoleting a published movie (that aims for fastest time), the goal should be to minimally match its speed and impressiveness throughout the entire movie, not just in final completion time. Meaning, if you found a 30 second shortcut, that isn't an excuse to waste 10 seconds elsewhere due to sloppy play. If you found a 30 second shortcut, try your best to improve the movie by at least 30 seconds.
Site rules still apply even if the published movie breaks them. We make mistakes sometimes, that doesn't provide a green light for you to do so.
- If a published movie uses a bad dump, you should instead use the good one
- If a published movie uses an inaccurate emulator and you have the choice of a more accurate one, use the more accurate one.
- However, if a rule is broken for a specific reason and it was allowed, then it is okay. If not sure, ask a judge or admin before making the movie. (An example would be movies that start from SRAM, use passwords, etc.)
The movie must be reproducible
It is not enough that you did it once, we need to be able to run the simulation and get the same result as you did
Any important settings not saved in the movie file must be stated in the submission text
Ideally the movie file, a copy of the game and an emulated copy of the system should be everything needed. Sadly, the world isn't ideal.
Moviefile metadata must be correct
It may be easy to lose track of the exact number of rerecordings, but do try to get it roughly correct. While it is not supposed to be used for judging it is none the less a fact that a lot of our users pay attention to.
Console specific rules
Gameboy series: Use the best mode
Some Game Boy games work in multiple modes:
- GB ― Monochrome (the first Game Boy type),
- SGB ― Super Game Boy (the GB game plugged into SNES, has a graphical border and some colours)
- GBC ― Game Boy Color.
- If the game supports GBC capabilities, play it in GBC mode.
- If the game does not support GBC, but it does support SGB, play it in SGB mode.
- An exception may be provided if SGB mode colorization doesn't enhance the visual content in any sensible way (such as in Donkey Kong Land 3, where the whole screen is tinted with one color, effectively decreasing overall visibility).
- Only play the game in monochrome GB mode if the game does not support either GBC or SGB.
Acceptable Movie Files
We accept key-input movies of these formats, and only these formats:
NES
- FCEUX movie files (FM2) made with version 2.0.2 or newer.
- FCE-Ultra (FCEU) movie files (FCM) made with version 0.98.12 or newer (0.98.28 is the last one in the series)
Super NES
- Snes9x movie files (SMV)
- version 1.51 or newer preferred
- version 1.43 supported but deprecated.
- ZSNES movie files (ZMV) made with version 1.51
Nintendo 64
- Mupen64 movie files (M64) made with the rerecording version
Game Boy & variants, and Game Boy Advance
- Visual Boy Advance (VBA) movie files (VBM) made with the re-recording version.
- We do not accept movie files made with earlier versions of VBA (denoted by file types VBV and VMV).
- Read the VBA-specific rules later at this page!
Nintendo DS
- DeSmuME movie files (DSM) made with DeSmuME 0.9.5, 0.9.6, and 0.9.7 only. Do not use interim builds, or versions prior to 0.9.5.
Sega Master System
- Dega movie files (MMV) made with Dega 1.14 or newer
Sega Game Gear
- Dega movie files (MMV) made with Dega 1.16 or newer
Sega Genesis/Megadrive
- Gens movie files (GMV)
Sega Saturn
- Yabause movie files (YMV)
PlayStation
Arcade / Neo Geo
TurboGrafx 16(PC Engine), Neo Geo Pocket (Color), WonderSwan, Atari Lynx
Virtual Boy
- Mednafen movie files made with VBJin.
Gamecube / Wii
- Dolphin movie files (DTM).
PC-DOS (x86)
- JRSR movie files (JRSR) made with JPC.
MSX Home Computers
- OMR replay files made with openMSX.
Windows
- WTF files made with Hourglass.
For other systems
Movies for emulators for any other systems are not accepted.
See EmulatorResources for more information about emulators and their versions.
Multimedia files (AVI, WMV and so on) are not accepted
We do not accept multimedia files (AVI, WMV and so on). The site wants a method of movie control, such as:
MovieRules last edited by sgrunt on 2012-01-30 19:20:07
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- Having a verifiable standard key-input movie.
- Extracting important information about the movie directly from its header.
- Creating high-quality encodes for publishing.
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