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Rando Race Rules

These are the rules for the standard races hosted by isaac (usually on Sunday).

The main goals of the rules and settings are the following:

  • Pretty much anyone should be able to join and complete the seed.
  • More experienced players should be able to complete most seeds in under 3.5 hours.
  • "Bad seeds" should not be unreasonably time-consuming. If people frequently are saying "pain..." after the seed finishes, that is a problem.
  • Some number of tricks/glitches should be allowed so that people have things to learn and so that more experienced players do not become frustrated with the rules.
  • It should be fun!

General rules​

Settings​

Settings string:
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Logic Rules​

Logic Rules is set to Glitchless so that anyone who joins should be able to complete the seed.

Access Options​

Hyrule Castle and Palace of Twilight requirements are set to Fused Shadows for a couple of reasons:

  • There will be exactly 3 required dungeons other than Hyrule Castle.
  • Palace of Twilight will never be a required dungeon. This is good because currently Palace of Twilight requires you to complete Arbiter's Grounds to access it.

Faron Woods Logic is set to Open so players don't have to do Forest Temple every time.

Item Pool​

The item pool includes everything but Poes. Poes are excluded because they add a significant number of checks which has a meaningful impact on the average and worst-case completion times. Additionally, getting a random Poe Soul is not very satisfying.

Having hidden skills in the pool is nice because the chance you make it to the end and forget to get Ending Blow is very low.

Randomized bugs are nice because they are quick to check.

Dungeon Items​

Small Keys and Big Keys are set to Keysy which has the following benefits:

  • When you are go-mode, you do not have to waste time doing checks.
    • This can be especially nice for Hyrule Castle.
  • Dungeons are more likely to have important items in them.
    • Seeds which have more important items in dungeons are typically faster to complete.
  • Players have the option to intentionally skip a large number of checks, a small number of checks, or no checks in dungeons.
    • You might skip checks (a risk) to potentially gain a time advantage (a reward). You can balance the risk/reward however you like.

Maps and Compasses is set to Start With for the following reason:

  • Players do not have to be as familiar with each dungeon since they start with the map and compass.

Starting Inventory​

Players start with Shadow Crystal, Horse Call, Gate Keys, one Progressive_Fishing_Rod, and six Progressive_Sky_Book.

  • Shadow Crystal
    • Speeds up seeds significantly since you start with the ability to warp.
    • Starting the seed with a way to attack enemies is nice.
  • Horse Call
    • Speeds things up and is convenient to have.
  • Gate Keys
    • Opens up the seed more at the beginning. If you don't start with gate keys, the seeds pretty much all start out by going through Kakariko Village and finding Bombs.
  • Progressive_Fishing_Rod
    • Initially was added so that getting the Reekfish scent was easier, but the Reekfish was changed to no longer be required.
    • We still start with a fishing rod since it only unlocks one check in UZR, and being able to do UZR in one pass at any time feels better than it having 2 sphere 0 checks and 1 check locked behind an item which does nothing but unlock that one check.
  • 6 Progressive_Sky_Book
    • Makes it so you only have to find a single Progressive_Sky_Book to make the Sky Cannon appear in Lake Hylia.

Excluded Checks​

  • Agitha Checks
    • Agitha checks are excluded since she can easily increase the number of spheres and backtracking resulting in longer completion times.
    • Full list: Agitha Female Ant Reward, Agitha Female Beetle Reward, Agitha Female Butterfly Reward, Agitha Female Dayfly Reward, Agitha Female Dragonfly Reward, Agitha Female Grasshopper Reward, Agitha Female Ladybug Reward, Agitha Female Mantis Reward, Agitha Female Phasmid Reward, Agitha Female Pill Bug Reward, Agitha Female Snail Reward, Agitha Female Stag Beetle Reward, Agitha Male Ant Reward, Agitha Male Beetle Reward, Agitha Male Butterfly Reward, Agitha Male Dayfly Reward, Agitha Male Dragonfly Reward, Agitha Male Grasshopper Reward, Agitha Male Ladybug Reward, Agitha Male Mantis Reward, Agitha Male Phasmid Reward, Agitha Male Pill Bug Reward, Agitha Male Snail Reward, Agitha Male Stag Beetle Reward
  • Cave of Ordeals Great Fairy Reward
    • This single check would take a large number of items and a long time. If it was ever required for a seed, that would be a nightmare.
    • Full list: Cave of Ordeals Great Fairy Reward
  • Golden Wolves
    • Skipping the Howling Stones and Golden Wolf Trainings saves a good amount of time.
    • Full list: Faron Woods Golden Wolf, Gerudo Desert Golden Wolf, Kakariko Graveyard Golden Wolf, North Castle Town Golden Wolf, Ordon Spring Golden Wolf, Outside South Castle Town Golden Wolf, West Hyrule Field Golden Wolf
  • Goron Springwater Rush
    • This check is one of the longest single checks in the game, taking nearly 3 minutes and 500 rupees.
    • If this check is required, everyone ends up doing it at the very end. So all that happens is the seed is bad for everyone, and no one gains any advantage from doing it early (no one does it early since it is an unreasonable strategy).
    • Full list: Goron Springwater Rush
  • Hidden Village Checks
    • The Hidden Village checks are only relevant if ToT is required, so it can be easy to forget them.
    • The cat hide-and-seek minigame is time-consuming.
    • There were some bugs related to Impaz which may or may not have been fixed. Would hate for people to lose their run to a bug.
    • Full list: Cats Hide and Seek Minigame, Skybook From Impaz
  • Hyrule Castle Dominion Rod Chest
    • This check is almost never required to complete the seed. However, there is always a very small chance it matters. And if it ever did matter, some people would definitely forfeit.
    • It is removed purely because it is not fun to enter the final dungeon every seed knowing that there is a small chance you will have to leave again to go find the 2nd Dominion Rod.
    • Full list: Hyrule Castle Graveyard Owl Statue Chest
  • Iza Checks
    • Both Iza checks are some of the longest checks in the game.
    • If an Iza check is required, everyone ends up doing it at the very end. So all that happens is the seed is bad for everyone, and no one gains any advantage from doing it early (no one does it early since it is an unreasonable strategy).
    • Full list: Iza Helping Hand, Iza Raging Rapids Minigame
  • Jovani Poe Soul Rewards
    • Reward for 60 should obviously be excluded, and 20 was removed by group decision.
    • Aside from the group decision, the reasoning for its removal is similar to the reasoning for removing the Iza checks.
    • Could maybe try it again once we can reduce the number to more like 10 poes.
    • Full list: Jovani 20 Poe Soul Reward, Jovani 60 Poe Soul Reward
  • Trade Quest Checks
    • The trade quest is hard to understand, and the seeds play perfectly fine without it. When and where is what available and how does ToT affect things? There is a lot to remember.
    • Doctors Office Balcony Chest

"Other" Settings​

  • Timesavers are all on to save time.
  • Transform Anywhere
    • Convenient and saves time.
  • Increase Wallet Capacity
    • The default wallets are too small.
    • I think ideally I would have the wallet sizes at 500, 1000, and 2000 in a future update.
  • Shop Models Show The Replaced Item
    • It would not improve the player's experience to turn this off.
    • I think the only reason this setting exists is because this was how it worked at one point before they got updating the models working.
  • Foolish Item / Ice Trap Frequency
    • Turned off by group decision. It was not popular when it was on.
  • Dungeon Entrance Settings
    • Mines Does Not Require Wrestling
      • The wrestling minigames are an RNG time sink, so this option is appreciated.
    • Lakebed Does Not Require Water Bombs
      • Rather than make people have to learn how to clip into Lakebed, we remove the need for clipping entirely.
    • Arbiters Does Not Require Bulblin Camp
      • Speeds things up.
      • There are bugs related to the camp key currently.
  • Snowpeak Does Not Require Reekfish Scent
    • You do not need to find fishing rods and get the Reekfish scent to access Snowpeak checks.
    • The idea behind requiring fishing rods to access SPR was to remove any sphere 0 checks from SPR. However, when SPR is not a required dungeon, the Snowpeak checks become much worse. Since SPR is required a minority of the time, requiring the player to find fishing rods and get the Reekfish scent tends to do more harm than good. So this setting was reverted back to being enabled.
    • Temple of Time Entrance
      • Set to Open.
      • Saves time and gives the portal to Sacred Grove at the start which is nice.
      • We keep the original behavior of Temple of Time being open without Master Sword (as compared to the new Open Grove option). The reason to change to Open Grove would be if you wanted swords to be easier to find, and you did not like ToT. I would prefer to keep swords as they are. For making ToT nicer, I would rather use an option to remove the Door of Time which would skip bringing the statue back down.

"Other" settings which are NOT turned on are:

  • City Does Not Require Filled Skybook
    • You must find one sky character before the cannon to CitS appears at Lake Hylia.
    • This is an experimental setting, but the idea is to reduce the likelihood that you have to double-dip CitS. More research with actual data needs to be done on the difference between this setting and starting with the cannon at Lake Hylia.

Glitches/Tricks​

note

I use "glitch" and "trick" interchangeably.

These rules take the approach of "a glitch is allowed until it proves itself to be problematic".

In general, a glitch is banned if it does one of the following:

  • Goes against the spirit of the Randomizer by giving a guaranteed item.
  • Gives a significant time advantage.
  • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

A player can use glitches/tricks to speed up their playthrough, but they should still be ultimately "playing the same game" as a new player who hasn't learned a bunch of glitches/tricks.

danger

A glitch/trick which is banned is banned under all conditions. For example, Double Clawshot Skips are banned even if you have Double Clawshots. This probably won't be enforced if the race is casual, but keep in mind it is technically against the rules.

Back in Time​

  • What is it:
    • You gain control of Link on the title screen, and there is a lot of stuff that can happen from there.
  • Why is it banned:
    • It causes problems with the Randomizer in general and is considered unsupported.
    • Goes against the spirit of the Randomizer by giving a guaranteed item.

Big/Boss Key Skips​

  • What is it:
    • Entering a boss fight without the going through the appropriate big key door. The only one that exists in TP is for Morpheel.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Can give a significant time advantage.
    • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

Iza Item Manipulation​

  • What is it:
    • You can get a guaranteed bomb bag and do other kinds of inventory manipulation by interacting with Iza in certain ways. Any sort of unintended item manipulation using Iza is banned. This includes, but is not limited to, stealing bomb bag and infinite bomb arrows.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Goes against the spirit of the Randomizer by giving a guaranteed item.

Early Monkey Chain Room​

  • What is it:
    • In Forest Temple, you can make it to the room before the boss in which the monkeys form the chain without boomerang.
  • Why is it banned:
    • This is mainly banned with bingo in mind since there can be goals for beating a dungeon or beating Diababa. It is easier to remember the rules when they are consistent between the races.
    • If this was not banned, then it is kind of at the level such that you would be putting yourself at a meaningful disadvantage by not practicing it. And it would definitely require practice for more than just a few minutes.
    • Even outside of bingo, you can potentially get Forest Temple out of the way much faster than other players who may need to (re)visit it later once they find boomerang.

Morpheel/Zant without Zora Armor​

  • What is it:
    • You can complete the Morpheel and Zant fights without Zora Armor by refilling your air with water bombs.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

Door of Time Skip​

  • What is it:
    • In Temple of Time, you can skip bringing the statue all the way back down by clipping through the door which would disappear after you bring the statue back down.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Can give a significant time advantage.

Hyrule Castle Double Clawshots Skips​

  • What is it:
    • There are two locations where you can skip the need for the Double Clawshots in Hyrule Castle.
      • In the big room where the lights turn on, you can stand on a ledge and do a precise clawshot target to continue to the next room with a single clawshot.
      • After using the 2nd small key, there is a part with broken stairs which is meant to require Double Clawshots. You can skip the Double Clawshots requirement by timing or mashing A such that you press A on a single frame which causes you to land on ground instead of falling into the void.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

Hyrule Castle Spinner Skips​

  • What is it:
    • There are some LJAs you can do on the Spinner portion of your climb to the final boss fight which skips needing to have the Spinner.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

Hyrule Castle Boomerang Skip​

  • What is it:
    • This is a difficult trick involving a Rat enemy which you perform in the room with the first Darknut. It skips needing to put out the torch with the Boomerang.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

Hyrule Castle Double Darknut Skip​

  • What is it:
    • In the big room where the lights turn on, you can skip to the balcony connected to the double Darknut room by using a series of precise Double Clawshots targets.
  • Why is it banned:
    • Reduces the item requirements to beat the seed.

Rulings​

Magic Armor​

You are allowed to use Magic Armor with 0 rupees anywhere you would use Iron Boots.

This includes the Argorok fight.

Hyrule Castle Pre-Double Darknut Room Switch​

Any method of hitting this switch is allowed.