Sujets

1

Le Championnat Super Mario Kart / Annonce Officielle sur la Sécurité Communautaire

« le: 19 septembre 2024, à 21:24:28 »

Je lance ce topic pour partager la traduction de l'annonce en anglais de l'équipe d'admins SMK qui a été faite il y a quelques jours sur le forum anglophone (c.f. https://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1659693521/62#62).

Les admins SMK ont décidé, pour des raisons de Sécurité Communautaire, de bannir Neo de notre communauté. Cela inclut tous les sites (PP, 150cc, site Speed Run, Discord SMK, SMK Championships (CDM)). Il lui est également interdit d'assister à tout événement en présentiel tels que CDM, ASMKC, JSMKC ou tout autre événement plus petit organisé par un membre de la Communauté SMK.

De par sa propre déclaration sur le canal 'cdm-smkc' du Discord SMK, Neo a été arrêté et inculpé de divers actes de voyeurisme, ce qui rend sa présence dangereuse pour notre communauté. En tant que représentants de la communauté SMK, nous condamnons fermement ses actions et ne souhaitons pas nous associer à lui ou à son image de quelconque manière.

Nos pensées vont aux victimes et à toutes les personnes qui ont été directement ou indirectement affectées par ses actes ignobles.

Nous encourageons vivement toustes les membres de la Communauté SMK à consulter au moins une fois un thérapeute à ce sujet. Il y a beaucoup à digérer, à bien des niveaux, et ce n'est clairement pas une situation « habituelle » à laquelle on doit faire face dans la vie et qu'on peut ignorer. Vous pouvez en parler. Vous pouvez demander de l'aide. Vous n'êtes pas seul-e.

2

CDM 2024 / 2024 seeding / Têtes de série 2024

« le: 07 août 2024, à 16:37:53 »

Here's my initial draft for the seeding of this year's 2P modes, based on the players who are currently registered (+ Drew, who I assume will attend ). Feel free to discuss and have fun.

BM
1   Geoffrey Lab
2   (Drew Blumfield)
3   Sami Cetin
4   Takashi Ogasawara
5   Karel van Duijvenboden
6   Jonathan Toole-Charignon
7   David Moll
8   Franck Adam
9   Guillaume Leviach
10   Sophie Jarmouni
11   Leyla Hasso
12   Patrick Wessels
13   Martin Nitram
14   Guilherme Arantes
15   Florian Chollet
16   Chris Clark
17   Jerome Coiffard
18   Sjors Rijsdam
19   Martin Pfeiffer
20   Daniel GUEMY
21   Didier Bigot
22   Mark Duivesteijn
23   Etienne Girondel
24   Yoan Hernalesteen
25   Jeremy Edline
26   Thomas Graf
27   Samuel Gomez
28   Franck Mazieres
29   Charly Greffier
30   Maël Holtzer
31   Guillaume Salinaro
32   Marine CAMUS
33   Alessandro Sona
34   Florent TILLIARD
35   Pierre Legendre
36   Julien Thomas
37   Remi Meresse
38   ROMAIN HEBERT
39   Pierre Brossy

MR
1   Jonathan Toole-Charignon
2   Sami Cetin
3   Karel van Duijvenboden
4   Takashi Ogasawara
5   Guillaume Leviach
6   Sophie Jarmouni
7   Jerome Coiffard
8   Leyla Hasso
9   (Drew Blumfield)
10   Martin Nitram
11   Guilherme Arantes
12   Florian Chollet
13   David Moll
14   Chris Clark
15   Franck Adam
16   Michael Sumner
17   Samuel Gomez
18   Sjors Rijsdam
19   Martin Pfeiffer
20   Jeremy Edline
21   Mark Duivesteijn
22   Etienne Girondel
23   Yoan Hernalesteen
24   Didier Bigot
25   Daniel GUEMY
26   Patrick Wessels
27   Franck Mazieres
28   Thomas Graf
29   John McArdle
30   Julien Thomas
31   Florent TILLIARD
32   Guillaume Salinaro
33   Marine CAMUS
34   Alessandro Sona
35   Remi Meresse

GP
1   Karel van Duijvenboden
2   Sami Cetin
3   Geoffrey Lab
4   Jonathan Toole-Charignon
5   Takashi Ogasawara
6   Sophie Jarmouni
7   Guillaume Leviach
8   Leyla Hasso
9   Jerome Coiffard
10   Guilherme Arantes
11   Martin Nitram
12   Didier Bigot
13   (Drew Blumfield)
14   Mike Hulscher
15   Florian Chollet
16   Chris Clark
17   David Moll
18   Franck Adam
19   Michael Sumner
20   Samuel Gomez
21   Sjors Rijsdam
22   Daniel GUEMY
23   Franck Mazieres
24   Mark Duivesteijn
25   Martin Pfeiffer
26   Jeremy Edline
27   Patrick Wessels
28   Etienne Girondel
29   Yoan Hernalesteen
30   Thomas Graf
31   Julien Thomas
32   Guillaume Salinaro
33   Florent TILLIARD
34   Marine CAMUS
35   Alessandro Sona
36   Pierre Legendre
37   Remi Meresse

3

Règlement / 2024 Ruleset / Règlement 2024

« le: 04 août 2024, à 17:34:17 »

The changes to this year's ruleset are all taken from the discussion in http://www.ffsmk.org/forum/index.php?topic=6552.0. That said, I will still list a summary of changes at the bottom of this post.

I. Registration & House Rules
Registration is done via the FFSMK website (http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=register). All tickets include access to the venue and freeplay, as well as entry into the competition. Depending on the specific ticket purchased, this may also include meals and/or accommodation.
When signing up to the event you agree to respect the general rules and behavioral guidelines stated below. These guidelines are in place so that everyone can have a pleasant, safe and inclusive experience. Excessive drunkenness and/or substance abuse will not be tolerated and may lead to expulsion from the venue (and therefore the event). Hard drugs (such as cocaine, etc.) are explicitly forbidden. If we find this in your possession or you strongly appear to be under the influence of such you will be banned.
Harassment at the event, whether it be towards another participant or not, will likewise not be tolerated. Specifically, this includes aggressively chasing after women; the championship is a gaming tournament, not a place to score dates. The line in the sand is drawn when the person in question reports to anyone that they are made to feel uncomfortable. In a similar vein we will ask you to not make jokes and comments that are likely to hurt, trigger, discriminate, reduce any person or group of people. In short we ask you to not to engage in behavior and/or comments that are sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic and so on.

II. General Gameplay
Competition takes place in the PAL version of the game (released in Europe and Australia) on original SNES hardware. Any controller manufactured for the SNES is allowed, as long as no features are used that are not available on first-party controllers (such as turbo functions). The use of left+right on the d-pad is allowed.

Players may select whichever character they want, and may change between tracks (or cups in Grand Prix) prior to starting the next one. If both players in a 2-player match want the same character, whoever selects the character first gets to use it.

For 2-player modes, ports are assigned by the tournament organizers. This is typically shown by displaying the port 1 player on top and the port 2 player at the bottom. This assignment can be flipped by mutual agreement of the players in a match, but must remain static throughout the match.

Competition for each mode takes place over a full day, and is split into two parts: group stage and knockout stage.

Lapskips (manipulating the finish line trigger) are banned, with the exception of using a mushroom or feather to trigger the finish line out-of-bounds, which is only allowed on lap 5. In the specific case of Koopa Beach 1, using a shroom or feather to cut back to the end of the track from the first corner is banned. Using a shroom or feather to go around the finish line and trigger it by swimming through the deep water on Koopa Beach 2 or Vanilla Lake 2 is banned. Breaking this rule results in a point loss. In Match Race, this means losing the track. In Grand Prix, this means losing all points accumulated in the cup up to and including that track.


III. Time Trial
The use of a CPU ghost (via the 2nd controller port) is banned.

The use of a player ghost (indicated by a yellow track name) is banned.

Each track is played in a one-try setting, i.e. each player gets exactly one attempt to set the best course time (over all 5 laps) that they can on the given track. If a player pauses during an attempt or starts more than one attempt, they forfeit and receive a time of 9'59"99 for that track.

Once a player has begun competing in either group stage or knockout stage, they are no longer allowed to practice or warm up (i.e. they must only drive official attempts). A player is deemed to have begun competing in group stage once they start an attempt on Mario Circuit 1, and in knockout stage once the first track on which they must play is declared by a tournament organizer.

Players are assigned a TV at the start of each stage. If a player is dissatisfied with their assignment for whatever reason, they must consult a tournament organizer prior to starting to compete. Once a player begins competing, they are expected to remain at that TV until they are done.

If an external factor compromises a player's attempt (e.g. their TV abruptly turns off), the player should immediately contact a tournament organizer. Based on the severity of the disruption, the player may be allowed to take another attempt.
This does not include missed zoomstarts due to noise or other disturbances. In such cases, players are not allowed to appeal and should continue their attempt. Only an observing staff member may issue the player a retry if they notice a significant external disturbance during the zoomstart timing.

Group stage
Players are assigned pairs, with each pair typically containing one "strong" player and one "weak" player. Pairings are determined by a pre-seeding list made by the tournament organizers, typically based on the Players' Page PAL ranking (https://mariokartplayers.com/smk/afp.php). If there are, for example, 32 players participating, the 1st seed is paired with the 17th, the 2nd with the 18th, and so on. The "weak" player goes first, playing through all 20 tracks while the "strong" player records their course times. Once all 20 tracks are completed, the roles are reversed.
After all players have finished, the group stage ranking is established based on each player's average rank on each track relative to the rest of the field. If two players are tied in average rank, the tie is broken by their total time across all tracks.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
The knockout stage is played in a Last Karter Standing format separated into three phases:
- in the first phase ("first barrage"), the 8 players ranked #17 to #24 in group stage compete on four tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each individual track is eliminated. The four remaining players advance to the second phase.
- in the second phase ("second barrage"), the four remaining players from the first phase and the four players ranked #13 to #16 in group stage compete on four tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each individual track is eliminated. The four remaining players advance to the third phase.
- in the third phase, the four remaining players from the second phase and the players ranked #1 to #12 in group stage compete on individual tracks, each starting with three lives. After each track, the players are ordered by their times from fastest to slowest, and the bottom half of players (rounded down) loses a life. If a player runs out of lives, they are eliminated. Once a Top 8 is established (either because there are exactly 8 players left with at least one life, or through the tiebreaker mechanic outlined below), their lives are all reset to three and they then continue to compete on individual tracks. The same procedure occurs for Top 4 and Top 2, at which point the competition continues until there is only one Last Karter Standing.
Tracks are drawn in a random order and do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn. This carries over between phases.
If two or more players are tied on any track in such a way that at least one but not all of these players must lose a life, those players replay the same track and the player(s) with the slowest time(s) lose a life. This process is to be repeated as many times as necessary to establish the exact number of players to lose a life for each track in the knockout stage.
If two or more players lose their last life on the same track, their times on that track serve as a tiebreaker to establish their final placements. This also serves to determine who advances to Top 8 or Top 4 as needed. For example, if there are 5 players remaining and the two players who lose a life were both on their last life, then the slower player on that track is eliminated at 5th place, and the faster player advances to the Top 4 and their lives are reset to three.
There are short breaks (5-10 minutes each) at 5 predetermined points in the knockout stage: before the start of the second phase, before the start of Top 16, before the start of Top 8, before the start of Top 4, and before the start of Top 2.


IV. Match Race
Group stage
Players will be split into groups, with the number of groups varying between 2 and 4 depending on the number of participants. Each group will constitute a round-robin tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-robin_tournament), with each player playing a match against every other player in their group. The match schedule is split into rounds and determined by the organizers. In each round, each player is either paired with another player for a match or receives a bye, which is equivalent to a 4-0 win.
Each match consists of four tracks. These tracks are randomly selected for all matches in a round and must be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Tracks do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn (so the tracks played in round 1 will not be played again until at least round 6).
The final ranking for group stage within each group is established as follows:
1. A match win (3-1 or 4-0) is worth two points, a draw (2-2) is worth one point, and a loss is worth zero points. These win/draw/loss (WDL) points are the main ranking criterion.
2. Point differential across all matches. For example, if a player won 22 points and their opponents won 18 points, their point differential is +4.
3. WDL score between tied players (with unplayed matches counting as a draw).
4. Point differential between tied players.
5. Shootout: extremely short sudden death matches as a last resort for breaking ties, such as a single track in Match Race.
The overall Top 24 advance to the knockout stage. For 2 groups, this means that the Top 12 of each group advance. Similarly, the Top 8 of each group advance for 3 groups, and the Top 6 of each group advance for 4 groups.
The method for seeding players differs slightly depending on the number of groups. In all case, the first criterion is the rank achieved within the group, so a player who finishes 1st in their group will always receive a higher seed than a player who finishes 2nd in their group. For 2 and 4 groups, the seeding is then assigned automatically based on which group each player was in, e.g. seed #1 goes to 1st in group A, seed #2 goes to 1st in group B, etc.
For 3 groups, the secondary criteria are as follows:
1. WDL score.
2. Point differential.
3. Shootout.

Knockout stage
Prior to the start of the knockout stage proper, 8 preliminary matches commonly referred to as "barrages" will be played. The first round of barrages consists of four first-to-3 matches opposing group stage #17 vs #24, #18 vs #23, #19 vs #22, and #20 vs #21. The second round consists of four first-to-4 matches opposing #13 vs the winner of #20 vs #21, #14 vs the winner of #19 vs #22, #15 vs the winner of #18 vs #23, and #16 vs the winner of #17 vs #24.
The remaining 16 players compete in a standard double-elimination tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament), seeded based on their group stage results (and barrage results if applicable).
Each round of the knockout stage has a randomly drawn track list to be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Upper Eighths, Upper Quarters, Lower Round 1, and Lower Round 2 are first-to-5, Upper Semis, Lower Eighths, and Lower Quarters are first-to-7, and all later matches are first-to-9.


V. Battle Mode
In order to avoid extended standstill situations, the following guidelines are in place:
- when a player obtains a ghost, they must use it as soon as they are in proximity of an active item box.
- the above clause is overridden if the opponent has a star. The player with the ghost may keep it for as long as the opponent's star is active, after which the above clause comes into effect again.
- on Battle Course 2, players cannot remain within the shallow water for over 10 consecutive seconds. Players are expected to exit the shallow water as soon as they have a reasonably safe opening to do so.
If a player repeatedly breaks the spirit of these guidelines, they will be issued a warning. If this behavior persists, they will be penalized at the discretion of the tournament organizers.
If one player obtains a ghost while the other player does not have an item, the other player is NOT obligated to pick up an item for the player with the ghost to steal.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on each of the four Battle Courses in order. If a match has been taking longer than average and ends Battle Course 3 on a score of 3-0, players should replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4. Players may also agree to replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4 even if the score is not 3-0.

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with an initial Battle Course being randomly selected for each round, and play cycling through the Battle Courses in order from there. The first round of barrages are first-to-3 and the second round of barrages are first-to-4. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 8 are first-to-5, and matches in Top 8 (Upper Semis and Lower Eighths onwards) are first-to-7.


VI. Grand Prix
Matches are played in 150cc.

If both players in a match agree, they can choose to play Mushroom Cup instead of Star Cup and Flower Cup instead of Special Cup. Note that this rule is intended for players who would generally not be able to finish the harder cups. This switch may also be imposed at the organizers' discretion.

Once a cup has begun, it cannot be restarted. Please keep track of your score throughout the cup, especially if neither player has any remaining lives.

A player should not Give Up in-game until their opponent has finished the race. This rule can be ignored by mutual agreement of both players in a match.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on a single cup. The match score is determined by the in-game point system for a cup (e.g. 45-30 if one player finishes 1st and the other finishes 2nd on all tracks).
When receiving a bye, players do not receive an automatic win. Instead, they must play the assigned cup against an immobile opponent and accumulate as many points as they can.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track (e.g. if one player finishes 1st in the first four tracks), the cup should still be played to completion.
If one of the players abandons the cup prior to completion, the other player should continue to play as if they were receiving a bye (i.e. playing against an immobile opponent).
The point differential ranking criterion is replaced by points scored across all matches.

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with match scores reflecting the number of cups won (based on the in-game point system). All barrages are played on a single cup. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 4 are first-to-2, and matches in Top 4 (Upper Final and Lower Semi onwards) are first-to-3, with each round having a randomized cup list.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track, then the cup can be ended prematurely by mutual agreement of the players. Note that, typically, the winning player will ask the losing player whether they want to finish playing the cup, thus allowing the losing player to decide.
In case of a draw by in-game points, each player receives half a match point and play continues to the next cup in the list. If all cups in the list have been played and the match is not yet over, the list is extended as needed. In the unlikely scenario that both players reach the winning match score simultaneously (due to a drawn cup), play continues until a player wins a cup.


VII. Overall Ranking
The overall ranking is established by assigning scores to each player's performance in each of the modes. For each mode, a player may receive up to 1000 points for group stage and up to 2000 points for knockout stage, for a maximum total of 12000 points overall. Points are distributed as follows.

Group stage
Time Trial: a player is awarded 50 points for setting the fastest time on a track, and 0 points for setting the slowest time. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their rank. Each player's total group stage score is the sum of their individual track scores, rounded to the nearest whole number.
2-player modes: a player is awarded 1000 points for winning all of their matches, and 0 points for losing all of their matches. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their number of WDL points rounded to the nearest whole number.

Knockout stage
Players receive a fixed number of points based on their final placing in each knockout stage (including barrages).
Time Trial:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th - 800
6th - 700
7th - 600
8th - 500
9th - 420
10th - 400
11th - 380
12th - 360
13th - 340
14th - 320
15th - 300
16th - 280
-----
17th - 160
18th - 150
19th - 140
20th - 130
21st - 120
22nd - 110
23rd - 100
24th - 90

2-player modes:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th-6th - 750
7th-8th - 550
9th-12th - 400
13th-16th - 300
-----
17th-20th - 150
21st-24th - 100

Main changes

- Group stage for 2P modes are now Round Robin.
- Players aren't allowed to appeal for a retry when missing a zoomstart in TT.
- The tiebreaker in GP is now points scored rather than point differential.
- The KB1 finish line shortcut is now banned.

4

Règlement / Rule changes for 2024

« le: 03 juin 2024, à 23:38:30 »

Once again, I'm opening a topic to discuss potential rule changes for CDM. I would have liked to open it earlier (as was the case last year), but I spent several months in the lead up to JSMKC in regular contact with Kasmo to iron out the ruleset there. As you'll understand, I wanted a break after the event and decided to give myself the month of May as time off before broaching the subject of CDM rules at the beginning of June. I've summarized the points that I want to discuss in a few key questions, and I'm hoping that people will participate promptly.

To avoid issues from previous years, I am setting a firm deadline for responses to be taken into account for the 2024 ruleset. The deadline for feedback/opinions is July 31. Nevertheless, please respond to this topic as early as you can. I will then make adjustments to the 2023 ruleset as needed and post the full 2024 ruleset as soon as possible in August.

Below are the points I would like to discuss for this year, based on my own observations and feedback I received from other participants. They are ordered from most to least important/impactful.

Question 1: What group stage format should we use?
This is the big question for this year, and there are two high-level options: Swiss (as has been used for the last few years) or Round Robin (as was used until 2013, and is used at the NTSC championships). Below are some considerations for both.

Swiss:
The main appeal is that most matches played are between opponents of similar level, which is a huge benefit. The format is also quite easy to extend, in that we can add players up until the last minute with essentially no impact on the running of the tournament.
However, there are some pretty significant drawbacks, mainly with regards to logistics. One major drawback is the time spent between rounds: because the next round of match pairings depends on the results from the previous round, all players must wait for the slowest match to finish. Then, the scorekeeper needs to finalize all results for that round, generate the next round's pairings, and announce them to all players. From my observations over the last few years, this equates to around 10-15 minutes on average of downtime between the end of a typical match and the start of the next round, which adds up to over two hours' worth of accumulated time over the course of a day.
Another important consideration is the scorekeeper. Patrick has been the sole person handling this task for years now, and has had to sacrifice the majority of his participations as a player in order to run these single-group formats (initially Belgian and now Swiss). As long as we continue to run such a format, having someone (presumably still Patrick) sacrifice their week for scorekeeping will remain a necessity.

Round Robin:
The main appeal is that the format is simple and straightforward, both for players and logistically. In addition, with proper preparation it's possible to speed through the group stage with minimal downtime between matches. This was demonstrated at JSMKC, where match cards were given to each player that listed the order of matches they were to play, and they could then chain matches without having to consult any member of staff. This means that the scorekeeper does not need to do anything during the group stage itself, and thus is free to participate as a player as well. Finally, the distribution of players into groups means that everyone gets to play against opponents of all levels, which has been a point of contention that has been voiced by a number of players over the years.
The major downside of this format is the limited number of meaningful matches, i.e. matches between players of similar skill level. This means that a player's ranking may realistically depend on only a small percentage of their matches, with the rest being "automatic" wins or losses. Furthermore, there can be a concern with regards to the balance of the groups, which depends on an accurate assessment of participants' skill prior to the start of competition. This effect becomes more prominent as the number of groups increases. An additional consideration is that in order to prepare the groups properly with match cards, the groups themselves must be determined in advance so that the match cards can be made. This means that there needs to be a cutoff point after which new registrations aren't accepted, which also means that registrations on the morning of a given mode wouldn't be possible.

If we were to go with Round Robin, we would also need to decide on the number of groups. I think that the only sensible approach would be to vary the number of groups between 1 and 4 depending on the number of participants, but the difficulty is in deciding on cutoff points. An example proposal would be something like this:
- 1 group for up to 24 participants, and no barrages
- 2 groups for 25 to 40 participants
- 3 groups for 41 to 47 participants
- 4 groups for 48 to 64 participants
The reason for having such a small (example) window for 3 groups is that an added layer of complexity would be needed for the progression to KO stage. For 1, 2, and 4 groups, a systematic progression can be used where each player is placed in KO stage based only on their rank within their group and which group they were in. For 3 groups, such an approach is not possible, so we would need to decide on a method for establishing the progression. The base solution (as proposed by Narnet last year) would be to order players first by their rank within their group, then by comparing their records to the other players with the same rank in other groups (so first comparing WDL score, then point differential).

Question 2: Should BM/MR group stage matches change to 6 rounds instead of 4?

The main argument for change here is that matches between players of similar skill can feel like little more than a coin flip over only 4 rounds, and it's not uncommon for the outcome of a match to be determined by a single lightning or a couple rogue greens. Given that a significant chunk of time during group stage is spent waiting between matches rather than playing said matches, the time cost of lengthening all these matches should be relatively small. That said, there is still a time cost involved and it's worth considering whether it would be worthwhile. It would also constitute a change for an aspect of the championship that hasn't been touched in over 20 years.

Another thing to consider is how we would decide the courses to play on for each match, in particular for BM. A couple options that come to mind are to either have all matches start on Map 1, or have the starting map be randomized. If randomized, I would suggest that we do it the same way as cup selection in GP, so for example in the first four rounds of matches each map would be selected as the starting map exactly once.

Question 3: What policy should we adopt for missed zooms in TT KO stage?

At JSMKC, we had a couple instances of players being granted a retry after missing their zoomstart due to external noise interference and complaining to staff upon completion of their attempt. The responses from different people regarding these incidents made it clear that we need a concrete policy for handling these situations, as they are not currently covered by the existing ruleset. Here are a few options based on different people's responses:
- in case of noise interfering with a zoomstart, the player should immediately raise their hand to signal a staff member and not attempt to drive the course at all. The staff member then decides whether the player is granted a retry or not. If not, they are given a 9'59"99 for that track.
- in case of noise interfering with a zoomstart, the player should complete their attempt, then signal a staff member without looking at any other player's results. The staff member then decides whether the player is granted a retry or not. If not, the player keeps the time set in their attempt.
- players are not allowed to retry in case of external noise interference.

Question 4: Should a bracket reset impact the point allocation for the players in the final?

The idea behind a potential "yes" answer to this question is fairly straightforward: there is a significant difference between a player winning gold without losing any matches in the KO stage, and a player winning gold despite having lost a match (whether it's from a bracket reset or from earlier in the upper bracket).
Conversely, a potential "no" answer indicates that what really matters is getting gold or silver, and not the path taken to reach that result.

In case of answering "yes", a decision would also be needed for how exactly to change the point allocation. One potential example would be as follows:
- no bracket reset: 2000 points for gold, 1600 points for silver.
- bracket reset: 1900 points for gold, 1700 points for silver.

5

Règlement / 2023 Ruleset / Règlement 2023

« le: 09 août 2023, à 22:41:40 »

This year's ruleset has only one significant change compared to last year's, which I'll list at the bottom of this post.

I. Registration & House Rules
Registration is done via the FFSMK website (http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=register). All tickets include access to the venue and freeplay, as well as entry into the competition. Depending on the specific ticket purchased, this may also include meals and/or accommodation.
When signing up to the event you agree to respect the general rules and behavioral guidelines stated below. These guidelines are in place so that everyone can have a pleasant, safe and inclusive experience. Excessive drunkenness and/or substance abuse will not be tolerated and may lead to expulsion from the venue (and therefore the event). Hard drugs (such as cocaine, etc.) are explicitly forbidden. If we find this in your possession or you strongly appear to be under the influence of such you will be banned.
Harassment at the event, whether it be towards another participant or not, will likewise not be tolerated. Specifically, this includes aggressively chasing after women; the championship is a gaming tournament, not a place to score dates. The line in the sand is drawn when the person in question reports to anyone that they are made to feel uncomfortable. In a similar vein we will ask you to not make jokes and comments that are likely to hurt, trigger, discriminate, reduce any person or group of people. In short we ask you to not to engage in behavior and/or comments that are sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic and so on.

II. General Gameplay
Competition takes place in the PAL version of the game (released in Europe and Australia) on original SNES hardware. Any controller manufactured for the SNES is allowed, as long as no features are used that are not available on first-party controllers (such as turbo functions). The use of left+right on the d-pad is allowed.

Players may select whichever character they want, and may change between tracks (or cups in Grand Prix) prior to starting the next one. If both players in a 2-player match want the same character, whoever selects the character first gets to use it.

For 2-player modes, ports are assigned by the tournament organizers. This is typically shown by displaying the port 1 player on top and the port 2 player at the bottom. This assignment can be flipped by mutual agreement of the players in a match, but must remain static throughout the match.

Competition for each mode takes place over a full day, and is split into two parts: group stage and knockout stage.

Lapskips (manipulating the finish line trigger) are banned, with the exception of using a mushroom or feather to trigger the finish line out-of-bounds, which is only allowed on lap 5. In the specific case of Koopa Beach 1, a shroom or feather used to cut back to the end of the track from the first corner must arrive back in-bounds (sand or shallow water) before triggering the finish line. If there is room for doubt as to whether the kart arrived back in-bounds before or after triggering the finish line, the rule will be considered broken. Using a shroom or feather to go around the finish line and trigger it by swimming through the deep water on Koopa Beach 2 or Vanilla Lake 2 is banned. Breaking this rule results in a point loss. In Match Race, this means losing the track. In Grand Prix, this means losing all points accumulated in the cup up to and including that track.


III. Time Trial
The use of a CPU ghost (via the 2nd controller port) is banned.

The use of a player ghost (indicated by a yellow track name) is banned.

Each track is played in a one-try setting, i.e. each player gets exactly one attempt to set the best course time (over all 5 laps) that they can on the given track. If a player pauses during an attempt or starts more than one attempt, they forfeit and receive a time of 9'59"99 for that track.

Once a player has begun competing in either group stage or knockout stage, they are no longer allowed to practice or warm up (i.e. they must only drive official attempts). A player is deemed to have begun competing in group stage once they start an attempt on Mario Circuit 1, and in knockout stage once the first track on which they must play is declared by a tournament organizer.

Players are assigned a TV at the start of each stage. If a player is dissatisfied with their assignment for whatever reason, they must consult a tournament organizer prior to starting to compete. Once a player begins competing, they are expected to remain at that TV until they are done.

If an external factor compromises a player's attempt (e.g. their TV abruptly turns off), the player should immediately contact a tournament organizer. Based on the severity of the disruption, the player may be allowed to take another attempt.

Group stage
Players are assigned pairs, with each pair typically containing one "strong" player and one "weak" player. Pairings are determined by a pre-seeding list made by the tournament organizers, typically based on the Players' Page PAL ranking (https://mariokartplayers.com/smk/afp.php). If there are, for example, 32 players participating, the 1st seed is paired with the 17th, the 2nd with the 18th, and so on. The "weak" player goes first, playing through all 20 tracks while the "strong" player records their course times. Once all 20 tracks are completed, the roles are reversed.
After all players have finished, the group stage ranking is established based on each player's average rank on each track relative to the rest of the field. If two players are tied in average rank, the tie is broken by their total time across all tracks.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
The knockout stage is played in a Last Karter Standing format separated into three phases:
- in the first phase ("first barrage"), the 8 players ranked #17 to #24 in group stage compete on four tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each individual track is eliminated. The four remaining players advance to the second phase.
- in the second phase ("second barrage"), the four remaining players from the first phase and the four players ranked #13 to #16 in group stage compete on four tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each individual track is eliminated. The four remaining players advance to the third phase.
- in the third phase, the four remaining players from the second phase and the players ranked #1 to #12 in group stage compete on individual tracks, each starting with three lives. After each track, the players are ordered by their times from fastest to slowest, and the bottom half of players (rounded down) loses a life. If a player runs out of lives, they are eliminated. Once a Top 8 is established (either because there are exactly 8 players left with at least one life, or through the tiebreaker mechanic outlined below), their lives are all reset to three and they then continue to compete on individual tracks. The same procedure occurs for Top 4 and Top 2, at which point the competition continues until there is only one Last Karter Standing.
Tracks are drawn in a random order and do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn. This carries over between phases.
If two or more players are tied on any track in such a way that at least one but not all of these players must lose a life, those players replay the same track and the player(s) with the slowest time(s) lose a life. This process is to be repeated as many times as necessary to establish the exact number of players to lose a life for each track in the knockout stage.
If two or more players lose their last life on the same track, their times on that track serve as a tiebreaker to establish their final placements. This also serves to determine who advances to Top 8 or Top 4 as needed. For example, if there are 5 players remaining and the two players who lose a life were both on their last life, then the slower player on that track is eliminated at 5th place, and the faster player advances to the Top 4 and their lives are reset to three.
There are short breaks (5-10 minutes each) at 5 predetermined points in the knockout stage: before the start of the second phase, before the start of Top 16, before the start of Top 8, before the start of Top 4, and before the start of Top 2.


IV. Match Race
Group stage
All players compete in a Swiss-system tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament) with 12 rounds. In each round, each player is paired against the player with the closest score that they have not yet faced. If there is a tie in scores (in particular in the early rounds), pairings will be established via an initial seeding based on each player's perceived skill level. Until round 10, pairings are established from the top of the provisional ranking downwards. From round 11 onwards, pairings are established from #20 (or the middle rank if there are fewer than 40 players) in the provisional ranking outwards, with players in the upper portion of the provisional ranking (#20 and above) being paired with players from the lower portion.
Each pair of players compete in a match over four tracks. These tracks are randomly selected for all matches in a round and must be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Tracks do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn (so the tracks played in round 1 will not be played again until at least round 6).
If there are an odd number of players competing, then a "Loser" player is added, which acts as a bye. Players paired against Loser automatically receive a 4-0 win.
The final ranking for group stage is established as follows:
1. A match win (3-1 or 4-0) is worth two points, a draw (2-2) is worth one point, and a loss is worth zero points. These win/draw/loss (WDL) points are the main ranking criterion.
2. Point differential across all matches. For example, if a player won 22 points and their opponents won 18 points, their point differential is +4.
3. WDL score between tied players (with unplayed matches counting as a draw).
4. Point differential between tied players.
5. Shootout: extremely short sudden death matches as a last resort for breaking ties, such as a single track in Match Race.
Note that if the number of players is sufficiently small (approx. 12 or fewer), the group stage will be played out as a round-robin tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-robin_tournament), where all players face each other. Similarly, if there are approx. between 12 and 20 players, the group stage will be played out as two separate round-robin groups, with groups determined via seeding based on perceived skill level.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
Prior to the start of the knockout stage proper, 8 preliminary matches commonly referred to as "barrages" will be played. The first round of barrages consists of four first-to-3 matches opposing group stage #17 vs #24, #18 vs #23, #19 vs #22, and #20 vs #21. The second round consists of four first-to-4 matches opposing #13 vs the winner of #20 vs #21, #14 vs the winner of #19 vs #22, #15 vs the winner of #18 vs #23, and #16 vs the winner of #17 vs #24.
The remaining 16 players compete in a standard double-elimination tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament), seeded based on their group stage results (and barrage results if applicable).
Each round of the knockout stage has a randomly drawn track list to be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Upper Eighths, Upper Quarters, Lower Round 1, and Lower Round 2 are first-to-5, Upper Semis, Lower Eighths, and Lower Quarters are first-to-7, and all later matches are first-to-9.


V. Battle Mode
In order to avoid extended standstill situations, the following guidelines are in place:
- when a player obtains a ghost, they must use it as soon as they are in proximity of an active item box.
- the above clause is overridden if the opponent has a star. The player with the ghost may keep it for as long as the opponent's star is active, after which the above clause comes into effect again.
- on Battle Course 2, players cannot remain within the shallow water for over 10 consecutive seconds. Players are expected to exit the shallow water as soon as they have a reasonably safe opening to do so.
If a player repeatedly breaks the spirit of these guidelines, they will be issued a warning. If this behavior persists, they will be penalized at the discretion of the tournament organizers.
If one player obtains a ghost while the other player does not have an item, the other player is NOT obligated to pick up an item for the player with the ghost to steal.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on each of the four Battle Courses in order. If a match has been taking longer than average and ends Battle Course 3 on a score of 3-0, players should replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4. Players may also agree to replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4 even if the score is not 3-0.

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with an initial Battle Course being randomly selected for each round, and play cycling through the Battle Courses in order from there. The first round of barrages are first-to-3 and the second round of barrages are first-to-4. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 8 are first-to-5, and matches in Top 8 (Upper Semis and Lower Eighths onwards) are first-to-7.


VI. Grand Prix
Matches are played in 150cc.

If both players in a match agree, they can choose to play Mushroom Cup instead of Special Cup. Note that this rule is intended for players who would generally not be able to finish Special Cup.

Once a cup has begun, it cannot be restarted. Please keep track of your score throughout the cup, especially if neither player has any remaining lives.

A player should not Give Up in-game until their opponent has finished the race. This rule can be ignored by mutual agreement of both players in a match.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on a single cup. The match score is determined by the in-game point system for a cup (e.g. 45-30 if one player finishes 1st and the other finishes 2nd on all tracks).
If there are an odd number of players competing, then players paired against Loser do not receive an automatic win. Instead, they must play the assigned cup against an immobile opponent and accumulate as many points as they can.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track (e.g. if one player finishes 1st in the first four tracks), the cup should still be played to completion.
If one of the players abandons the cup prior to completion, the other player should continue to play as if they were playing against Loser (i.e. an immobile opponent).

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with match scores reflecting the number of cups won (based on the in-game point system). All barrages are played on a single cup. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 4 are first-to-2, and matches in Top 4 (Upper Final and Lower Semi onwards) are first-to-3, with each round having a randomized cup list.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track, then the cup can be ended prematurely by mutual agreement of the players. Note that, typically, the winning player will ask the losing player whether they want to finish playing the cup, thus allowing the losing player to decide.
In case of a draw by in-game points, each player receives half a match point and play continues to the next cup in the list. If all cups in the list have been played and the match is not yet over, the list is extended as needed. In the unlikely scenario that both players reach the winning match score simultaneously (due to a drawn cup), play continues until a player wins a cup.


VII. Overall Ranking
The overall ranking is established by assigning scores to each player's performance in each of the modes. For each mode, a player may receive up to 1000 points for group stage and up to 2000 points for knockout stage, for a maximum total of 12000 points overall. Points are distributed as follows.

Group stage
Time Trial: a player is awarded 50 points for setting the fastest time on a track, and 0 points for setting the slowest time. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their rank. Each player's total group stage score is the sum of their individual track scores, rounded to the nearest whole number.
2-player modes: a player is awarded 1000 points for winning all of their matches, and 0 points for losing all of their matches. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their number of WDL points, with the addition of a small corrective factor based on their point differential, rounded to the nearest whole number. In particular, a player with a WDL score of n and a perfect point differential would receive the same number of points for the overall ranking as a player with a WDL score of n+1 and the worst possible point differential.

Knockout stage
Players receive a fixed number of points based on their final placing in each knockout stage (including barrages).
Time Trial:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th - 800
6th - 700
7th - 600
8th - 500
9th - 420
10th - 400
11th - 380
12th - 360
13th - 340
14th - 320
15th - 300
16th - 280
-----
17th - 160
18th - 150
19th - 140
20th - 130
21st - 120
22nd - 110
23rd - 100
24th - 90

2-player modes:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th-6th - 750
7th-8th - 550
9th-12th - 400
13th-16th - 300
-----
17th-20th - 150
21st-24th - 100

Main change

In LKS from Top 16 onwards, the objective for players is changed from "don't finish last" to "don't finish in the bottom half". At the start of Top 16, Top 8, Top 4, and Top 2, each player starts with exactly 3 lives (regardless of how many they had at the end of the previous section of the LKS). If multiple players are eliminated on the same track, the tiebreaker is their times on that track.

6

Règlement / Rule / Schedule changes for 2023

« le: 03 janvier 2023, à 20:46:49 »

I'm opening this topic because there are a few points that should be discussed with regards to the format (rules and/or scheduling) for 2023. Maybe these should have separate topics for each point, but I'm putting them all together for my own convenience and because there's some degree of connection between them.

- TT KO stage format: I heard a few people complaining last CDM about LKS being too volatile for a TT event that has the same weight as the 2P modes. I'm open to discussion on the vast majority of aspects of the rules, but as the de facto person in charge of the ruleset, there is one point I am completely unwilling to discuss: we are not reintroducing mode coefficients.
That said, I'm perfectly fine with adjusting the TT KO stage format to something that people feel is more appropriate for a TT event with the same standing as the 2P modes. This can be as simple as replacing the extra life in Top 8 with an extra life in Top 16, to something more drastic like scrapping LKS altogether and making TT KO stage a double elim bracket with 1v1 TT matches. I would personally prefer to keep a format with the entire field playing aganst each other, but if people feel strongly about moving to a 1v1 format then that's fine too.
In any case, any change to the TT KO stage format is likely to make the mode last longer, which brings me to my next point.

- general CDM scheduling: top players have mentioned the issue of long days of competition for years, but with the introduction of double elim and other recent format changes, competition days are increasingly packed. I think there are a few potential options to alleviate this, which I think we should discuss. For example, with a longer TT event it may be necessary to move the opening ceremony to be (even) earlier in the day, which to some degree would align with increasing expectations for people to arrive in town the previous evening.
Personally, the most interesting suggestion I've seen is to add a break day in the middle of CDM. Most people who participate in a full CDM will take the entire week off regardless, so it seems reasonable to at least consider adding a day to the schedule (despite the constraints of such a change, like increased costs for participants). Thus, the CDM schedule would look something like Monday - TT, Tuesday - BM, Wednesday - break, Thursday - MR, Friday - GP, Saturday - closing ceremony. This would allow for a lot more socializing and non-SMK activities together, which I think is something that core community members tend to value more and more.

- 2P group stage format: I know there's been a lot of discontent with the Swiss system, especially in 2022. A big part of the issue is simply that I messed up in preparing the matchmaking algorithm for the last couple rounds. I had even foreseen the issue and prepared a solution for it months in advance, but I completely forgot about it later on and didn't realize my blunder until it was already too late at CDM. I plan to provide a simulation of what the pairings should have been for those last few matches in each of the 2022 2P group stages so that people can get a better idea of how the format is supposed to work.
Regardless, it's clear that there needs to be discussion as to what the 2P group stage format should be for 2023. Options include keeping Swiss (with corrected matchmaking algorithm), going back to Round Robin groups, or some new hybrid format (possibly with fewer matches for top/bottom players?). Just to be clear however, returning to the Belgian system is not an option.

7

CDM 2022 / Suspension notice

« le: 29 décembre 2022, à 19:19:03 »

On behalf of the IASMK, I am unfortunately issuing a one-year suspension to Côme as of the end of CDM 2022 (and thus up to and including CDM 2023). I would have liked to post about this in a more timely manner, but here we are.

To give a bit of context about this decision, and since the behavior leading to it was largely in a public space, I'll allow myself to provide some details. The crux of the matter is as follows:
1. Côme got extremely intoxicated on Friday night, which led to him acting belligerently towards EGA staff and having to be physically removed from the venue after refusing to do so himself at closing time.
2. Later in the night, he created a significant noise disturbance in order to be let into his hotel room, and one of his roommates had to leave and sleep on a bench outside the hotel to avoid further escalation.

I would like to reiterate that getting drunk at CDM is not inherently a problem, but that we are still responsible for our actions when inebriated and must face their consequences. Due to the impact of Côme's behavior on other people's well-being and enjoyment of the event, we believe that this one-year suspension is an appropriate consequence for his actions.

(For reference, I did speak to Côme about this on the Saturday of CDM and told him that there would be a consequence, although I wasn't 100% sure at the time what it would be.)

8

CDM 2023 / CDM 2023 call for proposals

« le: 29 décembre 2022, à 18:49:14 »

I would have liked to post this a while back, but unfortunately shit happens and here we are.

To get straight to the point: we need a new plan / organizing team for CDM 2023.
For the last 5 years, essentially the same team has been organizing CDM (or equivalent event) at the EGA in Alphen. Unfortunately, we can't continue this into 2023. First and foremost: the core organizers (Karel and myself) are burned out. Secondly, we've been increasingly disappointed by the EGA administration and have reached the point that we don't think CDM should be held there again, regardless of whether we are the organizers or not.

I already spoke to a few key community members about this at the end of last CDM, but this means that we need a new organizing team (and location) for 2023. Since the last CDM outside of Alphen was back in 2017, I figure it would be a good idea to provide some info on things to keep in mind when planning to organize such an event.

I'll start with something slightly different than the items I'll list afterwards, which is that in order for an event to receive approval from the IASMK as an "official" tournament (i.e. CDM), the bans and suspensions issued by the IASMK must be upheld. If you're not sure about who that covers, feel free to contact me. With that in mind, here are some practical matters to consider for any CDM proposal (some of which may be more obvious than others):
- venue: where the competition happens. Ideally with enough room to comfortably arrange up to ~30 tournament setups, along with a stage and spectating area. Another important point that is easy to overlook is that the venue's electrical setup must be capable of handling up to ~30 tournament setups. This is non-trivial given the power needed for that many CRTs.
- accommodation: people need a place to stay for the duration of the event. Traditionally sleeping in the venue or camping nearby has been the norm, but in more recent years (and with the average participant age continuing to increase) expectations have shifted towards nicer sleeping arrangements. Having enough (and affordable) hotel/AirBnB/etc. spots nearby is more and more important as the years go by.
- location: how easy is it to get to the venue, especially for international players? Ideally it should be feasible to quickly get to the venue via public transportation from an international airport.
- food and drink: traditionally, there is at least a food plan available for participants that covers lunch and dinner for the duration of the event. This has ranged from catered meals to groceries prepared by participants. In any case, there should be a defined plan to feed participants as part of the event organization. There should also be a selection of beverages available (both alcoholic and not).
- dates: CDM should take place in either the second or third week of August. Anything outside of that range is likely to fall in the category of "if we have no other choice".

One more thing to note is that the IASMK can provide a number of high-quality TVs (the PVMs acquired prior to CDM 2022) assuming the event is within reasonable trucking distance of the Netherlands.

I look forward to seeing your proposals for CDM 2023! 

9

CDM 2022 / CDM 2022 bilan

« le: 05 septembre 2022, à 21:06:20 »

Hi everyone!

In addition to the usual public bilan topic, we've set up a form to provide any feedback, positive or negative, that you may have for the CDM 2022 organizing team about the event. All responses will be kept private, and you can choose to respond anonymously if you want. You can also fill in the form multiple times if you think of something more to say.

Please let us know what you thought of the event and how we can improve for next year!

https://forms.gle/tTQ4KmiuzhTXRF3R9

10

Règlement / 2022 Ruleset / Règlement 2022

« le: 01 août 2022, à 23:25:55 »

I would have liked to post this (much) earlier, but anyway... Better late than never!

This year's ruleset is largely the same as last year's, with a couple important changes that I'll list at the bottom of this post.

I. Registration & House Rules
Registration is done via the FFSMK website (http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=register). All tickets include access to the venue and freeplay, as well as entry into the competition. Depending on the specific ticket purchased, this may also include meals and/or accommodation.
When signing up to the event you agree to respect the general rules and behavioral guidelines stated below. These guidelines are in place so that everyone can have a pleasant, safe and inclusive experience. Excessive drunkenness and/or substance abuse will not be tolerated and may lead to expulsion from the venue (and therefore the event). Though the use of small quantities of weed is legal and tolerated, hard drugs (such as cocaine, etc.) are explicitly forbidden. If we find this in your possession or you strongly appear to be under the influence of such you will be banned.
Harassment at the event, whether it be towards another participant or not, will likewise not be tolerated. Specifically, this includes aggressively chasing after women; the championship is a gaming tournament, not a place to score dates. The line in the sand is drawn when the person in question reports to anyone that they are made to feel uncomfortable. In a similar vein we will ask you to not make jokes and comments that are likely to hurt, trigger, discriminate, reduce any person or group of people. In short we ask you to not to engage in behavior and/or comments that are sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic and so on.

II. General Gameplay
Competition takes place in the PAL version of the game (released in Europe and Australia) on original SNES hardware. Any controller manufactured for the SNES is allowed, as long as no features are used that are not available on first-party controllers (such as turbo functions). The use of left+right on the d-pad is allowed.

Players may select whichever character they want, and may change between tracks (or cups in Grand Prix) prior to starting the next one. If both players in a 2-player match want the same character, whoever selects the character first gets to use it.

For 2-player modes, ports are assigned by the tournament organizers. This is typically shown by displaying the port 1 player on top and the port 2 player at the bottom. This assignment can be flipped by mutual agreement of the players in a match, but must remain static throughout the match.

Competition for each mode takes place over a full day, and is split into two parts: group stage and knockout stage.

Lapskips (manipulating the finish line trigger) are banned, with the exception of using a mushroom or feather to trigger the finish line out-of-bounds, which is only allowed on lap 5. In the specific case of Koopa Beach 1, a shroom or feather used to cut back to the end of the track from the first corner must arrive back in-bounds (sand or shallow water) before triggering the finish line. If there is room for doubt as to whether the kart arrived back in-bounds before or after triggering the finish line, the rule will be considered broken. Using a shroom or feather to go around the finish line and trigger it by swimming through the deep water on Koopa Beach 2 or Vanilla Lake 2 is banned. Breaking this rule results in a point loss. In Match Race, this means losing the track. In Grand Prix, this means losing all points accumulated in the cup up to and including that track.


III. Time Trial
The use of a CPU ghost (via the 2nd controller port) is banned.

The use of a player ghost (indicated by a yellow track name) is banned.

Each track is played in a one-try setting, i.e. each player gets exactly one attempt to set the best course time (over all 5 laps) that they can on the given track. If a player pauses during an attempt or starts more than one attempt, they forfeit and receive a time of 9'59"99 for that track.

Once a player has begun competing in either group stage or knockout stage, they are no longer allowed to practice or warm up (i.e. they must only drive official attempts). A player is deemed to have begun competing in group stage once they start an attempt on Mario Circuit 1, and in knockout stage once the first track on which they must play is declared by a tournament organizer.

Players are assigned a TV at the start of each stage. If a player is dissatisfied with their assignment for whatever reason, they must consult a tournament organizer prior to starting to compete. Once a player begins competing, they are expected to remain at that TV until they are done.

If an external factor compromises a player's attempt (e.g. their TV abruptly turns off), the player should immediately contact a tournament organizer. Based on the severity of the disruption, the player may be allowed to take another attempt.

Group stage
Players are assigned pairs, with each pair typically containing one "strong" player and one "weak" player. Pairings are determined by a pre-seeding list made by the tournament organizers, typically based on the Players' Page PAL ranking (https://mariokartplayers.com/smk/afp.php). If there are, for example, 32 players participating, the 1st seed is paired with the 17th, the 2nd with the 18th, and so on. The "weak" player goes first, playing through all 20 tracks while the "strong" player records their course times. Once all 20 tracks are completed, the roles are reversed.
After all players have finished, the group stage ranking is established based on each player's average rank on each track relative to the rest of the field. If two players are tied in average rank, the tie is broken by their total time across all tracks.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
The knockout stage is played in a Last Karter Standing format separated into three phases:
- in the first phase ("first barrage"), the 8 players ranked #17 to #24 in group stage compete on four tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each individual track is eliminated. The four remaining players advance to the second phase.
- in the second phase ("second barrage"), the four remaining players from the first phase and the four players ranked #13 to #16 in group stage compete on four tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each individual track is eliminated. The four remaining players advance to the third phase.
- in the third phase, the four remaining players from the second phase and the players ranked #1 to #12 in group stage compete on individual tracks, and the player with the slowest time is eliminated. When 8 players remain, they each receive a second life. They then continue to compete on individual tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each track loses a life. If a player runs out of lives, they are eliminated. When four players remain, they each receive an additional life (and thus have either two or three lives remaining). When two players remain, they each receive an additional life (and thus have between two and four lives remaining). This process continues until there is only one Last Karter Standing.
Tracks are drawn in a random order and do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn. This carries over between phases.
If two or more players are tied for the slowest time on any track, those players replay the same track and the player with the slowest time is declared the loser. This process is to be repeated as many times as necessary to establish a single loser for each track in the knockout stage.
There are short breaks (5-10 minutes each) at 5 predetermined points in the knockout stage: before the start of the second phase, before the start of Top 16, before the start of Top 8, before the start of Top 4, and before the start of Top 2.


IV. Match Race
Group stage
All players compete in a Swiss-system tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament) with 12 rounds. In each round, each player is paired against the player with the closest score that they have not yet faced. If there is a tie in scores (in particular in the early rounds), pairings will be established via an initial seeding based on each player's perceived skill level. Until round 10, pairings are established from the top of the provisional ranking downwards. From round 11 onwards, pairings are established from #20 (or the middle rank if there are fewer than 40 players) in the provisional ranking outwards.
Each pair of players compete in a match over four tracks. These tracks are randomly selected for all matches in a round and must be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Tracks do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn (so the tracks played in round 1 will not be played again until at least round 6).
If there are an odd number of players competing, then a "Loser" player is added, which acts as a bye. Players paired against Loser automatically receive a 4-0 win.
The final ranking for group stage is established as follows:
1. A match win (3-1 or 4-0) is worth two points, a draw (2-2) is worth one point, and a loss is worth zero points. These win/draw/loss (WDL) points are the main ranking criterion.
2. Point differential across all matches. For example, if a player won 22 points and their opponents won 18 points, their point differential is +4.
3. WDL score between tied players (with unplayed matches counting as a draw).
4. Point differential between tied players.
5. Shootout: extremely short sudden death matches as a last resort for breaking ties, such as a single track in Match Race.
Note that if the number of players is sufficiently small (approx. 12 or fewer), the group stage will be played out as a round-robin tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-robin_tournament), where all players face each other. Similarly, if there are approx. between 12 and 20 players, the group stage will be played out as two separate round-robin groups, with groups determined via seeding based on perceived skill level.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
Prior to the start of the knockout stage proper, 8 preliminary matches commonly referred to as "barrages" will be played. The first round of barrages consists of four first-to-3 matches opposing group stage #17 vs #24, #18 vs #23, #19 vs #22, and #20 vs #21. The second round consists of four first-to-4 matches opposing #13 vs the winner of #20 vs #21, #14 vs the winner of #19 vs #22, #15 vs the winner of #18 vs #23, and #16 vs the winner of #17 vs #24.
The remaining 16 players compete in a standard double-elimination tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament), seeded based on their group stage results (and barrage results if applicable).
Each round of the knockout stage has a randomly drawn track list to be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Upper Eighths, Upper Quarters, Lower Round 1, and Lower Round 2 are first-to-5, Upper Semis, Lower Eighths, and Lower Quarters are first-to-7, and all later matches are first-to-9.


V. Battle Mode
In order to avoid extended standstill situations, the following guidelines are in place:
- when a player obtains a ghost, they must use it as soon as they are in proximity of an active item box.
- the above clause is overridden if the opponent has a star. The player with the ghost may keep it for as long as the opponent's star is active, after which the above clause comes into effect again.
- on Battle Course 2, players cannot remain within the shallow water for over 10 consecutive seconds. Players are expected to exit the shallow water as soon as they have a reasonably safe opening to do so.
If a player repeatedly breaks the spirit of these guidelines, they will be issued a warning. If this behavior persists, they will be penalized at the discretion of the tournament organizers.
If one player obtains a ghost while the other player does not have an item, the other player is NOT obligated to pick up an item for the player with the ghost to steal.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on each of the four Battle Courses in order. If a match has been taking longer than average and ends Battle Course 3 on a score of 3-0, players should replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4. Players may also agree to replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4 even if the score is not 3-0.

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with an initial Battle Course being randomly selected for each round, and play cycling through the Battle Courses in order from there. The first round of barrages are first-to-3 and the second round of barrages are first-to-4. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 8 are first-to-5, and matches in Top 8 (Upper Semis and Lower Eighths onwards) are first-to-7.


VI. Grand Prix
Matches are played in 150cc.

If both players in a match agree, they can choose to play Mushroom Cup instead of Special Cup. Note that this rule is intended for players who would generally not be able to finish Special Cup.

Once a cup has begun, it cannot be restarted. Please keep track of your score throughout the cup, especially if neither player has any remaining lives.

A player should not Give Up in-game until their opponent has finished the race. This rule can be ignored by mutual agreement of both players in a match.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on a single cup. The match score is determined by the in-game point system for a cup (e.g. 45-30 if one player finishes 1st and the other finishes 2nd on all tracks).
If there are an odd number of players competing, then players paired against Loser do not receive an automatic win. Instead, they must play the assigned cup against an immobile opponent and accumulate as many points as they can.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track (e.g. if one player finishes 1st in the first four tracks), the cup should still be played to completion.
If one of the players abandons the cup prior to completion, the other player should continue to play as if they were playing against Loser (i.e. an immobile opponent).

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with match scores reflecting the number of cups won (based on the in-game point system). All barrages are played on a single cup. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 4 are first-to-2, and matches in Top 4 (Upper Final and Lower Semi onwards) are first-to-3, with each round having a randomized cup list.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track, then the cup can be ended prematurely by mutual agreement of the players. Note that, typically, the winning player will ask the losing player whether they want to finish playing the cup, thus allowing the losing player to decide.
In case of a draw by in-game points, each player receives half a match point and play continues to the next cup in the list. If all cups in the list have been played and the match is not yet over, the list is extended as needed. In the unlikely scenario that both players reach the winning match score simultaneously (due to a drawn cup), play continues until a player wins a cup.


VII. Overall Ranking
The overall ranking is established by assigning scores to each player's performance in each of the modes. For each mode, a player may receive up to 1000 points for group stage and up to 2000 points for knockout stage, for a maximum total of 12000 points overall. Points are distributed as follows.

Group stage
Time Trial: a player is awarded 50 points for setting the fastest time on a track, and 0 points for setting the slowest time. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their rank. Each player's total group stage score is the sum of their individual track scores, rounded to the nearest whole number.
2-player modes: a player is awarded 1000 points for winning all of their matches, and 0 points for losing all of their matches. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their number of WDL points, with the addition of a small corrective factor based on their point differential, rounded to the nearest whole number. In particular, a player with a WDL score of n and a perfect point differential would receive the same number of points for the overall ranking as a player with a WDL score of n+1 and the worst possible point differential.

Knockout stage
Players receive a fixed number of points based on their final placing in each knockout stage (including barrages).
Time Trial:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th - 800
6th - 700
7th - 600
8th - 500
9th - 420
10th - 400
11th - 380
12th - 360
13th - 340
14th - 320
15th - 300
16th - 280
-----
17th - 160
18th - 150
19th - 140
20th - 130
21st - 120
22nd - 110
23rd - 100
24th - 90

2-player modes:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th-6th - 750
7th-8th - 550
9th-12th - 400
13th-16th - 300
-----
17th-20th - 150
21st-24th - 100

Main changes

- A section at the start has been added to explicitly outline behavioral guidelines at the event. None of them should be surprising, but you should read them anyway.
- TT LKS prior to Top 16 has changed. Instead of the "sliding window" (which caused a lot of logistical issues last year), the barrage format will be closer to what we do for 2P modes. Group stage ranks #17-#24 will play 4 tracks in barrage 1, then the 4 survivors and #13-#16 will play 4 tracks in barrage 2 for the last 4 spots in Top 16.
- An extra life will be given to the two TT LKS finalists, and more short breaks have been scheduled.
- BM first-to-7 matches have been extended from Top 4 to Top 8.
- 2P GS increasing from 10 to 12 rounds. For the last two rounds, match pairing will be done from rank #20 (or middle rank with <40 players) outwards, instead of the usual top down.

11

CDM 2022 / Super Mario Kart Championship 2022 (#SMKC22)

« le: 06 février 2022, à 19:25:29 »

Version courte en français: le CDM 2022 aura lieu à Alphen du 23 au 27 août! Plus de détails à suivre, mais les dates et le lieu sont finalisés. Si vous comptez venir et voulez réserver une place, vous pouvez m'envoyer un MP pour être pré-enregistré-e. J'espère vous voir nombreux cette année! 

Si vous voulez la version longue, https://www.deepl.com/translator est votre ami. 

-----

Hello everyone,
It's that time of year again! The dates and location of CDM 2022 have been finalized: we'll get together once more at the Esports Game Arena in Alphen aan den Rijn (Netherlands) from August 23 to 27. CDM 2022 will be an anniversary event, as SMK was released in Japan on August 27, 1992, and our beloved championship began in 2002!

We (as the organizing team) are aware that the world isn't "back to normal", but at present we're hopeful that we'll be able to have a full international championship based on the progression of the pandemic and governmental restrictions in Europe. We're still ironing out some details before opening registration, but we wanted to confirm dates and location as early as possible so potential participants can plan their trip.

As usual, participation will be capped at 64 players per mode. Given perceived interest levels in this year's championship, there's a decent chance that we'll hit record participation levels. In order to reserve your spot (and help build excitement for the event), you can contact me via PM on Discord, Twitter, or the Mario Kart forums to pre-register if you intend to participate in CDM 2022.

List of pre-registered players:
1. [US] Jonathan Toole-Charignon (Lafungo)
2. [NL] Karel van Duijvenboden (KVD) [TT only]
3. [DE] Christian Wild (Chraizy)
4. [BE] Sophie Jarmouni (Jarmou)
5. [GB] David Moll (DangerMoll)
6. [NL] Sjors Rijsdam (the_drunk_strawberry)
7. [FR] Guillaume Leviach (Antistar)
8. [GB] Chris Clark (Zarkov)
9. [BRA] Guilherme Arantes (Firewaster)
10. [FR] Maelle Holtzer (MixMyu)
11. [FR] Geoffrey L. (Geo) [BM, GP]
12. [NL] Martijn Duinkerken (CrazyMad)
13. [IE] Paul O'Kelly (SparksF1)
14. [NL] Robin Holen (Tungsten) [TT, MR, GP]
15. [GB] Paul Tanney (PT) [TT only]
16. [NL] Mike Hulscher (bl44tje) [TT, GP]
17. [NL] Patrick Wessels (MeridianPrime)
18. [NL] Robert van Zanten (RVZ) [GP only]
19. [FR] Florian Chollet (flo233)
20. [NL] Mark Duivesteijn (?)
21. [FR] Martin Pfeiffer (Banana Master)
22. [FR] Thomas Graf (Ours1011)
23. [FR] Gerard Guilbaud (BigMountain)
24. [FR] Mike Colombet (NekBagord)
25. [BE] David Cylny (Wooky)
26. [FR] Maxime Fradet (maxfrad)
27. [FR] Marine Camus (Miku) [TT only]
28. [FR] Étienne Girondel (Lenain)
29. [FR] Florent Lecoanet (Neo)
30. [NL] Martin van Haasteren (NitraM)
31. [FR] Guillaume Salinaro (CaptainHum)
32. [FR] Daniel Guemy (FFVIMan)
33. [DE] Simon Mahler (Simit1992)
34. [IE] Jack O'Mahony (Wackstickles) [MR, GP]
35. [NL] Aron Langerak (Masterpie9)
36. [ES] Samuel Gomez (Narnet)
37. [GB] Leyla Hasso

12

CDM 2021 / Vos objectifs pour le CDE 2021 / Your CDE 2021 goals

« le: 07 août 2021, à 11:55:50 »

As usual, I have a few goals, some more realistic than others. 

My "base line" goal for this year is to get a medal. I think if I had to pick one mode in which to get a medal, I would lean towards GP since that's the only mode for which I don't yet have a medal from an international championship.

Other (more-or-less) realistic goals for this year include:
- get a gold medal.
- get a medal in every mode.
- finish ahead of Jarmou in every mode.
- finish ahead of Geo in a 2P mode.

For international championships, I typically have one major "stretch" goal, which I view as unrealistic yet attainable with an overperformance on my end and/or underperformances from other participants. This year, my stretch goal is to win CDE. 

Edit: I forgot a very important goal, which is to beat Mario86 in MR KO stage to avenge the SMKAS Grand Final.

13

Règlement / 2021 Ruleset / Règlement 2021

« le: 12 juin 2021, à 11:59:59 »

Hello everyone, this topic is meant to present the ruleset for 2021. Please keep in mind that this is the "IASMK official" ruleset, as I've crafted the contents of this ruleset with Karel and Patrick. Note also that this is intended as a CDE/M ruleset, and is expected to be used moving forward.

I'm posting the full ruleset in the quote box below, but I'm also including a summary of the main changes from previous years beneath the full text.

I. Registration
Registration is done via the FFSMK website (http://www.ffsmk.org/?task=register). All tickets include access to the venue and freeplay, as well as entry into the competition. Depending on the specific ticket purchased, this may also include meals and/or accommodation.


II. General Gameplay
Competition takes place in the PAL version of the game (released in Europe and Australia) on original SNES hardware. Any controller manufactured for the SNES is allowed, as long as no features are used that are not available on first-party controllers (such as turbo functions). The use of left+right on the d-pad is allowed.

Players may select whichever character they want, and may change between tracks (or cups in Grand Prix) prior to starting the next one. If both players in a 2-player match want the same character, whoever selects the character first gets to use it.

For 2-player modes, ports are assigned by the tournament organizers. This is typically shown by displaying the port 1 player on top and the port 2 player at the bottom. This assignment can be flipped by mutual agreement of the players in a match, but must remain static throughout the match.

Competition for each mode takes place over a full day, and is split into two parts: group stage and knockout stage.

Lapskips (manipulating the finish line trigger) are banned, with the exception of using a mushroom or feather to trigger the finish line out-of-bounds, which is only allowed on lap 5. In the specific case of Koopa Beach 1, a shroom or feather used to cut back to the end of the track from the first corner must arrive back in-bounds (sand or shallow water) before triggering the finish line. If there is room for doubt as to whether the kart arrived back in-bounds before or after triggering the finish line, the rule will be considered broken. Using a shroom or feather to go around the finish line and trigger it by swimming through the deep water on Koopa Beach 2 or Vanilla Lake 2 is banned. Breaking this rule results in a point loss. In Match Race, this means losing the track. In Grand Prix, this means losing all points accumulated in the cup up to and including that track.


III. Time Trial
The use of a CPU ghost (via the 2nd controller port) is banned.

The use of a player ghost (indicated by a yellow track name) is banned.

Each track is played in a one-try setting, i.e. each player gets exactly one attempt to set the best course time (over all 5 laps) that they can on the given track. If a player pauses during an attempt or starts more than one attempt, they forfeit and receive a time of 9'59"99 for that track.

Once a player has begun competing in either group stage or knockout stage, they are no longer allowed to practice or warm up (i.e. they must only drive official attempts). A player is deemed to have begun competing in group stage once they start an attempt on Mario Circuit 1, and in knockout stage once the first track on which they must play is declared by a tournament organizer.

Players are assigned a TV at the start of each stage. If a player is dissatisfied with their assignment for whatever reason, they must consult a tournament organizer prior to starting to compete. Once a player begins competing, they are expected to remain at that TV until they are done.

If an external factor compromises a player's attempt (e.g. their TV abruptly turns off), the player should immediately contact a tournament organizer. Based on the severity of the disruption, the player may be allowed to take another attempt.

Group stage
Players are assigned pairs, with each pair typically containing one "strong" player and one "weak" player. Pairings are determined by a pre-seeding list made by the tournament organizers, typically based on the Players' Page PAL ranking (https://mariokartplayers.com/smk/afp.php). If there are, for example, 32 players participating, the 1st seed is paired with the 17th, the 2nd with the 18th, and so on. The "weak" player goes first, playing through all 20 tracks while the "strong" player records their course times. Once all 20 tracks are completed, the roles are reversed.
After all players have finished, the group stage ranking is established based on each player's average rank on each track relative to the rest of the field. If two players are tied in average rank, the tie is broken by their total time across all tracks.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
The knockout stage is played in a Last Karter Standing format separated into two phases:
- in the first phase, 16 players compete at a time on individual tracks (which are drawn in a random order by the tournament organizers). For the first track, the players ranked #9 to #24 in group stage compete, and the player with the slowest time is eliminated. The player ranked #8 in group stage joins the 15 remaining players from the previous track to compete on the second track, and again the player with the slowest time is eliminated. This process continues until the player ranked #1 in group stage joins, at which point the first phase is over and the 16 remaining players form the Top 16 for the TT event.
- in the second phase, all 16 players compete on individual tracks, and the player with the slowest time is eliminated. When 8 players remain, they each receive a second life. They then continue to compete on individual tracks, and the player with the slowest time on each track loses a life. If a player runs out of lives, they are eliminated. When 4 players remain, they each receive an additional life (and thus have either two or three lives remaining). This process continues until there is only one Last Karter Standing.
If two or more players are tied for the slowest time on any track, those players replay the same track and the player with the slowest time is declared the loser. This process is to be repeated as many times as necessary to establish a single loser for each track in the knockout stage.
There are short breaks (5-10 minutes each) at three predetermined points in the knockout stage: before the start of Top 16, before the start of Top 8, and before the start of Top 4.


IV. Match Race
Group stage
All players compete in a Swiss-system tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament) with 10 rounds. In each round, each player is paired against the player with the closest score that they have not yet faced. If there is a tie in scores (in particular in the early rounds), pairings will be established via an initial seeding based on each player's perceived skill level.
Each pair of players compete in a match over four tracks. These tracks are randomly selected for all matches in a round and must be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Tracks do not get reselected until all tracks have been drawn (so the tracks played in round 1 will not be played again until at least round 6).
If there are an odd number of players competing, then a "Loser" player is added, which acts as a bye. Players paired against Loser automatically receive a 4-0 win.
The final ranking for group stage is established as follows:
1. A match win (3-1 or 4-0) is worth two points, a draw (2-2) is worth one point, and a loss is worth zero points. These win/draw/loss (WDL) points are the main ranking criterion.
2. Point differential across all matches. For example, if a player won 22 points and their opponents won 18 points, their point differential is +4.
3. WDL score between tied players (with unplayed matches counting as a draw).
4. Point differential between tied players.
5. Shootout: extremely short sudden death matches as a last resort for breaking ties, such as a single track in Match Race.
Note that if the number of players is sufficiently small (approx. 12 or fewer), the group stage will be played out as a round-robin tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-robin_tournament), where all players face each other. Similarly, if there are approx. between 12 and 20 players, the group stage will be played out as two separate round-robin groups, with groups determined via seeding based on perceived skill level.
The Top 24 advance to the knockout stage.

Knockout stage
Prior to the start of the knockout stage proper, 8 preliminary matches commonly referred to as "barrages" will be played. The first round of barrages consists of four first-to-3 matches opposing group stage #17 vs #24, #18 vs #23, #19 vs #22, and #20 vs #21. The second round consists of four first-to-4 matches opposing #13 vs the winner of #20 vs #21, #14 vs the winner of #19 vs #22, #15 vs the winner of #18 vs #23, and #16 vs the winner of #17 vs #24.
The remaining 16 players compete in a standard double-elimination tournament (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament), seeded based on their group stage results (and barrage results if applicable).
Each round of the knockout stage has a randomly drawn track list to be played in the order provided by the tournament organizers. Upper Eighths, Upper Quarters, Lower Round 1, and Lower Round 2 are first-to-5, Upper Semis, Lower Eighths, and Lower Quarters are first-to-7, and all later matches are first-to-9.


V. Battle Mode
In order to avoid extended standstill situations, the following guidelines are in place:
- when a player obtains a ghost, they must use it as soon as they are in proximity of an active item box.
- the above clause is overridden if the opponent has a star. The player with the ghost may keep it for as long as the opponent's star is active, after which the above clause comes into effect again.
- on Battle Course 2, players cannot remain within the shallow water for over 10 consecutive seconds. Players are expected to exit the shallow water as soon as they have a reasonably safe opening to do so.
If a player repeatedly breaks the spirit of these guidelines, they will be issued a warning. If this behavior persists, they will be penalized at the discretion of the tournament organizers.
If one player obtains a ghost while the other player does not have an item, the other player is NOT obligated to pick up an item for the player with the ghost to steal.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on each of the four Battle Courses in order. If a match has been taking longer than average and ends Battle Course 3 on a score of 3-0, players should replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4. Players may also agree to replay Battle Course 1 instead of Battle Course 4 even if the score is not 3-0.

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with an initial Battle Course being randomly selected for each round, and play cycling through the Battle Courses in order from there. The first round of barrages are first-to-3 and the second round of barrages are first-to-4. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 4 are first-to-5, and matches in Top 4 (Upper Final and Lower Semi onwards) are first-to-7.


VI. Grand Prix
Matches are played in 150cc.

If both players in a match agree, they can choose to play Mushroom Cup instead of Special Cup. Note that this rule is intended for players who would generally not be able to finish Special Cup.

Once a cup has begun, it cannot be restarted. Please keep track of your score throughout the cup, especially if neither player has any remaining lives.

A player should not Give Up in-game until their opponent has finished the race. This rule can be ignored by mutual agreement of both players in a match.

Group stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with each match being played on a single cup. The match score is determined by the in-game point system for a cup (e.g. 45-30 if one player finishes 1st and the other finishes 2nd on all tracks).
If there are an odd number of players competing, then players paired against Loser do not receive an automatic win. Instead, they must play the assigned cup against an immobile opponent and accumulate as many points as they can.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track (e.g. if one player finishes 1st in the first four tracks), the cup should still be played to completion.
If one of the players abandons the cup prior to completion, the other player should continue to play as if they were playing against Loser (i.e. an immobile opponent).

Knockout stage
The same format as Match Race is used, with match scores reflecting the number of cups won (based on the in-game point system). All barrages are played on a single cup. Matches in Top 16 prior to Top 4 are first-to-2, and matches in Top 4 are first-to-3, with each round having a randomized cup list.
If the winner of the cup is already determined prior to the start of the last track, then the cup can be ended prematurely by mutual agreement of the players. Note that, typically, the winning player will ask the losing player whether they want to finish playing the cup, thus allowing the losing player to decide.


VII. Overall Ranking
The overall ranking is established by assigning scores to each player's performance in each of the modes. For each mode, a player may receive up to 1000 points for group stage and up to 2000 points for knockout stage, for a maximum total of 12000 points overall. Points are distributed as follows.

Group stage
Time Trial: a player is awarded 50 points for setting the fastest time on a track, and 0 points for setting the slowest time. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their rank. Each player's total group stage score is the sum of their individual track scores, rounded to the nearest whole number.
2-player modes: a player is awarded 1000 points for winning all of their matches, and 0 points for losing all of their matches. All players in between receive an amount of points linearly interpolated from these two extremes based on their number of WDL points, with the addition of a small corrective factor based on their point differential, rounded to the nearest whole number. In particular, a player with a WDL score of n and a perfect point differential would receive the same number of points for the overall ranking as a player with a WDL score of n+1 and the worst possible point differential.

Knockout stage
Players receive a fixed number of points based on their final placing in each knockout stage (including barrages).
Time Trial:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th - 800
6th - 700
7th - 600
8th - 500
9th - 420
10th - 400
11th - 380
12th - 360
13th - 340
14th - 320
15th - 300
16th - 280
-----
17th - 160
18th - 150
19th - 140
20th - 130
21st - 120
22nd - 110
23rd - 100
24th - 90

2-player modes:
1st - 2000
2nd - 1600
3rd - 1300
4th - 1000
5th-6th - 750
7th-8th - 550
9th-12th - 400
13th-16th - 300
-----
17th-20th - 150
21st-24th - 100

Main changes

- No more "coeffs". All modes have the same weight in the overall ranking.
- TT LKS extended to 24 players to match 2P modes.
- Top 16 is double elim, and KO match lengths are reduced.
- 2P GS reduced from 14 to 10 matches, now with Swiss system instead of Belgian system.

14

CDM 2020 / Vidéos SMKAS

« le: 05 mars 2021, à 21:14:41 »

On ne s'y attendait pas, hein? 

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3vsjKGheWCwZZNTn5-64ZQJ5gvH_Pph4

Détails (en anglais): https://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1575634933/21#21

15

Sessions SMK / SpeedGaming Tournament #2!

« le: 15 mai 2020, à 15:21:50 »

Karel et moi avons le plaisir d'annoncer l'ouverture des inscriptions du deuxième tournoi SMK avec SpeedGaming ! Après le succès du premier tournoi en GP NTSC, on passe cette fois-ci sur du TT PAL !

Vu qu'il s'agit d'un tournoi international, les communiqués se font principalement en anglais. Ceci-dit, j'ai pris le temps de vous traduire les règles pour vous faciliter un peu la tâche (et pour pas qu'il y ait d'excuses plus tard...  )

La page du tournoi (avec tous les résultats et matchs à venir) se trouve ici: https://challonge.com/smkspeedgamingseason2
Horaire des matchs à venir: http://speedgaming.org/smk


Pour participer
Il suffit de rejoindre le Discord de la communauté SMK et contacter l'un des admins du tournoi (Karel et moi) avec les infos suivantes avant la fin des inscriptions le 31 mai à 23:59:
- votre pseudo.
- votre chaîne Twitch (le streaming est obligatoire).
- votre nom sur la Players' Page, si applicable.
- votre pays, si vous n'êtes pas classé-e sur la Players' Page.

Contrairement au tournoi précédent, tous les participant-e-s doivent être présent-e-s dans le Discord de la communauté SMK. Discord sera utilisé pour faire des annonces au long du tournoi, et les participant-e-s auront besoin d'avoir Discord ouvert pendant leurs matchs pour communiquer avec leur adversaire.

Si vous n'allez pas utiliser une capture de jeu directe, vous devez informer un admin du tournoi lors de votre inscription. On vous demandera de faire une démo de stream. Si la qualité de votre stream est trop basse, vous ne pourrez pas participer.

Règles du jeu
- Toute version officielle (PAL) du jeu est autorisée (SNES ou Wii VC européenne/australienne uniquement), ainsi que les émulateurs SNES qui sont généralement acceptés pour des speedruns (tels que SNES9x v1.51+ et BSNES). Veuillez noter que si vous jouez sur émulateur, vous aurez besoin d'une ROM PAL, qui est typiquement dénotée [E].
- Les participant-e-s doivent jouer dans le mode Time Trial.
- Tous les persos sont autorisés.
- Le NBT est autorisé.
- Les lapskips (qui manipulent la ligne d'arrivée) sont bannis.
- L'utilisation d'un fantôme CPU (avec le port du 2è joueur) est banni.
- L'utilisation d'un fantôme sauvegardé (indiqué par un nom de course jaune) est banni.

Règles du tournoi
- La structure du tournoi sera décidée sur la base du nombre et de la composition des inscriptions. Le format contiendra possiblement une phase de poules en round robin (comme les championnats avant 2012) et certainement une phase de playoffs en élimination simple ou double.
- Les participant-e-s seront seedé-e-s sur la base de leur classement TT sur la Players' Page (avec le classement PAL prenant précédence sur le classement NTSC). Les participant-e-s qui ne sont pas classé-e-s ne recevront pas de seed et seront placé-e-s en bas de la liste de seeding.
- Une fois un match établi, les participant-e-s auront généralement jusqu'à la fin de la semaine (dimanche soir) pour jouer leur match. Cette deadline sera plus stricte pour les matchs qui empêchent la progression du tournoi.

Règles de match (poules)
- Chaque match se joue sur les 20 courses.
- Chaque point se décide sur le meilleur chrono d'une seul course.
- Un ordre aléatoire des courses est généré par un tiers (typiquement l'un des admins du tournoi).
- Les participant-e-s s'affrontent sur l'ensemble des 20 courses dans l'ordre donné par le tiers (avec les courses révélées une par une).

Règles de match (playoffs)
- Chaque match se joue en premier à 9 (best of 17).
- Chaque point se décide sur le meilleur chrono d'une seul course.
- Au début du match, le seed haut ban une course. Puis le seed bas ban une des courses restantes et en choisit une autre pour le premier round.
- Le/La perdant-e du round précédent choisit une des courses restantes pour le round suivant.
- L'étape précédente se répète jusqu'à ce que l'un-e des participant-e-s atteint 9 points.


J'espère vous voir nombreux à rejoindre le tournoi ! Pas d'excuse comme quoi on a pas su qu'il y avait un tournoi, cette fois-ci.