Per the event rules, if enrollment in Division I is insufficient for a team head-to-head, the communities can be ranked based on the total number of players who successfully complete a challenge run in any of Divisions I-III. ↩︎
The Rando Marathon is a biannual weekend event celebrating all the great and wonderful video game randomizers. The event is held on the second weekend of June and December, each year. The marathons raise money for charity with 100% of all proceeds going to the charity. All randomizer communities are invited to join these events.
For more info on the Whirlwind (Four-Job) Fiesta event, see here. For more on the Whirlwind mod for Final Fantasy V, see here. You can follow the work of xJ4cks here or check out his bio here.
The Speedrun.com submission is here, or see the video embed below.
For a comparison of the different Fiestas, click here. For the Whirlwind family of mods, click here.
For current event standings, click here. For clymax’s projects, click here.
A. Intro
With the one-year anniversary of Whirlwind’s public release, Final Fantasy V Central is pleased to present the inaugural edition of a special event, Whirlwind Fiesta Plus Communities Collide, as announced on Romhacking here.
This can be seen as FFV Central’s version of the FFV Four Job Fiesta (FFV FJF). However, unlike the FJF, this version is based on the Fiesta mode of Whirlwind, a mod for FFV.
Also, unlike FJF, this version has both an individual portion and a community portion of the event.
Players do not have to separately play in each portion of the event. Instead, players play, and that play is separately scored individually and on a community basis to yield the event results.
Whirlwind Fiesta is short for Whirlwind Four-Job Fiesta (Whirlwind FJF or WFJF).
For a comparison of the different Fiestas, see here. The Whirlwind Fiesta is not affiliated with any of the other FJFs or their hosts.
B. Event Dates
Division I: Livestreamed RTA Competition, Asynchronous, Single-Session, No Reattempts, Submitted to Fiesta Leaderboard on Speedrun.com
“Which Community Will Have the Fastest Runners?”
Signups: June 4 to August 22 (tentative)
Event: June 15 to August 31 (tentative)
Each player gets one streamed run attempt.
Must submit run to event leaderboard on SRC or authorize the same.
After the run, can be required to provide a local video recording or input recording on request of the event host.
Update: Division I-A has been added to accommodate Division-I players who want to play with the 5-Job and/or Chaos flags. See the Discord for more details.
Division II: Recorded Challenge Run, Asynchronous, Multi-Session OK, Submitted to Side Leaderboard, or to Custom Leaderboard with No Stakes
“Can you finish your Whirlwind Fiesta run?”
Signups: June 4 to August 31 (tentative)
Event: June 7 to August 31 (tentative)
Ask clymax if you prefer to record a player input file instead of a video.
Division III: Recorded Custom Challenge, Player-Chosen Flags, Fiesta Flag Optional, No Flag Requirement, Asynchronous, Multi-Session OK,Submitted to Side Leaderboard with No Stakes
Ask clymax if you prefer to record a player input file instead of a video.
Forced job roll for a character on battle victory if four minutes have elapsed since the last job roll on that character. No job roll on level up per se. ↩︎
Division IV (Bonus): Recorded Run of Chosen Whirlwind-Family Self-Rando Mod, Asynchronous, Multi-Session OK, Submitted to Side Leaderboard with No Stakes, Available Only to Finishers of Divisions I-III, Limited Spots Available
“Which Whirlwind-Family mod will you take on?”
Signups: June 20 to August 31 (tentative)
Event: June 20 to August 31 (tentative)
Must have finished a run in Divisions I, II, or III.
Enrollment subject to availability. Save scumming not allowed in mods without seeding support.
Update: the bonus division has been split. Click here for more info.
C. Flagset
Division I’s event seed has been announced in the Discord. Click here for the leaderboard.
Open World mode includes access to farming boosts, which default to a max of 62x ABP, XP, and Gil.
D. Communities by Invitation
To be eligible, registrants must have been a member of the relevant Discord prior to the beginning of the current iteration of the Fiesta event (or, for a newly created Discord during the event, prior to the posting date of the invite in that community). This restriction need not apply to FFV Central.
Support our fellow FF-related communities: check out any site by clicking on the corresponding banner!
Selected FF spinoff and mainline rando communities (2 slots):
FFIV modding and rando communities (2 slots):
Event host / FFV self-rando mod’s community (1 combined slot):
FFVI modding and rando communities (2 slots):
Selected content-creator communities (2 slots):
Selected partner community by special invitation (1 slot):
Final invite for mystery guest community (1 slot)
Last-chance qualifier for communities (no invite needed but subject to approval)
Invited communities have five prequalification slots each, while last-chance communities have two each.
Prequalification redemptions of the mod are given to eligible players on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The event host at its discretion can separately limit the total number of prequalification slots to suit the needs of the event, e.g., to sixteen total slots.
E. Whirlwind Fiesta
Unlike traditional FJF, Whirlwind Fiesta allows each character to get his or her own four job rolls, for a total of sixteen rolls. This is called the “Four Jobs Each” style of Fiesta.
Job rolls are not given at Crystals. Instead, they are given at level up.
Although Freelancer can be rolled, it won’t be recorded as one of your official rolls. Update: Freelancer should no longer be rollable.
Although a duplicate job on a character can be rolled, it won’t be recorded as one of your official rolls for that character.
Duplicates across the party can be rolled and will be recorded as one of your official rolls.
If you level up multiple times on the same character in one battle, that character only gets one roll.
The flagset specifies the default of “Open World.” This gives you early access to a fully upgraded airship, the world warps, the farming boosts, and various progression skips.
F. Video Demos
See how rolled jobs are shown in the Whirlwind mod. It’s self-randomizing, so everything is done inside the rom. No need for a website or web app to randomize.
Check out the newest feature making its debut during this event!
Enemies get double the number of turns at night.
Former game-cleared feature now enabled to start! Press Select to warp between worlds.
SPOILER ALERT: optimal route to final boss!
As noted earlier, you can now press Select to warp between worlds once you’ve acquired the Ship. So the route is even faster than shown in the video clip!
A run with the flagset, when paired with an optimal route, is anticipated to be able to be finished in a single session.
The run estimate of a non-speedrunner player of average skill with average rolls via an optimal route is expected to come in at a time of several hours or less.
Competition runners will be required to finish their run in a single session. Competition is also called “Division I.” Reattempting a run is not allowed unless you encounter a softlock from which you cannot recover. One stream, one shot is what runners will be getting.
Non-competition runners are allowed to use any set seed or random seed. These runs will be placed in a separate leaderboard with no stakes or in the same leaderboard but with the runs clearly marked as “Division II,” with no stakes.
Non-competition runners will be allowed to finish their run in any number of sessions, as long as the entire playthrough is recorded and submitted.
Competition runners will be using a featureset that is frozen at a time of a run of the first competition runner in the event. For this event, this version is 2.94. Competition runners are advised not to use newer features, and if they do, the event host can, at its discretion, reclassify a run as non-competition or retime a run to account for any time saved from using such features.
Finishers are allowed to reparticipate in the same event, for additional titles to potentially be awarded. Reparticipating in any Division is allowed as long as a different speedrun category is chosen each time, but only the first run in Divisions I and I-A will count in terms of a player’s speedrun time in the competition.
H. Individual and Community Stakes
Winner(s) by individual scoring are awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze vanity roles in the FFV Central Discord.
Players who finish the challenge in any division are awarded a Fiesta Conqueror role in the Discord.
A variety of additional roles have been added based on various in-game objectives. See the standings page here for details.
Results will be enshrined on an event leaderboard on Speedruns.com.
Winners will be acknowledged by an event results announcement post on the FFV Central website.
Any event participant who finishes the challenge in any division is eligible for an event badge on the FFV Central website if that feature is rolled out in the future along with user profiles. Corresponding Gold, Silver, and Bronze badges may also be available to the winner(s).
The victorious community will be designated the event winner via the FFV Central website and via a graphical banner (dimensions TBD). This designation should remain visible on the FFV Central main page at least until the next Whirlwind Fiesta event. A hall of victorious communities should also be maintained.
Players just going for a finished run are allowed to submit an offline recorded run. Alternatively, an exception can be requested to allow a player to submit a recorded player input file.
For community scoring or for Gold, Silver, or Bronze badges, a livestreamed run is required.
For Gold, Silver, and Bronze to be awarded, it may be required to have three, six, and nine competitors, respectively. Alternatively, it may be required to have two, three, and four competitors, respectively.
I. Event Scoring
Although things like player level and player deaths are under consideration, the current proposal for scoring is time-based, as follows.
For the individual portion, the run with the fastest time wins. Time is measured in RTA and not in IGT.
For the community portion, the community with the lowest total time wins. The total time is measured by taking the sum of the times of the three runners on the community’s team.
If there are not enough teams competing in Division I, the event host can, at its discretion, declare a winning team based on the total number of players on that team who successfully finish runs across Divisions I-III. Under this scoring method, it may be the case that players are not eligible to receive Discord roles for the victorious team even if one is declared.
To contribute your ideas, check out the suggestions thread for this event in our Discord.
J. Event Registration
Signups will be taken via the FFV Central Discord here.
A minimum of eight signups can be needed for the event to take place.
A minimum of two teams are needed for the team portion of the event to be conducted.
When signing up, players can specify which community they represent. Note that this is subject to confirmation by a staff member of the community. The member must also have been part of that community prior to the beginning of the current iteration of the event (or prior to the posting date of the event in a new community). If no community is specified, FFV Central can deem the player as representing FFV Central, unless the player explicitly indicates prior to the run that he or she wishes to represent no one.
Players can be allowed to represent a community not on the roster of invited communities, but this is subject to approval as a last-chance qualified community.
Event participants agree that any livestreamed video and/or captured video for the event can be used by FFV Central and its staff, e.g., for promoting future editions of the event.
Acceptance of a player registration is at the discretion of the event host and/or mod author. A player can be declined from the event for any reason or for no reason.
K. Obtaining the Whirlwind Mod
The mod for this event is the development build of Whirlwind. The development build is a private build, unlike the public release.
A special prequalification is available to the first five players to register from each invited community (first come, first serve). The prequalification allows them to obtain, at no charge, a dev build of Whirlwind to livestream with as part of the event and to keep following the event.
The prequalification can be met if they have participated in any competitive event from the invited community and for which an archived video is available and are currently in good standing in that community. Unlike the regular qualification, the prequalification does not require the player to have a verified run on the SRC leaderboards.
Prequalification exemptions based on staff-member status, streamer status, organizer direct invitee, or the like may be granted on a case-by-case basis.
Regular qualification remains available to any players beyond the first five players who sign up (as well as to the first five players), unless regular qualification is indicated as suspended during the event or discontinued. See the Rando-Speedrun Pilot here for more details.
Players receiving a dev build can request updated builds until the end of the event. Players will not be entitled to further updates following the event but can look to rejoin the event in a following year in which the event is held.
If one of the first five players fails to meet the special prequalification or opts not to make a redemption request, the opportunity passes on to the sixth player, and so on.
The final alternative is to obtain Whirlwind via Game Jolt.
Acceptance of a player prequalification or qualification or grant of prequalification exemption is at the discretion of the event host and/or mod author. A prequalification, qualification, or exemption can be declined to be given out, for any reason or for no reason.
L. Optional Clean Patch
Optional Clean font and icon improvement patches are available courtesy of xJ4cks. These are supported by the event.
These patches can be applied before or after Whirlwind. See our Discord for more info.
M. Team Formation
Assuming the registered players from a given invited community agree on a leader, the leader will select two of the registered players to join the leader in representing the community in terms of run scoring. This must be done before any of their runs start. This selection will be effective for the duration of the event.
If the registered players cannot agree on a leader, then a staff member of the invited community will be asked to select a leader among those wanting to be leader. This decision is final.
The players not selected to be on the team will not affect that invited community’s score but can still enjoy participating and competing on an individual basis. These players are considered “Freelancers” on the team and can still don the team name in the sense of a vanity tag.
The minimum team size is three. A team of two or one will not be allowed to represent the invited community in terms of run scoring, unless an exception is made to serve the needs of the event and its participants.
Players wishing to form a team to represent a community that is not on the roster of invited communities must first apply for the community to be approved as a last-chance qualified community to join the event.
To suit the needs of the event, the event host can at its discretion adopt an alternative formation approach that includes waiving the process of team formation and considering as part of the team any player wishing to represent a relevant community. The event host can then take the three best times from each community for purposes of scoring teams. The players with the three best times in a community are the ones eligible to be awarded Discord roles for the victorious community.
The rest should generally be left alone as defaults, although you can customize vanilla options like Battle Speed, Message Speed, Cmd.Set, and Cursor.
You can customize your vanity hair color at the cost of some time of your run (except for players in LvlUp mode, in which case vanity hair activates LvlUp-Advanced).
Q. Post-Game Rewards
Three hidden features can be unlocked on your save file after reaching the ending cutscene.
To unlock the hidden features, you must access a secret unlock portal shown in this video.
The secret unlock portal will have no effect unless you’ve beaten Neo Exdeath on your current save file.
If you’ve beaten Neo Exdeath, you should see a diamond icon near your Gil amount in your main menu.
Be sure to save your game after accessing the secret unlock portal.
One of the hidden features is unlocked across all sixteen save slots, as long as your game-clear file remains present in your save data.
SPOILER ALERT
A special boss challenge is also available. This challenge can be accessed before or after you beat Neo Exdeath.
R. Softlock and Glitch Recovery
As a precaution, have emulator rewind configured before starting your run.
If you encounter a softlock, try temporarily turning Cutscenes ON and Dialog ON in the expanded Config menu.
If needed, you are allowed to perform a recovery by rewinding out of the softlock or loading a recent save file. Your runtime will be adjusted accordingly.
If you are recording a player input file rather than a video, be sure to stop recording before you attempt to rewind. After rewinding to the desired point to resume from, activate emulator pause, optionally make a backup save state, and start recording your inputs to a new filename. All such input files should be gathered and submitted at the end of your run.
Bugfixes will be provided as needed during the event, but the feature set will be frozen for purposes of the event, at least for Divisions I and I-A.
So, what do you think? Comment below, or come hang out with us at our Discord.
