Shadow SX is a ROM hack of the ENG NTSC version of Shadow the Hedgehog that aims to provide quality of life changes for improving the speedrunning experience without any major changes to the core gameplay experience.
Shadow SX is playable on GameCubes, on Wiis with Homebrew, or on computers using Dolphin Emulator.
Due to changes to the game code, Shadow SX will be considered its own thing separate from the original console releases. Separate Leaderboards for any of the categories or levels will be provided at a future time.
The game will no longer pause the timer while in the checkpoint menu. This prevents the use of the checkpoint for saving IGT while waiting for another in game event to play out. More important though, is that this change allows the use of IGT timing for runs that utilize the Chaos Control Glitch.
One of the biggest headaches when timing IGT runs on console was having to manually calculate the time from deaths to checkpoints. With this change, the time continues without interruptions after death. The time you end the level with is the final time now.
This change, while applies to every level, is mainly targeted to the shorter Boss Fights where one might reset quickly early on if a setup doesn’t go to plan. Like with the Death fix above, the timer will simply continue form that point on until the end of the level or boss fight.
This does NOT apply to levels or bosses that are started with "Select Mode" as this would quickly become annoying for Individual Level (IL) runs and attempts. This applies only for Normal Story, Last Story, and Expert Mode playthroughs.
A neat mechanic for boss fights was slowing down time when using Chaos Control instead of speeding through the level, which makes sense considering that boss arenas are small enclosed areas. When time slows down, the IGT slows down considerably. Since SX changes the IGT to be more of a RTA without loads timer, the IGT will now longer slow down. Everything else should remain unaffected.
To keep the new IGT as close as possible how a Times without Loads timer would work, a time penalty is now added for each rewatched cutscene during the fight.
The following changes were made to not only improve the quality of life for IL attempts, but also to keep Story and IL runs more in sync.
When you first encounter a partner character, there's a quick intro that plays to introduce them. This gets annoying after many attempts so the intros have been turned off. This also allows the player to focused more on movement for the sections they would normally be stopped in, just like if they were doing multiple IL attempts.
Kinda self explanatory, no longer needing to worry about lives makes IL a lot more bearable. This only applies to the Select Mode. The Story Style game modes work the same as the original. To account for the handicap that is available in the Egg Dealer fights, holding D-Pad Up while selecting one of the Egg Dealer levels will enable a mode where you will start with infinite 0 lives.
If you have all 5 keys for a level, the Secret Door will now automatically open, just like it would if you had opened it normally, and reentered the area after a death. This was how one could speed up IL in the original game. Now it's available to everyone without needing to interact with it first. This also allows for Story Mode and ILs to use similar strategies.
Holding D-Pad Up while entering a level will place you in the Expert Mode Variant of the level for easier access and practice of those level layouts.
Holding the Z button when entering a stage in select mode will unlock various commands which can be used to improve practicing the game.
The following changes were made to the default Dolphin configuration to improve game performance.
Included in the download is a set of recommended settings that have been tested to provide a good gameplay experience. If that is not the case for you, reach out to let us know.
Since Shadow SX and the console Shadow releases will not be comparable, Shadow SX will utilize the Dolphin Emulator's ability to run at a higher clock frequency for better performance and a smoother experience. This should play similar to running on Nintendont on a Nintendo Wii.
The Dolphin Emulator has a setting to allow faster reading of the ROM data. So instead of having to match a similar rate to the GameCube disc drive, the emulator can read and load data much faster allowing vastly shorter load times. Normally getting from the end of Westopolis to the beginning of Glyphic Canyon takes a little over a minute on Wii. With this change, it now takes 48 seconds.
When playing on Dolphin, the bloom effect is a bit stronger than what is visible on console. A change was made to reduce this back to expected levels.
These changes are optional settings:
Along with re-managing the IGT time, I have been able to set aside some space to keep track of the current total time for a Story or Expert Mode runs. Currently this is a option that will swap out the IGT timer spot when enabled.
New file runs will now be able to skip cutscenes without needing to view the cutscene first like in the original. There is an option to disable this change if you wanted to run a New Game run like you would on the original, notably for runs like All Endings and 100% No Library where cutscenes have an effect on the run.
The glossy effect on characters can be left alone, reduced, or removed.
Different Textures are available that allow swapping out the default GameCube buttons with PlayStation or Xbox images.
When using GameCube controls, no changes are needed. But if you are using a PlayStation or Xbox style controller, turning this option on will allow you to control the game just as you would on the Xbox or PS2 versions of the game.
Use the color adjuster tool in the Shadow SX Launcher to customize the color of Shadow for a more personalized experience.
Repository for the launcher currently at https://github.com/ShadowSpeedrun/ShadowSXLauncher