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USA [May 27-29] Combo Breaker 2016 (Chicago, IL)

more importantly, that's 3m52s/5 = 47s per round, assuming all matches go to 5. If some go to 3 then they can take a leisurely 1m17s, but no more.
 
Yeah, I was honestly kind of surprised that they chose top 16 for a 2 hour Sunday block instead of just top 8? There's almost no way we could run that entire thing on stream, and needing to run things off-stream and/or unrecorded would be really really unsatisfying imo. Hopefully we can get a top 16 to 8 block somewhere before then like we did last year, even if it means needing to start pools before 2 or 3PM each day.
 
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I had multiple lengthy conversations with many people (including @Mike_Z) assuring me SG could easily fit a Top 16 into a 2 hour block. That can and will be adjusted if needed. I'm only as good as my advisors on this one.
 
Oh wow we actually have Sunday finals instead of Saturday that's cool.
 
I checked out the recorded footage for NWM top 8 and it looks like it took about an hour and a half? So I dunno, doesn't seem possible to do all 16, but maybe like top 12 or something? (though maybe that's weird or something I dunno I've only been to one tournament ever)
 
Well, then, @Mike_Z pls weigh in on this. I have no opinion, but the math does seem to point to it being near impossible to fit a 3/5 top 16 into a strict 2 hours.
 
Well, then, @Mike_Z pls weigh in on this. I have no opinion, but the math does seem to point to it being near impossible to fit a 3/5 top 16 into a strict 2 hours.
Doin' math as we speak.
The top 16 we did at UFGTX in 2 hours was 2/3 with 3/5 grand finals, though. So it may actually not fit. That darn Combo Breaker tournament director, nicely giving us everything we asked for... :^P
 
Doin' math as we speak.
The top 16 we did at UFGTX in 2 hours was 2/3 with 3/5 grand finals, though. So it may actually not fit. That darn Combo Breaker tournament director, nicely giving us everything we asked for... :^P
I watched all the 3/5 SG tournament top 8s last month when I was trying to figure out what we could fit in the Revo 2016 stream block, and they all took between 1hr 25mins (when things ran fairly quickly) and 1hr 50mins (when there was a crapload of downtime between matches, and pretty much every set went to the last match, including a reset in grand finals). NWM8 was 1hr 35mins, for a recent example. So 3/5 top 8 in 2 hours seems safe, but top 16 would be really difficult.
 
Yeah 2/3 top 16 seems easily possible in 2 hours but 3/5 is questionable.
 
At this point, consensus seems to be that a 3/5 Top 16 would not fit into 2 hours. I think that means we need to talk about scaling the Sunday stream down to just Top 8, and have the Top-16-through-Top-8 happen beforehand.
 
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I think everyone advising me did 2/3 math. We'll be exploring options when we finalize the schedule.
 
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Can we use that overflow block on Saturday for top 16?
 
I mean, we could figure something out.

Other solutions:
  • Top 16 - Top 8 happens on a side stream just before Top 8 main stage.
  • Top 16 Winners is on main stage simultaneously with Top 16 Losers on a side stream.
  • Harry Potter Movie Marathon
  • Top 16 - Top 8 happens Saturday, saving Top 8 for Sunday main stage.
 
I mean, we could figure something out.

Other solutions:
  • Top 16 - Top 8 happens on a side stream just before Top 8 main stage.
  • Top 16 Winners is on main stage simultaneously with Top 16 Losers on a side stream.
  • Harry Potter Movie Marathon
  • Top 16 - Top 8 happens Saturday, saving Top 8 for Sunday main stage.
I like option #4.
 
Oh, so, this is unrelated to schedule talks, but calls back to tabletop nerd-dom discussed earlier. Are there enough magic nerds going that I should bring my cube?
 
I second number 4.

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I mean, we could figure something out.

Other solutions:
  • Top 16 - Top 8 happens on a side stream just before Top 8 main stage.
  • Top 16 Winners is on main stage simultaneously with Top 16 Losers on a side stream.
  • Harry Potter Movie Marathon
  • Top 16 - Top 8 happens Saturday, saving Top 8 for Sunday main stage.

I'm in favor of a Harry Potter Movie Marathon.
 
Top 16 winners being on main stage would effectively make it top 12 streamed, which stands a much better chance of fitting in time.
However, not to inconvenience Rick TOOOOOOOOOOOO much, I suggest we just do it separately. There is a heck of a lot of SG being streamed from CB.
 
Oh, so, this is unrelated to schedule talks, but calls back to tabletop nerd-dom discussed earlier. Are there enough magic nerds going that I should bring my cube?
you need to chill
 
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Just to clarify, when we're saying "top16/top8" we're referring to the amount of players, right? Not the amount of matches?

If we are talking about top 16 players, then that would mean there are 8 matches total, 4 in winners and 4 in losers to start.
From here, the total amount of winners matches up to before grand finals is 7 matches, and the amount of losers matches up to before grand finals is 14, for a total of 21 plus grand finals which would be 22, or 23 if there is a bracket reset.

All of top 16
22-23 matches of 1-set per match of 3/5 games (8-9 winners, 14 losers)

Top 16 to Top 8 only
12 matches of 1-set per match of 3/5 games (4 winners, 8 losers)

All of Top 8
10-11 matches of 1-set per match of 3/5 games (4-5 winners, 6 losers)

So, if we are splitting top 16 and top 8, you're basically dividing the number of matches in half, but splitting winners and losers of all of top 16 would have more games on the losers stream. The losers stream can also easily get held up by the winners stream, so I don't think that's a good idea.


Math time!
The SG timer is 3 minutes which is 180 seconds.

For argument's sake, let me define the worst and best case scenarios:
Worst case scenario is every game going to time-up and all 5 games being played, including bracket reset.
Best case scenario (realistically) would be half the timer (90 seconds) and every game being 3-0, including bracket reset.

Per set
Worst case: 180 x 5 = 900 seconds per set, or 15 minutes per set
Best case*: 90 x 3 = 270 seconds per set or 4.5 minutes per set

for all of top 16
Worst: 900 * 23 = 20,700 seconds = 345 minutes = 5.75 hours
Best*: 270 * 23 = 6,210 seconds = 103.5 minutes = 1.725 hours

Skullgirls' Tournament Mode cuts down between-match time so drastically that the numbers above are actually pretty close to how the tournament would run in their given scenarios. Other fighting games tend to go on longer due to button checks, round transitions, and needing to repick your character/team every game, on top of any game-specific attribute such as the actual speed of the game or any kind of mechanic that freezes the timer, of which SG's is extremely minimal.

I'm not sure how practical it is to run all of SG top 16 in a single 2-hour block, when considering the grand scheme of things for a tournament of this size, but I think it's definitely possible.
 
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The SG timer is 3 minutes which is 180 seconds.
To put some context on this:
SG from the last button on world select, through a timeout, to the end of match menu is average 3 min 24 sec.
SF5 from the last button on character select, through 3 timeouts, through an unskippable win pose to the end of match menu is average 6 min 13 sec.
So the worst case in SF5 is far longer.

Even though a worst-case 3/5 SG set is 5 * 3:24 = 17 min, a worst-case 2/3 SF5 set is 3 * 6:13 = 18 min 39 sec.
And that excludes the longer loading times for menus / the existence of button checks / etc.

This is just for context of 3/5 timing, rather than whether top 16 will fit.
(I still think it'd fit, but that's mostly average-case gut feeling.)
 
We can't do top 16 in two hours. Sets near the end of the tournament usually take like 10+ minutes and top 8 at NEC took over 2 hours.
 
No. That's the amount of time it took to play out every single set.
 
So what was the largest SG bracket ever again?
 
Do we know how the pre-reg numbers are looking this year?
 
Ok, so I've done some reading; forgive me if I missed specifically what I'm asking about.

So, when it comes to controllers I know that wireless controllers are disallowed (via the CB rules pages) but does this mean I can't bust out my gold ps3 pad with a usb extender and a Brook Converter? I don't even know if they make ps4 wired controllers and honestly I hate that controller.

I'll do what I can to try and fit into the rules but it would suck to get bodied 0-2 playing on an unfamiliar pad. (I'm also in SFV and I might run into the same issue there.)


P.S. My goal is to body Elda Taluda... no but for real I wanna at least kill Painwheel.
 
So since I signed up for Skullgirls, is that the only fighting game I can play during all of combobreaker? I assume there will be people outside or in a room somewhere doing casual fun matches of other games?
 
If it's like last year, any station not in use is open for free play. Just hop on or call next.