Mario Kart DS - Finals Rules

#1

For the 3 people who are curious, here is some information on how Mario Kart will be run at Vegas for Evo Finals.

There will be one Time Trial for qualifiers, and the track will be unknown until the day of the tournament (only I know which track it will be…). The top X times will qualify. At West and East, it was 8 people, but we may include more for Vegas, depending on number of entrants. If there is more than 8, we will run some semis to whittle the field down to top 8 from Vegas (making 16 total with the 4 from West and the 4 from East).

UPDATE: 07-26-2006
The beta schedule for Evo Finals came out, and there seems like there will be no Time Trial qualifications on Saturday. Saturday will be reserved simply for the Semis to weed the number of players down to the top 8 for Sunday. So if you want to qualify for Mario Kart, get to Evo Finals on Friday to submit your Time Trial score.
(end update)

The format in which we will whittle down the playing field is through a series of 4-man races. Each 4-man race will be played on 4 random tracks (4 from a pre-selected group of tracks drawn out of a hat), and the two players with the highest point total will advance until we get our top 8 players for the two final races (really, we’re playing until we get the top 4 finishers, but the 5th through 8th finishers also need to play to figure out what place they finish in). The top 4 finishers will compete in the final final race to determine spots 1-4. The next top 4 finishers will also race for the 5-8 spots. In case of ties, the people who are tied will have a one-track race-off.

Actually, the main reason for this post is that I am actually one of the qualifiers from Evo West, and so to prevent an unfair advantage for me, I will present to all Mario Kart players the 16 tracks that were chosen to qualify for the random drawn-out-of-a-hat selection to be raced in the semis and finals. That way, I don’t have any knowledge in advance that no one else has, to prevent any accusations of cheating or conspiracy (as is popular here at shoryuken.com). So without further ado, here are the 16 tracks:

  1. Delfino Square (Flower Cup)
  2. Waluigi Pinball (Flower Cup)
  3. Shroom Ridge (Flower Cup)
  4. DK Pass (Star Cup)
  5. Tick-Tock Clock (Star Cup)
  6. Mario Circuit (Star Cup)
  7. Airship Fortress (Star Cup)
  8. Wario Stadium (Special Cup)
  9. Peach Gardens (Special Cup)
  10. Bowser Castle (Special Cup)
  11. Rainbow Road (Special Cup)
  12. Frappe Snowland (Banana Cup)
  13. Bowser Castle 2 (Banana Cup)
  14. Choco Mountain (Leaf Cup)
  15. Banshee Boardwalk (Lightning Cup)
  16. Yoshi Circuit (Lightning Cup)

Within a single 4-man race, the tracks will not be repeated. But between the various 4-man races, there is definitely the need to repeat tracks if there are a larger number of semis to be played out before Sunday.

The other 16 tracks that were left out were done so pretty much at my discretion. If you really have a beef with a certian track being left off, post here and I’ll explain why I left it off. I’ll expalin it, and you can tell me why I’m wrong, but I’m warning you now: don’t expect to change my mind. I want these set now so no final last minute changes causes anyone grief.

  • James
#2

james, does that mean that one of these tracks will be the time trial course?

#3

Maybe… maybe not. There is no guarantee that it will be. :slight_smile: That’s all I’ll say.

  • James
#4

Good stuff James. I’ll get to practicing.

–GCII

#5

Chensor and I in finals in our Luigi + Vaccum karts. Haha.

By the way, the top 8 who qualified both in EVO West & East bypass the time trials at World right?

#6

Quick question on the MKDS schedule: What days should I be there for MKDS? Does it start on Friday or Saturday? Will it be like Evo West where the time trials were on Saturday and the finals on Sunday?

#7

Actually, only top 4 for Mario Kart. If you look on the rules page, it was originally top 2. But it was increased to 4.

Bring on the Vacuum Kart. :slight_smile:

  • James
#8

Most likely time trial qualifications will run throughout Firday and Saturday. If we do decide to increase the number of qualifiers for MKDS at Vegas above 8, we may have some semis running on Saturday, so I can’t guarantee Time Trials wil run all of Saturday. But most likely, at least Saturday morning will be running Time Trials. But getting there Friday gives you much more time to keep trying to get your best time in the Time Trials.

  • James
#9

Thanks for the info!

Is there a detailed schedule for MKDS? Do we have to show up on Friday for anything? What time on Saturday does the time trial qualifications start and end? I’m trying to make it, but I’ll have to take off from work at least 1 day (Saturday), maybe 2 (for Friday).

Also, I’m curious as to why Luigi’s Mansion and Peach Circuit were left off? I think those would make better courses than Shroom Ridge (so many vehicles) and Bowser’s Castle (rotating bar can get ugly). Not expecting to change your mind :stuck_out_tongue:

Overall, I think you did a great job with the course selection though! I’m glad to see the big sandbagging courses (DH, SG) are gone :slight_smile:

#10

“So-so Combos” now? =p

#11

Just a note: looks like the scedules ar out, and Qualifiers for the TIme Trial portion of Mario Kart will ONLY BE ON FRIDAY. So if you want to compete in Mario Kart, get your ass to Evo by Friday.

Husky217: In regards to the exclusion of Luigi’s Mansion and Peach Circuit, I chose to exclude all courses from the first cups of both the Nitro and Retro Grand Prix. They are, in general, easier to drive than other tracks,and I wanted to make sure most ofe tracks included were a little tougher. But I’ll be honest: the exclusion of Luigi’s Mansion was a tough one, since I do like the track a lot. :slight_smile:

Saotome: Inside joke that really only me, Mike Z, and Thongboy Bebop know about. :slight_smile:

  • James
#12

One more question: Do we only get ONE try for a Time Trial that we can submit on Friday? If so, that’s kind of tough, but oh well, nothing you can do about that, I guess.

Random comment: Time Trials used as a qualifier seem strange, as actual races have way more variables than an empty track (items, other racers gunning for you, etc., plus you get 2 mushrooms in time trials at pole position.) Usually when I see time trials used for a qualifier, they also determine your pole position, but that’s way too complicated for a game like MKDS, heh.

#13

i will be cheering for james chen.

bronson.

#14

Well, I think for qualifying it’s ok. They used to do it in F1 years ago, where you had to qualify to race. It wasnt just to determine your grid spot, but also if you ran the race at all.

I see sort of as, if you have the raw speed in Time Trials, you’re deserving of a spot to race. This is all fairly on a basic level, though (like you said about determining pole position and grid order and such).

#15

You can actually keep submitting scores, as long as they get better and better. Get your initial time up, then keep racing and everytime you get a better score, bring it up to us, and we will update it on the top 8 board.

#16

Time and staff seems to have been a concern, running MKDS as a racing tournament from start to finish would require a timeslot, as you can see from the schedule thread, it’s pretty full =P.

#17

James, how are you blending in those who qualify in Vegas with the eight Evo West and Evo East qualifiers? Is it random, or a system?

–GCII

#18

THey’ll get tossed into the bracket that one of the Cannons will have to be filled out. Qualifiers from West and East have their slots, and the appropriate four players will race. I think we will try to spread out the West qualifiers from each other and the East qualifiers from each other, so they don’t have to play each other again.

  • James
#19

Totally understood.

So, for qualifying you can do time trials all day and at the end of the day, those who qualify are determined?

#20

Yes. And you can qualify as many times as possible to make the cut or improve your positioning.

–GCII