How to host a local VG tournament

[chrataxe]

Title says it all pretty much...let me explain a bit...

I'm completely ignorant when it comes to the VG. I do understand a little bit and can pick up what I need to know quickly, if and when I need it. Organizing a TCG tournament is pretty simple: more or less, I decide the format (constructed, draft, sealed, etc) and the players show up with either a deck or money to buy packs for sealed. The VG seems a bit more complicated....so, if anything I ask sounds down right dumb, I apologize. But here are so me question I'm curious about while contemplating a tournament to give away BW2.

1. What are standard formats for VG?

2. Is there a way (locally) to autolevel to 50 like big tournaments? If not, any guidance?

3. Is there a way authenticate Pokemon (locally) or is it more of a trust system? If not, any guidance?

4. Is there a preferred sync/link up method locally? Like, pairing people online some how, or are they just paired, then sync'ed together at the table.


Any other issues I should be concerned about that I'm just too ignorant to know, please add. Also, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping to have a huge "prerelease" party for BW2, having a video game tournament giving away one of each as prizes. Nothing in stone yet, just weighing the pros, cons, and feasibility before jumping into it.

 

[Kayle]

1. What are standard formats for VG?

There's the VGC format, which is pretty obvious. But that's meant for Doubles. You could play VGC Singles, though, that's a relatively balanced format this time around.

Alternatively, there are the "tiers" most people use for Singles play, but that kind of thing is complicated for people who aren't in the competitive "know". I'd really just advice VGC '12, even if you're doing Singles.

2. Is there a way (locally) to autolevel to 50 like big tournaments? If not, any guidance?

Battles played on infrared automatically set the levels of every Pokemon to 50.

3. Is there a way authenticate Pokemon (locally) or is it more of a trust system? If not, any guidance?

The trust/honor system SHOULD be enough. Make sure everyone knows that hacks are not allowed, and you should be good to go; anyone bringing something that's obviously illegal will be caught quickly by their opponent (I hope) and you can be made aware of it so you can take appropriate action.

If you're a little paranoid about people, though, read on.

I don't know of any way to locally determine the legality of a Pokemon; well-made hacks will be very hard to diagnose. One of the best ways to determine whether a Pokemon is hacked, though, is to check the "met at" information. Legendaries usually have very specific "met at" criteria, especially Event legends like Celebi or Jirachi, and even if you don't know them off the top of your head it can be pretty easy to see when someone was just too lazy to make it look authentic. Some people are REALLY lazy and just leave even normal Pokemon with things like "met at -----------", or saying they were met at lv. 1 rather than hatched.

As far as confirming the legality of a Pokemon moveset, there's no really time-effective way to do it. The best thing I could think of is to bring up a Pokemon's page in Serebii and skim the listing of moves to make sure that each move is listed there, but that might neglect obscure legality problems (like the inability to get Stealth Rock and Sucker Punch onto a Bisharp). You might be able to use something like a simulator client, but that would be even more of a hassle.

4. Is there a preferred sync/link up method locally? Like, pairing people online some how, or are they just paired, then sync'ed together at the table.

I'm not quite sure I know what you're asking, but as long as you're playing BW, Infrared should be sufficient for linking up people - it's fairly precise (since you have to hold your DSes close together so that they know who they're up against) but gives pretty good range (across a large room).

 

[solo59486]

I thought the game already has a ban list installed in itself. It will tell you which pokemon are not allowed in a competition if you have that pokemon with you or if you read the info on it.

 

[Kayle]

I'm not aware of there being any "ban list" for multiplayer gameplay.

I know there are Pokemon that are not allowed on the Battle Subway, and similar events, but the game doesn't actually prevent you from taking literally anything onto Wifi or Infrared matches.

 

[Benzo]

One thing that will help is to use the flat battle rules. It will set the battles up for the format and rules. When you enter the union room to battle, select "battles for two" - then select "double battle" then select "flat battle"-

This is the format choice battle system for the games among a wide range of VG tournaments.

It follows the battle subway rules, level DOWN Pokemon to 50, and sets the battle rules of bring 6 use 4.

I highly recommend this for making the battles fair, and it will keep everyone on the same page.

The battle box is an option as well.

 

[solo59486]

I'm not aware of there being any "ban list" for multiplayer gameplay.

I know there are Pokemon that are not allowed on the Battle Subway, and similar events, but the game doesn't actually prevent you from taking literally anything onto Wifi or Infrared matches.

Well for official vgc events the game will tell you that you cannot bring this certain pokemon into the battle and it also says it when I try battling my friend in the Wi-Fi club and over the Global battle station (or whatever its called).

 

[vaporeon]

If you're trying to do a weekly tournament then you can just setup what ever rules you like but have knowledge of standard rules as well as official rule, you'll know how to make a set of rules for everyone can follow. The bad thing is the game does not set the auto level for 'open' rules

For me, the set of rules I follow would be

Level 50/100 all
Sleep Clause (Players can put 2 or more Pokemon to sleep on any team but players can use rest)
Freeze Clause (This one is hard to enforce because its random. People may not follow this because it is random)
Species Clause (No same Pokemon can be on the same team)
Lati@s Clause (Can only use Latios or Latias on your team but not both)
Ubers Clause (This is up for debate.)
Pokemon Specific Item Clause ( Items like Soul Dew, Light Ball, Deepseaclaw, etc)
Accuracy/Evasion Mod (Attacks like Sand Attack, Flash and Double Team.
Self-Destruct/Explosion Clause (If the game ends due to a player exploding and both players last Pokemon or KO'ed, that player who use the move loses)
That Death Song( Can't be use if the opponent has only 1 Pokemon remaining. Not sure on this though)

It looks like a lot but its really just what most players think is the most fair outside of official tournaments. As far as ubers are, you may allow some. I'd let people use Lugia, Ho-Oh and Mewtwo and such against me because to me, some are not as broken as say, Darkrai or Arceus.

keep in mind that these are just fan made rules. The game will not check for these so players would have to know them or be told to follow them.

 

[Nintendan]

We really need some sort of PBR2 for Wii or Wii U with custom gametypes saving and hack checks. That'd be amazing

 

[FirestormXVI]

Use the VG - Modified ruleset. It's the official ruleset, the only one that can be used for sanctioned events, and the one most people are likely to have teams for. With how much harder it is to prepare a team for the video game and how few local events there are, if you want the best turnout, use the official ruleset.

Local battles will level Pokemon down to 50, but players need to train them up to 50 themselves.

I have a friend working on some hardware that will help league owners check legality, but for now it will likely need to be on the honour system.

You'll need to do pairing yourself using the software you use for TCG events or something else.

 

[ultimatedra]

Firestorm and several others have been doing some AMAZING work for TO's and League Leaders to run tournaments locally. I never thought something as robust and user-friendly as this program that is being developed would happen for years, but it is coming out this season and it will make life SO much easier for everybody who runs VG tournaments. My hope when it is finished is that it will get hosted here to get the word out and help grow the VG scene.

Firestorm and the others deserve a round of applause for all their hard work developing this and here is my hope for a better future for live VG tournaments!

[GAL=53585] Some awesome work is being done for TO's and League Leaders everywhere![/GAL]
[GAL=53587] The software is easy to use AND you can specify your rules. Heck you can force everybody to play with a specific pokemon. So many options for your tournaments![/GAL]
[GAL=53586] Able to Register a tournament AND hack check at the same time? YES PLEASE![/GAL]

 

[bullados]

How does it interact with the actual game carts?

 

[vaporeon]

Would I be able to get a copy of this software? I also would like to know how this works for game carts because it seems pretty dangerous. Anything that can check Trash Bytes can be bad. Not sure how that would even be a valid hack checker since the data is always changing.

 

[pokemonrocks777]

Would I be able to get a copy of this software? I also would like to know how this works for game carts because it seems pretty dangerous. Anything that can check Trash Bytes can be bad. Not sure how that would even be a valid hack checker since the data is always changing.

Same here i need this

 

[ultimatedra]

How does it interact with the actual game carts?

Requires an adapter that you can purchase for $20-$30

Would I be able to get a copy of this software?

The software is still being developed by Firestorm and others (not me, I am just relaying info) so it isn't yet available.

I also would like to know how this works for game carts because it seems pretty dangerous.

How can it seem dangerous if you have no knowledge of how it works?

Anything that can check Trash Bytes can be bad.

it can CHECK trash bytes, as in it looks at them, not changing them - so I don't see why this is bad in any way. Trash bytes generally happen when transferring a pokemon from one gen up to another, so checking them is just fine. Even TPCi's hack check looks at trash bytes.

Not sure how that would even be a valid hack checker since the data is always changing.

Once a pokemon is generated, the data is set in stone except for the EV's and moves, therefor your "data is always changing" bit is wrong. If the data was always changing, then how could TPCi do hack checks? From what has been seen from TPCi's hack check, this program can look for a whole lot more than theirs can.

 

[vaporeon]

Well, what I mean is, like you said, when a Pokemon is sent from 1 gen to another, their values change. I had a hack check tell me my lugia I got from XD told me it was hacked because of how the data changes. It seems to do weird things with event Pokemon though and legendary Pokemon.

I just want to know how this would interact with the Pokemon games because of that. I'll check it out once its released because I'd like to hold local tournaments and this would be a great tool for me to use.

 

[FirestormXVI]

Woah woah woah I am not developing that! I do not have anywhere close to the brains to work that out ;D I'm just friends with the folks who do.