Racing on twitch with Beyond Chaos

I'll say what I know about racing Beyond Chaos. There was a full-game race a long time ago with three participants, they used different seeds and only one of them finished after 20 hours. That was before the game guide was generated, though, so being able to consult the guide might cut the time significantly. They were also speedrunners, not rom hackers, so they had depth of knowledge but not breadth. However, they didn't randomize monsters, which is the easiest way to extend the playtime of a randomization.

The speed cave and ancient cave modes have save points scattered throughout the dungeon now, so they're a lot more race-friendly than they once were. Also, in version 58, the cave modes now generate game guides, although they don't list shops or treasure chests. I don't think the ancient cave can be completed in one sitting though. The speed cave is nice because it cuts out all of the cutscenes, but the downside is that there aren't any places where you can take a break.

Since you guys are thinking of doing an elimination round first, maybe the first round should have a shorter race, with fewer flags or maybe only partially completing the game. Maybe something like...

• Round 1: Vanilla-ish Speedcave with glitches allowed, maybe only randomize things like characters' abilities and espers.
• Round 2: Full-chaos Speedcave including randomized enemies and patching exploits.

It's also a good idea to share some information with each other during the race. This is a common practice for randomizer races in other games. It helps keep the gap between 1st and last place from widening too much, and people can enjoy talking about the game with each other.