[CosmicFalcon]

Ok guys here it is. The planning thread. This whole thing happening is still a ways off (talking next summer or later) so planning shouldn't really officially begin (i.e. I wouldn't tell GameMarathons about it until ages from now). So try and keep this on the Q-T (ideally this thread would be in EG but not all those interested can get in there).


wtf is this shit

So 'Game Marathons' are becoming pretty big things. (See: www.gamemarathons.com and www.thespeedgamers.com). Recently there was a Sonic Marathon (which is what enlightened a lot of us to the phenomenon) but it wasn't all that great. TSC could do it much better.

I gave the suggestion that TSC should do one! Now, getting a decent number of us in one place is tricky, but as TSG (The Speed Gamers) have shown with their Metroid Marathon, cohosting across the pond is not an issue. Ideally we want to get 2 or 3 people in each location, and have 3 or 4 locations. That would be a good size, I think.

The idea would be to take 48 or 72 hours (or some other arbitrary length of time) and run through as many Sonic games as possible. We divvy up the games to different players, come up with some rota for sleeping (so we don't die). The whole thing gets broadcast on Ustream.tv or similar, and we try and raise a bunch of money for a charity - the basic concept behind all marathons.


The Game List

EDIT: Games are to be played in release order. If you disagree, go ahead and say so.
Those listed in square brackets are not, as of yet, in the final game roster. I'm only listing the very main series as in the final roster at this early stage.
Those marked with an asterisk (*) could be played as bonus games, placed after the end of the marathon.
Those marked with a circumflex (^) have no current method of being played on a home console.
I have begun to attribute game completion estimations. I do not necessarily know how right I am lol. Please input.

Sonic 1 MD - 1:00
[Sonic 1 GG]
[Sonic 2 GG]
Sonic 2 MD - 1:30
Sonic CD - ?
[Sonic Chaos]
[Sonic Spinball]
Sonic 3 & Knuckles - 3:00
[Sonic Drift]
[Sonic Triple Trouble]
[Sonic Drift 2]
[Knuckles' Chaotix]
[Tails' Sky Patrol]
[Tails Adventure]
[Sonic Labyrinth]
[Sonic the Fighters]
[Sonic 3D Blast]
[Sonic Blast] <-- Wait what is this?
[Sonic Jam]
[Sonic R]
Sonic Adventure (DX) - 5:00
[Sonic Pocket Adventure]
[Sonic Shuffle]*
Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle) - 4:00
[Sonic Advance]
[Sonic Advance 2]
[Sonic Battle]
Sonic Heroes - 3:00
[Sonic Advance 3]
[Sonic Rush]^
Shadow the Hedgehog - 3:00 - stories???
[Sonic Riders]
[Sonic Rivals]^
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) - 5:00
[Sonic and the Secret Rings]
[Sonic Rush Adventure]^
[Sonic Rivals 2]^
[Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity]
Sonic Unleashed - ?

Current Roster: 10 games - 26:00+

The Players

Post if you want to get involved. I'll hold off on even creating this list 'til I have names from here. Involvement can range from playing, to commentating, chat moderation, web design, etc etc. Let us know.

This section will also include information on what hardware and software people have available, to see how we'll set it up.



The Publicity

I know they can't play, but we really should get TSS in on this. Summer of Sonic, from what little I've seen of it (read: I read about it on UKR) seems to have been successful. They have good PR links with Sega Europe, and it would be awesome to be able to get the kind of involvement in this that TSG had for their Metroid marathon.

Like I said, I'm not about to go over to GameMarathons.com and announce our intentions to do this. We will have to a fair bit in advance, if nothing else but to make sure no one else does another Sonic marathon before we do. I may try and get in contact with someone from TSG in case they have one in the pipeline, etc. Everything on the down-low.


The Cause

Really we're just doing this because we love to play, we see what fun people have doing and watching marathons, and want to have a go. But we've also seen how much people are willing to donate, and we could really collect a lot for a good cause if we can make this successful. The default option is Child's Play - it's a charity, it's gaming related. Let's see what ideas everyone has. If only there was a fund for making Sonic good again...


Okay, that's all the info I need to give I think. This post will get heavily edited as time goes by. Gogogo.

[Shadowfan]

I'd like to help but there really isn't much I can do. Also, if you want TSC to be the first to have marathoning, then in my opinion you shouldn't try to confide in other sonic websites, they might decide to steal your idea and beat you to it. 

[P.P.A.]

Could you explain what this whole thing is first please? :(

[CosmicFalcon]

Shadowfan: Drumming up publicity like that wouldn't happen 'til much later, when we have a lot of stuff already set up. We'd be in with GameMarathons.com and such like (I am sort of in the process of making a name for myself there), and by that point the fact we were going to do a Sonic Marathon would be well established. Anyone else trying to copy us would stick out like a sore thumb, causing problems for them rather than us. Hopefully.

PPA: Sorry. This came from a discussion in the chat, based on all these marathons we've been watching lately. I updated the post with background info.

[Staf]

I suppose I could do something or another. I've got every Sonic game on Nintendo systems and a capture card. I've also got the site http://www.blueblur.org/ which may have some use for getting the idea out in a years time or whatnot.

[Spinballwizard]

Were we actually able (which I feel may be doubtful) I'd totally do Mean Bean Machine. Because I can. I mean I could play everything I own (everything for Genesis, GBA sans Battle, DS sans M&S, PS2 sans Riders ZG, and GC).

But yeah. This requires TSC members to plan things. Things that aren't necessarily run-based often take a back seat.

But as for future publicity... SDA might stick out as well, particularly if we play for speed. Live single-segment speedruns might catch their attention. Though they'd cause a lot of frustration, especially for the perfectionists around here.

[Shadow Jacky]

well then they just have to understand this is for entertainment as well and to make this last for whatever amount of time for the marathon.  I mean most of these games only (the 2d titles) can be wiped out in around 30-60 minutes in a speed run, then that leaves the 3d games and other stuff and that's all in a day or less :/

stuff needs to be planned, what's being done in these games, other crap I don't really know too much about since I haven't watched many marathons >_>

something I would like to participate in if by the time it comes to it I have the free time.

[P.P.A.]

I can't play too long as my nerves need a break once in a while.
I'd be willing to consecutively play through Sonic 1, Sonic CD and Sonic Chaos though. And Sonic R, if you define "playthrough" for the latter.

[Groudon]

I'd probably tackle Shadow and maybe Sonic R (but I am NOT using any glitches).  What I was thinking for Shadow is 5 paths that goes through each level at least once, then a playthrough of the 4 skipped bosses in Level Select, followed by the Last Story and maybe Expert Mode.  Since my playthrough ideas would have to go through Space Gadget (and I refuse to wait 5 minutes on that and do the Hero mission on Lost Impact), the bottom paths will not mirror the top paths (due to an excessive wait on one mission and something super ridiculous on another mission).

In addition, after next June, I'll be done with school for good, so I'll be more willing to travel wherever is necessary as long as it's somewhere in the states (the closer to where I live, the better).

[Stefan]

I'd love to do SA2:B, and could probably do SADX too, whatever the goals are for playing. I can easily get mediums to record by the deadline.

[The T]

I went through GHZ and made a list of all the games that are potentially usable, in release order. Basically, the only games I didn't include were games like Mean Bean Machine and Sonic Pinball Party. The only game I didn't add which I might consider would be SegaSonic the Hedgehog, but I didn't include it because it's A. arcade only and B. has no legitimate way of being played [ie, emulator only]. All the other "emulator-only" games we discussed could at least have a legitimate copy owned.

I know some of the games are not the most desirable to play [G Sonic] or may not even be feasible for a run [Sonic Shuffle?] so the list is entirely open for discussion.

Sonic 1 MD
Sonic 1 GG
Sonic 2 GG
Sonic 2 MD
Sonic CD
Sonic Chaos
Sonic Spinball
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic Drift
Sonic Triple Trouble
Sonic Drift 2
Knuckles' Chaotix
Tails' Sky Patrol
Tails Adventure
Sonic Labyrinth
Sonic the Fighters
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic Blast
Sonic Jam [World]
Sonic R
Sonic Adventure DX
Sonic Pocket Adventure
Sonic Shuffle
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
Sonic Advance
Sonic Advance 2
Sonic Battle
Sonic Heroes
Sonic Advance 3
Sonic Rush
Shadow the Hedgehog
Sonic Riders
Sonic Rivals
Sonic '06
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Sonic Rush Adventure
Sonic Rivals 2
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Sonic Unleashed [will be out by next summer, afaik]

Some other notes would be that we'd probably need a way to record PSP for the Rivals games, but there are some neat tools for that, I believe.

Spinballwizard, you'd want to do Mean Bean? If so, we could probably add it. I only excluded it because I figured no one would want to, and it's semi-far removed...

[Combo]

I would love to do one for sonic advance 2 :(. Dont know what I would have to do + dont have proper materials to record stuff + no GBAdv SP :(

[The T]

For GBA games, that player would need access to a Gamecube and GBA player. [As well as a capture card and a PC that can handle it.]

I had another idea, that since it will be in the middle of summer, maybe a few of the players could meet up at someone's place IRL. I don't mind travelling at all, any distance, and I've wanted to take a road trip for a long time. We could still kind of have like 2 or 3 groups set up, since we're going to have a UK group and an American group, at least.

[Selphos]

Wait, what about that Mario marathon where they were shit-tastic but racked up way too much money? Is it a good idea to breeze through the levels in minutes?

[douglas]

I am willing to chip in, obviously on the 2D games unless you want the thing to run like forever >_>

[Staf]

When you have enough games to last a normal person a week, it's a good idea to go fast.

[Selphos]

Ah, okay. >_>

[Staf]

Also it's a way for us to get more attention. Just going through a bunch of Sonic games isn't that hard. Having the best Sonic speed runners flying through the games would be much more interesting.

[The T]

Well, we don't want *the best* because we want the runs to not be glitch-focussed. We're also thinking about getting good endings for most/all the games, depending on how feasible it is. So the focus would be on skillful play, not outright speed.

[ChaoRC]

I have a Gameboy Player for the Gamecube. I also bought the Gamecube-Gameboy connection thingy that lets you use the Gamboy Advance/SP as a controller. I also have 4 Sonic game gear games (Chaos, Drift 2, Sonic 2, and Mean Bean Machine, which has an Extra Mode not present in the Genesis version). But my game gear is dead now, so unless somebody else brings thiers, i.e., buys me one I guess we wouldn't bring this for discussion at this point. The GG games are available in Sonic Adventure DX/Gems Collection, so camera issues will not be present; so it's up for discussion which way we want to record them.

If I will be able to make this (depending on where this will be located) I'll gladly play Sonic Battle for sure (deletion of story mode may be problematic for Emerl cards), maybe a few levels of the Advance games, and Mean Bean Machine GG.

The T- I"m pretty sure that P.P.A. would do Pinball Party, so don't count it out just yet.

[Selphos]

Yeah RC, PPA has been mentioning Pinball Party quite a bit lately >_>

PINBALL PARTY CHARTS

PINBALL PARTY CHARTS

PINBALL PARTY CHARTS

[CosmicFalcon]

Ok, good to see some healthy interest.

On IRL locations: I would like, if possible, to have groups rather than individuals at each location. Not to be discriminative, it's just that a group makes for a more interesting watch. Where there are small numbers of people or individuals, it would be a good idea to 'co-host'. Have a voice over feed from a player elsewhere. The number of games played in each place should probably fit a proportion to the number of players there - think of it as a certain number of games per player.

To that end, Douglas, would you be opposed to meeting up with RPG and I for the UK team?

On speed vs ... er... unspeed: I think the best way to put it is that we should demonstrate skilled gameplay. That means, no offence to those Canadian kids, not getting to the Carnival Night drum and going "wtffffff". This doesn't necessarily mean HIGH SPEEDS. Depending on our finalised game list, we will want to try and fit a set time frame (e.g. 72 hours), or maybe aim to finish ahead of schedule and do like TSG - go back for extra completion. The problem with many games is this involves replaying levels etc... we'll see.

On handheld titles: Gameboy Player is a must: webcam feeds are not great. Seeing as we have such a wide range of games to choose from, I think we should consider the idea of omitting handheld titles that have no way to be played in such a way that there can be a capture card feed. On the other hand, I really want there to be a way to get an AV signal out of a DS... I may do some research into it (I have said, if I get a DS lite (which I might) I will happily disect my DS.

On people claiming games: At this early stage I want this thread to work more as an idea pool. It is good to know what games certain people are willing to do, but we are a long way from allocating games. We need, rather, to get our thoughts straight on what exactly it is we are doing. This is not going to happen overnight.

To that end, I would like to get this thread started on some specific points. Such as:

Level of completion
This is mostly applicable to Genesis and Advance titles. Primarily, are we going to be going for Emeralds? In Sonic 2 and S3K, this adds the complication of making Super Sonic available. S3K doesn't make this a problem, S2 does as transformation is unavoidable. It has been suggested we should only go for 'good endings' where it adds more gameplay (Doomsday, Moon, etc). It would be nice to get Emeralds, though.

There is also how much we are going to play certain multi-character games. In Advances, the characters all do much the same thing: we could just play Sonic. In Shadow, we have to pick some routes I think. There's been a couple of suggestions about this, including mine.


What's in a name?
I think we need something better than 'Sonic Marathon' to name this project. Something snazzy like "Project Speedway" or something I dunno. Once we get a name it won't be long before I register a domain: it is cheap to get one for a year, it will mean we can put up some ambiguous placeholder and it will solidify our intentions. I shall get on to Rolken/Gerbil/whoever about using TSC as a webhost too.


What are we playing?
We need to start trimming this list of games down. If anyone has any opinions on what is obligatory, go ahead and let it be known and I'll update the lists. Then we need to start deciding what we want to include from the not-so-obligatory lists, if someone really wants a game in post and explain why. What we include very much depends on...

How long are we playing for?
I can see this being 72 hours minimum. 96 could be possible, but we have to consider people's commitments.


Finally (for now):

What are we playing for?
Charities, people. Hopefully we can make this big, and if we can we can raise some decent cash. I want to see it go to a decent cause.


Go forth and discuss.

[The T]

If there are games like Battle or Advance where people absolutely refuse to delete their save files, we could always try to find cheap copies of them at Gamestop, and then raffle off those carts as prizes to people donating.

For Game Gear games, yes, SADX/Gems collection is almost definetly the required method. I can't imagine recording off screen for those.

PSP recording should use something like this or this or this. Do we have anyone who wants to do the PSP games?

For Pinball Party, does the game actually have a story mode and ending? If so, how long does it take to complete? I assumed it was like a typical pinball game, and didn't really end...

Also, I love what they're doing on the Metroid run right now: Now that everything's completed, they're replaying Prime, while another player plays Prime Pinball in the top corner. Once we complete it, we could have 2 completions [like, Advance games and emblem collection for Adventure(s)] going on at the same time.

[Staf]

There is a story mode in Pinball Party. The last (or second to last?) level is a bugger. You need to play through all the stages without losing to pass it. The story is a tournament in the game. Sonic plays against so and so to get a score before time is up or something like that.

[The T]

Would PPA be able to do that relatively quickly, and fail-free? It just seems like, Pinball Party would be the kind of game that... wouldn't be fun to watch over and over... no offense meant. I'm all for it if it can be done well.

[Stefan]

I think that, in a game like s1, it would add a whole lot to have the player go for all emeralds. Even though it changes nothing but the ending, it displays the high quality level of play we're looking for.

Assuming I do play, I think it would be nigh-impossible for me to meet up with an irl team. I would only be 17 years old, likely with a few other commitments to hold to. Not only that, I live pretty far from the rest of American TSC; I think only Rolken is within less than 10 hours driving distance from me (I'm in New Mexico, lawl).

Anyway, I'd love to participate.

I think it would be a great idea to try and advertise this well in advance, and get it significantly hyped up on the internet. With like a year remaining until we actually do this, it shouldn't be too hard to get a decent sized crowd ready for it. Anyway, advertising will be -key- to a successful marathon. We'd have to find out what would bring viewers, popularity, and, ultimately, money for charity.

To The T: Speedy play will be nearly a necessity with the library of games you'd want accomplished. Also, speedy play does not necessarily have to be synonymous with 'glitch abuse'. Though, I don't think glitches should be taboo, they can be entertaining to watch as well.

[P.P.A.]

I perhaps would do Pinball Party if you, well, actually could "complete" it. Would that mean just playing all the stages of the two tables once, or playing edlessly racking up points until you go game over?

[Selphos]

PPA the latter would take way too fucking long

[douglas]

I am pro a Team UK meetup, and am willing to waive the restraining order for the duration :)

[Selphos]

...Restraining order? Do I even want to know?

If it involves RPG I probably don't