If there's one problem we're going to have with getting this off the ground, it's the distinct lack of active players. In the past week or so, only Rusty and I have been active in Genesis Sonics (well, SprintGod submitted a AIZ1 52 with Sonic, but that's one time...). If we look at individual games, we begin to see the problems:
Sonic 1: 5/19 submissions of acceptable standard (GH1, M1, FZ). I'd say the main reason for this is that the game is so precise that nobody bothers with it, and Legogo didn't record any times. So the equation is simple: sombody match Legogo or this won't happen.
EDIT: Legogo has submitted vids for GH2/3, we hope to see a few more, so hopefully this will be ready sometime soon.
Sonic 2: 8/19 submissions of acceptable standard (or 9/38 if you count Knuckles times). The one in question is Joseph Collins' 51 DEZ. << EDIT: We may as well let that one in, I don't think anyone's beaten even that. Besides, we may get a 49 vid from him soon enough.
The fact that this game was so fiercely competed will be its downfall in getting this off the ground. With no less than 6 players in rather close proximity and with records, a lot of active players are required, as many players seem to have concentrated on certain acts/levels (see: boongee74) or indeed, certain characters (see: my Knuckles total compared to my Sonic total). If Knuckles is considered unimportant to such a compilation, I'm basically out of the running, with all my time records set with Knux. =P
Sonic 3: 9/24 submissions of acceptable standard (11/36 if you count Tails). Note: I'm looking at S3 and S&K separately, they bring different issues to the table.
This one is actually progressing all right, Rusty and I still have more vid-able times to submit. The main problem here will be that many of smtp's records remain unmatched, and he's hardly been active since his major overhaul of the S3 records. With basically those 3 players the only ones with records (with the aforementioned exception of SprintGod, yoshifan's MG1, and SonicAD's AI2) this could almost be finished before we start running into trouble.
S&K: 5/22 submissions of acceptable standard (5/35 if you count Tails, and the Doomsday Zone).
Here's where the real issues come into play. Do we record the Doomsday Zone, or do we leave it out for continuity purposes? Or, do we record runs where we do collect the 7 emeralds along the way? If we do that, can anyone think of 7 acts where we can enter Special Stages without loss of time? (I can think of 2, IC2 from Sonic 3 and LR2, getting 5 more will be a challenge though... does FB1's optimal path pick up the 2 emeralds there?) And the gap between S3 and S&K comes into question again - how is that managed (particularly referring to Sonic/Knuckles on MH1)? Another question is raised as to whether Tails is necessary - I reckon he is, and I base that on Sky Sanctuary alone. He certainly has a much greater use in S3 (if you've seen 2:29 MG2, you'll agree. If you haven't, do so now.). So do we join S3 and S&K at all?
Back to the more practical problem of active players, with Rusty holding the high majority of the records, there shouldn't be too much problem getting this half of S3&K done.
Rusty, I leave the rest to you, but I'm willing to help in any capacity, whether administrative or more practical (see: getting the damn video done).
If anyone can think of 7 Special Stages that won't cause a loss of time, that would be nice too. EDIT: LR2 and MH1 are confirmed, but my IC2 vid shows that the optimal route bypasses the Special Stage there.
And, one last thing, I can answer NintenDan's question about an Advance speed run: No. (You can if you want, but it won't be held in such high regard, I guess. And yes, part of that decision was just to spite you for pwning me =P)
All has been said, but there is much more to be done. Anyone who reads this, get to work!
