Sonic CD All Good Futures FAQ

      Sonic CD All Good Futures FAQ

Q: What are you playing on, it is emulator?
A: Yeah. I play much better on a keyboard, so emulator is the go for me. Luckily because game time is used for this game emulator makes no difference.

Q: Why do you use ingame time and not real time?
A: Because http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaMGf1V3MMM
tl;dr: Getting a worse time on a level can be faster real time because of the time bonus, which is dumb, so we use IGT. Also encourages more time travelling, which is a cool mechanic, allows for deeper routing, etc

Q: What is the timer you are using?
A: It is the In-Game timer function of Livesplit. I enter all the times manually at the end of each level, and it produces the splits.

Q: What is All Good Futures?
A: All Good Futures means getting a 'Good Future' in every level. To do so, for every Act 1 and Act 2 in the game, you must travel to the Past, find the robot generator there and destroy it, before completing the level. This changes the Future from 'Bad' to 'Good'. Since Act 3s are all done in the future, the layout is slightly (and I mean slightly) changed for these levels, as all Act 3s become Good Future if you destroy the robot generators in the corresponding Act 1 and 2.

Q: Couldn't you just get all the time stones? Would that be faster?
A: Ahh no, this category is specifically nammed *all* good futures, meaning the time stones wouldn't work, as you can't possibly have all of them when completing the early levels. (Time stones are boring, and special stages have dumb timing issues also)

Q: What is the World Record?
A: See: Splits | https://www.speedrun.com/Sonic_CD#All_Good_Futures (Note: I'm not submitting every PB here since I'll get PBs quicker than they get verified, but I have the record, so just look at the splits)

Q: Why are you playing the old version, and not the 2011 re-release?
A: Because I prefer this version to the 2011 one. I might do runs of the remake at some point in the distant future, but it plays totally different

Q: Japanese or American soundtrack?
A: I use Jap, I prefer it, just. Mainly the start of the game, which I'll be in more (PP Jap >>> PP US, but MM Jap << MM US). I also use an audio cue for the TT3 boss from the JP boss theme, so it helps me out a little there too

Q: Do you time travel in this run?
A: Yes, obviously, since I've gotta go to the past in every Act 1/2. In CC2 if I do the strat correctly I also time travel back to the present afterwards, but it's a very minor time save.

Time travelling is a key component of this run. Not just routing out which posts to use, but also when and where to activate the time travel, and delaying it when required. Time travel is activated when moving "at high speed" for 3+ seconds (some variance on that based on lag), but if it's charged for 1.5 seconds and doesn't reach the full 3, you lose the signpost entirely and have to get a new one.

The activation starting is noticeable by the blue/white sparkles that trail behind sonic (which also give him invincibility while they are there). The clause for the activation is to be travelling at or above his speed cap speed (so holding right/left on flat ground). However is won't stop in the air (or whilst in some objects), so for example if I jump on a spring when it's already activated, even if I stop moving and keep bouncing up and down on the spring, it won't stop activating and I'll time travel, but if when I hit the ground I'm not moving fast, it'll drop. It can stop if you come into contact with a wall, but not always (I actually don't understand the exact reasoning for why it stops sometimes but not others under this condition)

Not activating a time travel, and thus losing a signpost can be a critical failure in the run, as there's usually not a handy backup available, and even if there is it's still a significant time loss. I've tried to route the run to avoid as many inconsistencies as I can (such as, sometimes just holding right when going down the hill in CC2 can drop it for no reason, so I jump over it), but there are some that are unavoidable (I'm looking at you MM1 you son of a bitch).

Q: What's goal time?
A: Sub 14 for now. If I really optimised it hard I might end up going for something a bit lower (like a 13.4x or 13.3x), but for now any 13 would be really good.

Q: What is with those split icons? What does A and C mean?
A: (Idea totally stolen from Kinghippo, who got idea from MCR)
This is a grading system for all of my splits. I'm sure you are familiar with grades, A+ being the best then going down from there. So the idea is, if the split has an A+ next to it, my time there was really good and would be very difficult to beat. If it's a C though for example, it was quite poor, and I should be able to save time there pretty easily.

This way, everyone watching has more accurate information on where I can save time, and where I should be making up time. Also that all time loss is not equal, as losing time vs an A+ split isn't really that bad, whereas losing time vs a C split is really bad. This is a fairly new idea for me, but I really like it, and want to use it on occasion for some of my games (particularly when I can make it pretty accurate). It'll probably take a while for a lot of people watching to pick up the meaning so I will appreciate everyone who explains how this works (correctly) in chat to new people. I hope you guys like it too.

Q: Why aren't you using mic?
A: Most times I play 2D Sonic I won't use mic. Main reason is I want to final product to just be gameplay, and not have me talking about some random bullshit in it, cause unlike my other games, I actually care about the final video when I'm playing a 2D Sonic (and I'm too lazy to record a separate video without my mic :P). It also does help me concentrate to not talk sometimes, but this is a lesser issue.

Q: Are there glitches in this run?
A: Yes, several but they all really start with just one.

Main glitch: Moving Peelout

Moving Peelout works by; Charging a Peelout, pausing, change from holding up to holding Down + Direction facing, unpause, pause, change back to peelout (Hold Up/Up+Right/Up+Left). Once in this state, you will be moving forward, but still in the charging peelout state. Because of this, your properties are as if you are charging the peelout, and the most useful of these properties is that you do not interact with walls (because why would you ever come into contact with a wall when charging a peelout?)

With this trick -most- vertical walls can be skipped. Not all, because you are always stopped by edges (because you can't charge a pellout on an edge), so if a wall has an edge before you can enter it enough to zip, it will reject you. You are also stopped by objects (such as springs/ringboxes), so it's not like you just fly through everything. It has several different variations based on where it is used, as the ejections vary wildly throughout the game.

This trick is used in: CC1, CC2, TT1, TT2, TT3, QQ1, QQ2, WW1, WW2, WW3, MM1, MM2 and MM3. It is also a backup strat in case I fail the optimal movement in CC3, and QQ3. So it's basically used in every stage that isn't Palmtree Panic or Stardust Speedway.