I really plan to make it all one site. I want to put the TAS right next to the non-tool. I want to mark each one as one or the other. For example, there might be a 16-minute Metroid TAS marked as such, and the next video in the chart might be a 22-minute Metroid non-tool-assisted. Somewhere I would do my best to explain 1) that a slower non-tool is definitely not necessarily worse than the faster TAS, and 2) that I have no way to verify for sure whether the video actually used no tools, I only have the court of public opinion in the message board. If enough people at the message board think it's actually a TAS then I might mark it "TAS suspected" or something. Or I might not get THAT technical, we'll just see. edit: and 3) that the process of making a TAS and the process of making a non-tool-assisted video are TOTALLY different.
If people don't think this will work, then I might have to switch it to an only-TAS website :(
Lol, here's a sample of what the top of the page looks like right now:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l239/slo_bro/siteimg.jpg
another note: I will only accept videos from the person who claims to be their creator. I will only include a given video if the person who claims to be its creator gives me permission to do so. If you have a specific video in mind for the site and you're not its creator, then for my sake get in contact with the person who made the video :)
edit: Yeah, in fact I am planning two different websites, well, technically three.
One of them will be a katamari-series video website where about 30% of the videos are made by me, and where some of the videos are the exact videos on SDA. I'm making that site because I like the katamari series of games so much.
I know for a fact that the katamari video site will be at least marginally successful, because I have the backing of an entire loyal katamari message board. As for the other two sites, I have no idea whether or not they will succeed. They may thrive, or I may never recieve a single video for either one.
odd little note: Some day I think the katamari games will be great for individual-level TAS treatment. There would be just about endless possibilities.
Another one is for games other than katamari, and no emulated runs of any kind will be allowed (like SDA). That site will have only one video made by me; I'll rely on others for the rest of the videos.
Lots of things that SDA does not accept (mysterious teleportation, videos of only part of the game rather than the whole game, and runs where things other than speed are the goal) will be accepted there. Just like at the other two sites, even silly little videos where the player does something cool and doesn't complete any of the game's goals will be accepted.
One odd rule will be that segmented runs will only be accepted if they are made of very few segments. Same with individual levels - I would rather have three or four really cool levels rather than all 30 of them, and that's because my time/resources are limited.
For timed runs, I will DO MY BEST to time them the way SDA does, from the moment the player gains control to the moment the player loses control. Or I might possibly make a small change, and time them from the beginning of control to the exact moment the final objective is completed. I think there's a difference :S
I will accept runs via computer file, DVD or VHS tape. If possible I will accept PAL VHS. Hopefully I will be capable of dealing with a large percentage of the runs that come my way.
No run that is on SDA will be eligible. If a run already on my site makes it onto SDA, then I request that the runner tell me so, so I can remove the run from my site.
The third one is the emulation video website, with TAS and non-tool. There won't be any videos made by me at this site. No run on TASvideos will be eligible for my site.
Videos of only part of the game, videos where speed is not the goal, etc. will be accepted. Even videos using Game Genie-type codes will be accepted, provided the runner is honest about using them. Those videos will be marked with the fact a code was used.
The requirements to get the video on the site will be approximately this: that the person that made the video thinks the video is cool, that the video was encoded well (not too much audio desync etc.), and that the video has no adult content.
Then, each video will get one thread in the message board for discussion. Eventually, if and when the site has lots of videos and if the members of the message board agree it's a good idea, I will add polls to the videos' threads asking members to rate the videos from 1 to 10, and I will display each video's rating on the main site. That way videos that suck won't be deleted, but they will have only a 2 or 3 out of 10 next to them so sitegoers know not to download them.
If there is something seriously wrong with the video, or if it really really really sucks, then a message board member can post about it in the Video Purgatory forum. If enough people agree (including refs, a special user group for trusted members) that the video should be removed, then I will remove it.
That's a mouthful.
edit: Roms and emulators will never be on my website. There will be a strict rule on the forums that nobody can tell anybody where to get roms.
I will require emulated movies to be submitted in .avi form. I don't know for sure, but I am guessing that I should also require the movie file that can be played in the emulator?
