I'd like to make it explicit in the rules whether or not short runs (ie ILs, Single Worlds) performed as part of a longer run (any%, All Levels) can be submitted. This practice already exists in many other games (see MK8Dx's "Timing" rules) and has been done informally on our own board already. This would allow for more submissions to emerge from the same time investment on the part of runners, and could encourage folks to continue more full-game runs to completion for the sake of segments even if the full run does not advance their time on the board.

Example wording:

• Individual Level (IL) or Single World runs done within a larger run may be submitted. In this case, IGT is obtained by subtracting the IGT at the beginning of the shorter run from the IGT at the end of the shorter run. For example, the timing for a Single World (W3 The Temple) run would be the time shown at the beginning of W4 minus the time shown at the beginning of W3.

Are there any strong objections to this, or other suggestions?

Right now, the IL boards are vast and mostly empty. There are 252 ILs, and with the "With/Without soul" distinction, that's 504 categories! (Keep in mind that 132 of these categories will never be filled because Bosses/Races/Apocalypse have no souls to collect.)

The only way to fill 372 of these 504 ILs would require hundreds upon hundreds of submissions, (to say nothing of the amount of time needed for verification,) and pushing IL categories forward will require an unbelievable amount of repetitive grinding on ILs that may burn some runners out.

All of this is underpinned by the fact that 246 of the "Without soul" levels already have leaderboards with automatic submissions built-in to the game.

What I'd like to propose is consolidating and/or streamlining ILs a bit so that the board isn't so empty and isn't so intimidating for new runners and easier on mods should the game grow further, and I have a few suggestions/options I'd like to get feedback on (even if the end result is "leave it alone":

• Remove "Without soul" so "With soul" is the default/only option. This is the easiest change for mods to make, though it would also be the most confusing to view and submit to. (since boss/race/apocalypse levels don't have souls) and would leave 126 ILs that are not duplicative of what's already built-in to the game (non-apocalypse base levels with souls, and bosses).
• Change "Without soul" and "With soul" to annotations instead of subcategories. This would be the least disruptive change to the board, though it will require some manual labor. It would maintain all 252 levels without visually splitting the boards in half (souls that 132 levels don't have anyway) and retains "With soul" records for those who want to filter and see those only.
• Combine levels 1-20 in each world. This would make the largest difference in number of categories (from 504/372 to 30!) by effectively moving the "Single World" category (and all existing Single World runs) from the "Full Game Runs" section to the ILs section, but archiving existing IL runs (Boss/Bonus ILs would remain). This would also mean no longer having IL "With Soul" times, but we could discuss having "Single World (20 Souls)" options available.
• In combination with "Combine 1-20 levels in each world", create a second board (Category Extension CE on SRcom, Spreadsheet via Google Sheets, etc) for ILs. This would maintain existing records with all of their details and nuance (with/without soul etc) for those who want them without clogging up the more-public-facing SRcom boards, and without relying exclusively on a Steam/Obelisk server. There would be a link on the main SRcom board pointing to the IL record board/spreadsheet, so it would still be easily accessible for those who want it.

I've done my best to keep my personal opinion out of this post, and sticking solely to "here are the potential benefits/drawbacks" for now. I'll share my personal opinion in subsequent posts. Please let us know your thoughts as well!

Had a page/board customization idea, what if we used the medals from the game instead of the default trophy icons on the leaderboard?

I can't decide if it would be better to use Gold/Silver/Bronze medals for 1/2/3, or Red/Gold/Silver/Bronze for 1/2/3/4. The latter would be a neat nod to folks who know the game but the former might be more clear to outsiders looking in. Thoughts?

A few suggestions to clean up the boards a little bit:

• "any%" and "All Levels (Boss) (No Bonus)" are the same category. It should be possible to combine these and have "All Levels (Boss) (No Bonus)" display as the new default category. (I know "any%" is a fun name and many boards use it, but other games in similar situations with potentially duplicative boards have abandoned it for clarity's sake.)
• The "Bonus" filter could be renamed to "Bonus Race" - in the English version of the game, Speedrunning mode refers to these levels as "Races," so that would help clarify for newer runners.
• "All Levels" category rules could use the same language as what's on the checkboxes for clarity. For example:

Play the Speedrun mode with "Whole game" selected, "Include bosses" on, "Include races" off, and "Include apocalypse" off.

Finally (and I know this one might be a long shot and goes against the "streamlining" thing I was just talking about, but:

• Add an "Apocalypse" "No Apocalypse" option for the "All Levels" board (alternatively, filters could be named "Base Levels" and "Base + Apocalypse", which is the usual convention for categories with a base levels mode and added post-game content)

Thoughts?

Does what it says on the tin. Gives SRcom an Individual Level category that doesn't tread on ctr4ever's time trial turf, and a shorter category that CTR desperately needs (any% barely counts imo). A few suggestions (based on convos in the Crash Speedrunning server:

• Uses IGT, so no need for hard platform separation, just platform variables
• Include variables for Easy/Medium/Hard, since each would have different strategies
• Include variable (not category split, just a variable) for NMG/Skipless, filterable means a lower barrier to entry for those intimidated by skips like Tizi/TA, but still keeps everyone competitive on one big unified board

Question that deserves consideration: how many laps? 3, 5, 7, or all?

3 laps:

• Pro: Could mean IGT from ILs in Adventure mode could be incorporated (using "Adventure" for the difficulty variable), which could lead to a great kickstart for submissions. (This could work out a bit like Spyro Flight ILs done mid-run, or MK8Dx where you can do a 16/32/48-track run in the middle of a 96-track run - got a good level in an Adventure category? May as well submit it to ILs too.)
• Con: Low barrier to entry could cause submission overload.

5 laps:

• Middle child, imo.

7 laps:

• Pro: Good test of consistency
• Pro: Higher barrier to entry, so fewer concerns about submission overload
• Con: Higher barrier to entry, so boards could get quiet

Category split for 3/5/7 laps:

• Pro: Low barrier to entry
• Pro: All the pros of 3 and 7 and flexibility of 5 laps
• Con: Potential for submission overload
• Con: Even if submission overload is manageable, not having a unified board could mean things look quiet for a while

Credit to Galaxian for bringing this idea up in the CB-running Discord. I think this would be a great category with a little more refining. Thoughts?