Before submitting
Would you like to have a speedrun of your own hosted on SDA? There's a good
chance we're interested in that same idea!
If you're new to the site, it's good to first check the rules and the FAQ. Before you start recording attempts, it is then HIGHLY recommended that you post a quality test sample to ensure that your run won't be rejected for A/V issues. In particular, videos on Twitch or YouTube (or other web-based stream hosting sites) rarely live up to the A/V requirements for an SDA-submission. You should expect that a local recording will be required.
Submitting a speedrun
Once you have finished a run, and you really think you're not going to improve it further,
you may submit it to Speed Demos Archive by using
our Submission
Form. The form ought to be self-explanatory, but you can send a pm to
'sdaverification' (or anyone with a green name on the forum - they're site
staff) if you have any questions.
Once you click 'Submit' on the submission form, we will look at your
submission, usually within a couple of days. You'll then receive a confirmation
via forum pm from 'sdaverification' with instructions on how to upload the video
files. For any questions regarding the submission, this pm-thread is the best
place to ask them in. There are three types of video files you can upload:
* Raw files: This is the local recording. This option is used if you
would like SDA to take care of encoding your run to the correct quality. We're
happy to do this, but please be aware that it will add a bit of process time for
your run. We recommend that you first try encoding the run yourself. If you send
us encodes, you don't need to upload the raw files.
* Verfication files: Encodes that you would like to be used for
verification. If you don't plan on uploading any other encodes, then you should
not use this option, but instead the next (final encodes). Common reasons for
having different encodes for verification and for publication can be that you
plan to add audio commentary later on or that you would like to include the SDAtime
on the statID (we only time your run after it has passed verification).
* Final encodes: Files uploaded as final encodes are the ones that will
be published on the site (provided the run gets accepted in verification).
If you submitted the final encodes or raw files, there is nothing more needed from your side (as opposed to if you submitted verification encodes, in which case we will need the final encodes after the run has passed verification). It's however recommended that you also write run comments and/or provide audio commentary (check other already published runs on SDA for ideas on what other speedrunners have done). Please submit your comments as plain text (.txt). If you wish to have greater control over how your comments are formatted, or if you want to save the SDA staff a little work, you may include basic HTML tags, but no inline images please. Feel free to use our CSS file (place it in the same folder as the HTML) and look at currently published runs to get an idea of how your comments will look on our site.
Verification and publication
When the video file(s) of your submission have been received, your run will
enter verification.
If your run is accepted, it will be timed, go through a ”pre-release check” (a
final check to make sure all the final encodes are ok) and finally be posted on
the SDA front page. If any issues are found with your videos, you'll be
contacted in the submission pm-thread. If you don't hear anything, all you have
to do is patiently wait until the turn comes for your run to be published.
When your speedrun is published on the site
All accepted speedruns will be featured in front page updates. They will then be added both to the game list and the speedruns collection of www.archive.org. You can at any time also do anything else you want with your run, because you remain the owner and creator.
Once your run has been added to the site, you can still edit the run comments and add audio commentary. Other than that, it will stay on SDA until it's been obsoleted (runs are also removed in the rare events of when there is found evidence of cheating). The run will however not be removed from archive.org, even if it has been obsoleted.
Happy running, and good luck!
Submission tips
* Post a quality test before you start recording. If your run has quality
issues, it will be held up during the submission process or be rejected.
* If possible, hold on to the raw-files. There can be various reasons for
wanting to re-encode the run at a later stage and having the raw-files is
usually the only reliable way to do this without losing quality.
* Send us all qualities of the final encodes right from the start. Then you
don't have to send the missing files later on and your run will be published
faster.
* If you want to include the time of your run in your statID, ensure that it's
the correct time. If it's wrong, you'll be asked to re-encode, which will add
time before your run is ready to get posted. Do note that it's not a requirement
to have the time on the statID. What's on the statID is up to you (as long as
it's not blatantly wrong or misleading).
* There is a long tradition on SDA of providing fairly detailed commentary
(either written or audio) for the runs that get published. This is an important
part for many people who visit the site and come to watch the runs here. It's
not a requirement to provide commentary for your run, but it's highly encouraged
and will be appreciated by the viewers.