Are you into speed running?

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:48 pm

Are you? A couple of years back I dedicated lots of time playing Super Metroid and the first Metroid Prime for that purpose and it was an absolute blast. There's no way in hell I can compete with the big guys, but still, it's great fun.

I am thoroughly impressed by the guy who blazes through Super Metroid in a single segment of 32 minutes, the run full of "arm pumping", tough shinesparks, mockballs, etc. The guy's consistency is truly amazing. Next to some shmup superplays, this is what impressed me most skillwise in a video game. The single-segment Metroid Prime run of 1:06 is also ridiculously broken and amazing to watch, even more so if you're familiar with the game and just how difficult some of these moves are hard to pull off.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:53 pm

not into it myself but i have a couple of friends who are, incredibly impressive to watch IRL.

one friend was really close to teh wr in super metroid without the glitches (except for the last one at the mother brain), i think the whole run was close to 30-40mins or something like that, incredible.

another buddy of mine has WRs or atleast very close on a whole bunch of NES games, equallt impressive to watch.

nem · Post by **nem** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:14 pm

Yeah, RL speed running is super awesome to watch

Tool assisted runs, hell no.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:32 pm

I think tool assisted runs are not too bad as learning tools. Watching TAS I could get lots of ideas and make progress in SM. That being said, they're not worth squat skillwise, imo.

Necronopticous · Post by **Necronopticous** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:49 pm

Fun to do, fun to watch. Recently, I've been speed-running the training hall on Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Too much fun.

nem wrote:Yeah, RL speed running is super awesome to watch

Parkour? ;]

Ruldra · Post by **Ruldra** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:51 pm

In before team SDA

I'm not into speedrunning myself, but I really enjoy watching people doing it. I'm just waiting for someone to make a speedrun of Mirror's Edge...I'm sure that one would be great to watch.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:23 pm

I find it a complete waste of time. But things like pacifist runs are fun to watch.

Jockel · Post by **Jockel** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:29 pm

i like to watch speedruns and then copy their playstyles =)
sub 13min super mario world was a blast to do.
really satisfying stuff.
and actually cool if somebody brings up super mario world- "yeah i can beat that game in less than a quarter of an hour" "rly?" "i'll show you"

another really funny situation i got myself into was me playing super mario bros on an NES emulator on my DS. i said to my friend i'd clear the game before the bus would arrive. i was right and won a beer ^^

speed running to impress friends is always fun ;D

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:14 pm

I like both the tool-assisted and non-tool-assisted variety.

Tool-assisted does things like exploiting bugs and glitches to skip parts of the game, sometimes almost the entire game. Watching all 3 classic Zelda games beaten in less than 5 minutes is pretty amusing. That one video with Megaman 1 getting bug-raped is pretty amusing too. The ones that don't abuse bugs/glitches are less entertaining.

Necronopticous · Post by **Necronopticous** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:29 pm

Elixir wrote:I find it a complete waste of time.

Technically, it is exactly the opposite.

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:04 pm

I'd like to see someone speed-run a shmup. That would be impressive.

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:15 pm

320x240 wrote:I'd like to see someone speed-run a shmup. That would be impressive.

http://tasvideos.org/1116M.html

Have fun

Smraedis · Post by **Smraedis** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:44 pm

I did Super Metroid for a while many years ago now.. lost interest but I guess it could make a good side project for me, another thing I can learn...

Actually I do speed through lightgun games some days, but that is just tiring.

Ruldra · Post by **Ruldra** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:10 pm

Udderdude wrote:Tool-assisted does things like exploiting bugs and glitches to skip parts of the game, sometimes almost the entire game.

LOL

Chico · Post by **Chico** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:17 pm

I love speed runs, doing them and watching them. I also love getting high scores which involve going fast. Some games I have done speed runs for are Super Mario Bros. 2, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 4, Gunstar Super Heroes, Shadow Dancer, Donkey Kong Country, Aladdin (SNES)...will be trying more when I get my DVD recorder..

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:34 pm

I did a very good one of DKC 1 and 2 (both close to the WR) 4-5 years ago. That, SMB3, Prime and Super Metroid are pretty much the only games I tried to speed run seriously. It helps that all are favourites of mine...

ZOM · Post by **ZOM** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:41 pm

Ruldra wrote:
Udderdude wrote:Tool-assisted does things like exploiting bugs and glitches to skip parts of the game, sometimes almost the entire game.
LOL

LOLZ the ending was triple the length of the game...

I enjoy watching speedruns tool assisted or not.
This thread needs more youtube links me thinks.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:48 pm

It depends on the game. My Super Metroid all-clear record is 56 minutes. Now you're making me want to play it again and try to beat that again. I'll try to speed run a game if it has a timer. In fact, I almost unconsciously try to play as efficiently as possible all the time, even on new games. Can sometimes take away some of the fun of a game, but that's just the way I am.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:48 pm

Necronopticous wrote:
Elixir wrote:I find it a complete waste of time.
Technically, it is exactly the opposite.

Technically, no, it isn't. The person doing the speedrun is spending countless hours with the game, enough to make one in the first place. A speedrun takes a lot of time and preparation to plan out and execute, much like following a guide to get a "perfect" run in some RPGs.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:59 pm

320x240 wrote:I'd like to see someone speed-run a shmup. That would be impressive.

This isn't my best anymore, but here's a Cosmic Cop speed run.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 3:00 am

Necronopticous wrote:
Elixir wrote:I find it a complete waste of time.
Technically, it is exactly the opposite.

It wouldn´t be a waste of time if the person did the perfect speedrun on the first try.

But yeah, spending a whole lot of time just to play a game in the quickest way possible is kind of paradox.

I enjoy both TA and regular speedruns, purely for entertainment reasons. I don´t really care if skill is involved or just a huge number of savestates. I would never do such a thing myself, though, as I bet there is no quicker way to get heartily sick of a game than playing it over and over and over again just to get caught on a ledge or making a wrong move that pratically ends your run. Finding the quickest path might be fun, but executing such a thing really isn´t my thing at all.

And isn´t moozooh trying to make a TA run of DDP aiming for the best possible score? I faintly remember reading such a thing following his profile links.

TJB · Post by **TJB** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:36 am

I used to try speedrunning certain levels in Quake, that was about 3 years ago if I remember correctly, I had my sights a bit too high, my goal was to achieve similar times to the ones seen in the Quake Done Quick videos, very unrealistic.

Quake Done Quick : With a Vengeance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-toKfJW6g8Q

No level pissed me off more than E1M3 (Watching how this guy handled E1M3 stings so much, flawless...), I would always either stuff up my timing on the grenade at the gold key or hit the switch on the elevator at the end too early with that Fiend behind me.

Then my CRT died on me, I just can't play Quake on a LCD. (Well, I can, I just don't have the patience to play the same map over and over and over anymore)

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:52 am

SDA > super-play.co.uk

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 3:40 pm

TJB wrote: Quake Done Quick : With a Vengeance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-toKfJW6g8Q

Still immensely entertaining. It´s like this game was MADE for speedrunning.

Plasmo · Post by **Plasmo** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:27 pm

I was doing some Duke Nukem 64 speedrunning years ago. Discovered many glitches and found out a lot of cool stuff. But since there was absolutely NO competition at all I stopped playing.
Besides the very famous ones like Resident Evil series, Metroid series, Mario series and Quake you won't have any competition in speedrunning, which makes it quite boring in my opinion.
Oh yeah and TAS is just bullshit and so are segmented runs.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:12 pm

Frederik wrote:And isn´t moozooh trying to make a TA run of DDP aiming for the best possible score? I faintly remember reading such a thing following his profile links.

Yes, but only as soon as FBA becomes a reliable tool for that purpose. Right now the crucial things I'm lacking are desyncless rerecording and memory watch. Lua scripting for custom hitbox drawing and would be a sweet optional touch, but not completely necessary.

When I get around to doing it, it's not unlikely that some previously unknown details about scoring mechanics or survival strategies will be discovered in some way. Then again, I won't guarantee anything in advance.

By the way, my unassisted Super Metroid any% clocks at 0:57 in-game (I've had it online somewhere), but I should stop being a pussy and improve it to sub-0:50. :)