⚡ Speedrunning
Illustration: The perfect Speedrunning burst — exploiting an Out of Bounds glitch to break the world record on a timer.
Quick Summary
Speedrunning is the form of optimizing the method of completing a game with the goal of achieving the smallest total time duration. This activity primarily relies on the ability to understand the engine rendering foundation, manage perfectly linear process pathfinding, and apply knowledge of frame distribution.
Detailed explanation: The game completion protocol (Speedrunning) concentrates all focus on the formula of optimizing algorithmic pathfinding (Math/Routing). The process of competing and establishing records requires comprehensive application of frame data decomposition and technical Glitches that the system source code is vulnerable to. The ability to establish linear shortcut paths helps shorten the basic operational cycle of the product compared to the original design experience.
Main Speedrun Categories
| Category | Rules | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Any% | Complete the game by any means, including glitches | Super Mario 64 Any%: ~6 min 30 sec |
| 100% | Complete every objective, collect every item | Celeste 100%: ~3 hours |
| Glitchless | No technical glitches allowed, pure gameplay only | Zelda: OoT Glitchless: ~4 hours |
| Low% | Complete the game with the fewest items or steps taken | Special variant, extremely challenging |
| NMG (No Major Glitches) | Minor glitches allowed but major game-skipping glitches are banned |
Notable Speedrun Techniques
Sequence Breaking
Bypassing the game’s required order by finding an “off-the-rails” path — climbing through invisible walls, triggering events out of order.
Out of Bounds (OoB)
Escaping outside the boundaries of the game’s designed map. The engine’s collision detection can be bypassed at certain specific angles and speeds.
Wrong Warp / Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE)
The most advanced technique: exploiting game memory glitches to write arbitrary code into RAM, allowing a direct “jump” to the game’s ending screen. Super Mario Bros. (NES) can be finished via ACE in approximately ~4 seconds after starting.
Lag Manipulation
Deliberately creating lag to manipulate RNG (random number generator) — helping enemies spawn or items drop exactly as desired.
Notable Speedrun World Records
| Game | World Record (Any%) | Record Holder |
|---|---|---|
| Super Mario Bros | 4 min 54 sec | Niftski |
| The Legend of Zelda: OoT | 6 min 58 sec | Ness |
| Portal | 7 min 32 sec | Various |
| Minecraft Java | ~1 min 42 sec (RSG) | Changes frequently |
(Records change constantly — check current records at Speedrun.com)
Games Done Quick (GDQ) — The Biggest Event
Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) and Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) are the two most famous charity speedrun marathon events in the world, held twice a year:
- Continuous 7-day broadcast on Twitch.
- In 2024, SGDQ raised $2.5 million USD for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
- Has raised over $40 million USD in total for charity since 2010.
Community & Resources
- Speedrun.com: Database of speedrun records for all games.
- Twitch: The main speedrun streaming platform.
- Discord: Each game has its own Discord server where runners share techniques.
Relationship with Other Systems
- Speedrunners expose countless hidden bugs in Game Mechanics that even developers weren’t aware of.
- A deep understanding of Hitbox and I-frames is the foundation for many speedrun techniques.
- Speedrunning is a unique cultural force within the eSports and broader gaming community.