Questions tagged [speedrun]

A speedrun is a play-through of a level, map, or whole game where the player tries to achieve the quickest time possible. Use this tag for questions about techniques, routing, and rules of speedrunning in general or specific games.

A speedrun is a play-through of a level, map, or whole game where the player tries to achieve the quickest time possible.

Tag Usage

Use this tag for questions about techniques, routing, and rules of speedrunning in general or specific games:

  • If you saw some cool time-saver in a speedrun and would like to know more about it
  • If you're planning a speedrun of a game and have questions about the routing
  • If you're wondering whether a certain item or unit is allowed in a speedrun.

Do not use this tag for questions about beating arbitrary time goals, such as achievements for beating the game under a certain amount of time, or for questions about speed in general.

44 questions
3
votes
1 answer

How do speedrunners accurately measure their times?

I was watching a few videos about NES Super Mario Bros speedrunning and I'm confused how they get such precise timings. They clearly can't be personally hitting a button to stop or start a clock, because the timer tracks down to the millisecond. …
Ryan_L
  • 1,381
  • 9
  • 17
2
votes
3 answers

Do TAS runs exist that only use tricks a human could do?

A lot of tool-assisted speedruns (TASs) use various tricks or sequences of inputs that would be impossible for a human to pull off. I'm curious whether there's a sub-category of Tool-assisted speedrunning, where speedruns can only use tricks that a…
thebros
  • 37
  • 2
1
vote
1 answer

How are Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) exploits discovered (such as in OoT)?

Some games, such as Pokémon Yellow or Ocarina of Time, have exploits that allow you to write your own code (ACE). How were these exploits found? I want to learn how to find these exploits, for speedrunning and elsewhere. From my current…
Luke Dunn
  • 21
  • 3
1
vote
2 answers

Why do speed runners use different languages

I've been watching many different speed runs of all my favourite games; Horizon Zero Dawn, Legend of Zelda, Dark Souls, etc. However one thing I've noticed is that they often use a different language to run the game in, often when they don't speak…
Ben
  • 41,251
  • 67
  • 193
  • 315
1
vote
1 answer

Is using decor considered as glitching for the purposes of a Speedrun?

On some games (mostly RPGs), speedrunners use decor elements to skip some zone(s) of the game (for instance in the Duke's Archive in Dark souls). Since using decor doesn't look like a bug, is it still considered as 'utilising a glitch'? Would the…
RiddlerNewComer
  • 923
  • 1
  • 8
  • 14
0
votes
1 answer

What are the common categories for speedruns?

While answering this question I discussed the meaning of any% in the speedrunning community, which simply refers to completing the game as quickly as possible while being permitted to ignore side-content. Similarly, there is a 100% speedrun category…
PausePause
  • 14,055
  • 9
  • 65
  • 147