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Remember your mantra.
Hello everyone, this is my recent attempt to document the proper protocol of routing a run. I am sure many of you are already familiar with this process, but some beginners may enjoy this information. If anyone would like to suggest additional sections to be added, or other things to be considered, leave a comment and I will include it in the redraft. With that, I hope you enjoy.
http://pastebin.com/WTzB0BBa
The Basic Protocol of Routing a Speedrun
by
Max Sterling 'Kakka_rot' Young
Think of routing a speedrun, like reading your Grandmother's cookbook. While there is a strict protocol you should follow, there also is a certain amount of freedom, fun, and adventure you should have with the process, when hoping to make your attempts a success. In this essay, I will review what acts you should perform, while choosing, planning, and performing the game you hope on becoming great in.
Section 1 - Choosing Your Game
This is a common question that often occurs of it chats of big streamers, by aspiring speedrunners.
"Mr. Streamer - I want to start speedrunning, but what is a good game for me to begin with?"
The answer is simple: a game that you love, preferably a nostalgic one, that you know you can play for hours on end, without becoming bored. With repetitive casual play throughs, a game will always eventually become boring. The beauty of speedrunning, is it unleashes new aspects of the game previously unimagined, that will allow for improvement, and thus, excitement, and new trials for you to complete.
At the time of this essay, I have routed and completed runs of fourteen different games, twelve of which I initially played during my youth. The importance of this lies in familiarity, in that, you already have an 'internal map' of the game, and know what is going on.
Primarily, this was important to me because I love them. Secondarily, these games are more opportune because I was already very familiar with them, familiar with they're layout, physics, engine, and the end goal (at least on a basic level.)
For example, if you want to speedrun a game you've played briefly, you're going to want to acquire, what I call, an 'internal map' of the game, or rather, being able to run from any Point A to any Point B without having to 2nd guess yourself. This will also develop over runs, but you'll spend less time in this area if you're already aware of your surroundings.
When playing casually, if you ever get 'lost' and run around for 30 minutes stuck and annoyed, there is a bright side - you're at least learning the lay of the land. If you constantly consult a gamefaq, you're not learning naturally, and won't be as familiar with your surroundings. For this reason, I cannot stress enough casual, natural gameplay.
Metal Gear Solid 2 was the easiest game I ever routed - not because it was easy, but rather, I had been playing it casually years before I even knew what a speedrun was. So when it came time to route, and perfect, I knew what was going on.
In contrast, Babysitter Bloodbath, one of my more recent runs, is a 2013 title. So after hours of playing through it casually, I had a rough idea of what was going on, but the learning process still took much longer.
Both scenarios are entirely possible, but the former is significantly easier than the later, and also guarantees higher enjoyment, and generally better performance. To be fair, I don't discourage a run of any game, new or old. What is important, is that you are absolutely familiar with the games format, in a casual sense, before you advent on a speedrun - which leads me into my next topic.
Section 2 - Casual Play before Speedrunning
Let me begin this section with a short story:
A close friend of mine was once holding a small-time marathon, which was intended for lesser-known speedrunners to gain popularity. At this time, Cosmo was gaining popularity for his Wind Waker runs, and many other Speedrunners were taking inspiration, and running that game.
One of the featured runners in this marathon chose Wind Waker, however, he had never played the game casually, and had only ever watched the run. So about two hours into the run, when a necessary glitch was failed, trouble was a brew. The runner could not attempt the glitch a 2nd time, and if he wanted to progress, he would have to do so naturally, which he never had done, and thus left him lost and confused. This put the run at a stand-still, where he gave up, because he didn't know how to naturally get the Boss-Key that he was trying to skip.
I know, it may seem a little silly, but in all seriousness: YOU DON'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU. Chances are, if you're in a marathon, big or small, you know your shit. But this guy did not, and it really bit him in the butt.
If you find a game that you enjoy, and find it suitable for speedrunning, do yourself a favor, and play it through casually, slowly, and enjoyably, at least twice. During this time, you will develop an internal map of the game, learn the lay of the land, find some extra items you 'may' need, and overall, develop a crucial understanding of the games structure.
Your internal map is important to develop. In most speedruns, if something bad happens, you reset; but even still, come worse case scenario, you want to be able to complete the run, or at least have a quick fix if something goes awry. In short, know your map, know your game, and know how to get out of a sticky situation, should one air its ugly head.
Section 3 - Do Your Research
I have another funny story:
I started speedrunning Digimon World in May of 2013. At this time, the SRL community was uninvolved with the game, and most action was ancient on the SDA forums. Beginning in early 2013, before my involvement, about four runners began discussing how this run might work. The first claimed WR (World Record) was a bit over five hours. By the next month, it was taken down to four hours, then 3hr15, then 2hr45, before finally someone announced the grand supreme holy speedrun of 2hr15, which everyone thought was amazing. The runner in mention had a real hard-on over this time, and his peers were basking in his glory.
The thing is, none of these runners ever taken the time to look up "デジモンワールドRTA" on Japanese streaming website, Niconico. When a close friend of mine eventually did, he posted his results within the thread, along with a link to a 1hr50 run, which had been performed in October of 2012. To everyone’s dismay, none of them had ever held the WR, causing a plethora of butthurt amongst the western Digimon World community.
My point in all this being, if one of them had went to the effort to look for a run of this game, before proclaiming WR, they could have done a lot of good for their community, both in progress, and personal embarrassment.
So here is the standard protocol for research:
1: Check out SDA. First, look for a run on the actual games page. That should at least give you a starting point. Thing is, as much as I love SDA, their videos have a habit of being erroneously outdated, so don't stop there. From here, go to their forums, which is where the best minds in video games collaborate on skills, routes, and strategies. If the game is popular enough, you should have hours to read of interesting innovations, progress, and advancements regarding your favorite game. If, by chance, the game you're interested does not have a thread - start one of your own! Pen it nicely, and hopefully, you may make a nice friend to help you run the game. Believe me, a partner is always nice to have. I have had a partner in several games (shoutouts to Zeroshift) and believe me, their assistance has been extraordinary.
www.speeddemosarchive.com
2: The TAS. These can be much more rare, as, believe it or not, a good TAS can take more effort to produce than a speedrun, but it will give you some insight. Be warned, often a TAS will do things you can never hope to, but it will at least show you what is possible. Also, if you're really doing your homework, please read the TAS notes, which are available on page and written by the author, so you can be made aware of which strats are TAS only, and which are only optimal for a human speedrun.
www.tasvideos.org
3: As previously mentioned, please, consult the Japanese speedrunning community. Even if you do not speak Japanese, it is not difficult to find the game you’re looking for. Go to Wikipedia, look up the game, find the Japanese name for it, copy+paste, plug into google, followed by RTA (Nihonjins mostly use this term for a speedrun) and see if anything comes up. The Japanese community is very talented, and even if you can't understand their commentary, I promise you will still learn a thing or two, or, if anything, the goal time you’re aiming for.
www.nicovideo.jp
In brief refection: Look up the run on SDA, then check out the thread, find the TAS, and then check out the JP community. After reviewing all these runs and information, you should have a decent idea of what you'd like to achieve. In addition, assuming you're running a popular game, other runners on SRL may be willing to help you. If they can, then great, hopefully you've made a friend. However, if you're running a more obscure game, then steps 1 - 3 are even more important.
The last addition I will mention here is: Find a Friend. For example, the only game I have WR in is Fatal Frame. The reason I do, is Zero_Shift, a close friend I met on the SDA forums, helped me. We competed, shared ideas, and grew together. If it was not for him, I would have a much slower time then I do now. Remember, competition is healthy; they should be your friends. Look for runners to oppose, befriend them, and train with them. It will help you extensively in the long run.
Section 4 - Practice Makes Perfect
Boring as it may sound, you will notice improvement with every run you perform.
Sure, some runs will be shitty, and you will develop high standards, but this is all part of the learning process. Without those annoyingly high standards (and, hopefully, competition) you will never improve. Competition and personal accomplishment is what is needed to drive you and your peers forward, thus creating new PBs and WRs, leading the community forward. Even if you are not the best, try to make your way there. At your goal, you will find a sense of accomplishment that will drive you even more forward.
This is probably the most tedious process, but is also, the most rewarding. All of your favorites did not make it there over night, but rather, after many painstaking hours of practice.
In this area, if you already do stream, please consider: Do not be afraid to practice offline. Trust me, I know. Even if you consider yourself a reputable streamer, playing games offline is fine. There is a different zeitgeist between the two. When you're streaming, it is obliged to be somewhat entertaining. However, if you're by yourself, no fucks need to be given. This is not always where you will hone skills, but rather, get in essential, boring practice, that no one wants to watch. Also, you won’t be worrying as much about the show you’re providing, but rather, you'll be thinking of your personal improvement. This is important, and even if undesirable, essential. Please consider it.
Section 5 - Repetition
Get used to it.
If you have successfully committed yourself, and enjoy the game you run, get used to playing it. This should not be seen as a chore, but rather, an exercise. Have fun with it. If a run dies, don't cry, don't instantly reset, but run around, maybe back track, and process what ruined you for future reference. Speedrunning is, while competitive, supposed to bring personal enjoyment. This is about fun. If you spend your time bitching at yourself, and crying over lost runs, you're going to have a bad time.
Section 6 - In the End
Take the time to grow, and in moments of defeat, realize your strong points, exercise them, and strengthen your weak aspects. We all have places we've strong, and places we're weak. The point is to balance between the two, eventually becoming optimal, and perfecting ourselves.
In the end, this isn't about your viewers, this isn't about getting some arbitrary WR; this about personal improvement, accomplishment, and enjoyment. Have fun, explore the game, and mostly, destroy it beyond what your previous self ever imagined. This will create the most enjoyable experience for your viewers, our community, and most importantly, for yourself.
With this, cheers, the best of luck, and happy speedrunning.
Acronyms:
SDA - Speed Demos Archive (www.speeddemosarchive.com)
SRL - Speed Runs Live (www.speedrunslive.come)
TAS - Tool Assisted Speedrun (www.tasvideos.org)
WR - World Record
PB - Personal Best
And my stream - www.twitch.tv/kakka_rot
Thanks for reading!
http://pastebin.com/WTzB0BBa
The Basic Protocol of Routing a Speedrun
by
Max Sterling 'Kakka_rot' Young
Think of routing a speedrun, like reading your Grandmother's cookbook. While there is a strict protocol you should follow, there also is a certain amount of freedom, fun, and adventure you should have with the process, when hoping to make your attempts a success. In this essay, I will review what acts you should perform, while choosing, planning, and performing the game you hope on becoming great in.
Section 1 - Choosing Your Game
This is a common question that often occurs of it chats of big streamers, by aspiring speedrunners.
"Mr. Streamer - I want to start speedrunning, but what is a good game for me to begin with?"
The answer is simple: a game that you love, preferably a nostalgic one, that you know you can play for hours on end, without becoming bored. With repetitive casual play throughs, a game will always eventually become boring. The beauty of speedrunning, is it unleashes new aspects of the game previously unimagined, that will allow for improvement, and thus, excitement, and new trials for you to complete.
At the time of this essay, I have routed and completed runs of fourteen different games, twelve of which I initially played during my youth. The importance of this lies in familiarity, in that, you already have an 'internal map' of the game, and know what is going on.
Primarily, this was important to me because I love them. Secondarily, these games are more opportune because I was already very familiar with them, familiar with they're layout, physics, engine, and the end goal (at least on a basic level.)
For example, if you want to speedrun a game you've played briefly, you're going to want to acquire, what I call, an 'internal map' of the game, or rather, being able to run from any Point A to any Point B without having to 2nd guess yourself. This will also develop over runs, but you'll spend less time in this area if you're already aware of your surroundings.
When playing casually, if you ever get 'lost' and run around for 30 minutes stuck and annoyed, there is a bright side - you're at least learning the lay of the land. If you constantly consult a gamefaq, you're not learning naturally, and won't be as familiar with your surroundings. For this reason, I cannot stress enough casual, natural gameplay.
Metal Gear Solid 2 was the easiest game I ever routed - not because it was easy, but rather, I had been playing it casually years before I even knew what a speedrun was. So when it came time to route, and perfect, I knew what was going on.
In contrast, Babysitter Bloodbath, one of my more recent runs, is a 2013 title. So after hours of playing through it casually, I had a rough idea of what was going on, but the learning process still took much longer.
Both scenarios are entirely possible, but the former is significantly easier than the later, and also guarantees higher enjoyment, and generally better performance. To be fair, I don't discourage a run of any game, new or old. What is important, is that you are absolutely familiar with the games format, in a casual sense, before you advent on a speedrun - which leads me into my next topic.
Section 2 - Casual Play before Speedrunning
Let me begin this section with a short story:
A close friend of mine was once holding a small-time marathon, which was intended for lesser-known speedrunners to gain popularity. At this time, Cosmo was gaining popularity for his Wind Waker runs, and many other Speedrunners were taking inspiration, and running that game.
One of the featured runners in this marathon chose Wind Waker, however, he had never played the game casually, and had only ever watched the run. So about two hours into the run, when a necessary glitch was failed, trouble was a brew. The runner could not attempt the glitch a 2nd time, and if he wanted to progress, he would have to do so naturally, which he never had done, and thus left him lost and confused. This put the run at a stand-still, where he gave up, because he didn't know how to naturally get the Boss-Key that he was trying to skip.
I know, it may seem a little silly, but in all seriousness: YOU DON'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU. Chances are, if you're in a marathon, big or small, you know your shit. But this guy did not, and it really bit him in the butt.
If you find a game that you enjoy, and find it suitable for speedrunning, do yourself a favor, and play it through casually, slowly, and enjoyably, at least twice. During this time, you will develop an internal map of the game, learn the lay of the land, find some extra items you 'may' need, and overall, develop a crucial understanding of the games structure.
Your internal map is important to develop. In most speedruns, if something bad happens, you reset; but even still, come worse case scenario, you want to be able to complete the run, or at least have a quick fix if something goes awry. In short, know your map, know your game, and know how to get out of a sticky situation, should one air its ugly head.
Section 3 - Do Your Research
I have another funny story:
I started speedrunning Digimon World in May of 2013. At this time, the SRL community was uninvolved with the game, and most action was ancient on the SDA forums. Beginning in early 2013, before my involvement, about four runners began discussing how this run might work. The first claimed WR (World Record) was a bit over five hours. By the next month, it was taken down to four hours, then 3hr15, then 2hr45, before finally someone announced the grand supreme holy speedrun of 2hr15, which everyone thought was amazing. The runner in mention had a real hard-on over this time, and his peers were basking in his glory.
The thing is, none of these runners ever taken the time to look up "デジモンワールドRTA" on Japanese streaming website, Niconico. When a close friend of mine eventually did, he posted his results within the thread, along with a link to a 1hr50 run, which had been performed in October of 2012. To everyone’s dismay, none of them had ever held the WR, causing a plethora of butthurt amongst the western Digimon World community.
My point in all this being, if one of them had went to the effort to look for a run of this game, before proclaiming WR, they could have done a lot of good for their community, both in progress, and personal embarrassment.
So here is the standard protocol for research:
1: Check out SDA. First, look for a run on the actual games page. That should at least give you a starting point. Thing is, as much as I love SDA, their videos have a habit of being erroneously outdated, so don't stop there. From here, go to their forums, which is where the best minds in video games collaborate on skills, routes, and strategies. If the game is popular enough, you should have hours to read of interesting innovations, progress, and advancements regarding your favorite game. If, by chance, the game you're interested does not have a thread - start one of your own! Pen it nicely, and hopefully, you may make a nice friend to help you run the game. Believe me, a partner is always nice to have. I have had a partner in several games (shoutouts to Zeroshift) and believe me, their assistance has been extraordinary.
www.speeddemosarchive.com
2: The TAS. These can be much more rare, as, believe it or not, a good TAS can take more effort to produce than a speedrun, but it will give you some insight. Be warned, often a TAS will do things you can never hope to, but it will at least show you what is possible. Also, if you're really doing your homework, please read the TAS notes, which are available on page and written by the author, so you can be made aware of which strats are TAS only, and which are only optimal for a human speedrun.
www.tasvideos.org
3: As previously mentioned, please, consult the Japanese speedrunning community. Even if you do not speak Japanese, it is not difficult to find the game you’re looking for. Go to Wikipedia, look up the game, find the Japanese name for it, copy+paste, plug into google, followed by RTA (Nihonjins mostly use this term for a speedrun) and see if anything comes up. The Japanese community is very talented, and even if you can't understand their commentary, I promise you will still learn a thing or two, or, if anything, the goal time you’re aiming for.
www.nicovideo.jp
In brief refection: Look up the run on SDA, then check out the thread, find the TAS, and then check out the JP community. After reviewing all these runs and information, you should have a decent idea of what you'd like to achieve. In addition, assuming you're running a popular game, other runners on SRL may be willing to help you. If they can, then great, hopefully you've made a friend. However, if you're running a more obscure game, then steps 1 - 3 are even more important.
The last addition I will mention here is: Find a Friend. For example, the only game I have WR in is Fatal Frame. The reason I do, is Zero_Shift, a close friend I met on the SDA forums, helped me. We competed, shared ideas, and grew together. If it was not for him, I would have a much slower time then I do now. Remember, competition is healthy; they should be your friends. Look for runners to oppose, befriend them, and train with them. It will help you extensively in the long run.
Section 4 - Practice Makes Perfect
Boring as it may sound, you will notice improvement with every run you perform.
Sure, some runs will be shitty, and you will develop high standards, but this is all part of the learning process. Without those annoyingly high standards (and, hopefully, competition) you will never improve. Competition and personal accomplishment is what is needed to drive you and your peers forward, thus creating new PBs and WRs, leading the community forward. Even if you are not the best, try to make your way there. At your goal, you will find a sense of accomplishment that will drive you even more forward.
This is probably the most tedious process, but is also, the most rewarding. All of your favorites did not make it there over night, but rather, after many painstaking hours of practice.
In this area, if you already do stream, please consider: Do not be afraid to practice offline. Trust me, I know. Even if you consider yourself a reputable streamer, playing games offline is fine. There is a different zeitgeist between the two. When you're streaming, it is obliged to be somewhat entertaining. However, if you're by yourself, no fucks need to be given. This is not always where you will hone skills, but rather, get in essential, boring practice, that no one wants to watch. Also, you won’t be worrying as much about the show you’re providing, but rather, you'll be thinking of your personal improvement. This is important, and even if undesirable, essential. Please consider it.
Section 5 - Repetition
Get used to it.
If you have successfully committed yourself, and enjoy the game you run, get used to playing it. This should not be seen as a chore, but rather, an exercise. Have fun with it. If a run dies, don't cry, don't instantly reset, but run around, maybe back track, and process what ruined you for future reference. Speedrunning is, while competitive, supposed to bring personal enjoyment. This is about fun. If you spend your time bitching at yourself, and crying over lost runs, you're going to have a bad time.
Section 6 - In the End
Take the time to grow, and in moments of defeat, realize your strong points, exercise them, and strengthen your weak aspects. We all have places we've strong, and places we're weak. The point is to balance between the two, eventually becoming optimal, and perfecting ourselves.
In the end, this isn't about your viewers, this isn't about getting some arbitrary WR; this about personal improvement, accomplishment, and enjoyment. Have fun, explore the game, and mostly, destroy it beyond what your previous self ever imagined. This will create the most enjoyable experience for your viewers, our community, and most importantly, for yourself.
With this, cheers, the best of luck, and happy speedrunning.
Acronyms:
SDA - Speed Demos Archive (www.speeddemosarchive.com)
SRL - Speed Runs Live (www.speedrunslive.come)
TAS - Tool Assisted Speedrun (www.tasvideos.org)
WR - World Record
PB - Personal Best
And my stream - www.twitch.tv/kakka_rot
Thanks for reading!
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