The History of Video Games

History | Esports | Speedruns

Speedruns

A speedrun is a play-through of a video game or a portion of it (such as a single level) done in the quickest possible time. While all speedruns aim for a speedy finish, some players set additional goals or restrictions, such as collecting all important objects or playing blindfolded. Players speedrun to push themselves, entertain themselves, compete, and master a game system in ways that would not be achievable in a normal playthrough. Speedrunners frequently keep track of their attempts. These recordings are used to entertain others, check the completion time, certify that all regulations were followed, and identify areas where the completion time could be improved. Speedrunners must frequently reason about the game differently than other players in order to obtain a high level of performance. Speedruns follow carefully designed and frequently repeated gameplay routes. Christina "Strunoph" Norman was the first to notice the feature when she published the LMP Hall of Fame website in January 1994. The COMPET-N website, which began in November 1994, became the definitive installation Doom speedrunning scene. Simon Widlake, the site's founder, intended it to be a scoreboard for various Doom-related feats, but unlike its predecessors, they were all predicated on the premise of quick completion, making it the first true speedrunning site. Today, you can find many speedruns on hundreds of games on Speedrun.com.

Strategies

While playing the game normally (just a faster pace) would take a long time. To improve on this, speedrunners would find optimal routes within the game. These strategies would save them a lot of time and is often used in the future by others. These can also skip a whole part of the game. Players can often create a whole new move, for example, the Cap Jump from Super Mario Odyssey can help the player jump further, allowing the player to go to places at a much faster pace.