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SUMMER GAMES DONE QUICK 2016

July 3 - July 10

Another summer, another SGDQ.

If you're not aware of what I'm talking about, Games Done Quick is a series of charity video game marathons with events in the winter and summer. Speedrunners from all over come together in one place and stream a nonstop barrage of high-level gameplay. This summer's event benefits Doctors without Borders. Tune in to see some games getting completely taken apart. The runs will eventually be archived if you can't see it live.
 
Main Site

Schedule

 

Twitch Channel

 

Donation Page

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I'm probably going to miss this in its entirety but I plan to catch up on the archives and donate if I can.  My favorite runner PJ is only doing one game this year, Bionic Commando.  Other things that caught my eye:

 

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight any% insane 1-handed by Halfcoordinated - I know nothing about this game but Halfcoordinated is a disabled runner who only has fine motor control in one hand so all his runs are 1-handed.  I watched him do Vanquish one year and it was amazing.

 

Tetris Attack -  High level tetris attack play always makes my head spin.

 

Tetris: The Grand Master Series Exhibition - These are always crazy to see

 

Super Mario Maker Blind Custom Team Relay Race - The AGDQ race was great

 

TAS Block - A sneak preview of our AI overlords

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I've enjoyed the BioShock and Wolfenstein: The New Order runs the most so far.

 

One thing I've noticed, and I'm not sure if its anecdotal or an actual trend - but it seems that the majority of runs now are about breaking the hell out of a given game. I've just noticed much more out-of-bounds play and such. It's really fascinating to me, as someone who has fairly casually enjoyed watching these since the late 2000s or so, when the majority of runs *seemed* like folks basically picked a route that seemed fast and just got as close as humanly possible to getting through it, using the regular mechanics of the game.

 

Again, this might be purely anecdotal, but if it actually is a trend, I wonder why/how. Better/bigger communities for speedrunning? Better tools for finding and exploiting glitches?

 

It's cool, fascinating, weird stuff! I dig it.

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I've enjoyed the BioShock and Wolfenstein: The New Order runs the most so far.

 

One thing I've noticed, and I'm not sure if its anecdotal or an actual trend - but it seems that the majority of runs now are about breaking the hell out of a given game. I've just noticed much more out-of-bounds play and such. It's really fascinating to me, as someone who has fairly casually enjoyed watching these since the late 2000s or so, when the majority of runs *seemed* like folks basically picked a route that seemed fast and just got as close as humanly possible to getting through it, using the regular mechanics of the game.

 

Again, this might be purely anecdotal, but if it actually is a trend, I wonder why/how. Better/bigger communities for speedrunning? Better tools for finding and exploiting glitches?

 

It's cool, fascinating, weird stuff! I dig it.

 

You probably already know this, but depending on the game the runs will often be split into separate categories so there'll be a glitchless and a glitched category; similar to how they have 100% completion vs Any% completion categories. So while glitchless runs are out there it may be the case that the selection process for this year's SGDQ timetable has skewed against that type of run. This may not be indicative of a shift in the scene as a whole, since every year GDQ gets hundreds of submissions and are often in a position where they can choose from several different categories for the same game. It could be that GDQ is favouring the glitchy runs for their marathon this year, for reasons I couldn't guess.

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I think it might be that the use of major glitches is more prevalent. A lot of runs use little exploits and glitches, but forgo completely breaking a game because it's hard to do, or not necessarily faster, or might just lock/crash a game.

 

You probably already know this, but depending on the game the runs will often be split into separate categories so there'll be a glitchless and a glitched category; similar to how they have 100% completion vs Any% completion categories. So while glitchless runs are out there it may be the case that the selection process for this year's SGDQ timetable has skewed against that type of run. This may not be indicative of a shift in the scene as a whole, since every year GDQ gets hundreds of submissions and are often in a position where they can choose from several different categories for the same game. It could be that GDQ is favouring the glitchy runs for their marathon this year, for reasons I couldn't guess.

 

I'd say there's also a good chance that they're picking runs for how good of a show they put on. While playing a game quickly and accurately is impressive, it means that all someone is watching is a game being played quickly and accurately. Throw sequence breaks and glitch exploits into the mix, and now you can have crazy things that can be explained by commentators, and mistakes that can be joked about.

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Looking at the schedule, there is a LOT of Any% on the docket this year. It's possible they're making an effort to either show off as many games as possible or keep the event moving, or both. There aren't many games whose estimated run is over an hour and even fewer over 90 minutes.

 

The games I'm generally most interested in from a technical perspective are some of the ones you mentioned. I was happy to catch Dishonored last night just happening to tune in. Games on the same engine or built in a similar style can all be broken similarly. Bioshock and Dishonored are both UE games for example, so clipping level geometry or memory caching or loading should theoretically work close to the same for both.

 

The Mario 3 or Super Metroid runs where they literally reprogram the game to beat it in 3 minutes feel like the exception to older games. It might be my perception as well, but the newer the game the more exploitable it seems to me. Especially on PC. I feel like ever since I've been watching, people have been backwards bunny hopping through entire levels of geometry though.

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Good points, all - the curation is definitely a factor (glitch runs, etc.), and engines - I imagine 3D games simply have... more ways to be broken and snapped in two.

 

Did any folks catch Half Coordinated's run of Momodura? I wasn't familiar with him previously, but he's a speedrunner who has the use of one hand. He ran this adorable kitty-themed platformer, then gave a really nice, slightly teary speech afterwards, urging other gamers with disabilities to push their limits and such.

 

It was a highlight of the event so far. A really nice gesture, and it seems very much in keeping with the spirit of the event (which, at times in years past, has felt iffy, with the growth of the event, some runners' immaturity and terms they've used for strats, etc.). That, and I'm glad the charity is MSF :)

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Has the split always been AGDQ Prevent Cancer Foundation and SGDQ MSF? I do think SGDQ has always had a slightly more relaxed vibe even though the events are virtually identical. I'm very happy that they're supporting MSF. Even though a cure for cancer is a very near, dear, and important subject for me, the disconnect between the serious nature of the disease and charity and an announcer cheerfully yelling "$9 FROM TOADHAT WHO SAYS "MY GREAT AUNT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER. THANK YOU FOR CRUSHIFYING GEX SO GOOD THAT IT IS LITERALLY OBLITERATED. KILL THE ANIMALS." has always left me with a slightly queasy feeling.

 

I turned the stream on right at the end of Half Coordinated's run, and it was someone giving him a big hug, some tears, and the audience clapping. I wasn't sure if it was something really happy or really, really sad. I was relieved to find out it was very positive.

 

Is the camera bugging anyone else this year? I couldn't put a pin in it, but then I realized it looked like every runner was so shy they couldn't possibly face the audience when in reality it's just set up 3 feet above their faces.

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Older iterations of GDQ have been for other charities but it's been AGDQ/Prevent Cancer and SGDQ/MSF for a while now.

As for showing lots of glitchy runs, I agree with what's been said about curation but I also want to add that they also try not to have too many things that have been shown before. Aside from the major staples like Metroid and Mario they tend to prefer a variety of old and new. Another thing to keep in mind is that the runs are constantly evolving and often a new strategy will emerge that completely changes a route in a way that skill alone can't accomplish. Sometimes these strategies are discovered days or even hours before a run is broadcast. If a run has changed significantly from the last time it was shown they're more likely to include it.

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The  Elder Scrolls speed run was amazing, specially for Arena and Daggerfall, I laughed a lot during the Daggerfall run, since I played that game so much that seeing it again not only bring memories, but also somehow that game managed to be broken and glitch in ways I didn´t even suspect (like the jump buffer thing, also punching and kicking to climb on stuff) despite year playing it.

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Oooh, that sounds really entertaining. I'll have to watch a recording of that.

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I tuned in near the end of the Daggerfall run, saw someone floating out of bounds above a dungeon, and was like "yeah that seems about right"

The thing with daggerfall is that was just the default experience of playing the game, you weren't looking for glitches for your speedrun strats, there were times you just plain needed to use a noclip cheat to even get to the quest object in some of those randomized dungeons.

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Yeah that was what I meant with my post. In fact, I don't even remember using a no-clip cheat, I'd just fudge my way through the geometry by climbing on an object and pushing through the ceiling, and just stand on top and look down on the tangle of checkerboard beige spaghetti.

PC gaming was very different back then.

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I've been catching up on runs while feeding the baby.  Some of the ones I've enjoyed so far

 

Mario Maker Relay Race

 

 

 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night blindfolded run

 

 

 

PEPSIMAN!


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I've been catching up on this too. I want to ask: am I just in a worse mood now than I was during previous GDQs, or does anyone else find the personalities of the runners during this show to be much more charmless and abrasive compared to others? The few runs I've picked to watch recently all just seem to be people (and couches) who are black holes of charisma snarking on their game and repeating inside jokes without caution.

 

It could be, and likely is, me; but it does make me concerned about the inherent convalescence we have now between speedrunning and Twitch culture. It's easy to see them as indistinguishable now, but Back In My Day, you could watch a speedrun without the runner constantly referencing the emotes that the chat is spamming.

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I think part of it is pandering to the audience, which during an event like GDQ can be several hundred times larger than any given runner's normal audience.  When you're in front of such a large group the easiest tactic is usually to play to the most common denominator, namely dumb memes and chat emotes.

 

While I haven't found this latest GDQ to be significantly better or worse than past ones, I know what you mean.  There are a few runs I've had to stop watching altogether because I just can't stand the personalities on display (the DKC3 race was a particularly bad standout to me this time).  I've watched enough of these events that I know which runners I like which helps but I'm always disappointed when I can't watch a game I want to see run because the people running it are so off-putting.

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I agree with you, SAM, with regards to the larger audience not working well with some runners. I think also, runners tend to fall into a routine of being dry and sarcastic about what's going on in a run, which for people who aren't intimately familiar with a game can be confusing and off-putting. It happened quite a bit with a few of the Zelda runs, in particular, and was frustrating. I think that the best runs use the opportunity to talk with a wider audience to describe the routes and the glitches and exploits in detail, such that people following along can feel the thrill of how quickly a game is being run as compared to how it would be run casually. Also, and this is a sad fact, a lot of people who do this aren't necessarily funny or entertaining, they're just good at running a game. However, they think they're funny, which is a bad combination. This year there just weren't as many exciting standout moments as in previous years. You highlighted a few of my favorites, SAM, but even in that Pepsiman run, the dude on the couch dressed as the titular character was a bit of an unfunny drag on what otherwise was pretty funny. 

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Part of the sarcasm also comes from the fact that the very nature of speedrunning means that by and large you're purposely looking for exploits and ways to break the game, hence every game being "broken".  One of the reasons I couldn't stand the DKC3 race was they were repeatedly calling the game dumb because it wasn't letting them break it as much as they wanted.  My favorite categories for runs tend to be the 100% or no glitch categories because it becomes much more about execution and skill.  You hear a lot fewer "this game is broken" comments in those runs.  They also tend to be better about explaining the game itself rather than the code they're exploiting.

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