The Gold Split - Week #29: On Rails
Week #29 (Jan 30): Public Transit Spotlight; GTA Marathon; NES Big 20; Event News; TAS Movies; New World Records: DuckTales, Crash 2, Wind Waker HD, Astro Bot
Happy Week #29!
I can’t believe we’re already four weeks and almost 1/12 into 2025. It’s almost February. Time truly flies. I’m travelling today, so the data making up This Week’s Top Times 🏆 is from yesterday, please forgive me.
To make up for it, I have a (in my opinion) pretty cool spotlight lined up that I put together over the last few weeks. It’s finally ready and I hope you enjoy reading about a different kind of speedrun.
Contents
Up to Speed ⚡️
Frame by Frame (TAS Movies) 🔧
I encourage you to think about what happened recently in the communities you are a part of. If there are any stories, articles, glitches, events, or other topics I should cover, go ahead and submit them here or in the Gold Split Discord! 📨
Spotlight: Enzo 🔦
I love non-gaming speedruns. Really cool things emerge when the speedrunning formula is applied to everyday activities that everybody is familiar with. In past publications I’ve already talked about Excel and (briefly) baking, and today I’d like to put the spotlight on another one: public transit networks.
The goal is fairly simple: use public transport to pass through every station on its network, as fast as possible. Time starts when the doors close at the first station and ends upon leaving the train, tram, bus or monorail after having ticked off all others on the network. It is simple, but also much more complicated than it sounds.
The majority of it might be an autoscroller with no way to speed up the vehicle you’re in, but that just means that other factors become much more important. Arguably, the most important part of any speedrun is the route, and in an open scenario like this one a lot of questions need to be answered:
Where should my route start / end?
Where do I transfer from one line to the next?
How do I minimise the amount of stations I visit multiple times?
Are there any shortcuts between stations / lines outside of the network?
The answers to these are an exercise in graph theory and a classic travelling salesman problem, with the additional constraints that we are restricted to lines, can only change them at specific points and - most importantly - are also optimising the route for speed. Any time spent waiting at a station or bus stop is completely wasted. The frequency of different lines and the time it takes to change at a station need to be carefully considered.
During a run, the stakes are high. For any multi-hour speedrun, resetting is a serious blow, especially far into the run. But for public transit systems and on optimised routes, an opportunity where the right lines align at the right time might only present itself once or twice a day. Additionally, randomness (RNG) is rampant and trains or buses can run into a myriad of issues, causing them to be delayed or even cancelled. Committing a day of your time to a run shows serious commitment, whether in real life or in video games.
The idea of clearing entire networks has been around for a while. There are many recognised Guinness world records and popular content creators that have attempted these challenges, but they haven’t been called a speedrun until recently. And only when they did, they appeared on my radar.
I first came across this phenomenon through a video by YouTuber Adam, in which he attempts a run through the Bay Area Rapid Transit network, or BART for short, using a route that promised a new record if completed successfully. BART gets a special shoutout here because they embrace, recognise and encourage speedruns of their network. On their website you’ll find a chronological list of verified runs as well as information about how to start your own.
Compared to networks like the London Underground, BART is fairly simplistic, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to optimise, let alone finish a good run. The architect of the fastest route through the system is young high school student Enzo. He is a strong advocate for public transit and has not only perfected the route through his local network, but recently went to Los Angeles to speedrun the metro system there as well. Check out the full video on his YouTube channel!
Eager to learn more, I reached out to Enzo and received not only a quick, but also an exceptionally comprehensive response. The full version of the text-based Q&A sadly goes far beyond the scope of this article and there are cuts I needed to make, but I will follow up with an extended version as a separate publication in the near future.
Insights from Enzo
Q: Would you like to introduce yourself?
I’m currently a 15-year-old sophomore in high school, advocating for transit through journeys and experiences that appeal to audiences of my demographic. Speedrunning helped me incorporate myself into the transit community, but I’ve since branched to other areas like content creation and networking with communities to advocate for transit.
Q: How did you get into speedrunning public transit systems?
I had a passion for transit and considered myself an enthusiast, but wanted to make something out of it. A difficult and creative challenge was the perfect opportunity, and seeing as I was already an active gamer, speedrunning my local system, BART, checked all the criteria on my imaginary list. I was first exposed to the idea of transit speedrunning through the YouTuber tomo tawa linja, and found myself invested in their videos on the subject.
Q: Finding the quickest possible route is a big focus. How do you analyse a new transit system for speedrunning?
When I’m completely unfamiliar with a system’s layout or operations, it’s generally a better idea to learn how it functions as a whole before diving straight in. For example, I had never ridden the LA metro system before and figured it was a better idea to learn the lines’ headways, important station layouts, and fare system, among other basic things. After gaining some familiarity with the system - which you can do online, but I would highly suggest scouting in person - the next step is to open up a spreadsheet and plot the current fastest time route, using whatever format you prefer, as well as noting any strategies (like where to stand in which car of the train to optimize transfer positioning). Then, open up a to-scale system map, and observe possible shortcuts in the WR route or consider swapping end/start points. If the WR route is already extremely optimized, it doesn’t hurt to consider options that you might have crossed out for one reason or another before brute forcing them, as sometimes the wildest routes are the fastest.
Q: Before the run, I noticed that you scout some stations where key changes will take place. How else do you prepare for the day of the run?
To be honest, most of the preparation and logistic readiness come long before the attempt. […] you should be mentally ready for anything. During the night before the attempt, prepare a backpack with goods such as power banks, food and drinks, and other miscellaneous items as applicable, from recording equipment to hand sanitizer.
Q: While on the speedrun, Do you actively monitor multiple lines and their delays? Could you see yourself changing your route on the fly?
Of course, runners should monitor conditions on the system and off the system, like weather patterns, delays on the system, and other factors. Should something dire occur, a spontaneous route swap is possible. If you do, maybe it's best to tank the delay/cycle and continue with your route, or maybe it's best to swap routes. Normally, if there is a segment of the run that is vulnerable to fluctuations and variability, it's a good idea to plan a backup route in advance. However, as with many systems, if the run is already exceptionally optimized, one missed transfer likely kills your run.
Q: How have schedule updates or line changes affected your speedruns?
[…] major changes, such as new line openings or station additions/removals warrant complete leaderboard resets, similar to how different versions of Minecraft have different leaderboards. Of course, in real life, you can’t rollback to play an older version of a system, so rather than completely removing and forgetting the leaderboard, a system’s leaderboard is archived, and then reset for its current state.
Q: Do you plan to improve the BART record?
BART is already one of the most optimized systems in the entire world in transit speedrunning. With their schedules having changed recently on the 13th, any hopes of beating my time of 5 hours, 9 minutes, and 35 seconds is virtually non-existent.
Q: How does transit speedrunning compare to gaming speedruns?
Similarities: The spirit of speedrunning, and what a speedrun fundamentally is. Additionally, things like optimization, planning, brutal fails, close calls and lucky RNG are all shared factors between gaming and transit speedruns. There are shortcuts for many systems and anything that counts as public transit is fair game.
Differences: There isn’t a website or page like speedrun.com for transit. Thus, there’s often controversy in some runs that push rule sets and boundaries to their limits, as a symptom of a lack of moderation. Real-world runs and video game runs are very different, in the sense that you can’t pause (obviously), resetting takes MUCH longer, and there are often more variables and external, uncontrollable factors compared to video game runs.
Q: What advice would you give to newcomers?
[…] the best advice I can give is to not overthink it and start the process of researching past runs, combing through timetables, finding a fast route, and executing it. You’ll learn a lot over the course of the run, and if you continue to make attempts on the same or different system, your experience will carry you through.
Q: Is there a global transit speedrunning community?
Unfortunately, each metropolitan area kinda has its own community, and sometimes (like in the case of the USA), there may be some public but inactive communities on various social media platforms, banding together to try to record every attempt on every system to make sure nobody gets left out. However, because of this, there isn’t a network that connects all speedrunner hobbyists under one roof. Odds are, if you google '[system name] speedrun', ex. 'WMATA speedrun', multiple results will come up with past and current runners battling locally for the top spot.
Q: How do you see the future evolving, and what role do you hope to play in it?
My transit speedruns weren’t really intended to gain much recognition at all and were my way of advocating transit through a fun experience that I thought tied my past life with my new passion well. However, now that I’ve seemingly adopted a transit speedrunner title, I’m not going to stop what I’ve been doing; my realistic future goals would be to sweep the West Coast, including cities like Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and San Diego, as well as tackling some East Coast giants like Boston’s MBTA and DC’s WMATA. In the distant future, I hope to one day take my chance at titans like Tokyo and Shanghai. In general, though, my role in transit speedrunning has largely played out already; influencing people who may or may not have previously been transit enthusiasts to go out and try something similar, spreading advocacy for the fact that, yes, if you plan a transit trip well, it can be very efficient and cost-effective, and to hopefully project a better image for public transportation systems on the online world.
I think that’s a beautiful sentiment to end it on. Once again, a huge thank you to Enzo for his time. Make sure to check out his YouTube channel to watch his run through the LA metro system and to stay updated on future ones.
And you, dear reader, let me know in the comments or on the Gold Split Discord: have you been inspired to try this in your local city or town? If so, which one?
Up to Speed ⚡️
We’re low on news this week! You can be part of the solution by submitting your own, here or in the Gold Split Discord! 📨
📅 GTAMarathon 2025 will be partially on-site (2-minute read)
The charity event focusing mainly (but not only) on Grand Theft Auto and other similar titles will take place in Portsmouth, England, between April 7th and April 11th. It will still feature remote speedrunners, streaming from their homes. GTAM 2025 aims to raise fund for War Child. You can find more information on their event Discord or their new website.
📋 Best of NES announce games list for Big 20 #20 (3-minute read)
The Big 20 is a race event regularly organised by the Best of NES community since 2015. The next one will take place on March 1st and mark the 20th anniversary of the race. As the name implies, players race to finish the set goals in each of the 20 NES games as fast as possible. Games must be played in order and progress must be streamed. Further rules and information about how to join the race and the community are available through the link.
💬 Games Done Quick is looking for English restream commentators (2-minute read)
Specifically for their English restream of the French charity event SpeeDons 2025, Games Done Quick are recruiting commentators that excel at entertainment and game knowledge for one or more of the games on the schedule. Chosen individuals will be compensated for their time and the restream is entirely self-funded by Games Done Quick. If you’re familiar with any of the games on the schedule, give it a shot! This is a great opportunity and something I’ve never seen before. Applications close on February 11th.
Event News 📅
There are only two upcoming events, but both are absolute bangers. First, during the weekend, the Midwest Speedfest team is hosting a special Tune-Up event, acting as a fundraiser for their main event in April.
Next week, the Black in a Flash community is celebrating Black speedrunners during Back to Black 2025 on the Games Done Quick Twitch channel, raising donations against systemic racism and for racial equity.
🏁 Finished
magFAST 2025 raised $15,400+ for Child’s Play
UKSG Red 2025 raised £5,678 for Crisis
🔜 Upcoming
Starts January 31st: Midwest Speedfest Tune-Up (Schedule)
Starts February 6th: Back to Black 2025 (Schedule), benefitting Race Forward
This Week’s Top Times 🏆
🥇 First Place
DuckTales (NES) (Any%) in 00:07:07.860 by Zhrakula (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeCrash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (100%) in 01:07:21.000 by Stuart0000
Video • TwitchFinal Fantasy X (PS2: Any%) in 09:32:31.000 by CaracarnVi
Video • Twitch • YouTubeThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Glitchless: Any%) in 04:21:46.000 by mralberto23 (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeDevil May Cry 4: Special Edition (NG (PC): Nero/Dante, Devil Hunter, Unrestricted) in 00:51:07.000 by renzero (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeAstro Bot (Any%) in 02:07:24.000 by CryoWolf05 (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeWe are Eva (Any%) in 00:09:10.159 by PurpleNinjaGrrl (She/Her)
VideoThe Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (All Dungeons: Unrestricted) in 01:42:29.000 by TGH (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥈 Second Place
Portal 2 (Single Player: No SLA) in 00:55:47.882 by leough
VideoStray (Any%: PC, Glitchless) in 01:16:02.000 by jonuhtan (He/Him)
Video • TwitchDark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (Any%: Restricted) in 00:52:14.000 by Nyk_Style (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Funky Mode: Any% No Death Abuse, 1P) in 01:21:26.000 by Llamalipchipdip
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥉 Third Place
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Any%: Normal Mode) in 00:23:24.000 by MoldyMeatballs
Video • Twitch • YouTubeThe Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Any%: No Major Glitches) in 01:13:42.000 by TheHumanProtractor
Video • TwitchResident Evil HD Remaster (Steam) (Any%: Jill, New Game) in 00:48:58.000 by Avenged1250
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSuper Mario 64 (1 Star: VC) in 00:07:30.000 by Majoog (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
Frame by Frame 🔧
Two weeks ago, we featured a tool-assisted movie of Arkanoid: Doh It Again for the SNES in this section. This week, the classic Arkanoid for the NES gets its turn. TAS creators eien86 and Chef_Stef make use of an emulated Arkanoid controller that originally came with the game and allows for much faster movement than the regular NES controller. The result is a truly superhuman spectacle, in which even multiple balls are juggled with ease.
Arkanoid (NES) in 10:20.61 by eien86 & Chef_Stef
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Warpless
Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat (NES) in 06:18.51 by eien86
Video • Author Notes • Goal: All Tracks
Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight (Amiga) in 10:36.19 by eien86
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Trio the Punch: Never Forget Me... (Arcade) in 16:37.43 by illayaya
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Santos
Hot Potato! (GBA) in 30:33.66 by Walgrey
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Mission Game
Reddit Choice 🔝
The r/speedrun choice of the week is… this thread, discussing titles beyond Super Mario Bros. in which a human speedrunner is able to achieve the same time as the tool-assisted speedrun.
Dragster is an infamous example, but also several fights in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! have been completed in the fastest possible time by both human and machine.
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you next Thursday, February 6th 2025. 👋🏻
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Thanks for reading.