The Gold Split - Week #33
Week #33 (Feb 27): SpeedrunRescueScript; Wind Waker LOTAD; Donkey Kong 64 History; Mario Summit; Event News; TAS Movies; New World Records: Portal 2, Stray, Donkey Kong Country, Celeste 64
Happy Week #33!
In the week after Twitch’s disastrous decision to limit the total duration for saved and uploaded Highlights, efforts to save past runs that are at risk of being deleted are well underway across the speedrunning community. Thank you to everybody who has taken action in any way, created helpful tools or simply spread the word!
If you have no clue what I’m talking about, read last week’s story or speedrun.com’s excellent news post about the issue at hand and then pass it on. The more people we reach, the more speedruns can be saved, and I will not stop talking about it until at least April 19th, when Twitch will be taking action and deleting all Highlights until the user’s total duration is below the new limit.
According to last week’s poll results, two-thirds of all readers and almost 50% of the ones who do stream are affected and forced to back up or export large parts of their Highlights library. Twitch claimed that less than 0.5% of streamers exceed the new limit. There’s an obvious bias among this audience, but that’s exactly the point: the speedrunning community is disproportionately affected.
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! 📨
Up to Speed ⚡️
💾 SpeedrunRescueScript gets updated (Reddit Thread)
Last week, inside the story about Twitch’s drastic space restrictions of highlighted content, I already recommended the excellent SpeedrunRescueScript project launched by Matse007. Since then, an even larger team of collaborators has formed and together they updated and expanded the script while also making it easier to use. The script’s main features including identifying speedruns on speedrun.com leaderboards that are at risk of being deleted due to Twitch’s new policy. Furthermore, the script is able to download these runs, allowing them to be backed up or hosted on a more permanent platform. An executable as well as a lot of configuration options are now provided and you find a link to the project’s GitHub page in the Reddit post or HERE.
🌊 The Wind Waker (LOTAD) finished with only two pauses (3-hour 30-minute video)
LOTAD stands for low-optimization tool-assisted demonstration. It might not be optimised for speed, but isn’t unlike a tool-assisted speedrun. In this one, the creators set the challenge of pausing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as few times as possible. In a way it’s similar to the A-Button challenge in Super Mario 64. The pause menu is where items are equipped and an integral part of the game, so by pausing only twice during the entire run, only two sets of three items are possible to be used. The entire video is fully commentated and offers some fascinating insights into the creative solutions the team came up with.
🏆 Donkey Kong 64’s 101% World Record History - Part 2 (56-minute video)
After Bismuth’s first video about the extensive history of the 101% category in Donkey Kong 64 covered the first era until 2016, part two now focusses on the time between 2016 and 2021 while hitting every milestone along the way. At least one more piece of the puzzle remains to showcase the progression until the present day.
🍄 GSA announces the GSA Mario Summit (Bluesky Post)
The event will feature twelve streamers coming together in New York from April 18th to April 20th to raise money for Urban Arts. Participating creators will be announced in the future, but three may be chosen through a public vote. The content will focus on speedruns, races and other challenges in Mario titles, but Mafia and Family Feud segments are also planned. A very small amount of VIP tickets is available for the public.
🏅 Wii Series Olympics offers 14 weeks of competition (3-minute read)
Over the course of 14 weeks, players try to gather as many points as possible by overcoming time barriers in existing categories and unique challenges. The games list consists of Wii Sports series, Wii Party, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Wii Music and Nintendo Switch Sports. A low barrier to entry encourages newcomers to join and more info can be found on the community’s Discord server.
Event News 📅
BSG Plus 2025 is still going strong! I’ve been tuning in a few times since the event started four days ago and realised how much they’re doing right to set themselves apart from others and to level up the experience for the viewers. Check it out! You’ll find interviews, short pre-recorded skits and plenty of memes, but also great speedruns. Ace reporter Joshimuz is on-site and kindly provided a behind-the-scenes look at the vibes:
If you’re reading this shortly after it got published, 🇫🇷 SpeeDons 5 and its alternate language restreams (see below) might not be live yet. Just give them a moment, you don’t want to miss this one. Last year’s event raised €2,066,663 for Médecins du Monde and was an incredible show. Expect the same again!
🏁 Finished
Lifeline for Linear raised $5,400
⏱️ Running
Until March 1st: BSG Plus 2025 (Schedule), benefitting MIND
Until March 2nd: 🇫🇷 SpeeDons 5 (Schedule), benefitting Médecins Du Monde
🇺🇸 English Restream by Games Done Quick
🇩🇪 German Restream by Germench
🇯🇵 Japanese Restream by Japanese_Restream
This Week’s Top Times 🏆
🥇 First Place
Portal 2 (Single Player: No SLA) in 00:55:27.967 by leough
VideoStray (Any%: PC, Glitchless) in 01:15:26.000 by jonuhtan (He/Him)
Video • TwitchDonkey Kong Country (All Stages: SNES) in 00:29:57.000 by lovebird920
Video • TwitchFallout: New Vegas (Any%: Yes Man) in 00:07:37.000 by WaveClipping
Video • Twitch • YouTubeGrand Theft Auto: Vice City (All Missions) in 02:02:52.000 by Redopter (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeThe Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019) (Any% (Glitchless)) in 01:36:06.000 by Ruben_ls3
Video • Twitch • YouTubeCeleste 64 (Any%) in 00:00:14.649 by Ellaquin (They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeUncharted 4: A Thief's End (Any%: 30 FPS) in 03:21:29.000 by Aukk4
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥈 Second Place
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (48 Tracks: 150cc, Items) in 01:54:37.850 by amia_xiii (Any/All, He/Him)
VideoSuper Castlevania IV (Any%: 1st Loop) in 00:31:20.000 by JoeDamillio
Video • Twitch • YouTubeNeed for Speed: Carbon (Career Any%: NG) in 01:48:41.000 by Zorro2376 (He/Him)
VideoCrash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy (Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back: Any%, Console) in 00:45:50.000 by KylieKyubi (She/Her)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥉 Third Place
Outlast (Any%: Main Game, PC) in 00:04:40.600 by SEAAGLE
VideoMetroid Fusion (Any%: Normal) in 01:11:13.000 by Thunder99
VideoBatman: The Video Game (NES) (Any%) in 00:09:49.133 by st4nzzz
Video • Twitch • YouTubeMetal Gear Solid (Any%: PC (2000), Easy) in 00:33:35.000 by iLL_Pazzo (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
Frame by Frame 🔧
Crazy Taxi (GC) in 02:58.25 by SJ
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Original
Prince of Persia (GBC) in 04:18.97 by eien86, TimmyAkmed & NintendoHardGamer
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Prince of Persia (Genesis, Europe) in 22:40.26 by eien86
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Kirby's Adventure (NES) in 00:34.01 by DarkRiolu27
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Game End Glitch
My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie's Party (DS) in 10:34.76 by jlun2
Video • Author Notes • Goal: 100%
Sonic Battle (GBA) in 04:13.62 by Tuffcracker
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Challenge Mode
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (NES) in 10:42.96 by link_7777
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Sword of the Samurai (DOS) in 11:36.84 by eien86
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Reddit Choice 🔝
The r/speedrun choice of the week is… this thread about speedruns that might never be bested unless a new strategy is discovered.
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you next Thursday, March 6th 2025. 👋🏻
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