The Gold Split - Week #38
Week #38 (April 10): ERA IX; Sonic Dream Team; Mega Man X Tournament; therun.gg Preview; Science; Magic; Event News; New Records: Donkey Kong Country 2, Final Fantasy X, Sifu, Twilight Princess HD
Happy Week #38!
We’ve got a really wacky wavy Up to Speed ⚡️ section lined up this week. I hope you’re at least into either scientific theses or arcane spellcasting. If not, I can’t help you.
Only nine days until Twitch’s Vodpocalypse! Read the news, tell your crews, use the tools, save speedrunning history!
Meanwhile, as mentioned last week, I still won’t have a ton of time to dedicate to researching interesting stories myself in the next couple of weeks. If you have a story to tell, can fit it within ~500 and 1500 words, and would like it to be featured in this silly little newsletter, please reach out to me (Fatzke) on Discord!
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 ⚡️
🎥 ThaRixer completes Jak 3 video series with 9th video - ERA IX (75-minute video)
The most ambitious speedrunning history series of a single game has come to its conclusion. Over nearly two years, ThaRixer released nine videos documenting the entire story of Jak 3 speedrunning with a particular focus on the community behind it. This final entry in the series covers the story until 2023, lends a voice to the players who shaped the game’s legacy, leaves room for final goodbyes and an outlook towards the future, and ends with a genuinely inspirational message. If you haven’t started ERA yet, you’ll find all nine parts in one playlist HERE.
🦔 New glitch changes Sonic Dream Team (42-second video)
Swap Super Jump (SSJ), discovered by speedrunner SonicFind, allows players to launch themselves high into the air, skipping some levels almost entirely. The glitch is initiated by using the menu to swap characters, starting a jump animation, pausing again, and then unpausing. The length of the pause as well as the frame when the pause was initiated determine how high they’ll go. SSJ can’t be used in all levels and the community is still experimenting with its mechanics and working on implementing it into their routes.
Thank you to Argick for the detailed explanation!
🏆 Large Mega Man X (100%) tournament announced (3-minute read)
There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s just focus on the details. The generous $1000 prize pool will be divided into three pots for different tournaments based on players’ skill level. The tournament only begins in August, but until the start there will be practice and learning hangouts for players new to the game or category. The event also raises money for Gamers Outreach. Anybody may compete, and a link to the sign-up form as well as more information is available in the post.
💰 Aliens versus Predator 2 contest concludes (Speedrun.com)
The preliminary results are in! Pending final verification of the times, these runners will share the $500.00 prize money:
🥇 first_try_i_swear 🇳🇱 | $250.00 | Time: 14:40
🥈 BobMaster69 🇩🇰 | $150.00 | Time: 14:48
🥉 izgnannik 🌍 | $100.00 | Time: 15:10
👀 An update from therun.gg about upcoming features (3-minute read)
In this sneak preview, Joey, the developer of therun.gg, is sharing some plans for the near future. Among those are a new page showing upcoming and current marathons and tournaments, an open source back-end and a completely revamped front page. If you look closely, you might be able to find a familiar sight in the mock-up of the new design. 👀
📚 Skill Acquisition and Player Performance in Video Games (∞-minute read)
I will immediately admit that I have not read this entire >200-page dissertation, but I did at least skim some of it, and I suggest you do the same. It’s fascinating, talks about different ways to acquire skills in video games, and explores the efficacy of different methods. The authors argue that simple grinding for long periods of time not only leads to mental fatigue, but also to adverse physical effects. Both hold the player back. More structured forms of practice are recommended and researched in two user studies: spacing out gaming sessions and the inclusion of low-latency feedback. The latter is especially relevant for speedrunning, as participants receiving immediate feedback learned a simple Super Mario Bros. speedrun task more effectively.
📊 SaltySplits can visualise your split files (Tool)
SaltySplits is a Python library that promises to help you analyse your speedruns in more detail. It’s capable of modelling and visualising specific statistics not dissimilar to the unfortunately now shut down splits.io, and also features an experimental front-end on saltysplits.com. Please check it out, give it a try, and potentially even leave some feedback and/or report issues on the GitHub page. It’s always good to see new tools expanding the choice within the scene.
🔮 Speedrunning as a form of magic within a digital reality (20-minute read)
This is a bit of an odd one I randomly stumbled across. I fundamentally love how speedrunning can have parallels to all sorts of things, even if it does occasionally seem a little more than just a stretch. In this case, the analogy is drawn to ancient ritual magic, and paints speedrunners and glitch hunters as technomancers, casting teleportation spells within a digital reality. Overall the essay gets a few details wrong, but it’s worth checking out for the novelty alone.
Event News 📅
With GTAMarathon 2025 coming to a close tomorrow, there are not one, but two in-person events to pick up the torch throughout the weekend: NSG Spring 2025 and Midwest Speedfest 2025! The former takes place near Oslo, Norway, and the latter in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but both raise money for a good cause by showcasing a variety of speedruns for three days. Do give both a chance, but I did help create the schedule for NSG, so I’ll be a little biased here.
🏁 Finished
Farewell to Switch raised $12,000 for Direct Relief
⏱️ Running
Until April 11th: GTAMarathon 2025 (Schedule), benefiting War Child
🔜 Upcoming
Starts April 11th: NSG Spring 2025 (Schedule), benefiting the Norwegian Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted
Starts April 11th: Midwest Speedfest 2025 (Schedule), benefiting the PFund Foundation
Starts April 14th: Game Over, Cancer! 2025 (Schedule), benefiting the Canadian Cancer Society
This Week’s Top Times 🏆
🥇 First Place
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Any%: SNES) in 00:37:33.903 by Leftover0w0
Video • TwitchFinal Fantasy X (PC: Any%) in 08:21:26.000 by CrimsonInferno9
Video • TwitchNew Super Mario Bros. U (Any%) in 00:34:41.967 by okosan (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSifu (NG+: Student/Disciple, Restricted) in 00:14:57.000 by Hir0 (He/Him)
VideoThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Any%) in 03:12:28.000 by gymnast86 (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeCats Hidden in Paris (100 cats) in 00:00:37.320 by afdusrt (He/Him)
Video • YouTubeBeyond Good & Evil (Any%: Original / HD) in 01:33:39.000 by Homfernus
Video
🥈 Second Place
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Any%: Normal Mode) in 00:23:10.000 by MoldyMeatballs
Video • Twitch • YouTubeRatchet & Clank (NG+) in 00:18:26.000 by Dezmone (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubePokémon Yellow (Any% Glitchless: ENG) in 01:53:35.000 by SlNNED
Video • TwitchJak 3 (Any% No OoB: Original) in 00:27:34.000 by Bintendo (She/Her)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥉 Third Place
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (120 Stars: 1P) in 05:44:49.000 by Odme_ (He/Him)
Video • TwitchJak II (Any%: Original) in 00:53:11.000 by headstrong1290 (She/Her)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeCrash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Any% (No Crystal Duplication)) in 00:51:27.000 by PlayerGameSK (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubePalia (Tower Any% No Major Glitches) in 00:05:34.990 by pinhégas
Video • Twitch
Frame by Frame 🔧
Three TAS movies this week come with alternate videos that expand on the gameplay in interesting ways, and so I added them below. You’ll find informative overlays for Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire and Alone in the Dark as well as commentary for the full Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge movie.
Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire (GBA) in 4:36:11.60 by gabraltar & Fortranm
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Co-op Diploma
Perfect Dark (N64) in 24:21.26 by alkamaass
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Agent
Alone in the Dark (DOS) in 05:51.22 by tigrou
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Beat the Game
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64) in 1:03:27.00 by NiaHoshino
Video • Author Notes • Goal: All Shards
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX) in 18:27.81 by arukAdo
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Luck Mode (Pacifist)
Pokémon Pinball (GBC) in 03:37.85 by KusogeMan
Video • Author Notes • Goal: Defeat Mewtwo (Red Board)
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you next Thursday, April 17th 2025. 👋🏻
The Gold Split is free and I have no plans to add a paywall. If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to receive the new issue each Thursday directly to your inbox.
If you are already subscribed and would like to support my work further, you may share this publication with people near to you or even pledge a paid subscription. 50% of all revenue will be donated to charity events within the speedrunning community.
Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
Thanks for reading.