The Gold Split - Week #48
Week #48 (July 17): Super Mario Galaxy; New Timer; Uncharted 3; ULTRAKILL; Hello Neighbor; Event News; New Records: Portal, Red Ball 4, Pokémon Yellow, Splatoon 3, Fallout 4
Happy Week #48!
Also, happy release day to all the Donkey Kongers out there. Donkey Kong Bananza is out now and I can’t wait to see what the speedruns will look like, especially after reading this reply by game director Kazuya Takahashi in a recent interview:
Takahashi: There's a lot of leeway in terms of progression in this game. For example, locations or parts of the story you can skip without suffering any consequences. When the game progresses in a way we hadn't intended, we call it a “sequence break” in development terminology. Typically, in game development, restrictions are put in place to prevent this from happening, but since this game is all about destruction, we wanted people to play freely. Truth be told, restrictions make things a lot easier for us developers. (Laughs) But please do experiment.
I’m travelling once again next week and there won’t really be any opportunities for me to put together Week #49 during that trip. If nothing changes, the next issue will arrive in your inbox on July 31st!
Contents
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 ⚡️
🌌 Super Mario Galaxy’s Switch 2 Version is Faster, but Unstable (Discord News)
Recent testing by Super Mario Galaxy runner Azulon reveals that the Switch 2 version of the game saves approximately seven seconds in Any% (Luigi) runs, with no significant differences between digital and physical versions. However, Switch 2 users have reported unpredictable game crashes while playing as Luigi. The community recommends avoiding playing on the Switch 2 for marathon runs until Nintendo has worked on a stability patch. As for the game’s leaderboards, speedruns done on the Switch 2 will continue to compete with the original Switch.
🆕 OpenSpeedRun: A New Customisable Timer for Unix Systems (2-minute read)
OpenSpeedRun is a new, open-source speedrunning timer specifically built for Unix-style operating systems. OpenSpeedRun is a new open-source speedrunning timer created specifically for Unix-based systems like Linux, BSD, and macOS. Designed to be lightweight and user-friendly, it includes a customisable interface with themes, icons for splits, and live tracking of personal bests. Users can control the timer through a simple GUI or a command-line interface. A link to the GitHub repository is available in the post.
🍄 Super Mario 64 Rules Update (1-minute read)
The Super Mario 64 moderation team has updated the rules regarding input displays for Nintendo 64 and Virtual Console speedruns. Input adapters and displays may not provide runners with more detailed information than a standard, unmodified controller. Examples of prohibited features include precise numeric input values, "carpetless" input display skins, and indicators for specific off-notch inputs. Runs previously verified under old guidelines will remain grandfathered into leaderboards.
🔫 ULTRAKILL Leaderboards Update Clipping Rules and Introduce 240 FPS Limit (4-minute read)
Following an extensive vote involving 145 players, the ULTRAKILL community has updated its rules on out-of-bounds clipping techniques. Several of them have been banned across all categories and past runs using these methods are being retroactively rejected. Additionally, any clips patched by future updates will result in similar retroactive rule restrictions. Furthermore, in order maintain an even playing field, an FPS cap of 240 has also been introduced and prevents reliance on extremely high framerates only achievable with high-end PCs.
🧭 The Speedrun History of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (69-minute video)
With this video, RyMoSwag completes their trilogy of speedrunning history videos about the PlayStation 3 games of the Uncharted series after covering Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves earlier this year. From modest beginnings, when beating the game in under three hours seemed impressive, it covers the history all the way to the present day, when the time it takes to finish the game has been roughly cut in half.
🏆 Speedrun.com Deltarune Competition (Results)
The results are in and the times have been officially verified. All winners ended up within just six seconds of each other. Congratulations!
🥇 MarioMan47 🇺🇸 | $250.00 | Time: 32:22
🥈 Vintagix 🇧🇪 | $150.00 | Time: 32:27
🥉 TheMagicD 🇺🇸 | $100.00 | Time: 32:28
📝 Super Mario Galaxy Summer League (Sign-up Form)
The Super Mario Galaxy League is a long-term team competition running between early August and early October. It’s inspired by popular Super Mario 64 community events and features teams led by experienced captains drafting runners across seven distinct categories from both Super Mario Galaxy games. Points are earned based on how much participants improve their personal bests relative to world records, allowing players of all abilities to meaningfully contribute. Sign-ups are open until July 31st, and interested runners must meet leaderboard submission rules and recording requirements to participate.
🔐 The Challenges of Cryptographically Verifying Speedruns (12-minute read)
In his slightly humorous paper, "All Proof of Work But No Proof of Play," Hayder Tirmazi explores the challenges and absurdities of cryptographically verifying video game speedruns. They comically narrate their repeated failures to prevent cheating methods such as splicing, simulated inputs, and game modifications. Through playful self-deprecation and references, the author underlines the difficulty of applying cryptographic standards to competitive gaming.
🦔 Experimental FPS Cap Introduced for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Speedruns (3-minute read)
The moderation team for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has announced a new rule limiting PC and Mac players to a maximum framerate of 144 FPS in order to allow console players to be more competitive. Higher framerates have provided significant advantages in reaction times and input precision. Moving forward, top-level PC and Mac submissions must include an on-screen FPS counter in recordings for verification purposes. Existing runs set above 144 FPS will remain valid.
🔍 Hello Neighbor Leaderboards Resume Verification (3-minute read)
After a two-month break due to rising concerns around cheating, the Hello Neighbor moderation team has resumed run verification. As part of the now stricter ruleset, categories on PC have been divided into four Divisions. Essentially, the Division of a category determines, which runs on these leaderboards will require additional proof. For Division 4 categories, this only applies to the very best time, while everybody in the top ten of a Division 1 leaderboard will now have to deal with increased scrutiny. A breakdown of the exact rulings necessary to prevent cheating is available in the article.
Briefly ⏱️
🚓 GTA Online Rules Update (1-minute read)
The new rule restricts the use of the RockStar Social Club and its console equivalent. A link to an active discussion thread is available in the post.🔀 Hitman: WoA Ports Warrant Separate Leaderboards (1-minute read)
Due to platform-specific bugs and gameplay differences, runs on Switch 2 will be tracked separately from PC and console, while the mobile versions will receive their own game page entirely.📜 Minecraft Speedrun Mod List Updated (1-minute read)
Several legal mod versions were added or fixed, and runners are urged to avoid accidental resets by remapping keys.
Event News 📅
The last weeks have seen some of the biggest events of the year, and this train is not stopping yet. ESA Summer 2025 and Summer Games Done Quick 2025 both finished their full week of fundraising recently, and the Australian Speedrun Marathon is currently celebrating their 10th anniversary while continuing to carry the torch on the other side of the planet. They’ll be live until Saturday and you should absolutely go and check out their event!
Naturally, the end of a large Games Done Quick event comes with announcements and reminders of their upcoming plans:
Awesome Games Done Quick 2026: January 4th - January 10th in Pittsburgh, PA
Games Done Queer: October 31st - November 2nd
Flame Fatales 25: September 7th - September 14th
🏁 Finished
Summer Games Done Quick 2025 raised $2,436,614 for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
ESA Summer 2025 raised $56,358 for Alzheimerfonden
⏱️ Running
Until July 20th: ASM 2025 (Schedule), benefiting Cure Cancer
🔜 Upcoming
Starts July 23rd: Fangame Marathon 2025 (Schedule)
Starts July 28th: Really Really Civil Rights (Schedule TBA), benefiting ACLU
This Week’s Top Times 🏆
🥇 First Place
Portal (Inbounds: PC) in 00:07:51.750 by lacunae
Video • YouTubePortal (Out of Bounds: PC) in 00:05:23.129 by wyrnicus (He/Him, They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeRed Ball 4 Vol.1 (Any%) in 00:01:39.700 by Starline (She/Her)
Video • YouTubePokémon Yellow (Any% Glitchless: ENG) in 01:53:02.000 by SlNNED
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSplatoon 3 (Any%: Unrestricted, Switch) in 00:49:35.000 by salt29yo (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeUncharted: Drake's Fortune (Any% No Airwalk: No Launches) in 00:37:13.000 by Panzerdeer
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSly 3: Honor Among Thieves (Any%) in 05:47:10.000 by Baconman12 (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeFallout 4 (Any%: Full-game) in 00:34:12.690 by tomatoanus (He/Him, They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥈 Second Place
Deltarune (Chapter 1: Any%) in 00:25:51.932 by anonymemesxd (He/Him)
Video • TwitchSekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Shura: PC, Glitchless) in 00:28:13.000 by BeicH
VideoMirror's Edge (Any%) in 00:25:55.000 by SilverC (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeFEZ (Any%) in 00:24:44.000 by MorganMustDie (They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
🥉 Third Place
Red Ball (12 Levels) in 00:02:35.193 by ElementYT (He/Him)
Video • YouTubeA Hat in Time (Any%: Lagless, PC) in 00:34:38.630 by Zoro64
Video • Twitch • YouTubeTitanfall 2 (Any%: Standard) in 01:13:53.000 by Darkwin
Video • Twitch • YouTubeGet to Work. (No Top Grabs) in 00:09:54.000 by IvyCide (She/Her)
Video
Social Choice 🔝
The r/speedrun choice of the week is… u/ScopionSniper’s list of the must-watch-showcases from Summer Games Done Quick 2025. If you’ve missed large parts of the event and don’t know where to start, start right here.
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you (probably) Thursday, July 31st 2025. 👋🏻
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