The Gold Split - Week #7: Diablo Speedrunning Revitalised
Week #7 (August 15th): Diablo; Elden Ring Competition; Cookie Clicker TAS; Speedrunning Book; Marathon News; New World Records: A Link to the Past, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Kingdom Hearts II, Skyrim
We’re back from vacation, and while it’s good to be home, I could already use another break. I imagine this probably resonates with most, so you and I just formed a tighter bond. Congratulations!
The main story this week is about a 15-year-old speedrun that was likely cheated. I’m trying not to emphasise the drama and to instead provide an outside perspective with the interesting nuance that this case provides. Let me know if I succeeded!
Contents
I’d like to cover much more, but many great stories stay confined to the communities for a specific game or series and rarely get out. 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! 📨
Story of the Week
Cheating in speedrunning is one of those topics that’s completely out of scope for a newsletter story. If given the space, I would love to compare it to the usage of performance enhancing drugs in physical sports, tell you about some of the biggest scandals in recent history and then tie that into this story of the week. But instead, we’ll dive right in…
Every now and then a long-standing speedrunning record or high score gets challenged for cheating, and there are a few factors which raise the bar on how big of a deal it is:
How long has the record been standing?
What effect did it have on the community at the time and since then?
How widely was the record reported on?
What’s the knock-on effect?
In this case, the short answer is: it’s quite a big deal. However… it’s also a little more complicated.
According to speeddemosarchive.com (SDA), at the time of writing, the record for the fastest completion of the game Diablo is 3 minutes and 12 seconds, performed by Maciej “groobo” Maselewski. It’s a segmented run, done in 27 segments, and has stood for well over 15 years. It almost cut the previous best time in half and interest in beating the time within the community declined after realising how difficult it would be. On Guinness World Records, it is referenced as not only the fastest completion of Diablo, but also the fastest completion of an RPG videogame (questionable, considering there are many RPGs that are faster to complete).
A segmented run is a playthrough of a game that allows the separation of the game into different segments. It’s common for the boundaries of the segments to align with levels in the game, but if a game allows quick saving and loading, these boundaries can be drawn effectively anywhere. This approach allows for each of these segments to be perfected and recorded independently (but still in order) and then cut together using video editing software. It’s important that there is continuity in the transition between segments and that all of them are from the same playthrough.
And this last part is exactly what a team of people around beloved keeper of TASBot dwangoAC from the TAS and the Diablo communities have been challenging. They had trouble producing a tool-assisted speedrun faster than groobo’s real-time attack (RTA) run and started an investigation. In a comprehensive document they are outlining the many inconsistencies they found, not only pointing towards the use of footage from multiple playthroughs, as well as the use of software that manipulates the game’s files.
This seems like a rather clear case, but… technology magazine WIRED (which write this article about it) reached out to groobo, who stated the following:
“My run is a segmented/spliced run. It always has been and it was never passed off as anything else, nor was it part of any competition or leaderboards. The speeddemosarchive page states that outright.”
This explains the cherry-picked footage from multiple playthroughs, but not the use of software manipulating the game’s files. And it begs the question whether or not splicing a run from multiple playthroughs was technically considered legal using the rules from SDA back in 2009. I’ll save you the energy: it wasn’t. However, looking at the rules at the time, it’s not unreasonable to see how one might interpret them differently as they only imply, but never clearly state the need for a single playthrough in segmented runs.
Ignorance doesn’t protect from punishment though, and while the run is still up on SDA, it’s expected to be removed after the administrators have concluded their investigation. However, why it was originally approved despite being reviewed by several judges, considering some of the more obvious inconsistencies outlined in the analysis, remains a mystery.
While SDA is an ancient institution which never attempted to modernise and still lists many runs that have been obsoleted, Guinness World Records is a marketing machine that many people still look at as the definite source for world records of all kinds. WIRED also reached out to them, but…
“When WIRED reached out to the Guinness Book of World Records to ask if it would take down Maselewski's record, a spokesperson responded noncommittally that “we value any feedback on our record titles and are committed to maintaining the highest standards of accuracy.” ”
The good news: interest in speedruns for this particular category has been revitalised, and the many insights gained from the investigation have helped with the development of faster strategies in both RTA and TAS categories! Focussing on using a set seed, groobo’s previous best time has already been beaten using a single segment, and a preliminary TAS faster than the cheated run has also been put together.
Up to Speed
💰 $10,000 Elden Ring competition comes to a close after three weeks (3 minute read)
The competition involved defeating all bosses of the DLC Shadow of the Erdtree with… a few restrictions and ran for three weeks. Speedrunner Spicee, who also took home $5,000 after winning MoistCr1TiKaL’s Another Crab’s Treasure competition, set the leading time just a few hours before the end. This secured them another $4,000 and clearly proves that speedrunning is now a viable career choice. The full run clocks in at 1:14:49 and is available on YouTube.
🙈 Bubzia also sets a new blindfolded record for the 1 Star category in Super Mario 64 (16 minute video)
Just last week I updated you on the new blindfolded record in the 0 Star category. That run originally spawned from failed attempts to beat the 1 Star record. And less than a week later, Bubzia has achieved what he originally set out to do and improved the previous best time by 20 seconds. According to him, there’s still a lot of room for improvement!
🍪 Cookie Clicker TAS completes all 622+17 achievements in under 11 minutes (4 minute video, Flashing Light Warning!)
This is not as straightforward as it sounds and just clicking as fast as possible won’t get you near this time. One of the achievements requires you to play the game for one year in real time, so Sjmhrp decided to create their own tools and allow the manipulation of date and time. This also abuses other glitches and makes the game run at 152x speed. A full write-up of the route and a tutorial of how to set it up for yourself is available on their GitHub page.
📚 A History of Speedrunning: hardcover book to debut via crowdfunding (5 minute read)
Written by Kathryn Brewster and published by Read-Only Memory, ANY%: A History of Speedrunning aims to chronicle the evolution of speedrunning from the late '80s to the present day. It’s going to feature 224 pages filled with interviews with members of the community, untold stories as well as a stunning RGB style. The crowdfunding campaign starts at 16:30 GMT on August 18th with delivery slated for autumn 2025.
🏰 GrandPOOBear announces Kaizo Colosseum 2024
Kaizo Colosseum 2023 raised $121,826 for Direct Relief and it’s back this year! From September 6th to 8th, be entertained by a stacked roster of speedrunners and speedrunning-adjacent content creators having a good time while raising money for a worthy cause. It’s really as simple as that. The lineup:
Marathon News
Finished:
RTA in Japan Summer 2024 raised ¥11,600,000+ (~$77,860) for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders)
Running:
Until August 17th: BSG Annual 2024, raising money for MIND (Schedule)
Until August 18th: Completithon 2024, raising money for the Girls Make Games Scholarship Fund (Schedule)
Upcoming:
Starts August 17th: InstaYabathon 2024, raising money for Yellow and Blue (Schedule)
Starts August 18th: Flame Fatales 2024, raising money for the Malala Fund (Schedule)
Starts August 22nd: UKSM Summer 2024, raising money for Special Effect
This Week’s Top Times
🥇 First Place:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Major Glitches: Any%) in 00:01:28.000 by Thunderbolt
Video • Twitch • YouTubeSpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (Any%) in 00:41:40.000 by SHiFT
Video • Twitch • YouTubeMario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nitro Tracks: 200cc, No Items) in 00:29:09.890 by mkalpha (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeThe Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Any%) in 01:27:17.000 by ToadsWoot
Video • Twitch • YouTubeKingdom Hearts II (Any%: ENG, Beginner) in 03:54:57.000 by Ninten866
Video • Twitch • YouTubeThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Main Quest: PC) in 00:22:21.569 by DankSlushie (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeNameless Cat (Cathedral: Any%) in 00:06:08.250 by Shyokii (She/Her)
VideoDetroit: Become Human (Any%) in 02:49:47.000 by tora26 (He/Him)
VideoDishonored: Death of the Outsider (Any%) in 00:08:23.000 by scufu (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeHitman: Blood Money (PRO/SA) in 00:23:48.000 by nixa
Video • YouTube
🥈 Second Place:
Spyro the Dragon (Any%) in 00:37:13.000 by Ashriel (She/Her, They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeThe Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Any%: No Major Glitches) in 01:13:38.000 by EnNopp112
Video • Twitch • YouTubeJak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (No LTS) in 00:53:04.000 by HillaryPuff
VideoSuper Mario Odyssey (All Moons) in 07:11:26.000 by Jack_imus (He/Him)
Video • Twitch • YouTubeWii Sports Resort (Cycling: Solo, 6-Stage) in 00:14:28.929 by RayndX210 (They/Them)
Video
🥉 Third Place:
Katana ZERO (All Stages: Normal, Katana) in 00:15:27.580 by bunucbxu (Any/All)
VideoPeggle Deluxe (Adventure Mode) in 00:48:59.000 by Jnano
VideoSpore (Cell Stage: Easy) in 00:03:15.217 by Sting2323
VideoSonic Frontiers (Any%: PC) in 00:56:02.880 by Reverie (They/Them)
Video • Twitch • YouTube
Fun Fact of the Week
🏔️ If you are familiar with GamesDoneQuick events, you might also be familiar with a runner going by the name of CovertMuffin and his iconic and contagious laugh. The same laugh is part of the game Celeste. Try naming yourself "Fwahaha" in the game and then encountering some crusher blocks!
And if you don’t have the game, here is the original reveal of the modified game during SGDQ 2019. The developers enjoyed this so much that they decided to officially include it as an easteregg.
And if you’re curious about the entire origin story, CovertMuffin talked about it on Twitter.
👋🏻 And that’s it for this week! See you next Thursday, August 22nd 2024. 👋🏻
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.
Special shoutout to my incredible wife and co-conspirator Niamh for all the visuals. Let her know how awesome those dividers are!
Special shoutout to Sarim for supporting with some copywriting. Find the words he writes over at gameluster.com!