History Main / Speedrun

** In ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'', "All Sub-Story" runs are abbreviated as "[Game Name] ASS". Bonus points for ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' going by "LAD ASS".

Three of the most common speedrun categories are:

* LuckBasedMission: Most games are non-deterministic, which means that they don't play out the same way every time.
** This means that things often have to go perfectly to get a good time. This can make some games undesirable for realtime speedrunning, if runs are too often ruined by bad luck. For [=TAS=]es, setting up the run for ridiculously good luck is all part of the challenge (known in gamer terms as "Manipulates luck").

* CurbStompBattle: Pretty much everything else on a speedrunner's list of necessary kills is subjected to one of these, due to manipulating critical hits or using techniques to deal extra damage during bosses' vulnerability periods.

** In ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'', "All Sub-Story" runs are abbreviated as "[Game Name] ASS". Bonus points for ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' going by "LAD ASS",

* HouseRules: All speedruns have to have rules about how they are conducted, even if it's just so people know when to stop the clock. These rules are decided and agreed upon by the community, and a particular ruleset is referred to as a "category". Even if the game has built-in support for speedrunning, communities will nearly always impose additional rules on what's allowed.

* LuckBasedMission: Most games are non-deterministic, which means that they don't play out the same way every time. This means that things often have to go perfectly to get a good time. This can make some games undesirable for realtime speedrunning, if runs are too often ruined by bad luck.
** For [=TAS=]es, setting up the run for ridiculously good luck is all part of the challenge.

* ViolationOfCommonSense: ''Everywhere''. Taking any sort of damage on purpose, dying, failing challenges that would be easily winnable where success is optional to progress, skipping normally mandatory items and skills, buffing your character very early on to breeze through the rest of the game, and even setting the game to display in a language you can't read are all examples of common speedrun tactics. Watching a speedrun can be a bizarre and puzzling experience if you aren't aware of the reasons behind the runner's actions.

* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: A natural consequence of playing a game over and over until everything comes together in one perfect playthrough.

* WeDoTheImpossible: For TAS players.

* ChallengeGamer: Everyone who does this. Even easy games are very likely to have at least a glitch or two that save time and are very hard to pull off. (Not to mention that, once a game's speedrunning community is large enough, it doesn't matter how easy it is to play the game casually; the speedrun route is going to be optimised enough that surpassing others' times is going to require a ''massive'' amount of practice to pull off.)

* LuckBasedMission: Most games don't play out the same way every time, meaning that things often have to go perfectly to get a good time. This can make some games undesirable for realtime speedrunning, if runs are too often ruined by bad luck. This being too important can ultimately kill a category for the majority of runners, such as any% in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. For [=TAS=]es, setting up the run for ridiculously good luck is all part of the challenge.

* NoDamageRun: Often averted -- luck manipulation makes not taking damage much easier, however it's rarely a category in itself, and makes less sense in action games with characters who are resilient enough to take a few hits. Also, in games with {{knockback}}, it is sometimes possible to {{sequence break|ing}} by deliberately taking damage in such a way that the knockback knocks you somewhere that you normally can't get to yet (e.g. you need to learn a specific ability, or it's a DoorToBefore from somewhere else), referred to as a "damage boost".
* NoDeathRun: Simply avoiding death tends to be a large factor in completing NintendoHard games quickly; in games where dying saves time (see Resurrection Teleportation below), "without deaths" is often treated as a separate category.

-->-- '''Daniel Remar's''' ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' [[http://speeddemosarchive.com/Iji.html speedrun.]]

* ViolationOfCommonSense: ''Everywhere''. Taking any sort of damage on purpose, dying, skipping items that would normally be required to progress, buffing your character very early on to breeze through the rest of the game, and even setting the game to display in a language you can't read are all examples of common speedrun tactics. Watching a speedrun can be a bizarre and puzzling experience if you aren't aware of the reasons behind the runner's actions.

* HouseRules: These are often a necessity, since there are rarely any "official" rules on how speedrunning should be conducted.

In order to compete with other players' times, speedrunners come together to create leaderboards and agree upon a set of rules for what is allowed in the speedrun. Often, the same game can be speedrun in several different ways; each way is referred to as a '''category''', and each category has its own leaderboard. Different categories typically require different speedrunning skills, and runners will often specialize in a particular category.

[=TASes=] can be created for entertainment purposes, to show what a game would look like when played at perfect precision. However, they are also extremely useful to human runners as research tools; they can be used to algorithmically find potential time-saving strategies, and can be a way to benchmark a speedrun to provide a theoretical best time. A strategy that can only be performed by a TAS is called a "TAS-only" strat. Sometimes, with extremely good execution or when combined with other techniques and discoveries, a strategy previously thought to be TAS-only can become human-viable.

->''"Iji throws herself into the following in-game cutscene with great haste. No, his life was not worth the 15 seconds to prevent that from happening. This is a speedrun, bro!"''

[=TASes=] can be created for entertainment purposes, to show what a game can look like when played at perfect precision. However, they are also extremely useful to human runners as research tools; they can be used to algorithmically find potential strategies, and can be a way to benchmark a speedrun to provide a theoretical best time. A strategy that can only be performed by a TAS is called a "TAS-only" strat. Sometimes, with extremely good execution or when combined with other techniques and discoveries, a strategy previously thought to be TAS-only can become human-viable.

* AbstractScale: Speedrunners sometimes create joke or niche categories which use the percentage-based format, but which describe a property that isn't quantifiable. For example, ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' has "LSD%" (use a console command to replace all the wall textures with a trippy rainbow effect) and "Death%" (die as quickly as possible), among others.

* LuckManipulationMechanic: Speedrunners find everything they can, intentional or not [[note]]though keep in mind that unintentional examples should not be added to that trope's article[[/note]], as long as it ultimately saves time. [=TAS=]ers can make their own luck, though they might have to burn a few frames putting in inputs to get the exact outcome they want (accounting for whether those few frames will pay for themselves later is an oft-complicated process that may be subject to [[ForWantOfANail the Butterfly Effect]]).

* TimedMission / TimeLimitBoss: The game itself may even encourage a speedrun playstyle, at least for a few levels or bosses. This often takes the form of [[BrutalBonusLevel extra levels that incorprate time limits on]] [[RemixedLevel levels that did not previously have them]].

* MentalTimeTravel (for TAS players)

* FailedASpotCheck: Is a common way for RPG runs to end. For example, in ''VideoGame/LufiaII'''s Ancient Cave, you can fail to notice the stairs and end up in a monster room, where the run dies.

* FailedASpotCheck: Is a common way for RPG runs to end. For example, in Lufia 2 Ancient Cave, you can fail to notice the stairs and end up in a monster room, where the run dies.

* AIBreaker: Tool-assisted versions practically exploit all AIs on a frame-perfect basis, whether it's a flaw in the script or by exploiting luck manipulation. Regular speedruns can also exploit AI patterns to do things quickly, or learn from tactics discovered in the TAS version.

* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: In [=TAS=] runs, the goal is to reach the victory screen, but the clock stops once the player is finished entering input. If you can engineer the FinalBoss to do themselves in for the last part of the battle, it can shave precious time off of the run.