So, this coming Sunday (22nd June), the bi-annual 'Games Done Quick' hits again with Summer Games Done Quick, which is about six or seven days of 24hrs near-non-stop speedrunning, with all donations going to charity (this summer it's Doctors Without Borders) and a stream and chat. If you don't know what it is, I'll try to explain. Speedrunning is trying to get through a game as quickly as possible, typically exploiting broken or overlooked issues and bugs to manipulate the game to progress much faster than normal. This includes skipping optional sections of the game, skilled shortcuts, pixel-perfect controlling and so forth. There are different categories for speedruns, with some using tools (I believe all GDQ runs have to be within specific guidelines with no hacks, cheats, etc.), but they're often fun and the runner is generally accompanied by friends and other speedrunners who will help explain what's going on, why and how certain things work, as well as providing moral support. Generally runs come in between 30mins and 1hr30mins, but some take minutes and others a few hours, so if you want to watch a whole run it's probably best to look at the schedule estimate and plan ahead. The donations all go to charity, but some runs have incentive levels - these can be anything from something the runner will wear, the file name of the game, the character used, a post-run showing of specific glitches (this also happens if the run comes in well-under target) or targets within the game. Funny things can also happen during the runs if big donations are met, so it's always worth keeping an ear or an eye out for those. The schedule is here, and it auto-adjusts to your timezone so you can plan which - if any - you're going to watch. If you miss any, they'll end up on the SpeedDemonsArchive YouTube channel (and usually those of the runners themselves). Here's a really short run from last year's Summer Games Done Quick as a taster. And one of my favourite PS1 games.
They intend to do Fallout 3 in 50 minutes? While possible, they will have to skip 99% of the game to complete the main quest that fast.
Not every speedrun has a 100% Complete target. In fact, many don't and instead have other goals - or are simply the quickest from game start to game end.
I know. The problem is that I have very literally spent more than a thousand hours in Fallout 3, and just as much time in New Vegas. There is so much to do that completing the main quest alone is basically heresy. But I get it. This is a Speed Run for Charity. I will quit moaning now.
I don't get what your complaint is. It's a speed run. It's not about playing the game fully and exploring every option. It's about the optimal path from getting control to hitting the point at which the game finishes, often via exploiting glitches or skippable content. The people who speedrun games (generally) have played the game through dozens - if not hundreds and thousands - of times through. It's like saying watching a football match is bad because the engineering of the stadium is fascinating, and people should be looking at its construction rather than what happens in it.
Just a heads up - it starts in about two and a half hours with Super Mario 3D World. It will be broadcast on the Games Done Quick site, but is also viewable on SpeedDemosArchive's Twitch channel.
Well, it's over now. I believe it raised over $700k (so it over doubled the last SGDQ, and came close to the most recent AGDQ), so that's always good. If you want to catch up, the videos won't officially be on YouTube or on the Speed Demos Archive website for a while, but there are numerous unofficial uploads (which have been mentioned by Speed Demos Archive on Twitter) or you can always watch the replays via Twitch (that contains information on where the runs are in the saved stream). And here's the Fallout 3 run mentioned earlier.
