Zelda Runners – Long%

Hello and welcome to this shorter-than-usual Zelda Runners. I’m in the midst of some uni work at the moment, hence the long silence from this series, but hopefully articles will return to their regular slots soon! Read on to find an update on all the cool discoveries and releases in the last month, as well as a spotlight with a Legend of Zelda runner!

 

Now Playing

A huge new glitch has been discovered in Majora’s Mask! Known as Soar Text Overflow, the glitch uses the previously known Index Warp glitch to manipulate pieces of memory which would otherwise be inaccessible. Using this trick, runners can access the game’s debug menu, from which they can manipulate other items in the game, such as heart pieces and warp songs. This allows for huge time saves in most categories. Following the discovery, the community held a vote to decide on whether to allow this glitch in the any% and 100% categories, to which the community voted to allow. The full extent of this glitch isn’t clear yet, but the record times for these categories have already begun to drop down.

 

A new version of the Wind Waker Randomizer has been released, bringing the software to version 1.6.1. This update is mainly bug fixes, but also includes some new player models, including Ganondorf, Samus, and Vaati.

 

Spotlight

There may not be any Glitch Exhibition this week, but we’re still highlighting an amazing Legend of Zelda runner. I had a chat with rooslugs about his experience with the game and its community.

EC: Tell us a bit about yourself!

rooslugs: Hi, I’m rooslugs. I was released the same year as NES The Legend of Zelda, back in 1986. Playing games was a family affair during my childhood, and Zelda was always a personal favorite. I’m a husband and father of three who spends my limited free time traveling, making music, cooking tasty food … and playing retro video games. Professionally, I day trade stock, options and other securities for my personal business. The Legend of Zelda was the first “speed game” I attempted to play. Others I have tried, include: A Link to the Past, Metroid and Super Mario Bros.

 

EC: How did you first get into speedrunning?

rooslugs: I delved into the speedrunning community as a lurking fan in late 2017. I was mesmerized that people could completely wreck the games I grew up with and eventually got the itch to try it for myself. (Sitting on the sidelines gets me antsy) Prior to this, I hadn’t played video games in any capacity for maybe 15-20 years. I happened to find my NES and a box of games in my garage and dusted them off. After several pedestrian attempts at The Legend of Zelda, I decided to work through a list of questions I had regarding the game’s functionality based on the “speed strats” I had seen. Among that list ended up being a glitch discovery that is affectionately referred to as the “roocorder”. I introduced the discovery to a prominent runner before the 2018 Spring tournament, and he secretly debuted it in his opening race. The Zelda community received my discovery with overwhelming support, and they helped me learn how to run the thing properly.

 

EC: What draws you back to run Zelda 1 over other, perhaps more modern Zelda titles?

rooslugs: The most practical reason relates to what I have access to, since I haven’t purchased a video game since high school. I currently own Zelda 1, Zelda 2, A Link to the Past and Twilight Princess (Wii). I probably have Link’s Awakening around somewhere as well. Breath of the Wild has great appeal for me, but I have yet to purchase a Switch — the game looks so stunning. As far as Zelda 1 goes, I love the combination of open exploration and challenging combat, and it really is dangerous to go alone. It seems the series has transitioned a bit toward puzzle-solving, hand-holding and minimal fighting. It’s hard for me to accept those elements at the expense of what I love. Running Zelda 1 is a joy because there are a variety of category options and rule sets to test your routing, combat and movement.I have played and enjoyed all of the nearly 30 categories (and don’t forget second quest). A Link to the Past is probably my 2nd favorite title in the series. Randomizer is an amazing development as well, truly making the game a new experience every time.

 

EC: What’s it like being part of the Zelda 1 speedrunning community?

rooslugs: I’m pretty new to speedrunning communities, but I would wager that this is one of the premier communities, filled with helpful, competitive and generous individuals. I would be curious to know what the average age is — my guess would be 34 — because it seems many have a similar childhood experience as I did with the game. For a new runner, there are countless resources (including a very special room-by-room tutorial being prepared as I type). The game is well-documented in written and video forms. The players are extremely welcoming and willing to share their knowledge and time. Your community will actively support you and cheer you on to victory. Finding friends, good friends, within the community is easy, and shenanigans are as rare as a first bomb drop. The moderators handle conflict with dignity and clarity, keeping the community as a healthy, safe and deeply fun environment.It would be fair to say that this community is a big draw toward me continuing to press play and record with Zelda 1. Please join our community if you have the slightest interest in competitive or casual play.

 

EC: You mentioned running the game’s second quest. Are runs on this mode significantly harder than First Quest, or is it just like running a slightly different route?

rooslugs: When you complete the game and save Zelda, you can, using the same file, start another game and find yourself in “second quest”. Without spoiling too much — because if you’ve never played this blind, you are doing yourself a disservice — I will say the quest is quite different. The routing is different. There are some differences in resources. The combat difficultly is a bit increased, but I believe some players place an undue level of fear toward this point. At the top level of competition, I would also say the run is a bit unoptimized and more difficult to execute compared to the first quest WRs. Casually, there will be a difficulty ramp, some of which is due to unfamiliarity (which is a great thing!). Simply, please play this quest. It is fantastic.

 

EC: What about Randomizer? Have you played many of these?

rooslugs: The Zelda 1 Randomizer ( HUGE shoutout to fcoughlin ) is amazing. The options to randomize the game are expansive, making every play unique, enjoyable and with varying difficulty. I have probably played 50 or more randomized “seeds”, some of which were quite memorable and every one a joy. There are regular races happening and large tournaments twice annually, including one starting imminently. Additionally, the community hosts “battle royale” formats frequently that are usually thematically randomized. Honestly, playing the randomizer is fantastic practice for learning the speedrun, where combat mastery is king. Many players that started with the randomized game took quickly to competitive play in the standard game. It has also opened up several glitches and many routing concepts, including the modern swordless WR route I devised.

 

EC: Would you ever consider running another Zelda title?

rooslugs: I currently have experience speedrunning The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link and A Link to the Past. There are many improvements to be made in my play for these games, but I have enjoyed learning them as well. Breath of the Wild is very appealing to me (especially after seeing crystalsaver complete the game blindfolded!). I would certainly run a title not listed above, which also means I have not played or seen it played before. Despite being a major fan of the series, my fandom of the retro titles kept me from ever touching the more recent ones. If I can get my hands on the other consoles, I would certainly open myself up for a 3D Zelda recommendation.

 

EC: If you could only run one category of one game for the rest of time, what would it be and why?

rooslugs: I would probably pick The Legend of Zelda Second Quest Low%, despite not having a great time currently, because it seems like the ultimate test of skill in the game I love most. Any% is essentially the same category, because they converge at the highest skill level — perhaps higher than anyone has yet achieved. This would be a fantastic long-term test of my ability, which would be permanent in both reward and challenge.

 

You can find rooslugs on Twitter, and catch his runs on his Twitch Channel. He’s also featuring in a race at Games Done Quick Express, from 27th – 29th September, against a previous Runners spotlight, JSR_!

 

Round Up

Legend of Zelda

2 Players, 1 Controller, First Quest. thomjay + kingdahl – 41:28
Max Keys, Second Quest. Shatty – 57:17
200%, First Quest. YuaRyue – 1:37:59

 

Adventure of Link

100%, Deathless. Simpoldood – 1:06:46

 

Faces of Evil

All Cutscenes. Grumpmeister – 54:17

 

A Link to the Past

All Bosses, No Restrictions. JoshRTA – 51:28
Master Sword (No EG/DG). JoshRTA – 17:48
Major Glitches, 100%, All HP. JoshRTA – 1:11:57

 

Link’s Awakening DX

Any% (No S+Q/WW/OoB). vlackSR – 51:56

 

Ocarina of Time

KFC%. Zudu – 7:21
Glitchless, 100%. Smaugg – 5:55:30
Volvagia RTA (Child). Chris7 – 27:32
Go Camp and Die%. ArthurOudini – 8:23
Eskimo%. Habble – 19:55
100%. zfg – 3:31:39
Morpha RTA (Child). Condor – 15:46

 

Majora’s Mask

All Masks. raggen – 2:24:16
Postman HP. Imbued – 0:57.333
Bottle Contents (Zora Egg). Baob – 11:52
All Fairy Rewards. Miklu_24 – 1:54:29

 

Oracle of Ages

All Essences, No ACE/MC. Sagaz – 2:22:30

 

Oracle of Seasons

Any%. Drenn – 54:40

 

Orcale of Ages/Seasons

Linked (Ages – Seasons), All Essences, No ACE/MC. Sagaz – 4:22:14

 

The Minish Cap

Any%. vlackSR – 1:35:45

 

The Wind Waker

Any%. Demon – 1:14:14

 

Twilight Princess

New Game+, Any%, Portals. arorakkis – 1:18:07

 

Skyward Sword

Any%. sva – 2:10:29

 

Ocarina of Time 3D

Glitchless. Dabombster – 3:44:03

 

The Wind Waker HD

100%, NSR. Ian_Miles29 – 4:38:09

 

Hyrule Warriors Deluxe Edition

New Game+, All Levels. BlissyMKW – 4:34:37

 

Breath of the Wild

Best Ending, No amiibo. Hotpot – 1:46:07
Any%. Sketodara01417 – 28:24.840
All Main Quests, Original, Restricted. Zdi – 3:12:19
Any%, Original, Bug Limit. Outer_Earth – 40:35.600
100%, Extended. SpecsNStats – 26:53:21
Great Plateau, Any%. Sketodara01417 – 14:35

 

Cadence of Hyrule

Any%. incnone – 16:59
Any%, Permadeath. tictacfoe – 33:24
Link, Permadeath. incnone – 24:24
Cadence, Permadeath. Deknud – 33:56
Any%, Fixed. CANCEL – 15:19
Any%, Double. Goof – 13:36
Any%, Double, Permadeath. yuka34 – 22:39
100%, Randomizer, Normal. incnone – 55:17
All Dungeons, Randomizer. Permadeath Double Time. yuka34 – 22:39
Link, Randomizer, Normal. d_tea – 18:57
Yves, Randomizer, Permadeath Double Time. Spooty – 24:33
Yves, Randomizer, Normal. Spooty – 24:33
All Dungeons, Randomizer, Double Time. Goof – 13:36
Any%, Randomizer, Normal. Goof – 11:51
All Dungeons, Randomizer, Fixed. CANCEL – 15:19

 

And with that, I’ll be taking my leave. Hopefully I’ll be back in my regularly scheduled slot before too long!

 

Euan is the host of Zelda Dungeon’s Speedrunning series, Zelda Runners. He can be found on Twitter and is currently writing his 10,000 word dissertation at the rate of 1 word per day.