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Q1 SP views and articles: 25/07/01:

A sheep's guide to speedrunning.

Introduction:
Confused by speedruns?? Think that they are just for incredibly dedicated players?? No idea where to begin and what to watch?? Don't worry, here's a guide that's so simple, even a sheep could follow it. /cue sheep...

Sheep: So what are these speedrun demos then??

Shambler: Well, a demo is just like a film in Quake, it's a recording of someone playing the game, which other people can then play back on their own computers. And a speedrun demo is a recording of someone running through a level as quickly as possible, either on Easy or Nightmare skill.

Sheep: Sounds boring, even I can complete a level on Easy skill pretty quickly!!

Shambler: Ah no, no it's not that simple. The speedrunner doesn't just run through a level quickly, that wouldn't be very interesting!! Firstly, they manouvre very fast to avoid as many monsters as possible. But more importantly, they take completely different routes through the level than in normal playing, and use trick moves to take shortcuts through long and complex sections.

Sheep: Oh, what sort of tricks are we talking about - not cheating, surely??

Shambler: No, cheating is strictly forbidden. We're talking tricks that use pure skill, you know, the normal stuff.... rocket jumping, grenade jumping, slope jumping, bunny hopping, curve jumping, wall hugging, steep slope sliding, rocket plus grenade jumping, double grenade jumping, quad grenade jumping, multiple vore ball jumping, double Ogre grenade jumping, Fiend boosts, exploding barrel jumping, Zombie gib jumping, exploding Spawn jumping, double Fiend + slope jum...

Sheep: (interrupting) Woah!! Now that sounds far too hardcore, I'm not sure these speedrun demos are for me...

Shambler: Oh sure they are: YOU don't have to do any of those tricks, because you can just watch a demo recording (just like a film, remember) of someone else doing them. In fact, I wouldn't recommend you try those tricks at home, as they should only be performed by trained professionals. Anyway, you're capable of sitting back and watching a demo, aren't you??

Sheep: Okay, that sounds simple enough, how do I play them then??

Shambler: Well, demos usually come as a .dem file. Simply place that in your Quake\Id1 folder, and then start Quake. Bring down the console, using the ~ or ¬ key, depending on your keyboard. Then type in 'playdemo 'demoname'', without quotes, where 'demoname' is the name of the .dem file. Then hit the console key again and sit back and enjoy the demo.

Sheep: Wait a minute, aren't I missing something, like actual demos?!

Shambler: Good point. Okay, since you're new to speedrun demos, a straight run through the whole game would be a good place to start. I'd recommend you to to Quake Done Quick and pick up something from their downloads page.

Sheep: Hmmm, quite a choice there, which ones should I download??

Shambler: At the very least, you must watch the amazing Quake Done Quick With A Vengence, which is Quake completed on Nightmare skill in 12 minutes 23 seconds...

Sheep: (interrupting again) Bloody hell!!

Shambler: ... But before you watch that, you might want to watch the original Quake Done Quick in 19:49, then Quake Done Quicker in 16:35, then the QDQWAV run - this will show you just how much speedrunning has improved over the years. Also, Fiend Run Lite where the player is mutated into a Fiend (yes, really!!) and bounces through the game in 10 minutes is great fun, and of course both Scourge Done Slick runs are highly recommended if you have the Scourge of Armagon mission pack.

Sheep: Okay I'm downloading that lot... What are these movies though, and what's this DZip business??

Shambler: The movie versions are even more like a film!! Instead of just showing the running from the normal first person perspective, the movie versions show the action from various camera angles throughout the level. The demos are refilmed by hand, and often some special effects are included in the movie versions. As for DZip, that's a cunning program that compresses .dem files much more than Winzip does. If you want to download the smaller DZip versions, you should download DZip itself first.

Sheep: Great, thanks, I'm off to watch some demos now...

Later...

Sheep: Hey, those were really cool, I want some more!!

Shambler: Okay, I'm glad you were entertained!! So, now I'd suggest you head over to the Speed Demos Archive, which has thousands more demos to watch. All the QDQ demos you've seen have level runs following consecutively, so in later levels the player has lots of weapons and stuff to do tricks with. But at SDA, every level run is start from scratch with just a shotgun, so the speedrunners have to come up with even wackier and more extreme tricks, and take different routes through the level again.

Sheep: Sounds interesting, but, ummm, where are the demos here??

Shambler: Oh yeah, they are in the Tables section - you'll find all the demos listed by the level there. For some reason, SDA thought it would be a bit boring to call that section "demos" or "speedruns"...

Sheep: Oh, I see, doesn't make much sense that. Hey, they have lots of custom level speedruns too, cool!!

Shambler: Indeed - most good Q1 SP levels, and several bad ones too (mostly courtesy of someone called Optic) have got speedrun demos for them. Again, just like the normal Quake speedruns, they can be very entertaining - try some.

Later yet...

Sheep: Wow, well a lot of those were great too. But this monster avoidance malarkey is getting a bit old, how about some proper killing??

Shambler: Yup I know what you mean. You want to watch some 100% runs - the idea is simple, the speedrunner must kill all monsters and find all secrets, again as quickly as possible. There's still lots of tricks and shortcuts used, and now there's plenty of action too. You should try Quake Done 100% Quicker, which is an Nightmare 100% run of all Quake in 59:31, or Quake Done Quick Lite, an Easy version in 42:25. And of course there's lots more 100% runs at SDA too...

Sheep: Nice. That marine must be a bit lonely though, I wonder if he'd had more fun with some friends??

Shambler: Indeed!! Cooperative playing is another great aspect of speedrunning, because you can do lots of new tricks between two players, like double shotgun jumps or lightning gun boosts. Have a look at Quake Done Double Quick, where two players run through Quake in 12:35 - it's an older run, so the time is a bit slow (!!), but it still shows lots of good coop running. As do the many coop runs at SDA...

Sheep: Blimey, that's a load of different speedruns covered. Is there anything left to do in the future??

Shambler: Sure - runners keep improving runs all the time. Just check out the news page at SDA and you'll see regular updates where quicker demos are posted. And when new maps are added, that allows even more new runs and improvements. So there's plenty to keep watching and enjoying.

Sheep: Cool, well this has got me all excited, perhaps I should try my own speedruns??

Shambler: Go for it....if you're confident of your dope skillz - speedrunning can be extremely challenging and competitive. First have a read of Rules/Tech Questions in the SDA FAQ and make sure you know what's allowed and what's not. Then just find some levels that you think you can improve, and run really bloody fast until you've beaten the previous best time... And then just send them in to sda@planetquake.com.

Sheep: Great stuff, I might try that. But now I'm rather hungry....time to go grazing I think.

Shambler: Me too. Goodbye!