Dark Souls on caffeine. Bloodborne on fast forward. Sekiro in stop motion. Elden Ring performed at blistering speeds resembles an entirely different creature indeed. Far beyond merely "fast gameplay", dedicated speedrunners uncover profound systemic depth – while shattering our preconceived notions around possibility in games.
Speedrunning offers a window into gaming at its utmost limits. In stripping a title down to pure execution, these digital athletes amplify skill expression into a competitive art form. Through relentless drive, obsessive creativity and pioneering application of exploits, speedrunners stretch the fabric of game design past its breaking point – and delight in unveiling the secrets hidden underneath.
Elden Ring‘s sprawling open world represents the ultimate sandboxes to toy with extreme speed techniques. Let‘s analyze the past, present and future of boundary-pushing Elden Ring speedtech.
Origins: History and Allure of Speedrunning
Gamers have competed over high scores since earliest arcade titles like Space Invaders. But focused effort towards completing games quickly emerged most prominently with Doom (1993) and Quake (1996). These seminal first-person shooters proved ripe for sequence breaking, as dedicated players discovered methods to exploit flaws in level design using techniques like rocket jumps.
As games grew more complex through the early 2000s, these eclectic rule-bending explorations formed their own distinct community – speedrunning. Focused internet forums like Speed Demos Archive provided a centralized home for this esoteric activity. Over the following decade speedrunning evolved into a vibrant, global phenomenon dissecting beloved classics down to their cores.
Now millions follow world record attempts across classic console, PC and modern games via outlets like Speedrun.com and events like Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ). Websites collate resources on strategies and techniques for popular titles. Speedrunning stands today as a bonafide gaming subculture emphasizing sheer technicity – while uncovering hidden dimensions in our most iconic interactive artworks.
So what drives such focused fixation towards rapid game completion? Reasons differ across players, but resonating themes emerge:
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Mastery – Speedrunners aspire towards total commanding fluency of a title‘s intricacies similar to instrument virtuosos. Internalizing each nuance creates satisfaction.
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Competition – Racing against the clock provides a platform for direct competition measuring vanilla gameplay skill. Besting peer records and leaderboards delivers immense satisfaction.
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Exploration – Sequence breaks prompt discovery of unseen content or story events. Revisiting beloved games with fresh perspective proves highly rewarding.
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Expression – Like a choreographed dance, speedruns distill mechanical execution into kinetic artistry. High-level play unveils emergent beauty.
Today, speedrunning permeates gaming culture – no longer a mere niche. Top streamers and record setters enjoy minor celebrity, while events like AGDQ raise millions for charity. Now let‘s examine this phenomenon‘s modern apotheosis: Elden Ring.
The Cutting Edge: Elden Ring Speedtech Deconstructed
Blanxz achieves a staggering 56:27 Elden Ring glitchless speedrun – via immense skill alone
Hidetaka Miyazaki‘s magnum opus towers as an open-world triumph, garnering universal critical praise. The Lands Between offer endless adventure across mist-shrouded forests, labyrinth catacombs and decaying castles. As a soulsborne title, fearsome foes, mysterious NPCs and fragmentary lore-building accentuate the brooding atmosphere.
For most players, simply surviving the Lands Between long enough to see credits roll prompts celebration. But for devoted speedrunners – Elden Ring‘s sprawl unveils a labyrinthine playground for exploits. By combining immense mechanical competency with techniques bending design to the breaking point, they transform gameplay itself into rapid art.
But what specific methods facilitate such unbelievable feats? Let‘s analyze the palette of techniques master speedrunners leverage:
Optimal Damage Routing – Boss battles represent major time barriers. While skill matters, selecting optimal damage type, elemental affinities, buffs etc. based on resistances proves essential. Memorizing patterns allows countering safely while maintaining aggression. Backstabs and parries also help immensely.
Enemy Manipulation – Drawing individual enemies via line of sight then isolating allows pulling dangerous groups safely. Luring overconfident enemies towards cliffs for easy dispatches saves time. Mastering hostile logic is key.
Animation Canceling – Many actions can be cancelled mid-animation via menuing, sprinting etc. to chain moves faster than intended. Staggering combos by canceling recovery frames maximizes DPS.
Plunging Attacks – These powerful downward slams offer strong burst damage. Carrying enemies off cliffs and structures helps dispatch quick. Useful from Torrent horseback.
Menuing Optimization – Menus pause action, so expert menu swapping equipment, items or spells while moving proves essential. Learning navigation and muscle memory minimizes downtime.
Wrong Warps – Triggering reload screens in specific positions allows "breaking" level geometry and transporting to different map locations unnaturally. Skips much terrain.
And perhaps most influential –
Zip Glitches – Complex trick allowing players to launch towards geometry at high velocities, often skipping massive terrain sections by passing through objects. Heavily utilized in Any% runs.
Mastery of these myriad techniques barely scratches Elden Ring speedrunningtech. Indeed entire community wikis offer detailed frame data, menus and inputs across hundreds of pages for budding runners. Indeed deciphering this esoteric knowledge opens a shocking realm – gameplay as pure technical expression.
Distortion2 completes a staggering Any% speedrun in under 7 minutes via severe glitch exploitation
Now armed with deeper comprehension of techniques, let‘s analyze why precisely Elden Ring prompts such enthusiastic speed response specifically.
Perfect Storm: Why Elden Ring Rules for Speedrunning
Since launch, Elden Ring swiftly cemented itself as a speedrunning sensation – but why precisely does this expansive open-world epic resonate so strongly as a platform? Several key factors contribute towards a perfect speedrunning storm:
Open Design – Elden Ring redefines FromSoftware‘s signature action-RPG vision into a seamless open world brimming with potential paths. Compared to meticulously linear previous Souls levels, the Lands offer exponentially more sequence break opportunities.
Packed With Content – Stuffed with vast dungeons, intense boss fights and copious secrets, Elden Ring contains immense content volume even relative to 100+ hour RPG contemporaries. This prolonged runtime ups ante for optimization.
Mechanical Depth – The rich combat system with wide build variety based on stats/gear allows substantial gameplay customization and theorycrafting for routing. Sophisticated player toolset enables advanced techniques.
Established Fanbase – As a high-profile Souls-style release, Elden Ring benefits from cross-pollination with established Demon‘s Souls and Dark Souls speedrun communities providing institutional knowledge.
Developer Support – FromSoftware declining to patch many glitches signals awareness of community satisfaction from bending systems. Contrast to more restrictive publishers.
Jointly these factors engender a title uniquely welcoming towards speedrunning excellence. But records alone don‘t capture full picture of the booming Elden Ring speed scene.
Plotting The Trajectory: Past and Future of Elden Ring Speedrunning
Over 18 months since launch, how has the Elden Ring speedrun meta evolved – and where might it be headed next? Evaluating key milestones in context offers perspective.
Phase 1: Seeding (March 2022 – May 2022)
- Pioneers race to set inaugural bench marks across categories
- Glitch discovery and theorycrafting around mechanics
- Strategies messy and unrefined
Phase 2: Optimization (June 2022 – September 2022)
- Innovators analyze and refine strategies with dedicated testing
- New exploits discovered expanding possibilities
- Strats crystallize towards consistency
Phase 3: Mastery (October 2022 – Present)
- Virtuosos leverage extensive experience executing polished routes
- Frame perfect tricks and minute optimizing becomes difference
- Individual prowess in controlling tendencies separates elite
Phase 4: ??? (Future)
- New patches shift balance tuning certain encounters
- Prospect of DLC content supplements more gameplay
- Evolving runner dexterity pushes boundaries further
Veteran speedrunner Distortion2 shares his thoughts on the past and future:
"Elden Ring represents the ultimate vision for speedrunningmodern FromSoftware games – open ended game design allows nearly endless sequence breaks once enough glitches are discovered. I foresee records continuing to fall dramatically once new major glitches emerge from ongoing digging by the community. We‘re only beginning to glimpse the possibilities…"
Indeed, future shocks may warp our conception of what Defines an "complete" run.
Streamers Cultivate Broader Speed Audience
Beyond pure leaderboard hierarchy, visibility of speedrunning as a spectacle increased dramatically in recent years thanks to popular streamers showcasing their high-level skills to mass live audiences.
Platforms like Twitch and YouTube Gaming allow runners to share their expertise with huge potential viewership in real time – while monetizing their talents through advertising and sponsorships.
Prominent community figures help evangelize speed strats for legions of fans. Let‘s profile two top creators amplifying Elden Ring speedtech:
Distortion2
A speedrunning icon lauded for his Souls series feats, achieving over 30 world records across FromSoftware titles. His infectious enthusiasm coupled with preternatural mechanical ability produces immensely engaging Elden Ring streams. Boasts 278K Twitch followers at present.
Elajjaz
Known for showcasing niche Japanese games alongside mainstream hits at top tier execution. His variety and skill built an audience over 393K Twitch followers. Elajjaz shares his Elden Ring expertise across tutorials, speedruns and casual playthrthroughs alike.
Through leveraging streaming distribution these ambassadors bring greater prominence for speedrunning writ large as public gaming spectacle – beyond just results posted on a leaderboard.
Now equipped with fuller context around the speed environment, let‘s gaze again towards future possibilities.
Gaming Skill Pushed To The Edge: What Comes Next?
Existing records certainly seem difficult to conceive besting already – yet history shows speedrunners relentlessly break assumed limitations as technique evolves. The bleeding edge advances ever onward. What fresh shocks lie ahead for Elden Ring specifically?
More Zips – As the most influential glitch presently for slashes times, expanded usage skipping additional content could lower Any% further, perhaps even sub-3 minute?
New Glitches – Dedicated glitch hunters continuously probe game code seeking new sequence breaks. Future discoveries may fundamentally redefine routes.
Patch Changes – FromSoftware adding late-game Colosseums via DLC prompts adaptations accounting for new enemies and gear.
Input Mastery – Controllers modded with fine-tuned motors and buttons reduce input lag. Some runners learn keyboard for maximum precision.
Sub-Hour Glitchless? – Conceivable (if unlikely) that staggeringly clean play combined with minor optimizations makes sub-60 minute glitchless run achievable.
Tool Assisted Runs – Programs like debug mode allows manipulating game state for testing. Could enable plotting theoretical perfection beyond human capabilities.
As barriers get pushed back faster than imagined, "How far can this go?" remains an open-ended question. In the unending marathon towards technical excellence, external limitations play increased role regulating seemingly inexorable improvement.
The Toll of Mastery: Burnout and Health Concerns
In pursuing perfection within Elden Ring‘s dizzying realm loaded with pitfalls for tiny errors, top players endure immense psychological strain while tunnel vision fixates towards another second saved.
The lengthy repetition required forces incredible mental endurance to maintain consistency across hours. Frustration from losing runs deep into attempts takes continuous toll. Dedicated grinding runs often forsake life balance sacrificing social activity, sleep schedules or diet and exercise for incremental gains.
Such intense specialization risks engendering burnout chasing records few beyond the niche care to recognize. Some runners develop wrist or hand issues from endless input spam. Streamer xUnspokenGaming shares his trials:
"Speedrunning seems flashy displaying pure skill, but getting into that top echelon requires unbelievable commitment. Long after passion faded I chased sunk costs trying to regain lost runs. To avoid mental meltdown I‘ve learned establishing boundaries and taking routine breaks."
A few high-profile content creators even present e-athlete style training regiments accounting for fitness to maintain elite performance. But for most optimizing beyond reasonable health standards proves untenable long term.
The line between dedicated and destructive gets blurred within long sessions. Maintaining life equilibrium while breaking perceived skill ceilings makes for a tricky balancing act. Tarnished must take care to manage stamina gauges outside game too lest they Hollow.
Display of Possibility: Speedrunning as Gaming Celebration
Records exist made for breaking. For now Blanxz wearing Elden Lord crown, but hungry upstarts continually chase, seeking moments of greatness themselves. Unlike traditional zero-sum competition however, each leap prompts collective celebration rather than jealousy in flourishing speed community.
Top runners eschew antagonist rivalries in favor of what scholar Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen dubs "performance virtue" – pleasure from displaying excellence itself. Through technical choreography these talents aspire toward perfection, seeking to unveil latent grace at gaming‘s ceiling. In service of pushing past perceived limitations, each masterpiece run gets shared, memorialized and studied in collaborations advancing overall knowledge.
Growth remains organic, player-driven passion propelling scene ever upward rather than developer dictated incentives like ranked ladders. Imperfect design oversights get embraced enabling greater range for talent to express itself.
Speedrunning thrives firstly thanks to irrepressible human urge towards playful subversion, curiosity spawns exploration. Elden Ring‘s open theater furnishes the grandest stage showcasing awe-inspiring performance. While the spectacle seems niche, viewer support suggests foundations for possible gaming subculture ascension akin to competitive fighting game community evolution the past decade.
So while the bleeding edge constantly moves, the greater victory resides demonstrating endless skill dynamism flourishing through vibrant supporter engagement. Records stand as milestones, not endpoints. The true finish line remains ahead waiting as community and games evolve in wondrous parallel.
