2016 Speedrunning Year in Review

2016 SPEEDRUNNING YEAR IN REVIEW

This time last year, on my plane ride to AGDQ 2016, I wrote my 2015 Speedrunning year in review. Now, while on my plane ride to AGDQ 2017, I'm writing my 2016 Speedrunning year in review. I'll go over: games I ran, the progress I made in them, the trips I went on, and Speedfriends. The games show what time I started the year with, and what I ended the year with.

Fallout 4 (Any%)
IGT 1:02:49-49:12
I just kept. Dropping. The. Time. Seriously, this is the best I've ever been at a game probably, maybe, not sure. The competition, the marathon runs, the interviews/articles, the everything. My sum of best got very low, and my time should be better actually. Even with a newer runner, who is pretty good, using over a minute of new time saving tricks I haven't used, he's still 2 minutes away. I'll probably come back for 47.

Pokémon Gold(Any%)
RTA 54:01
I freakin love this run. My favorite Pokémon, a great length for my interests, and my first dabble in arbitrary code execution. I would like to get a better time, we'll see.

Batman: Arkham City(Any% NoCat)
RTA 1:43:30-1:25:58
NG+ 19:43
I really love speedrunning this game, it's hard for me to get burned out. The fights are really satisfying and different every time. I'm definitely dropping my time in this more during 2017.

Dishonored(Any%)
IGT 36:58
This is the game that my chat voted on me running, Psychonauts came in 2nd. I'm really happy I ran this, it's really fun and learning it was pretty easy. I should come back for a 35 at some point, we'll see.

Sniper Elite V2(Any%)
IGT 44:20
So here's the thing. I picked this game up for the 12 hour speedrunning challenge, and I got WR a week after that. Pretty dope. Granted, it's times with loads, and my PC was probably faster, but I'm still stoked about that. I've been beaten by a solid amount already, but I think I'll leave the game be for a while unless it gets in a marathon.

Mega Man Legends(Any% Normal)
IGT 59:04-53:55
I finally started running on the Japanese version, and on the grande grenade route. I beat MopeyJoe, a personal goal, and I got not only sub 55, but also sub 54. I'm satisfied with this PB even though it's a bit away from record.

Isaac: Afterbirth(7 Character)
RTA 2:16:34-1:56:30
Wow I didn't realize until now that I dropped this by 20 minutes. Now this is my biggest RNG dependent game, everyone needs one for the fun of it. The record is like 1:20:00 or something, just to show how low times can get when you're an expert with near perfect luck.

Kingdom Hearts 1.5(Any% Beginner)
RTA 3:10:26-2:59:41
I've been wanting to get sub 3 for a long time now, and it was brutal getting it. I was 7 seconds away, then 6 seconds away, then 3 seconds away. I don't want to run this for a while, even though I don't hate it, I've just done enough for now. I'll submit it to FAST Faire, it's a cool run.

Dark Souls 3(Any%)
So I don't even know what my PB really is. I got an RTA practice time in the low 50's, and that's probably it, but the game does IGT, so I don't know. I know I'm good at the game, and I know I know the route well because I wrote it all down when it was first made. I'm sorry I'm not on the leaderboards, there's reasons I just care about practicing/getting better before making a vod or grind for a PB.

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AGDQ 2016: I didn't run a game there. Sad. I couched for a lot, and BT mentioned I ran stuff once, but that's it. I didn't feel like I needed a break, or like that break was good for me. I loved the event though, and hanging with the Sprash crew. I'm making up for it by running two games at AGDQ 2017 though.

FAST Faire: This is the chilliest shit ever. Love these guys. Love lobos and fieldy, and the ranch is always a great stay. My runs were so last minute, I forgot my flash drive so I scrambled and didn't practice. Everything went really well though. I'll miss Crispy and how much he loves BONUS. Him and I are always seen as some kind of higher caliber of speedrunners there because we go to GDQ's and we get records. We're just the same. We just wanna chill and eat chicken nuggets. Also, I loved showing fieldy some dank rap and the lexicon the rappers have.

SGDQ 2016: Hey I ran Fallout 4 here, and it was also a scramble because bethesda updated the game the day before the run. But the run went reallllly well, great reception. Also I'm very proud that I went to Game Informer, which seems like a dream because of how I read the magazines every month as a kid. Now I'm in it? Seriously? Now there's another kid out there, reading about a Fallout 4 speedrunner, and it warms my heart in a way.

ESA 2016: This really was the year for trips. Traveled by plane 4 times, crazy. Would have gone to Twitch Con too if my moms wedding wasn't on the same time, and I'm happy I didn't go because I just wanted to be home. So anyway, ESA. It was a shitfest, I got extremely sick, my bank fucked me whenever I spent money in Europe, I had to mooch off people for sleeping/showering, and Fallout 4 just barely made it. Everyone said to come, it would be fun and worth it. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of fun things, and I'd probably say it was worth it, but it honestly felt very uncomfortable for a large majority of the time spent there. Good parts? Plenty. I loved hanging with friends, so much. The food was great. The people are shy and nice. Edenal is the man. I unexpectedly became great friends with Spike and Pac_. Drinking with Ela, Miltent, Santzo, and the crew was awesome. If I go again, it won't be for the whole week, I'll make sure to book hotel instead of mass housing, and I'll bring hand sanitizer and medicine.

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I can't go over alllll of my speedfriends, so I'll talk about a solid few.

DrTChops: hi. Completely honest here. I really love you dude. You have a lot of charm, you're honest and it matters, you're improving as a person, and I really wish we could hang more, whether it be podcasts, discord, or whatever. You've been extremely helpful through Fallout 4 and Dishonored, and I never seem to find a way to return the favor. I didn't mean to come across in a negative way at ESA, or in any other way. There was this awkward combination of bad PCs and bad communication, and that's why my run was delayed. At the end of the day it was my fault. I didn't care about getting a prime time spot, and I didn't know you'd be gone and I'm sorry about that.

SaintMillion: hi. We didn't do many Skype calls or Discord conversations this year. Towards the end of the year I saw streams and podcasts of you hanging with other friends in voice chats, and as I would joke about not being in them, it was kind a real feeling. I miss you a lot when I leave the events, there's just come weird connection I have with you ever since we both thought the other was into Maral at SGDQ. I want to think you're one of my best friends, and I do, but I want to prove myself right. I would always tell my local friends about my cool friend Saint, not just a speedfriend, who did this or that. We'll hang out more. I'll even see you in like an hour from when I'm writing this right now.

Bl00dThunder: hi. BT. Spelling your whole name feels weird. I know this whole thing sounds too genuine and borderline sad enough to be a suicide note, but I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm not killing myself. You have given me the best competition of my life. Last I had was with TFC on Oblivion, and that wasn't nearly as strong as ours. We probably had the best rivalry for a record in 2016. Our competition was making it hard for me to sleep, I wouldn't spend time with friends and family, or Yummo, or even take much care of myself. I learned a lot from what you have to deal with when you work really hard for something. I would get so offended by what you would say and do sometimes, but then you'd catch it and let me know that you love me. Same to you. Let's never do it again, friend. Let's get drunk instead.