How I Got Good At Speedrunning

Note the order I wrote these is not an intended order to do everything it is more or less a general guideline that people can pick apart in the event they need help.

Starting Out: The first thing I always do when deciding to try a speedrun is look for any resources for a game whether they are on Speedrun.com, Discord, or whatever platform. But even before that it is best to watch a high level run say 1st place and a low level run say towards the bottom or middle of the pack. This is because you will be able to see what the fruits of your time investment will lock like and what a first run should look like. The more runs you watch before taking on a new speedgame the better as you will get more opportunities to ask questions about the run and the game itself.

Learning Tricks: If you have the option always watch more than one tutorial on something. If you do not have that option don't worry a lot of the time there will be one and even if there is not you can learn most tricks from watching a run at reduced speed. If you practice any given trick for more than two hours and you feel you are having difficulties proportionate to how long people in the community say it should take to get the trick, this is a good point to join some streams or message a member of the community whether it be on discord twitter or forums etc...

	This next point is probably the most important and will be revisited later so take note; If you are stuck on a trick and you do not know what you are doing wrong stop practicing it until you can get advice. You don't want to practice something you don't understand because this develops bad muscle memory. This bit of advice is more for people who have hit the trick a good number of times. It is always good to experiment and try to gain an understanding of a trick when you are first learning. Once you land a trick once take some time to enjoy it because it is a great feeling but after that the real work begins. After this you should practice the trick until you can hit it 10 times in a row or with a rate of success of over 90%. After doing this for a while before runs you can practice tricks less gradually as you do them more. But if you ever have trouble again repeat all prior steps and things should fix themselves.

Learning Routes: Routes have high variance do to the nature of gaming but here are some bits of advice you can use for just about any game. If you have never played the game before or even if you did play the game casually before learning it. You want to do this because one most people can't play a game casually after they learn the tricks and two it is a good to get a good understanding of base mechanics, menus, battles etc... So now you have played a game casually and you want to start learning the route the and you also watched a wr run. Its time to get started.

	The first do not is do not learn the whole run is one go in fact break it up as much as possible. You want to do this because it is best to build consistency through each part of the game before moving on to the next. What you want to do is learn a level or room etc... then try to do it about 5 times in a row (for example) without messing up with the strats you decide to use then move onto the next. Keep doing this until you reach a certain point. For example in Super Mario Sunshine  Any% trying learning from Airstrip to the end of Bianco 5. Once you learn everything do runs from airstrip to bianco 5 until you feel mostly comfortable with everything. This should be done over the course of a few days to make sure you build muscle memory. (quick side note the segment I recommended is obviously not required but I think this is a good example of portioning learning.) Examples from other games would include learning up until the end of a chapter in paper mario then doing runs of a chapter and adding more chapters gradually until you reach the point of a full run.

	 To summarize learn a small part of the run and practice this for a while over the course of time then add more while practicing everything else you learned as well. The way I usually do this is by practicing Chapter say 5 when I get to it then doing a run of chapters 1-5 after to ensure I am practicing the stuff I am currently learning more than everything else so I do not loose muscle memory. A good ratio is usually practice something new for as long as or longer than a run though of everything would take.

Your First Run: First runs are very simple just play the game until you finish it there is no point in resetting since you have no time to compare against yet unless you can't possibly complete the run. To prep for your first run there is a few thing you can do to make it easier. Do a slower run through of everything just to make sure you are ready. Be sure there are no problems recording or streaming your game and make sure your timer work properly and that your splits if you have them are set up how you would like it. Making sure everything is on the up and up is important because nothing is worse than getting stressed before anything happens in your speedrun. This should also be applied to every other run you do after.

Staying Focused: Speedrunning is just as much mental is it is execution based so here are some tips for stay on your A game. Most every run has a stretch where things are slow but it is still important to pay attention because mistakes add up. One thing I always try to do is stretch during transitions or just give my eyes a break. This will help you keep focus on actually game play. Another key thing to do when you are starting to drift during boring segments is seeing if you can make the strats you use more interesting. Lastly find ways to entertain yourself, what I mean by this is make jokes with chat or yourself. For example during my Meet The Robinsons runs I often talk along with the voice actors to keep track of where I am. Or in a game Like paper mario think about what is ahead or any game really. Thinking a head will help you stay focused on the game but don't get to far ahead of yourself or you might mess something up. The best way to do this is to take quick mental notes such as Blue House Skip is in the next room or after I get red coin number 5 I have to do a momentum spin jump or I need to do a rev roll on this wall after this jump.This is much quicker than it may sound. Staying on top of things and knowing what to expect next is important. A lot of runners also use mental splits in addition to their normal splits so they know how they are doing in case you decide you want to to go for something more risky to compensate for lost time.

Back Up Strats: This should go without saying but, no one is perfect. On stop of learning the route take time to learn what to do to recover from a failed trick or battle and everything in between. A lot of this comes naturally from practicing over time but it is important to know what to do in specific instances. You don't want to do a run and have to reset because you messed up one thing when you could have kept going. Improvisation is one of the most important skills in speed running so be sure to be ready for the unexpected and learn recovery strats. Another good thing you can do is mess around with all the mechanics in the game until you understand them better this allows for higher rate of initial and recovery success. These strats are not something you need to go out of your way to practice often just make sure you know what to do in the event that something goes wrong. Because something always will go wrong, there is no such thing as a perfect run.

Mental Game: Earlier I alluded to the fact that speedrunning is just as much mental as it is execution. You might be wondering what I mean... It is easy to over react and reset a run after messing something up but it is important to know whether or you can still go on and get a good time. A useful tool for this is the best possible time tool in live split, this give you a decent idea of how your run is going. But eventually you'll be able to tell on your own. It is hard not to get angry when you mess up something you have practiced for hours but try to keep things in perspective, it is only one trick and most likely you won't loose a  run over it.  In the event it is something that you have to reset over don't take a negative mindset into a new run. Take a few minutes to walk around, get a glass of water or talk to chat. If you can keep going just try to push it out of your head, take a second to compose yourself take a deep breath try to joke it off or think about some of the dank memes you have with chat or other community members.

 Another good tool for staying composed in adversity is to have someone to interact with, try to speedrun with friends in a call this can help you keep your mind off of things and let you enjoy your time or if you have an active chat be sure to engage. One of the worst habits of speedrunners is getting trapped in their own thoughts. Don't take yourself out of the run because you aren't playing well, if you think you suck you will do worse. It is good to try to stay confident. A lot of speedrunners hit a mental wall and can't get out of their own heads until they get a new pb. This is something that is hard not to think about if you go a long time without getting a good run. But you have to remember that any run could be that breakthrough run you are looking for and to stay positive, an enthusiastic speedrunner is a good speedrunner. No one does anything well when they are blind with rage.

Long Term Practice: So now you have done a run or a lot of them, how should you practice? A good method of practice is to practice what you messed up for a bit after you are done with runs. Also always be sure to practice the hard things before runs. You may know how to do them but if you are not warmed up it is easy to make mistakes. It is also key to be sure to do full runs as often as you can at least once per session so you can build consistency over the course of a run. The worst thing that can happen is losing a run at  end game because you are never there. Practicing a full run also help alleviate pressure when you do get there on a good run. When incorporating new strats if you decide to do them in runs commit, don't do an old strat because it is easier you will never learn this way. Lastly once you are at a certain point practice just does not help as much as it used to so be sure to know when you can cut down your practice regimen because you will never get a good run if you don't give yourself time to actually do runs.

Hopefully this give you some incite on how to become a top level speedrunner and helps you avoid classic traps in the hobby.
If you want me to elaborate on anything find me on twitter @empulents