Speedrunner Beats Fallout: New Vegas in Under 21 Minutes

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Speedrunner Beats Fallout: New Vegas in Under 21 Minutes


20 minutes, 47 seconds.

The prior record was set hours earlier [http://www.speedrun.com/run/pydepkxm] by Swags_The_Dog, who completed the run in 20 minutes, 54 seconds.

The "any percentage" run lets the speedrunner use any glitches and exploits, but no console commands or game modifications - anything that the game itself lets you do is fair game. Kungkobra also crippled the character early, as a perfectly timed quickload prior to crippling grands a speed boost that lets your character move at 160% the normal speed.

"When you cripple your leg, your speed is set to 0, then bring back to 60% of your normal speed," Kungkobra writes. "By quickloading just before getting crippled, you can confuse the game into giving you 60% without actually being put to 0 ( because we don't actually really get crippled). So you get a huge speedboost, and walk at 160% of your normal speed."

Kungkobra focused on building Charisma and speech skills, as well as the Black Widow perk, in order to make the character able to talk her way into obtaining the Platinum Chip quickly, as well as a save/quick load exploit that lets the player skip dialogue with NPCs.

Kungkobra is also in third place [http://www.speedrun.com/fnv#Single_Segment_Glitchless] in the "Single Segment" category, with a completion time of 30 minutes, 48 seconds without using the above exploits.


Permalink

 

[flying_whimsy]

Wow, that was quick.

I understand the motivation behind speedruns; I just question why do one for a game like this. Although it is kind of neat to watch the game beaten in less time than most people spend making characters.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).
So why don't I get a speedrun award? I can start New Vegas, create a character and then quit. Take me 2 minutes. Sure, its not how the game was intended to be played, but I beat it in my own way, and I can do it without bugs!

Reminds me of back in junior high when the 'funny' kid in the class would be on the track, lined up with the other runners. Race starts and he takes one step back and then one step forward, technically crossing the finish line first.

Surely he deserves a gold medal for exploiting such a bug in reality as backwards.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

 

[Devieus]

Wow, that was quick.

I understand the motivation behind speedruns; I just question why do one for a game like this. Although it is kind of neat to watch the game beaten in less time than most people spend making characters.

Because the game allows for it, that's probably the best answer I can give. You can spend all eternity in this game, but once you have you just want to see how fast you can actually beat it, knowing it can be done much faster with the right amount of min-maxing. I managed a 2 hour run with Caesar and I found that to be quite fast; fast enough for me at least.

There's also some constants with the game that's extra satisfying to omit or reach even faster, kill Benny asap to get the chip for instance.

 

[Morti]

Reminds me of back in junior high when the 'funny' kid in the class would be on the track, lined up with the other runners. Race starts and he takes one step back and then one step forward, technically crossing the finish line first.

Surely he deserves a gold medal for exploiting such a bug in reality as backwards.

Nah, stepping backwards first meant he was on lap 0 rather than 1, since the race finish was at the end of lap 1, he didn't win.

Personally, in these things, I think bugs are more akin to using loopholes than cheating. The game code is the rulebook for playing the game, anything else is meta-rules to be established by the competition makers.

 

[Zydrate]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).

This is why I don't really get it, either. It's not even bumrushing the main quest. They're literally skipping through it. What's the point?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).

This is why I don't really get it, either. It's not even bumrushing the main quest. They're literally skipping through it. What's the point?

It's like taking a magnet, de-magnetizing a Battleship board, giving it to your opponent and going "Look at the glitch I found! I can sink your battleships without even bothering to play the game!". Or disarming the other guy at chess by whitewashing his pieces. Or giving them to your dog.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).

This is why I don't really get it, either. It's not even bumrushing the main quest. They're literally skipping through it. What's the point?

It's like taking a magnet, de-magnetizing a Battleship board, giving it to your opponent and going "Look at the glitch I found! I can sink your battleships without even bothering to play the game!". Or disarming the other guy at chess by whitewashing his pieces. Or giving them to your dog.

Except that the difference is that speed runners don't change the rules of the game, they merely obey rules on a level higher (or lower, depending on how you look at it). Not the rules the average player will obey, but the very limits of what the software will allow. There's no dog or magnet used, no external force is introduced to change the game.

Speed runs aren't really my thing either, but some things I've seen done in speed runs really impressed me with the ingenuity and skill of some players.

 

[Nuuu]

Maybe people do this because it's fun to play and watch? It isn't that hard to understand.

No one cares if you think it's "not legitimate" or "not a full experience". Let people have their fun. Speedrunners aren't people who buy Fallout: New Vegas and see how fast they can beat the main story first thing. After they've enjoyed the game, they make a spectacle out of seeing how fast they can get to the end of that game in multiple methods.

There are almost always runs that go glitchless, but that is a different speedrun category. Glitching the game can be just as fun. I'm sure everyone remembers how someone recently found how to glitch Super Mario World and break the code so that they get the credits scene in 5 minutes.

I encourage people to check out "Awesome Games Done Quick" also known as AGDQ. Every year they host speedruns with donations and donation incentives and donate millions every year to charities and cancer prevention.

 

[chadachada123]

Jesus Christ guys. It seems like every thread concerning speedrunning always has a dozen (metaphorical) naysayers talking about how much they don't "get" speedrunning or somehow equate it to mere cheating.

We get it. It's not your thing. That doesn't mean that there isn't massive knowledge and skill involved in nearly all speedruns far beyond what a normal player reaches, if only for that one game.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).

This is why I don't really get it, either. It's not even bumrushing the main quest. They're literally skipping through it. What's the point?

It's like taking a magnet, de-magnetizing a Battleship board, giving it to your opponent and going "Look at the glitch I found! I can sink your battleships without even bothering to play the game!". Or disarming the other guy at chess by whitewashing his pieces. Or giving them to your dog.

Except that the difference is that speed runners don't change the rules of the game, they merely obey rules on a level higher (or lower, depending on how you look at it). Not the rules the average player will obey, but the very limits of what the software will allow. There's no dog or magnet used, no external force is introduced to change the game.

Ah, but whether a force is internal or external to the game is determined by the level in which I arbitrarily consider myself to be playing. Why is it more impressive that I best the game's software - which is man-made - when I can best the by and large more amazing laws of physics, which are only defined by observation?

These hacky speedruns are on par with garden-shearing your way out of a hedge maze. You had the foresight of bringing in some shears, and probably felt around for the quickest way out - bravo. But I'll be more impressed if I see someone actually get out of the maze without literally clipping through the foliage.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).

This is why I don't really get it, either. It's not even bumrushing the main quest. They're literally skipping through it. What's the point?

It's like taking a magnet, de-magnetizing a Battleship board, giving it to your opponent and going "Look at the glitch I found! I can sink your battleships without even bothering to play the game!". Or disarming the other guy at chess by whitewashing his pieces. Or giving them to your dog.

Except that the difference is that speed runners don't change the rules of the game, they merely obey rules on a level higher (or lower, depending on how you look at it). Not the rules the average player will obey, but the very limits of what the software will allow. There's no dog or magnet used, no external force is introduced to change the game.

Ah, but whether a force is internal or external to the game is determined by the level in which I arbitrarily consider myself to be playing. Why is it more impressive that I best the game's software - which is man-made - when I can best the by and large more amazing laws of physics, which are only defined by observation?

These hacky speedruns are on par with garden-shearing your way out of a hedge maze. You had the foresight of bringing in some shears, and probably felt around for the quickest way out - bravo. But I'll be more impressed if I see someone actually get out of the maze without literally clipping through the foliage.

In the case of speed runs, whether a force is internal or external is determined by the software. If the software allows you to do it without any modifications to said software, it's fair game. Anything else isn't.

Speed runners aren't clipping through the foliage. They can't change the world they play in. They still have to obey rules: those set by the software. They don't adapt the rules. Nor do they adapt the world where those rules apply. So no clipping your way through a maze.

And that's exactly the reason why speed running requires skill. There's only so much leeway the game's software allows you to bend (not break!) the rules.

There's nothing hacky about it. It's more like finding technicalities in the rule book than changing the rules or the world governed by the rules. And some of those technicalities require great skill to pull off or to even find.

In the end it's the game that decides whether or not you've beaten it. It decides whether or not to show you the end credits. It's similar to if a track runner could convince the jury that taking a step backwards and then forwards qualifies as finishing the race. It takes a lot of effort for that to work in real life, and it takes a lot effort for that to work in a game. That's why people like speed runs.

 

[Nuuu]

These hacky speedruns are on par with garden-shearing your way out of a hedge maze. You had the foresight of bringing in some shears, and probably felt around for the quickest way out - bravo.

Not at all. Speedruns are more akin to people who made it through the hedge maze multiple times, and now are racing their friends from the start of the maze to the finish, memorizing dead ends, loops, what paths to take, etc.

Eventually they find small gaps in the hedges that put them in another spot in the maze; then they find another gap... and another...

Soon they find many small gaps. Some are filled with thorns and are dangerous to take. Some are thin and tough to use quickly. Some are really easy to take, but don't save much time.
The gaps don't form a single, easy to navigate line, but a route filled with different paths and backup shortcuts in case some don't work. Races can vary depending on the individuals luck and skill.

Nobody brought in anything external. Nobody is using a game genie or whatever to cheat through the game. They boot it up on their PC or console and just play for hours on end.

And they have fun doing it.

 

[Rattja]

I just want to remind people that even though these people are using glitches, it is NOT easy to do what they are doing. Some of these tricks are so called "frame perfect" stuff, which means that you have to do something on a specific frame, or even multiple frames in a row. We are talking 1/60th of a second here (most of the time). And let's not even get started on pixel perfect stuff.

As to why people like this, or do this? Hell why do anything right?
It's rather simple, its a game beyond the game. Let's see who can go from the beginning of the game and to the credits the fastest without using console commands and the likes, just using the game as is, bugs and all. The actual run is not really the main point, it's more of an reward. The main game of speedrunning is to actually find the glitch or bug that save you the time you need to be the fastest.
Most people hate bugs and glitches, while others actually likes to play with them, understand them, weird huh?

I'd like to point out there is this "Awesome games done quick" held every year, where all they do is basically this. Watching that and learning how much that actually goes into stuff like this have given me a whole other level of respect for it.

You may not like it or care for it, that is fine, but don't look down upon the ones doing it. I mean come on.. you guys should be better than that.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm always unimpressed by these "look how fast I can break this game" stories.

I don't get why these are so noteworthy. Its glitches and bugs. Things the devs clearly didn't intend to be in the game. So he's not really playing the game as intended (ie without bugs).

This is why I don't really get it, either. It's not even bumrushing the main quest. They're literally skipping through it. What's the point?

It's like taking a magnet, de-magnetizing a Battleship board, giving it to your opponent and going "Look at the glitch I found! I can sink your battleships without even bothering to play the game!". Or disarming the other guy at chess by whitewashing his pieces. Or giving them to your dog.

Except that the difference is that speed runners don't change the rules of the game, they merely obey rules on a level higher (or lower, depending on how you look at it). Not the rules the average player will obey, but the very limits of what the software will allow. There's no dog or magnet used, no external force is introduced to change the game.

Ah, but whether a force is internal or external to the game is determined by the level in which I arbitrarily consider myself to be playing. Why is it more impressive that I best the game's software - which is man-made - when I can best the by and large more amazing laws of physics, which are only defined by observation?

These hacky speedruns are on par with garden-shearing your way out of a hedge maze. You had the foresight of bringing in some shears, and probably felt around for the quickest way out - bravo. But I'll be more impressed if I see someone actually get out of the maze without literally clipping through the foliage.

In the case of speed runs, whether a force is internal or external is determined by the software. If the software allows you to do it without any modifications to said software, it's fair game. Anything else isn't.

Speed runners aren't clipping through the foliage. They can't change the world they play in. They still have to obey rules: those set by the software. They don't adapt the rules. Nor do they adapt the world where those rules apply. So no clipping your way through a maze.

So it's like using a typo in the rule book to your advantage then. It's technically a rule, because it's in a rule book, even if the typo wasn't intended, even if the typo renders the rule in contradition with the other rules. Like getting your client off murder because he was officially charged with "manlaughter", rather than you actually building a case.

You don't like that analogy? Finding cracks and loopholes that let you bypass a game on a technicality is never, never going to impress me. No, I am not impressed by one man looking into a software's fine print, going AHA! and skipping the fun part, any more than skimming through a book because you read 1 page every 5.

 

[GundamSentinel]

-snip-

So it's like using a typo in the rule book to your advantage then. It's technically a rule, because it's in a rule book, even if the typo wasn't intended, even if the typo renders the rule in contradition with the other rules. Like getting your client off murder because he was officially charged with "manlaughter", rather than you actually building a case.

You don't like that analogy? Finding cracks and loopholes that let you bypass a game on a technicality is never, never going to impress me. No, I am not impressed by one man looking into a software's fine print, going AHA! and skipping the fun part, any more than skimming through a book because you read 1 page every 5.

Well, finally an analogy that makes sense. Murder and skipping parts of a piece of media for sport are hardly in the same league, but it fits.

If you don't like that, that's fine, but I find it intriguing to see other ways people play their games. I had a friend in Guild Wars 2 whose only objective in the game was finding ways to go off the map and finding the strangest things developers left lying around under and around the maps. He once took me on a tour of a lot of those places, and while I thought he was bonkers, it quite impressed me.

And really, there's no denying that there's a lot of skill involved in speed running. Being dexterous, having a good memory and being creative with the game world are necessary for a good speed run.

 

[drakonz]

dont rly understand hate speedrunners are getting. i always enjoy watching them, but then again i have tried few speedruns myself so its propably different viewpoint