How Perfect Speedruns are Created.

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

Ironically, the way to complete a game the most quickly is in fact to complete it very slowly.

[@cioplasmmajic8327]

It takes a long time to go fast.

[@jimiyu.]

If you can play it slowly, you can play it quickly or something idk

[@guy_th18]

@@jimiyu. Why even comment?

[@jimiyu.]

@@guy_th18 idk dumb reference

[@Lone_Star_Outdoors]

@@guy_th18 You should have asked yourself that question.

[@Dr._Doppietta]

As a TASer myself, I cannot thank you enough for making this video, Gymnast. I'm sure you know, like me, how many times we get asked "what's a TAS?", or even get bashed at because people think we are "cheating". I've always had some problems explaing in the comments under my TAS videos what a TAS is, now I got this perfect video to link to anyone who's curious, like I was back in the days. Thank you again, Gymnast.

[@richshealer3755]

When I first heard the term TAS it didn't make sense. It's not tool assisted, it's tool driven. To keep the acronym maybe it should be Tool Applied Speed-run.

[@DooDooWater9732-n5z]

I didn't know you were a taser! What's the worst criminal you caught?

[@dtracers]

This video is a lie TAS is just the greatest Speedrunner alive. Trying to be brought down by the haters.

[@gbzld]

He's just jealous that TAS beat him with such a time difference and he can't even compete. Poor guy.

[@adrher1999]

Probably a friend of TED who likes to talk a lot

[@reptongeek]

I think TASing got a bad name through people doing it then passing it off as a normal run. But when you have a top players in a community doing both normal runs and TAS then it legitimises the process

[@averysunnyday]

Why be a dream stan when you could be a TAS stan?

[@littlemac5942]

its funny how he didn't mention that you can save state on real hardware

[@KainDracula]

I swear to god I thought you guys might have just been done with the channel and I was so bummed. PLEASE keep this going. You guys are literally the perfect culmination of people to show ANYONE something cool from a speedrun. Aka y’all are gonna bring soooo many people into the speedrunning community in such a positive and incredibly knowledgeable way. And you guys make things I may have even known before interesting. it’s sick. There’s so much I love about this channel. You guys deserve the views/love.

[@researchinbreeder]

It was just 2 months since the last video, and 2 months between that one and the one before. It's not long enough to think the channel died. All of the contributors to Lowest Percent are active runners in various games, and these videos take a long time to make.

[@chasethemaster3440]

They wasn’t gone long

[@KainDracula]

@@researchinbreeder consistency in uploads changed from when they first started. That’s what got me. I was only worried because I genuinely enjoy their content. My point was that I’m happy they’re continuing and that they’re gonna bring people who don’t speedrun into the community. Does it really matter either way man?

[@kurokun07]

dw, they still uploading on this year, that's enough reassurance to say they are still alive

[@haroldseah306]

Don’t swear to God. That is a serious thing.

[@snoice.4324]

I thought that you were joking with the title but then I realized it was a real TAS lol

[@CsQ_RandomRepository]

Masterjun is a wizard 🤪

[@dazejones3986]

Really good look into TAS as an art! I was personally dismissive of it until seeing pannenkoek's work on Super Mario 64. The amount of knowledge he'd learned in this game just blew me away

[@bane2201]

Yeah pannenkoek's work is wild. I'd say he's one of the most dedicated game examiners, not just for SM64 I'm using "examiners" to mean knowing about the precise ways a game operates on the assembly, RAM, and hardware levels. It's pretty incredible to examine not just what the player sees, not just why the mechanics displays that, but how the coding of the mechanics makes them work and how they can be exploited.

[@JediSteve-J3-]

My favorite part of some TAS runs is when there is a set amount of time where you have to wait, so they just do some crazy tas only ... Demonic ritual while they wait. Or just like in a celeste run just go super fast

[@berylliosis5250]

At this point via decomp they can view the source at the assembly level, as well as view RAM at an abstracted, visual level via STROOP. Also, pannen is individually dedicated, but the A-button challenge authors in general have some of the deepest game knowledge in gaming as well.

[@DaVince21]

@@berylliosis5250 STROOP, that's a pretty good name for it considering the fact that stroop means syrup and pannenkoek means pancake. 🥞

[@an_annoying_cat]

his work is incredible

[@58209]

the thing i didn't expect out of the speedrunning phenomenon is the sheer quantity of high-quality educational videos about computer science (and adjacent disciplines, like problem solving and designing solutions) presented in a way that's meant to be understandable to casual audiences.

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

Learning cybersecurity concepts via arbitrary code execution speedruns be like this fr

[@TheGamerUnknown]

All the respect to the people who put all that effort into TAS. Without them, speedrunning wouldn't be the same, so many things would never have happened. So many discoveries unmade.

[@TatoISR]

"We need to get rid of mistakes" Aight peace out homies

[@CyberCat3O]

Oh, I get it! It's funny because you are implying that you're a mistake! The work of comedic genius is at play!

[@inendlesspain4724]

@@CyberCat3O Imagine being this much of a smartass.

[@CyberCat3O]

@@inendlesspain4724 I don't need to lol

[@metallicaaaa1]

@@CyberCat3O You are such a douche lol

[@gamerluke6248]

@@CyberCat3O lol 😂

[@mythiccheese_]

A few days ago I thought about this channel and it being like a month since the last upload, so it's nice to know this channel is still going.

[@-bail-]

I love all of these videos but I gotta say the Livesplit example without decimals was cursed beyond belief.

[@kylehart8829]

I really like that you mentioned how a TAS is only as close to perfect as the TASer is willing to push it. Aside from incredibly short runs, it's basically impossible to make an entire speedrun that is actually optimal because you reach a point of diminishing returns. Your initial time investment of an hour might save you 7 frames on a section, but another hour could potentially only save you 1 more, and at that point the work is so tedious that it's not worth the headache for most people.

[@kayleighlehrman9566]

One of the greatest phrases in speedrunning is when a runner shouts out "i beat the tas!!!"

[@godzillasenpai3685]

How often has that happened?

[@iasked347]

I know one

[@iasked347]

The first ever no hit on the ninja game0

[@paulelderson934]

@@godzillasenpai3685 probably every time a new sequence break, warp glitch or other major timesaving feature is found. It's not always down to perfect inputs alone. Of course, the next informed TAS will make use of the newly found feature and obliterate the human runner's time again, but that's the fun of it. They're both competing in different leagues, yet they're still a source of motivation for each other.

[@Merluch]

@@godzillasenpai3685 i did that once in a level speedrun, although the TAS that i've beaten was quite outdated

[@TheCountExtreme]

Came here to see the 0.78 second SMB TAS in the thumbnail, never have it explained.

[@innenkosnarukami2450]

As a longtime fan of TAS runs, I was so excited to see a TAS-focused video in my subbox. This channel has been a gateway drug to various aspects of speedrunning and I love how accessible these videos are for people like me who don't actively follow all the major speedrunning scenes.

[@Charlie_Xmas]

I started watching other speedrun stuff cause I was like "hey they haven't done a vid in a while" and boom here we are

[@marinamoraes6174]

There are also many TASses whose objective isn't to beat a game the fastest possible, but instead to showcase unusual technical aspects of it. That Pokemon Yellow TAS that makes you go through several different games comes to mind

[@evanolsen6925]

Out of curiosity, do you remember what the name of the tas was?

[@randoncourter4923]

[TAS] Pokémon Yellow - Arbitrary Code Execution

[@broran_]

It's so insane how different a game can look from an RTA run to a TAS. In Battle for Bikini Bottom (the speedgame I personally run), the any% TAS and the any% World Record almost look like entirely different games. The funniest part is, the TAS can only be done of the gamecube version of the game (Dolphin), while the fastest version of the game is on original Xbox, which means the TAS loses over 7 minutes in load times alone over an RTA run on Xbox, but it's still 6 minutes faster than the current record. In terms of gameplay the TAS is theoretically ~13 minutes faster than RTA (WR is 45:07 as of writing this, was in the 47:XX range when the TAS was made, and the TAS is a 39:20) Was just wondering when a new lowest percent video would come out too, very happy to see another great video :)

[@329link]

I never like it when someone refers to TAS as a "cheated" speedrun. If it's openly advertised as TAS, there is no cheating. Cheating is when you try to use TAS to get ahead in the leaderboards.

[@CommieApe]

I'm constantly impressed by the work of speedrunners.

[@ozzi9816]

I really enjoyed this! I see the word TAS get thrown around in the speedrunning community, but I only had a nebulous idea of what it entailed. I thought gymnast did a very good job of explaining how it works to an outsider like me and even showing the appeal of being a TASer. Nice work!

[@monopolyrubix1875]

Another hit from Gymnast 👍 It would be cool to see an episode on how the concept of splits evolved, and the development of livesplit and how it entered widespread use

[@zelenpixel]

the smb3 tas that lasted literally under a second is the coolest thing i found out about from this

[@5thkiechannel]

And here I thought TAS was the worlds greatest speedrunner :(

[@gbzld]

You must've thought this TAS guy was a Freakin Legend with THAT many WRs. lol

[@toavs3977]

He is. Haters just trying to deny him his wr.

[@Cobalt957]

@@toavs3977 i agree

[@Star_II3S]

@@toavs3977 The mods are hating at them

[@kooliooolio]

nah dude, TAS stands for Totally Awesome Speedrunner

[@RedMinjo]

A bit outside of the actual scope of the video, but I feel it's noteworthy to point out that Sum of Best isn't always going to point to an achievable time. Occasionally you get situations where a mandatory action that takes some time can be in one segment in one run but a different segment in another run depending on what is fastest at the moment, and so a sum of best shows an imaginary run where that action never takes place.

[@shiverian5970]

Sum of best is made of segments done during a run, so this issue is irrelevant. Although it can happen in certain runs where the route changes depending on things like RNG, the purpose of a SoB is not really to see a perfect run anyway, more just a fun thing to look at, so even then it's not a large issue.

[@MudakTheMultiplier]

@@shiverian5970 imagine a hypothetical game where there's a location you need to visit twice and on either of those times you need to go to a shop for some reason, and some luck can change that could change which time you visit the shop. Your best split for both of your visits would be more likely to be a time where you didn't have to visit the shop, so if you were to play all of your best segments in a row you would never actually visit the shop.

[@gbzld]

It's like weapon duplication in Breath of The Wild 100% speedruns. Speedrunners do it in different splits depending on the state of their weapons, so The Sum of Best will probably never take into consideration the time wasted on weapon duplication.

[@shiverian5970]

@@MudakTheMultiplier Did you read the 2nd half of my comment? I understand the issue, but I'm saying this is such a small minority of runs, on top of SoB not really being used for this purpose anyway (as stated in the video).

[@MudakTheMultiplier]

@@shiverian5970 ahh I see what you mean. I misinterpreted what you meant by leading with it being irrelevant. I suppose that comment is just there for someone who doesn't see why the route would change now.

[@miguelaguilar5115]

All explanations and analogies were on point. The editing was also spetacular, it illustrated the narration perfectly

[@GrahamSmith1523]

Been looking forward to this! Thanks for the hard work.

[@wraithcadmus]

There is another reason to TAS, vengeance! I am told that one of the early MM2 TASers got into it as he'd never been able to beat it as a kid. The other interesting thing with TASs is in some cases they aren't very interesting to watch, but the explanations of how they work can be fascinating.

[@just-mees]

I couldn't understand what the game in the intro was, then I realised it was link fucking gyrating back and forth

[@KaneYork]

Looks like a Wind Waker manual superswim!

[@nicksteele5613]

I've never quite understood how TAS runs can account for RNG but you explained it so perfectly!

[@brliron6538]

Rewatching this video today, I love how the strat used to showcase "adding a few TAS-only skips" at 7:52 is now done RTA in the world record.

[@OddMode]

I absolutely adore this channel. I've only a passing interest in watching speedruns but these kind of information deep dives I love! Keep it up.

[@kunairuto]

It finally just clicked for me. Gymnast86's voice reminds me of the main narrator of TED-Ed, Addison Anderson.

[@Fallub]

Great video. Finally, I understand a lot of TAS related stuff. Thank you.

[@TheLetterbomber]

God I love this channel, please don't stop uploading! Don't be afraid to bring more creators on board if necessary, it'd absolutely be worth it

[@Moloch0Plus-996]

I love the editing on your contributed vids on this channel man, it's concise and funny without losing any information.

[@BeeDaBeeBee]

I've been aware of the basic concepts of TASes for a few years now, but I've always been hazy on the details. Thanks for giving such an informative and comprehensive summary! This feels like a great primer on the subject.

[@mwales8262]

Another great video! Always love seeing new uploads from this channel.

[@SUPERFunStick]

Even as a long time Speedrun watcher and enthusiast since 2005ish, listening to you cover the basics was somehow still very entertaining. You're very good at this job. Awesome work man. Please keep making these videos!

[@Dee-nonamnamrson8718]

I asked this question on a kosmic video a couple weeks ago. This was a satisfying answer!

[@jerry3115]

I love watching TAS runs, but I could never stand making one. Mad props to all TASers!

[@viper8908]

This is a great breakdown on many aspects of TAS-ing. It's not as entertaining as real-time speedrunning, but it's still great to see the product of your hard work replayable, preserved and most importantly, entertaining to watch. Many kudos to all TAS-ers and programmers who made it possible.

[@DubiousDoom]

Every narrator on this channel does a great job, but gymnast is my favorite.

[@sarakatelyn8923]

got me fucked up that I checked your channel right now to see if you updated after weeks of not checking and you did 6 hours ago. Blessed

[@Heizenberg32]

The closest thing to a solution to that dreadful sensation: "If only I would have ..."

[@itsPersonnal]

It's ironic you showed my Metroid Prime TAS during the "TAS Input" section of the video, when that TAS was actually made controller + keyboard hahaha

[@PurpleSunTAS]

Props for pointing out the limit of knowledge for TASing; that's something I'm not sure some people realise, and is why TASes become obsolete. It's like RTA runs are the human limit of execution: you can have all the big brain strats, but do you have the fine motor skills, reaction time, and endurance to pull them off consistently? Whereas TASes are the human limit of knowledge: motor skills are out the door, but do you know every mechanic, glitch, and level layout inside out to find the optimal route?

[@RSw_Why]

The S in TAS can also mean Superplay, without the intention of going fast. Examples of these can be "random route" TASes which complete a goal whilst going out of their way to show off cool stuff in the game, or "freeruns" which has the sole purpose of entertainment

[@morganus1360]

I've been waiting with much anticipation for the next vid. You guys got me more interested in speedruns than just watching them.

[@Dameentsia]

Gymnast is straight carrying this channel. Love you buddy, Your grinding is much appreciated by many people.

[@jesterbonbon]

yessss gym is my favorite collaborator on this channel 👏 so excited to watch

[@stonerbland7621]

I love this channel I've been watching speedruns of various Mario and Zelda games since ganondoor was found, so I know all of what you're talking about, but I always learn something new, even though these videos pace like an introduction to speedruns

[@L1nk2002]

Incredible video Gym. I think that's the first video that I've seen that actually explains how a tas works.

[@Davi_L]

Every video this channel puts out is of the utmost quality. Congrats on getting 225k subs so quickly!

[@supremechaosbeing2696]

5:44 I'm always happy when someone knows about a hat in time

[@6ro0vy]

Yeah Baby. You can play like TAS. Very Impressive. Back in 2004 I held the 16 Star Record for several years. Holy Moly

[@lunagarcia3747]

Ok why are not alot of vids are made you guys are soooo good it makes me intrested in the history of speed running and the glitches involved

[@robinwestrick2270]

Dude you are a poet. Such eloquence. Weaving captivation into words.

[@MicoDossun]

I always think your videos are the best and I look forward to them

[@jennasloan396]

Shoutouts to that dude DyllonStej that is making another Super Smash Bros Brawl Subspace Emissary TAS

[@sharanudaykumar4513]

I wish I can meet this TAS guy. Seems like he has a lot to teach!

[@TheChannelCraft]

I’ve been wondering how people do this for years

[@marcmoran1199]

Gymnast video let's gooo. Great as always, this channel's content is amazing. Keep up the good work!

[@eatfruitsalad345]

excellent video, really made me appreciate the art of TAS creation

[@JeynickRuns]

I just subscribed last night, woke up now, seeing the new video, I sure didn't expect this :)

[@mashisma]

Thanks for introducing the concept of a TAS to me. Very entertaining indeed ❤

[@Syngraphaeor]

FINALLY new LP video!! Amazing work, love it!

[@iwersonsch5131]

As a TASer of Super Mario 64, this is a great overview.

[@Kriae]

Gymnast is such a great narrator

[@fungamers2155]

Whenever I watch a TAS I feel as if anything is possible-

[@Iinneus]

I like this because I feel like it's often considered that TASes are the 'no effort' speedrun. Like yeah they're cute to look at, but it's not done by a skilled runner and is basically just a computer playing a game. But that's just... wrong! Not only are _tons_ of TASes made by people who also do regular speedruns anyway, the amount of work is insane. It often takes a group of multiple people over multiple months just slowly crafting out something that exists solely for the sake of our entertainment and a community's research. I'm really glad they do what they do, because the relationship between speedruns and tool-assisted speedruns is a very fun one.

[@zee7075]

This was an amazing video, I missed these videos and I’m excited for more!

[@unseengamer6464]

"This inspires people to find setups for glitches that people thought were tas only" *Cough Cough, Super Mario Bros*

[@x99rarecandy]

awesome video gymnast ! great to see a new lowest percent video from you !!! 😀

[@Serouzo]

Completely didn't expect Melty Blood music at the end there

[@francesco3588]

A new Lowest Percent video is always exciting

[@xeridea]

Besides a cool showcase, TASing is often used to test theories of potential skips, or strategies that then get used in real runs. Having exact input helps test your theories.

[@smokeyjo7420]

If we discover interstellar travel, it might be a speedrunner discovering the glitch in the matrix we need to do so.

[@official-obama]

8:12 IN WHAT PINNED COMMENT?

[@caspianvonliechtenstein6517]

Speed running TAS would be interesting to see. Who could program the perfect run and have a competitive atmosphere around it.

[@Lano11]

I really love the Videos here! The best by far are the one from Gymnast!

[@magentascribe7586]

gymnast86 has the most soothing voice I've ever heard

[@ChadAF_YT]

My favorite speedunner is TAS, he holds the world record for almost every game!

[@teunvanderheijden6588]

I like the little touch of the twitch accounts that are followed in the beginning

[@lostthepirate6311]

TASs are amazing technical achievements, but show some love to their little brother, LOTAD - Low Optimized Tool-Assisted Demonstration (which happens to be my favorite niche speedrunning acronym, lol). Basically, "We found some new speedtech that's (maybe?) TAS-only, but aren't going to write an entire new, perfect TAS just to show this one cool new thing off. We'll just focus on getting the cool new thing right; the rest isn't particularly optimized."

[@berylliosis5250]

Or even better, "Hey, we came up with a REALLY stupid way to play this game. It would be awful in real time, so let's make a LOTAD showing off what you have to do." Stuff like No Doors, 2 Pause MM, 0 Pause OOT, etc

[@katiekaboom7137]

new lowest percent vid hell yeah! love what yall do with this channel!

[@alphaomega153]

@gymnast86: Can I want to hear you say, “This is the Lock Picking Lawyer”

[@while.coyote]

This was great. you should do more how-to-creation videos, it's good for the community.

[@dragontamer274]

Love the videos this channel puts out. Thanks guys!

[@trinine3103]

My connection failed at 4:45 and thus paused the video, sat here for 30sec thinking how smart that editing is😂 damn

[@nz7166]

I hope this channel uploads more often in the future

[@SamJoex]

oh my goodness i misread "Created" as "Cheated" for a minute lol great video!

[@wkeezz]

Something I didn’t need to know, but now I am glad I’ve learned

[@halfondarr3951]

Note on the WR of TP, first is now Marco by 2h 52m 24s; made one week before this video came out.

[@RayzenMayher]

I love this channel

[@summerw.1425]

Alright you got me, now I just want to go back and watch your Twilight Princess TAS lol

[@soupsen6807]

Great video gym (as always!)

[@Idontknowwhattocallmyself]

Love this collab channel

[@ujingamer]

The fact that the og super Mario bros any % world record is now like four frames away from the tas still blows my mind

[@xenonsens]

Four frame rules?

[@jac1871]

@@xenonsens 8-4, the human sum of best is what I think he’s talking about, which has saved all possible frame rules to my knowledge, but not all frames in 8-4.

[@xenonsens]

Ah, ok, thanks

[@thefangirlray]

YAY THEY POSTED AGAIN! I LOVE THIS CHANNEL