Experts and masters of WipEout, let's bring it to Awesome Games Done Quick!

[Linkinito]

Hi everyone :)

Recently, an idea went through my brain while I was replaying WipEout HD. Something that could give more exposure to the WipEout community and also do it for a great cause.

I guess some people are familiar with speedrunning: the art of completing video games as fast as possible. Since 2004, the Speed Demos Archive (http://www.speeddemosarchive.com) is hosting videos of speedruns for over a thousand games, of various genres: adventure, RPG, platformer, shooter, and, even if the genre doesn't really qualifies for the "speedrunning" motto, racing games. Most of the runs on-site are however individual tables for each track. Its only recently that racing games started to qualify for speedrunning, by basically completing a full set of races in the game or the career/campaign mode or whatever you want to call it, as fast as possible. When livestreaming became a thing, speedrunning racing games wasn't in fact that awkward: it even produced some surprising results.

In 2010, the Speed Demos Archive, inspired by gaming marathons for charity, decided to host their first speedrunning marathon called Classic Games Done Quick. The principle is simple: complete a huge amount of games over the course of a few days non-stop. And the event is livestreamed so people can watch, react, and donate as the event progresses. As this event was conceived with charity in mind, the viewers are encouraged to donate with various goals and prize raffles. For example, people can donate to name a character in Final Fantasy, or to do a level blindfolded, or even to play some bonus games. By donating, they can also win prizes generously brought by the runners or other people in the video game industry.

The first edition of the marathon, in January 2010, lasted for three days and featured classic video games from the 8-bit and 16-bit era, with some 32-bit exceptions. They managed to raise over $10,000 for charity, which was roughly twice the amount they expected to collect. Being a success, the event was reorganized for a second edition, and this time regrouping games from all generations since 1985: the event was then renamed Awesome Games Done Quick. As a matter of fact, the marathon was named as Speed Demos Archive was, at its birth, a speedrunning website on Quake. The first speedrun of the game with advanced speed strategies and glitches was named "Quake Done Quick", and as a result, this created a legacy that still exists to this day.

Year after year, the Games Done Quick marathons expanded and became more and more popular. After raising more than $50,000 in January 2011 benefitting the Prevent Cancer Foundation, a summer edition was organized for the people who didn't live in the East Coast and wanted to have a "closer" marathon. Summer Games Done Quick was born, taking place in August and raising $21,000 towards autism research.

Then the popularity simply exploded and shattered previous donation tallies year after year. Last January, a mythical barrier was broken, when in the final hour of the marathon, which now lasts for an entire week, they announced to have raised more than a million dollars. That's right. In four years, they went to a small event in a basement, raising $10,000 for charity, to a big event, booking an entire hotel and raising a hundred times more money than their first marathon. The Games Done Quick marathons became a true phenomenon, and being one of the most viewed events on Twitch: it reached a peak of 110,000 viewers and over 70,000 in average. At several occasions, it had more viewers than every League of Legends stream combined.

Next June (22-28 ), the 2014 edition of Summer Games Done Quick will take place, benefitting Doctors Without Borders, and will feature over 150 games during an entire week. There's no doubt that the $255,000 tally of the 2013 edition will be beaten easily. If you don't know what GDQ is, that will be the place to start.

Here's the Games Done Quick website. (http://www.gamesdonequick.com)

Anyway, after this presentation, here's the reason that explains my presence here.

Basically, I had the idea to bring WipEout HD at a Games Done Quick marathon, preferably the 2015 edition of Awesome Games Done Quick. Because there has been runs of racing games: Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Crash Team Racing, and of course, the futuristic racing rival of WipEout, F-Zero. WipEout however has yet to appear in a marathon like this, and I think it would be a great addition to the next marathons. However, I can't propose to do a WipEout run at GDQ and for several reasons:
- Being a french student, financial resources are low, so flying to America has a high cost that I can't afford.
- I'll probably have some classes during the early January period.
- Even if I can manage to win Phantom Elite races without struggling much, I don't have enough skill on this game to be really impressive to watch, and I know there are people there who are infinitely better at this game than me and could blow the mind of viewers who have, and haven't played these games. And I only played Wipeout HD extensively (only had a few minutes playtime on Pulse and 2048 ). Some guys here are true veterans and know the series since its creation. So I wouldn't do justice to the series and the community by applying.

And that's why I come to you. Because there are members in this community who could make WipEout shine for charity and show that despite all the claims that WipEout is a "discount F-Zero" in terms of speed and skill, that the Psygnosis/Sony Liverpool franchise definitely has something to show at a high level of skill. So then...

What could be proposed at AGDQ 2015?

The following propositions will be focused only on Wipeout HD, as this is the only game that I know well. But I'm pretty sure you could propose runs for other games (but I'll tell you why, in my opinion, HD is the best choice). Wipeout HD has the reputation of being of the hardest racing games on the PS3 when talking about Phantom Elite difficulty. I know that Hellfire did some videos that absolutely crush this AI on several races, but for the majority of the players, even going through Phantom Class in Novice difficulty is a steep learning curve. Let alone winning in Elite difficulty.

To keep a run length under an hour, obviously Campaign mode will be ruled out. So I think the best way to show them the game is by doing the Arcade Perfect trophy (or a variant):
- Arcade Perfect Redux: Winning on the normal version of all 12 tracks (HD + Fury) in Phantom Elite.
- Arcade Perfect: Winning on all 16 HD tracks in Phantom Elite.
- Arcade Pefect Complete: Winning on all 24 tracks in Phantom Elite.

I think that's the best way as it would show every track in the game (except tracks that are exclusive to Zone mode), in the fastest class and the hardest difficulty, and people would see how pros can navigate through hard tracks at maximum speed like a breeze.

We could add, as bonus content, two other hard trophies from the game:
- Beat Zico
Beat Zico is a pain for many people, but only one good lap is enough for the die hard trophy hunters, as long as it is under 30.82 seconds. What could be cool is to show a lap with advanced techniques, and completely obliterate Zico's time. Several laps could be done to explain the techniques. To put on perspective that 30.82 is actually a hard time to reach, you could pass on the controller to someone who played the game a little bit and let him do two laps.
- Zone Zeus
Zone mode is pretty psychedelic and is always worth a watch. The first minutes being pretty calm, it's definitely a good time for donation reading. After Zone 50, it's where things start to go really fast, and the sky's the limit after. What could be great is to put a custom soundtrack containing classic Wipeout songs, or trolling songs like Rick Roll, Trololo, Nyan Cat, Loituma and whatever remixes, and show them the "magic" of Zone mode. For the track, showing Syncopia isn't probably the best bet as it's not that technical: Anulpha Pass is already harder to perform Zone Zeus on it.

And other incentives inspired by "Elite AI My Arse" videos from Hellfire like winning a race with a headstart, or no barrel rolls, or no use of weapons, etc. There are also other incentives that could be brought in, like the team used (even if pros can manage to win in Phantom Elite with every team!) and the HUD (HD, 2097 or Wip3out style). For example, if Feisar and the 2097 HUD have the biggest amount before the run starts, the whole run will be played with Feisar team with the 2097 HUD.

If a run like this could be brought to a future GDQ marathon, it would be awesome for your community, and for the PlayStation nation. If you get selected, you could also ask to the community, to Firesprite or to the WipeoutZone founder Infoxicated to bring Wipeout-related prizes up for a raffle, where everyone who donates $10 during the run enters the raffle and gets a chance to win one of the prizes. It could be games, posters, goodies, soundtracks, even a console if you want, anything is possible, and that could motivate people to donate and watch a Wipeout HD run.

So then, how to apply?

Surely during August, the Games thread for AGDQ 2015 will posted on the Speed Demos Archive forum. Remind that AGDQ is an on-site event located in the east coast of America at the very beginning of the year. All travel and accomodation costs are at your own charge, and that's what holds back a ton of runners who want to show off their game at AGDQ.

Here's an example of the proposal thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014_games_topic__deadline_is_august_25_at_11 pm_edt.html), from last year. As you can see, there's a TON of applications and "only" 150 of them were chosen to be at AGDQ 5 months ago. So feel free to push forward the candidates, and bring in videos and livestreams of yourself playing the game at a high skill level. The more impressive and complete the submission is, the more chance it has to be selected in the final list.

And if it doesn't make the final cut (some games make through a first batch of cuts, then there's the final batch), still support the application by having your voice heard. For example, last year, Halo 2 wasn't part of the final list, because previous Halo runs on GDQ marathons were deemed unimpressive and left a bad experience. After a huge support of the Halo speedrunning community, they finally managed to get a spot after a desist. The Halo 2 run then became one of the best runs this AGDQ.

Also, as a matter of fact, between 50 and 65 % of the games in a GDQ marathon make their first appearance, so there's a lot of room from new games in the GDQ Family, and WipEout could be definitely one of them.

Of course, nothing prevents you to propose runs for other games. As a personal opinion, the PS1 WipEout games (and also 64) have the nostalgia feeling for themselves, but probably lack the "wow" factor (even though some races in 2097 and 3 are impressive). Fusion on PS2 has the speed and the "wow" factor, but it isn't the most popular game of the series due to its different physics and gameplay. And for the "portable" versions of WipEout, they mostly share their gameplay aspects and skills with HD. I think Wipeout HD is the best bet, as it's eye-candy, well-known by players, contains the "pure" essence of the series, and has a reputation of being a very fun but challenging game. It has by far the best viewing experience. If it gets a one-hour slot, it will be a victory for everyone, as long as the chosen player really delivers and shows his mastering of the game.



TL;DR: Wipeout HD is awesome to play and to watch, we should bring it to Awesome Games Done Quick for a good cause.

[Snakenator1]

Welcome to the forum :)

As much of a brilliant idea this is, its probably going to be really hard to do so. There is a few issues:
Probably for some pilots like us we all are either still in full time education or have a daytime job. Also not many of us can afford to travel to America. Plus there really isn't a speed running community for the WipEout games (although you are welcome to start one cause I join)

Don't get me wrong this is an amazing idea and I love AGDQ and its cause, I love to watch the videos over and over if I'm bored. My favourite so far is 2014's F-zero GX run by CGN, and the 4 way super Metroid race.
If one day I can apply for a WipEout HD speed run to AGDQ and afford to get there then I gladly do it, although I wouldn't call myself a master :P maybe a veteran

[kleidoscopik_1er]

@Linkinito: Nice work on your post, it was interesting.

But, even if having a wipeout event at AGDQ could be nice, for what i know, most of vets and masters of wipeout are west Europeans peoples.
So i don't think it will be possible. There isn't "CGN like" wipeout players in America. But i'm mot a wipeout vet, so maybe i'm wrong about that. (?)

[Hellfire_WZ]

That's an awesome idea, but as you say, a lot of us would have the same issue in that it would be too difficult for us to attend. We do have a number of US-based players here though so it may be possible to organise something if they can be there. It's a shame we couldn't do it over a livestream from home as I'm sure you'd pretty much have everyone on here getting involved! :)

[possesed13]

nice thought but for us in this side its very hard to come there!
Hellfire's idea of a livestream would be perfect but its another thing!

[Snakenator1]

If I had the time and money I gladly fly from the UK to America and do a WipEout Elite HD campaign speed run. I really wish I did have the time and money :P

[Zzonkmiles]

I actually live on the East Coast of the United States. I MIGHT be interested in trying an Anulpha Pass Reverse Zone Zeus run (I've done it a few times before, but this track gets really nasty around Zone 65), but it really depends on where this event is and how much money I'd have to pay to get there and do this. I will follow this thread and see what happens.

[AlisGelida]

Welcome!

" What could be great is to put a custom soundtrack containing classic Wipeout songs, or trolling songs like Rick Roll, Trololo, Nyan Cat, Loituma and whatever remixes, and show them the "magic" of Zone mode."

Hehehe... Look at this two troll music-videos: Syncopia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTWXW2HnmSA) ; Anulpha Pass (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQgXx4BHteg) LoL
Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GWjHK61s_8) a "Pro-Zone video".

See you in Zone Videos <3 [My last zone record (http://i.imgur.com/4Rc2R1z.jpg)]

[Linkinito]

I actually live on the East Coast of the United States. I MIGHT be interested in trying an Anulpha Pass Reverse Zone Zeus run (I've done it a few times before, but this track gets really nasty around Zone 65), but it really depends on where this event is and how much money I'd have to pay to get there and do this. I will follow this thread and see what happens.
AGDQ usually takes place in the DC area (actually Virginia), last AGDQ was at the Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport which is only 20 miles away from Washington.

You should check out this forum (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/board/marathon_discussion.html) and most particularly this kind of threads (these were for AGDQ 2014, so they are now outdated, but for next year they'll be created on the same forum and will be on the same vein):
Travel Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014__routing_travel_thread__deadline_1213.ht ml)
European/International Travel Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014__europeaninternational_travel_thread.htm l) (contains some
Registration Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014_registration_is_finally_up__one_week_lef t_due_date_is_the_27th.html)
Games Proposal Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014_games_topic__deadline_is_august_25_at_11 pm_edt.html) (so you see how the first selection is done)
Practice Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014_practice_thread.html) (so organizers can keep track of your runs)
Equipment Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014_equipment_thread__runners_bring_your_gam es.html) (bringing your own console, controller and cables is mandatory - but you can also bring a TV if you can!)
Roommate Thread (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2014__roommate_research_and_confirmation_thre ad__deadline_12302.html) (to split up the costs for a room - it was like $89 without tax per night for a quad room)

They give every piece of information you need. Search also in the forum, there are other interesting threads to see for everyone here.

Anyway, I don't think it would be a good idea to just propose a single run on Zone mode. That wouldn't be a speedrun in essence: a speedrun involves to complete the game, but in the case of a racing game, that could mean "complete the campaign", "complete every cup", "reach the credits" or "win every race at the hardest difficulty". I don't think Campaign mode is a good idea to show off: most of the races and events would be in slower classes that doesn't give much pleasure to watch. Phantom class is the real deal for Wipeout HD, and it only appears in Meltdown, the final grid of events.

Also just going through the campaign to reach Meltdown would be pretty long so we could just rule out Campaign mode. A Meltdown-only speedrun could have been interesting too, except that it only contains races, time trials and speed laps. So we could just stick to races, as there's not much interest to fight against the clock (except at a very very hardcore , and do everything in Racebox... Which is basically the Arcade Perfect trophy. That's why I was proposing it (or a variation), so we could see every track in the game at the hardest difficulty and the highest speed, with a maximum show-off of pure racing skill. Winning 24 races wouldn't take more than an hour including loading times. And an hour to show what Wipeout HD is about, and why it's hard, is pretty good in my opinion.

About the Fury content, I don't think it would be that interesting for a speedrun: Zone Battle is actually not that hard even in Elite, Detonator is just scoring, only Eliminator could stand out but it has some RNG (randomness) into it (if you get bad weapons you can get crushed on Elite). So let's just stick to pure racing action!

Zone Zeus would definitely be an addition, a bonus incentive, but should not be the only part of the run like you're proposing, it would be rejected.

[xI-eI2aiiZZa-Ix]

Correct me if im wrong but how do you want to express the difficulty of a game if people crush the best AI? Especially if players never have had contact with wipeout they wont probably develop the right empathy. At least i think that way... besides lots of tracks can also be impressive on slow speedclass - as long as there are br opportunities.
Finally, im the opinion that we should show for zone zeus either a ridicolous high zone score, eg wotan's 160+ run or a pesky difficult zone track as vineta k on which it is hard to reach zone zeus. The problem is that this requires a zone god and dont know any active zone god, lol.

[JFthebestJan]

@raizza: active zone monster: kousoku3180 (jap) owns almost all zone WRs.

btt: i would like to go there myself, but it's too expensive to go to usa just for a few days. unless i win in the lottery (which i don't take part in), i won't make the atlantic pass ;)

[xI-eI2aiiZZa-Ix]

Asians would be a good representative, because, err theres always a asian gaming god.
Maybe i could but im scared that i fail while playing live. That would be too emberassing. Moreover i need my TV , its the only tv i can play with.

[Linkinito]

Bumping up this thread, for the people that are interested, that game submissions for AGDQ 2015 will be open on August 16th at 8 PM (GMT).
More information on this thread. (https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/agdq_2015_game_submissions_will_open_august_16th_a t_3pm_edt.html)

[mannjon]

Yo. 'Sup? I hear you need a speed run WOHD guy stateside. ^_^

I think I could be of assistance. I could probably do all the Arcade Perfect races in one try. I'll have to practice a bit, but I've been brushing up on Phantom lately anyways. I figure with 16 races, each about 3 minutes long, it is doable in under an hour with a little luck.

That being said, if this is a speed run, why not toss in some speed laps? Maybe have someone do speed laps for each track. Lots of barrel rolly goodness. The only problem with the speed runs is that if the global position is shown, there may be some junk data in there, so it wouldn't be a true representation in some cases.

If anything, you may want to include running through the first 2 or 3 grids. Essentially limit the speed run to a certain point.

Beat Zico is a good idea. I could probably get that one in two laps, or maybe 1 if I get lucky with the bridge roll(s).

[Linkinito]

Yo. 'Sup? I hear you need a speed run WOHD guy stateside. ^_^

I think I could be of assistance. I could probably do all the Arcade Perfect races in one try. I'll have to practice a bit, but I've been brushing up on Phantom lately anyways. I figure with 16 races, each about 3 minutes long, it is doable in under an hour with a little luck.

That being said, if this is a speed run, why not toss in some speed laps? Maybe have someone do speed laps for each track. Lots of barrel rolly goodness. The only problem with the speed runs is that if the global position is shown, there may be some junk data in there, so it wouldn't be a true representation in some cases.

If anything, you may want to include running through the first 2 or 3 grids. Essentially limit the speed run to a certain point.

Beat Zico is a good idea. I could probably get that one in two laps, or maybe 1 if I get lucky with the bridge roll(s).
That's awesome. :) You can propose several categories, and propose some hot laps, Fury tracks, and Beat Zico as bonus content (as a donation incentive). But the Arcade Perfect trophy should be the main thing, and you should insist on the difficulty of Phantom Elite, that the platinum trophy is one of the hardest feats on PS3, and don't forget to toss in your application some videos to show off the skills needed to impress the organizers.

As a reminder, AGDQ 2015 will take place from January 4 to January 10 in the Washington area. Verify if you are available during this period!

[mannjon]

Ok, based on the PSN network profiles page, the following are some of the rarest WOHD trophies that would be good speed run demos due to the limited time it would take to get them:

1. (1.99%) Beat Zico
2. (2.09%) Arcade Perfect
3. (4.38%) Own the Zone
4. (8.14%) Flatland Flyer
5. (7.53%) Meltdown
6. (2.87%) Airbraker
7. (6.57%) Mercenary
8. (7.82%) Connected 2

There are rarer trophies out there, but these in particular stand out because they can be done quickly.

Connected 2 will get Connected 1 at the same time. Mercenary and Flatland Flyer are possible easily at the same time that Meltdown is achieved.

Beat Zico can be done in 2 laps almost guaranteed (I've gotten within 0.03 second of it on a first try, but 2 laps is almost a guarantee), so the first lap could just be an impressive perfect lap followed by the trophy lap.

Airbraker takes some time, but can easily be done in one go, and is impressive after it pops. I'm not the best at zone, but it might be possible to combine this trophy with Zone Zeus.

Arcade Perfect is possible, but is unpredictable at times. I was able to do a full 12 race tournament on Elite Phantom, and I only lost on Vineta K due to back to back quakes that knocked me off track followed by an undodgeable missile. It is possible, but not a guarantee, based on luck. Still possible in under an hour and 15 minutes even with a mistake.

So based on the percentages earned and the time it takes to get them, these are the trophies I would suggest for a demo. Now I also feel that some speed laps would be pretty awesome to include. There are about 6 tracks I can get a top 100 rank with ease on every time I race them. Same can be said with certain time trials. These laps all involve some pretty crazy shortcuts which add an element of grace and awe to all but the most elite of pilots, and it could help to show just what is possible on these tracks. My best tracks based on records are:

Talon's Junction Reverse
Talon's Junction Forward
Sol 2 Reverse
Metropia Reverse
Chenghou Reverse
Sebenco Reverse
Vineta K Forward
Anuplha Pass Forward
Moa Therma Reverse
Moa Therma Forward

Most of these include an awesome shortcut, and can be impressive to watch. So speed laps or time trials on any of these would be a good fit. I'd even be willing to give away some trade secrets.

As far as the date and place, I live in the Southeast, but I had a friend that lives and works in Maryland, so I could make the trip.

As far as the donations, you could offer a rate based on global rank. That is that if I make the top 100 global record it is a certain amount, if I make top 50 even higher, and so forth and so on. I've never done any videos, so I'll have to research how to do a rig for it. Know anything about PS3 video out?

[Light Buster]

I like the idea. But I have an alternative. The speed runners play on Elite Difficulty in the campaign, avoiding Zone events whenever possible. Once the next event is unlocked, they move on to it.

[Snakenator1]

Perhaps a Elite campaign legend speed run would be more interesting if your gonna do that Buster, for the zone events the moment you hit the zone target for the gold medal just pause and quit and move on to the next event.

A 100% WOHD speed run would be cool to but that could get boring after a while :P (100% meaning get the platinum trophy in one run)

[mannjon]

I have got the platinum in as little as 13 hours total play time. However I did have to retry 3 or 4 events, and I didn't quit the zone goals immediately after achieving them. Still, the best case scenario of what it humanly possible to get all the trophies 100% is around 11 hours or so. You have to completely max out 1 team's loyalty and acquire all the ship skins, which takes up the majority of the time. For those 2 trophies alone, it probably would take 5-6 hours.

@Buster, avoiding the Zone events would not be necessary. As mentioned, quitting after the goal would cut time down. But avoiding them altogether doesn't really serve any purpose because you have to Elite ALL the events. I think the largest Zone requirement for HD is zone 25, which is Super-Phantom. Which is maybe 6 laps?

For ECL, it would be possible to do in probably under 4 hours, but that still would probably be too long to do in a speed run. Every node in the HD campaign is acquirable on the first try (and with ALL of the speed laps, it is easily possible to get Elite gold on the first lap).

I'll time myself and see how long it would take to make it through just Meltdown tonight, considering that is the longest set, we can get a good idea of how long it would take based on that time, but I suspect it will still take 3-4 hours at least to make it through the entire campaign.

*update*
I just went through all of the Meltdown nodes on Elite. I won each node without retrying. I was able to gold elite all speed laps on the first lap, and I spent minimal time navigating through the menu screens, and my time was ~00:45. So Meltdown is the longest grid, and it takes 45 minutes if done perfectly.

I also did Hand Rush and got a time of ~26 minutes under the same circumstances, with perfect laps and no redo's. I ended the zone challenge immediately after the goal.

I was able to manage a time of ~11 minutes on Uplift under the same circumstance except I added an extra lap on the Anulpha Pass speed lap to beat Zico. As above, I ended the zone immediately after reaching the goal.

So just those 3 events is already a time of 01:22.

For estimating purposes Here is what I would guess for the non-confirmed times per grid: 11 + 15 + 18 + 18 + 26 + 30 + 45 + 45.

This makes for an estimated total of just around 3:30. This run through would achieve Elite Campaign Legend, Campaign Legend, Beat Zico, Happy Accident, Keep Rolling, 1 Gold Medal Won 86 to Go, Flatland Flyer, Own the Zone, and Tournament Ace, as well as all the bronze medals for each grid.

[JFthebestJan]

don't forget, you need a bling brigade squad at hand to get a 100% run in a fast time.

edit: quitting zone mode after reaching the goal results in DNF! so that doesn't work the way you said it would be :(

[mannjon]

Well by "exit" I meant explode.

I think getting the Platinum for this particular event is not possible because it just takes too long with Livery Liberation. But it would be possible to speed run the ECL trophy, and my point is that you'll get some of the other rare trophies along the way.

[JFthebestJan]

...for the zone events the moment you hit the zone target for the gold medal just pause and quit and move on to the next event...

that simply doesn't work, as mannjon mentioned, you've to quit by destroying your ship on purpose.

edit: you won't get tournament ace along the way going for ECL, because 'tournament ace' is restricted to racebox mode

edit2: you can shortcut every tournamet throughout the ECL run though. win 3 of 4 races, quit the longest race by getting destroyed on purpose. same for 8rounder, just win 5 or 6 of 8, quit the other 2 or 3 longest races ;)

[mannjon]

that simply doesn't work, as mannjon mentioned, you've to quit by destroying your ship on purpose.

edit: you won't get tournament ace along the way going for ECL, because 'tournament ace' is restricted to racebox mode

edit2: you can shortcut every tournamet throughout the ECL run though. win 3 of 4 races, quit the longest race by getting destroyed on purpose. same for 8rounder, just win 5 or 6 of 8, quit the other 2 or 3 longest races ;)

Didn't know that about Tournament Ace. Good catch.

I thought about winning 3/4 of the races in a tournament. Over the course of all of the grids, I think there are about 8 races that could be skipped in this way which would save around 20-30 minutes total time (with an average race time of 2-3 minutes). So that would lower the total potential time to right around 3 hours. The only downside is that it isn't a flashy way to end a tournament for an audience ^_^

In fact, maybe I should start a new thread for speed running the Campaign with my results. Assuming that each race is won without having to retry, and assuming that all speed laps are accomplished on the first lap, the overall time it takes to get Elite Campaign Legend won't differ that much. It might be a neat thread to have people post their times for each grid. It would also let people estimate how long it might take to get through the campaign. Oddly enough, the Fury side would take longer due to all the extra zone stuff. Zone races by far occupy the majority of the time, even if you "exit" immediately after completing the event. Add that to Detonator requirements (which take at least 10 zones) and the time really adds up!

When you think about it, there isn't that much difference in time between the Elite requirements on Time Trials and Speed Laps and the current world records. Sure on paper the world record may be 10 seconds faster, which is a lot. But that is to say that if I broke every single Time Trial world record, it would only be about a 2 minute total difference in time from if I had just met the minimum Elite requirements. So while it is incredibly significant when trying to break a record, it won't subtract too much total time from the over all total time required to get ECL.

[JFthebestJan]

well you can skip 11 races at least, and 14 at max. ;)
that's a huge amount of time that can be 'skipped', so it's very much essential for a speed run!

edit: 1 more thing, if you want to go for zico whilst doing the ECL, it needs to be done in the first lap. everytime you reset your turbo the game adds a 10 minute penalty to your ingame clock!

[mannjon]

I had no idea that an invalid lap costs 10 minutes! However for the sake of the speed run, I think that it will be timed in real time, and not just based on the game clock. All of my speed run grids above were timed in real time.

14 races is HUGE!!! That could make a potential 42 minute difference! So that would bring the total estimated time down to 2:48. And I haven't actually timed out the remaining grids. So it might be possible to get the total time for ECL down to 2:30. To get technical, there is still probably about a 10-20 second cost per race that is skipped due to having to explode an all, but it is still a big improvement. Any other time saver thoughts?

[JFthebestJan]

yeah, but that is hardware tuning! if you replace your HDD with a fast SSD you could save alot of time whilst the game is loading and saving ;) could easy cut another 10 or 20 minutes overall, but as i said that would involve investing a serious 120 bucks. don't know if it's really worth it, but at least it's a time saver. and of course you should play the PSN version, instead of the blu-ray, this way you can cut the very slow blu-ray drive. play version 2.10 of the game, it's the fastest.

edit: and set the ps3 to 720p, this way you'll get a more constant framerate, if there's alot going on onscreen.

[Linkinito]

I think I'm going to tell you some details about the Games Done Quick marathons. :) This is something that is really crowded, as they manage to put over 150 games in roughly the same amount of hours. So basically, you won't have everything you want to put over 2 or 3 hours. This kind of timeframe is reserved for RPGs and long games.

When I talked about trophies, I didn't have in mind the fact that you should get a maximum amount of trophies in a certain amount of time, even though if it can be an objective. For a marathon, where Wipeout HD can have a one-hour slot, I thought the best bet was doing an equivalent to the Arcade Perfect trophy, as:
- It shows every track in the game
- It is played in Phantom Elite difficulty, so the hardest one
- It's only focused on racing againt AI so there is a part on uncertainty that adds to the thrill - and in marathons, little failures are frequent!
- It leaves tons of room to show off some skills

Doing 16 races would take around 45-50 minutes including loading times. However I think adding the Fury tracks are necessary as 8 tracks only won't be enough to give more interest. Hence the "Arcade Perfect Redux" that includes the 4 Fury tracks, or the "Arcade Perfect Complete" that makes all 24 races in Phantom Elite.

Doing the Campaign mode is in my opinion useless, as Wipeout HD can truly shine if you show it off in Phantom class. Let's just face it: it's not that impressive in Venom, Flash and Rapier classes. And the first seven grids are all but Phantom, so that's not a really good idea. So just ask ourselves the right question:
How to show off in an hour all the "speed" skills Wipeout HD has to offer?

So here's how I see a great Wipeout HD run at a Games Done Quick marathon:
Part 1 of the run: Arcade Perfect Redux, 8 HD tracks + 4 Fury tracks in Phantom Elite races (40 min). We all know that Phantom Elite races are the hardest part of the game, so showing that the AI can be destroyed in this difficulty is pretty impressive. Also we get to see every track in the game, so that's pretty cool. Viewers can decide, by their donations, if the normal or reverse version of the tracks will be played.
Part 2 of the run: Beat Zico (5 min). It's a really hard trophy but doing several barrel rolls with the slowest class can be really cool to watch with some explanations and probably a controller/hand cam.
Part 3 of the run: Zone Zeus (15 min). Zone Zeus is probably the best speed experience Wipeout HD has to offer. The best track to show it off would be Anulpha Pass instead of Syncopia as the track is narrower and harder. It will be slow in the first 30-40 zones so that will leave time for donation reading. Then it will get fast and really enjoyable.
Or tricks demonstration in Free Laps during 15 minutes.

By the way, a little clarification on donations: the organizers do not donate if certain game objectives are met (like they'll give $1000 if you get top 50 time). Here's how it works: it's the viewers who donate, so certain objectives to make the game harder or more enjoyable can be done. Every donation goes to charity (Prevent Cancer Foundation). When you do a donation, you can affect it to one of the numerous incentives and challenges proposed by the runners. There are two possibilites: choices and challenges. In choices, the highest amount for a choice wins. It can be a name, a skin, even a game sometimes. And in challenges, the donation for that specific challenge must reach a certain amount in order to be done.

So here's some donation incentives:
- Team chosen (donation war, highest cumulated amount wins)
- HUD (donation war, highest cumulated amount wins)
- Normal/Reverse tracks (donation war, highest cumulated amount wins)
- Custom Surprise Soundtrack ($750 - just put Darude - Sandstorm and Rick Astley and you'll be set)
- Beat Zico ($500)
- Zone Zeus ($500)
- Win a race without weapon usage
- Win a race without absorbing
- Win a race without barrel rolls
- Win a race with letting the opponents take a one-lap lead

Of course not every donation incentive will be kept, but that's a good way to set things up. You must know that the organizers probably didn't play the game, so it will be up to you to prove that Wipeout HD is capable to be part of the final list. Of course, it's hard to set a defined objective for a racing game, aside from "complete the Campaign" but 1. it's not worth it as 7 out of 8 grids are not in Phantom class and 2. it would take too much time.

[mannjon]

...Let's just face it: it's not that impressive in Venom, Flash and Rapier classes. And the first seven grids are all but Phantom, so that's not a really good idea. So just ask ourselves the right question:
How to show off in an hour all the "speed" skills Wipeout HD has to offer?

Clearly you've never raced any skilled pilots on any speed class other than Phantom. This statement is just ignorant and personally offensive. I'd rather see an impressive world record time as a measure of speed skill as opposed to a Phantom Elite AI race. If you don't think donators or who ever may not be impressed by anything other than easy to trick AI on Phantom speed that is one thing. To make a comment like that as a generalized statement is another. Not everyone thinks like you do, be careful what you say.

Phantom Elite is a JOKE. REAL skill is the truly elite human players. Getting race records in the top 100 are the hard part of this game. Not dealing with amateurish AI. Also, Zone in my opinion is boring to watch for 15-20 minutes. It goes directly against the whole idea of a speed run because all you have to do is just survive. That isn't a speed run, survive long enough and it is a guaranteed trophy. And your beat Zico taking 5 minutes? It takes one lap. That's all. One lap. But you wouldn't know that I guess because any speed other than Phantom is irrelevant to you.

But hey whatever. It's your thing. Count me out though.

[Linkinito]

Ok, i'll just clarify something. You have a completely different vision of what is a speedrunning marathon and what is expected.

In the Games Done Quick marathons, there is no competitive online thing or whatsoever. It's all player vs. the game, player vs. AI. I'm just gonna show you an example:
F-Zero GX at AGDQ 2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvrepvisxA0). Just to take a small chunk of it, start looking at 9:30 or 17:35.
He's running the game in its hardest difficulty which is considered to be one of the hardest racing games ever. And he gives a 26-second headstart to one of the hardest opponents in the game. Just for the sake to prove that the AI is a joke even in the hardest difficulty. It's the WHOLE POINT of it! The whole room was impressed, the whole chat was impressed. In front of 70,000 people watching it live on Twitch. Of course, for the elite players like you, nothing really impressive - but for the guys who didn't play the game, and those who played it and struggled, it will be damn impressive. No need to show off an online race or something.

I never raced any skilled pilots online. I'm not part of the best. I'm just an average player to the eyes of the elite as I "just" have the Platinum trophy online. But I still consider it as a great gaming achievement. It's one of the rarest platinums on PlayStation 3, proving that this is a hard game for the majority of the players. I'm just in the position of the guy who played the game, who knows its hard but with sufficient mastering nothing is a challenge anymore. And that's what's asked at the Games Done Quick marathons - tear through a game in any way possible. Glitches, AI-crushing, precise manoeuvering at very high speeds.

Setting up anything online-related at this marathon is ruled out of the question as 1. all the online connection has to be used for streaming the marathon in optimal conditions and 2. anything can **** up your online setup. That's a rule, all consoles that are brought to the marathon should not be connected online at all.

When I came out with my 5 minute estimate for Beat Zico, of course you can get it first lap, but you might take some more time and laps to explain how you did it, like the barrel rolls, the sideshifts, etc. You can also show off your best speed laps if you want as bonus content. Zone mode was just an idea.

Anyway, you can drop out, that's your own choice. I was just putting on the table a way to bring your community to a broader audience for charity. As a regular viewer of this event, I just thought about various ways to keep the viewers entertained on this game for an hour-long slot. The real deal might be definitely online play, but that's actually closer to e-sport.

You can still apply to propose the game with your own rules, with online races and speed laps. But I don't think they will accept your submission, as the gameplay must be offline.

[mannjon]

I get all that about being offline. I never actually meant to suggest any online event. Online events should not be part of a speed run for reasons you've stated.

My problem is with the manner in which you propose event, and the way you immediately shut off all but Elite Phantom being not "impressive." I'll remind you that Beat Zico is a Venom challenge, and that trophy alone according to the PSN network page alone gives people the most problems aside from Transcendence.

But in all of this, xI-eI2aiiZZa-Ix makes a compelling argument here: It is a catch-22 to crush Elite AI to show the difficulty of the game, and that people won't understand the accomplishment it is if they have never played the game before. The only impressive Zone mode is when the zone gets up over 120, and that would take at least half an hour or more.

So if this really is a "how fast can you beat this game" type of event, I think there are some good solutions on this page. In fact, if you aren't playing through all the events as Snake has suggested to get ECL (and you skip the lengthiest events), one can easily progress quickly through the entire grid. Maybe even in less than 1:30. Maybe I'm just unclear as to how the donation things work. I'm still trying to envision this as a "speed run" and I don't understand all the tie ins.

[Snakenator1]

Idea, we don't "necessarily" have to speed run HD Fury. Why not speed run one of the earlier games? the PS1 classics?

I'd then recommend Wip3out/ SE cause that game can get very challenging later on and a speed run of it would be to get all the gold medals (standard race, time trials, weapon challenges etc) so there is plenty to do.

2097 (all gold medals and the piranha tournament) is also a good candidate or simply the first WipEout which is also one of the hardest.

[Linkinito]

I get all that about being offline. I never actually meant to suggest any online event. Online events should not be part of a speed run for reasons you've stated.

My problem is with the manner in which you propose event, and the way you immediately shut off all but Elite Phantom being not "impressive." I'll remind you that Beat Zico is a Venom challenge, and that trophy alone according to the PSN network page alone gives people the most problems aside from Transcendence.

But in all of this, xI-eI2aiiZZa-Ix makes a compelling argument here: It is a catch-22 to crush Elite AI to show the difficulty of the game, and that people won't understand the accomplishment it is if they have never played the game before. The only impressive Zone mode is when the zone gets up over 120, and that would take at least half an hour or more.

So if this really is a "how fast can you beat this game" type of event, I think there are some good solutions on this page. In fact, if you aren't playing through all the events as Snake has suggested to get ECL (and you skip the lengthiest events), one can easily progress quickly through the entire grid. Maybe even in less than 1:30. Maybe I'm just unclear as to how the donation things work. I'm still trying to envision this as a "speed run" and I don't understand all the tie ins.

After seeing some videos of speed laps and races in slower classes, I admit I vastly underestimated the wow factor of it: so I stand corrected about saying that only Phantom Elite was impressive. Sorry about that. That'll teach me to judge solely on pure speed.

Talking about the speedrun, the basic goal would be of course completing the campaign in hard mode. But the fact is there is no definite ending, except from completing all 87 events. So we need to define a goal: reaching the Meltdown grid and winning the Tournament (49 events + final tournament)? Doing the entire Meltdown grid only (16 events including longer ones)? The problem is, the former will involve redudancy as each track will appear in average 6 times. They may be in different modes and speed classes, but I'm pretty sure we'll see at least 2 speed lap events on each track on different classes. Many campaign modes in racing games are just limited to win cups or championships - which is basically resumed by winning on (nearly) every track in the game (Mario Kart, Crash Team Racing for example). We don't see a track more than twice. So that's why I just came up with the same idea, winning

In terms of crushing the hardest difficulty AI, I don't think the claim of saying it would not be impressive would be true. I've shown the F-Zero GX run as an example. Also, people usually get the word that a particular game is hard. People who played it usually tell the guys who didn't that a game can be bloody hard. I'll take other examples: Dark Souls, Contra, Super Ghouls & Ghosts, Battletoads: even if you never played these games, they have a reputation of being hard, and if you don't know about it, you'll learn it pretty soon. So seeing a guy mastering the game up to putting hard AI on its knees will be impressive to watch, for everyone.

When the runner of F-Zero GX leaves a 26-second headstart to its "Very Hard" AI opponent (even though the initial amount was 25 seconds), it's fun, and seeing him navigate on the track like a breeze is definitely awesome to watch while he catches up second by second, turn by turn. In the end it definitely looks easy for him. But the people who know the difficulty of the game and struggled for hours to win only once this particular event spread the word: these are the most impressed guys, and they share the hype around it. People will understand the accomplishment: just seeing "hard" on the screen is enough. There's a private joke where when someone plays a game in hard difficulty, we say he plays in "the only difficulty". Simple as that. So don't fear about not being impressive to the public who don't know anything about the game: the harder you'll crush the AI, the better. It's a huge misconception to think, after seeing something that looks easy on the screen, to think it's easy. Until you try it and you realize its bloody hard if you didn't master it for hours.

I think the Zone mode could be scratched as it won't be interesting for the first 5 to 7 minutes of racing, so we'd better scrap it in favor of speed laps in slower classes.

Donation incentives are mostly here to bump up the donation count. If AGDQ 2014 reached over a million dollars, and SGDQ 2014 over $700k, it's mostly thanks to them. They might not have any influence on the speedrun by itself but people will donate just to have their choice matter or to get more entertainment from a run. Also, most games give prizes for a minimum amount. If you donate like $5 or $10, you enter a raffle to win these prizes. People gladly donate these amounts for a chance to grab a rare prize, and in the same time they put it towards a choice or a challenge. As everything goes directly to charity, people are more willing to donate just for a small feat.

As an example, the "animals" bid war in Super Metroid. Basically, it's a small game feature that only takes 3 seconds from a run if you decide to save them. Last marathon, over $100,000 were donated just to decide the outcome of whether or not the animals shouls be saved or not simply for these 3 seconds. (spoiler: they were not) So it can go pretty far. And Wipeout HD has some features that could bring the donation count upwards. I wouldn't be surprised if there were several hundred dollars to choose the HUD or the team. Most challenges are here to make the run a bit longer, but a lot more entertaining. Between a 40-minute, entertaining run, and a 50-minute, very entertaining and fun run, the latter will be chosen.


Idea, we don't "necessarily" have to speed run HD Fury. Why not speed run one of the earlier games? the PS1 classics?

I'd then recommend Wip3out/ SE cause that game can get very challenging later on and a speed run of it would be to get all the gold medals (standard race, time trials, weapon challenges etc) so there is plenty to do.

2097 (all gold medals and the piranha tournament) is also a good candidate or simply the first WipEout which is also one of the hardest.
I just did my focus on HD because it's the only Wipeout game that I've played for a good amount of time, and because it has a reputation of being a really challenging racing game. But definitely, the PS1 Wipeout games have the nostalgia feeling and that will definitely benefit them to be selected, if they are proposed. Don't feel forced to just propose HD: if you feel proposing other speedruns with other Wipeout games, do it! You can propose up to 5 games. But keep in mind that the goal must be realistic in terms of time: a short run of an hour or less will increase the chance to get selected in the final draft. Over 2 hours for a racing game might be too much, so alternate goals could be found.

[Snakenator1]

Hmm reading that post Link then Wipeout 2097 seems like a very good candidate for AGDQ for a completion time for this game is generally not that big (2097 professionals could probably get 100% in 2 hours if not less).

This wipeout is also considerably difficult too (I can't beat odessesa keys yet) and really tests the skills of the player on phantom class. Its also considered one of the best games in the series like purE.

[Dark_Phantom_89]

The speed run should involve obtaining the Platinum trophy in the fastest possible time. I did type up a breakdown of how it can be done in 10-12 hours, but I can't find it.

[mannjon]

The speed run should involve obtaining the Platinum trophy in the fastest possible time. I did type up a breakdown of how it can be done in 10-12 hours, but I can't find it.

That is far too long for this event. There is also too much left up to chance. The trick with a fast platinum is of course doubling up on trophies to minimize events. A more plausible goal would be to just run through all the events on Elite. Since WOHD doesn't really have a beat the game roll the credits type of thing, it is hard to know that someone has "beat the game" however.

[blackwiggle]

The only Fast Run candidates should be the games capability of achieving them.
WO - Infinite
WO 2097 - Infinite
WO 3 - Infinite
WO 3 SE - Infinite
WO Fusion [too many problems ]
WO PURE
WO PULSE
WO HD [Bling Brigade ??? ]

[Linkinito]

That is far too long for this event. There is also too much left up to chance. The trick with a fast platinum is of course doubling up on trophies to minimize events. A more plausible goal would be to just run through all the events on Elite. Since WOHD doesn't really have a beat the game roll the credits type of thing, it is hard to know that someone has "beat the game" however.
I probably didn't introduce the notion of categories so I'll do so right now. In the speedrunning world, there can be a wide variety of goals. The fact is, how to define a category for a game that doesn't have a clear ending? The answer is: you decide it. You choose your own goal where you consider. And I see several of them:

- Arcade Perfect Redux: Win on all 12 tracks (HD + Fury) in Phantom Elite.
- Arcade Perfect: Win on all 16 HD tracks in Phantom Elite.
- Arcade Perfect Complete: Win on all 24 tracks (HD + Fury) in Phantom Elite.
- Campaign: Reach Meltdown and win the Meltdown Championship as fast as possible in Elite.
- Grid: Win every event in a specific grid in Elite. These categories would be useful as training for "full runs". Meltdown by itself could be pretty popular on its own.
- Elite Campaign Legend: Win every event in the HD Campaign in Elite.
- Fury Campaign Legend: Win every event in the Fury Campaign in Elite.
- Platinum Trophy: Get the platinum trophy as fast as possible. However that means having some players around to play online and get the online trophies (Bling Brigade, Connected 1 & 2, Endurance, AG Assassin), so that will obviously skew the results. Also speedrunning trophies/achievement isn't quite popular.

However, in a marathon, the goal chosen has to be short enough so it can fit in a tight schedule, but interesting and complete enough to see a good part of the game. In my opinion, either one of the Arcade Perfect goals, Meltdown only, or Campaign + Meltdown championship are the best choices. That's 5 categories that could be selected. Arcade Perfect shows every track once in pure races against the AI (and offers some ways to put it to shame with challenges like a huge headstart or no barrel rolls or anything that would spice up the game), but we just ignore the other modes of the game like Speed Laps and it would be done only in Phantom class. Campaign shows every mode and every speed class (even though Flash races and time trials should be avoided as Rapier class has the same amount of laps) but it has some redundancy and we'd be forced to go through Zone challenges, which would definitely be uninteresting as we wouldn't go far enough to see the adrenaline of Zone mode. Reaching zone 30 isn't a hard feat at all. And Zone takes more time than a race, also.

I'll take the classic example of Mario Kart speedruns: basically, it's all about completing all Cups in the fastest class. And when you look closer at it, it's just winning on every track once. Simple as that. Except that at the end, you have credits. For Crash Team Racing, the same thing happens: it has a story mode, but it's just winning on each track once, except that 5 tracks are repeated for boss battles. And there's credits at the end.

TL;DR: When a racing game doesn't have a defined ending, the default goal is to win once on every track, if possible on the hardest difficulty & fastest class (hence the Arcade Perfect goal). However other goals can be defined at will.

[Linkinito]

Just as a reminder, the submission process will start on August 17, at 3 PM EDT. It was delayed by 24 hours.

[Zzonkmiles]

I wish there was a way to start a zone event at maybe Zone 50 with half of your health or something like that. But I understand why that's not an option. But it would be cool to start at Zone 10 with 90% health, Zone 20 with 80% health, Zone 30 with 70% health and so on up to Zone 90 with 10% health. Nobody will be impressed with a Zone race as the pilot clears Zone 7 or something.

[Linkinito]

The submissions have started, you can do it here (http://gamesdonequick.com/submission/create) (but apply only if you can be available on January 4-11 and be able to be in the Washington DC area).

Having a video is strongly recommended, alongside a Twitch channel. A submission cannot be edited after being sent, so be careful. You can propose 2 categories for 5 different games.

We can check processed submissions here. (http://gamesdonequick.com/submission/all)

[Linkinito]

Intended double post to bump up the thread.

After two weeks, there is no Wipeout submission yet. I can understand that most of the Wipeout experts community come from Europe and don't have the money to cross the Atlantic, and some people might not be interesting by participating. Or maybe people may not be informed properly yet, so that's the reason of my bump. The submissions close on September 3rd, so if you can attend and make a Wipeout game shine, now is the moment to do so. :)

By the way, you are not forced to be available an entire week, only a day or two is enough. You can put up your availability on the submission form, as long as its between
January 4-11.

[Linkinito]

So, every submission has been processed and there wasn't any Wipeout submission at all. I'm kinda disappointed as I really wanted to push the community towards this great charity event, and I feel like my efforts have been worthless. But I know why that didn't work: the distance between the Wipeout community and the speedrunning community is too big, in every sense of the word.

Many people here are from Europe and just couldn't travel to the US, for practical or economical reasons. And to be honest I'm part of this group. But there's also the fact that most of you didn't really know what is a speedrun and how it could have been applicable to Wipeout. And some of them judged it was uninteresting to show races against the AI, even if it is in the hardest difficulty.

Anyway, that's a missed opportunity, but there are several marathons through the year. There is most notably the European Speedster Assembly which is an European speedrunning marathon taking place each summer in Sweden. It could be more reachable for the Wipeout community. But its impact is much lower than GDQ marathons.

So yeah, too bad, but there will be more opportunities.

[Zzonkmiles]

The only event I am remotely qualified to represent is Zone, and it was determined here that a Zone run would not be interesting enough because of how long it takes to get to the high speeds. Also, considering that members here would have to pay for their own travel to and lodging in DC requires a financial investment that I would imagine most members here are not prepared to or able to make. I don't think your efforts were wasted, and I appreciated the information. :)

[blackwiggle]

The Major and Basically Only problem was, and ever has been is WOHD's "Bling Brigade" trophy.
I was always hard to get when there were thousands of online players.
It has got progressively harder to achieve, the less people play WOHD.
The chances of a speed run with WOHD , In this present day, is basically None exsistant .

4 / 5 / 6 Years ago, then you would have had a chance.

It's not that nobody wanted to try it, it's that we all knew it was a futile attempt.

[mannjon]

I think most people on the forum are aware of what a speedrun is. The problem is that WOHD doesn't really have a "beat the game" event. There isn't a credits screen that rolls when you finish the game's single player content.

While a single player run through is possible (and I dare say easy even for a lot of the pilots here), the best case scenario of winning every event (and by best case I mean not losing a single race, quick SL's and TT's, no restarts) is just around 6 hours. It just simply isn't possible to speed run a game like this.

As many have mentioned here already, WOXL and the original Wipeout might be better candidates since it is possible to do those in under an hour. So for any future potential event, I think the focus should be on those 2 specifically. Wip3out takes too long due to having to complete every node on the grid to unlock tracks by winning races with each ship.

[Snakenator1]

I'm with mannjon on this one, HD just simply takes to long to speedrun its campaign mode even if you were doing just one of the two (HD is faster but is still incredibly).

But I'd like to contradict the thought on of having no credits sequence as AGDQ have speedrun games that don't have "Game is beaten congrats, roll credits" ending to such runs.
Possibly a prime example is Surgeon Simulator (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fABzhvtlrFA).
Other than that the games are simply to long and are not well suited to such runs because of the way they are. Wipe"out" or WipEout 2097 (XL) are the best games to run simply due to the fact they are shorter and completing the game is easier and simpler to do. So yeah I'm with mannjon on that.

Also as its been said most pilots are European based so we cannot afford the travel expenses. Also many members are either still in Full Time Education (school, college, university etc.) or have day jobs we cannot afford to put off for doing a speedrun. Its an unfortunate truth sadly :|

Your efforts are not in vain though, we always appreciate the idea of expanding the community and making it more well known and pronounced amongst gamers. Sadly its to much for us to accomplish. Maybe one day such an event will come true though and then we will make Wipeout world renounced :)

-EDIT- What about Wipeout 2048 as well as the 1st and 2097/XL, suitable with its straight forward campaign albeit not the strongest entry to the series. But the games single player structure could make it suitable