Let‘s chat for a moment about the exhilarating world of Quake speedrunning. Specifically, we‘ll break down Muty‘s record-shattering 11 minute 42 second Easy run and glimpse into the secrets of optimizing Quake for lightning fast completion times. Grab your rocket launcher, it‘s time for a speedy history lesson!
The Surprisingly Long History of Quake Speedrunning
While competitive Quake speedrunning may seem like a newer e-sport phenomenon, its origins trace back all the way to the 1990s. The game launched in June 1996 and players quickly began competing to finish levels and the game as fast as possible. Before long, websites like Quake Done Quick began documenting players‘ best times.
The very first recorded speedrun was by a player named Gonzales finishing the entire game in 1 hour 5 minutes in March 1997 per Speedrun.com. This may seem slow by today‘s standards, but at the time it showed Quake could be blown through at a breakneck pace compared to normal play. It set the stage for over 25 years of speedrunning history to come.
By late 1997, top players had already cut the overall record down to under 30 minutes in the Easy category. Soon Quake speedrunning strategies proliferated through message boards and groups dedicated to chasing lower and lower times. Players were hooked on mastering Quake‘s advanced techniques that enabled seemingly impossible speeds.
The Different Flavors of Quake Speedruns
As the scene grew, distinct speedrunning categories emerged for Quake based on different goals and difficulties:
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Easy – Finish the game as fast as possible using any means necessary. No restrictions on shortcuts, skips or glitches. This allows for the fastest theoretical times.
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Nightmare – Increased enemy difficulty but still minimize completion time. Demonstrates skill in combat and movement.
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Easy 100% – Complete all missions and kill all enemies on Easy difficulty. A longer run than Easy that requires thoroughness.
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Nightmare 100% – Complete all missions and kill all enemies on the punishing Nightmare difficulty. The ultimate feat of Quake mastery.
Part of the appeal of Quake speedrunning is players can choose their flavor based on preferences for combat, routing or sheer speed. Yet world record times were set across all categories as players specialized and pushed boundaries.
The Race for Perfection: Tracking Speedrun World Records
To chronicle the fierce competition for world record supremacy, Speedrun.com catalogues the fastest verified time in each category. This governs the official rankings as players have pushed times lower and lower over decades:
| Category | World Record Time | Record Holder | Year Set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 11m 42s | Muty | 2022 |
| Nightmare | 15m | kukkye | 2018 |
| Easy 100% | 36m 29s | jukebox | 2019 |
| Nightmare 100% | 57m 16s | Muty | 2023 |
These records represent countless hours of practice and competition between top players. Let‘s look at some key milestones:
- 1997 – First Easy run under 30 minutes.
- 2001 – MaxRebo sets 17m 05s Easy run, a record that stood for over a decade.
- 2018 – kukkye stuns with a Nightmare run of exactly 15 minutes.
- 2019 – jukebox secures Easy 100% world record at 36m 29s.
- 2022 – Muty‘s legendary Easy run of 11m 42s, over 5 seconds faster than the previous record.
- 2023 – Muty sets new Nightmare 100% record at 57m 16s.
You can feel the progression as new routes and techniques shave off larger chunks over time. But what does it actually take to set and break these records?
The Movie Speedrunner‘s Toolkit: Required Tricks and Tech
Reaching world record pace requires truly mastering Quake‘s expansive movement repertoire:
Rocket Jumping – Using explosive splash damage from rockets beneath you to "jump" at high speeds. This tech is essential. Knowing exactly when to time your jump as the rocket hits along with correcting your aim mid-air separates the pros.
Strafe Jumping – Strafing side to side while jumping enables building tremendous speed. Perfected diagonal strafe jumping allows speedrunners to achieve speeds not intended by designers.
Bunny Hopping – Repeatedly jumping without losing momentum. Bunny hopping mastery is a must. In 2021, a player named jukebox discovered a new bunny hop method by counter-intuitively tapping forward when landing to gain speed. This blew past the previous technique.
Grenade Jumps – Similar to rocket jumps but using grenade detonations. Well-timed and aimed grenade jumps provide a quicker burst of speed great for shortcuts.
Plus myriad shortcuts, sequence breaks, and glitches round out the expert Quake speedrunner‘s arsenal. But why is Quake so ripe for Optimization compared to other FPS games?
Why Quake was Built for Speedrunning
Id Software designed Quake with a few key elements that transformed it into a speedrunner‘s paradise:
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Rocket and Grenade Jumping – Exploiting blast force for high speed travel simply isn‘t possible in most other FPS games. This singular mechanic enables amazing movement.
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Timer in Whole Seconds – The in-game timer only updates once per second rather than showing millisecond fractional times. So optimizations that shave off milliseconds cumulatively have greater impact on each new full second reached.
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Bunny Hopping – Maintaining sprint momentum through rapid jumping provides speed most developers now patch out of games. Not so in Quake!
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Level Design – Plentiful shortcuts, out of bounds areas, and sequence breaks specifically allow highly skilled players to break the levels wide open in ways casual players wouldn‘t discover.
Thanks to this perfect storm, Quake emerged as one of the most legendary speedrunning titles of all time. But exactly what does a world record Easy run look like with all these mechanics used to perfection? Let‘s find out.
Frame by Frame: Muty‘s Lightning Fast Easy Run
In 2022, Polish Quake maestro Muty cemented his legend by achieving a mind-blowing Easy run world record of 11 minutes and 42 seconds. Let‘s analyze the precision shown in this run that demonstrates the peak of over 25 years of Quake speedrunning evolution.
The very first rocket jump sequence shows Muty‘s technical mastery – he nails the timing on each rocket detonation to minimize bounces for maximum straight-line speed. Seamlessly chaining together multiple near-perfect rocket jumps demonstrates years of practiced technique.
Throughout the run, Muty‘s routes and sequences have been fully memorized and optimized. He knows exactly when to nail a key grenade jump for massive timesave or perfectly aim a shortcut rocket jump. The man is a honed Quake machine.
His weapon switching is also a sight to behold – Muty rapidly swaps to the ideal weapon for each enemy encounter to dispatch them quickly. He never panics when ambushed but adapts on the fly to use his weaponry most efficiently. Only countless hours of experience provides this intuitive adaptability.
In the later Tower of Despair level, Muty executes a blindingly quick series of strafe jumps to build speed through a winding corridor. The grace and fluidity of maintaining velocity around tight corners shows his innate feel for Quake‘s physics that only the greats possess.
Towards the end, Muty is forced to improvise for a split second when an enemy blocks his path, showcasing his deep experience to adjust seamlessly without losing a step. Every single frame matters when aiming for world record pace. Muty stays calm under pressure and nails the impossible run in 11:42. Absolutely brilliant display of talent and practice.
Quake Speedrunning is Still Going Strong
Thanks to skilled players constantly pushing limits, Quake speedrunning records continue to tumble even in 2022. And the competitive community around Quake grows stronger by the year.
Prominent websites like Speedrun.com aggregate times worldwide to centralize records. Speedrunning stars like Muty, jukebox, kukkye and more stream attempts on Twitch and share tips. Events like QuakeDoneQuick yearly bring together the scene.
New players are always welcome to get into running Quake themselves. The highest levels require insane dedication but anybody can start competing and improving their times with practice. Resources like speedrun.com offer guides and forums to learn.
At its core, the joy of Quake speedrunning is striving together to master fantastically fun movement mechanics and creative routes. Muty‘s peerless Easy run shows the time and skill required to truly perfect Quake. But new legends continue to emerge as speedrunners endlessly refine their play. Quake speedrunning celebrates the human spirit of optimization and friendly competition. 25 years later, the thrill of rocket jumping lives on.