ZSR Forums

Hey guys, my name is Chris, and this is my first official leap into speed runs.  I got into speed running a little over a year ago, and I've been itching to try speed running some games myself.  Any tips on speed running in general?

Always start with a game you love. And don't forget to look around to find forums and such for games you like (the SDA forums are good to use, as well as here for Zelda) so you can get tips. Welcome to ZSR Chris, and I hope you have a great time  :)

• Find a game you like. You don't have to like it already, but I recommend that you enjoy the game you run.
• Some games are more speedrun friendly than others, most Zelda games are speedrun friendly. Since you are here, I assume you are going to be running Zelda.
• Play the game enough so that you know it really well. Each game has different physics, so it is important to know how it works. Once you know a game good enough, check out it's ZSR page to start learning basic tricks. Mess around with tricks and just get a good feel for them. I personally don't see a point trying to do runs when you don't know tricks or aren't comfortable with them.
• Definitely watch existing speedruns. World records or live streams are great. Many runners have also made glitch tutorials.
• Join the IRC. We are happy to help you. If you have any doubt, just ask. Some tricks are tough, and some are quite easy but seem tough.

Which game are you looking into speedrunning? I know a lot about The Wind Waker and I would love to help you out if that's what you want.

I think the game I'm going to start off as my first speedrun is going to be Link's Awakening.  It's honestly not the Zelda game I know the best, (although it is of the 2D Zeldas), but it was the first video game I ever played, and I still find it really fun to play even now.  I've been watching Exo's 1:15:00 run on youtube, and I've picked up some stuff, but there are some nuances that I'm still not really sure of.

A first video game is always a great start.

Unfortunately SDA forums would provide more help for a 2D Zelda game.

Yeah, I had figured as much from poking around the forums a bit, and reading different threads.  But I still figured this would be a nice place to set up an account, in case I ever get interested in playing the 3D titles (most likely OoT).