Rules

Trying to establish rules for so many games can be tough. So to help everyone, this page lists the various rules for what to do and what not to do when planning a speedrun. Runs will be independently verified to ensure no foul play is involved. Also, if your run has significant room for improvement, it probably won't be accepted. Please do your best!

Why are rules necessary?

With any speedrun there's going to be an element of competition. Rules are necessary to ensure fair and equal competition among players. Most of our rules are common sense, but we try to cover as much as we can for completeness.

What if I disagree with your rules?

Discuss it on the forum and explain why. We're always open to suggestions and welcome intelligent discussion. If enough people hate something maybe we'll compromise. It's happened before.

Why are some things allowed in some games and not others?

Even though we have some basic rules that apply to almost every game, some rules don't make sense for certain games, and certain games need rules that aren't covered here. While we strive to have a basic set of rules that covers all games, sometimes a game's page will have an additional note to observe, such as not accepting a certain difficulty level, version, timer, or glitch.

Fundamental Rules:

• First, and most obviously, NO CHEATING. Only fairly produced runs are accepted. Ask on the forum if you are unsure about something.
• In order for us to host or publicize your run, you need to record actual footage of the entire run from start to finish. We're a bit picky about audio/video quality (FAQ), so don't record with a webcam or a camcorder pointed at the screen unless you're recording a DS game or we tell you otherwise. In extraordinary cases, we might ask you to record footage of yourself while running to prove your run is legitimate.
• We reserve the right to take down any published speedrun whenever we see fit. For example, if inconsistencies in health are later discovered (although we will give you the opportunity to explain), or if a later run (perhaps even in a different category or on another system) is considered far superior in play quality.
• Virtualization: We will NOT accept speedruns recorded on emulators (ZSNES, VBA, DOSBox, etc.) or other virtualization software (Wine, VMware, etc.). Emulators commonly allow for recording games frame-by-frame and then playing back the input at normal speed. Also, most emulators and virtualization programs have minor inaccuracies in timing and slowdown that inhibit accurate comparisons between runs. Finally, it is generally illegal in most countries to obtain ROMs. Note that an exception is made for officially sanctioned emulators such as the Game Boy Player for GameCube, Virtual Console, or GameTap. Due to problems with many official emulators, however, we prefer that you play on the original hardware whenever possible.
• System modification: You are not allowed to modify your system or use extra hardware such as GameSharks and Game Genies. These devices let you alter game parameters and can give you an unfair advantage. The only allowed extra hardware are modchips and boot disks used for playing imports, and official add-ons. For example, the PS2 HDD is allowed, while the HD Loader is not.
• Game modification: Removing or altering a game disc/cartridge/files while the game is running is forbidden. Examples of this are the crooked cartridge trick in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the CD streaming trick in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. If you're not sure what this rule means, think about it this way: don't mess with your system while playing the game, and don't modify the game itself at any time.
• Third-party controllers: You must only use features that are available on any controllers that were officially bundled with the system. Thus, turbo-fire is not allowed except for systems such as the TurboGrafx-16 that come with official turbo-fire controllers. Of course, if a game itself provides a turbo-fire option, then it may be used. Players that display very rapid firing in runs may be expected to show video camera proof of their button mashing ability.
• Codes: Using a beneficial cheat code is not allowed: something that gives more lives, reduces damage, etc. If a code is only cosmetic, like suitless Samus in NES Metroid, that is acceptable. A code that increases the game's difficulty, such as Donkey Kong Country 3 105%, may qualify as a separate category.
• Impossible inputs: Some games such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past which show unusual behaviour when one feeds them with usually impossible input, such as up+down pressed simultaneously. As such actions require worn out controllers, non-standard controllers or excessive force, they are treated as hardware modification and are thus banned as well.

Saving and Timing:

• Games that allow you to save your progress and continue later can be done using segments. You can retry segments as much as you want, in order to optimize them. Keep in mind that the purpose of segmentation is not to make life easier for you or to reduce the amount of time it takes you to produce a run. A segmented run implies a higher level of risk-taking and a lower tolerance for mistakes. Use as many segments as is optimal to achieve the fastest final time. We will not be more impressed if you use a small number of segments. In particular, do not feel like you must use roughly the same number of segments as a run you are attempting to obsolete.
• Runs that don't use saves are referred to as single-segment (SS) runs. A segmented run that is faster than a single-segment run does not obsolete the SS run, as they are separate categories and the SS run is more restrictive. Of course, a SS run that manages to be faster than a segmented run obsoletes the segmented run. Any save and quit from the game will count as a segment. It doesn't matter if you use this to warp around and then keep playing without stopping; your run is no longer single-segment. The only exception is a game that forces you to reset to progress.
• For some games, it makes sense to track times for individual levels (IL). If your game qualifies (ask if you're unsure), you may submit as many individual-levels runs as you like. However, if the game does not currently have any IL runs, then all of the levels must be completed before any of the runs can be submitted. Note that you do not have to finish all of the IL runs by yourself. In fact, it is common for a group of people to work together to complete a full set of IL runs.
• Always remember that speed is the first and foremost priority; side issues such as entertainment are secondary. You can include a neat trick that costs a second or two, but be warned that verifiers will see this as a negative, not a positive. Someone can beat your run later simply by omitting your time waster. If you waste enough time, the verifiers will reject your run outright. Similarly, if a game lets you skip cutscenes or advance through text quickly, then you must do so.
• Game timing: The game's internal timer will be used unless it is inconsistent, or fails to display the time after completion. For games without timers, check the FAQ for an explanation on how timing is done.
• Obsoleting: For manually timed games, there must be an improvement of at least one second for the run to be posted. Since seconds are dropped from manually timed runs over three hours, the minimum improvement then becomes one minute. If a game has a visible timer that measure fractions of a second, then improvements that small will probably be accepted. If you produce a run that's barely faster than the current one, but more improvement is possible (perhaps given recent discoveries), we might tell you to try again. However, if a run is extremely optimized already, like Contra or Super Mario Bros., a tiny improvement might be all you can manage.

Special Considerations:

• Many PC games allow you to use scripts or macros to automate certain actions. Internal scripts that are built into a game are allowed, but external ones like AutoHotkey are not. (In the past, external scripts were not explicitly banned from SDA, so they are still allowed for several games under a grandfather clause.) Runs that use scripts and runs that don't use scripts are separate categories. Of course, a run without scripts that is faster than a run with scripts will obsolete that run.
• Some games that allow you to save at any time (usually in a menu) will not place you at the same spot when you resume the game. This is referred to as save warping. You can use save warping as much as you want. Most runners save warp in games where it is possible, since most people don't care to watch backtracking.
• In some games you might be able to commit suicide in order to save time, either by teleporting back to a location you've been already and must return to, or by refilling your character's resources such as weapons or health. This is referred to as death abuse. Death abuse is usually encouraged to avoid backtracking.
• There's also dying that costs time, which is typically unintentional. While a death in a long single-segment run might be acceptable, deaths in a segmented run look very bad and are inexcusable. An unintentional death in a segmented run means it will most likely be rejected as not good enough. Because it can be hard to measure intent, any run with deaths is considered a separate category from a deathless run.
• Glitches: Many speedruns utilize glitches (unintended behavior due to the game's programming), to the runner's advantage. Most glitches are now allowed, including the previously banned out of bounds (commonly referred to as OOB) and warping glitches. There are a few exceptions based on severity when a glitch lets you skip almost the whole game.
• Glitch categorization: For games where the OOB, clipping, or warping glitches only skip a small portion of the game, such as Mega Man X's Flame Mammoth ceiling trick or Ocarina of Time's Deku Tree skip, then such glitches are NOT a separate category. However, when the OOB, clipping, or warping glitches let you skip large chunks of the game, including whole stages, such as Metroid Prime's secret worlds or Castlevania: Circle of the Moon's summon warp, then it will be a separate category. A faster run that does not use these glitches will naturally obsolete a slower run that does.
• Frame rate abuse: Console games must be played at the refresh rate they were made for, i.e. games from PAL/SECAM regions at 50 Hz and games from NTSC regions at 60 Hz. PC games must not be tweaked to run at higher frame rates than intended by its developers (e.g. original Quake I is locked to 72 Hz and runs have already been banned for playing with this limit removed).