Hi there,
on YT the current record is 58:47. Any better?
Question to the devs: what´s the theoretically best time?
Greetz!
It’s the fastest I’ve come across so far (video is without sound, right?).
It’s a new game so there’s not a chance the speedrun will be optimally executed. Expect substantial time to be shaven off the current record.
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To add:
A lot of his execution is still very sloppy and a far cry from the intricate and brilliant skill shown in speedruns for games that need an awful lot of mechanical skill that takes hours and hours (and hours) to develop. He’s saving his time on using a presumably good path and also through using what I’m assuming is some sort of auto-clicker thing to move through dialogue as fast as possible. If he cleans up his actual point-and-click skills then he can definitely shave a minute or two… or three or more… off his time.
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I paid all that money for less than one hour of gameplay? I’ll ask Ron for a refund.
< /kidding>
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What is the point of a speed-run? How can anybody enjoy the game like that? Doesn’t it become cumbersome to just click through things without taking them in?
dZ.
I can only explain myself: It will never become cumbersome for me to click through @RonGilbert `s games.
But let me explain: I was also a big fan of half-life. I played it for weeks and months and at the end I was convinced to be a pro on that game. Since I have seen the first speedrun on that game, I was totally fascinated that it was possible to complete the game 10 times faster than me.
Maybe, it is possible to complete TWP (with or without glitches) faster than I´ve ever expected. And maybe, there´s a way to copmlete the game faster than the devs ever expected 
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Well, I’ve seen the speed-runs of Half-Life and such games and I admit that they can be a bit challenging. However, ultimately, in those games, you are running around killing stuff – it’s just that in a speed-run, you are running around killing stuff constantly and expediently. This can be thrilling and exciting.
I can’t see the same appeal for just combining inventory items, or clicking on foreground objects to solve puzzles.
But hey! Horses for courses. 
-dZ.
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Adventure speedruns are just about the least thrilling speedruns in theory. The only point of interest is choosing the most efficient path. It doesn’t open up a whole new world to the game – as can be opened up in Zelda games and lots of platformers – and it requires very little mechanical skill and training. In short, there’s not much point to speedrunning point-and-click games because it doesn’t actually open up new dimensions to the game other than plotting the most efficient and shortest path. By contrast, a speedrun of let’s say… Mario64… opens up the gamer to completely new experiences and a steep and arduous learning curve regarding technical and mechanical proficiency.
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I’m sure that this guy played the game the same way as we did when he played it for the first time.
At least it’s interesting to see that it’s possible to finish the game within less than an hour.
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Indeed, the hardest part is routing an optimal path with the least amount of clicks, rooms, shortest dialog. I, for example, have routed some of my favorite Lucas Arts adventures just to see what’s the fastest way to beat it. Maniac Mansion can be done in 5 minutes flat. This is not done in 1-2 playthroughs… you need to understand what event, item or dialog triggers the next, what is is random or what can be completly skipped. For me, and others, this is fun.
Thimbleweed Park has some randomness, which makes actual routing/speedrunning interesting to me again… for example, the random placement of the guests in the hotel each playthrough and the penalty of 10 minutes to play as Ray/Reyes again.
I’ve already come up with faster routes than in the video ;).
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Get your autoclicker set to get through the dialogue ridiculously fast and you’re set to go. There are those RNG-Lord/random moments and a careful mapping does require plenty more than just a few game passes.
It’s bragging rights, of course. It’s not for enjoyment of the game, I’m sure. It is interesting to see how fast a game can be finished, but it definitely defeats the purpose of the game. I’m sure the developers would weep watching a speed run. Well, they might laugh a little, but mostly weep.
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Just curious: would the CTRL-W command in The Secret of Monkey Island count as an acceptable speedrun technique?
For those who don’t know the effects of CTRL-W:
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Of course, for some 14 years old simple minds this might be true . But the majority of speedrunner have beaten a game to death, played for more than 1000+ hours, found every secret and lots of glitches and stuff. So they probably enjoyed the game more than you and me ever would and still have fun beating the game over and over again. Oh and some developers even invite famous speedrunners of their games to play for charity at their office. Everything in life has their extremes 
…
Hehe, well that would probably just a seperate meme% category 
. But yes, in some games it is possible to glitch directly to the credits in just a matter of seconds/minutes.
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I’m going to assume you’re talking about speedruns in general? For me, the point of a speedrun is to enjoy the game in a different way. People who speedrun a particular game usually do so because they love the game, have already enjoyed its story/characters/whatever else it might have to offer, and now they want to try out something new and challenging in the game.
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touché
I hadn’t considered the SW testing value you get from speed runs, and the possibility that speed-runners really are enjoying themselves - although I question if their enjoyment comes from the design intent of the game. I wonder if some game designers actually put in game features for the sake of speedruns… (either to support the enjoyment of them, or to thwart them…)
Doesn’t matter. Once a game is released the gamer can make of it what they will and impose their own intentions onto the game.
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I agree a person playing a game should feel free to enjoy playing the game any way they like. I was just thinking about it from a game developer’s perspective, because I find that perspective interesting. I feel a sort of connection with the development of the game by being a backer on this project and following the development blog.
I can’t speak for others but I myself would be interested in leaving the game out in the wild and seeing the myriad of ways in which it is investigated and explored. Speedrunners tend to have played the game very thoroughly and properly before doing any speedrunning – they are extracting extra “bonuses” out of the game. Indeed, perhaps there are things the devs might find personally unsavoury such as speedruns, using excessive hints, their in-joke echo chamber not being better received… and so on.
One thing I’d personally like to do at some point is: ascertain how many puzzle components there are in each adventure game. It would also be nice to have a resource where one could view every single location in a game – this isn’t as thoroughly done as you might imagine, even for very famous games.
I did this recently for DOTT but at the moment all the images only exist on my Steam account and I chose that game because it would be the easiest and most compact one to do.
As for puzzle component count, it could be a list of every specific interaction that MUST be performed to proceed (I guess including travel required though it could be stated as A-Z and not A-B-C which would become annoyingly convoluted – not sure).
I’m veering down this tangent because they struck me as other ways in which I’d like to investigate these games and build holistic pictures (visually, puzzle-wise) for these games.
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Did someone try if CTRL-W works for TWP, too?