# The Gold Split Newsletter - Week #14

The Gold Split offers a free, weekly digest of news from the world of speedrunning and beyond.

This ***Spotlight*** is all about speedrunning Microsoft Excel and was featured in this week's issue. The full post includes **more news**, briefly, as well as this week's top times and a fun fact. Check it out **[HERE](https://goldsplit.substack.com/p/week-14)**.

![](https://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/wzxxw3qz.png)

## Spotlight: ExcelObstacleCourse

This week we’re taking a break from console differences, glitches, and even categories. It’s all about raw numbers, accuracy, and execution. If you frequent the r/speedrun subreddit, you will probably have come across a post by the person in the spotlight today: ***[ExcelObstacleCourse](https://linktr.ee/excelobstaclecourse)***

As the name might suggest, they’re all about spreadsheets in general, and *Excel* especially, and have found a unique niche in speedrunning puzzles and obstacles created in the beloved spreadsheet software.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kts6EPR97HE

***ExcelObstacleCourse*** is a data scientist, self-proclaimed *Excel* junkie, and old-school gamer, who started their gaming journey with the first Nintendo consoles, playing games like *F-Zero*, *Mario Kart*, *Super Punch Out* and *Blast Corps*, always trying to beat their previous records.

They combined their job with the hobby of going fast and pushing boundaries for the first time 15 years ago:

> The idea to speedrun *Excel* came from a training "*Excel* obstacle course" I came up with about 15 years ago to teach people *Excel* shortcuts at work. We had everyone practice and compete in a conference room at the end of 30 days with gift cards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd spot. Everyone got faster at *Excel* and had a great time at the competition.

Quite different from older games, *Excel* is constantly evolving and has received many changes over the years. But any necessary adjustments were always a welcome challenge, and by now, *ExcelObstacleCourse* feels like they have mastered all the basic keyboard commands and practice them regularly to solve the challenges they create. Just like 15 years ago, their main motivation is still for more people to pick up the craft and potentially even beat their records.

Currently, they keep track of basic leaderboards and a library of videos on their *Discord*, and anybody wanting to join can simply message them (there will be some links below). Despite all efforts, *[Speedrun.com](https://www.speedrun.com/)* has so far rejected implementing leaderboards for *Excel*, with the reason being that it’s “not a game”. But in my opinion, this would only hold up if the site didn’t also host IRL activities like [reading](https://www.speedrun.com/IRL_Reading) and [baking](https://www.speedrun.com/IRL_Baking). There’s an insane number of games without a single run on their leaderboards, and if there’s space for those there should also be space for an active yet small community around standardized *Excel* puzzles.

Some of you might be familiar with competitive *Excel* in the form of the *[Financial Modelling World Cup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2QC6VQXo8U)*. I asked *ExcelObstacleCourse* how the necessary skillset differs from speedrunning the puzzles and whether or not they ever considered competing:

> This differs from the Financial Modeling competition because it involves no financial knowledge, no formula writing, just basic hotkeys and Alt-commands to 'clean' or 'transform' data. I would say it benefits data analysts of all types, as well as 'processors' who grind spreadsheets and small data daily. I have no plans to compete in the *FMWC*, but I haven't researched too much into it.

By now, I’m certain that many of you can’t wait to launch *Excel* and improve your skills or even pick up the obstacle course speedruns. You’re in luck because *ExcelObstacleCourse* has a few great videos on their *[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ExcelObstacleCourse)*[ channel](https://www.youtube.com/@ExcelObstacleCourse) to help with just that. If you do give it a shot, tag them, and you’ll likely get a shoutout back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-PeVdBXjsA

Thank you again to *ExcelObstacleCourse* for readily answering my questions! You can find them on **[TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@excelobstaclecourse)**, where most of their livestreams take place, as well as on **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ExcelObstacleCourse)** and **[other platforms](https://linktr.ee/excelobstaclecourse)**.

![](https://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/rz251jdz.png)

Thank you for reading! If you're curious about more of this week's news or would even consider subscribing to the newsletter, you'll find the full post over **[HERE](https://goldsplit.substack.com/p/week-14)**.

Finding new stories to cover can be challenging. I encourage you to think about what happened recently in the communities you are a part of. If there are any stories, articles, glitches, events, or other topics I should be taking a look at, go ahead and **[submit them here](https://forms.gle/F1VJ4PG68FTZKqn49)** or in the **[Gold Split Discord](https://discord.gg/SpbFCgsYkU)**! 📨

The Gold Split is a free weekly newsletter focused on speedrunning. This week's main story is all about... Microsoft Excel.

The Gold Split #14 - Spreadsheets

Here’s everything you’ll want to know heading into the challenge:

**Starting Date:** October 4th, 2024 @ 12:00PM UTC

**Duration:** 9 days, until 11:59PM UTC October 13th, 2024

## **Prize Distribution:**

The $750 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Initiate category. The distribution is as follows:

**1st place** - $300

**2nd place** - $150

**3rd place** - $100

**4th place** - $100

**5th place** - $100

Please note that in order to comply with international tax law, **the challenge cash prize may be subject to tax withholding based on the winner's country of residence.**

## **Participation Prizes:**

As usual with our SRC Series Challenges, we are bringing back participation prizes!

![](/static/blob/qzp7mmwz.png)

First of all, any runner who submits any runs to the Titanfall 2 Speedrun Challenge will receive **one month** of SRC Supporter, if you haven’t heard of Supporter before you may learn more about it[ here](https://www.speedrun.com/supporter)!

Secondly, any challenge participants will be awarded with the title “**Pilot**”. If you’re unfamiliar with Titles, they are a unique descriptor that goes alongside your username on your profile (as well as profile popovers) which can (as of right now) only be acquired by participating in Challenges right here on SRC. To find out more, check out our last article about Titles![ https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles](https://www.speedrun.com/news/17vr795x-introducing-titles)

## **Eligibility:**

Open to players aged 18 and above worldwide, with the following exceptions: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, Iran, Somalia, and Venezuela.

If you are under the age of 18, not to worry! You can still participate and win the participation prizes, but unfortunately you will not be eligible for the cash prizes amongst the top 5.

## **Category:**

The category of choice will be revealed shortly before the launch of the challenge!

## **Submission:**

Record your speedrun and submit it via [our Challenge leaderboard here on Speedrun.com.](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/64y623rv-titanfall_2-src-series-titanfall-2-helmet-rush-speedrun-challenge)

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section. Please note that a new requirement has been added to this challenge, requiring that prize eligible runs must have been live streamed.

## **Rules and Regulations:**

All speedruns must adhere to the official rules, available on the Speedrun.com Challenge leaderboard.

Contest Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/64y623rv-titanfall_2-src-series-titanfall-2-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=contest](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/64y623rv-titanfall_2-src-series-titanfall-2-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=contest)

Category Rules: [https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/64y623rv-titanfall_2-src-series-titanfall-2-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=challenge](https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/64y623rv-titanfall_2-src-series-titanfall-2-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=challenge) 

## **Preparation Suggestions**

To find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit [the Titanfall 2 leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com](https://www.speedrun.com/titanfall_2?h=All_Helmets_NCS&x=wdmr5r3k) and/or join [Titanfall 2 Speedrunning Discord Server](https://discord.gg/P3JKjfx4uZ)!  You can also follow either the game or the challenge to receive notifications about challenge activity!

**Good luck, and have fun!️**


Heads up, pilots - I mean speedrunners! It’s time to announce our next SRC Series challenge game for the month of October - Titanfall 2!

SRC Series: Titanfall 2 Speedrun Challenge!

# The Gold Split Newsletter - Week #13

The Gold Split offers a free, weekly digest of news from the world of speedrunning and beyond.

This ***Story of the Week*** is all about the new *Low%* route in *The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker* and was featured in this week's issue. The full post includes **more news**, briefly, as well as this week's top times and a fun fact. Check it out **[HERE](https://goldsplit.substack.com/p/week-13)**.

![](/static/blob/wzxxw3qz.png)

## Story of the Week

Most of the time, new discoveries make a speedrun go faster and that makes sense. However, runners of the ***Low%*** category must feel a little bit anxious about them. The goal of *Low%* is to beat the game while completing the fewest objectives and acquiring the least number of items possible.

And in this reference frame, a new discovery could mean the obvious: saving time through a new trick or a route change. But it could also mean that another objective and/or item became redundant in order to beat the game and therefore needs to be eliminated. And only acquiring as few items as absolutely necessary is the ultimate requirement of *Low%*.

An infamous example of the lengths that *Low%* runners have to go to is *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess*. It was found that the idle animation while picking up an item is missing a frame. And that missing frame moves Link ever so slightly in one direction while ignoring collision with anything. By picking up a rupee in a certain spot close to a closed gate or door, Link will very slowly start moving into it over the course of the next few hours. This strategy is called a *Rupee Slide* and takes up **over** **ten hours** of the game’s current *Low%* route. These images were taken from [Anorakkis' former record](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB26JegZ1Bo):

![Two screenshots from the game Twilight Princess side by side. The left shows Link in front of a door in the Rupee pickup animation, the right screenshot shows the same Link, but now slightly clipped inside the door after ten hours have passed](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F486bd9df-fef2-4a27-9379-449aa168aad7_3018x1026.jpeg)
Left: Before the Rupee Slide | Right: After the Rupee Slide

After that introduction, these are the news: let’s say (hypothetically), that it was assumed that nine items were absolutely necessary to beat a game and that it couldn’t be done with fewer. This run would take roughly one hour, not too different from *Any%*. But now, a new discovery makes one of these items redundant. It is now possible to finish the game with eight items. Even if that run is infinitely more complicated and takes **13 hours** to complete, it is now the new *Low%* standard and also the new record.

This is exactly what happened recently to ***The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker***, and so far Swiss speedrunner ***[Aloakirby](https://www.twitch.tv/aloakirby)*** is the only person to complete a run with the new route. It took them just a little over 20 hours, but the run also includes a good seven hours of healthy sleep.

The item that is now no longer necessary is *The Wind Waker*, a conductor's baton giving *Link* various powers when conducting the right songs, not too dissimilar from the *Ocarina of Time*. But more importantly, it was also used to set up glitches and make other tricks more consistent. This is a full list of items acquired during *Low%* now, at the time of writing:

- Bombs
- Bomb Bag (30)
- Deku Leaf
- Magic Meter
- Master Sword
- Hero's Shield
- Fully Charged Master Sword
- Mirror Shield

This makes the entire run way more complicated, longer, and reliant on RNG. Due to a lack of space and… well… knowledge, I can’t go into full details, but here are a few of the resulting consequences that stand out. I’ll link the speedrun after explaining the three glitches and add a timestamp for each of them.

### **All *Superswims* have to be performed manually**

Superswimming is the speedrunner’s preferred way to traverse the ocean. Simply put, it enables *Link* to swim backwards, and extremely fast. With *The Wind Waker*, players were able to perform a glitch called *Dry Storage*, making *Superswims* consistent and relatively easy to perform. But without this crucial item, they now have to set up each *Superswim* by using one of the following options, or a combination:

- Executing frame-perfect pause-buffering (pausing, unpausing, and immediately pausing again on the next frame) and changing *Link’s* direction on every pause
- Changing *Link’s* direction by 180° on every frame by flicking the joystick **30 times per second** (the game runs at 30 frames per second)

Performed in the run at: **[39:25](https://youtu.be/8T-42gsjGbQ?t=2365)**

Speedrunner ***[gymnast86](https://www.youtube.com/@gymnast86)*** has a great video on the evolution of the *Superswim*, and there’s no better time to watch it than right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o32bxtKtXxM

### The run now includes a 1-hour long *Zombie Hover*

A *Zombie Hover* allows *Link* to theoretically gain infinite height and also some horizontal movement, while having no health. This sounds great on paper, but there’s two downsides:

1. Unless *Link* manages to land in a loading zone or increase their health, they will just die as soon as they touch land or water.
2. It is necessary to hit the B-button many times per second throughout the entire duration. The faster you can hit that button, the more height you gain. If you don’t hit it fast enough, you lose height.

Despite being able to pause and take breaks, doing this for over an hour is incredibly physically demanding, and nothing any doctor would recommend as a workout. To make matters worse, at the end of this particular *Zombie Hover*, a frame-perfect trick is required to achieve the desired result. *Link* needs to land in the water to be teleported to the upper entrance of Forest Haven, but also needs to pick up a heart on land just before. But if *Link* touches the land before falling in the water, they aren’t teleported.

The way this is achieved is insane, but so cool: at the apex of the *Zombie Hover* and above the desired location, *Link* starts to fall. At exactly the right moment during the fall, they pull a bomb out of their pack and hold it above their head, which now starts its fuse. If this was done correctly, the bomb explodes after they pick up the heart lying on the ground below, but before they touch the ground. The force from the explosion pushes them into the water, teleporting them to the entrance.

Performed in the run between: **[1:11:10](https://youtu.be/8T-42gsjGbQ?t=4270) - [2:20:00](https://youtu.be/8T-42gsjGbQ?t=8400)**

### **Skipping Puppet Ganon is complete RNG**

I won’t pretend to fully understand this, but it involves a complicated *Zombie Hover* and dropping bombs into a pot from above while being attacked by *Puppet Ganon* and *Keese* at the same time. This skip alone took *Aloakirby* more than eight hours of attempts during their run.

Done successfully in the run at: **[9:26:00](https://youtu.be/GScAu8Iun8g?t=33960)**

This is a condensed version of the full run, shortened to two and a half hours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hCFTA8Ddhg

But if you are actually curious about the entire run, you’ll find it on YouTube in two parts: **[Part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T-42gsjGbQ)** | **[Part 2](https://youtu.be/GScAu8Iun8g)**

There is of course plenty of room for improvement. After all, the run still contains seven hours of sleeping and eight hours of attempts at skipping *Puppet Ganon*. An optimally performed run might only be three hours long. However, it’s very unlikely that many players will attempt to complete it using this route, considering how physically and mentally demanding it is.

Now, apparently it’s technically possible to beat the game with just seven items. But the glitches required to pull that off have been proven too inconsistent even for the most hardcore *RTA* runners out there. The tool-assisted speedrun even gets away with collecting only five items, and experience taught us that it’s only a matter of time until an *RTA*-viable route is found for seven and even less items, pushing the limits of *Low%* even further.

![](/static/blob/rz251jdz.png)

Thank you for reading! If you're curious about more of this week's news or would even consider subscribing to the newsletter, you'll find the full post over **[HERE](https://goldsplit.substack.com/p/week-13)**.

Finding new stories to cover can be challenging. I encourage you to think about what happened recently in the communities you are a part of. If there are any stories, articles, glitches, events, or other topics I should be taking a look at, go ahead and **[submit them here](https://forms.gle/F1VJ4PG68FTZKqn49)** or in the **[Gold Split Discord](https://discord.gg/SpbFCgsYkU)**! 📨

The Gold Split is a free weekly newsletter focused on speedrunning. This week's main story is all about the new Low% route in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Gold Split Newsletter #13 - Minimalist Link

PlayStation’s State of Play for 2024 was today, and while general feelings seem lukewarm - there was some good news for a few speedrunning communities out there!

# Astro Bot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQpZM1fVSBg

Astro Bot speedrunners @noamsk and @CommanderFoxQ told me they are excited about the new Speedrun Levels. They look great and come with an in-game timer as well as a global leaderboard! The only downside? There are just 5 Speedrun Levels for now. But hey, free content is an absolute win for games these days.

# Alan Wake 2: The Lake House DLC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRFBVBoSdQo

I spoke with Alan Wake 2 moderator and speedrunner @TaintedTali about the reveal trailer for AW2’s latest DLC, “The Lake House” and while the trailer left much to the imagination, Tali shared her excitement for what appears to be more horror-focused content.

She’s also hoping the shorter DLC speedruns will appeal to new runners, especially compared to the main game, which averages around 3 hours even for speedrunners. With any luck, these shorter runs could spark interest in the full-length speedruns!

# Ghost of Yōtei

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z7kqwuf0a8

Ghost of Tsushima runners are curious to see how the newly added musket plays in Ghost of Yōtei. @Aeshmah pointed out that while it may seem like adding a gun to a game about sword fighting might be overpowered, muskets traditionally were powerful but *very* slow to reload - so the working theory is that the musket will be powerful to start an encounter, but not so helpful mid-combat

Perhaps the more exciting part of Ghost of Yōtei is all the new various weapons - for a brief moment we even see Atsu (the new protagonist) wielding a kusarigama. So weapon/combat routing should certainly be more interesting in Yōtei compared to Tsushima.

As far as wishlists go, Tsushima speedrunners are **really** hoping for skippable cutscenes on a fresh save file this time around!

# Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMN-x9goE7M

Horizon speedrunners might be the most optimistic of all. @Bdud5 is excited that save files used for speedrunning will automatically transfer to the remaster from the original meanwhile @huntks can’t wait for the faster load times and quality-of-life features from Forbidden West such as Quick Swap and no pickup animations. Quick swap is especially interesting (at least in Forbidden West) [since it allows you to cancel the animation on reloads!](https://youtu.be/v_kgT2b-u0Y?si=aYu0Sl4VxBjtzxD5&t=50)

User “Dan Pop” (not a speedrunner, as far as I know) asked Guerilla Games Studio Director [@janbartvanbeek](https://twitter.com/janbartvanbeek?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) on Twitter about the engine behind HZDR, to which Jan-Bart responded

“*We call it the Franken-engine. It’s built from parts of the old engine that ran the game code, and combined with a ton of elements from the upgraded DECIMA rendering engine.*”

Speedrunners are already debating what these engine changes could mean for the speedrun - but only time will tell!

[https://x.com/danutz_plusplus/status/1838835929181474876](https://x.com/danutz_plusplus/status/1838835929181474876)

So in the end, while we may not have Silksong or Bloodborne Remastered to look forward to - at least State of Play wasn’t a total bust!

Astro Bot DLC, Alan Wake 2 DLC, Ghost of Yōtei, and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered!

State of Play Sept 2024 Speedrunning Recap

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Titanfall 2

Fatzke

xwpw4y0l

SRC Series: Titanfall 2 Helmet Rush

4m7jny51

Rebel Rush Speedrun Challenge

j5y0ly9k

SRC Series: Peggle Initiate Speedrun Challenge

1qpekp36

SRC Series: MULLET MAD JACK Speedrun Challenge

nzy2zyq3

ALTF42 $5000 Speedrun Challenge

The Splodey $10,000 Speedrun Challenge

MoistCr1TiKaL $15,000 Speedrun Challenge #5

Athena Crisis Completionist Speedrun Challenge

1k75870l

Survive both Chapter 1 & 2 of Poppy Playtime

SRC Series: Poppy Playtime Duo Challenge

3dydl7r2

SRC Series: Ultrakill All Secret Levels (Inbounds)

SRC Series: Rocket Racing Expert Tracks

m9yx0ygj

Pit of Eternal Sands - $10,000 Speedrun Challenge

Blood Will Run $10,000 Challenge

m2p98y5x

Peggle Nights

ULTRAKILL

Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1

ALTF42 [Early Access]

Ghostrunner 2

Another Crab's Treasure

In order to properly figure out categories, rules, timing method, etc. this leaderboard will not feature any runs for the first two weeks after the game's release. In the meantime you can join us in the [Prince of Persia discord](https://discordapp.com/invite/0Ss0agDWPoiSvr3E) to discuss about the game.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Rocket Racing

MULLET MAD JACK

Athena Crisis

Splodey

Tails Noir: Rebel Rush

Categories are being discussed in the discord and will be created in the coming days/weeks!

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition

Metal Slug: Awakening

# Hey everyone, Blxxd here.


## For the next 1.5 weeks, Into the Pit will NOT be open to accepting submissions until we figure out what we want to have for Categories and the like, alongside some more technical details. Stay tuned!

Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit

We will start accepting runs for this game one week after release to give enough time for an optimal route to be placed and for runners to have a run they like ready to submit.

Astro Bot

The official PC port of the game will be released on 1 August 2024, comeback later! // Официальная версия игры для ПК выйдет 1 августа 2024 года, возвращайтесь позже!