Today is a major milestone for us, both in our efforts to deliver on long-held promises to the community, and to enable major new updates due later this year and beyond.

In this post we're going to cover what's new with today's launch, the recent history of the site, detail some work left to do, and preview what's coming later this year.

# Major changes

We had two main objectives with the new site:

1. Better serve the communities and users on Speedrun
2. Make it easier and faster for us to continue delivering on goal 1.

In order to meet these objectives, we rebuilt the whole site, back-end and front. Our release date was "when it's ready", which... just so happens to be today!

There's too much change to go into everything, but here are some of the highlights:

- **Fresh look and feel.** You may have noticed, but things look a bit different. We tried to keep the original spirit of Speedrun, but update it to look and feel like a website should in 2023. It's faster, prettier, and more reliable. Give it a try, we think you'll like it.
- **Game pages and leaderboards.** [Leaderboards](/only_up) are now wider, faster, and have a variety of new features. You can easily see the world record history, filter by more details (including verification status), and more! Check out a game page to see it in action.
- **Individual level support.** Level navigation is now built into the main leaderboard, and game pages now have a new separate [Levels tab](/pizza_tower/levels) where you can see an interactive summary of level record holders. This view can be filtered in the same way as the main leaderboard, including by subcategory!
- **Game management.** Game management has been completely overhauled. Speedrun is a complicated platform with a lot of configuration options for game moderators. We rebuilt it all with the primary goal of making sure that moderators felt confident when making changes. The site now explains every single option, warns about dangerous changes, and exposes new options to customize your communities.
- **Moderation tools.** We released the Moderator Hub feature almost 2 years ago to mixed reactions. We've been listening and taking notes, and are happy to say that we've rebuilt it from the ground up to address major points of feedback. The pending run list is now more dense, it's easy to search, you can assign runs to moderators, and the run review interface has been much improved.
- **Search.** Search is now faster, more accurate, and finds more content across the site. There's a new dedicated search results page where you can filter results. You can also easily bring up the search box with your keyboard, just press **/**. 
- **Game Discovery.** We've improved the [Games page](/games) to show popular new games and help you discover new games on different platforms and decades. We also standardized game cover image sizes (you may need to update them for the games you moderate.)
- **User pages.** [User pages](/users/Meta) got a fresh look and new features, including the ability to embed your Twitch stream when live, and improved access to various types of content like threads, comments, followers, and pending actions.
- **User following.** You can now follow users (in addition to games), and their runs will show up in your feed on the home page. User pages have Followers and Following tabs to help you discover new friends. We hope this will help you keep tabs on old friends and discover new game communities.
- **Group messaging.** We've overhauled [direct messaging](/messages) so you can make plans with the whole squad.
- **Guides and Resources.** We've given guides and resources a minor facelift, with more improvements planned in the future. You'll be happy to know that you can now drag and drop images and videos to upload them directly into guides, resources, news posts, etc.
- **New text editor.** The old Speedrun supported a weird markdown-ish text format, but didn't have an easy way to use it. We now have a new text editor with multiple modes (rich text, markdown, preview), which should make it a bit more pleasant to contribute guides, resources, news posts, or just express yourself when submitting a run or comment.
- **Internationalization.** Accessibility is important, and there's nothing more inaccessible than a webpage that you can't read. Speedrun is now fully translated into 17 different languages. The current translations are machine-generated, and their quality can best be described as "usable". Despite this, we see this as an important step forward for speedrunners who don't speak English, and we plan to make improvements.
- **Single sign-on and verified social connections.** You can now sign in with Discord, Google, or Twitch. Additionally you can [verify your Discord and Twitch](/settings/socials) accounts, giving your visitors confidence that they're talking to the real you.
- **... and lots more!**

It really should simply be *"more, better, faster"*.

We tried to make sure that all major existing functionality of the old site has been preserved or accounted for, but please let us know if we missed anything. The best place to do so is either in [The Site](/forums/the_site) forums, or by creating a [Bug Report](/support/tickets).

# History and lessons learned

Elo (the company that owns and operates Speedrun) acquired and began operating the site in 2020. Back then the site was struggling just to stay online. You may or not remember the famous **"Under Pressure"** error message that used to appear on nearly 40% of page loads.

After we took over, the first task was stabilizing the site and solving some of the most obvious problems. Then we went and started adding features - some went over well, others most certainly did not (sorry). Through it all we experienced a lot of growth (site traffic more than doubled in a year), and learned some important lessons.

The biggest thing we learned? We needed to slow down, communicate thoughtfully, and deliver on the promise and potential of the site.

# Making big improvements

In mid-2022 we recognized that it was simply too hard to make progress on the features that users cared the most about, and we struggled to resolve complex bugs. Under the covers, Speedrun is actually an incredibly complex platform (you wouldn't believe the nuance involved in determining the place of a run!), but the software wasn't scaling in the way it needed to. The old site (PHP) was really showing its, and making improvements was both difficult and dangerous - not a good combination.

***... we had to rebuild it ...***

Rebuilding a complex piece of software is a last resort. It's especially difficult and complex when you need to do it at the same time as you keep the existing site up and running. Still, we think it was a necessary step to making the major improvements the site needed. It took a while, but we're happy with the result! Even more importantly, we now have the ability to iterate on the site (introduce features, fix bugs) much faster and more thoughtfully than before.

For the curious: the old site was written in PHP, and the new site is Go (backend) and TypeScript (frontend) - just over 300,000 lines of code. We store data in MySQL and Redis.

# We're not done yet

As with any big migration, there are bound to be limitations and loose threads. The biggest limitation with the new release is that we were not able to make any changes to the mappings between categories, levels, and variables. The reason is simple: so long as the old site was involved, it'd be nearly impossible to correctly introduce new mapping logic. We did manage to make some improvements in this area, but it's far from our true goal of arbitrary custom mapping. So, this remains on our todo list - we hope to accomplish it later this year.

Another area for improvement is internationalization. As described above, it works, but the translations are not very good. We plan to improve them in the coming weeks and months.

# Looking toward the future

We're incredibly excited to launch the new Speedrun, and are already hard at work on making more improvements. Once the dust settles, we're confident you'll enjoy using the site.

Additionally, we have a few areas of focus that we'll be working on this year:

- **Make it easier to improve your PB.** We plan to introduce new features that will help you understand your runs, learn from other runners in the community, and improve your times. It's going to get *fast* in here!
- **Discover new communities and friends.** The Speedrun community is social by nature, but it can be hard to find new activities. We plan to make it easier to stay connected with existing friends, meet new ones, and improve all of our game communities.
- **Encourage the spirit of competition.** Speedrunning is competitive by nature, but it's far from organized. We think we can help bring some excitement and order to the chaos. Buckle up!

Big updates aside, you can expect a fairly steady stream of minor improvements over the coming months.

# Closing thoughts

We hope that you're pleased with today's update. It's been a long time coming!

I'd like to offer a special **THANK YOU** to our [Speedrun Supporter](/supporter) subscribers. For those who aren't aware, Supporter helps you contribute directly to the development and growth of Speedrun. It offers a variety of features to improve your experience on the site, including making the site faster and more enjoyable to use by removing all advertisements.

For those who aren't subscribed to Supporter but like what you see here, please consider it! Your support means a lot to us, and it really does provide us with the resources needed to continue making major improvements.

Now, where was I in [Tears of the Kingdom](/totk)...

We're excited to launch the new Speedrun website! Read on to learn more about what's new, how we got here, and what's coming next.

Welcome to the new Speedrun

Welp I missed this, But GGs and I hope you get a better run soon!

Dang, That was such a good run put it back on the leaderboards #Free[Aelbeageu](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Aelbeageu)

***[Nice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvFZjo5PgG0)***

Yo mods pls put this one back on the leaderboards

I lost the Combine WR to this i hope you are happy

Violation of rules 1 and 3
1.Use Common Sense
3. Any form of blatant homophobia, racism, or discrimination will not be tolerated to any degree

Hello,so this is such a good category congrats to LethalPotato for suggesting it

3.No you stfu
4.Can i be in the next happy saving ?

Happy Wheels

Stick With It

Pudding Monsters

Happy Wheels Category Extensions

G-Switch 2

There are a few important rule changes that will be implemented from now on, and I'm gonna try to explain them in this post. If you have any questions regarding the rule changes, feel free to message me or any moderator! 

1)Live recordings for Flash / JavaScript IL world records are now required (this doesn't apply to mobile runs)

From now on, replays of runs that are WRs won't be accepted into the leaderboards. This is to prevent pause buffering, which is banned for individual level runs (still allowed in RTA timed categories like Demo or AFL). In order for your WR run of an individual level to get verified you'll need to record it in real time, instead of using the "view replay" function of the game or recording a TJF replay. Anything that isn't a WR run can be recorded using replays. So, to recap

Live recordings of runs: Required if the IL run is a WR
In-game replays: Can be submitted for any IL run that isn't a WR
TJF replays: Can be submitted for any IL run that isn't a WR *IF* you have verified your TJF account using this level https://totaljerkface.com/happy_wheels.tjf?level_id=10767808

It is also HIGHLY recommended that your WR run is above 20-25 fps , as intentionally slowling down the game is banned. Any IL run that isn't WR should still be above 15 fps.

2) 90% speed floor for mobile world records

From now on, recordings of mobile world records being less than 90% speed is grounds to have your run rejected. This shouldn't concern most players, as there are very few runs that go below 90% speed on the leaderboards. This is similair to the 20 fps rule for PC. 

These are the rule changes! Again, if any of you have any questions or want any clarification, feel free to message any of the 3 active mods! 

Small footnote to this post is that there are now new categories in the category extensions leaderboards. The current additions are Demo% Bloodless and segmented AFL runs (33-34 levels each, excluding the unbeatable levels, split into 4 runs) although other categories will most likely be added soon. If you have any suggestions make sure to post them in the #suggestions channel on our discord server or message a mod!

Important rule changes + Category Extensions

Hi! A few things have been decided, so I thought a post here was neccesary. First of all, a clarification on the rule we set in July of last year to deal with pause buffering. 

Pausing during runs *IS* grounds for your run to be rejected, however that doesn't mean a pause = rejection. If the pause is deemed to not grant an unfair advantage or to not have effected your run, it may be verified. Try to avoid pausing during WR runs as much as possible though, to avoid having a chance of your run being rejected.  This is only for IL speedruns, not for full game categories. 

Incase any of you don't know, the 1.70 version of the game which can be found in the "resources" gives you a slight advantage in the levels it does include, over the 1.87 version (latest flash version) or the current TJF version. Times ending in xx.x7 in newer versions, get rounded up to xx.x6 in 1.70, so if you're grinding a level that's also included in 1.70 it might be worth looking into that and playing in that instead, as that difference *IS* counted in the speedrun.com leaderboards. 

Character set runs on iOS with advertisments will now have -8 seconds removed per ad (due to there being an 8 second long pause on iOS for every ad whenever you have data turned off). There's still an unfair disadvantage to iOS players for these runs tho, due to the slow-mo that's activated near the end of every level. For that reason, we made a sub category for iOS runs and android runs to be seperated in character set runs as well. 

In less significant news, 2 new roles have been added to the discord server! One is "Runner", given to anyone running the game (come by the server if you'd like it! https://discord.gg/bUpVgtqzgT ) and "WR Holder" given to anyone holding a WR of any kind (iOS, android and pc, IL and Full Game) excluding Apple Shooter , Rap Battle 3 and The Secret Code due to all 3 being low-effort tied WRs. 

That's all! Let me know your thoughts!

Pausing during runs rule clarification and more

Hey guys! We've decided to clarify a few things regarding the rules that weren't set in stone beforehand, and were the reason for a lot of misunderstandings, so I hope this post makes it more clear as to what you need in your runs!

**1. Audio Requirements:**

*For Demo Any%:* Any run that's faster than 4 minutes needs to have clear audio of the game, otherwise it will be rejected

*For AFL:* All AFL runs (1.87, 1.70, Any%, Max%, etc) need to have audio. This is done because AFL runs are already quite long and effortful, so having audio recorded isn't that much more effort.

*For Demo 100%:* All Demo 100% runs should have audio recording. This isn't as strict, and exceptions can be made, but please try to have audio recording.

*For Character Set mobile runs:* You should try to record audio for all of those. A specific time hasn't been set, and it's not an auto-reject if your run doesn't have audio, but if it's WR or a competitive enough time it should have audio, and a run not having audio can be grounds for rejection.

*For AFL Quarters (category extensions):* For the most part, all of those should have audio. If it's something obviously competitive, like a sub 30 Q1 , or a top 3 time, then that's almost always an auto-reject, but no audio can be grounds for rejections in less competitive runs too. Try to record audio in all categories whenever possible, it makes things a lot easier!

**2. Screen Stretching:**

Screen stretching has been both allowed and not allowed for a long while now, so this rule definetly needed some clarifying. We banned screen stretching in stuff like $1000 trip that'd allow you to see the win trigger, but if you look at the current Demo WR it's obviously slightly stretched, so what's the deal?

In an attempt to find a good balance between allowing a small amount of screen stretching that gives a bit of an advantage but still keeps it fair and balanced and not allowing extensive screen stretching that breaks the game and isn't fun, we went through multiple ideas and tested until **we settled on 1:1,2**. You might be wondering what that exactly means! I'll try my best to explain with examples, and give you an easy way to figure out how to measure this incase you aren't familiar with this sort of thing. So first off, this is an example of what around 1:2 looks like, aka normal full screen.

**1:2 (allowed, by a lot, obviously)**
![](/static/blob/rnq1j4ej.png)
^^^ The up/bottom sides are double the size of the left/right sides, thus 1:2 (close to 1:2). This is the standard way to play the game.

Here's what 1:1,2 looks like, aka the absoloute limit on screen stretching. This means that if the screen is anything below 1:1,2 , it gets rejected.

**1:1,2 (This is allowed, but is the limit on what's allowed. Anything below that is banned)**
![](/static/blob/7e9j4yn1.png)
**THIS IS ALLOWED ^**

Our original idea was 1:1, which means that the left/right sides and the up/bottom sides are equal, but that was deemed a bit too much, so we settled on a comprimise with 1:1,2. Now, incase you're wondering how to make your window 1:1,2 , here's what I did:

**1) Take a ruler**

**2) Measure the left or right side of your window**

**3) Multiply that by 1,2**

**4) The result is how long your up/bottom sides should be.**

If they're anything **LESS** than that, the run can get rejected. I recommend going a bit above 1:1,2 , to make sure you're still in the safe incase something went wrong in the calculations.

Another way, that's far more reliable, is instead of using a ruler, using a programme to count the pixels (Lightshot, the screenshot app, also does this! If you go to take a screenshot it shows you the exact resolution, and you can use those numbers to figure out what 1:1,2 is)

These are a few more examples on what's allowed and what isn't, so you get a better picture of what this looks like. You'll see *below each screenshot* text that either reads "This is allowed" or "This is not allowed". **The text refers to the image above it.**

![](/static/blob/7z36dqzd.png)**^ THIS IS NOT ALLOWED (1:1 SMF)**

![](/static/blob/qnyp7wnp.png)**^THIS IS ALLOWED (1:1,2 TrapTrac)**

![](/static/blob/4zjw12ek.png)**^THIS IS NOT ALLOWED (1:1 TrapTrac)**

**Note 1:** For this entire post I've been using "1,2". I know in some parts of the world that's written as "1.2". Don't get confused, it's the exact same thing.

**Note 2:** Pressing **"100%"** in the flash player is **banned**

**Note 3:** This was about vertical screen stretching. **Horizontal screen stretching is for the most part not allowed**. Quirks of the game or your monitor that show a bit more to the left or the right than you otherwise could are ok, as long as they don't give you a significant advantage.

**Note 4:** This applies to both full game categories and to ILs

**3. Handcam required for Demo WR:**
Given the competitive state of the Demo leaderboards, a clear handcam will now be required for all future world records in the Demo category. The handcam will need to have a clear view of your mouse and keyboard, and it's preferable that the camera has a top down view. **Any Demo World Record submission that doesn't have a handcam will be rejected.**

**4. Mouse cursor showing required for full game runs:**
Your mouse cursor will need to be visible throughout your run for full game categories for the same "sub x" requirments as having audio enabled (which you can see earlier in the post). That means your mouse cursor must be visible for these runs:

**Demo Any% sub 4**

**All Demo 100%, AFL quarter and AFL runs**

If any of you need clarification on any of these rule changes, feel free to DM or just comment here! Byeee <3

Audio Requirements, Screen Stretching + more rule changes! 

Hey everyone! In this news post we'll be:

**1)Announcing what we'll be doing in the weekends! (Finally)**

**2)Clarifying our new rules for emulators and other mobile-related rules**




**IL Sundays Rebooted (ILS #2):**

Ever since HWRL ended in the summer, we've taken a bit of a hiatus on weekend events in the server. Now, we're back! The way IL Sundays #2 is gonna work from now on is we'll be switching between 2 types of ILs every week. One week we'll do a **regular AFL or mobile level**, the next we'll do a **semi-recent TJF level**, and repeat! The AFL/mobile level we play will be based on recent strategy creations and possible exciting world records that makes grinding them as a community make sense, and the TJF level will be picked by the mods to showcase good levels that are still being made that might go under the radar! It can also be used as a way to showcase cool levels by our community members! The first level we're playing in this new iteration of IL Sundays will be Happy Green Hills, at 8pm GMT! This is because of the new strategy (and world record!) by LethalPotato using pogo, and it'll be a chance for all of us to get good times using it! If you're not already in the discord, join us! It's highly encouraged we all do this in VC and try to help each other out!

*IL Sundays 2: November 12th, 8pm GMT: Happy Green Hills*




**New emulator and mobile rules:**

With all the new mobile WRs performed on **emulator**, we thought it was a good idea to start making rules regarding emulation to maintain the competitive integrity of the game across all platforms going forward. These are the new **rules you need to follow** if you're doing a run on emulator *(Both IL runs and Character Set runs)*

1) A full **recording** of your **attempt session** that you got WR on is mandatory (it doesn't have to be super long, but the more footage of before and after the WR run it includes, the better)
2) Have a constant **framerate of 60** (occasional dips to 59 are ok)
3) Show **the framerate throughout the run (Go to the gear icon on the side toolbar > Preferences > Display FPS during gameplay** (set to on)
4) The **layout** of Bluestacks needs to be **visible** (Easy way of doing this is just recording your desktop instead of a specific window)

**(Note: The emulator you're using needs to be Bluestacks, all other emulators are banned)**

Regarding ads in mobile and how we'll deal with them in Character set runs, **for iOS** we require you use [this iOS adblocker](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lockdown-privacy-vpn-proxy/id1469783711) for every **WR run** on character set. For non-WR runs, we'll be removing 8 seconds off your final time for every ad you get (there is an 8 second waiting period between every level; see [Jedqwerty's run](https://youtu.be/UrJAcp8bjjM?si=2z7j8Tv95K_PVj2S&t=548))

**For Android**, we require that WR runs use [this Android adblocker](https://go.blokada.org/apk5) , and we strongly suggest non-WR runs also use this. If they don't, we'll be looking at runs on a case by case basis to see what time we can subtract.

(^ These rules are subject to change based on community reception, so tell us your thoughts in the discord or in the comments of this post!)




Just a quick note, we've added a few categories lately, mainly some [ILs in Category Extensions](https://www.speedrun.com/hwce/levels), so make sure to check those out and submit your runs!

That's all for now, we'll be looking for your thoughts on this, and hopefully we see you at ILS #2!