Attention all future Ghostrunners! We are extremely excited to announce our $10,000 Ghostrunner 2 Speedrunning Challenge in collaboration with 505Games and One More Level! Prepare yourselves to dash through Ghostrunner 2’s epic post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world.

**Starting Date:** October 26th, 2023

**Duration:** Two weeks, until 11:59PM UTC November 9th, 2023

This challenge will put both new and experienced Ghostrunners to the test. With an incredible $10,000 total available in cash prizes, competition is sure to be fierce. Here’s what you need to know:

## Eligibility:

Must own a legitimate copy of Ghostrunner 2.

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

## Category:

The featured category in this challenge will be Any%. For you new speedrunners, this essentially means beat the game as fast as you possibly can within the limits of the game. This includes glitches and exploits - if you would like further clarification please refer to the category rules on the challenge leaderboard. Some updates may have to be made to the ruleset depending on the development of the route over the coming weeks - but the spirit of the category will remain the same. Any updates to the ruleset will be communicated to participants as they are made

## Submission:

Record your speedrun and submit it via [our Challenge leaderboard here on Speedrun.com](/challenges/42ymr396-Ghostrunner_2-blood-will-run-10-000-challenge)

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section.

## Rules and Regulations:

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

[Contest Rules](/challenges/42ymr396-Ghostrunner_2-blood-will-run-10-000-challenge/rules?view=contest)

[Category Rules](/challenges/42ymr396-Ghostrunner_2-blood-will-run-10-000-challenge/rules?view=challenge)

## Prize Distribution:

The $10,000 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Any% category. The distribution is as follows:

1st place - $5,000

2nd place - $3,000

3rd place - $1,000

4th place - $250

5th place - $200

6th place - $150

7th place to 10th place - $100

If you want to hop in and start learning the movement, you can download the demo on all platforms right now!

[View the Ghostrunner 2 Demo leaderboard](https://www.speedrun.com/Ghostrunner_2_Demo)

## Challenges

Challenges themselves are nothing new to the speedrunning scene - but our developers have been hard at work recently building out a feature to officially support Challenges on Speedrun.com! Currently, these challenges are created internally, but our long-term aim is to enable Speedrun.com users to create their challenges, with or without prize pools. A Challenge leaderboard functions similarly to the regular leaderboards you're already familiar with. However, we've made a few layout adjustments to cater to the time-sensitive nature of challenges and the inclusion of prize pools.

We are aiming to avoid any undue pressure on the Ghostrunner 2 moderation team - so to ensure a smooth process, all runs submitted to the challenge leaderboard will be screened and verified by either SRC staff or Ghostrunner 2 moderation team members *volunteering for the challenge specifically*. After the challenge concludes, SRC staff will collaborate with the Ghostrunner 2 moderation team to discuss the potential merging of challenge runs into the regular leaderboard once the moratorium period expires, respecting the mod team's preferences

## Preparation Suggestions

To follow the challenge and find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit [the Ghostrunner 2 Challenge leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com](/challenges/42ymr396-Ghostrunner_2-blood-will-run-10-000-challenge) and the [GRSR Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/gYGgtzC5s2)

## Some Advice

The challenge lasts for two weeks, which may sound short, but it's ample time. I recommend taking your time for your first playthrough, focusing on learning the game's movement and practicing sections before diving into full runs. The fiercest competition for the top three spots typically emerges in the final week or even the last few days of the challenge, so there's really no need to rush through your initial playthrough.

Good luck, and have fun Ghostrunners!️

Speedrun is excited to host our first challenge featuring Ghostrunner 2 Any% with $10,000 in prize money on the line. Do you have what it takes to save Dharma in record setting time?

Ghostrunner 2 $10,000 Speedrun Challenge

The games list for Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 has been released!

Speedrunners who submitted their runs have been patiently waiting with anticipation these last few days. Now that the list has been released, Discord and Twitter are absolutely chock full of people celebrating or congratulating others.

[https://twitter.com/starsmileyx/status/1712991662778065000](https://twitter.com/starsmileyx/status/1712991662778065000)

![](/static/blob/1n511ve3.png)

[https://x.com/Maxylobes/status/1712997224035324002?s=20](https://x.com/Maxylobes/status/1712997224035324002?s=20)
[https://x.com/bryonato/status/1712996089341882507?s=20](https://x.com/bryonato/status/1712996089341882507?s=20)
[https://x.com/MrGymnast86/status/1713002448586223805?s=20](https://x.com/MrGymnast86/status/1713002448586223805?s=20)
[https://x.com/FroobMcGuffin/status/1713006776285548700?s=20](https://x.com/FroobMcGuffin/status/1713006776285548700?s=20)

![](/static/blob/wzx88dnr.png)

Here are some of my personal favourites that were accepted:
(Screenshots taken from respective runners PB's in associated categories, order is alphabetical by game)

[Batman Arkham City Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/arkhamcity/runs/zn7nd97m) by @ShikenNuggets

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

[Dead Space Remake Any% Unrestricted](https://www.speedrun.com/dead_space_2023/runs/y2k5757y) by @sharkhat

![](/static/blob/7e9225z1.png)

[DOOM (2016) 100% Nightmare](https://www.speedrun.com/d2016/runs/zq9podxy) by @Raitro

![](/static/blob/3nvdd8nm.png)

[SPRAWL Any%](https://www.speedrun.com/sprawl/runs/m3k9g76y) by @BloodThunder

![](/static/blob/4zjpplzk.png)

...and many more! What runs are you looking forward to?

If you'd like to look through the games list yourself, [you can find it here!](https://gamesdonequick.com/submission/games-list) After that, we can all look forward to seeing the schedule when it's released October 20th.

Speedrunning marathon event Games Done Quick just released the games list!

The AGDQ 2024 Games List!

Submissions for the **Indie Horror Speedruns Marathon 2023** are [now open!](https://oengus.io/marathon/ihsm23)

# ![](/static/blob/rz2kolz0.png)

# What is IHS?

IHS is a community of speedrunners who share a passion for pushing niche horror titles to their limits. From walking simulators like [Slide in the Woods](https://www.speedrun.com/slide_in_the_woods), FPS games like [Cultists & Compounds](https://www.speedrun.com/cultists_and_compounds), and more well-known titles like [Murder House](https://www.speedrun.com/murder_house) and [Choo-Choo Charles](https://www.speedrun.com/choo_choo_charles), there's a wide variety of games to explore and almost certainly a game for everyone. Many games run by the community are uploaded to itch.io, keeping speedrunning financially accessible to more people.

## Bounties

In addition to serving as a hub for new speedgame discoveries, the [IHS Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/NgmkbJr2MX) also is used to promote bounties placed on games hosted and sponsored by TurboBoard. Challenges range from new glitch discoveries, being the first to achieve a sub-X minute run, to solving questions or glitches a community member might have. There's currently [a $300 reward to discover the mystery of the collision on a door in Happy's Humble Burger Farm](https://turboboard.io/bounty/VdprVJ8ijavu78cSCzrKf).

# ![](/static/blob/pzm6lwnk.jpg)

# Previous Events

In addition to smaller showcases and bounties over the past year, the IHS community has been involved in two major events.

## IHSM 2022

As stated previously, this is the second major marathon the IHS community has hosted. It kicked off in December of last year and ran for a full 12 hours, showcasing 18 runs as well as a two-hour quad-campaign relay of Aliens vs Predator 2.

## ![](/static/blob/yzr6xmz4.png)

# SGDQ 2023 - Choo-Choo Charles

Choo-Choo Charles brought a massive amount of new runners to the community upon its release, including high-profile runners such as @Distortion2 and @maxylobes. The community even was [shouted out by the developer himself](https://twitter.com/TwoStarGames/status/1603131654620315648).

Given the hype surrounding its release, it shouldn't have been a surprise that it was accepted into SGDQ2022. Runner @Bird650 represented the community by achieving an 18:47 RTA.

## ![](/static/blob/rz2ko8z0.png)

# Puppet Combo Speedrun Showcase 2023

This past summer, the community held a nearly five-hour speedrun showcase featuring games from the TortureStar publishing label. Games from [Puppet Combo](https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo), [Comp-3 Interactive](https://twitter.com/comp3int), and [Black Eyed Priest Games](https://twitter.com/LeggoMyGiallo) were all run. Playlist to all the runs can be found [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9S_8eztoAYv7r3CsEl772Iy0TxVueU3u).

# IHSM 2023 Event Details

Submit your runs [here](https://oengus.io/marathon/ihsm23).

IHSM 2023 submissions are open now! It's not too late to start learning a run between now and the submission cutoff of October 31. The marathon itself is live on November 18th. [Here's a link to last year's runs](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9S_8eztoAYuVGxzUpDCbz-zhTuA_ptpc)!

Even though the word "indie" is on everything surrounding this community and event, it needs to be said that submissions do not need to be indie games. As stated below, "submissions are required to be horror-genre centered or contain horror elements," though final decisions will be up to the IHS staff team.

# Relevant Links and Rules

Event questions can be answered by joining the [IHS Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/NgmkbJr2MX).

The event is sponsored by [TurboBoard](https://turboboard.io/), [MusicMondays](https://www.allmusicmondays.com/), and [HAIRYWORLD](https://twitter.com/HAIRYWRLD)

Linktree for all things IHS can be found [here](https://linktr.ee/indiehorrorspeedruns).

Organizers are hoping that this event is as fun as the first. The community has grown tremendously over the years and this marathon is a great way to get involved with a friendly and accessible community.

Indie Horror Speedruns Marathon 2023 Submissions Open Now

In your time amongst the speedrunning community, you may or may not have heard the term Holy Grail. It's not a sacred chalice or a mystical artifact, but rather a term that describes a discovery so profound that it etches itself into the annals of gaming history. A Holy Grail is the stuff of legends, a theory or proof of concept that, if realized, would send shockwaves through the speedrunning community. You may or may not have heard of a little thing called Barrier Skip in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - that is a holy grail skip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hUIp3eUyKI

In the last few weeks, Super Mario 64 has finally received its own Holy Grail - one with a rich history dating back 14 years or more. In the heart of the Super Mario 64 speedrunning universe lies the pursuit of **Carpetless**, the elusive final auto-scroller skip that has tantalized speedrunners for over a decade.

![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/C9UmsQgpLU5CPAtVw5aYrh.jpg)

First of all, let me thank both @simply and @KrobarKrolak for making videos that provided me with the majority of this information, I highly recommend you watch both of them as they will go into much more detail than I will here. (See **Sources** at the bottom of the article)

# The Big House in the Sky Autoscroller

"The Big House in the Sky" (TBHiS) star presents a common annoyance for speedrunners - an autoscroller section. There are multiple autoscrollers in SM64, but every single other one of them has been skippable for years at this point, which left TBHiS as the only remaining autoscroller in the 120 Star speedrun route. The autoscroller consisted of getting on a magic carpet that would carry you to the final star at the top of the big house, [taking an annoying 1m45s (roughly) to do so](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bkHWWbGDKg&t=5405s). For years, runners looked for a way to skip the carpet ride (thus the title, Carpetless), finding a few leads but nothing RTA viable. The speedrunning community never gave up though, continually pushing the boundaries of what was possible.

**Let’s go over some quick highlights of the last 14 years of Carpetless.**

## Blazesoul13's Early Experimentation

In April 2009, runner blazesoul13 finds a glitchy wallkick on the side of the Big House, which *almost* reaches the roof.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZU3RgNtfts

# Early TAS Discoveries

In December 2009, the first breakthrough came when a TAS (Tool-Assisted Speedrun) setup was developed by Mario64Masters, which utilized hyperspeed wallkicks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcDbXNkT0Tk?t=2

# Snark122's Bomb Setup

In January 2013, snark122 showcased the first carpetless setup that hinted at the possibility of skipping the autoscroller in real-time speedruns. Though technically possible, it remained ridiculously unrealistic to do in runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV9MV13w2U8

# BLJs and Parallel Universes

It wasn't until 2017 that Maria Nicolae, Plush, & Luigihaxd introduced a new (still TAS only) setup that used Backward Long Jumps (BLJ’s) to send Mario into actual Parallel Universes to do Carpetless. To learn more about Parallel Universes, I highly recommend watching this video from Bismuth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjge1bVobN0?t=720

# Toadfan5's Save State Breakthrough

In July 2015, toadfan5 made a significant stride by successfully executing Carpetless using save states.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcRN195iS1w

# Xiah Does Carpetless Single Segment

In May 2019, Xiah achieved what seemed nearly impossible – successfully using the bomb setup to skip the autoscroller without relying on save states. This breakthrough was a testament to the dedication and perseverance of SM64 speedrunners, and was a turning point for the community - people started taking RTA Carpetless a lot more seriously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjcD0qzkgcw

# Circumark994 Spends 3 Weeks On Carpetless Research

On April 22nd, 2023 Circumark994 released this 30-minute video breaking down all of the current leads for Carpetless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7g6PQtNIkA

# Parsee Hits Bomb Setup in a 120* Run

On September 17th, 2023, [runner Parsee hit snark122’s Bomb Setup (also known simply as OG Carpetless) in a full 120 star speedrun.](https://twitter.com/parsee02/status/1703449072370319705)

# Krithalith's Innovative Discovery

Also on September 17th, 2023 mere *hours* after Parsee hit the bomb setup - TASer Krithalith premiered a groundbreaking setup discovery for carpetless. This new setup was based on Blazesoul13’s original glitchy wallkick discovery back in 2009 - and while still incredibly inconsistent, runners like @simply, @Suigi, and more were still able to hit Carpetless multiple times in a single (multi-hour) session. However, the balance of intense difficulty and viability for runs [actually seemed to demotivate runners like Suigi](https://twitter.com/GreenSuigi/status/1703765302461260045) - since it was technically possible to get a new world record with, but ridiculously inconsistent.

## Orthogonal Jones Setup

Just two days after the initial discovery, Krithalith released the ["Orthogonal Jones" setup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbPAJ_OrT28) on September 19th.  This setup removed a lot of the complexities and achieved Krithalith’s goal of a setup that required fewer inputs. There are lots of other setups, mainly including ["Orthogonal James"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM6GxiTuFt8) also from Krithalith, and [Dezanig’s setup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlP5Pkg8yL4) - but most run attempts for both full 120 star and single star are currently using Orthogonal Jones.

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/s7A9OK-Ee4Kl_q1c5OdYOq_XL9VrOKuHqyzW5AjGPhLdiHNR1-9n1nyuwPUyl90UiFuvLFVih3pk24kgusKVPkv2F_OzpGnRzRviHnPEKzKJynqPlB55KABbwLDUgXJkzr1toNWZL3mxH1TOa1a1UcE)

This setup, based on cardinal directions (neutral, straight up, straight right, etc.), **significantly** increased consistency and made the Carpetless challenge more accessible to speedrunners - so much so that Suigi released a video doing Carpetless *11 times in a* **ROW.**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StUh5pRNiBs

# Conclusion

In the ever-evolving world of SM64 speedrunning, the pursuit of RTA viable Carpetless has brought forth not only innovation - but proof of the unwavering commitment from the community. At the time of writing this article, no new world record has been achieved - but it’s merely a matter of time before the next (and perhaps the final) minute barrier is broken for the Super Mario 64 120 Star category.

Krithalith’s groundbreaking discovery, backed by early experimentations by people like blazesoul13, snark, Maria Nicolae, toadfan5, Xiah, parsee, and many more has allowed SM64 speedrunners to save almost a minute (around 45 seconds on average) in the 120 Star category.

To put it into perspective, top runners have been known to grind for hours to practice timesaves that are less than a second - and *that's* why Carpetless is a Holy Grail skip.

If you’re interested, you can find [the current Single Star World Record for The Big House in the Sky here](https://www.singlestar.sm64rta.info/individual?stage=RR&star=2).

I would also like to give a heartfelt thank you to Krithalith, seven, Zinsch, ded_lej, and the rest of [the SM64 Speedrunning Discord server](https://discord.com/invite/0Si1OtnB7Ylmwkwr) for helping me fact-check my information - you guys are the best!

# Sources:

[The Biggest SM64 Speedrun Discovery Just Happened by @Simply](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2hzYmL2AkQ)

[The History of Carpetless: Super Mario 64’s HARDEST Speedrunning Trick by @KrobarKrolak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARz3Fc-3blo)

[RR Carpetless Research by Circumark994](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7g6PQtNIkA)

![](https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000482010774-fks9pk-t500x500.jpg)

A consistent setup for the Holy Grail Skip of SM64 was just discovered - lets dig in.

The Holy Grail of SM64 - Carpetless

Super Mario 64

Ghostrunner 2

tofercakes

Do you have what it takes to save Dharma in record setting time? Complete the Ghostrunner 2 Any% launch challenge!