{Any% WR Progression}

**Any% World  Record Progression**

This guide lists every World Record run for the Any% category. While the leaderboard is split across runs on PC, Console and DS and each one of these versions have their own history, this timeline just considers the *overall* record regardless of platform it was ran on.

**Ancient Era**

[5:24:31 by mattBLiTZ (DS)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zp3qprvm) on 2011-01-18. Sadly there is no video evidence but [it was talked about extensively on SpeedDemosArchive](https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/plants_vs_zombies_6.html#plants_vs_zombies_6) so there is almost no doubt that the run occurred.

[5:10:47 by yoshipro (PC)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/jy9895rz) on 2013-05-28. First run with video evidence so if you want to call this the starting point for the World Record then you can.

[4:32:22 by MrSplaashMan (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/z06ex9oz) on 2015-04-03.

[4:29:46 by MrSplaashMan (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/8m7qe19z) on 2015-06-10.

[4:23:44 by MrSplaashMan (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yj1kw6oy) on 2015-07-17.

(MrSplaashMan now goes under the username 'super8purp' and at the time of writing this their Any% PB is 3:46:02 on PC)

**Contributions by A1Major**

[4:04:55 by A1Major (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/mkdgrrvy) on 2015-12-27

[4:00:21 by A1Major (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/pzgdql0z) on 2016-01-11.

[3:55:04 by A1Major (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/pydd09xy) on 2016-01-25.

[3:55:02 by A1Major (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/pm3kk4wy) on 2016-07-27.

[3:49:56 by A1Major (X360)](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/emkqn51m) on 2016-08-01.

**A1Major/Warmech WR Race (All runs from this point onward were performed on PC)**

[3:49:02 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yvg50e6y) on 2018-03-11

[3:48:19 by A1Major](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/mrqwor7y) on 2018-03-27

[3:48:17 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y45v4x2m) on 2018-04-01

[3:47:33 by A1Major](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zxvpevqy) on 2018-04-02

[3:46:43 by A1Major](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y8q42e5y) on 2018-04-05

[3:45:58 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yl9wee3y) on 2018-04-08

[3:44:02 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yl9wd8ry) on 2018-04-11

[3:43:45 by A1Major](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zpq7d98y) on 2018-05-13

[3:43:37 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zn48k69m) on 2018-06-10

[3:42:45 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zx4vqj5y) on 2018-06-18

[3:40:14 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y6pll20m) on 2018-07-09

[3:39:34 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y2qdpe5y) on 2018-08-07

[3:39:09 by A1Major](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yj41n3oy) on 2018-09-02

[3:37:51 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y43r5xqz) on 2018-09-03

[3:36:42 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yj4gqlny) on 2018-09-12

[3:36:16 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y89jpodm) on 2018-10-12

[3:35:37 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/m7p6v2em) on 2018-10-29

[3:34:38 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/z03n5d4z) on 2018-11-20

**ymblcza's Domination**

[3:34:07 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/ywk99g3y) on 2018-12-8

[3:33:47 by WarMech](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y896j51m) on 2018-12-12. Not a true WR as ymblcza supposedly had a 3:33:16, but the run was not verified at the time of WarMech's run and the video has since been lost.

[3:31:17 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zgr55lem) on 2018-12-14

[3:29:59 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zxo11qez) on 2018-12-18

[3:28:51 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y8e77pxy) on 2018-12-25

[3:28:15 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/ylr88xxy) on 2018-12-29

[3:26:26 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zp8jjxvy) on 2019-01-10. ymblcza had a time 3:27:09 before this, but they removed their run from the leaderboards and the video has since been lost.

[3:25:36 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y47ddj2y) on 2019-01-15.

[3:25:08 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/z07gg8oy) on 2019-01-20.

[3:23:57 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/mk2rq3xm) on 2020-02-04.

[3:22:46 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y653l1qz) on 2020-03-19.

[3:20:25 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/znk35plz) on 2020-04-27.

[3:19:37 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yjlvxvdz) on 2020-08-18.

[3:19:34 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y8x3ld1m) on 2020-09-02

[3:18:12 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zq46nq8m) on 2020-09-17

[3:17:41 by ymblcza](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/yv9jqxoz) on 2020-09-21

**Modern Era**

[3:17:33 by Bulbasaur](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zppol6nz) on 2024-01-09

[3:16:36 by Bulbasaur](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/z0xkj64z) on 2024-01-17

[3:15:57 by Guestwith9](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zgld6e0m) on 2024-04-10

[3:15:48 by Blackened](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y4lrp2nz) on 2024-08-16

[3:15:40 by Guestwith9](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/y9dw7k2m) on 2024-10-24

[3:15:00 by Guestwith9](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/zq21qe1z) on 2025-01-12

[3:14:56 by TheLoneBanana](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/m7ew7oez) on 2025-01-24

[3:14:49 by Guestwith9](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/ydvj4l0y) on 2025-02-17

[3:14:06 by Guestwith9](https://www.speedrun.com/pvz/runs/mkw38g3m) on 2025-05-16

**Number of times WR was obtained**

1. ymblcza: 15 (+2 unverified WRs)
2. WarMech: 14
3. A1Major: 10
4. Guestwith9: 5
5. MrSplaashMan: 3
6. Bulbasaur: 2
7. Blackened: 1
8. TheLoneBanana: 1
9. yoshipro: 1
10. mattBLiTZ: 1 unverified WR

{Old Guides Archive}

Here is a list of all of the guides created over the years. I do not recommend using them as they're out of date but I've included them here for archival purposes. If you're interested in the history of the game's strats then feel free to have a look:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WEZNuux2YlklZHuT0qYfe8O4dnbI-1feIaNIJxJAuhI/edit?usp=sharing

0LI170's PvZ Any% Notepad

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dfWoaZMi2_8H09lfbuvZIOf_x-Sgs6xDn0HfdBXa-iM/edit?usp=sharing

Text from the Document that I have open while I run Any%. The culmination of everything I have learned while speedrunning Plants vs. Zombies Any%, as well as some additional links for convenience (unlisted videos, etc.). It is designed so that a sufficiently fast reader can potentially follow each level in real time. A disclaimer that some information may be archaic or incorrect, in which case please let me know in the PvZ Discord. Virtually a constant work in progress.

100% Route and Strats Guide by TheJayJay

Finally finished this guide, it's a long one but very in-depth. This guide will be continually updated as the strats/route updates

https://jaypedia.xyz/pvzguides/pvzguide-100

A Guide to Removing the Pesky "Do You Want to Continue Your Current Game or Start a New Game?" Menu

Anyone who has played the Puzzle, Minigame, or Survivals more than one time through is familiar with the Continue Game menu. Unfortunately for us speedrunners, under normal conditions, this menu is extremely persistent: once you have selected Quit Game even just once on a level, it will never disappear, no matter how many times you beat the level. This menu unfortunately loses us precious seconds in the middle of our runs. However, it is possible to disable this menu entirely on all Puzzle, Minigame, and Survival levels.

The key to getting rid of the pesky menu is accessing the location on your computer where the Saved Game files are. This guide is mainly suited for Windows, but it may be possible on macOS as well. Depending on the version of the game you have and some other factors, there are multiple different possibilities as to where these are located. A few possibilities are listed below.

Utitlities > userdata > [long string of numbers] > [shorter string of numbers] > remote
OS (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Plants Vs Zombies

If neither of these file locations work, you can also try searching the file registry for "game1_0.dat" (no quotations). In most cases, they will be in a folder called "remote."

Now that you have located the game's Saved Game files, you must delete the associated files to the category you want to speedrun. The Puzzle Saved Game files are labeled as "gameX_51" through "gameX_70," with X referring to the profile you're using to play the game. Minigames are "gameX_16" through "gameX_35," and Normal Survivals are "gameX_1" through "gameX_5." It is safe to delete these specific files without impacting your main game's progress or accomplishments; these files only represent Saved Games that you can continue from for each Puzzle, Minigame, and Survival level. Do not delete every file, however, as some may be tied to key game progress.

Unfortunately, each time you select Quit Game on a Puzzle, Minigame, or Survival, these deleted files will reappear. However, there are several ways to prevent the menu from reappearing. The easiest, although fairly tedious, way to do this is to manually delete each file as it reappears. Simply creating a shortcut to the Saved Game files folder can make this relatively painless. Also, it is safe to delete these files even as the game is running, as they are only checked when you click on a Puzzle, Minigame, or Survival level. More advanced users can modify the folder's properties so the User permissions for writing to the folder are set to Deny, preventing any new files from being written and automating the process. However, this will also stop all saving of your progress, including things such as earning money or achievements. In order to re-enable this, simply set the permissions for writing to the folder back to Allow.

Edit: If you use Steam, it might also be helpful to disable Steam Cloud for PvZ as well to avoid inconsistencies with that!

I hope this guide was helpful. Discovering this process has vastly improved the All Puzzles run for me, and I hope it will have the same impact for all your endeavors with Puzzles, Minigames, and Survivals. Thanks to QuKirby for helping me discover key parts of it, and thanks to the PvZ community for being awesome!

Advanced fog guide for any%

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OChxBFItEa8

All Minigames Guide by WarMech

This guide will teach you what you need to know about the game's mechanics and how to get through every level, but it's from a year ago so it's a bit outdated. I recommend also looking at the individual level/full game world records for the more up-to-date strats.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/637841567

All Puzzles Guides

Bulbasaur's I, Zombie tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv9fRlkAiy0

Warmech’s All Puzzles tutorial:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/505398468

Any% Guide by TheLoneBanana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bwy3ur4mcghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bwy3ur4mcg

Sections:

- Day - 0:55
- Night - 32:03
- Pool - 1:10:32
- Fog - 2:18:40
- Roof - 2:54:13

Any% Plant Selections and General Strategies

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OSt0vTgQwJtuOQ_9ZDz3JlRv0F5ttYTx49bI9El9to0/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

This version of the powerpoint was created by Fynleewm. I would recommend to use this powerpoint as a supplement to the other Any% guides that you can use during your run.



For the sake of archival, here is a link to tz_scion's version of the powerpoint, which will no longer be updated.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u8dIf_pSEuUSgIJjxMw4oBFJ-NpDMiVXljwqIosNmus/edit#slide=id.p

Auto Splitter Instruction

This guide will be talking about a plugin for LiveSplit. If you haven't installed LiveSplit, download and deploy it first.

Auto Splitter can be activated if you type the Game Name accurately ---- Plants vs. Zombies
If it's bought from Steam, you must open PVZ before LiveSplit every time so that autospliter can connect to the game correctly.

After being activated, there should be a "Settings" button on the right side of the "Deactivate" button.
Click it, and a page containing Script Path, Options and Advanced should appear.
Both "Star" and "Spl" (which means start and split, respectively) should be selected.
The advanced setting "Split after every round in Survival Mode" allows you to decide whether to split during a Survival level or not.

Because the autosplitter splits 6s late in normal levels including the final level you do, timer should start at -6.00 to cancel out. 
For NG+, starts at -8.80.
For Survival Endless / I,Zombie / Vasebreaker Endless, starts at -5.00.

Sciptable Auto Splitter is another way to activate it, which features: 
1. Don't have to open PVZ before LiveSplit;
2. Works on all splits including whose Game Name aren't Plants vs. Zombies
Download link for PVZ Steam version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1souj5MfLh8mpKsUXdu3qdfeeGlARlO0P/view?usp=sharing
For original: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VVZrqnLgxMa8ALiAlyW384ap0CW4HEmy/view?usp=sharing
LiveSplit - Edit Layout - "+" - Control - Sciptable Auto Splitter, add the .asl file downloaded to Script Path, and it will work as Auto Splitter.
Note that if you have both Auto Splitter and Scriptable Auto Splitter it will split twice in PVZ runs, so it's better to deactivate Auto Splitter when using Scriptable Auto Splitter.

It's 2020, the time to try it out and get the PB.

Busless 3 Cycle 5-10 Guide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0oX8w6pdFc

How to capture PvZ and other audio sources separately (Windows Users Only)

Use this link to download the win-capture-audio plugin for OBS: https://github.com/bozbez/win-capture-audio/releases/

Here is a nice video tutorial on how to set it up and use it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOrAsQgJvtQ&t=70s

This method is super easy and can be used with any window you are trying to capture audio from! I know that PvZ is typically a weird one to capture audio for, but I have already tested it and it captures both the sound effects and music. Shoutout to the RRLAT community for telling me about this in the first place.

How to practise Any% on PC

I'll make a better-quality video later, but here's how you can practice any level you want for Any% and NG+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VagXVIVbGF0

One thing I forgot to mention: If you're practising Day, keep it at 6 slots. If you're practicing any levels from 2-4 to 3-2, keep it at 7 slots. Anything after that is 8 slots.

Moo's Chomper Gloom Guide for Any% Roof

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZZ23t58MA4?t=15

NG+ Guide by ymblcza

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xzsRx-fb1q2GHGM_BcFlLYI578h1u76WyMih-v9ndO4/edit?usp=sharing

Plants vs. Zombies Game Mechanics - according to the source code for the Web Version

I announced last week's huge find on the Discord but, I thought I should post it here.  I found the source code for the web demo version of the game, which has allowed us to confirm and disprove certain aspects of how the game works.  Unfortunately, the demo only contains a fraction of what the full game has, but a lot can be and has been deduced from looking through this code.

My writeup on what can be deduced from the code (WIP):
[Google Doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e-m9NpGD9Cs7vTo94GodNcO6cX2ovJB4olYB_maXc9s/edit?usp=sharing)

Link to original SWF (Shockwave Flash) files (pvz_9_15.swf is where all the game logic is):
[Web Archive link](https://bit.ly/2JPLeMo)

Link to all the files that can be extracted from the SWF:
[Google Drive link](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1stgqPVabygJxyWC4BWDrOcQUjEHbb1oE)

Sasquash’s Beginner’s Guide to PvZ Speedrunning

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

Survivals Guides

Sasquash's Normal Survivals Guide: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13Z2Y272fagifpSLwSiMR_QWAfuyrrwGYevCYPGc6eno/edit#slide=id.p

WarMech's Normal Survivals IL Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts-hdPB_l-Q

Berry's All Survivals Guide:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-XXy8JVLKws3z6bx6dds7vxsDWFTEUZ5Tnf1TK_FoqU/edit?usp=sharing

Technical Difficulties & Troubleshooting

These are some of the common issues that you may run across when attempting to obtain the game. 

1. Game Size
Unfortunately, PVZ only supports fullscreen mode and windowed mode, with no adjustment to the size of the game window. If you are on an HD monitor, this may mean you either have to play fullscreen, or the game window will be tiny. To fix this, try changing your screen resolution as follows:
Windows: search "screen resolution" in the search bar, and select something small like 1360x768
Mac: System preferences -> Display -> Scaled 

2. Operating Systems
This only applies if you are using Mac OS 10.15 Catalina or newer. This particular OS dropped support for 32 bit applications, which includes PVZ, meaning you will not be able to play the game natively on your Mac (regardless of whether on Steam or not) if this is the OS you have. To get around this, you will need to install a Windows OS onto your Mac, so in effect you will be playing PVZ on an "emulated" Windows which is running on your Mac. Macs have a built in feature which allows you to do this called Bootcamp. On the Apple website you will find some install guides for Bootcamp at the expense of about 50GB space on your drive. Once you get this running, simply install PVZ on your Windows partition and you should be good to go.
2.1 Windows Issues
One issue that you may run into when playing PVZ on Windows is that your mouse is very laggy and sluggish. I found that turning off the wifi solved this problem, as many antivirus applications that came preinstalled kept popping up and slowing the processor. For further troubleshooting, try opening the task manager and see what's clogging up the GPU.

3. Save Files
If you are just getting the game and want to skip playing through adventure and grinding the coins to unlock everything, you can do so using the game file editor located at https://github.com/raviddog/plants-vs-zombies-user-file-editor
The only thing you will have to do here is find the folder which contains all your user saved data. To do this, the response post made here contains everything. https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/443/where-does-plants-vs-zombies-store-its-savegames
Note that the editor has trouble modifying save files for non GOTY editions of the game.
3.1 Duplicate Save Files 
If for whatever reason you download multiple versions of PVZ excluding the Steam version (meaning 2 or more versions from the PopCap site or third party sites), it is very likely that these versions of the game will use the same save folder for your user data. There is no known workaround to this, but nonetheless, it is an important detail to note in case you run into the next issue, which is...
3.2 Corrupted Save Files
Another common issue with save files occurs when you attempt to open the game and get the error "Error reading user save data: file too short." This means that somehow, your save file was corrupted. To get around this you will need to locate the save file (see above) and delete the userdata file. This will mean you have to start over, but you can use the save file editor provided above to instantly return to where you left off. This is connected with point 3.1 in that IT WILL NOT WORK TO INSTALL A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THE GAME (as the new version will attempt to access the corrupted file), with the exception being if the file corrupted for the Steam version, you could get around the issue by installing a non-Steam version and vice versa. 

4. Other Issues
4.1 Lag During Plant Selection Screen
This issue occurs most often when playing the game on a Windows partition of a Mac: the game will get very laggy and sluggish when it is on the plant selection screen, but nothing else. One fix to this is to use the non-GOTY edition of the game. Some of the top runners have download links to this version, which you can simply install and run. IMPORTANT: read point 3.1 above and delete your old save file if necessary.

For Linux users having this issue, see this video guide on how to resolve it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK1HyVGlHvY

Name	Author
{Any% WR Progression}	TheJayJay 1 month ago
{Old Guides Archive}	TheJayJay 3 years ago
0LI170's PvZ Any% Notepad	0LI170 4 months ago
100% Route and Strats Guide by TheJayJay	TheJayJay 2 years ago
A Guide to Removing the Pesky "Do You Want to Continue Your Current Game or Start a New Game?" Menu	Super 5 years ago
Advanced fog guide for any%	Blackened 1 year ago
All Minigames Guide by WarMech	TheJayJay 3 years ago
All Puzzles Guides	TheJayJay 3 years ago
Any% Guide by TheLoneBanana	TheJayJay 8 months ago
Any% Plant Selections and General Strategies	tz_scion 4 years ago
Auto Splitter Instruction	ymblcza 5 years ago
Busless 3 Cycle 5-10 Guide	TheLoneBanana0 1 year ago
How to capture PvZ and other audio sources separately (Windows Users Only)	EZPiig 3 years ago
How to practise Any% on PC	TheJayJay 1 year ago
Moo's Chomper Gloom Guide for Any% Roof	Moo1012 7 months ago
NG+ Guide by ymblcza	ymblcza 3 years ago
Plants vs. Zombies Game Mechanics - according to the source code for the Web Version	Msbmteam 6 years ago
Sasquash’s Beginner’s Guide to PvZ Speedrunning	Sasquash19 1 year ago
Survivals Guides	berrimeow 2 years ago
Technical Difficulties & Troubleshooting	sundeco 2 years ago