The current world record for a Quake speedrun clocks in at a blistering 11 minutes and 42 seconds, set in 2022 by expert player Muty. This run shatters the previous record by nearly 5 seconds – an exceptional margin at Quake‘s tier of optimized play.
Today we‘ll analyze Muty‘s unbelievable performance while charting the history and evolution of Quake speedrunning achievements over the last 25+ years. Grab your rocket launcher, keyboard and mouse, as we frag our way through the intricacies of high-level competitive FPS domination!
A Potted History of Quake Speedrunning
Speedrunning as a organized activity began shortly after Quake‘s launch in 1996 as dedicated players sought to complete levels as quickly as possible. The initial Quake Done Quick website aggregated videos of expert run times, formalizing the burgeoning scene.
Over subsequent years, the discovery of new tricks and exploits coupled with increasingly tool-assisted performances pushed records lower and lower across categories:
- 1997 – Players figure out strafe jumping for rapid movement
- Early 2000s – Tool-assisted testing refines runs frame-by-frame
- 2011 – Runner MintDescent sets 13m 05s Easy record
- 2013 – Zalon finds major timesave skips in the boss fight
- 2017 – kukkye shows grenade jumps for faster pacing
- 2021 – Muty refines bunny hopping and rocket jumping to achieve his current world record
Browse Speedrun.com today and you‘ll still find Quake records from decades ago remain competitive. This indicates serious difficulty incrementally improving times for one of FPS history‘s most aggressively challenging titles. Next we‘ll see how the stellar momentum of the original Quake game still propels the series‘ popularity today.
The Ongoing Allure of Quake Games
The initial Quake became an instant classic in 1996 for its pioneering graphics, visceral action and buttery-smooth multiplayer. Let‘s analyze how subsequent franchise titles built upon this enduring appeal:
Quake (1996)
- 2.2+ million copies sold
- 93.53% positive reviews on Steam
- Players average 6 hours 51 mins playtime
Clearly the raw retro FPS gameplay still engages modern audiences over 25 years later. 2021 saw an Enhanced Edition release to make Quake more accessible on new hardware.
Quake II (1997)
- Sold an impressive 2+ million copies
- Strong 87.53% positive Steam reviews
- Average 8 hours playtime per player
Quake II amplified narrative elements between arena battles. While not an evolution, graphical improvements brought the crunchy gunplay into a new dimension.
Quake III Arena (1999)
- Almost 1.8 million units sold
- An exceptional 91.3% positive reception
- Avg 5 hours 30 mins playtime
With dedicated servers and refined Capture the Flag mode, Quake 3 remains the pinnacle of FPS esports excellence even today.
Quake 4 (2005)
- Shifted over 1 million copies
- A very decent 84.09% positive rating
- A weighty avg 17 hours 30 mins playtime
The solo campaign of Quake 4 provided engrossing cinematic FPS elements for fans. Competitively, Quake 3 still reigns supreme however.
As we can see, the compelling core combat loop established in 1996 continues engaging players many console generations on. Next we‘ll cover the format of Quake speedrunning leaderboard categories.
Quake Speedrunning Game Modes Explained
Quake speedruns are categorized based on difficulty and completion criteria:
Easy
Finish Quake on the easiest "I‘m Too Young To Die" setting – enable any shortcuts or exploits possible!
Nightmare
Complete the game as fast as possible on the toughest "Nightmare" mode against amplified enemies.
Easy 100%
Easier enemies but total completion is now mandatory – eliminate every foe.
Nightmare 100%
The ultimate endurance test – clear entire levels on hard difficulty. Expect heavy saving/reloading!
Unsurprisingly, unimpeded Easy runs offer far quicker times than total clears. Now let‘s see records get demolished as we analyze the…
Quake Speedrunning Hall of Fame
Easy
| Year | Runner | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Muty | 11m 42s | 1st |
| 2022 | jukebox | 11m 47s | 2nd |
| 2001 | MaxRebo | 17m 05s | 47th |
Muty obliterated a 21 year record in 2022, with a 2001 run still maintaining a top 50 spot. Tightening times by seconds remains cruely difficult even after huge strides in early optimisation.
Nightmare
| Year | Runner | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | kukkye | 15m 00s | 1st |
| 2017 | muuki | 17m 53s | 2nd |
Pumping enemy stats dramatically impacts speed ceilings. kukkye‘s Nightmare run has amazingly persisted over 4 years thanks to severely limited sequence breaking potential.
Easy 100%
| Year | Runner | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | jukebox | 36m 29s | 1st |
| 2016 | elgu | 38m 29s | 2nd |
Mandatory full clears quickly multiply speedrun times. Jukebox completing Quake under 37 minutes while eliminating all hostiles is mightily impressive.
Nightmare 100%
| Year | Runner | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Muty | 57m 16s | 1st |
| 2023 | Justin Fleck | 1hr 04m 42s | 2nd |
Somehow Muty scraped under an hour across this intense marathon category. Finishing Quake at all with Nightmare foes in your face feels miraculous given the hostile obstacles.
With Muty conquering both raw speed and fully exhausted game variants, his versatility secures Quake dominance. Now let‘s analyze the precise inputs enabling his record-shattering Easy run.
Nitpicking Muty‘s Lightning 11m 42s Quake Speedrun
Compressing Quake‘s runtime from over an hour casually to under 12 minutes skillfully utilizes every exploited trick and intricately honed talent in Muty‘s FPS arsenal:
A Masterclass of Bunny Hopping
Maintaining continual acceleration is essential for swift times in Quake. Analyzing frame-by-frame shows the sublime skill Muty exhibits bunny hopping between enemies. By syncing jumps perfectly to engine timings and minimizing any scroll input delays, his movement flows phenomenally fast.
Subtle variations like changing his forward key tapping rhythm and using sloped geometry more effectively to retain explosive leap momentum demonstrate advanced optimizations only executable by current peak level players.
Rocket Jumping Finesse
Muty‘s supreme spatial awareness and physics mastery let him fluidly chain impossible explosive rocket leaps skipping entire areas. At 7:37 he triple pogos between structures in an acute zig-zag that would make even Quake parkour veteran cpuskater‘s head spin trying to replicate consistently. This improvised shortcut thinking embodies the out-the-box speedrunning genius Muty brings.
Relentless Velocity
Watching Muty‘s run feels akin to a tornado shredding buildings at incomprehensible speed. He never slows across narrow crannies between enemy bombardments that would make average players crawl. Instead Muty maintains a continual blur of smooth omnidirectional bunny strafing, devastating flick rocket shots and propulsive leaping that pushes Quake‘s limits.
Analyzing such a blistering run makes you doubt anybody could reach such rarefied FPS performance heights ever again! We‘ll look next at the iconic weapons enabling Muty‘s world-record domination.
Quake‘s Legacy Weapon – The Rocket Launcher
No armament encapsulates the signature Quake gameplay feel better than the almighty Rocket Launcher. Ever since millions of mouse clickers first felt that banshee rocket discharge in 1996, the RL etched itself into FPS history. Let‘s break down why this explosive epitomizes such phenomenal game design:
Pure Cataclysmic Power
With every disciplined trigger pull, a cable of smoke erupts framing visually threatening negative space before the missile even emerges. Charging downrange and ultimately blossoming into incendiary plumes of roaring destruction, the Rocket Launcher contrastingly feels beautifully cathartic.
Whether blasting 50 Shamblers into bloody paste or hurling your body across pits, no weapon offers more domineering strength. Little wonder the RL became integral for multiplayer domination and speedrun greatness.
Kinetic Jumping Physics
Beyond just obliterating foes, rockets contain enough kinetic energy to launch players vertically if aimed beneath their feet. Expert Quakers creatively utilized this explosive momentum for buttery smooth floor-to-floor navigation dubbed "rocket jumping".
While masterful head flick Railgun shots might demonstrate pure aiming talent, chaining rocket leap sequences epitomizes deeper environmental mastery. The aerial elegance possible fueled entire movement subcultures and rocket arena shooter titles.
Cultural Legacy
Graphically, aurally and most importantly gameplay-wise, the feel of wielding quad-barrelled rocket carnage simply stunned gamers in 1996. To this day the archetype of advanced alien tech weaponry delivering overwhelming yet skill-indexed power traces directly back to Quake‘s gnarly RL.
It‘s a beautifully straightforward design perfectly balancing accessibility with immense skill potential. A legacy that shall echo through the FPS genre for decades more!
What Does The Future Hold for Quake Speedrunning?
Muty‘s seemingly unbeatable 11m 42s record shows precisely why Quake still holds such allure today. The meticulous exploitation of engine timings and level geometry possible pushes FPS gameplay to its very limits. We could see more optimizations in total clear leaderboards, or the exploration of tool-assisted runs redefining perceived boundaries.
For now though, Muty has cemented his status as the Strafe-God across all metrics of Quake greatness. All hail the uncountable hours invested to attain such rarefied FPS perfection! Few games offer the legacy or competitive legacy to inspire similar world-beating human achievements.
So ready your mouse, tune your monitor‘s refresh rate and prepare to enter the arena of speedrunning legends should you attempt to even come close to Muty‘s prowess. Fear his Rockets!
