Ocarina of Time Speedrun Gets a Route Refresh for First Time in Three Years, Featuring a Controversial Rubber Band
Posted on August 09 2024 by Nicole Scott
The Legend of Zelda series has few games as iconic in the speedrunning world as Ocarina of Time. Scanning the leaderboards on Speedrun.com, the famous “Defeat Ganon” route’s top ten runners all use GameCube. You’ll also find that many categories, including Any% and 100%, opt for playing it on the Wii Virtual Console (VC).
This is because of the way the console emulates the game, opening the door to a vital glitch called Lightnode Stale Reference Manipulation (SRM in speedrunner jargon). In simple terms, this allows players to get to the end credits by messing with the game’s internal memory based on the filename. The route hasn’t changed much since July 2021 until just recently.
So, how did the Wii U enter the mix as a route-breaker?
The Discovery
MrCheeze is a legend in the Zelda speedrun community as an experienced glitch hunter. They posted recently on Reddit debunking the widely held belief that the Wii VC was better for Ocarina of Time. They argued potential lied within the Wii U because of boosted frame rates.
Any% is an incredibly optimized route, with the current world record (WR) sitting at 3m 47s 900ms by CountLG as of August 8, 2024. Therefore, every frame saved is a gold mine if you’re looking to crack the top of the boards. If the Wii VC run was doable on the Wii U, it could hypothetically save two seconds.
This was never considered because it wasn’t capable of SRM until now. MrCheeze found out a filename that makes it possible. Who would’ve thought 8011AC81 800346C7 would be the magic combo? They also worked with creator bradyONE to make a video explaining the discovery (featured above). It included something Ocarina of Time runners typically don’t use — a rubber band.
The Method
From bradyONE’s video, showing the rubber band setup.
Everywhere you stand in the game alongside the buttons you input into the controller equates to number values in the game’s memory. In short, speedrunners want to consistently align their movements and inputs with the numbers associated with the game’s final cutscene.
For the Wii U run, you must use a rubber band to hold the control stick on the Wii U gamepad in an exact position. This input must stay preserved until the end of the run. It is theoretically possible to do this precisely every time without the band, but it would be a challenge in real-time speedruns.
However, the Wii U pulls controller inputs from a classic controller first if one is plugged in, unless it’s in the neutral position — then it pulls from the gamepad. To stop this from manipulating the inputs, players hit the TV remote button on the gamepad making it perpetually default to the classic controller.
Then, players do the speedrun as normal until the final frames. All players have to do is press the TV remote button on the gamepad again once they’re in the right spot, then the exact, final input is ready to send players to the end cutscene. This shaves seconds off the classic route.
The Debate
The strategy would be optimistic for cutting the WR further if it was allowable by Speedrun.com’s category rules, which it isn’t. It isn’t even because of the rubber band. The rules specifically state only one controller is permitted, and including the classic with the gamepad is an obvious infraction:
Controller rules from Speedrun.com.
Because of the Wii U run’s reliance on two controllers, this route is not leaderboard legal — but it doesn’t stop people from trying it out in casual runs! The ban has caused some contentious debates in the speedrun community, especially because the Wii U’s console design encourages multi-controller functionality.
Rubber band or not, this realization demonstrates how much about these games speedrunners are still uncovering. Regardless if you enjoy speedrunning or not, there is always something fascinating to be found about the game’s programming or the hardware setup that will always be mind-boggling to the tech-lovers out there.
Do you think techniques like this should be allowed? Should it earn its own separate category? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Games Radar
Nicole Scott is writer for Zelda Dungeon from suburban Appalachia. She loves drinking espresso, seeing live music, building LEGO sets, being a completionist, and snuggling her two probably-alien cats, Tizo and Alarielle.
