Running A Tightrope: DOOM's Most Precarious Speedrun

No... Don't make a Clip-Share comment correcting him for calling them "floating skulls." Don't be "that guy" ...
...
OH FFS! THEY ARE CALLED LOST SOULS!!!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

10:07 “I hate ledges.”
13:06 “I love ledges.”
What a great character arc.

Early runs: meticulous ledge walking
Late runs: Tony hawk's pro skater ledge manouvers

I noticed something on Looper’s run, when he went through the toxic waste, he only took 5 ticks if damage instead of the other runner’s 6 ticks. That has convinced me that Looper had near perfect movement while running through the the toxic waste.

Me looking at those walkways:
“Hello you absolute ledges.”

The developing romance between demonlord and the ledges was a welcome twist in his character arc

"Doom is a very fast paced game"
Me, slowly wandering around maps, looking for health pickups while praying there isn't some demon around a corner: "Yeah right"

i just love how this narrator makes these people sound like the pantheon of immortals

Your presentation is fantastic. I've watched a few of your Quake and Doom videos now and each one has been really entertaining from start to finish.

_"This was however, before I started to love all ledges, all of them... and they me."_
Yep. The guy just went mad crazy.

I love how Sedlo stuck with his vision and kept running the ledges

"Come on Looper we're about to cut the cake."
"Just give me 32 seconds!"

"Kai's record would only last four days"
The eternal speedrunner curse.

'Love the ledges, and they love me'
He genuinely started to sound insane at that point.. I guess speedrunning chasm for a year will do that to a man..

Demonlord walked so they can run :')

Doom guy: *running across ledges at high speed and riding walls*
Demons: *W-what?* **visual confusion**

"maybe I don't take the time to get the rad suit and just lose some hp"
like a caveman who just discovered fire in comparison to the later runs

It's really mind blowing to see how much time and effort that went into improving this particular speedrun

This video was beyond fascinating. Watching the complete history of a speed run for a particular map really showed how intricate these things are. As an outsider with only passing knowledge of the community this really opened my eyes to how much passion is given to it. Kudos to this video.

Damn hearing that Demonlord never held the record for Chasm ever again made me a little sad inside...

Perhaps The Chasm could be a useful training tool for speedrunners looking to optimise their movement. It forces you to run a path with confidence and precision, which is a skill that could apply well to more barren levels.

The real record was the absolute legends we met along the way.

I love the sportsmanship between these players. As an outsider to the community, they feel like a group of friends encouraging each other instead of fighting against each other.

Other speedrunners: (in-depth 5 paragraph analysis of their run, saying every blemish they made and that they could have optimized.
Pilger: “I really hate those ledges.”

Watching this like "why isn't he bunny-hopping?" Then I remember old-school Doom didn't have jumping. I'm so used to modern games having jumping and seeing every gamer bunny-hopping everywhere (either for speed advantage or just screwing around) that seeing Doom w/o bunny-hopping struck me as odd.. then I remembered it never had it.

this is the most granular explanation of a subject I have zero interest in but somehow I can't stop watching.

You know your content is great when someone like me who has no interest and never played doom and no really into speed running watched the whole video through

I absolutely love your videos. Whenever I’m having anxiety or get depressed these videos help me so much. Thanks 😊

I love the runner notes. They're like the journal entries written by soldiers in the battlefield. A historical document to be preserved.

"The only one to complete a UV pacifist run of underhalls was ZeroMaster"
decino: **laughs in mastermind**

I never played a doom game in my life, and i don't speedrun, yet youtube recommended it to me. And i loved it lol. Some people just have a way of telling stories that makes any topic interesting to anyone

The ledges drove him so mad he began loving them

Apart from everything else, I find it a bit amazing that such decent gameplay recordings were able to be done in 1996
Edit: And when I watched just one more of Karl's vids, he explained how the demos can still be downloaded which explains the recording. I love this channel!

Need to appreciate the fact DOOM used demo files for recordings so even 2 and a half decades later we can see exactly what those players did down to the exact input. It's like a nostalgic time capsule.

It’s so surreal to me that i wasn’t even alive when the earliest records were set

I'd love to see a 3rd person view of the catwalk sections to see how close they are to falling lol

I'm curious about whether the speed-runners saw this video and the pride they must have felt. You did good guys, you did good.

"Not by just 1 or 2 seconds, but by 3 seconds"
Damn

Those later runs almost look like TAS runs, very impressive

These videos are such adventures to watch, very well put together and truly gives me an appreciation for ever single technique these incredibly high level runs use and how those techniques developed overtime.

I don't even really play games but I LOVE speedrunning. Just goes to show you don't have to play the games to enjoy the sport, much like you don't need to play football to enjoy watching it!
I used to play Doom a ton as a kid, but I enjoy watching speedrunners in all kind of games I've never played (no time at this point in my life, I'm a junior doctor.)
Thank you so much for the amazing content! The technical skill of speedrunning and the community around it is inspiring and fascinating, thank you for bringing it to a new audience :D

These speedrunners are so clean with their movements that they make it look like you CAN'T fall off the wall. Amazing.

I was only 12-13 years old in 96 but I used to get so scared because I get deeply emotionally attached to most games I play, I used to try and blaze through them. If only I knew about these speed runs back then! Watching this really brings back some memories! Great video as always!!!

It's great that there is so much saved footage and documentation for these records that you can make such an in depth video of events that happened over 20 years ago

Speedrun isn't just a form of entertainment, it's art

8:31 that gameplay went from 0 to 100 in a millisecond

I've watched it maybe six times now? I go back to it every other day, because it's so interesting to listen to. Not only because those people are training and breaking Doom's records for 27 years, but because your material is so well organized, so well written and edited. This is so relaxing to watch. Thank you, sir.

Love how Demon Lord was open to new methods discovered by others but mastered them

Karl is the only guy that can get me to watch a 30 minute video about the history of speedrunning a game that I don't play and have never even seen played fast. Great video

i was rooting for demonlord the whole time.
i'm glad he had a happy ending

I truly admire people that put all eggs on the pan to make history big shout out to karl and all the doom warriors that worked so hard to make doom history

Imagine being a demon and seeing Doomguy running towards you at 60 miles per hour.

Doom speedrunners playing this level and getting to the walkway section:
HELLO YOU ABSOLUTE LEDGES

I remember this video. It's great. I really like these speedrun progression stories because only insiders have all this info and it's really great to somewhat tap into the drama we missed out on. So very detailed and informative, I love it

As an 8 year old, I remember watching my much older brother and his friend speedrun Chasm and being in awe. I asked how did he get so good and no joke, I still remember to this day his answer: "I love Chasm because it's so hard."
Basically, his experience confirms what Demonlord said, to love the ledges.

"You just need to know where to run, and be very fast."
Words to live by

I love how entertaining this can get even for a non-speedrunner

This was incredibly entertaining, I respect both the dedication that went in to make the video and also think of all the hours over the years that went into this record. It's kind of mind blowing. Pretty dope.

Oh the memories.... This is the video that got me subscribed to Karl and he is the guy who made me understand and admire speedrunning. Something I would otherwise never do.

Can we just a minute to appreciate that demonlord set the time at 1:58. Then through the fire of competition was able to push it down to less than a minute.
That had to be a good day for him 😃

its so cool to have this speedrunning history preserved.

Never stop these. You're very good at explaining and cataloging speedrunning history and breaking down tricks.

I dont even play video games but I love this channel and particularly this video. The progression is amazing. I must have watched it a dozen times and just cant get enough.

This guy really makes these videos interesting with the amount of details and explanations. Well done. Suddenly I wanna be a video game speed runner.

Would be so fun to see you interview people like Seldo and the other legendary speedrunners!

i could watch this video 1,000,000 times and not get bored it is so amazing how fast they do it

I saw this video when it came out. Still couldn't resist clicking it. This video is one of the best on this channel, which is saying something because there are so many great videos on this channel. I appreciate the effort you put in and I always anticipate your next project.

"This is the epitome of human kind achievement, and I cannot think of a more literal perfect run ever existing. Everyone can begin marveling at how far life has taken us."
"Two days later the record was taken down by 15 seconds."

The Chasm being performed with such skill is like an art piece about the fine line between love and hate, beauty and horror, genius and insanity. One missed step and who knows where one might land.

It's surreal for some reason to watch some of this footage. I grew up playing doom but was born in '02. Seeing gameplay of something that I grew up with that was recorded before I existed is very bizarrely humbling as to just how strong the DOOM community is. Rip and tear, friends. Rip and Tear.

This is the video that got me interested and watching speedrunning. The level of skill and dedication here is insane.
It should be a paid sport.

Yet another incredibly well researched and structured Doom journey. Thanks Karl

This has quickly become one of my favourite videos. I put it on as background noise when I'm doing chores because I never get tired of hearing about this speedrun.

The Chasm or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Ledge

I have no real interest in speed running myself, but I can't get enough of your videos. So fascinating to me. Thanks.

You know, now that I have DOOM (1993) I appreciate these speedruns even more. At first when I watched this video I was like “hmm, this is interesting and seems like a fun game”. Oh boy, how little I knew about how fun the game is. Once I get good enough at it and learn as many of the speedrun tactics I will attempt one of my own.

I teared up a bit when you talked about how that was the last time Demonlord would hold the record for that level and when you read out his comments. It's like in movies when an old, wise protector figure steps down because they know their protection is no longer needed and now they can finally go to be at peace

Absolutely amazing. The dedication is unmatched

it's bonkers watching people take self-imposed, arbitrary challenges like this so seriously, but somehow i love it

normal people: Yesss I'm finally done with this level
speedrunners: *I'll F*ckin do it again*

Karl jobst has one of the most convictious voices ive ever had the pleasure of listening to 😂

this is the video of yours i have watched over 100 times. its like a damn lullaby to me

Ive watched this video 3 times within 3 days, it's SUCH A GOOD VIDEO. Keep it up dude make more!

These are very well made. I'm enjoying them a lot.

Great story, awesome video, these dudes had some serious dedication!

I like how in the beginning they're just inching their way across the ledges and by the end they're just jumping and gliding along them like they're skating not even worrying about falling in

I love how all these guys used they're own strategies but fuse them with others

I watched this like a year ago and remember that i was blown away. Your videos are some of the best on youtube. Good stuff man.

Incredible to see runs from the mid 90s. I was a bit too young to actually play Doom, because my parents wouldn't allow me to play this. But 2 years later I got my hand on the PS1 version of Doom and it changed my mind. I'm not a speedrunner but I admire the ones who do and have such skill.

seeing the date on these completely amazed me. i am entirely unfamiliar with doom and how it works, and looking into how demo files work was so cool. it makes me SO happy there's so much history preserved with these, especially with doom being such an old speedgame. thank you for covering stuff like this!!

Amazing video Karl, lots of fun memories came out when watching this. History of "The Chasm" was indeed something special, and it is what made me enter that seemingly endless battle for the "optimal" time :). 36 sec run is my personal favorite and hardest run I ever done. It was pure good old sr40 running :). Over the years I've got many positive feedbacks from doom community about my work and it felt good, each time, thanks to everyone for that btw...but man your introduction to me in the video was true blast :). Made me even blush a little and I thank u for that sir. Also I red all the comments. U guys made me realize just how old I am :) but also U made me satisfied to see there are so many of you who still rememeber/play this great game. Seeing this video makes me feel like all those hours spent on playing doom worth something. As a proud father of two young boys now I have something cool to show them, which involves their father youth.

I have to admit that the tones of your voice explaining some mundane things like an extra second in a speedrun sound so epic as if the fate of the galaxy is at stake.

Pacifist runs in games heavily centered on killing things is always interesting. The strategies and movement needed to avoid enemies is always fascinating, and seeing it end up being optimal in a run without that restriction is just the cherry on top

Watching this, I've been blown away by the number of finnish doom speedrunners and their success in running it.

ive watched your vids over and over i even go to sleep to them sometimes, dunno why but i just love this stuff and it sets me at ease

This was probably my my favorite end game level because of how sloppily huge it was

A few things.
1: Demonlord is a legend. He was the one who invented this speedrun.
2: Sedlo is amazing. I could not get anywhere close to his runs even with years of practice.
3: Looper is a god at this game. let the numbers speak for themselves.
4: it's kinda amazing that even after all these years, doom is still one of the spookiest first-person shooters out there.
I hope you all have a good day, and Especially you, Looper, if you're reading this.

I didn’t realise speedrunning was already so rich and well documented back in the days

Respects to that one pinky in the blue room for letting the player know when they gotta turn around

30 seconds is possible! That last 'no monster' run was insane. He can do it!