Speedrunning gets a lot of brownie points from the broader video game audience because their feats and events are usually coupled with donations to a charity. In fact, the Games Done Quick charity marathon event has been able to raise millions of dollars for various charities, including the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
The PCF is the beneficiary of GDQ's current event, Amazing Games Done Quick. In this event, a speedrunner gets extra social points from the community for his meticulous but entertaining explanation of how certain glitches work, only to reveal that the glitch only helps him shave 40 seconds off his two-hour run.
Not His Best
The Speedrunner, who goes by the name Tomatoangus (pronounced with a silent "g," he says), was speedrunning the mainline games of the Fallout Anthology during the AGDQ at the time. He was given 2:05:00 of stage time for the feat, which should have been enough for him. He has, after all, achieved the world record for the fastest Fallout Anthology run at just seconds shy of 90 minutes.
However, his run at AGDQ resulted in a significantly longer time. He went past the stage time given to him, finishing all five games at the 2:16:21 mark. The feat took him longer to accomplish because unlike his 90-minute run which he completed solo at the comfort of his home, he was also entertaining audience on stage while playing, showing some secrets and behind-the-scenes elements within the games, playing with equipment he's not used playing on, and of course, painstakingly explaining how difficult glitches work.
With a lot of things he's juggling, it's still impressive that he managed to finish the whole run as fast as he already did.
The Entertainer
Tomatoangus' run is an "any run," a term in the speedrunning community that says you could finish a game with any way you could. You could use glitches, access console commands, and even save scum your way to a fast ending.
Usually, speedrunners just do their thing without regard to the audience, who are left amazed at the speed they could finish games but, in the end, confused about how things happened. But not Tomatoangus. The Speedrunner likes explaining the mechanics behind his tricks, often elaborating on how certain elements in the game help him achieve a fast time.
But Tomatoangus doesn't just explain things like a teacher in middle school. He does so in an entertaining manner that could actually get people to listen intently to him. He would also throw some jokes every now and then that would send the crowd laughing, which is what speedrunning is all about.
The Trick of Trade
During Tomatoangus' run on Fallout 4, a cutscene sequence left him unable to control his character for some time. Instead of doing nothing, he instead used this as an opportunity to explain the next trick he's about to do to the audience. And he brought props. Using a homemade model with plastic cups and a bottle cleaner, Tomatoangus explained how he could exploit the game's COC points to skip ahead in the game.
After a very lengthy and elaborate explanation, the streamer concluded with how much time the difficult glitch would save him: a grand total of 40 seconds. The reveal sent the audience roaring in laughter, and Tomatoangus earned extra social points for all his effort.
Throughout his whole run, Tomatoangus also revealed other fun things hidden throughout the Fallout franchise. You could check all of them out here at Eurogamer. Meanwhile, you could watch his whole explanation of the COC glitch here in this Polygon article.
