Resident Evil 4 Speedrun Manifesto
by Austin ‘Auddy’ Davenport - January 11th, 2024
*This manifesto’s purpose is to propose new ideas on how Resident Evil 4 should be documented for speedrun world records and provoke community conversation on condensing the amount of viable and competitively accepted versions of the game to be played.
My background:
As I am not super active in the RE4 speedrunning world these days, I figured I’d give a brief rundown of my history with the game, who I am, and why I have any credentials to create a document like this.
I began running RE4 back in September of 2013 and was an active runner/community member until sometime in 2017. Since then, I have done one off runs and projects with RE4 and continue to do things related to RE4 in the background and on my YouTube channel (such as creating autosplitters, guides, and special projects yet to be revealed). I was the super mod of the srcom board from 2014 until 2016 when I removed myself. I have continued helping shadow moderate the srcom board while Sleepwalker, The Carpenter, and luis_sera were the super mods of the site as well when they asked me for help or guidance. I also took over the RE4 Speedrun/Scores Leaderboard from Sunblade in 2016 until passing it on to luis_sera. I was the founder of RE4Central and created/hosted a multitude of community events and races during RE4C’s lifespan, usually during RE4Month. Some may also remember the RE4 Glitches and Tricks guides on that YouTube channel that helped many to learn how to run the game. I held 13 RE4 world records at 1 time (6/5/2015 - 8/9/2015), have been a high level competitor in all 5 main game categories at one point or another (NG, NG+, SW, SW+, & AA), and have competed on 13 different versions of the game.
Now to the nitty gritty. Below, I have calculated some numbers that may be shocking to some and are the basis of my later arguments. So, here we go…
Current number of versions of RE4 as of 2023:
Number of categories:
Taking all of this into account, the total amount of versions/categories that you could potentially hold a “world record” in for Single Segment would be:
Coming to a total viable world record count for Single Segment categories:
198 + 14 + 5 =
217 world records
If we add in Segmented, the count comes to:
217 records - 16 (all the AA categories) = 201 records
217 records + 201 records (Single Segment & Segmented) =
418 WORLD RECORDS
Proposal:
Since 2005, we have had to adapt and learn about each new iteration of RE4 that has been released, while also trying to document records for each. Because there have been so many releases, the prestige and sense of accomplishment of obtaining a world record has only diminished over time, as players find themselves in predicaments of having dwindling to no competition on their version or platform, as the community would historically move toward the newest version released to compete on. While the community has finally realized that they should focus on one version to create competition, the damage has already been done on so many past versions of the game and to the players that spent their time grinding to be the best on each console or platform. The lack of cohesiveness and community collaboration in the past has driven away many players, as they don’t feel accomplished for playing a “dead” version of the game or see that their record is not valued as much since it’s not on a certain version.
Many of the biggest speed games are lucky in the fact that they will usually only have one version/platform/console to focus on, making it easy to understand what the records are and where a player stands in terms of the competition as a whole. We in the RE4 community do not have that luxury and that is what the main focus of this manifesto is all about: How do we create an environment akin to the more popular and streamlined speed games?
That is where my proposal comes in. I believe the only way to truly create a competitive environment is to limit the amount of versions that we as a whole will consider to keep records on, while the rest are deemed as casual or miscellaneous. While my intention is not to exclude players anymore than we already have, the fact of the matter is we need to cut some losses, accept the fact that a lot of us will lose world records (myself included), and potentially have to start over, but in the end gain a way more engaging environment to keep RE4 speedrunning thriving for the foreseeable future. To sum it up, 21 versions and 418 world records is too many and we should cut this down tremendously to help ourselves while also not looking like a joke to an outside viewer. Here is how I believe we should trim the fat:
We condense the viable, world record holding versions to 3 versions.
These can be cut down even further if we decide to choose only the competitive category/difficulty that has dominated each category in the past/currently.
Coming to a total viable world record count for Single Segment categories:
5 + 5 + 3 =
13 world records
If we add in Segmented, the count comes to:
13 records - 3 (all the AA categories) = 10 records
13 records + 10 records (Single Segment & Segmented) =
23 WORLD RECORDS
A brief history on the “competitive” versions ran in the past:
As to not get too in depth here, I just want to mention the handful of versions that have seen the most traction and have cultivated the most competitive scenes. From the oldest to the most recent, the top competitive versions with the most runs have been:
Now, when I say competitive, I mean the version has met these requirements:
When selecting versions of the game to play for a competitive environment, these three versions are the ones that came to mind, as they are historical in the competitive realm. However, I think there is a better option that would create a fresh start and be less expensive for each runner to obtain.
My version choices and reasons behind said choices:
Steam 60fps
The easiest choice to include is the PC Steam 60fps version of the game. Here are the reasons to include it:
I believe Steam 60fps to be a no brainer, but I don’t think it should be the only version selected. We should also choose console versions to play, as Steam 60fps is not the true/intended/original version of RE4. Not all players have a PC to run this version of the game nor the money to buy a gaming PC, making consoles a viable option as well. When choosing our consoles, we should try to choose ones that fall under a few criteria, such as availability/price, popularity, & stability. I believe we should include the GameCube version as one of the options as it was the original version of the game and is part of the big three competitive versions listed above.
My choice for console(s) is to use the Wii as the sole console, as it can kill two birds with one stone and play both GCUSB and WiiUSB. Here is why I chose these two versions:
GCUSB
WiiUSB
In order to understand the WiiUSB version choice, we must talk a little about how the RE4 releases work and their differences. There are essentially 4 versions of the game that were officially released by Capcom. These 4 versions are then tweaked for their respective console. These versions are the GameCube, PS2, Wii, & 60fps versions of the game.
The GameCube had 3 regions that it released to and each had differences, but the base game was consistent enough for it to be classified as just GameCube. The PS2 version made major changes to the GameCube version and was also ported to PC with the Ubisoft version that we call PC ‘07. The Wii version made changes to the PS2 version enough for it to be classified as its own unique version. This version was the one that was used to build every console & PC version from then on and is classified as the HD version of the game. 60fps was a unique variation on the Wii based version and does not function the same as the other 30fps versions of the game and is why we classify it as its own version.
Here is why I chose WiiUSB as a third option:
Why not this version or that version?:
Why not GameCube disc?
No matter what, I think GameCube has to be included when it comes to our choice of a console to accept for record keeping. It’s the original version and too storied to leave out of the equation. However, I didn’t choose the disc version of GC and instead went with the USB version, why is that? I have talked to other top runners and some have mentioned that leaving GC disc out of the records just feels wrong, which I kind of agree with, but because the USB version is literally just a better version of disc and is now easier to set up than ever, I see no reason to use deprecated media. Eventually our discs will be too scratched and damaged to run, this is a fact. It’s not a ‘if’ but a ‘when’. When it comes to thinkingly progressively about the future and how we will ensure that the versions we choose will stand the test of time, we have to think about media preservation. Using the USB version will satisfy these requirements, as we can transfer the game to different usbs, sd cards, hdds, and ssds rather than relying on a disc that will eventually break. When choosing the USB version, I also thought about the difference in console scarcity, that is the amount of GameCubes there are in the world compared to the amount of Wiis there are in the world and the peripherals that go along with them. The Wii was one of the best selling consoles of all time while the GameCube was definitely not. Therefore, it is much easier to get your hands on a Wii today and hopefully in the future as well. GameCube controllers are still being produced to this day for Smash Ultimate and due to this, runners will have a way to replace broken controllers if needed. As we know, the GC controller works for both GC and Wii, so there is not an issue for either side of the argument here. When deciding on versions, I keep the runner and their well being, comfort level, time inside the game, cost spending, and ease of use at the forefront of my thinking. Due to this, my ultimate decision came down to these factors:
Why not Xbox 360?
The Xbox 360 was the prominent HD version of the game and featured many great battles between runners. It’s a smooth running version with no drawback really, making it a great choice to run. It was popularized after Sunblade’s run of the Wii version at AGDQ 2014 after he switched to using Xbox 360 as his main version to run. The reason I did not choose this version is for two reasons: PAL region issues for NTSC households, and extra cost if wanting to play it instead of WiiUSB. Because the Wii is able to play both the GC and Wii versions, it would make sense to only have to buy one console and one controller to play two versions, rather than two separate consoles and peripherals. My decision for WiiUSB is as follows:
Why not Steam 30fps?
Steam 30fps is a tricky one. It’s a very good version and stands as one of three of the best HD versions to play (WiiUSB, Xbox 360, and Steam 30fps being the three best). While it’s a viable option, it never really took off as a version that people wanted to play. There is an issue with the timing method for Steam in general that has not been mentioned before now, and that is with the autosplitter/load remover for the game. The timing method has been changed numerous times and continues to be an issue that plagues the Steam version. Folks have never really agreed on how to implement the correct use of the timer and what to remove or not remove in terms of loads/lag/etc. Using other HD versions like the Xbox 360 or WiiUSB is as simple as taking the In Game Time at the end of the run. Having the HD version be another PC version might be unwise as well, considering the point earlier of some folks not being able to afford a gaming PC (hence us having the console alternatives). However, having said this, I think if I had to choose between HD versions, I would be ok with Steam 30fps as the HD version if that’s what the community thinks would be best, but I personally wouldn't prefer it. If it were chosen, players would still only have to have two platforms to play on, those being PC and Wii (for the GCUSB version), making it viable.
Why not any other version?
After talking to other top runners (mainly luis_sera (the current super mod of RE4) for this particular topic), we came to the conclusion that all other versions have something that we don’t like or have not shown to be a popular competitive choice. This manifesto is only here to propose the idea of condensing versions and starting communication between runners on this idea, so if other versions are shown to have a following/backing of runner’s interests, then these should be considered further. At this time however, only the ones listed above have been considered as good options.
Addressing potential biases:
As some will note, I was a critical part in making the USB versions of the game a thing for RE4 with extensive research on how to best run them and all the intricacies that are included. Because of this, you may think that I only want to propose those versions as the official version to run. However, even though I was a part of the USB version coming to the official speedrun leaderboard, I actually have no runs on those versions that constitute actual, serious, competitive runs. I have only ever run categories on GCUSB and WiiUSB to test the versions or test other outside tools for these versions, such as the console autosplitter and different software/hardware comparisons. Any runs you have seen posted by me for those versions have been a no reset test of some sort. None of these runs are actual records nor do they give me an upper hand in any way compared to others. If these versions were to become the officially run versions that I hope they become, I will be starting from scratch just like everyone else and will “lose” my records on all other versions.
How I imagine the leaderboards would work:
The way I would prefer to organize the leaderboard if these changes were to be implemented would be to host the competitive versions on the speedrun.com board and keep all the records on the RE4 Speedrun/Scores Leaderboard sheet (both the competitive and non-competitive versions, as well as Mercenaries scores and all the other goodies). The board would contain the three viable versions and would include a link to the sheet for the other versions if someone wanted to see those. In the past we had the srcom leaderboard formatted to have just three tabs that were SD, HD, and PC, so it would be somewhat similar to that with a lot less clutter. This is just my initial thoughts on how to create it using this scenario, but this is up for more discussion.
Conclusion:
If you want to speedrun Super Mario 64, then you buy an N64. This is a no brainer and you do what you need to do to run the game in the competitive environment (yes there are emulators and other versions, but let’s be honest, the N64 is the one everyone looks at and for good reason). When it comes to RE4, this is the opposite and has quite frankly gone too far in the wrong direction by trying to include anything and everything related to the game and its versions. Having so many versions of the game has always been something that moderators and record keepers have struggled to maintain and has divided the community in so many ways that has only hurt us. Is this runner better than that runner? How do we compare this version to that version? Which version should I run? These are just a few examples of the conundrum that RE4 speedruns have created throughout its lifespan. Now that the remake is out, I hope there won’t be many more versions of the og version released, thus making this the perfect time to create the one true competitive way to play the game. An outsider should be able to look at our leaderboard and very easily discern who is the best and what they should run if they want to start running the game. We as a community should strive to make this gaming environment the best it can be. There is no government, elected officials, or laws that say we have to do this or that because you’ll get in trouble if you don’t. The beauty of speedrunning is that the runners get to decide how things are run and can change them at any time they want. We have all the power here and we should want to be progressive in the way we think and create our standards. My hope is that one day we will have something like I have described above, but I know how change works and how long it takes for others to adopt new ideas. Usually my ideas will not get any traction at first, but after a couple of years, I see them being implemented, and I hope that happens here as well. All in all, I hope that this document will start a discussion for a drastic change in how records are kept for RE4 and I would be very happy to see only two or three versions being acceptable to run, even if they aren't the ones I chose above. Also, I know my ideas are very radical and on the extreme end of change, but that’s how I’ve always been and my proposals will probably never align with the majority, and that’s okay. And to clarify, my idea is more or less for console runners to make a gentlemen's agreement to run one version and make it the popular one, not so much to alienate or delete other versions, nor to dissolve the current leaderboard structure. Those are more or less byproducts of the idea that could also be possibilities and if I had to make a board today from scratch, that’s how I would do it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this document (as I know it’s a lot to read) and I hope to hear from you all soon!
-Auddy