Editing Speedrunning (section)

== Cheating ==
=== Methods ===
==== Splicing ====
Splicing is by far the most popular cheating method in speedrunning.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Allegra |date=2017-05-22 |title=Cheating in speedrunning is easier than you'd think |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/22/15675028/speedrunning-cheats |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Ars |date=2019-12-22 |title=How the scourge of cheating is changing speedrunning |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/12/how-the-scourge-of-cheating-is-changing-speedrunning/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> Here, a speedrun is not recorded continuously, as is usually the case, but instead composed of various video snippets recorded at different times, sometimes with gameplay stolen from TAS composers or legitimate players.<ref name=":2" />

At [[Games Done Quick|SGDQ]] 2019, speedrunner "ConnorAce" used a spliced run to illegitimately claim the world record on ''[[Clustertruck]]'' for the "NoAbility%" category, depriving the legitimate record holder from being invited to the event. The run was treated with suspicion due to it not being submitted officially to ''Speedrun.com'', with the video being unlisted on YouTube prior to ConnorAce's acceptance into SGDQ. In October 2019, ConnorAce's run was exposed by the YouTube documentarian Apollo Legend.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Summer Games Done Quick Returns to Live Events After 2 Years |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/summer-games-done-quick-returns-to-live-events-after-2-years |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=PCMAG |language=en}}</ref>

In a typical case, splicing allows difficult segments to be repeated to perfection and edited together afterwards into one seemingly continuous effort, which can sometimes dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to grind out a comparable score.<ref name=":3" /> However, a spliced run is not considered cheating if it is announced to be a multi-segment run upon submission; for example, this community-made [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGWeydSDtIY multi-segment compilation] for ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''

==== TASbotting ====
When '[[TASBot|TASbotting]]', the player records their controller inputs as a tool-assisted run in an external device in order to then have this device reproduce the inputs on a real console.<ref name=":3" /> As with splicing, the inputs of individual segments can be combined and, as is usual for tool-assisted runs, inputs can be made frame by frame. As long as these inputs are authentic and seem realistic for a human being, such manipulations are much more difficult to detect in the resulting video product than splicing.<ref name=":3" /> If, on the other hand, a TAS is not outputted on the original hardware but, as usual, on emulators, it can sometimes be alleged from the resulting video that such auxiliary programs were used; additionally, some emulators never perfectly imitate the desired hardware, which can cause synchronization issues when replayed on a console.<ref name=":3" />

==== Modifying the timer or playback speed ====
Modifying game timers, especially on computer games, is another common method to improve one's recorded times. However, this is a very noticeable manipulation, especially in highly competitive areas, since the speedruns in the upper area of leaderboards are repeatedly analyzed by other players in order to check their legitimacy and playback reproducibility, including a temporal check known as "retiming". This often reveals discrepancies between one's recording time and a speedrun in the leaderboards.<ref name=":3" /> 

Another method, a variation of splicing, includes speeding up cutscenes or compressing transitional black space. Again, such methods are likely to be detected by a speedrun moderator, although some games, especially where PC speed can have an effect, may actually vary depending on hardware. 

Finally, another common cheating method is to play the game using frame-by-frame advancement or in slow motion, which is similar to normal tool-assisted speedrunning but without the ability to redo inputs. Playing in slow motion is often effective for games that require very precise movements. 

==== Modifying in-game files ====
While it is often possible to use traditional cheats such as a [[GameShark]] to increase character speed, strength, health, etc., such cheats are generally quite easy for an experienced moderator to detect, even when applied subtly. However, the modification of internal files to improve [[Random number generation|RNG]] can often be much more difficult to detect. 

One of the most infamous examples of file modification was several cheated runs by the speedrunner [[Dream (YouTuber)|Dream]] in 2020, whose luck was considered so extreme in a series of [[Minecraft speedrunning|''Minecraft'' speedruns]] that they were considered exceedingly unlikely to have been done without cheating (with an approximately 1 in 20 [[sextillion]] chance of occurring, as estimated by [[Matt Parker]] from ''[[Numberphile]]'') by both the moderators at ''Speedrun.com'' and various YouTubers, such as [[Karl Jobst]] and Matt Parker, whose videos on Dream gained a combined 5.7 million and 6.5 million views, respectively, as of January 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-13 |title=Dream did cheat or he's statistically luckiest person that has ever walked the planet, at least according to the Science Channel's Matt Parker |url=https://www.ginx.tv/en/minecraft/dream-did-cheat-or-he-s-statistically-luckiest-person-that-has-ever-walked-the-planet-and-it-isn-t-even-close-at-least-according-to-the-science-channel-s-matt-parker |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=GINX |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{cite web |last=Orland |first=Kyle |date=June 2, 2021 |title=After months of drama, Minecraft speedrunner Dream admits he used mods |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/06/months-later-dream-admits-suspect-minecraft-speedruns-used-illegal-mods/ |access-date=June 21, 2021 |website=[[Ars Technica]]}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Dream's Cheating Confession: Uncovering The Truth | date=June 30, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Yzk-3SZfs |access-date=2024-01-23 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Biggest Cheater In Minecraft History Was Just Exposed | date=November 27, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCF4k2_-C40 |access-date=2024-01-23 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=The Biggest Cheating Scandal In Speedrunning History | date=December 31, 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TlTaTHgzo |access-date=2024-01-23 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=How lucky is too lucky?: The Minecraft Speedrunning Dream Controversy Explained | date=February 4, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ko3TdPy0TU |access-date=2024-01-23 |language=en}}</ref> Dream later admitted to the runs being cheated about five months after his runs were rejected, although he claimed he did not know he was using a modified version of the game.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=June 1, 2021 |title=Minecraft speedrunner Dream admits to accidentally cheating in record-setting run |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-speedrunner-dream-admits-to-accidentally-cheating-in-record-setting-run/ |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Michael |first=Cale |date=May 30, 2021 |title=Dream admits to cheating in Minecraft speedrun, claims he was unaware of illegal mod |url=https://dotesports.com/news/dream-admits-to-cheating-in-minecraft-speedrun-claims-he-was-unaware-of-illegal-mod |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=Dot Esports}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Dream's Cheating Confession: Uncovering The Truth | date=June 30, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Yzk-3SZfs |access-date=2024-01-23 |language=en}}</ref> Nearly two years later, the player who helped uncover Dream's cheated runs, MinecrAvenger, was also found to be using similar luck manipulation in late 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stanton |first=Rich |date=December 1, 2021 |title=Minecraft world record speedrunner who exposed Dream as a cheat is exposed as a cheat |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-world-record-speedrunner-who-exposed-dream-as-a-cheat-is-exposed-as-a-cheat/ |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref>

==== Lying about times ====
While all of the aforementioned methods are deceptive in nature, the simplest way of cheating is merely to lie about a time. One of the most infamous cases of this was done by [[Todd Rogers (gamer)|Todd Rogers]]. Several of his records have come under scrutiny for being seemingly impossible or lacking sufficient proof. In 2002, Robert Mruczek, then chief referee at Twin Galaxies, officially rescinded Todd's record time in [[Barnstorming (video game)|''Barnstorming'']] after other players pointed out that his time of 32.04 seconds did not appear to be possible, even when the game was hacked to remove all obstacles. Upon further investigation, Twin Galaxies referees were unable to find independent verification for this time, having instead been relying on erroneous information from Activision.<ref>{{cite web |author=Robert Mruczek |date=July 17, 2002 |title=Barnstorming - Game #1 - 32.04 - What the...?!?!! |url=https://atariage.com/forums/topic/10989-%C2%A0barnstorming-game-1-3204-what-the/page/8/#comments |at=Page 8. #200}}</ref><ref name="Barn">{{Cite journal |last=Beschizza |first=Rob |date=January 24, 2018 |title=Video game record-setter accused of cheating |url=https://boingboing.net/2018/01/24/video-game-record-setter-accus.html |journal=[[Boing Boing]] |access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref>

As listed on the Twin Galaxies leaderboard until January 2018, Rogers's record in the 1980 Activision game ''[[Dragster (video game)|Dragster]]'' was a time of 5.51 seconds from 1982.<ref name="WR2">{{Cite news |title=Longest-standing videogame record |work=[[Guinness World Records]] |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/106130-longest-standing-videogame-record |access-date=January 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129171456/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/106130-longest-standing-videogame-record |archive-date=January 29, 2018}}</ref> At the time, Activision verified high scores by [[Polaroid camera|Polaroid]].<ref name="TG2">{{cite web |date=January 23, 2018 |title=Dragster Designer David Crane Has No Doubts Of Todd Rogers' Record |url=https://www.twingalaxies.com/feed_details.php/87/dragster-designer-without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt-about-todd-rogers-record |publisher=Twin Galaxies}}</ref> According to Rogers, after he submitted a photo of this time, he was called by Activision, who asked him to verify how he achieved such a score, because they had programmed a 'perfect run' of the game and were unable to achieve better than a 5.54.<ref>{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmXFb-ElXm |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> The game's programmer [[David Crane (programmer)|David Crane]] would later confirm that he had a vague recollection of programming test runs, but did not remember the results.<ref name="TG2" /> In 2012, Todd received a [[Guinness World Record]] for the longest-standing video game score record, for his 1982 ''Dragster'' record.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 5, 2017 |title=Gamers on the Edge: Meet Todd Rogers |work=[[WMOR-TV]] |url=http://www.mor-tv.com/article/gamers-on-the-edge-meet-todd-rogers/9599864 |accessdate=January 30, 2018}}</ref> In 2017, a speedrunner named Eric "Omnigamer" Koziel disassembled the game's code and concluded that the fastest possible time was 5.57 seconds. With a [[Netcode#Tick rate|tick rate]] of 0.03 seconds, the record claim is two ticks faster than Omnigamer's data and one tick faster than the reported Activision 'perfect run'.<ref name="Cheat2">{{Cite news |last=Alexandra |first=Heather |date=July 7, 2017 |title=Doubt And Drama Still Haunt An Old, Seemingly Impossible Atari World Record |journal=[[Kotaku]] |url=https://kotaku.com/doubt-and-drama-still-haunt-an-old-seemingly-impossibl-1796714894 |access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref>

=== Cheat detection ===
In order to prevent most of these methods, some games require a video of the hands on the controller or keyboard ("handcam"), in addition to the screen recording, so that game-specific moderators in charge of authenticating a submission can ensure that the inputs are really done in the specified combination and by a human.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ritchie |first=Stuart |date=2021-07-02 |title=Why Are Gamers So Much Better Than Scientists at Catching Fraud? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/gamers-are-better-scientists-catching-fraud/619324/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> Other methods include [[Audio forensics|forensic audio analysis]], which is a common method for detecting telltale signs of video splicing; this is why runs without high-quality audio streams are often rejected on speedrun boards.<ref>{{Citation |title=10 Speedrunners Who Were Caught Cheating | date=December 13, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdvFSQFZfK8 |language=en |access-date=2023-02-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Steven T. |date=2019-12-22 |title=How the scourge of cheating is changing speedrunning |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/12/how-the-scourge-of-cheating-is-changing-speedrunning/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ritchie |first=Stuart |date=2021-07-02 |title=Why Are Gamers So Much Better Than Scientists at Catching Fraud? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/07/gamers-are-better-scientists-catching-fraud/619324/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rules - SDA Knowledge Base |url=https://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Rules |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=kb.speeddemosarchive.com}}</ref>

Additional detection methods are the use of mathematics (as in the aforementioned Dream case) or human moderation of suspicious inputs (in games which record them such as ''Doom'' and ''TrackMania''). Cheat detection software created for ''TrackMania'' was used to analyze over 400,000 replays and isolate a handful of cheaters, leading to hundreds of world records being determined to have been cheated using slowdown tools. This included those of Burim "riolu" Fejza, who was signed to the [[Esports|eSports]] team Nordavind (now known as 00 Nation) before being dropped following the scandal.<ref name=":4">{{Citation |title=These DOOM Cheaters Were Caught Red Handed | date=November 25, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv0ZRTlIXR0 |language=en |access-date=2023-02-07}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Citation |title=The Biggest Cheating Scandal in Trackmania History | date=May 23, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDUdGvgmKIw |language=en |access-date=2023-02-07}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Citation |title=Multiple Speedrunners Caught Cheating In Trackmania! | date=May 31, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww7x5elophk |language=en |access-date=2023-02-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Plunkett |first=Luke |date=2021-05-25 |title=Trackmania Cheating Scandal Is Utterly Fascinating |url=https://kotaku.com/trackmania-cheating-scandal-is-utterly-fascinating-1846960428 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=Kotaku |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author1=Natalie Clayton |date=2021-05-25 |title=Cheating allegations catch up with some of Trackmania's fastest drivers |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/cheating-allegations-catch-up-with-some-of-trackmanias-fastest-drivers/ |access-date=2024-07-08 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref>