Tool-assisted speedrun
set sequence of controller inputs used to perform a task in a video game
A tool-assisted speedrun or tool-assisted superplay (TAS; ) is generally defined as a video game playthrough or speedrun composed of precise inputs recorded with tools such as emulators. Tool-assisted speedruns are generally created with the goal of creating theoretically perfect playthroughs that human speedruns miss out. This may include the fastest possible route to complete a game or showcasing new optimizations to existing world records.
TAS requires research into the theoretical limits of the games and their respective competitive categories. The fastest categories have no restrictions and often involve a level of gameplay impractical or impossible for a human player, and those made according to real-time attack rules serve to research the limits of human players.
The TAS developer has full control over the game's movement, per video frame, to record a sequence of fully precise inputs. Other tools include save states and branches, rewriting recorded inputs, splicing together best sequences, reading the game's memory, macros, and scripts to automate gameplay actions. These tools grant TAS creators precision and accuracy beyond that of a human player.
History
The term was coined during early Doom speedrunning. When Andy "Aurican" Kempling released a modified version of the Doom source code that made it possible to record demos in slow motion and in several sessions, it was possible for the first players to start recording tool-assisted demos.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tool-assisted speedrun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.