Hello, and welcome to TASVideos!
Table of contents

General FAQ

Questions pertaining to speedrunning and TASing as a whole.

What is a speedrun?

A speedrun is a very fast playthrough of a video game, the goal being to play through the entire game as fast as possible. Speedruns performed by humans are often referred to as real time attack (RTA) runs, reflecting their nature of being performed in real time with live controller inputs.

What is a TAS?

TAS stands for Tool-Assisted Speedrun (or Superplay), which is self-explanatory: TASes are speedruns (or superplays) that are made with the assistance of various tools.
A more technical term for a TAS is an input file, as a TAS is a pre-programmed series of inputs that is intended to be played back in the exact same way every time. In that regard, they are similar to piano rolls for player pianos, except with controller inputs instead of piano notes, and a video game instead of a piano.

What tools are assisting in a TAS?

TASes are most often produced in emulators. Emulators are deterministic software recreations of video game consoles, built to be as accurate to the console's hardware as possible. Emulators come with tools and functionality intended for the convenience of the user, and it's these tools that make TASing possible. Note that in cases where a system cannot be emulated for technical reasons (such as PC games), frameworks such as libTAS can still provide a deterministic environment and TAS tools without emulation. For organizational convenience, we list these frameworks under emulators, even though they do not emulate any hardware.
The two most important tools are save states and frame advance. Save states allow for a user to instantly save and load any game at any time, which TASers frequently use in order to go "back in time" and fix any and all mistakes, even mistakes that only cost fractions of a second. This is also known as re-recording. Frame advance is the process of advancing a game one frame at a time, entirely at the user's command. TASers often work at this level of slowness and precision, allowing for superhuman reaction time and physical ability. We also frequently use RAM Search and RAM Watch, which allow TASers to find and monitor the exact values stored in a game's random-access memory. This can be used for anything from tracking the player character's horizontal speed to figuring out how to manipulate luck by directly monitoring the game's random number generator (RNG).

Site FAQ

Questions pertaining to TASVideos itself.

What is TASVideos?


TASVideos is a community dedicated to discussing, creating, and showcasing TASes. Our primary aim is to be a central hub for TASing by providing a wide variety of TASes for your viewing pleasure, a database of game resources for those who wish to learn, and both a discussion forum for information and documentation as well as a Discord server for live discussions and feedback, alongside a large amount of other resources related to emulation and speedrunning. We're passionate about the art of TASing, and we wish to share our joy with others. We're constantly improving it through developing and refining our tools and emulators, both for better TASes and for more accessibility.

What isn't TASVideos?

TASVideos is not the authority on TASing. We do not dictate how TASes are made, and we definitely do not dictate what TASes are made. We are not here to stifle personal accomplishments or creativity. Our technical requirements and standards for optimization are purely for us, and are not meant to be seen as any sort of "official" way to TAS.

Why do we do this?

Because it's awesome.
We love TASing not only as a medium for entertainment, but as a curiosity for seeing how far video games can be pushed. We love TASing as a way of both preserving gaming history by endorsing and advancing emulation, while also innovating the way games are played by putting them into fields entirely unintended by developers. We love TASing as an outlet for creativity, both in problem solving on levels that may not even be seen by the human eye and in personal expression and freedom just through controller input.

Cheating FAQ

"TAS is Cheating!" and other untrue statements.

Is TASing cheating?

Cheating, by definition, is gaining an unfair advantage over others by deceiving them. In that context, a TAS can be considered cheating if it is intentionally being presented as an unassisted RTA speedrun, as that would put the TAS in competition with players who do not have the inherent advantages that TASes have. Our community and the RTA speedrunning community closely work together and share knowledge, but our competitive ecosystems remain completely separate: TASes must only ever compete with other TASes. We do not, and will never, support anyone who attempts to gain an advantage in the RTA community by using a TAS.

Are there cheated TASes?

Yes, it is still possible to cheat even completely within the TAS environment. This is done through outside manipulation, such as modifying the game or using video editing tricks to artificially reduce the time of the resulting video, theoretically putting you at an unfair advantage over other TASers. However, due to the way TASes work, it is impossible to hide any outside advantage on TASVideos. Since we require input files, we can easily confirm whether or not a TAS was made in a legitimate environment. A TAS made using cheats will not work if those cheats aren't enabled, a TAS made on a modified game will not work on an unmodified game, and an edited video of a TAS will not accurately reflect the final time the input file accurately reports.

Aren't TASes cheating the game?

You could argue that, but you could argue that TASes don't break any rules of their games' programming limits. The only "rules" we break are game design practices built around human limits, but those practices in and of themselves are human limits, and they always fall short of the game's true limit. A game may not have been designed around players being able to press a button 30 times a second, but it can still accept and process those inputs all the same. Developers rarely ever expect players to hijack the underlying code and turn their game into an entirely different game, but the game itself might just allow for that to happen anyway.
Either way, since TASes explicitly advertise themselves as surpassing human limits, no deception is actually taking place. TASers are testers, mad scientists trying to find the farthest possible limit that a game will allow. For that, in our opinion, human skills are just not enough.

FAQs from Users

Common questions we see from new users.

Is TASing hard?

It's not hard at all! Unlike other creative outlets, the barrier to entry to make a great TAS is far lower than it appears. There's a lot of room for people of all skill levels to produce identically optimized outputs. Fancy tools and computer science knowledge do help make it more efficient, but they're far from required.

How do I TAS?

Unfortunately, that's not a simple question to answer. TASing, like any artform, is a creative endeavor first and foremost. Every TASer has their own approach, their own methodology, their own experience with the tools and their own ability to utilize them. You can be taught what the tools are and how to start using them, but from there it's up to you to figure out how to best create your art.
The best short answer we can give is simply just to do what you think TASing is, and keep doing that until you've mastered it. Practice your own style and refine it. Study what others are doing and see how you can apply their findings to your own. Copying someone else directly from the start is only going to lead you down the road to frustration.
The most important skill is patience. TASing, while it may not be difficult, can still be quite the time investment. Having the patience to sit down and tinker with input for a while will always lead to a better final product. Even if you've never touched an emulator before, you can start your first TAS and come out the other side with an incredible record as long as you have the patience to keep optimizing.

What should I TAS first?

It's recommended to start with a simple game that you have a personal attachment to, so you can get a feel for the process in a comfortable and enjoyable environment. One of the most common mistakes we've seen from new users is immediately jumping into something they underestimate the complexity of, getting frustrated at not making progress, and quitting before they have the chance to go on and become one of the greats. Finding a game you know well can help you stay motivated and remove some of the tension that can come in during the early days of learning how to TAS. Games with established communities are also a good choice, as you have dedicated pools of knowledge at your disposal that can help you with whatever questions you may have.

Can I TAS modern games?

Probably not, unfortunately. The console would both have to be emulated well and have rerecording tools available for it, and most modern consoles don't even have the former, let alone the latter. If it's a PC game, especially if it has a native Linux release, you may be able to TAS it through libTAS, though modern complexity might still rear its ugly head and not allow for it.

Can I TAS mobile games?

99.99% of the time, the answer is going to be a hard no, though there is the rare mobile game made in a supported runtime environment like Adobe Air.

How long does it take to make a TAS?

That depends on your goal and how much time you're willing to put in to begin with. If all you're doing is trying to get better, then stop when you stop having fun with it. You don't need to finish a game, you don't need to even finish a level. The most important thing with this goal is just to TAS at all.
If you want to make a full TAS, then you also have a few other factors to consider, with the game itself being the most notable one. You may have to spend some time on research, glitch hunting and routing on top of TASing. More complicated games might require learning new TAS tools or asking others for help and advice. Longer games will obviously require more time in general. On the other hand, the more you're used to the process, the more efficient you can be, doing more work in less time.
The time investment is something you sort of figure out on your own through practice. A TAS CAN take a long time, but it doesn't always have to. You can also start and stop a TAS at any time and pick up exactly where you left off. No need to work every day, no need to work for a long time on any day.

I finished my first TAS! What now?

If your goal is just to have fun then... Congratulations! Now start your second TAS!
If you're looking to improve as a TASer and potentially make it onto the site someday, then show it to us! For your first TAS, it's highly recommended to upload the input file to your Userfiles and make a video to show it to people easily. We have a channel on our Discord server dedicated to posting TASes and getting feedback on them. Take the feedback you get there to heart and use it going forward. Make an improved version of that run, save as much time as you possibly can and then save some more on top of that.
What isn't recommended is submitting the run for publication. Another one of the most common mistakes we see from new users is not realizing or understanding how our submission system works. We judge and curate submissions thoroughly, and as such they are subject to our quality standards and will be rejected if they fall below what we want. Feedback and advice on submissions tends to be a little harsher and more critical as a result, as by submitting a run you are effectively implying that you wish for it to go through the full judgement process. This can be, and quite often is, frustrating for new users, especially since submissions are quite prominent on the site and tend to get a lot of attention.
Userfiles and YouTube uploads aren't subject to that level of criticism, though. You do have to take the extra step in bringing them to the community, but if you're interested in TASing this is one of the best ways to introduce yourself to us, get yourself situated, and help improve without any frustration.

What if I don't want to TAS?

Stick around anyway! You don't have to TAS to be a part of TASVideos. There are plenty of ways you can help and contribute without ever touching an emulator.

Legal Information

TASVideos does not host or distribute any copyrighted content, and we do not endorse software piracy in any form. Our gameplay videos fall under the Fair Use doctrine.
Any views and opinions expressed by our current and past members on their personal pages, the forums, or off-site do not represent TASVideos unless explicitly stated as such in an official announcement from an active senior staff member and published through an official TASVideos communication channel.

Links and Redistribution

Please do not link directly to input files. Link to Movie pages, Submissions, or Userfile pages instead.
TASVideos submissions and publications are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license (CC BY 2.0). By submitting your TAS, you are agreeing to it being published on TASVideos under this license. This does not mean you are giving us the rights to your TAS: As long as you are the author, you are free to do anything you wish with your work.
If you are not the author, you may...
In return, CC BY 2.0 and TASVideos require that you...
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us.

More Information

TODO: Update/Modernize the rest of this.

Useful Pages

Minimum System Requirements for Site Browsing

For technical details, the site requires the OS to trust Let's Encrypt as a cert issuer, which leads to the various OS requirements. The frontend Javascript code's browser requirements will match this Can I Use list due to that feature being used by a dependency, the Bootstrap CSS library.

Off-site Information

For a well-written outside perspective on the TAS phenomenon, check out As Fast as Impossible: 10 Insanely Thrilling Tool-Assisted Speedruns. This article, written by John Teti, goes more in depth about what tool-assisted speedruns are, and which are the top 10 examples that best demonstrate what these runs are about. Anyone being introduced to these movies should enjoy reading this article, which teaches newcomers how the movies are made, and chooses which are the ideal first movies to watch to become exposed to these speedruns.
WelcomeToTASVideos last edited by Samsara 12 days ago
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