World record in Smuta: 4 hours 58 minutes and stealth missions he had to memorize

DTF has published the story of Yan Kotikov, who became the world's first Smuta speedrunner. His final time was 4 hours 58 minutes 3 seconds. By his account, the idea came on a whim: he saw on Speedrun.com that the category was empty and had no competitors.

The author describes speedrunning as a test of endurance that takes time management, route optimization and patience. He memorized NPC routes in the stealth missions and the positions of the wolves in the forests, and he names a separate risk: the moment the character falls through the ground or gets stuck in an endless fall. The stealth section and the many failed attempts caused the most suffering.

The funniest observation is this. The game was heavily criticized for technical problems, so Yan deliberately tried to break it to find a useful glitch or a way through a wall. He found almost no bugs, though; the game ran stably exactly where he tried to break it. The standard engine bugs didn't work either, so he finished honestly. He stresses that he is not a glitch specialist.

He designed the game's page on Speedrun.com himself and admits it is pretty but probably of interest to no one but him. There is also a rougher 9-hour version of the run, which he considers suitable only for masochists. I like the self-irony of the text and its approach: sometimes a record is just an empty category and a lot of stubbornness.

Source: DTF