Zfg

Zfg (stylised as ZFG and zfg, previously known as ZeldaFreakGlitcha) is an American speedrunner and Twitch video game live streamer. He is known for his The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask gameplay. He has held various records in speedrunning categories of the game and its alternative version Master Quest, most notably the 100% completion category for the original game, which he had held the record for since mid-2015. He is also known for playing through randomised versions of the game.

Zfg
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
ResidenceArizona, U.S.
Occupation
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2009–present
GenreGaming
Games
Teams played forCounter Logic Gaming
Followers171,000
(August 3, 2020)
Total views13.2 million
(August 3, 2020)
YouTube information
Also known asZFG
Channel
Years active2008–present
GenreGaming
Subscribers67,200
Total views25.06 million
NetworkNone
Updated August 3, 2020

Zfg was the first speedrunner to utilise the "Ganondoor" skip in Ocarina of Time—a glitch that warped the player from the first dungeon of the game to the final boss. He was able to record and perform an early instance of a glitch that allowed players to equip child-only items as an adult. He became the first person to complete the 100% category of Ocarina of Time in under four hours. Zfg constructed a "Human Theory" tool-assisted speedrun of Ocarina of Time, which showcased the best humanly-possible time for the 100% category.

Zfg is known for his commentary during speedruns: He joined TaylorTotFTW to commentate on a tool-assisted speedrun of Ocarina of Time that beat all of the game's dungeons without opening any doors. He has performed and commentated speedruns at the annual event Awesome Games Done Quick; he ran the 100% category in 2015, 2018, and 2020. He also showcased various glitches found in the game after his runs.

Career

In 2012, Zfg, then-known as ZeldaFreakGlitcha, was the first to use the "Ganondoor" exploit to set a world record in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Any% speedrun category;[1][2] the exploit allowed the player to teleport from Inside the Deku Tree, the first dungeon, to Ganon's Castle, the last.[3] His record was timed at thirty-four minutes and fifty-nine seconds, cutting off almost 12 minutes off of the previous record.[2] He and runners Sva, Chocopoptart, Narcissa Wright, Pydoyks, and Makaron continued to lower the record time with constant improvements to the Ganondoor route.[2] He later optimised his time to be under 35 minutes.[4] He lowered his time further down to twenty-five minutes and thirty-two seconds, reducing it to twenty-three minutes and twenty-nine seconds later on.[1]

In August 2017, Zfg was one of the few players to record a successful attempt at a glitch in Ocarina of Time that would allow players to equip child-only items as adult Link and adult-only items as child Link. He was streaming his attempts live on Twitch, being able to pull-off the exploit after some effort. As it was frame-perfect however, it may be frustrating to perform by inexperienced speedrunners.[5]

In September 2017, Zfg joined TaylorTotFTW to commentate on a speedrun of Ocarina of Time that completed an "All Dungeon, No Doors" run; beating the game and its dungeons without opening any doors. TaylorTotFTW created it using tool-assisted speedrun (TAS) software, which allows runners to play a game as perfectly as possible. It debuted live on Zfg's Twitch channel and was the first "all dungeons" run of the game to be completed by not opening a single door.[6]

In late-2018, Zfg helped construct a list of lesser-known secrets and interactions in Ocarina of Time for the gaming website IGN. It was put together to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the game and featured techniques and mechanics known to speedrunners of the game.[7]

Zfg has completed randomised 100% runs Ocarina of Time in 2018; a modified version of the original game that unpredictably adjust variables and create special world-states. Randomised runs can change where doors and exits lead and which items are in chests.[4][8]

In May 2019, Zfg produced and released a TAS of Ocarina of Time. He did so to showcase what a humanly-perfect run of the 100% completion category would be. He performed it in isolated segments on an emulator and grouped the best of each to construct and splice it together. On its live debut, the run finished nearly 15 minutes faster than Zfg's then-current record of three hours, fifty-three minutes, thirty-three seconds.[9]

On May 14, 2020, Zfg set a world record time for Ocarina of Time's 100% category with a time of three hours, forty-three minutes, and forty-four seconds, fourteen seconds faster than the previous record holder Glitchymon. He was able to achieve this time with the help of luck-based mechanics, such as the fishing minigame and Dampé the gravedigger, though he lost several minutes near the end of the run due to him failing an exploit known as "collapse skip".[10][11]

On top of this, although ZFG benefited from solid RNG (random number generation) early on, getting lucky with fishing and Dampé, Ocarina of Time’s gravedigger, he also failed to execute the infamous “collapse skip” correctly, losing him several minutes right at the end of the run. As a result, this current world record – sitting at 3 hours, 43 minutes and 44 seconds – is indicative of ZFG’s potential to smash his own record soon, despite only setting a new one earlier this week.

Sub-four hour speedrun

In early-August 2018, Zfg accomplished the first sub-four hour 100% speedrun of Ocarina of Time.[12] His record was recorded at three hours, fifty-eight minutes, and forty-five seconds, beating the then-second place runner Marco by nearly ten minutes.[13] It was the first sub-hour run in five years, after Sva's sub-five run timed at four hours, fifty-seven minutes, and thirty-six seconds.[13] For the previous two months, Zfg lowered the record time nine different times before dropping it to under four hours.[14] In total, there were sixteen runs each by him and five other runners within three weeks.[13] At the time, Zfg had held the 100% record since March 19, 2015.[13]

Zfg was able to lower the time to under four hours with newly-discovered glitches and shortcuts discovered within a month of the record. One glitch streamlined the game's "Big Poes" sidequest, where you need to give someone 10 Big Poes in a bottle. By using an item duplication glitch discovered by Seedborn, runners can skip collecting Poes and save up to a minute on average. An indirect result of Seedborn's glitch is obtaining the Biggoron's Sword much earlier than intended, which skips some of the game's trading quest. An exploit to clip through Ganon's castle at the end of the run and skipping the following cutscene was found around the same time, saving a significant amount of time. In total, Zfg stated that the discovered glitches and exploits lowered five minutes off of the run.[14]

Zfg posted a video on YouTube explaining the discovered breakthroughs in further detail. In an interview with Kotaku, Zfg wrote that before the shortcuts, achieving a run under four hours was "the dream but was just barely out of reach" and breaking that barrier "was going to be a big deal". Zfg went on further to explain that the optimal route is continually changing because of the number of possibilities.[14]

Arbitrary code execution
A clip of Zfg interacting with a group of Arwings he spawned in using arbitrary code execution (ACE). The Arwings were implemented into the game by the Ocarina of Time developers to test its Z-targeting mechanics and enemy flight patterns.

In January 2020, Zfg showcased an example of arbitrary code execution (ACE) in Ocarina of Time by spawning in Arwings from Star Fox 64 into the game without the use of mods or cheating devices.[15] He used an unedited ROM cartridge of the game, playing on a standard Nintendo 64 console.[16] The Arwings were used by the game developers to test the Z-targeting mechanics and flight patterns of the Fire Temple boss Volvagia.[17][18] The developers subsequently left the Arwings in the game code, only being able to be spawned back in with cheat devices such as the Gameshark.[19][17]

The method used to spawn them in, arbitrary code execution, allows speedrunners to force the game to load filenames as game code.[18] Runners also used ACE to complete the game in under 13-minutes by warping to the end credits,[19][20] load items into treasure chests, or change their physical positions.[16] Zfg explained that by performing ACE three times, each with different specific filenames, runners can remove the character limit of the file name.[16] Without it, they can type in any payload; allowing them to do practically anything. This method is known as "Total Control".[19] Zfg used it to turn all doors in Kakariko Village into Arwings, which swarm and attack the player.[21]

As of March 2020, a clip of Zfg interacting with Arwings has accumulated over 383,000 views on Twitch.[22]

Awesome Games Done Quick

Zfg ran the any% completion category of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and competed against Moltov in an "All Dungeons" race of Ocarina of Time at Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) 2014.[23] He returned to AGDQ the next year, speedrunning Ocarina of Time on January 10, 2015.[24] In 2016, he ran Ocarina of Time's alternative version Master Quest, running the All Dungeons category.[25] For ADGQ 2018, he ran the 100% completion category of Ocarina of Time with a time estimate of nearly five hours.[26] Zfg speedran the '100% No Source Requirement' category of Ocarina of Time at AGDQ 2020;[27][28] Matthew Owen of A 90s Kid listed it as one of the best runs for day four of the event.[29]

Zfg has performed a Glitch Exhibition—a showcase of glitches found within Ocarina of Time— after most of his speedruns at AGDQ.[29] He had done these exhibitions in 2015,[30] 2016,[31] 2018,[32] and 2020.[33]

Reception

Zfg is one of the most well-known speedrunners.[34][4][6] Writing for GQ, David Levesley noted him as "one of the big names in [speedrunning]" and as a "[speedrun] titan."[4] While covering his Human Theory TAS, Kotaku's Heather Alexandra stated that he was "one of the most accomplished Ocarina of Time speedrunners."[9] Adam Newell of Dot Esports included Zfg in his list of the ten best speedrunners on Twitch, noting him as a "technical streamer" who often gives viewers insight into how he thinks and what is going on in a speedrun.[34] A 90s Kid's Matthew Owen called him a "god-tier Zelda runner"[27] and "an absolute madman at Ocarina of Time."[28]

References
  1. "Beating Ocarina of Time in under 25 minutes and other crazy speed runs". VentureBeat. 2012-04-17. Archived from the original on 27 July 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  2. Ray, Jeremy (November 23, 2018). "The Heartbreaking History of Speedrunning in 'Ocarina of Time'". Fandom. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  3. "After 14 Years, Ocarina of Time Can Now be Beaten in Under 25 Minutes". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  4. Levesley, David (November 22, 2018). "The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is 20 and people are still trying to find all its secrets". GQ. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. Frank, Allegra (August 15, 2017). "A new Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time glitch is a speedrun game-changer". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  6. Alexandra, Heather (September 26, 2017). "New Ocarina Of Time Speedrun Beats All Dungeons Without Opening Any Doors". Kotaku. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  7. Stewart, Sam (November 22, 2018). "10 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Secrets You've Probably Never Heard Of - IGN". IGN. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  8. Alexandra, Heather (February 11, 2019). "The Pleasure Of Playing A Randomised Version Of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 18, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  9. Alexandra, Heather (May 8, 2019). "Speedrunner Shows Off What A 'Perfect' Ocarina Of Time Run Looks Like". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  10. Maher, Cian (May 13, 2020). "The Ocarina of Time speedruning world record was smashed this week". VG247. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  11. Trinske, Connor (May 14, 2020). "Legend Of Zelda Speedrunner Sets New World Record With A Massive Lead". ScreenRant. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  12. Littlechild, Chris (August 6, 2018). "Speedrunner zfg111 Just 100%'d Ocarina Of Time In Under 4 Hours". TheGamer. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  13. Good, Owen S. (August 3, 2018). "Ocarina of Time speedrunner breaks four-hour barrier for a 100% run (Corrected)". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  14. Gach, Ethan (August 25, 2018). "It's Been A Groundbreaking Month For Ocarina Of Time Speedrunning". Kotaku. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  15. Good, Owen S. (January 24, 2020). "Ocarina of Time's weirdest new speedrun trick summons Arwings from Star Fox". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  16. Orland, Kyle (January 24, 2020). "This amazing glitch puts Star Fox 64 ships in an unmodified Zelda cartridge". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  17. "Ocarina Of Time Speedrunners Have Found A Way To Summon A Star Fox Arwing Into The Game". TheGamer. 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  18. Rochlin, Jason (January 24, 2020). "Zelda Player Spawns Star Fox Arwings Without Using Cheats". Game Rant. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  19. Kerr, Chris (January 24, 2020). "A fleet of Arwings were just spawned in vanilla Ocarina of Time for the first time ever". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  20. Skopp, Sam (January 16, 2020). "Ocarina Of Time Can Now Be Beaten In Under 13 Minutes Thanks To New Speedrunning Trick". TheGamer. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  21. Mayersen, Isaiah (January 26, 2020). "Star Fox 64 ships can be spawned into Zelda: Ocarina of Time without mods". TechSpot. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  22. "Arwing in vanilla OoT". Twitch. January 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  23. "Run Index -- Awesome Games Done Quick 2014". Games Done Quick. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  24. Yin-Poole, Wesley (January 5, 2015). "Supersonic speedruns streamed at Awesome Games Done Quick 2015". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  25. "Ocarina of Time Master Quest by Zfg in 1:40:25 - Awesome Games Done Quick 2016 - Part 141". YouTube. February 6, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  26. Hall, Charlie (January 5, 2018). "Awesome Games Done Quick 2018 schedule and where to stream". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 24, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  27. Owen, Matthew (December 30, 2019). "The AGDQ 2020 Schedule is Live, Here's What to Watch". A 90s Kid. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  28. Mejia, Ozzie (January 8, 2020). "Awesome Games Done Quick 2020: Day 4 schedule and runs to watch". Shacknews. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  29. Owen, Matthew (January 9, 2020). "The Best Speedruns of AGDQ 2020 Day Four". A 90s Kid. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  30. "AGDQ 2015 - The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Glitch Exhibition by Zfg". YouTube. January 12, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  31. "AGDQ 2016 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Glitch Exhibition". YouTube. January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  32. "AGDQ 2018 - The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Glitch Exhibition by Zfg". YouTube. January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  33. "AGDQ 2020 - Ocarina of Time Glitch Exhibition". YouTube. January 12, 2020. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  34. Newell, Adam (June 11, 2017). "Here are the 10 best speedrunners on Twitch". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
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