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Doom

PC · Any% (Episode 1 — UV Speed) · 1993

Current WR
1:17
First Known Run
~3:00

Doom speedrunning began with id Software's own developers competing on internal time trials — making it one of the oldest documented speedrunning communities in gaming.

Doom's built-in demo recording system, present from the December 1993 release, enabled players to share runs almost immediately, making it the earliest game with a documented competitive speedrunning culture. id Software employees Dario Casali and Sandy Petersen posted their own records on Usenet, and the Compet-N archive — established in 1994 — became the first dedicated speedrun database for any game, predating modern leaderboard sites by nearly two decades. The game's movement system, which retains momentum and allows players to strafe-run diagonally faster than moving forward, forms the foundation of competitive routing. Doom speedrunning uses the game's own demo format for verification, a standard that has held since the 1990s.

Famous Techniques:
  • Strafe-Running — moving diagonally by holding a strafe direction and forward simultaneously to exceed the normal movement speed cap
  • Rocket Jump — using explosion knockback to reach elevated platforms ahead of schedule
  • Monster Use — allowing certain monsters to open doors and activate switches that the player cannot reach without a key
  • SR50 — a precise diagonal movement technique that maintains maximum speed through tight corridors, named for its input timing
Notable Runners:
  • Dario Casali — id Software level designer who posted early Usenet records and helped seed the competitive community
  • Radek Pecka — Compet-N era champion who held records across multiple episodes and difficulties throughout the late 1990s
  • Drew DeVore (stx-Vile) — modern UV Speed record holder who pushed single-episode times to their current near-theoretical minimum
Key Facts:
  • id Software's own developers publicly competed on Doom maps in 1994, making it the earliest game with documented speedrun competition from the developer side
  • The Compet-N archive, founded in 1994, is the oldest dedicated speedrun leaderboard database in existence
  • Doom uses its own internal demo format for verification rather than video capture, preserving exact input sequences
  • The game supports both single-map and full-episode runs across four difficulty levels, producing distinct leaderboards for each