Speedrunning involves many attempts to figure out exactly what the logic of the game is. They find out where the checks are made, how the sequence of operations is determined, and any gaps in the code. The best speedrunners like to have a flowchart for getting through a given stage, but rarely is the chart as literal as "Styx: Shards of Darkness."

Summer Games Done Quick, the annual speedrun extravaganza, is currently underway, and Heat Signature developer Tom Francis discovered a truly bizarre skip in runner Tohelot's Styx run last night (thanks, RPS). It turns out that the game logic of the level is built into the geometry. Once you figure out how to get there, you can stomp your way through the dirty goblin footprints.

"The database holds all the information about the level goals, and we just go over to the button, press "yay, I did it," and go to the next level," explains Tohelot.

These charts are likely a quick and dirty way to help test the logic of a level during development, but in effect, the runner can communicate it to the game without defeating the map's purpose. Because games often reuse maps, the same charts are often repeated between levels.

Getting to these charts takes a bit of work, and Tohelot's co-commentators have noted that it is often faster to speedrun the mission normally. "Summer Games Done Quick 2021" on Twitch will be live on Sunday, July 11 The live stream is running through Sunday, July 11.