A tool-assisted speedrun or tool-assisted superplay (TAS ) is generally defined as a speedrun or playthrough composed of precise inputs recorded with tools such as video game emulators. During development of a TAS, the framerate is slowed down to allow precise inputs to be done with ease. Splicing, the action of adding inputs from other speedruns is also used. The goal of a TAS is to create a theoretically perfect playthrough. A TAS is created by a person who can use tools to perform impressive feats in a video game. The person creating such a run uses what they know about the game, what they learned from others, and what they discovered themselves to make their tool-assisted speedrun. Tool-assisted speedruns are generally created with the goal of creating the perfect speedrun. This includes but is not limited to the best path to completing a game as fast as possible and/or showing a new way to optimize it. Some tools used by creators of a TAS (TASers) include savestates and branches, slow-down to frame-by-frame, rewriting recorded inputs, as well as creation of macros and scripts to perform automated actions. Most of these tools are used more than once throughout any given TAS. These give the creator of said speedrun the ability to perform with precision and accuracy beyond what a human can do. The idea is not to make gameplay easier for players but rather to produce a playthrough at a level of gameplay impractical for a human player. Rather than being a branch of e-sports focused on practical achievements, tool-assisted speedrunning concerns itself with research into the theoretical limits of the games and their respective competitive categories. Tool-assisted speedruns are produced with an emphasis on entertainment value — such as including tricks and stunts that would otherwise be prohibitively difficult to incorporate. However, some authors may choose to lose time in order to produce a more entertaining movie since the fastest route to the intended goal may not be the most exciting. History 1999–2001 The term was coined during the early days of Doom speedrunning, during which the first of these runs were made (although they were sometimes also referred to as "built demos"). When Andy "Aurican" Kempling released a modified version of the Doom source code that made it possible to record demos in slow motion and in several sessions, it was possible for the first players to start