Buffering

Buffering is a technique used to either:

1. Precisely control Link's movement
2. Gain time to analyze or space a situation

Precise Movement Control

If a player is performing a precise trick, they may wish to move Link for only 1 frame. Players are likely to find tapping the d-pad for just 1 frame at 60fps is difficult to reliably execute. Buffering techniques allow players to more safely and consistently move Link in small increments.

Sword buffering

Sword buffering takes advantage of the way Link is immobile while slashing his sword in order to control Link's movement in subtle ways. Because of it's speed relative to most other forms of buffering, it's a valuable technique for ALttP speedrunning. There are two common ways it's used.

1 frame movements

The technique for moving one frame with sword buffering is to press the direction you want to move and then press B one frame later. If properly executed, Link's slash animation will cut his movement off after a single frame of moving, giving the player ample time to release the d-pad before any extra walk frames come out.

It is important with sword buffering (and other forms of buffering) to be familiar with how Link's movement works. For example, if you're doing a trick, and you notice that you need to adjust Link's position 1 pixel north to have him in the correct spot, a single sword buffer using will never put Link 1 pixel north. This is because 1 frame of north movement will move Link by 2 pixels. In these situations, you either have to move up and then back down, of you can use diagonals to adjust Link's position. See the movement page for more information if this explanation is unclear.

This technique is useful for optimizing some of the precise tricks in an Any% NMG run (such as Hammerjump), but it's especially important for RMG and MG speedruns where precise control of Link's movement is necessary for many of the tricks.

Same frame diagonals

Another common use of sword buffering is to quickly and easily guarantee same frame diagonals. Since the d-pad isn't made up of tradition "buttons", pressing diagonals such that both directions occur at the exact same time can be challenging. Sword buffering offers a nice solution to this. Simply press B to slash Link's sword and, while Link is in the slash animation, begin holding whatever diagonal direction is desired. Because Link won't move while he's slashing, the player is given 13 frames (length of the slash animation) to begin holding diagonal so that both directions are being pressed by the time he's moving again.

Examples of where this technique is useful include the bush setup for Octoballoon Fake Flippers and the final step in executing a teleport.

Dash buffering

Moving for 1 frame

Dash buffering is similar to sword buffering in this case, although the timing is different. The technique with dash buffering is to press the direction you want and A on the same frame. This works because Link will not move while he's in the dash charge state.

Whether you use a dash buffer or a sword buffer can often be up to player preference, but it's recommended to be proficient with both because one may be superior to the other when factoring in context. Because A is context sensitive, it can be unwise to use dash buffers in situations where a bomb is nearby (you risk picking it up) or Link is facing a wall (A will grab instead of dash). On the other hand, dash buffers can be a strong choice for certain bomb jumps due to coyote time.

Dash buffer clipping

In RMG and MG categories, dash buffer clipping is a valuable technique for clipping slopes on the overworld.

To execute these:

• Press and hold B while Link is facing up or down.
• Press the d-pad direction cardinally towards the slope (so for a slope to Link's left, you'd use ) and A at the same time

These are often done from specific coordinates to trigger a Teleport. On some thinner ledges, they can be used to clip fully through and access an out-of-bounds ledge hop.

Pause buffering

You can press Start to buffer one frame of movement or a same frame diagonal in the exact same manner as a sword buffer. This is commonly done when the player needs to equip an item anyway, which lets the player roll the equip time in with their need to buffer.

As a Spacing Technique

Buffering is also a term for when players use techniques to space or expand time for various reasons.

Leveraging pause time

The game's state comes to a halt whenever you open the item menu. This can be used strategically in many places, especially if the player already has an equip to use.

The player may place their item equips at specific places in the run where they can use the paused game state to understand something about a situation. This may be for analyzing Link's position, planning their next move or attack, reading enemy RNG patterns, etc.

Controlled hesitation

Many rooms in the game are on some form of cycle where it's possible for the player to move too quickly. In these situations, the player may need to hesitate to avoid overrunning the cycle. It's possible to just develop a feel in any instance this is required, but most players dislike this and prefer to look for automated setups.

For example, let's say a player will run into an enemy in a room unless they hesitate on their movement for at least 10 frames. The player may find it easier and more reliable to slash their sword and then continue with their movement. The sword slash animation will burn 13 frames, guaranteeing that the player has hesitated enough. These are also referred to as buffers.