Hello! I would like to propose a rules update for the two current categories of Mutant League Hockey as of May 2024.
Single Game, and Playoffs
I find the rules "Period length: 3 mins. Penalties off. Reserves disabled. Death index(5)Annihilation." overly limiting and detrimental in both these categories. TL;DR: There is no reason for them to be in place, they hurt the game by restricting strategies, and they are against the spirit of Any% runs.
Period length: 3, 5, and 8 minute periods are possible. In Playoffs, forcing the period length to be 3 minutes can actually cause a delay, as it can cause a player to go to the period menu/playbook and face-off again when they would rather spend the time killing the rest of the other team.
Penalties off: Giving runners the option to turn penalties on allows them more methods of accessing the playbook. The playbook is important to access because it allows you to activate your special plays, a key part of the game that can give you an edge like weaponizing your whole team instantly ("Armed Force" play). While penalties may seem like they lose time, less players on the ice can make it easier to control the flow of the game/battle!
Reserves disabled: Why disable reserves? Reserves let you choose (after accessing your playbook during a time-out) which players hit the ice. This can let you bring your armed enforcers out early, or protect a key player that is about to die. This is major feature of the game, and many sports games. It is more interesting to open this up as something that can be used.
Death index(5)Annihilation: A major strategy in speedrunning this game seems to be killing players of the other team rather than scoring. Death Index 5 certainly makes this easier, as players on the ice take damage faster, but it is a rule that does not need to be forced, and may theoretically slow down an Any% run. For example, a runner may get exceptionally good at slaying the other team with starters "Mo Puke" and "Spew Puke" when playing the "Terminator Trolz" team, but in Playoffs you may find that if you lose both Mo and Spew, your run is over, so you may want to dial the violence back to 4.
Thank you for attending my Ted talk. While I hope these points seem relatively straight-forward, I wanted to take time to argue them thoroughly. It is out of love for the game I bestow this wall of text. <3
Hey! We have a rules update! :-)
In a nutshell, we may choose any gameplay options for Single Game and Playoffs, although I did specify the in-game controls must be "Pad 1" vs "Sega" (as opposed to multiplayer options like "Pad 1" vs "Pad 2")
I thought it would be useful to clarify a good time for the timer to stop, which is when the word FORFEIT appears or when the final score appears (either condition is OK when the objective is just to win).
