Hi everyone!
I have started learning low%, and I cannot help but think that the rules would benefit from a change. The idea of low% is not getting any powerups. It's like running as small Mario; you have no special abilities, and you die in one hit.
In world 8, the rules currently state that you are not allowed to collect any milk bottles, since they give you two additional hearts. Instead, you have to let your spaceship run out of hearts, die, respawn at a checkpoint, then let your spaceship run out of hearts a second time, then die a second time to respawn at a second checkpoint, before finally finishing the level. During all of this, you simply float offscreen, executing almost nothing and using no skill.
My issue with this is, the spaceship never powers up. Getting milk bottles or hearts in world 8 is the designed way to survive the level. Even if you get milk bottles or hearts, you'll still die in one hit, and you will still be in the same base-level spaceship. Level 8-1 simply has a different structure than any other level in the game.
I propose changing the low% rules such that you are allowed to pick up milk bottles and hearts in level 8-1, to reflect the fact that 8-1 is a unique level. Things in favor of this change:
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Picking up milk bottles and hearts in 8-1 does not power you up. It's more like giving you more oxygen in an outerspace level. You do not become stronger after picking them up, you do not change forms as you would in all other levels, and you will still die in one hit.
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Allowing the player to pick up milk bottles and hearts in 8-1 adds skill to the level, while also making the level faster
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It is impossible to beat 8-1 without dying and without picking up milk bottles or hearts. This is a reflection of the unique situation that is level 8-1, and why it makes sense for it to have different rules.
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There are only two runs on the low% leaderboards, and the current WR has several deaths in it. I mention the several deaths in the WR, because it is not the case that the WR will be made obsolete solely because of a rule change. The category is not highly optimized, so we're not overly punishing existing runners who abided by the old rules. The existing runs can stay on the leaderboard.
I will also be posting this in the Felix speedrun discord. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
I support this change. If milk bottles were allowed on accident, I see no harm in allowing them to maintain a Felix form. I suppose the hearts in the face clouds are probably fine too since they don’t upgrade you, just give one ups and a refill.
Makes sense to me as well. I'd say milk bottle act as intended time extenders like reaching gates in racing games or picking up clocks in lots of other games. Doesn't make this run any different really either; its a category that has no fully fleshed out runs anyway.
Normally this is a really tough one as a Mod. Low% typically means collection of any items is not allowed, and that would include World 8 and runners would have to accept whatever deaths were required to make it happen. But since the category has been inactive for years with only 2 runs total, I'm okay with making the change if people are okay with it. If we were drawing a hard line with the rules, I would have said that collecting inconsequential milk bottles should not have been allowed either, but in reality they have been allowed for years.
A good point (which you already made) is that if healing items aren't allowed in World 8, there is no strategy since you can fly off the screen every time and stay safe. Allowing healing items actually makes the optimal strategy more difficult, so from that perspective there's no real downside.
I'm willing to make the change for the category. I hope you're okay with the F items remaining disallowed, though, since they also give you a 1UP.
Hello again - I actually spotted a weakness in the new rule's banning of the F Heart in 8-1. The rule says that F hearts are banned since they also give you a 1-up.
The problem - picking up the standard heart that you get from collecting 10 Felix heads actually also gives you a 1-up in 8-1. Typically, the heart gives you a 1-up if you are in Felix's final form, and in 8-1 Felix only has one form. Again, this is a situation unique to 8-1.
My recommendation is to either allow both F hearts and normal hearts in 8-1 despite the 1-up you get from the normal heart, or just remove the 1-up portion of the wording from the explanation as to why you cannot get F hearts in 8-1. Only allowing milk bottles but neither of the hearts in 8-1 feels very convoluted to me. You could also rename the category if desired to 'No Powerups' if you think 1-ups should never be allowed in something labeled "low%". Personally, I don't see an issue with allowing the player to pick up a 1-up in low%. It's only relevance to the speedrun is if you plan on taking a game over, and at that point, your run is already not very fast.
Let me know what you think.
There are many games in which Low% refers to not upgrading your weapon. I see no issue with that perspective for this category. I've updated the rules. Picking up a 1UP is fine, as long as you never change Felix's form in any stage.
