About the HSTL / ROM / Hacks

• The HSTL is an old-school tecmo league.  The standard for our ROM and league, in general, is to make it as close as possible to the original experience of playing Tecmo Super Bowl (AKA, “the OG ROM”) on the NES console.  This is an unattainable ideal in the online tecmo world, for a few reasons (eg, conditions checker, lag, etc.), but it is our guiding philosophy when needed.  The HSTL is comprised of the 28 original TSB NFL teams, each team consisting of all the original Tecmo Super Bowl players, which we re-draft each season.
• Players can be injured, but they do not miss multiple games, just the remainder of the game in which they were injured.
• The HSTL applies the following hacks to the OG ROM: preseason injuries hack (you can play your season games in preseason), tackle-stats hack (it will count the tackles defenders make), the fumble in the end zone hack (which prevents stats from being lost when a player is tackled in the endzone and fumbles) and Bruddog’s stat extractions including the Tap Meter during game play.

Requirements for Participation

• You must be able to operate Discord and/or AIM and the “brutopia” anti-cheat version of Nestopia 1.39 that is available in the download section of tecmobowl.org.
• You must complete the amount of games required by deadlines, and failure to do so can and will result in consequences outlined in the HSTL Deadlines and Consequences thread.
• Your internet connection must be fast enough to keep Nestopia at 60 FPS. Please watch the video below as an example of too much lag (for HSTL) http://www.twitch.tv/hstltecmo/c/5484126

Game Rules

• POSITION LIMITATIONS: RBs can play RB, WR or TE without restriction.  WTs (WRs & TEs) can play RB, WR or TE… BUT THEY MAY NEVER RUN THE BALL FROM THE RB POSITION.  Any player may run the ball on reverses, however.  As to which players are classfiied as RBs, and which are WTs… these were defined during the draft.  Although some WTs occupy RB slots on the original ROM (and therefore during the Draft as well to maintain roster balance), and vice versa for RBs… all WTs in the RB slots were specially marked as WTs, and RBs in WT slots were specially marked as RBs on the Google Draft Doc.  Comprende?  Bueno.
• NO LURCHING:“When crossing over the line of scrimmage WITHIN the restricted circle with a DL, before making a play on the ball carrier, you must first bump or grapple with an opposing player who is not the ball carrier. There are no restrictions on DL when the offense is in the shotgun or when crossing over the line of scrimmage OUTSIDE the restricted circle.”

• FOURTH MAN DOWN: Use of fourth man down on PATs and FGs is completely and 100% street LEGAL.
• ONSIDE KICKS: Onside kicks are legal at any point in the game.
• TACKLING IN END ZONE: Go ahead and tackle in the endzone, we applied a hack to the ROM which will not cause a player to lose stats when they fumble in the endzone.
• RECORD ALL GAMES: RECORD ALL GAMES (via NSV, OBS, twitch or some other source).  This is not an enforceable rule at this time, so feel free to flaunt it if you really need to, but all players are expected to record via NSV, at the least.  After the game, winners are expected to save the state (STA file), and upload the state to the website, as well as the NSV.
• DESYNCS: In the event of a game desyncing, the owners involved need to man up and sort it out. If they can’t, the commissioner will make a determination about what should be done. Generally speaking, the game ought to be replayed from the point of the desync if possible.
• NO QUITTING / NO ASSHOLES: Do not quit, give up, forfeit, or throw any HSTL league game. Always compete to win, and always strive to maintain the integrity (standings, statistics and general well-being) of this great league.  Do not skip the coin toss unless there is mutual agreement to do so.  After the game, if you lose, you must allow a reasonable amount of time for your opponent to get a save state and snap of the game summary screen.  Don’t be an “asshole” in-game either, which can be defined in a variety of ways, but for now shall remain the sole discretion of the commissioner to interpret and enforce.  Remember though, in case you ever need to file a complaint, to ALWAYS RECORD… for without video proof it’s far less likely any action will be taken on your behalf for in-game douchebaGGery.
• CHEATING: No collusion between owners.  No using turbo.  No using the play-picking program.  However, the Conditions Checker program is permissible.  If you are new and don’t know about this program, you might be interested in learning more about it (allows you to see the conditions of all players, offense/defense, on both teams on a seperate side window)… it can be downloaded somewhere on this website.
• CONSEQUENCES OF CHEATING: If the league finds you guilty of CHEATING, then the first offense is a 2-season boot, or MORE (commissioner’s discretion for the penalty).  The second offense is a lifetime ban.
• COMMISH: The commish, or whomever is dropping ROMS, is not allowed to change his alignments during a double ROM drop.  For example, if Weeks 3 and 4 are scheduled to drop on the same date, the commish cannot change his alignments inbetween the Week 3 and 4 drop, since other players don’t have that privilege.
• COMPLAINTS: If you think your opponent has broken any of the game rules or the game was unplayable due to lag or desynchs, please register your complaint with them. If a just conclusion is not reached between the two contestants, or if the violation affects the result of the game, then you may file a complaint AFTER THE GAME with the commissioner by sending him a PM, preferably.  Cases of game rule violations will be dealt with on a game-by-game basis; possible penalties may include, but are not limited to, a forced replay or forfeited win.

Draft

• Original TSB players are drafted each new season in a multi-round, timed snake draft.  The number of rounds often varies season to season, depending on the format of drafting, e.g., individual players or tandems.  Generally speaking, we “roll” (un-timed) the draft until the playoffs are done, and usually start timing it out around 48 hours after the Super Bowl.  This is always subject to change, however, based on the pace of postseason play.
• Draft order will be a lottery system, broken into tiers based on the owner’s prior record, and sometimes their reputation.  The random lottery will then create an order within those tiers, and after we put those all together we have our initial draft order.  Once the initial draft order is determined, we will commence with “Round Zero” in which each owner in succession selects their draft position (e.g. #1, #12, etc.) for the remainder of the snake draft.  After that, we roll out into Round 1, and start selecting players.
• Following the draft, OL may be aligned in any way. DL may be aligned in any way as well. LBs can play any LB position. DBs can play any DB position. RB, WR and TE are interchangeable but only RBs can receive direct hand offs (not counting reverses).
• The time posted by your name is when you may make your pick. The following time posted by the next person picking is your deadline. As long as ALL the people before you have picked, you may pick before your posted time.
• If you know you are going to not be able to post when your pick is due, the only guaranteed way to get the pick that you want is to post a list on the pinned threat atop the draft forum. If you would like to take your chances, you may also have someone else post for you or send someone a PM letting them know who you want.
• If you miss your pick, either the Commish or Draft Mods will make an auto-pick for you at the end of that round. If you missed your pick and were not proactive in filling your team, don’t bitch about your outcome. This upsets the commissioner.
• Once you’ve posted, you may not retract your pick, unless no one has picked behind you.
• For near simultaneous posts from someone whose pick is up and from someone who is behind in the draft, post order will determine who gets what.
• See the DRAFT FORUM for more details and rules about drafting.

Trading

• There is no trading allowed.  Draft what you need to win.

Playoffs

• 12 teams make the playoffs: 3 division winners and 3 wildcards from each conference.
• We will adhere to the NFL’s CURRENT Tie-breaking Procedures.  In the event that some games are unplayed, and this affects the playoff race… the commissioner will weigh various factors (such as effort to play the games) to determine who will advance to the postseason.
• The home team for the Super Bowl will be determined the same way the NFL does it: The designated “home team” alternates between the NFC team in odd-numbered games and the AFC team in even-numbered games.
• Please send all playoff NSVs to the commissioner for converting to YouTube video, which he will post for all to enjoy.  Or, you can do it yourself.  Or, you can suck a lemon and do not send or post an NSV or vid of any sort whatsoever… ya f’n jerk.

Replacement Owners

• Replacement owners must play at least 8 games with their team before they are eligible for the playoffs.