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The 6th Annual SMW Central Level Design Contest [Discussions]

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talk right here.

e: Link to all entries
Layout by LDA during C3.
Uh...excuse me, but I have something to say. And take this less as whining and more of a user's opinion. Thanks. c:

The Vanilla Design Contest has always been one of creativity. What are these rules, why are they in place? They hamper creativity extraordinarily. Isn't it up to the designer to make the level the most enjoyable they can, especially using palettes to make the theme interesting? I'm honestly disappointed by the rules set in place for this. Why are siluhoettes forbidden, of all things? It's a designers aesthetic choice that doesn't mean that it's automatically better. Would you mind explaing that to me, please?
Was there any discussion on these rules? I'm 100% certain that I'm not the only one upset by this.
Also, I don't understand the judging aspect either. This seems to kind of a slightly more negative aspect on it. "Unfulfilling"? "Not for me"? I'm curious to hear why this was chosen over standard placing format. It might be just my opinion, but I feel as this kind of leaves more room to basically capitalize on a level's misfortune of being subpar. It really also cuts down the competitive spirit.

Underway also wanted me to pass his opinion along, so here you go bro. He's out for the weekend, skiing or something.

[Underway] you can go ahead and tell them that I hate it as well
[Underway] also you can go ahead and tell them that I find it absolutely disgusting how this year's rules and judging doesn't only make graphics not count for anything anymore, although they are a very important part of hacking for some and still needed, even if the creator is more of a level design person, but he also applies his personal preferences to the contest and doesn't give a shit about making something the community likes.

But, yes, this is how I feel. Please do not take this as rude, but I am just very passionatly disappointed. I really hope you can see my real intentions to the post. A non-rude response would be very gratefully-recieved. Have a good day, and thanks for reading.

Oh, and let the best level win.




What creativity is hampered other than graphical creativity? In recent years the contest has been attempting to move away from the rut it got into where graphical creativity started overtaking actual level design as the foremost important aspect. With these new rules (which are definitely more restrictive) the contest can focus on getting back to its original purpose of being the level design competition I created 5 years ago.
haha, this is what i call vanilla.

i honestly dont mind the rules, and will gladly join
I, for one, agree with NoelYoshi. The vanilla level design contest is about being creative with SMW's vanilla resources. This means things like map16 manipulation (such as using graphics from 1C,2C,2D etc) are a crucial part in showcasing one's creativity within the contest. Being "forced" to strip down to only using plain, simple, and frankly overused graphics with no room for maneuveration or creativity is a touch disappointing to me. I guess I was really quite looking forward to trying a vanilla level out for this contest and seeing how I'd score, but knowing that even palettes are somewhat frowned upon (ie. you're not allowed to make them "stand out" too much from the norm) does upset me too.

Also, "Unfilling" and "Not for me"? Has this turned into Pessimism central without me knowing? Or has this turned into SMWC's 1st "Don't be creative!" contest? I'm not quite sure. :(
I completely agree with NoelYoshi, i was one of the few people on IRC who spoke their opinion on rules 5b and 5e. What annoys me is that in place of removing these options, you leave in the 5a, which isn't considered "vanilla" at all.
Level design isn't my strongest point.
That's why I'll just sit here and look for people's entries. This will be sure a cool contest.(Even with those restrictive rules)
Good luck everyone who's joining and joined.#thp{;)}
Oh boy, that'll be fun! I'll join this, although I don't mind if the rules are more restrictive compared to last year. Good luck to everyone! Also:
Originally posted by JDC
Also, "Unfilling" and "Not for me"? Has this turned into Pessimism central without me knowing? Or has this turned into SMWC's 1st "Don't be creative!" contest? I'm not quite sure.

I think what's meant there is if there's any entries that weren't good enough to be qualified as a easy entry (hi Nine Inch Fireballs, or whatever it's called).
Windowless ride, feeling alive
Are you alive or just breathing?
OH BOY! I have been waiting for this, but I wasn't expecting it as soon in the month of February as this. I've been wanting another chance to make a better entry after last year's Punishing Pothole.
In addition to my regular entry, I'm thinking of also making another version of my entry that uses custom music but is otherwise identical. That version will NOT be submitted, it will just reside in my filebin.
Legacy custom music
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SMW hacking channel

Okay, so, what's up with this years rules?

First, we're not allowed to use background graphics for foreground stuff and vice versa, nor can we use sprites for foreground stuff. I know that from last year, a lot of people LOVED doing this, and doing this only squanders one's creativity. Second, we can't even change the palette of certain things to make it work with other tilesets from SMW? What? I know that a lot of people like using the cave dirt tile with the grass one, and this is actually a very bothersome thing. But, what we CAN do, is make ExGFX files to mix sprites with eachother? What?

I really don't know how I feel about these rules. These contests were always meant to be a way to express creativity with only the game's original graphics, while still making a fun to play level. Focusing on level design alone is not going to cut it. People usually make gigantic mixes with tilesets because they don't only want a good level, but also a pleasing one for one's eyes.

I'm sorry, but this contest is not what it used to be for me, and I am sure others can agree with me on this.

EDIT: tl;dr: The atmosphere of a level only adds to its design. Hampering such a thing only makes a level lack more. Sure, we can go with our standard castle, forest, or grassland level, but we've seen that enough times now, haven't we? Just think about it for a while.
Originally posted by Lightvayne
5a. You may use ExGFX ONLY to mix SPRITE tilesets (no remaps). To mix FG/BG tilesets, use Super GFX Bypass with the original GFX files.

So what you're saying is that we are not allowed to mix sprite tilesets. For example, I would not be allowed to replace the goomba sprite with a Happy Coin (I don't know why I would ever want to, but its just an example.)
Likewise, we are not allowed to merge a foreground or background tileset, and would need to place the original, unedited gfx file in a bg2 or 3 slot and map it that way, correct?

Originally posted by Lightvayne
You may use custom palettes, but NOT in order to make any tiles appear aesthetically different from their original intended purpose.

How strict is this rule, exactly? This ledge uses a palette to make the cloud transition with it seamlessly. Obviously this was not the intended use of this ledge, but it is still a ledge.
I'm assuming you just don't want another lunar limbo, but again, clarification is always nice.

edit: grav makes a valid point. Does that mean we aren't even allowed to edit the underground palette to make it blend with the grass foreground? If so, then THAT is definitely a major blow to creativity.

edit2: That underground thing was just a specific example, but if we serious can't edit palettes to allow tilesets to blend together then that really is not the bees knees.
ask me if i give a f*ck...
Originally posted by Lightvayne
1a. Unless stated otherwise, you may ONLY use Lunar Magic to build your entry.

Originally posted by Lightvayne
5a. You may use ExGFX ONLY to mix SPRITE tilesets (no remaps). To mix FG/BG tilesets, use Super GFX Bypass with the original GFX files.

A statement that says otherwise? I guess that means YY-CHR is the only tool besides LM we can use, but only to mix sprite tilesets so sprites don't glitch, and only with the sprite's exact SMW graphics?
Legacy custom music
A site with a non-useless dislike button
SMW hacking channel

I dunno, as someone who thinks a level should be playable before it looks good, I don't really care about these restrictions. Although, I'll miss making trees in the background, it makes more sense to pull people away from what they were doing before. Where they'd put a TON of time and effort into how the level looks, and not focus at all on how it plays.

The rules are essentially: If it's vanilla, it should look vanilla. You can still do plenty while sticking to these rules.
What the hell? Isn't this all about creativity? How does forcing the designer to design a specific way make this contest more creative? When would limiting what the player can do with their level qualify as letting them focus on level design? Sure, i understand making rules to make sure people focus on making a quality level, but these rules just contradict this idea in every way.

ie:

Originally posted by LV
You may ONLY use foreground graphics for foregrounds, background graphics for backgrounds, and sprite graphics for the sprite(s) they were originally used for. You may NOT use overworld, cutscene, or any other miscellaneous graphics in the level.


Originally posted by LV
5e. You may use custom palettes, but NOT in order to make any tiles appear aesthetically different from their original intended purpose.


This isn't allowing level design to flourish. This is punishing the designer for trying to go above and beyond what SMW had to offer.

Good job guys. 10/10
Later.
I agree with all the dissent here. These rules are...stupid. Yes, I've always hated how graphics always seemed to win out over the gameplay of a level, but... If the judging is to be based solely on level design, why not just allow us our graphical trickery and ignore the graphics when judging?

But that leads me to my point: you can't. If a person makes a level that has very good gameplay, but looks like someone puked graphically, the judges won't be giving it a very good score. I already have confirmation from Lightvayne on this. The fact of the matter is, while we want to focus on level design, aesthetics still matter, and the only thing these rules do is stifle creativity. Yes, I get that you want the level design to be what matters the most, and I want that, too...but is that worth pushing everyone away from the contest?
<Adam> I feel like smwc is a prostitute now, because we put up a porn ad for money
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Not entering this one, basicly for the reasons mentioned above.

Sigh.
I think you people are exaggerating right there. I mean, why all that whining about the new rules (though I agree with what Sokobansolver said about rule 1a) when this contest gets more and more stricter as years pass? If you don't really agree with the new rules, don't join the contest at all.
Windowless ride, feeling alive
Are you alive or just breathing?
The rules would be clearer if you just stated what we can do, but I get the point. Still, its not what people are used to, and will be disadvantegous to people who don't tend or just don't do vanilla hacking, while others who always do such will have a slight advantage.
Any who, might participate, depending on how exams pile up #smw{¬_¬}.

So yeah, will we be able to link to an IPS here, so we can be informed of rule breaking? I'm still unshure about the ExAnimation limitations, are we only able to mix FGs through GFX bypass, and not having an extra on exanimation, to mix files? Like sprite tilemap mixing only with the FG, to get 2-3 use full 8x8s.
Also, palettes? Whats wrong with those? What is considered making it aesthetically different? Making the grass look damper/dryer, as an example. I know that making it white so it looks like snow is not allowed, but to what point can we change them?

I think that this is done with good intentions, but it appears to not be having a good response...
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I want to use custom music =[
Your layout has been removed.
I actually think these new rules are pretty interesting, that's why I'm going to take part of this contest if I find the time ;)
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