I entirely agree with NerDose's assessment. Unless a trick or gimmick is completely intuitive on its own, a well-designed level will ease into said trick; introducing it in a way that a player will understand, in case they're not familiar with the mechanic.
...
For those who are curious and weren't in the Discord, one particular level required the use of glitches and generally "unusual" mechanics that almost none of the judges were familiar with. I've been playing SMW hacks and contest entries for over six years, and I was totally lost at certain points. The people who defended the level repeatedly cited a level from JUMP1/2 that used the gimmicks and "should" have made us more familiar with them, but I (and most of the other judges) have simply never played JUMP.
However, even if I knew everything about the tricks beforehand, I don't believe I would have judged the level any differently. It's not just the judges who might potentially be playing the levels, and most of the other players will likely run into similar issues.
Sancles:
In regards to the creativity thing, that's a much trickier and more subjective issue. I'm aware that the quote you screenshotted was from NopeContest's feedback notes, but here's the way I personally see it; the requirement to include an explanation was more or less to cover all necessary bases in case a couple of the judges happened to miss the point. However, that doesn't mean the level's connection to the theme should be so vague to the point where you're practically required to read the text to understand what the connection is at all. There were plenty of levels (including that one, I believe?) where the judges had to communicate with one another to understand the level's thematic connection, even after reading the text files.
This type of thing is also why it's necessary to have multiple judges. I actually liked your level a lot, and the way it connected to the level's theme was super impressive to me - it seems that some of the other judges did not agree. I think it's a bit unfair to claim this means that some judges were unfit to judge, it just means that we all interpreted the thematic connections in different ways.
Twitter
The handomest people in the world are ones who follow my Twitch
...
For those who are curious and weren't in the Discord, one particular level required the use of glitches and generally "unusual" mechanics that almost none of the judges were familiar with. I've been playing SMW hacks and contest entries for over six years, and I was totally lost at certain points. The people who defended the level repeatedly cited a level from JUMP1/2 that used the gimmicks and "should" have made us more familiar with them, but I (and most of the other judges) have simply never played JUMP.
However, even if I knew everything about the tricks beforehand, I don't believe I would have judged the level any differently. It's not just the judges who might potentially be playing the levels, and most of the other players will likely run into similar issues.
Sancles:
In regards to the creativity thing, that's a much trickier and more subjective issue. I'm aware that the quote you screenshotted was from NopeContest's feedback notes, but here's the way I personally see it; the requirement to include an explanation was more or less to cover all necessary bases in case a couple of the judges happened to miss the point. However, that doesn't mean the level's connection to the theme should be so vague to the point where you're practically required to read the text to understand what the connection is at all. There were plenty of levels (including that one, I believe?) where the judges had to communicate with one another to understand the level's thematic connection, even after reading the text files.
This type of thing is also why it's necessary to have multiple judges. I actually liked your level a lot, and the way it connected to the level's theme was super impressive to me - it seems that some of the other judges did not agree. I think it's a bit unfair to claim this means that some judges were unfit to judge, it just means that we all interpreted the thematic connections in different ways.
The handomest people in the world are ones who follow my Twitch