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ZX Spectrum Churchyard by Para-Kwpa

File Name: ZX Spectrum Churchyard
Submitted: by Para-Kwpa
Authors: Para-Kwpa
Type: Original
Purpose: Foreground
Description: A churchyard inspired by Sir Fred, Lemmings and Shadow of the Beast.

Please set the background colour to black, or there will be a load of black pixels messily strewn over the tiles.
Screenshots:
Hey it looks like you are pretty new to the site and this is your first submission. So welcome! Hope you're liking it here so far! Since this seems like this is your first time doing pixel art, follow this link to the graphics workshop in the graphics subforum!
Go ahead and check out some of the resources and guides we have available for doing custom graphics for SMW, all written by pixel artists on this site. If you want, also check out our Discord where you can chat with other people from the site, if you haven't already.

This is probably your first submission rejection, but don't get discouraged! Not everyone gets their things accepted on the first try. I've had my fair share of rejections in the past. #smrpg{:D}

So, let's get into detail of why your submission was rejected.

First, your palmask file has the wrong colors. The colors with the X are the ones excluded, meaning you actually included every color EXCEPT the colors you actually need. It was sorta confusing for everyone too to be honest when this feature first came out, so I don't blame you. Just be aware of this next time as it is one of the main rules for submissions, and any submission that does not follow will get instantly rejected.


Also it seems that your map16 is wrong. The included level is using blocks that do no exist in the given map16. Maybe you included an old map16 when making your zip?


Also, since this is a custom tileset it does need to be a little bit more robust in terms of design. I would strongly recommend checking out that workshop to get you started off on how to pixel art, assuming this is your first time doing it! Follow the tips and tricks there to help hone your skills and see what more you can do with this tileset before you make a re-submission.

Don't be afraid to reach out to the Graphics mods or any other pixel artist you come by for any tips, etc!



Now, none of these are reasons for rejection, just general tips. You mentioned to make sure the background is black to prevent random black pixels. In this case, you can just get rid of all the black colors in ALL 8x8 tiles and use transparency cuz they achieve the same effect. These black colors are unnecessary here. This way, the background can be any color the user chooses and there wouldn't be any random, floating pixels. This would also allow people to use actual background rather than just a static color. When making a custom tileset, it's best to make the foreground compatible with backgrounds (not all, but this allows users more flexibility when making their levels). Just a tip for next time!


Also when submitting a custom graphic, just put the title of the set. ie. don't put the ZX Spectrum in the name since it's not a rip of an existing graphic. You can mention in the description that it's inspired by ZX Spectrum games, but having it in the title creates confusion.

You also mentioned you had a hard time taking a picture of the map16 so here's a little trick: To take pictures of the map16, the palette, etc. you can hit alt+print screen when you're in that window. This takes a screenshot of only the current window you are on.
File Name: Speccy Churchyard
Submitted: by Para-Kwpa
Authors: Para-Kwpa
Type: Original
Purpose: Foreground
Description: A churchyard inspired by Sir Fred, Lemmings and Shadow of the Beast.

That's... really it. Yeah.
Screenshots:

Removal Reason(s):
  • Your sample level has a tile that's not included in your Map16 (36C). Your sample level should also showcase more (preferably all) tiles included in your submission.
  • The black pixels pointed out in the previous rejection log are still there, and for palette space and user flexibility reasons I'll insist you change them to color 0 (transparency), which should be a really quick edit so why not.
  • Your Map16 needs some fixing: first of all, I don't see any reason to keep tiles 300, 301 and 302, since there's no real reason for them to act like solid tiles for the given graphics and tileset, considering that they look passable from below and there are no wall tiles to be used with them. Tiles 310, 311 and 312 do what those do but better, since they look and are passable from below and avoid hill tripping when they're used in conjunction with the slope tiles. Tiles 303 and 313 should act like tile 1E2, and tiles 304 and 314 should act like tile 1E4, which are proper slope assist tiles and are required for your slopes to work correctly in-game. Tiles 351 and 352 are duplicates of 331 and 332, except they act like solid tiles, which doesn't make sense, because they're half transparent. Tile 342 should act like tile 25, just like tile 341 does, since it's a mirrored version of it. Tile 361 should act like a ledge/cloud tile due to how it looks. Tile 362 acts better like tile 25, as it doesn't look neither like a solid or a ledge tile. Tiles 337, 347 and 358 are all identical and there's no reason to keep all 3, so get rid of 2 of them. Lastly, the water tiles should act like water tiles, which is more intuitive than they acting like tile 25.
  • Your palmask doesn't include the back area color, which is used by your submission. Just remove the X in it and re-export it.
Mind General Guideline number 10 when submitting this again: "10. For much easier insertion, ExGFX files should be named as 'ExGFXxx.bin', where xx stands for the number."

In the previous rejection log it was mentioned that you shouldn't include "ZX Spectrum" in the name of your submission so it wouldn't look like this is a rip of some existing graphics, but I'll correct that statement and say that you're allowed to name it along the lines of "ZX Spectrum Styled Churchyard", since it makes it clear that the submission isn't ripped and it's based off of something. The current submission name is just fine too.