Nova Level Contest 2 (It begins!)

[Cedur]

Welcome to the Second Nova Contest! The decision to host this was already made several months back, with the community deciding on a gimmick, and after CCX1 successfully took place, this contest is next!
There is a full 2-month deadline so you have plenty of time to create your level or even two if you like. However, avoid procrastinating if you want to participate, you might miss your time later on!


The community has decided about the gimmick, and it's No Powerups! This means that your character may not receive any higher powerup state at any time of the level, regardless whether its done by normal powerup items, filter blocks or scripting.
However, mounts are still allowed.
You can also use checkpoints, but to keep Mario in small state, you must either script accordingly or place passive Small Mario filter blocks around the checkpoints.

Further rules:
Only SMBX 2.0 Beta 4 submissions will be allowed. We recommend to use the latest patch. Any Beta 4 characters are allowed.
Don't use switch palaces and switch palace blocks (you don't need them anyway).
Judging is supposed to be 100% anonymous, so any prior showcasing of your level (or giving hints about what your level is) before the results will not be allowed.
Your level can use up to 3 exits and up to 3 stars, respectively.
In light of the recent CCX1 contest, up to 2 submissions per participant are allowed here as well.
The judges won't compete.
Collabs are allowed. It's also possible to have one collab and one standalone entry.



Here is the team for this contest:

Main host: Cedur

Level distributor: LGLMAKING

Video promoter: YoshiSuperstar

World Map/Hub Maker: MECHDRAGON777

Judges:

Cedur, Owner of the Novaverse Community Discord Server.
Eclipsed, Owner of the Moon Base Discord Server; SMBX Server Newsletter Team Member; SMBX Episode Projects Staff Member; Super Mario ReInvent Staff Member; and Novaverse Assistant Staff Member.
Inferno, Assistant Staff Member of the Novaverse Community Discord Server and Owner of MATWOD.

Extra Judges: Free Spot
If you're interesting in judging, hit us up, it's always good to have a fourth judge, as well as backup judges in case one of us gets problems.

Judging rubric:
Difficulty balance and playability: 50 points
Creativity: 30 points
Aesthetics: 20 points



Since this is a contest for the community, it has been decided this contest won't be connected to the Novaverse or be impacted by it in any way, it's our way of thank people for sticking so long with us and providing them with something to play even if it's not official to the Novaverse.
Like with the showcase of the first Nova Contest, there will be a video showcase of all submissions and Eclipsed will stream them as well, so stay tuned for that.

HOW TO SUBMIT: Send a PM to LGLMAKING containing your submission(s). You should zip your submission and use a common hosting service like Mediafire, Google Drive, Dropbox, MEGA.

DEADLINE: October 19th, 23:59 PST (October 6th, 8:59 AM CET)

[MECHDRAGON777]

I might as well try to make something.

Edit: In knowing the poor "Anonymity" rule, I might as well apply for backup judge.

[Waddle]

Me and some of my friends (James Gaming) would like to collab as three people; why isn't this allowed?

[Cedur]

Ok I just took it from CCX1 but it's revoked.

[Emral]

How is a "higher powerup state" defined? My assumption is "anything non-mount that causes the player to die in more than a single hit", but I wanna make sure, because of edge cases like...
- Starman (doesn't change Powerup State)
- P-Balloon (still die in 1 hit)
- Transforming the player into a different character (still die in 1 hit)
- Mini Mushroom (technically a different state, but still die in 1 hit)
- Transforming the player into a different character that happens to be resprited to the former character in mini state (if mini mushroom is a powerup, transforming into other player must therefore also be)
- Fire Flower state that kills you if you take damage (I'm not sure what this is)
- Switching between different powerup states that kill you if you take damage (same thing)
- Giving a custom item like a double jump upgrade (same as the above 2 I think but fully lua?) (If this is a powerup, I think it would logically follow that character switches and the p-balloon are also powerups, since they are technically interchangable)
- Using the concept of death as a gimmick and making the player immortal (not a powerup but you don't actually ever die)

I'm not sure what kind of concepts are taboo so it would be good if someone could resolve some of that ambiguity. Thanks!

[Archived]

Archived

[Suckerman7 GM]

I'd love to give it a shot at this contest!

[LGLMAKING]

Hey y'all good luck! I'll be joining in on the fun too, since I'm not really a judge

[Teemster2]

Ping

Could you also add only one of these/fix under my section:
SMBX Server Newsletter Team, SMBX Episode Projects Staff Member, Super Mario ReInvent Staff Member, and fix it to Novaverse Assistant Staff Member.
I don't feel comfortable with only being mentioned as a staff team on the novaverse server due to personal reasons.

Why do the judges have so many titles listed for them? Not trying to be rude. I'm just curious. Never seen that before for a contest.

[Cedur]

It's not official titles, it's just the staff positions he has across the different SMBX Discord communities (there's the main server but it's not the only thing).

Also I'm really thinking about the mounts part, I think it allows for too many circumventions of the point "you're supposed to be small so you're always in risk of dying". Maybe do a quick 2-day poll?
Also I've never seen a minimushroom in X2.

I wouldn't disallow starman, it's just temporary and a starman speedrun challenge can be made (as it also occurrs in Kaizo levels)

[Emral]

Idk about poll, this seems like the kind of thing I'd have thought the contest team internally discusses before posting a thread.

[FireyPaperMario]

I would enter this contest, if it's okay for my NOVA level contest 2 entry is an short-medium size VVVVVV style maze level that follows the "Small Mario only" rule, also including a photo of an hand-drawn map* of the level drawn on graph paper in the download itself! If yes, I'll promise y'all it'll be a redemption for me since the AVLC 2019 contest! ^^"

---

*Also, I wanna do it that way because:

• So the judges of this contest won't get lost, and penalize me!

• I'll even include some map legends in the map.

[ElectriKong]

Nice violation of the 4th rule

Judging is supposed to be 100% anonymous, so any prior showcasing of your level (or giving hints about what your level is) before the results will not be allowed.

It's not official titles, it's just the staff positions he has across the different SMBX Discord communities (there's the main server but it's not the only thing).

It's not really necessary though.

Also I'm really thinking about the mounts part, I think it allows for too many circumventions of the point "you're supposed to be small so you're always in risk of dying". Maybe do a quick 2-day poll?

I agree with Enjl that the rules should have been discussed and finalised before starting the contest. If you're considering changing the rules after, then that is a potential red flag regarding the organisation of the contest.

Also I've never seen a minimushroom in X2.

Don't see how this invalidates the example regarding the ambiguity surrounding the gimmick of the contest. It still has the potential to be both a powerup and not a powerup depending on how one defines it, and is an example of how you may run into problems caused by a contestant having a different definition to the contest team on what a powerup is, if the current lack of clarification remains.

[Cedur]

Ok nvm me mounts will stay allowed, I just need to come up with a concise formulation of the rules.

[Superiorstar]

I might as well try to join this, this is ripe for some hard levels lol.

[Archived]

Archived

[MECHDRAGON777]

Not a fan of the rubric persé, then again; I could just be used to the CCX1 rubric. The ambiguity of the power-up rule is a big issue though.

[TheNightingale]

This should be called like "Daredevil Contest" lol

I think I didn't do bad judging last contest, so I won't do bad making a level (or two idk) this time (I hope). I will also try to script a gimmick for the first time if my computer lets me

[Cedur]

Ok so I'll try to give a more concise summary of the gimmick.

"Just don't use powerups and also don't mimick powerup usage by scripting or any other means. Mounts and starmen are fine, Mega Mushroom is not. Just make a level where Mario stays small." I hope you get the gist of it and if you're unsure about a specific concept you want to pull off then shoot a PM to LGL (as he's the level distributor)

[Emral]

I don't feel particularly comfortable about the prospect of just trusting the level distributor that the judges won't have a different view on things.

Does small mean "dies in one hit" then? Cause I think P-Balloon, Mini Mushroom, Swimming, switching to another character with 1 hp, and switching to a powerup but not increasing hp fit that definition. All of these make very similar alteration to the small player's movement, with Swimming and P-Balloon probably making the biggest changes, and all changes being around the level of a mount (without even the extra hit from 2 of the 3 types). So if one of them fits the definition all others probably should too, but if not then the definition should probably encompass why not. It's less about using different states or characters as a simulation of the powerup system, but decoupled from it and interpreted as their own one-hit character, in a sense. And fundamentally, is a fire flower mario that dies in one hit considered in a powerup state if he never gets the oppotunity to increase his power level? What if someone gives small Mario an inventory where he can select from one of the high-tier projectiles and summon it at will?

I feel like these things should've at least been considered when wording the definition, because "mimicking powerup usage" still doesn't define what a powerup is or what powerup usage constitutes (is it the switch between states? is there a list of taboo states or state switches? are all "small" states individually legal if scripts switch between them even though it's as significant as locking the player into a hammer suit, and less significant than a mount?). Maybe it's a matter of wording, but I feel like these things are still unclear.