It's been more than long enough, so here comes your next official contest! Welcome to the SMBX All-Stars Level Contest. Whether you're a past winner and all-star designer or an all-star in the making, this is a great opportunity for anyone to participate in a fun community event and receive some feedback on your level design skills.
All levels will also be featured in a contest episode, which you can hold me to saying it will be released within a reasonable amount of time at the end of the contest.
As usual, your objective is to submit the best SMBX level you can possibly make. Once your level is finished, please PM it to me, PixelPest, as I will be handling the compiling of the levels. You can also DM your level to me on Discord, @PixelPest#3094.
Judges
- PixelPest
- Spinda
- bossedit8
- Level Design and Gameplay (50%): Is the level structured in a way that supports gameplay? Is it enjoyable? Is it's length sufficient (not too long or too short)? Are enemies and obstacles placed effectively? Is the difficulty appropriate throughout the level? Does it flow nicely?
- Creativity (30%): Is the level unique and memorable? Is the gimmick or main mechanic developed effectively?
- Aesthetics (20%): Do the elements in the level fit graphically? Is there an effective atmosphere created by the music, graphics, and general feel of the level?
Going off of the success of the Super Community Contest, we've implemented a similar set of rules and guidelines. Here are the rules for the contest.
Breaking the following will result in disqualification:
- You are only allowed to submit one level. You can submit as many times as you want before the deadline (to update your submission if needed), but we will only take your most recent submission.
- You are allowed to work alone or with a partner (no more than two people to a level). You can use a team name and both usernames will be listed in the results.
- Your level must be completeable with 1.3.0.1 and/or SMBX2. No 1.4/38A levels are allowed.
- Your level may include any type and any number of exits besides the warp exit or by ending the game (via "legacy boss").
- You may not purposely submit a generic joke level, or any other form of the level that is intended to be of poor-quality.
- You must submit before the deadline for your level to be part of the contest.
- You may not post a download link in public to your level before the results of your level are released.
- You may not submit a previously-released level or a level which is not of your own making. You may not edit another level and submit it, neither your own nor someone else's.
- When using newly-added SMBX2-Beta3 content, copy any related APIs (from data/LuaScriptsLib) to your custom graphics/assets folder. Many new features such as the new character may go under revisions before the final version, meaning your levels may be broken in the future. If you really want to use SMBX2 content, you must copy the relevant API to your level folder and load that API locally to avoid this problem.
- It is highly recommended that you specify in a read-me text file what playable character is required to play your level so we know how you want us to play it. Alternatively, use character blocks (or a player filter in LunaLua) to achieve this. If not specified, the judges will play your level with Mario. If your level is not playable with Mario (and you have not specified anything in read-me, included player blocks, or made a player filter in LunaLua), the judges are not required to test your level using other characters and will judge it accordingly with Mario.
- Try to avoid music files that are longer than five minutes to keep the file size limited. Music formats such as .ogg generally have a smaller file size than formats like .wav and .mp3, so consider using these instead if you want to include longer music.
These are a few answers to things often asked about contests though not explicitly mentioned in the rules.
- Yes, you may show screenshots of your level and discuss it publicly, as long as you do not provide a public download link (which is subject to disqualification).
- No, there is no point deduction for submissions after they deadline, they will just be disqualified. If your level is that last minute consider then you maybe should have planned ahead a little better.
- No, your level does not need to end in an SMB3 star; it can end in any exit besides the warp exit or an exit which ends the game. You can have as many exits as you want (but be careful with too many), as long as you have no more than three SMB3 stars.
Following these guidelines will most likely increase the chances of you performing well in the contest, so do give it a read.
- Be creative! Rompy levels, even the solid ones, often fail to score well in contests. Try something new and explore a little, as this is the best opportunity to really test yourself, and something unique and memorable will impress the judges and everyone else too! Remember that 30% of your score comes from how creative your level is. Try to find a gimmick you can play around with and build on. Take a frequently used mechanic and put a new spin on it or come up with something completely original and you're bound to do well in that category.
- Test your level from beginning to end, as if the judges are playing it. This isn't limited to you testing it, but consider getting your friends and/or other community members to test it as well (just not the judges). Contest after contest people don't test their levels and then suffer when the results come in. Be sure that (1) your level is actually beatable (2) the player start position is in the correct place (3) make sure NPCs with custom graphics have proper death effects and text files if their size or animations are different.
- Have fun when making your level. The judges can often tell who had fun making their level. This is your time to choose whatever theme, style, mechanics, etc. that you love and do your best with them.
- Make sure your level is, well, fun! If you don't think your level is fun to play, chances or the judges won't enjoy it so much either. Find some things you can do to make the gameplay of your level fun and memorable. Try to minimize things like repetitive obstacles, waiting for moving layers or platforms, backtracking, etc.
How to submit your level
Once your level is complete, make sure that your folders look similar enough the following images. Most users will only have the .lvl file, a folder for their custom graphics, and custom music.
Inside the level folder:
Outside the level folder:
Please don't include any kind of screenshots or videos.
After you've checked that, you can then compile your level into one file that can be extracted by the judges. Use programs such as WinZIP, WinRAR, or 7-zip to accomplish this. There are also online file archivers that you can try if you don't have one of these programs and don't want to download one.
Zipped folder:
Then upload your file using online hosting services, such as Dropbox, and send the download link to PixelPest via PM or DM your level to me on Discord, @PixelPest#3094. Do not use Sendspace as the links do expire.
Participant List
- krazykat
- Ludwig_von Koopa
- Yang
- Bowser is ded
- Darkonious Mavakar
- Shadow Turtle
- FrozenHeatDesert
- 7NameSam
- DreDust
- Ditchencat
- ShadowStarX
- 1AmPlayer
- Quantumenace
- The0x539
- Sanct
- Zipper
- Snowy_Desert
- AndrewPixel
- Smesblem
- Quantix
- Cloth pocket
- h2643
- 55jedat555
- Taycamgame
- Artemis008
- Enjl
- Yoshi021
- thehelmetguy1
- Ryaa
- Musicality_Minister45
- Mosaic
- MECHDRAGON777
- litchh
- Pseudo
- Electriking
- ap3jmpt
- Ness-Wednesday
- kinggodot
- NegativeBread
Deadline: All levels must be submitted by March 21st, 7:00PM EST.
Good luck and have fun!
Results Part 1: viewtopic.php?f=69&t=20714&start=280#p322108
Results Part 2: viewtopic.php?f=69&t=20714&p=322229#p322229
Results Part 3: viewtopic.php?f=69&t=20714&start=300#p322295
Results Part 4: viewtopic.php?f=69&t=20714&p=322373#p322373
Final Results (also listed below): viewtopic.php?f=69&t=20714&p=322449#p322449
These are the final results!
- Enjl - him name jorfrey big cat (91.7/100)
- Ditchencat - SwitchPalace Shadows (85.3/100)
- Quantumenace - Zenith Weapon Works (84.7/100)
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