Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

The Vanilla Villa. The level locale. Lasts from March 26th till April 26th. Go make!!
Emral
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Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:26 pm

Image

This contest runs from March 26th, 6PM GMT until Monday April 26th, 6PM GMT (1PM EST)

WHAT IS A VANILLA CONTEST?
The term "vanilla" refers to limiting yourself to out-of-the-box tools when making your levels. For the purposes of this contest, this means that you may not use any custom graphics, txt files, lua scripts or sound effect overrides. The ONLY CUSTOM THING you are allowed to use is custom music, because as good as Nimbus Land is as a song, it might not do well at getting the mood of your level across.
This means, that moreso than in other contest forms, the focus here is to be creative with the limited resource set that you have available! Moving layers, events, attach to layer, even abusing the spawn algorithm are all fair game.

OK BUT THERE ARE A TON OF SMBXES AVAILABLE!!!!
This contest will be judged using SMBX2 Beta 4 Patch 4 (released April 2021).Use the same version to create your levels to be on the safe side. This also means that we cannot accept SMBX38A submissions.

SUBMISSION
Please refer to the submissions thread for submission guidelines. If you have any questions about them, post them HERE and NOT in the submissions thread!

Further info about the contest in the spoiler tags below:

RULES
Spoiler: show
- The results and an episode including all submissions will be released simultaneously, a few weeks after submissions close
- Teams are allowed, cooperation is encouraged
- You may submit as many levels as you want, but try to prioritize quality over quantity of submissions.
- As previously outlined: SMBX38A is disallowed. The most recent version of SMBX2 is encouraged.
- You may use any characters you like, and any exit types you like. Bowser end game flags will be brutally removed.
- There is no hard cap on secrets and secret exits. However, try to place them within reason.
- Please make sure your music paths work. This is best ensured by testing after every change, even after renaming folders or moving files around, and then correcting any issues that came up.
- The episode will provide a set of palace switch toggles. You may use the 4 colours of palace switches in your levels, but you may not make them toggleable from within your level.
- Disqualifications will be handed out if....
-- It's very obvious that no attempt was made
-- The level is not by the author
-- The level is unbeatable or unreasonably difficult
-- The level contains crude, inappropriate or offensive content
JUDGING
Spoiler: show
This time around, the levels will be judged by Aristo, Chipss and NegativeBread. If tragedy strikes and one judge has to drop out, I (Enjl) will stand-in as a backup.
SCORING:
Levels in this competition can earn a maximum of 50 points, divided among the following subcategories:

15 POINTS: DESIGN
Is the level structurally sound? Are elements sensibly placed? Does the progression make structural sense? Is there a proper beginning, middle and end?

15 POINTS: CREATIVITY
With so many restrictions forced upon you, you HAVE to get creative to make cool stuff work! Who knows, maybe you'll find the newest spicy way to use Goombas!

10 POINTS: AESTHETICS
There are a lot of default graphics! And many of them work well even across themes! Make your vision come to life, but prefer quaintness over a garish color typhoon.

10 POINTS: FUN
The WILDCARD of categories! What will the judges think? Ohh man. Ohh boy. Secret tip from me: If you have fun playing your own level, you're on the right track! Make sure to get some testers either in private or by using the subforum to reaffirm your confidence!
REWARDS
Spoiler: show
- There will be badges crafted for the top 3 placements.
- Additionally, every participant has a chance to obtain individualized trophies handed out by the judges, similar to the trophies of the mystery contest.
- Trophies will be awarded by the judges based on stand-out performances, be it "highest score", "best story", "best aesthetics", "most funny" or anything else suitable. Some judges might award trophies they find humourous, too. Even levels that get a low score can earn such trophies by having cool elements or being otherwise remarkable!
- Every trophy will be visually designed as a little nugget you can put into your signature. Gotta catch 'em all!
- A single level can obtain multiple trophies.
Now get designing!

Added in 1 hour 33 minutes 38 seconds:
A round of applause for the people who signed up for the post notification!
Spoiler: show
Sux wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 11:05 pm
I'm in it
Fuyu wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 4:37 pm
AndrewPixel wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:51 pm
ElTipsta wrote:
Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:53 pm
MrDoubleA wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:00 am
Waddle wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:24 am
Sancles-Chan wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:26 am
Darkonius Mavakar wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:45 pm
SuperAlex wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 4:44 pm
Shinbison-Kof wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 6:41 pm
Suckerman7 GM wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:13 am
Saltlord wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:40 pm
Ness-Wednesday wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:43 pm
Shocken Studios wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:58 pm
lucstar06 wrote:
Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:17 am

Sux
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Sux » Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:22 am

Since I left this community 5 years ago and have just returned, I notice that a lot has changed.I remember in contest times, we used to send the levels by private message to the organizer so that the levels would reach the judges anonymously, now there's a topic to us post it in public. Isn't it risky to have biased reviews because of that?

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Sat Mar 27, 2021 12:02 pm

Sux wrote:
Sat Mar 27, 2021 10:22 am
Since I left this community 5 years ago and have just returned, I notice that a lot has changed.I remember in contest times, we used to send the levels by private message to the organizer so that the levels would reach the judges anonymously, now there's a topic to us post it in public. Isn't it risky to have biased reviews because of that?
Certainly a valid concern, but rest assured it's nothing to worry about. We've been using this system for a good while now and there hasn't been a measurable impact on the results by removing the anonymity rule.
Thing is, it never did a lot anyway, because a lot of community members have design styles that are easy for someone to just.. guess correctly after a single playthrough. Back when the anonymity rule was enforced, designers would also frequently "out" themselves by the graphics or music used, leaving in some clues in the level credits or having a "thanks for playing" self-insert at the end.
Hope that eases your mind on the matter!

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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby DisasterMaster » Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:23 am

Enjl wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:00 pm
The episode will provide a set of palace switch toggles. You may use the 4 colours of palace switches in your levels, but you may not make them toggleable from within your level.
Are these Switch Palace Toggles going to be in a "Preparation Hub" level similar to the Mario Challenge? Or are you going to create special levels to complete to activate them?

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Wed Mar 31, 2021 2:51 am

DisasterMaster wrote:
Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:23 am
Enjl wrote:
Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:00 pm
The episode will provide a set of palace switch toggles. You may use the 4 colours of palace switches in your levels, but you may not make them toggleable from within your level.
Are these Switch Palace Toggles going to be in a "Preparation Hub" level similar to the Mario Challenge? Or are you going to create special levels to complete to activate them?
They will be in the HUB. Additionally, I will temporarily add them to a sensible location in levels early on for the judging process, so they can be taken into account.

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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby MECHDRAGON777 » Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:15 pm

With the release of 2.0.0.b4.4, would we be using that, or remain with 2.0.0.b4.3.1?

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Fri Apr 09, 2021 10:06 am

MECHDRAGON777 wrote:
Thu Apr 08, 2021 9:15 pm
With the release of 2.0.0.b4.4, would we be using that, or remain with 2.0.0.b4.3.1?
CONTEST UPDATE
What an unforeseen SMBX2 update indeed! It seems like everyone wants us to move to that version, and the event team, the judges and I are also on board with doing so, so from now on this contest will be judged using PATCH 4, meaning you can use all its benefits in your levels.
Since there are no breaking changes, there should be no issues with previously submitted levels. If you already previously submitted a level, please keep in mind that you are absolutely allowed to update it before the deadline in 2 weeks.

Have fun!

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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby SuperAlex » Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:14 pm

Enjl, I Updated my submitted level please:
viewtopic.php?f=110&t=26915&p=384932#p384932

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:29 am

A bit more than a week remains! Reminder: The submission period ends next monday, at 6PM GMT (1PM EST).

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:05 am

Two more hours to go!

TheTrueMarioMaster
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby TheTrueMarioMaster » Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:10 pm

Great and I was so close to finishing my level too. If only those technical difficulties I had with installing the new patch and fixing the music that wasn't working didn't happen then maybe I would have finished it on time. Guess there is always next year if Vanilla Contest 2022 ever happens.

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:48 pm

TheTrueMarioMaster wrote:
Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:10 pm
Great and I was so close to finishing my level too. If only those technical difficulties I had with installing the new patch and fixing the music that wasn't working didn't happen then maybe I would have finished it on time. Guess there is always next year if Vanilla Contest 2022 ever happens.
PM it to me fast.

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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby ShadowStarX » Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:57 pm

Is there a chance you would upload the full level package for the public too? In case somebody wants to play all levels without needing to download all submissions separately.

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:03 pm

ShadowStarX wrote:
Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:57 pm
Is there a chance you would upload the full level package for the public too? In case somebody wants to play all levels without needing to download all submissions separately.
Sure! Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/119WRBM ... sp=sharing

It's quite large because a lot of people didn't compress their songs well. There are also more readmes there than there were during submission, because a lot of people just put stuff like preferred characters in the topic which the judges won't read.

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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Sux » Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:25 pm

Enjl wrote:
Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:03 pm

Sure! Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/119WRBM ... sp=sharing

It's quite large because a lot of people didn't compress their songs well. There are also more readmes there than there were during submission, because a lot of people just put stuff like preferred characters in the topic which the judges won't read.
I noticed the readme txt of my level. Yes, my level has such long name. I forgot to put my own name in lvl file, I only put on zip file. Just to clarify

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:28 am

Sux wrote:
Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:25 pm
Enjl wrote:
Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:03 pm

Sure! Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/119WRBM ... sp=sharing

It's quite large because a lot of people didn't compress their songs well. There are also more readmes there than there were during submission, because a lot of people just put stuff like preferred characters in the topic which the judges won't read.
I noticed the readme txt of my level. Yes, my level has such long name. I forgot to put my own name in lvl file, I only put on zip file. Just to clarify
Thanks for clarifying. Please follow the submission guidelines next time.

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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Radiance » Fri Apr 30, 2021 7:39 am

Enjl wrote:
Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:03 pm

Sure! Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/119WRBM ... sp=sharing

It's quite large because a lot of people didn't compress their songs well.
Once the episode for this contest is out, can you make a patch that only contains the world map/hub stuff? So that the people that have already downloaded this file won't download the same thing but with world map/hub considering that the level pack is pretty large.

Emral
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Re: Vanilla Contest 2021 - Rules & Questions

Postby Emral » Fri Apr 30, 2021 8:16 am

Drifloon wrote:
Fri Apr 30, 2021 7:39 am
Enjl wrote:
Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:03 pm

Sure! Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/119WRBM ... sp=sharing

It's quite large because a lot of people didn't compress their songs well.
Once the episode for this contest is out, can you make a patch that only contains the world map/hub stuff? So that the people that have already downloaded this file won't download the same thing but with world map/hub considering that the level pack is pretty large.
No. I'm gonna optimize the hell out of the songs and then give everyone who did a bad job a good spankin'

Reason I didn't do it before judging is because I initially didn't intend to share the pack outside of that group.


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