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2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 6:31 pm
by Emral
The Science Contest is upon us! An extravaganza to celebrate all things jank.
What is the Science Contest?
Scientists! Your goal in the science contest is to create a short level that introduces a weird, funny or otherwise unknown game mechanic or glitch to the player, while illustrating how it can be used in a level, or just exploring the extent of its hilarity.
If you are familiar with the "Uno Más" level concept in Mario Maker, you can think of it as that.
For reference
JUDGING HAS BEGUN
The submission period has come to an end, and our best scientists have graced us with 25 experiments to evaluate.
You have been formally invited to assist in the evaluation of these experiments.
Download the submissions via the link below and play them.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oElntf ... sp=sharing
Give them a rating ranging from F to A+, where A+ is the best score and F is the worst (F, D, C, B, A, A+), based on your experience with them. Consider how well the level teaches its focused mechanic and if you would recommend it to others looking to learn about it. Leave other thoughts, such as on the mechanic's hilarity or complexity, in the response box below each score scale.
https://forms.gle/BkZbQA21podUgEEN8
You do not have to leave a response for every level, but every input is appreciated.
You can edit your response to this form at any time during judging. Take your time.
The deadline of judging is
Saturday, February 18th, Midnight GMT+1
- Don't disobey the forum rules. Should go without saying, but no theft, impersonation, harassment or other things in your levels, please!
- This contest is specifically for SMBX2 Beta 4 Patch 4.1 Hotfix. Make sure your levels are designed with that version in mind.
- Keep use of lua and custom things to a minimum. We're doing science on SMBX2, not some additional scripts you downloaded from the forums!
- You may submit a maximum of 3 levels. Teams are allowed, but you can still only have your name on up to 3 submissions.
- Each level must follow the theme of a single mechanic showcase. Making an anthology is not allowed.
- No world maps, please. We can have a world map tech science contest another time, if that turns out to be worth it.
- Insincere submissions will be disqualified. Be it garish visuals, ear-piercing sounds or the level lacking relation to the contest's theme.
- Multiple levels may teach the same mechanic. So don't feel bad if someone else submitted a similar level showcasing the same idea.
- Use the contest forum to get feedback. As always there's a contest forum you can use to talk about anything you want regarding the contest. Get feedback on your levels, research mechanics together, etc.
- Medals will be awarded. These may be for the submission, or high quality participation in discussion on the contest forum or collaborative judging. For this contest there will be up to one medal per participant, summing up their contributions. There may also be rare additional medals for outstanding contributions.
I am judge, jury and executioner this contest.
Submissions will be given scores /5 for each of the following:
Innate scores:
Complexity - How elaborate is the setup required to get this mechanic to work in the way displayed?
Versatility - How varied are the uses for this mechanic? Can it be used in gameplay?
Hilarity - How funny is it?
Meta scores:
Clarity - How well does the level teach the mechanic?
Structure - How extensively does the level explore the mechanic? Do major interesting aspects remain unmentioned? Are too many insignificant things covered which drag out the level?
If a submission blows its competition out of the water, it may receive a 6/5 in a category. Thus the theoretical, practically unreachable, total is 30 points.
However, unlike for other contests, these categories don't really form a total score. Instead, they aim to give an overview over the level's and mechanic's qualities. Don't focus too hard on reaching the max score in all of them. If you want to chase high scores, min-max for a high score in one or two of the innate scores, while doing your best to maximize the meta scores.
Rewards for our diligent scientists (that's you!) will be handled entirely through medals.
The procedure after submissions close and the level pack will be made available is as follows:
- I judge the levels
- I record videos of all levels This was definitely me overscoping things. I'm not able to do that at this time.
- I create a contest episode
- All these things will release simultaneously
But since waiting for all that can be boring, some of you might be inclined to check out the submissions for yourself and give valuable insight and opinions on how hilarious you think zipping is.
While I did say I would be judge, jury and executioner, I will hear those recommendations and tune the stipends awarded to your fellow scientists accordingly.
More details when submissions close.
Signup pings
squp wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:32 am
Sux wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:32 am
Waddle wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:35 am
deice wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:05 pm
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 7:16 am
by Alagirez
Well, I guess it's time for me to make something outside my comfort zone.
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 10:50 am
by wyldstrykr
i only know clipping so ill pass. good luck to those who participates
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 11:32 am
by MarioChallengerX2
Question: #1. How long should the level be?
#2. How many checkpoints allowed?
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 1:01 pm
by litchh
I gone dumb I can't in science
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:30 pm
by Emral
MarioChallengerX2 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 11:32 am
Question: #1. How long should the level be?
#2. How many checkpoints allowed?
Levels should lean short. The primary focus is to showcase a niche mechanic and showcase/teach it to the player. Make them interact with it, show a few ways to use it... Check out the
reference link from the OP for a video showcasing a lot of levels in the style the contest is looking for, if you're unsure.
You can use as many checkpoints as you need.
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 2:57 pm
by deice
does a level have to have an exit in order to qualify?
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:31 pm
by Emral
deice wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 2:57 pm
does a level have to have an exit in order to qualify?
Ideally it should be possible to exit the level in some capacity. If you don't add one, I might make a modification to add one for the episode.
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:02 pm
by deice
Enjl wrote: ↑Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:31 pm
Ideally it should be possible to exit the level in some capacity. If you don't add one, I might make a modification to add one for the episode.
does crashing the game with a visual basic runtime error count as "some capacity"? it's not a problem if it doesn't, i'm just asking to make sure
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 9:36 pm
by Emral
uh that's gonna be fun for the episode
go nuts? i'm very curious where this will lead, haha
Re: [Final Stretch] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:00 pm
by Emral
Re: [Final Stretch] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:40 am
by Emral
Hurry up! About half a day remaining...
Re: [Judging] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:43 pm
by Emral
The submission period has come to an end, and our best scientists have graced us with 27 experiments to evaluate.
You have been formally invited to assist in the evaluation of these experiments.
Download the submissions via the link below and play them.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oElntf ... sp=sharing
Give them a rating ranging from F to A+, where A+ is the best score and F is the worst (F, D, C, B, A, A+), based on your experience with them. Consider how well the level teaches its focused mechanic and if you would recommend it to others looking to learn about it. Leave other thoughts, such as on the mechanic's hilarity or complexity, in the response box below each score scale.
https://forms.gle/BkZbQA21podUgEEN8
You do not have to leave a response for every level, but every input is appreciated.
You can edit your response to this form at any time during judging. Take your time.
The deadline of judging is
Saturday, February 18th, Midnight GMT+1
Added in 17 minutes 13 seconds:
Updated the level pack and form with two submissions I overlooked. Please redownload if you downloaded it before.
E:
The character limit for the comments has been cut from 300 to 100 because people were writing too much.
Re: [Judging] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:29 pm
by Emral
A week left for the community judging! Check out the post above or first post for details if you're interested in playing the levels and having your thoughts in the episode. The more people participate, the merrier!
Re: [Judging] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:09 am
by deice
Enjl wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:29 pm
A week
the linked countdown still shows 12 days remaining though (and still says february 18th)
Re: [Judging] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:52 am
by Emral
deice wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:09 am
Enjl wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 10:29 pm
A week
the linked countdown still shows 12 days remaining though (and still says february 18th)
My mistake! I misremembered the deadline and neglected to check, just vaguely remembering I set it to an upcoming weekend >_>. A bit under two weeks!
Thank you.
Re: [Judging] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 8:28 pm
by Emral
NOW a bit under a week.
Re: [JUDGING FINAL STRETCH] 2023 Science Contest
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 8:57 am
by Emral
Just a few more days for judging! If you don't think you can play all the levels in time, make sure to submit the form once before the deadline to lock in the reviews you have contributed. It's also not too late to start now, still! Details a few posts up.
Re: [LOADING] 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 7:23 pm
by Emral
I overslept and have a surprise day-long outing coming up so I'll leave the form accepting responses for a bit longer. A half-day deadline extension that surprises even me.
E: And that's a wrap on judging. Tune in tomorrow for the release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0d8eYjSNsA
Re: 2023 Science Contest - Rules and Questions
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:36 am
by Emral
I CANT GLOBAL THIS THREAD BUT RESULTS ARE OUT
viewtopic.php?p=396704#p396704
