Super Mario Bros. X Forums

In these times of AIs performing multiple tasks, why not use them to our advantage?

Welcome to AI Level Contest! This event consists of you creating a level based on an image generated by artificial intelligence.

Deadlines:
The contest will start on Saturday, July 1st 3:00 AM UTC
The contest will end on Saturday, August 5th 3:00 PM UTC

How it works?
- After you sign up, you will receive a PM by me with 3 images generated by AIs. You have to choose one and make your level using this art as your inspiration. This is the reason for the name of the contest ("AI" Art Inspiration) clever pun, I know
- To join this contest, you can simply post in this thread that you want to participate
- You can sign up at any time before the deadline, but keep in mind that you will be at a disadvantage compared to those who signed up during the announcement period, as they will receive their AI arts as soon as the contest starts
- After the results release the levels will be compiled on a contest episode

Rubrics:
- Isomorphism (40): Determines how well the level captured the essence of the chosen image art, how clear is the inspiration and similarity with the prompt
- Structure (30): Determines how well the level is designed, the challenges are developed and how the level flows and works at general (e.g. lenght, difficulty, progression, funcionality)
- Criativity (20): Determines how creative your ideas are and how the gimmicks were applied and explored
- Fun (10): Subjective score from each judge, includes attributes like replay value

Rules:
- Levels must be completable
- Levels must work on SMBX2 Beta 4
- Levels must be submitted on time
- Download link must work
- Joke levels won't be accepted
- You are allowed to send up to the 3 submissions
- Team levels will be allowed, but in this case it will be necessary to choose an image for each team member (among the options that each one will receive individually by PM)

Submission:
To submit a level, just send me a PM. As there is no anonymity rule you can post it here in this thread, but for organization reasons I prefer you send me a PM so I can forward it to the judges
Your submission should include your level file (.lvlx), a folder (for custom assets, lua scripts, musics), a .txt file (if you wish leave some "readme" note) and your chosen image. Please put the same name on all files to make it easier to organize.

Judges:
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(To apply as a judge just post in this thread, as long as you are sure that you have the availability to perform such a function)

Contestants:
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Any questions, suggestion or criticism feel free to post

Nice! In

Can you show us 3 examples of the generated images?

Huh, interesting. Let me in.

idk if i had a time to make a level. for a person who dont know art nor level design, idk if i can make a level out of it. i guess ill decide base on the art because im pretty sure that using the art as BG leads to disqualification

This is an awful idea. AI "art" isn't just ethically dubious, it's ethically repugnant in all respects. Aside from the fact it's not actually "AI" (it's a glorified collage generator using thousands of stolen artworks), the training data used for it is all stolen, without permission from any of the original artists. It's one thing to use assets from Nintendo to make a Mario fangame, it's quite another to make use of stolen artwork from many small artists who don't have the backing that a huge studio like Nintendo does.

This whole concept is gross.

It's just an SMBX contest; no one will sell their own level or make money from it. It's simply a fun and normal SMBX contest. The images are only for inspiration to create the level, similar to searching for images on Google Images for inspiration

Shinbison-Kof wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 20, 2023 8:45 am

It's just an SMBX contest; no one will sell their own level or make money from it. It's simply a fun and normal SMBX contest. The images are only for inspiration to create the level, similar to searching for images on Google Images for inspiration

That actually doesn't matter. It's not at all the same as just searching for images on Google Images either. The use of these systems has knock-on effects that are tied to some really awful stuff. I would actually have very little issue if this just provided random images from Google (ideally with sourced credit) for inspiration. It's the use of these systems that is the problem.

Let me shut down this argument before it starts.

I in no way support AI Art, but coming in with a passive aggressive post talking about how it's an awful idea and the whole concept is gross will only serve to make those who don't have very developed stances beyond "it's kinda fun" get defensive, and then you've accomplished nothing.

Do I think this contest is a bad idea, yes. But I think the best course of action is to educate people about why without putting them on the defensive, unfortunately this may now be impossible.

The event manager team will not shut this contest down on the basis that it uses AI Art as inspiration, however I do strongly urge you to reconsider your theme (possibly just using... Real art instead (with proper credit)! Like a less confusing diorama con). I understand that the appeal of it is supposed to be the strange nature of ai images but I'm sure with enough effort you could find a bunch that fit the vibe just as well. Regardless, as there is currently no stance on AI Art in the forum rules, the contest will remain up regardless of if you do change it or not (but there will likely be amendments made to make the stance of the smbx forum staff clear).

Valentine wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:04 am

The event manager team will not shut this contest down

the event manager team has not talked about this lmao speak for yourself

After a change to forum rules, this contest is cut short and will be archived.
If you wish to host a contest that uses images from actual artists (with credit), feel free to do so.

You can read about the new forum rules here.