Choccy Contest 2023 - Rules and Questions [JUDGING BEGINS]

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:57 am

Welcome to the 2023 Chocolate Contest! This event is the community's annual free-for-all level design competition, which means that you're free to do anything that is physically possible with SMBX2 and also follows the ruleset below!

Rules:

You may participate alone or in a team of 2 people.
Every participant may only submit one level in total.
Levels must be compatible with SMBX2 Beta 4 Patch 4 Hotfix
Levels may have up to 2 exits, and must feature at least 1. SMW stars do not count as exits but you can only have 1 if any. If you want to use more collectibles, Star Coins are recommended.
To prevent issues with their systems affecting contest entries, none of the SMBX2-exclusive player characters may be used. (so stick to Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach and Link)
A level may be disqualified if:
- two or more judges are unable to play it. If one judge is unable to play it, that judge will merely grant a score of 0
- the judges agree that it was designed in bad faith (e.g. negative-effort levels)
- it has previously been released, or is stolen
- the content of the level violates the forum rules
- (either of) the creator(s) become(s) banned after submission or are caught banned evading
- Ai-generated content (music, sprites, etc.) is used, unless it's trained on the creator's own assets

Of note:

We encourage you to post your level in this subforum for pre-submission testing, and/or ask friends to test the level
Please do not showcase your entries anywhere outside the dedicated platforms. (such as the contest's own channel on the SMBX Discord server, or the Contest Hub) The primary purpose of this is to avoid spoilers for the judges.
While secret exits and non-basegame custom characters are allowed, be careful when using them, because their use is known to backfire if handled poorly!
If you want to have multiple collectibles, use Star Coins, as only 1 SMW Star is allowed per level.
Wrong start points, music paths and other oversights will not be corrected before sending levels to the judges. Test thoroughly!
Judges may cheat if they aren't skilled enough to beat a difficult level, or if they feel like a level is deliberately wasting their time. An easy way to ensure a judge plays your level legitimately is to moderate yourself in terms of length and difficulty. As such, Kaizo levels are discouraged as they may get a low Fun score from multiple judges!

Judges:

Blake Izayoi
Lusho
squp
GenesisJames
ShadowStarX

When the submission period ends, the levels will be distributed to the judges, who will then start reviewing the entries.

Rubric:
After the submission period, the aforementioned judges will review the levels based on these rubrics. The maximum score you can attain is 10/10, which is the weighted average of the following 4+1 rubrics.

Fun (30%)
+ The judge had fun while playing the level
- The judge didn't find the level enjoyable
Identity (30%)
+ The level is memorable in a positive sense
+ The individual segments of the level are creative and interesting
+ The visual style is consistent
- The level exists in the shadow of another level
- The level is a patchwork of of disconnected ideas that don't interact with one another, or just make a jarring combination
Feel (30%)
+ The gameplay experience is smooth and cohesive
+ The level goes for a certain vibe and executes it well
- The level feels awkward to play
- There are sections which sour the experience and their absence would make the level better
- Bad checkpoint placement
Clarity (10%)
+ The tasks required to beat the level are easy to understand and can be executed by the average SMBX player
- Presence of blind jumps, softlocks, confusing layouts, visibility issues
- The level is hostile to the player
Stability (-20%)
+ The level is completely stable and functional
- Errors/crashes, lag
- The level is unbeatable

The judges may also hand out medals for each level's unique quirks, to reward participants outside of their placement. There are 3 medals which each judge is required to hand out: "Favourite Level", "Favourite Visuals/Setpiece" and "Favourite Moment/Segment"

Resources:

Submission:
For details regarding the submission of your level, please head over to the submission thread. However, if you've got any questions, please ask them in this thread!
The deadline to submit your levels is October 31 [Tuesday] 9 PM UTC (4 PM Eastern Standard Time).

Notifications: show

Alagirez · Postby **Alagirez** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 10:19 am

The new rubric is interesting, huh.
Anyways good luck to y'all!

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 10:20 am

Alagirez wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 15, 2023 10:19 am
The new rubric is interesting, huh.
Anyways good luck to y'all!

It's the same logic as before, but easier on the judges. Or more like, more intuitive.

TurtleDude · Postby **TurtleDude** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 9:47 pm

I'm interested in trying this out! I just want to make sure though that it's okay to download and use custom sprites, npcs, and all that (with proper credit of course).

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 9:54 pm

TurtleDude wrote: ↑
Fri Sep 15, 2023 9:47 pm
I'm interested in trying this out! I just want to make sure though that it's okay to download and use custom sprites, npcs, and all that (with proper credit of course).

Yes! No* restrictions on custom assets. With, of course, the asterisk of content that violates the forum rules or is unethically sourced AI content, as mentioned in the rules.

TheNightingale · Postby **TheNightingale** » Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:01 pm

Hey, I might do this, nice rubric! Good luck everyone.

CopyLeft · Postby **CopyLeft** » Mon Sep 18, 2023 10:49 pm

1. Are there any limitations on powerup states? Like, if I have a Lakitu's boot in the level, would the player be able to carry that into the hub and have an unfair advantage in other levels?

2. Is there an upper bound on the length of level names?

edit: 3. Are there any known things that can cause desyncs/errors between 1.3.0.1 and the current version?

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Mon Sep 18, 2023 11:25 pm

CopyLeft wrote: ↑
Mon Sep 18, 2023 10:49 pm
1. Are there any limitations on powerup states? Like, if I have a Lakitu's boot in the level, would the player be able to carry that into the hub and have an unfair advantage in other levels?

2. Is there an upper bound on the length of level names?

edit: 3. Are there any known things that can cause desyncs/errors between 1.3.0.1 and the current version?

1. If there ends up being a contest episode (dunno what ShadowStar's plans are), powerups and mounts would be filtered in the hub. You wouldn't be able to carry things across levels.

2. The fact that you have to ask this makes me very concerned. In all seriousness, if you stay in the range of level name length from previous years, there should be no problem. Try to pick a name that fits your level though, rather than one that's long for the sake of it.

3. There are a few visual inconsistencies but nothing that affects gameplay. To be sure, though, I highly recommend you get other people who ARE using the current version to test your level before submission.

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Thu Sep 21, 2023 3:03 pm

Just in case anyone wants to talk about the contest in a more organized manner than the SMBX Discord's channel for the competition, I'd like to put the invite link to the Contest Discussion Hub discord server.

ElTipsta · Postby **ElTipsta** » Wed Oct 18, 2023 2:26 pm

i haven't really been active for SMBX for some time, so i've only just seen this contest existing. I'll try to get something done for this

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Wed Oct 25, 2023 4:00 am

You've all got less than 1 week left to make an entry for this contest.

You can submit your levels here: link

Vasebased · Postby **Vasebased** » Fri Oct 27, 2023 8:54 pm

I'm In

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Sun Oct 29, 2023 3:09 pm

You've only got 50 hours, so just over 2 days to finish and submit your levels!
Make sure that the download links are functional.

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Mon Oct 30, 2023 7:52 pm

Roughly 21 hours remain to finish your levels.
I urge all participants to make use of this time wisely. Even if you've submitted your level, make sure the download link is functional and includes everything that's necessary.

Submission thread link

Postby **ShadowStarX** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 3:02 pm

Only 2 hours remain to submit your entry if you're participating.
The levels will be distributed to the judges by Valentine, and the reviewing process will begin afterwards.

The submission thread will be locked today at 9 PM UTC.

TheTrueMarioMaster · Postby **TheTrueMarioMaster** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 3:58 pm

Submission has been posted in the right thread now.

SuperAlex · Postby **SuperAlex** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 4:08 pm

TheTrueMarioMaster wrote: ↑
Tue Oct 31, 2023 3:58 pm
Underbat Manor
Made it just in time.

NOOOO! You need to to submit your level in the submissions thread no in the rules thread.

TheTrueMarioMaster · Postby **TheTrueMarioMaster** » Tue Oct 31, 2023 4:24 pm

SuperAlex wrote: ↑
Tue Oct 31, 2023 4:08 pm

TheTrueMarioMaster wrote: ↑
Tue Oct 31, 2023 3:58 pm
Underbat Manor
Made it just in time.
NOOOO! You need to to submit your level in the submissions thread no in the rules thread.

Thanks for pointing that out. I was in such a hurry to submit it that I didn't realise I posted it in the wrong thread.

Valentine · Postby **Valentine** » Wed Nov 01, 2023 3:06 am

ChoccyCon2023 Level Pack

Includes all the levels that were submitted to the contest and that will be judged. Please check your level in the pack and tell me if there's something screwed up until tonight.