Science Contest 2 - Rules and Discussion

[Emral]

The Science Contest is upon us! Again! 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

Rules

• Follow the forum rules. Should go without saying, but: no theft, impersonation, harassment, AI generated content or other forbidden things in your levels, please!
• This contest is specifically for SMBX2 Beta 5 Patch 3. 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. If you need a 4th level, explain to me in PM why and we can work something out.
• Each level must follow the theme of a single mechanic showcase. Making an anthology is not allowed. They should be short and sweet!
• Insincere submissions will be disqualified. Be it garish visuals, ear-piercing sounds or the level lacking relation to the contest's theme.
• No world maps, please.

Don't forget!

• 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, show everyone how stupid you think wiggler butts are, 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.

Judging (the part I do):

Spoiler: show

The judging will work similarly to the previous science contest.
I will determine values from 0 to 5 for the below properties and scores and then the community can award a letter grade that will be averaged.

Science properties:
Complexity: Ranging from "this science is easy to do on accident" to "this science requires pages of instructions to happen"
Versatility: Ranging from "borderline unusable in any circumstance to" "you could use this in a level unironically"
Hilarity: Ranging from "oh ok" to "roflmao"

Meta scores:
Clarity: How well does the level teach the mechanic? Can the player indulge in the science without worrying too much about dangerous elements that set back their progress in the level?
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.

Collaborative Judging (the part y'all do):

Spoiler: show

The procedure after submissions close and the level pack will be made available is as follows:
- I judge the levels
- 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 do the judging in the previous spoiler, your scores will make it into the stipends awarded to your fellow scientists. So keep an eye on this thread even after submissions close.
It's like last time.

SUBMISSIONS go HERE

SUBMIT BY THE END OF MAY 13. THAT IS THE DEADLINE. I WILL COLLECT THE SCIENCE ON MAY 14.

Have fun!!

[Retro]

I Have a question:

does it have to finish in a specific goal? (i.e power stars) or anything that fits?

[Emral]

I Have a question:

does it have to finish in a specific goal? (i.e power stars) or anything that fits?

All I ask is that you don't use the "End Game-Bowser Defeat" method of ending your level. Beyond that, if or how your level has an exit is up to you.