Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Happy New Year!!
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- A one and another
"poorly made kaizo good, quiz bad" is certainly a combo of takes
Why don't you eat me?
I am perfectly tasty...
AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL!
I am perfectly tasty...
AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL!
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- A one and another
(thanks *lion for the music)
I knew barely any of the questions. I suppose jeopardy is next, or maybe wheel of fortune.
I knew barely any of the questions. I suppose jeopardy is next, or maybe wheel of fortune.
Last edited by ft029 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
Mosts Awards:
- KobaBeach
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- A one and another
#1 mega cd enjoyer AND "making fun of"-er
MaGL Patch Collection / vg backlog spreadsheet / animu list / mcmangos / steam
oogggghhhh games aren't art Fuck You Roger Ebert *kills him with a hamemr*
MaGL Patch Collection / vg backlog spreadsheet / animu list / mcmangos / steam
oogggghhhh games aren't art Fuck You Roger Ebert *kills him with a hamemr*
- FourteenthOrder
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
I kinda wasn't big on either of today's levels. -_-;
Atmosphere was neat, though.
Atmosphere was neat, though.
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
76th, SWEET DREAMS, by Thales Mangaka
53.75/100.00 points
Scores:
75th, Underworld Chapel, by Minimay
54.00/100.00 points
Scores:
SWEET DREAMS has the highest Max-Min score in the whole contest with a 48. There was a 48 point difference between my score of 82/100 and Ryaa's of 34/100. I guess I should try and explain myself, though a lot of my explanation is in the judge comments.
I was going through a kind of rough time mentally when we were judging these levels. The contest was a good way to occupy my time and keep me busy. Then I played this level and there was just something about the level that just hit me in the gut and stuck with me. I've felt a lot of things playing Mario hacks before, but I think sadness is a new one. Like everyone mentions, it's not really a level at all. There's basically no traditional "design" to speak of in it, almost no enemies to dodge. But I just couldn't let the fact the level actually got me emotional not reflect that in my final scoring. By no means was it perfect, but it was just an experience that stuck with me. A beautiful level that made me stop judging for the day because of how I felt coming off it. (And all the better too, because Mountan Castle was the very next level in our randomized list)
I can't fault the other judges for scoring it low. I basically just explained that the level really stuck with me and that I'd defend my huge outlier if need be. I think I'd really be interested in seeing a contest where people use the engine to tell stories like this though. Storytelling isn't usually done well in SMW for many reasons, but sometimes you don't need many words, like this level, to get a feeling across. I'd like to see people try it more.
As for Underworld Chapel, it does actually have a midpoint but you can miss it very easily because it's hidden away. To get it, you have to go onto the upper path by the door to the blood room, then stay on the upper path all the way. You can also find a P-Switch and cape and go to the upper path that way, but I'll be honest, I never found the P-Switch in any of the runs I did of the level. Making the midpoint optional really hurt this level more than I think the creator realized it would, because all four judges mentioned its poor placement.
53.75/100.00 points
Scores:
54.00/100.00 points
Scores:
I was going through a kind of rough time mentally when we were judging these levels. The contest was a good way to occupy my time and keep me busy. Then I played this level and there was just something about the level that just hit me in the gut and stuck with me. I've felt a lot of things playing Mario hacks before, but I think sadness is a new one. Like everyone mentions, it's not really a level at all. There's basically no traditional "design" to speak of in it, almost no enemies to dodge. But I just couldn't let the fact the level actually got me emotional not reflect that in my final scoring. By no means was it perfect, but it was just an experience that stuck with me. A beautiful level that made me stop judging for the day because of how I felt coming off it. (And all the better too, because Mountan Castle was the very next level in our randomized list)
I can't fault the other judges for scoring it low. I basically just explained that the level really stuck with me and that I'd defend my huge outlier if need be. I think I'd really be interested in seeing a contest where people use the engine to tell stories like this though. Storytelling isn't usually done well in SMW for many reasons, but sometimes you don't need many words, like this level, to get a feeling across. I'd like to see people try it more.
As for Underworld Chapel, it does actually have a midpoint but you can miss it very easily because it's hidden away. To get it, you have to go onto the upper path by the door to the blood room, then stay on the upper path all the way. You can also find a P-Switch and cape and go to the upper path that way, but I'll be honest, I never found the P-Switch in any of the runs I did of the level. Making the midpoint optional really hurt this level more than I think the creator realized it would, because all four judges mentioned its poor placement.
- Mandew
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
I feel like I need to say this, since I've read each judge comments on the level. Despite the sheer difference between the scores and point of views, I think all of them are fair and valid.
video games
- Mata Hari
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Guys MArio hanged himself. That's pretty dank
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Mountan Castle and SWEET DREAMS are the best levels so far by far and I'm saying that both of them win this contest now. Ok thanks
Well it is a decent hack but sometime its just too repetitif there no level that actually pop in your face and your like oh yeah that level they all ressemble themselves and just monster along the way.
Blood Ghoul wrote:Sometimes it seems my blood spurts out in gobs, as if it were a fountain's pulsing sobs. I clearly hear it mutter as it goes yet cannot find the wound from which it flows. Before I met you, baby, I didn't know what I was missing.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
if anyone wanted to know the music for frozen grassland, the daytime music is
- FrozenQuills
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
The average level quality is better in VLDC11 than other VLDCs imo, so I'm happy that raocow is already considering these entries as great level territory.
avatar by crayonchewer!
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
"you know what my mario romhack really needs? a dark storyline" ~ smwcentral 2005 - 2019
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
74th, Frozen Grassland, by yoshi9429
55.00/100.00 points
Scores:
72nd (tied), The red ghost house, by Hayashi Neru
55.25/100.00 points
Scores:
72nd (tied), VLDC11 - getthefish, by getthefish
55.25/100.00 points
Scores:
morsel's score for each of these levels was 53/100. Funny how things work out.
Speaking of judge scores, I noticed that Ryaa generally had lower scores for levels than the rest of us did, but he was consistent about it so it wasn't really a problem in the end. It was his first year judging a contest, but I picked him after I tested his reviewing capabilities on some of the previous year's CLDC entries and I deemed his reviews excellent.
55.00/100.00 points
Scores:
55.25/100.00 points
Scores:
55.25/100.00 points
Scores:
Speaking of judge scores, I noticed that Ryaa generally had lower scores for levels than the rest of us did, but he was consistent about it so it wasn't really a problem in the end. It was his first year judging a contest, but I picked him after I tested his reviewing capabilities on some of the previous year's CLDC entries and I deemed his reviews excellent.
- Mandew
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
we got some fairly ambitious levels today, huh!
video games
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
71st, Olivine Pass, by Giftshaven
55.75/100.00 points
Scores:
70th, Koopa Kaboose, by Mogu94
56.00/100.00 points
Scores:
69th, Linear Farms, by Dakras Hayashi
56.25/100.00 points
Scores:
Giftshaven and Dakras are both SMWC staff members. Gifty is a Music Mod and Discord Mod, and Dakras is a Graphics Mod. It's always fun seeing where our staff members place in these contests.
If you didn't know, olivine is a mineral and has a shade of green associated with it similar to the greens used in the first level's semisolid platforms.
I really love the train aesthetic, but wish more had been done with the design itself, as it's not super engaging. Trains are hard levels to make exciting, but they always seem to make for memorable set-pieces.
I remember Dakras talking about her level afterwards. I believe she said the graphics were inspired by the Rainworld series of games. I can't deny they're impressive, but I found them to be too busy and muddled in places to give a high aesthetics score.
55.75/100.00 points
Scores:
56.00/100.00 points
Scores:
56.25/100.00 points
Scores:
If you didn't know, olivine is a mineral and has a shade of green associated with it similar to the greens used in the first level's semisolid platforms.
I really love the train aesthetic, but wish more had been done with the design itself, as it's not super engaging. Trains are hard levels to make exciting, but they always seem to make for memorable set-pieces.
I remember Dakras talking about her level afterwards. I believe she said the graphics were inspired by the Rainworld series of games. I can't deny they're impressive, but I found them to be too busy and muddled in places to give a high aesthetics score.
- SpoonyBardOL
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Apparently the music from the first level today, with the built-in birds singing, is from Quartz Quadrant in Sonic CD, but only in the JP/PAL release.
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Awful French puns that don't really make much sense
Bread? In a Mario level?
What a "pain"
What a "pain"
ワンワン
- Mata Hari
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Aesthetics is a half-buried block
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Why don't you eat me?
I am perfectly tasty...
AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL!
I am perfectly tasty...
AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL!
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
68th, Deep Soda Sea, by Kit
57.00/100.00 points
Scores:
67th, DEEP DELUGE, by Plasmodium00
57.75/100.00 points
Scores:
66th, Sky Castle, by N450
58.00/100.00 points
Scores:
We're in that part of the contest where you'll probably see a lot of similar comments from me. I really value "theme and development" when scoring levels. Theme means the ideas the level presents, and development means how the level takes those ideas and plays with them. This is especially apparent in my comments for Sky Castle, where I mention that by the end of the level it chosen to throw in one or two of each major castle sprite for seemingly no reason, instead of continuing to use the elements it had already been working with for the first 2/3 of the level. I grew up playing the DKC games and they loved to do this with level gimmicks and ideas. Take ideas and use them in many ways during a level. It definitely inspired my methods for designing and critiquing levels.
57.00/100.00 points
Scores:
57.75/100.00 points
Scores:
58.00/100.00 points
Scores:
- Piesonscreations
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
raocow mentioning his not-editing of sneezes recently reminded me of the fact that we haven't seen a good ol' multicolor spinning screen slowed-down sneeze growl in a while.
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
First level today had really good aesthetics and music. I also liked a lot it's design. I'm surprised it scored so lowly. On the other hand second level is just precision spin jumping on saw, which was very deadly. Yes, it's creative, but I didn't like it very much.
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
The biggest problem with the first level today is that you couldn't really tell what enemies were supposed to be reskins of just by looking at them.
Why don't you eat me?
I am perfectly tasty...
AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL!
I am perfectly tasty...
AND I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL!
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Sorry for not giving a minor One More Level warning before this but I forgot about Fort Hoversaw's difficulty in comparison to Mountan Castle and a future level I'll give a warning for. That said, it wasn't too bad overall and you weren't going to put out a tiny one level video anyway, I'm sure.
65th, Caelum Coast, by Ruberjig
58.75/100.00 points
Scores:
64th, Fort Hoversaw, by Stairkase
59.00/100.00 points
Scores:
I don't have time for random comments right now so I'll make another post later.
65th, Caelum Coast, by Ruberjig
58.75/100.00 points
Scores:
59.00/100.00 points
Scores:
Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
Those mid-contest commenting doldrums, eh?
Caelum Coast's background is beautiful, but the level itself just isn't very focused. I feel like this keeps happening where a level is designed really beautifully but then we score it low because the design is poor in places. VLDC-ifying your entry's graphics is a common past-time these days, and it's how we get the amazing graphical creativity we see these days. But in the past there was a tendency to see those amazing graphics and forget about a level's underlying design and score it higher than it might have truly deserved. I personally tried to remember to look past graphics and examine the design of the levels as best I could. To that end, I played the level a couple times and then gave it a look-over in Lunar Magic just to see all that I could. This doesn't mean I won't ever score a beautiful level high on graphics, just that I want to make sure every part of the level is of high quality, and we'll see examples of that later on.
Fort Hoversaw is acceptably hard because it's short, concise, and well midpointed. It's a big challenge, but it's a relatively fair challenge and that helped it score decently, as far as my score was concerned. That Wendy fight is really creative and took me a fair bit of time to beat!
Caelum Coast's background is beautiful, but the level itself just isn't very focused. I feel like this keeps happening where a level is designed really beautifully but then we score it low because the design is poor in places. VLDC-ifying your entry's graphics is a common past-time these days, and it's how we get the amazing graphical creativity we see these days. But in the past there was a tendency to see those amazing graphics and forget about a level's underlying design and score it higher than it might have truly deserved. I personally tried to remember to look past graphics and examine the design of the levels as best I could. To that end, I played the level a couple times and then gave it a look-over in Lunar Magic just to see all that I could. This doesn't mean I won't ever score a beautiful level high on graphics, just that I want to make sure every part of the level is of high quality, and we'll see examples of that later on.
Fort Hoversaw is acceptably hard because it's short, concise, and well midpointed. It's a big challenge, but it's a relatively fair challenge and that helped it score decently, as far as my score was concerned. That Wendy fight is really creative and took me a fair bit of time to beat!
- Kleetus
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest 11 -- Add a plus in there and you get two
My fovourite thing to do with this series is to look at all the "custom" graphics and try to figure out where they're originally from.