Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

[Alice]

dude i think enough's def been explained. i know nothing about what these people actually did but "hurt people, one having hurt a minor" is definitely enough for people to hand to you on a platter to justify Not Playing Their Video Game Level. if you're that concerned, just wait and see what levels are omitted and do the research yourself. no one's obligated to give you a lecture on them.

The issue is that saying they hurt someone could mean just about anything because people have widely varying definitions of what hurting someone entails. It could be something as simple as insulting someone or being transphobic or homophobic or it could be something as serious as physically attacking someone or stalking them and threatening them. The first three are a dick thing to do but wouldn't warrant this kind of blacklisting. The latter ones would be.

But since there's not enough actual concrete information to go on, it's kinda hard to come to a conclusion despite raocow asking people to weigh in on it. I don't understand what's so difficult about actually giving people information to make an informed decision here. And I understand less why some people feel the need to act like condescending asshats to the people trying to get more information. (That's not directed at you though since you're actually being civil.)

[Leet]

[SAJewers]

Man I really think showing the levels at all is just gonna lead to people having stupid conversations about "I doubt they really did anything wrong". that's more other peoples fault than raocows but i know its coming (kind of already did) if they are shown.

It rather doesn't help when people in the thread have repeatedly asked for an elaboration and have gotten literally nothing. Most of us have no idea who it even is since it apparently isn't Willhart, let alone what they're even guilty of doing.

try talking to xfix, they seem to know somewhat? They were trying to explain the situation yesterday in the spotzone, but I still didn't quite get it (other than 2 banned users collaborating on a submission). Maybe if they explain it to you you'll be able to understand it.

[Mata Hari]

Since people can't treat this topic with civility, and since raocow has already made a decision so it's totally irrelevant, y'all are gonna can it right now or I'mma kill you. Old style. Not you SAJ, you just got here.

[TRS]

Y'all are disappointing me in this thread. If raocow thought it was important info, he would have posted it in his request for feedback. You don't need to know exactly what these people did and it's not because there's any shady dealings. You're killing me.

I will say that it's not something small like the minor examples in Alice's post. They are Major. And that's all the info you're gonna get out of me.



Engaging the comments section in this situation is simply a bad idea, rude or not. If you don't want to deal with it, tell them that SMWC admin Noivern requested that you not play the levels (because I am), and I'll take the brunt of not engaging the comments section in your stead.


EDIT: I got ninja'd by el copo pls no ban

[snoruntpyro]

One of the 113th place entries was made by PichuVsLink, aka Pikabread. You may remember them from being a member here. They were a former friend of mine and entered the contest at my encouragement.

They showed their true colors around July 2018 where, during a visit to a con with two other friends (one of which was an ex), when they were staying in a hotel room, they tried to grope and sexually assault said ex, thinking they were asleep and that they could get away with it. The remaining person stood up in the situation and chased them out of the room and Pichu has not shown their face online since.

I was the one who told idol about the situation (who told raocow) because I was dreading the VLDCX LP for this exact reason.

Here's your proof.

https://twitter.com/nyasshoIe/status/10 ... 2042034176
https://twitter.com/nyasshoIe/status/10 ... 5335154688
https://twitter.com/princessremedy/stat ... 9940170752

I will not tolerate any victim blaming in this situation. You can shut your mouths about there being something "shady" going on. The only reason I'm posting this is because this is a situation that shouldn't stay secret.

Nice, was ninja'd twice when writing this. I know that a mod just asked the convo to stop but this is just gonna flare up again when raocow gets to the level so whatever. Here it is now.

[Mata Hari]

OK if anyone has any reason why the info provided should be taken down, or any other concerns, please DM the mods, but otherwise I'm putting it to bed now.

[SAJewers]

OK now I'm even more confused because the discussion in the spotzone yesterday related to a level in the top 20 that was apparently made by 2 people who are now banned on SMWC?

I mean, I fully support raocow not playing contest levels by people who are banned, I'm just confused about everything.

EDIT: Just I can try to get this straight, There are 2 levels raocow has been asked to skip: one at 113 due to IRL incident, and one made by 2 people in the top 20 due to them now being banned on SMWC.

[Leet]

raocow explicitly said that there were two different levels in question

[SAJewers]

Yeah I think that was just me misunderstanding stuff and getting confused. I understand it now, and we can (hopefully) move on

probably also doesn't help that I tend to not see the video descriptions and missed the message in today's one (and it's on me)

[raocow]

the other person is leod. check their ban reason on smwcentral 'cause I'm not typing it here.

now we move on.

[idol]

(almost - leods level was made with wavee, she's very nice and good and just got banned for shitposting. i think all she did was the port)

Anyways, how's everyone doing today

[Nimono]

Anyways, how's everyone doing today

I'm doin well! Lookin forward to the later levels of the contest :D

[Implo]

First level is more fun than previous ghost house with gathering items to progress. I liked these 5 challenges, but usage of items in there is pretty standard, so there was really nothing unique going on.

Second level reminds me levels from VLDC 4. The had similar idea of using sprites of enemies as a decoration. The problem was that I never knew what is solid and what's not, what will hurt me, what will not. Also some obstacles (like in this case falling spikes or white spike munchers) were barely visible. Also there is too much decoration going on. And I think I just turned fog off and I still had these problems with this level. But some decorations are clever (like fountain for example).

[Sugar]

130th: Abandoned Enigma by Luigi1000

Koopster
DESIGN: 11/50
CREATIVITY: 13/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 38/100

This isn't a puzzle, you cannot call a straight-forward "there's a main room, get this in this other room to get there then get that to get there" a puzzle. It's very long, stretchy and for the most part, uninteresting. I really like what it did with boo blocks in the first subroom, they're not used as obstacles in tight places very often. But other than that, you have a bland flight segment, bland switch rooms, and really not concise, isolated setups overall. The secret exit is extremely costly to find and to get, and it's not even a good "sum-up" of everything in the level because, again, there are no concise ideas in it. Very lackluster in the design department.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 18/50
CREATIVITY: 12/30
AESTHETICS: 10/20
TOTAL SCORE: 40/100

The level is really boring and it drags on for too much. It's not interesting enough to keep me
engaged, and some of the puzzles feel wonky or not well thought out. I also wasn't aware there was a midpoint
at one point. The secret exit didn't add much and felt like an unnecessary addition.

Noivern
DESIGN: 22/50
CREATIVITY: 17/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 51/100

The ghost house entry is a cool idea but lacking in presentation. Unfortunately the level that follows is way too stretched out and empty. The bubbles are the worst, and they WILL blindside you if you don't have the camera scrolled up. The individual sections milk their gimmicks for all they're worth, but don't come together to make a cohesive level.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 5/50
CREATIVITY: 4/30
AESTHETICS: 9/20
TOTAL SCORE: 18/100

A very boring level with hardly a fun factor. The slightly modified textures are mostly cutoff and unappealing. The entrance section is filled with near-unpredictable green bubbles, which is a bad start, but the rest of the level just doesn't do anything creative or enjoyable. P-switch runs with no real purpose, flying sections that are not obviously flying sections (but are stupidly easy), the P-switch "maze" that is rendered pointless by telling you excatly where to go, and most notably terrible is the Boo Block room with the Eerie generator. Scaling a vertical path with nothing but a Boo Block and randomly generated Eeries is a terrible concept. The same ideas are recycled throughout the entire level over and over again with next to nothing to develop them. There's also not nearly enough time to do the level in one complete go, at least from what I can tell.

The secret exit path is equally boring with again more of the same, and the entrance to the path is stupid. Relying on a glitch (even as well-known as it is) to get there is immediately bad design, but there's also zero indication that pressing a blue P-switch will do anything in that area to begin with, especially with the way the level is laid out.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 21/50
CREATIVITY: 9/30
AESTHETICS: 8/20
TOTAL SCORE: 38/100

This level refers to itself as a "puzzle house", though in practice, it's a pretty straightforward performance of multi-step tasks. The first half is perhaps a little too by-the-book to the point of feeling somewhat bland, and while the second half tries to be a touch bolder, it ends up feeling slightly wonky and ill-thought out. Large parts of the second half, for instance, require you to retain the cape, and yet are easily broken by having a cape. And despite the proliferation of reset doors in the final section, it's quite possible to get trapped until time runs out if you don't realize you need to keep the switch activated. All in all it feels like this half needs a good deal more testing.

+ The transition from exterior to interior is kind of neat
- First half a bit unexciting and by-the-book
- Second half a little wonky and breakable

Other: This level -did- admittedly defy expectations by not requiring Yoshi to be thrown down a pit, but allowing him to escape along with Mario.

128th: Gorgon's Garden by EvilMariobot

Koopster
DESIGN: 14/50
CREATIVITY: 22/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 52/100

Well, do I need to spell out what the #1 problem is?
I really dig the concept and the level looks great, but the fog covers the level and the sprites. It's already pretty difficult to distinguish solid from unsolid from things that hurt you cause everything is the same color and it isn't always obvious or intuitive - which on its own is already an issue. The fog hid enemies and fireballs and killed me unfairly various times. Fortunately the level isn't very long and it's also really simple so it's not a big hassle to go through. But obviously I'd rather have something with more interesting gameplay and without the aesthetic that gets on its way. I'm sad, cause I think the looks and the concept are very good.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 16/50
CREATIVITY: 15/30
AESTHETICS: 9/20
TOTAL SCORE: 40/100

The level is itself gameplay-wise is sorta bland, but the fog really makes it way worse than it should
be. I feel it visually looks too cluttered as well.

Noivern
DESIGN: 4/50
CREATIVITY: 17/30
AESTHETICS: 11/20
TOTAL SCORE: 32/100

Already confusing and sometimes incorrect map16, combined with obscuring fog, equals pain. Fireball-shooting statues and falling sprites are more often than not placed so that you can hardly see them (if at all) before they hurt you. It makes for unfair and frustrating gameplay.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 8/50
CREATIVITY: 5/30
AESTHETICS: 2/20
TOTAL SCORE: 15/100

This is almost unplayable because of how hard it is on the eyes. Not only is it nearly impossible to look at, the whole thing feels like it was made with no thought as to how things were placed. Enemy placements don't make sense and are often a pain to deal with, and the Thwimp spam essentially proves my point as to thoughtless design.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 20/50
CREATIVITY: 14/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 47/100

This level shows some promise at first, but stumbles in a number of key ways. The atmosphere is striking and creepy, and is integrated to a certain extent into the gameplay itself; the fact that you can manipulate some of the petrified creatures, and indeed are required to do so in order to progress, is a good, submersive touch. On the other hand, the level sometimes tries to get ahead of itself in terms of decoration, and cat feel a touch cluttered and cut-offy. Another visual problem is conveyance--it's not immediately clear that the petrified Spinies, Pokeys etc. are dangerous to the touch, and in some parts solid platforms are difficult to distinguish from background objects.

I most definitely could have done without the opaque foreground fog; it makes it extremely difficult to see what's going on in the level of of the time. And in a level in which there are small, spiky objects randomly strewn about all over the place, this is a very bad thing indeed. The net effect of this is to make the difficulty highly dependent on Thwomp ambushes and the player being randomly damaged by things they can neither see nor predict, which doesn't make for the most enjoyable of experiences. The boss is also a touch of a letdown after the buildup; the Gorgon itself also looks a touch goofy, and will damage itself twice by flying directly into the two key resprites, which makes for a bit of an anticlimactic conclusion.

+ Nice, creepy atmosphere
+ Practical use of petrification gimmick
- Way too dependent on the player being hit by things they can't see
- A little messy visually in terms of both æsthetics and conveyance

Other: What's Medusa's favorite type of cheese? Gorgonzola.

[Nimono]

At this point, I'm genuinely questioning how Gorgon's Garden placed this high (yes, I know it's still in the upper 120s which is quite low, but still), especially over some of the previous levels. That fog obscures way too much! If you could actually see things in that level, it'd probably be so much better. >.< Obscuring info is almost never a good thing.

[Grounder]

[Le Neveu de Rameau]

At this point, I'm genuinely questioning how Gorgon's Garden placed this high [...] If you could actually see things in that level, it'd probably be so much better.

The latter statement here is basically the reason for the former. We're judging the level according to various categories, generally considered separately, so "does some interesting things, but is brought down by a fatal flaw" will typically rank higher than "inoffensive but unexciting" in most contests, even though the judges may have had a less unenjoyable experience with the latter. A level which attempts more things simply has a greater capacity to gain more points, whatever penalties it may incur from its flaws. There will be still higher-ranked levels which demonstrate this principle to a yet stronger degree.

[Nimono]

The latter statement here is basically the reason for the former. We're judging the level according to various categories, generally considered separately, so "does some interesting things, but is brought down by a fatal flaw" will typically rank higher than "inoffensive but unexciting" in most contests, even though the judges may have had a less unenjoyable experience with the latter. A level which attempts more things simply has a greater capacity to gain more points, whatever penalties it may incur from its flaws. There will be still higher-ranked levels which demonstrate this principle to a yet stronger degree.

Yeah, I can understand that! Personally, I feel levels that are "brought down by a fatal flaw" should rank lower than "inoffensive but unexciting". I have to consider Fun Factor in it, and I personally feel that Fun Factor is majorly lessened by a fatal flaw, moreso than something being just bland. If a level's boring to play, it ranks low; if it's FRUSTRATING to play, it should rank lower, in my opinion.

But that's just me. :p

[gbreeze]

I forgot to post this when the wiggler level was played

https://youtu.be/2tZbPMdHgYQ

[Nimono]

I forgot to post this when the wiggler level was played

https://youtu.be/2tZbPMdHgYQ

Mario becomes one with the galaxy

[Kilgamayan]

[Sugar]

128th: Lake Constance by MarioFanGamer

Koopster
DESIGN: 23/50
CREATIVITY: 11/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 46/100

This is a fine level as far as romps go. I can see some thought in the enemy placement here and there. However, it's a very spread out and quite empty level a lot of the time. It also feels a little disjointed other than taking place in a lake. There's only so much you can do by using koopas and chucks almost exclusively...
I also don't like the fish in the first half too much, sometimes (like in the bonus room) they're pretty narrow to dodge, pretty hard obstacles in comparison to anything else presented in the level.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 20/50
CREATIVITY: 5/30
AESTHETICS: 11/20
TOTAL SCORE: 36/100

[22:14] FrozenQuills: yay tides

Noivern
DESIGN: 20/50
CREATIVITY: 9/30
AESTHETICS: 10/20
TOTAL SCORE: 39/100

It was pretty bland. The level doesn't venture very far outside the standard sprite list and lacks focus. In this way I suppose the palettes are fitting; it might have felt like an SMW level if it were shorter and had some sort of theme. The bonus dragon coin sections were pretty good.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 18/50
CREATIVITY: 3/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 35/100

Nothing to look at, but a decent romp. Could work as an early level in a hack, but doesn't really live up to contest standards. It's not unenjoyable by any means but it doesn't do anything to stand out, nor is the design interesting. I think the message box facts made me think more than the level itself.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 18/50
CREATIVITY: 7/30
AESTHETICS: 8/20
TOTAL SCORE: 33/100

For a level named after the Bodensee (Much like "GDR", I don't think I've every heard anyone use the name "Lake Constance" in real life), I was expecting water to play a bit more of a central role. Honestly, this feels rather more like a generic grassland level with a static layer 3 water section thrown in to the middle, where the water itself doesn't really affect the gameplay all that much. It makes a vague effort at gaining some identity by including the message blocks with a bit of...um, let's generally call it "trivia", but it only highlights the fact that the level has little connection to the Bodensee, water, or much of anything else. Still, it recognizes the importance of having an identity, and that's something, I guess.

+ Not a terrible first-world grassland level.
- Has little identity nor connection to its namesake.

Other: Shouldn't there be a stage decorated with creepy giant body parts somewhere out there?

127th: Dark Data Tower by SilverSwallow

Koopster
DESIGN: 16/50
CREATIVITY: 16/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 48/100

Very long (especially the first half) while not having much at all going for it in the design department - it's just a lot of enemies thrown around for the most part. Most of the first half is very boring and stretchy, but it picks up right before the midpoint which made me have to redo it over and over many, many times. I didn't enjoy the "surprise skull box" gimmick in the slightest, they're basically projectile chucks but unpredictable (or sky ambushes!), and the footballs are already bad enough on their own. Feels like it tries to be "non-linear" but it's really just zigzaggy, which visually I think you pulled off well (although solidity of things can be super unintuitive at times!), but it didn't help very much to make the level interesting to play. Doesn't help that it isn't focused on anything. Some rooms are super out of place - like the P-switch room (although the descent for the dragon coin is nice), the green room and also the final room. Not the first level that I feel tried to tell me a story but I didn't get it... oh well.
Also I'm not sure about this secret exit... the koopa tip is really subtle. And it doesn't add a lot to the level ultimately.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 12/50
CREATIVITY: 12/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 36/100

I have problems big time with conveyance, where I was supposed to go, what's solid and not, etc.
This really does not work in Mario.

Noivern
DESIGN: 12/50
CREATIVITY: 24/30
AESTHETICS: 6/20
TOTAL SCORE: 42/100

The aesethetics are phenomenal, except for one tiny little problem: I can't tell what's supposed to be solid. For some reason, yellow, blue gray, and dark blue (against a black background) tiles are used interchangeably as solid wall and floor tiles, and the dark blue boxes are all solid even though they look like background decoration. The same is true of the skull and crossbone boxes, which all house different threats that can't be told apart from a glance. Comboed with a large amount of sprite spam, it makes for a level that is creative, but falls way short of it's potential. I couldn't find the secret at all.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 3/50
CREATIVITY: 12/30
AESTHETICS: 8/20
TOTAL SCORE: 23/100

I was hopeful at the start of this one that it would be good, from first impressions, but it certainly did not deliver. It very quickly turns into a cramped and extremely cluttered disaster with next to no sense of direction, often with way too many unpredictable projectiles from all directions. It's an absolute chore to get through, and it's made even worse by the fact that the palettes/tiles are bad enough to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish what's solid, what the doors are, etc, and the sprite replacements are just completely stupid.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 12/50
CREATIVITY: 13/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 38/100

This level's kind of a bizarre mess. There's all sorts of doors, but few of them lead anywhere, and there's nothing to particularly indicate which ones are enterable and which are not. You'd expect that giant red door to be of some significance, but it might as well be a giant red fish, as it's quite irrelevant. There's lots of paths as well, but most of them lead to nothing of any real significance, maybe a dragon coin. The latter part of the level throws in a bunch of baseball/football/falling bullet "generators", which really don't work to its advantage, especially the ones on the ceiling, which can be a bit difficult to see. Perhaps the level's most baffling feature, though, it that for all its maze-like paths, the secret exit is actually accessed by hitting an unmarked fake wall on the second screen with a shell. That's certainly an...interesting decision. And by "interesting" I mean "dumb".

Æsthetically, there are some interesting things going on, but much like the design, it's a bit of a jumble. It's hard to tell which partitions are solid and which are not, and the functionality of things in general tends to be unclear (like the three styles of doors, all of which may or may not be enterable). The Roy Troopas are sort of bizarre, and don't entirely make sense. I find the Goomba Boney Beetle replacement actually sort of compelling, but its randomly transforming in to a Spiny at times is similarly strange.

Oddly, I did kind of like the P-switch drop where coins transform in to blocks, possibly slowing your descent as you try to reach the bottom in time to get the dragon coin. Kind of an interesting twist on how P-swtich races usually work.

+ Kind of a distinctive (if messy) visual style
+ Reverse P-switch race pretty neat
- Main path a weird, messy maze
- Secret "path" kinda dumb and obscure

Other: I'm sure someone out there was probably saying to themselves, "You know what vanilla SMW was lacking? Rinkas." Well, here you go.

124th: Yoshi's Island 1 by Heraga

Koopster
DESIGN: 19/50
CREATIVITY: 13/30
AESTHETICS: 8/20
TOTAL SCORE: 40/100

Riding spinies isn't that interesting on itself, nor inside the cramped spaces in this level. There are a bunch of awkward setups, like one bit at the cave where the camera doesn't scroll up and you can't see where to land from spinjumping in some spiny egg. Lots of random enemies all over the place. The level doesn't flow very nicely - the setups don't get harder, feels more like the waiting gets longer as the level progresses.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 22/50
CREATIVITY: 15/30
AESTHETICS: 11/20
TOTAL SCORE: 48/100

There are ideas here that could have easily gotten further with it's potential. Instead it's
asking you to do the same thing but with some very minor variation. There are other things happening as
well but they're done so unusually and feels confusing.

Noivern
DESIGN: 8/50
CREATIVITY: 10/30
AESTHETICS: 5/20
TOTAL SCORE: 23/100

For a few brief moments, I could sense good level design.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 15/50
CREATIVITY: 13/30
AESTHETICS: 15/20
TOTAL SCORE: 43/100

The biggest problem with this level is that spinjumping on 1F8-sliding enemies is just not a fun task, especially as the focus of the level. It looks nice and technically the design around the concept isn't terrible (though it's definitely not good), but that can't fix a bad fundamental core.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 14/50
CREATIVITY: 14/30
AESTHETICS: 8/20
TOTAL SCORE: 36/100

I -think- this is intended as a joke level, but if so, it's a joke level with an actual level behind it. A strange level, to be certain, but a level nonetheless. There's a lot of things that seem to sort of be here just because (e.g. all the bubbles, which barely make a difference in the level) but that seems to be what the level is going for. The actual gameplay seems to be mostly based around Spinies and 1F0, and setups involving these alternate between being genuinely interesting and silly and sort of annoying. Unfortunately, in the level's second half, things veer decidedly towards the latter end, and the level starts to feel non-serious in a bad way. Trying to get in the final pipe is goofy, and the player ends the level feeling appropriately confused.

+ Some interesting use of Spinies and 1F0
- Some annoying use of Spinies and 1F0

Other: Though æsthetically, this level isn't anything to write home about (if you're one of those weirdos who writes home about the æsthetics of Mario levels), I do like the alternating green and purple colors used for the pipes. There's something very...minty about it.

[Implo]

First level felt like nothing special. Second level on the other hand was really fun. I really liked creativity with decoration. Enemies shooting from inside of machines, laser traps, windows, shooting helicopters. I had no problem with figuring out what's solid and what's not. I liked the idea of escaping building inside and outside. Details were amazing. There was a little of spam here and there, but I'm really surprised this level scored so low.

And third level is pretty much first level that focus on just 1 gimmick. And it's doing pretty good job. Sure there are some design flaws here and there and level looks pretty standard, but I think it made pretty good job. And again I'm surprised this level scored so low.

[Cyphermur9t]

These 3 levels were really fun! Really digging the whole 'Not a marathon' vibe from these.