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

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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - grav1tyF0

Post by Rixithechao »

Grounder wrote: 3 years ago
Rixithechao wrote: 3 years agoSaid level already got substantial flack back when raocow first played it. Continuing to hold it against lazy to this day isn’t being productive or constructive in any way, you’re just clinging to a grudge.
I looked into the comments of both videos that could be considered "yesterday" and all I saw was calling the secret exit of the Fuzzy level bad.

Not a single person held it against the author, either.

I think you're reading way too much into things, here...
apologies, I should have said “some of which are on both”.

With that said,

EDIT: Oof, I took these screenshots and wrote this post on my phone so I didn't see how massive they were until now. Placing them in a spoiler tag.
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Last edited by Rixithechao 3 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - grav1tyF0

Post by Grounder »

For whatever reason those didn't blip on my radar, my apologies.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - grav1tyF0

Post by FrozenQuills »

Rixithechao wrote: 3 years ago A bit late with this because life, but might I just say that some people — who happen to be both in the youtube comments and here on the forums — took things too far by invoking a certain other level yesterday?

Said level already got substantial flack back when raocow first played it. Continuing to hold it against lazy to this day isn’t being productive or constructive in any way, you’re just clinging to a grudge.

There’s plenty of things in the world far more deserving of that kind of sustained hostility than mario romhack levels, especially this year.
I absolutely agree. At least some people defended Lazy's contest entry in the comments despite raocow's experience and that silly grudge.

I remember there were no resets in the first half of Shroom Starship, but it's weird that I was never bothered by it. It's a pretty big design flaw. Guess I was just too wow'd by the rest of the level.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - grav1tyF0

Post by Sugar »

1st: Tidal Temple by NGB
Koopster
DESIGN: 48/50
CREATIVITY: 28/30
AESTHETICS: 18/20
TOTAL SCORE: 94/100

Exceptionally well designed level, despite playing it safe for the most part and ending up being quite short (I'm glad you haven't overdone it, though!). The focus on ideas for each segment is very clear, and it never gets too overwhelming or spikes in difficulty. I honestly have very little to complain about this one. I guess I can say the background could use a better palette, but the athmosphere in general is neat.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 45/50
CREATIVITY: 27/30
AESTHETICS: 18/20
TOTAL SCORE: 90/100

The BG was slightly too bright (generally just busy and ugly), and the overall structure could
have been smoothed out to play better (areas feel a bit too tight and you might feel slightly limited
in space). Though it's a pretty great entry. You put a lot of nice detail in it.

Noivern
DESIGN: 47/50
CREATIVITY: 29/30
AESTHETICS: 18/20
TOTAL SCORE: 94/100

Loved the exploration feel, loved how changing the water level affected the beginning areas. There were a few different gimmicks but they all tied into the main theme. I think the secret exit weakened the level a bit; it was arranged like a puzzle section, but the "solutions" were obvious. Manuvering with the shell in the last area was somewhat annoying.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 49/50
CREATIVITY: 30/30
AESTHETICS: 19/20
TOTAL SCORE: 98/100

Incredible use of SMW's assets in every way. The main water gimmick is great on its own but even the net koopas and the Fuzzies are used wonderfully. I generally can't stand levels that have backtracking like this but you've executed it so well that I almost completely forgot. Stunning.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 46/50
CREATIVITY: 28/30
AESTHETICS: 20/20
TOTAL SCORE: 94/100

This hits the mark on pretty much all levels. The bulrushes look amazing, as do the transparent water effects, and the doors, though simple, are an interesting application of commonly used elements. The echo in the interior sections is simply the icing on the ill-defined pastry which emphasizes the level of detail and care that went in to the atmosphere of this level. The design doesn't disappoint, either--the level provides us with a wide variety of unique and interesting challenges which use familiar elements in innovative ways. The way in which net Koopas are used is particularly interesting, though it's not immediately obvious that the vines are climbable by them but not Mario. Nevertheless they provide a nice twist on a classic foe.

There are one or two setups that seem a bit off; the fish patrolling the door near the sinking platform seems like a bit of a tight squeeze considering the low- manœuvrability of the watery environment, at least until you realize the unexpected generosity of the door's hitbox. The final stretch of the secret path, though it generally makes a good effort of avoid frustration with the bountiful reset doors an mushrooms a-go-go, also has the the issue that it's not immediately clear what your actual goal is unless you almost manage to win the race, as otherwise the Yoshi-fish will eat the box without the player ever seeing it. Admittedly, it's kind of clear that you want to get to the other end as fast as possible, but what exactly you're supposed to do once you get there is considerably less obvious.

That said, all in all this is a well-balanced and entertainingly level, and an extremely impressive work all around. Mazel tov!

+ Well-balanced on all fronts
+ Some fresh spins on familiar obstacles
+ Nice attention to atmospheric detail
- Ultimate goal in secret exit race could use a touch more clarity.

Other: If this is the -tidal- temple, and the water levels are controlled by those glass blocks, I can only conclude that the moon is a cube.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Daizo »

Daizo wrote: 4 years agoe3: So surreal that VLDCX basically ended on a shockingly good note, and to also have it be done in about 2 months. Wow!
To extend my thoughts: ...wow, I had no idea that a very good handful of stages were like, really good. I don't care what anyone says anymore, I think VLDCX turned out to be quite a quality package. We did get a few bad ones, and a few controversial ones but for the most part everything was civil. Again, that's probably because raocow didn't try to go after secret exits or dragon coins but like, these are not hot garbage like what I've been lead to believe (including my own level). I also really like that the top 25 absolutely shows off what vanilla SMW is capable of with minimal YY-CHR usage and the power that is Lunar Magic at the time. Imagine what is possible now.

I'm ready for VLDC12. Both in terms of what people can make, and what I can come up with for next time.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Veruchai »

Best level won.
Very deservedly.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by 10204307 »

That level was really good! The usage of the layer 2 water, floating platforms, and fuzzies in the last section was really simple but clever. The entire level felt super polished and consistent, and I loved the subtle graphical edits and the whole sense of atmosphere present. There might have been more "mindblowing" levels in this contest, but I think this one manages to really nail the sweet spot. Just a great experience all throughout.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by BobisOnlyBob »

3rd place showed something that was technically full of conventional SMW logic, pushed to its limit, deeply taxing.

2nd place showed something that was full of unexpected interactions and seemingly impossible visuals and design choices for the limitations of vanilla SMW, ascending as it goes.

1st placed showed something that was so cleverly put together, it seemed almost normal from beginning to end, while still having those little "wow" factors throughout.

What a wonderful trifecta of levels! I feel their placements are rightfully deserved, and I'm glad they all showcase wildly different notions of "vanilla SMW".
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by AUS »

yo whens the "vanilla with vanilla tools" contest gonna get made cuz idk im just not super impressed with being able to spriteswap to your heart's content as long as you swap them to stuff made from vanilla assets. like sure, in the lunar magic menu you can select different spritesets and sometimes that makes things look interesting but theres no way everything im seeing here was made with just that right
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Sinc-X »

AUS wrote: 3 years ago yo whens the "vanilla with vanilla tools" contest gonna get made cuz idk im just not super impressed with being able to spriteswap to your heart's content as long as you swap them to stuff made from vanilla assets. like sure, in the lunar magic menu you can select different spritesets and sometimes that makes things look interesting but theres no way everything im seeing here was made with just that right
That essentially happened. It was called OLDC. Everyone hated it and it never happened again the end
https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=90066
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Draexzhan »

Well that was fun to watch. I might try entering the next VLDC, as I have a few ideas I'd like to try out.

I find it interesting that this level won the contest. I definitely wouldn't call it the best level at any one thing, however, everything executed is executed very well. I genuinely can't fault it at anything.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Rixithechao »

AUS wrote:
So wait, how much did they use outside of Lunar Magic?

Earlier in the LP I was trying to make my own “vanilla” smw level as a learning exercise and to better understand and appreciate what goes into these things — I used yy-chr for a few extra background/scenery tiles, but otherwise was putting things together with only what was available in Lunar Magic + eventual music insertion as I figured the contest required. I was still at a loss as to how some things were done but I just assumed it was stuff I hadn’t learned about yet, possibly even some obscure hidden feature I wasn’t aware of because I remembered reading forever ago that fusoya likes to sneak functionality into easter eggs.
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Maxodex »

obviously won bc it used my port.




jk
AUS wrote: 3 years agolike sure, in the lunar magic menu you can select different spritesets and sometimes that makes things look interesting but theres no way everything im seeing here was made with just that right
well i guess you could count yy-chr and addmusick as extra tools, but most of what people did can be done within lunar magic too except more tediously so lol
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Kilgamayan »

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

Post by gbreeze »

Rixithechao wrote: 3 years ago
AUS wrote:
So wait, how much did they use outside of Lunar Magic?

Earlier in the LP I was trying to make my own “vanilla” smw level as a learning exercise and to better understand and appreciate what goes into these things — I used yy-chr for a few extra background/scenery tiles, but otherwise was putting things together with only what was available in Lunar Magic + eventual music insertion as I figured the contest required. I was still at a loss as to how some things were done but I just assumed it was stuff I hadn’t learned about yet, possibly even some obscure hidden feature I wasn’t aware of because I remembered reading forever ago that fusoya likes to sneak functionality into easter eggs.
All the graphic trickery is entirely done with mixing and matching vanilla tiles using yy-chr (or another graphic editor). While vldc's all "technically" use vanilla elements, you're allowed to use yy-chr to piece together different graphics from all parts of the game. As long as it's in the original game in some capacity, it's fair game. You can't color/draw over or edit the existing graphics, but smw has so many different graphics that it's possible to make tons of different things with different graphic combos and a bit of creativity. It goes beyond just mixing level and enemy graphics. Even the layer 3 and overworld graphics can be used to make crazy backgrounds.

As far as gameplay goes, everything is vanilla and most of the unique mechanics tend to explore glitches. However, there are quite a few "quality of life" patches added, as well as the use of SA-1, so gameplay-wise it's not entirely "vanilla" either. And lastly, you can obviously use AMK to insert music. But since the patches were already applied to the vldc baserom, the only tools you can actually use on the rom besides lm are AMK and yy-chr (or other graphic editors).
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Re: Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

Post by Sugar »

And so, VLDCX LP ends after three months.

nd: by
Koopster
DESIGN: /50
CREATIVITY: /30
AESTHETICS: /20
TOTAL SCORE: /100



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



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



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



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


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

Post by AUS »

Sinc-X wrote: 3 years ago That essentially happened. It was called OLDC. Everyone hated it and it never happened again the end
https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=90066
That's fair. I mean, to be honest, YUMP technically qualifies and uh..

yeah maybe that shouldnt be the goal huh
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