MaGL 3 results: moral of the story: laziness always prevails

[Mata Hari]

No I know Nairobi is a level, but why is it??

Unless it says in that video, which I'm not going to watch the whole thing to find out. There I said it.

[morsel/morceau]

^We were given box contents last time with which to make our levels. I was given the grinder sprite, the Chuck Berry tune from Earthbound and the background of the Nairobi level from Mario is Missing. I remember this background was completely broken and I had to re-rip it; in order to do this, I had to play Mario is Missing for five minutes -- that was enough.

I played Lazy's level before I'd even decided to make a level for the contest, and I was encouraged to enter for the following reasons: a) even if my level is rubbish, someone may make something great out of it in the future, and b) there is no pressure because you won't do better than this.

[S.N.N.]

JUDGES' SCORES AND COMMENTS FOR THE WINNER:

1st: Lazy

-FROZENQUILLS-
FUN: 26/30
DIFFICULTY: 5/5
CREATIVITY: 10/10
AESTHETICS: 10/10 (5/5 GFX + 5/5 MUS)
FUNCTIONALITY: 5/5

TOTAL: 56/60

COMMENTS:
YO THIS WAS SUPER NEAT.

The donut blocks were used very creatively in the level, both as
ways to open paths and as miniature puzzles!

I loved how you can have multiple 'experiences' in the beginning
area depending on if you're able to get the fire flower or not,
since you could make some obstacles easier or harder for more
risk/reward.

The enemies were very well placed and designed such
that you barely have enough leeway to get through them, but
not in a frustrating fashion. The bowling ball section is
very well designed too, but the tons-of-keys part is just a
tiiiny bit finicky to get right.

The aesthetics are also great, with the music fitting super well
and the graphics being well designed and nice to look at.

The only suggestion I have is that even though the second half
with the water and the donut blocks was neat, I feel like
it could have been extended and pushed even more.

But anyway, this was a really creative and neat ride from start
to finish. Great job!

TLDR:
+ A++ donut block usage
+ Super clean design and flow
+ Super nice puzzles
- Second half could've gone further

OTHER:
nice nairobi reference


-PYRO-
Fun: 30/30
Difficulty: 3/5
Creativity: 8/10
Aesthetics: 9/10
Functionality: 5/5
Total: 55/60
Comment: MAAAAAAAN. I REALLY wish this went on for longer - this was freaking AWESOME. I looove the setups, and this is probably like the coolest use of donut blocks I've ever seen ever. I was legit surprised that you actually got stuff out of Bowser's bowling balls of all things, and how you had to like, drop them into pits? It was suuuuuuuper cool. And the donut block/water section was really cool too. It's just a super innovative and creative level that I REALLY wish went on for longer ;-;


-KOOPSTER-
FUN: 28/30
DIFFICULTY: 5/5
CREATIVITY: 9/10
AESTHETICS: 10/10
FUNCTIONALITY: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 57/60

I wonder where all of these level design masterminds are coming from suddenly. Excellent aesthetics and excellent level!! The only complaint I can make is that I wish there was more of it. No, really, I feel this could go on for a bit longer. It's a really nice level difficulty-wise and it would be harmless to extend it.


-S.N.N.-
FUN: 28/30
DIFFICULTY: 5/5
CREATIVITY: 10/10
AESTHETICS: 9/10
FUNCTIONALITY: 4/5

TOTAL: 56/60

COMMENTS: I saw your name and knew I'd be in for a gimmick-y adventure. Every single puzzle felt well-crafted, and you utilized the donut blocks in tons of creative ways. I especially liked the way you integrated the bowling balls into your puzzles rather than just having them roll left and hurt you. One issue I noticed is that the last part with the Bullet Bills was a bit finicky, and took me about 3-4 tries before I could actually hit them with the throw block and not simply bounce off of them. Awesome work otherwise.

The first Lazy level I played was the Podobooru in VLDC8. Prior to that, I really had no experience with his work, but needless do say, he has continued to impress me a lot since then (maybe a bit less so with his VLDC9 entry, though I'm not one for overly difficult levels to begin with). It was a tough pick between the second and place entry and this one as the winner for me, but in the end, I personally feel like this one was the most worthy of the title. Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who participated in this. It's been a long road, but I was very pleased with the submission quality - especially the top half.

[Koopster]

maybe a bit less so with his VLDC9 entry, though I'm not one for overly difficult levels to begin with

yeeeeeeeahhhhh...

But congrats Lazy!! I'm really satisfied with your victory. Not only you are an exceptional designer, but you also get the athmospheric part down greatly, which are traits that very few people share as far as I'm aware.

I wonder how many videos the cleanup is gonna take. How many levels are there to do?

[Divemissile]

i've said that i kinda didn't like this level before, and that was because i kinda broke it twice? the first time was at the bowling ball and key puzzle, i was able to just chill under the cloud and watch the bowling ball go over me and through a wall. the second on the last puzzle the platform straight up despawned the second time i attempted that puzzle, which was a shame. keep in mind those were on my first playthrough of the level and i really wasn't sure how to solve those puzzles. i also found some of the design decisions such as putting a hard to get (at least for me) mushroom followed by a really easy to get fire flower. i still found the level fun and enjoyable, but i'd probably place it at 5th-3rd myself.

[Grounder]

So, after the cleanup, what's next?

[ano0maly]

The earlier part of the vertical drop down section was basically Quick Man lasers, except you used buzzsaws because you were LAZY

anyway congratulations

[Zephyr_DragonLord]

You're lazy, ya just stay in bed... You're laaazy, ya just stay in bed... you ain't got no effort, you just won it all... (Wait, that's not right)

Well, great job here, lazy. You used music from a great game that kids should be playing instead of getting in trouble with the media, and you made a nice an very action-paced city based of Nairobi. The level was immensely creative in terms of obstacles and puzzles, and it works out to become an amazing level! So congrats on the gold, and congrats to everybody that participated.

As for me... next year's going to be MaGL3, which I hope to be a good part of. If you're going to be doing a redux of this in the future, raocow, what judge will you be commentating with?

[snoruntpyro]

Congrats to Lazy! Also if anyone didn't see I uploaded my judging now!

[SAJewers]

I like how you died to to Volcano Lotus in my level, when it's supposed to be just harmless/a decoration enemy.

[Crow]

luigi's body meadow is probably my favorite still but yeah that was undeniably a good level

[SAJewers]

Oh, that reminds me, what's the Next A-Side?

[ft029]

Congrats on first Lazy! You are now welcome in the fancy red name club drenched in the blood of those you've beaten.

Problem being that 2nd place, 3rd place, and 4th place clearly don't have any blood anyway.

[idol]

Oh, that reminds me, what's the Next A-Side?

vanilla level design contest 9 is right around the corner, so im guessing that'd probably be his next big series

he could play the chocolate level design contest entries in the meantime~~~~

also lazys level was really fun. im sad rameau didn't win tho for the sole reason of having the top 10 begin and end with flesh hell

[Lazy_]

This is largely as I predicted, except that I won

Quick devcom:

Not sure where the idea to make a Nairobi sequel originated, but the donut gimmick was inspired by parts of worldpeace's Eggplant, namely the thwomp jumps and the mushroom escorting segment. The donut+water idea was something I randomly came across while designing the level and I decided to do something with it. I actually had a bunch more ideas in store for this level:
- more eater block stuff
- vertical section where fast block snakes close in on you
- a boo boss fight
- donuts on layer 2
- falling donuts getting stuck on tile 1F0
- MSU-1 usage
Most of these ideas just flat out didn't work out, but I also cut some of them because I was worried the level was getting too long. SORRY PYRO

Shoutouts to the judges for being very good judges throughout the whole contest; I agree with almost all the placements. It's been a while since I last participated in a truly exciting and competetive contest.


I'm afraid you can't expect this level of quality from my vldc9 level!

[Le Neveu de Rameau]

The first place winner is a real gem. I found it especially entertaining as for me, last MaGL 2's Nairobi was a good example of what I would consider a nightmare level--it's the sort of thing I can really appreciate intellectually, but in terms of actually playing it, it just goes against everything I would consider fun. But this level does a remarkably good job of taking a similar concept and making it much more accessible for non-crazy-people. It's not just the kinder (but still super-creative) setups I'm talking about, though--the entire symbolism of taking the hard, pointy and uninviting Grinder and replacing it with the soft (well, at least I imagine them to be soft), round and harmless (on its own) donut block is just conceptually brilliant. Also bar none the most original use of donut blocks I've ever seen--I especially like how the level surprisingly infrequently makes use of their standard function as a falling platform you have to quickly jump (or run) off of to avoid falling into the abyss (which I think SMW's own falling platform does a better job of, anyway) and instead re-purposes them in completely unexpected ways for weird puzzles and the like. The water bit at the end seems like it should be a super-jank glitch exploitation fest, but in practice, it feels surprisingly smooth and natural.

The æsthetics are pretty neat, too! This is probably the first instance I've seen of using the castle tileset+glass blocks to make an urban environment that didn't look sort of terrible (possible because of the unreal, cartoony vibe the rest of the æsthetic provides) and those weird little pipe things give the level an almost Yellow Submarine-like feel which seems well in tune with its demeanor. Really a great effort all around, and a worthy winner of this contest. Much praise for Mr. Laze!

[FrozenQuills]

Oh, that reminds me, what's the Next A-Side?

vanilla level design contest 9 is right around the corner, so im guessing that'd probably be his next big series

he could play the chocolate level design contest entries in the meantime~~~~

also lazys level was really fun. im sad rameau didn't win tho for the sole reason of having the top 10 begin and end with flesh hell

Speak of the devil, it just got released.
https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a ... s&id=14756

[raocow]

that is some INCREDIBLE timing, but I got something I wanna do first.

[Sebby19]

I hereby declare my candidacy in running MaGLX 3. It will be based on music!

[nothobz]

it was a pleasure following this contest to the end.

[ft029]

the entire symbolism of taking the hard, pointy and uninviting Grinder and replacing it with the soft (well, at least I imagine them to be soft), round and harmless (on its own) donut block is just conceptually brilliant.

umm :o

[FrozenQuills]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's all of the secret exits, so you're not missing anything else raocow.

But yeah! I had a fun time judging this contest and even if there are a few weird rankings here and there (partly due to my own flawed judgments in retrospect, oops) they are all good enough. I think I like participating more than judging though, but we'll see in the next few magl's or maglx's.

[Voltgloss]

Of course the feather was in the 9th column.

[MaxMaxMaxVidya]

raocow did my secret exit wrong... while it worked (poor design on my end, that rooms supposed to be un winnable) its not the actual solution, its to do with bringing the P switch back into the previous room, and some other stuff, theres a bit more puzzle after that, and like a proper victory area


sorry about uh... that i guess

[Sugar]

I think Forest Chasm by Kirby Comment had a second exit that broke in raocow's emulator (it requires ZSNES).