I suppose this is one of the few cases where waiting a day to comment on yesterday's levels might have been a good thing, so that I can properly weigh in on the design v. aesthetics discussion.
Hydraulic Hideout has some really interesting ideas, and doesn't do much wrong besides having a mediocre part or two. It also manages to bring a good challenge to the level, and hides the dragon coins well, along with a split path. The vertical water room was very neat. Good job with the layer 2 and 3 manipulation, and thanks for submitting this.
Swiss Hotel, as is the case for morsel levels, is pretty unique in terms of gameplay. There is some nice and difficult gameplay without being super unfair, which is nice. Some sections seem a bit frustrating, and that password puzzle is very cryptic, so that might be why the level was regarded as merely average. But I found it good too.
Oh man, THE Mario Brothers submitted a level? Sunset Stroll is... okay. P-switch usage was nice, there were a few chuck challenges, level was moderately challenging, and the sunset was pretty nice. Good job.
Gambly Night has to be a pretty interesting level. It's one of the best looking levels here, first of all, and nails the casino feeling perfectly. But I also have a few issues with this. First of all, there are a distinct lack of power-ups. Secondly... why are there Lava Lotuses strewn throughout the level? Lastly, that last section with baseballs is kind of a thing. The Dragon Coins were placed well, though, and the dark casino is incredibly cool. This could be made incredibly good with some better choices for the obstacles, but what there isn't terrible, but merely a tad flawed. Very good work regardless of that.
As for gameplay versus aesthetics, I am kind of in the middle. I really enjoy levels that play very nicely. I also enjoy levels that have great atmosphere and looks. Both of them can be thoroughly enjoyable. And yet, creativity in both delights me. It's why I enjoy both morsel's and raocow's levels, which go in drastically different directions. But levels that can nail both, and yet might do it slightly worse than the best, are the ones I enjoy the best. (An example of this design philosophy is Nightswimming, with both creative gameplay and a cool background...) This is because you know everything just clicked for the designer, and that feeling just tends to head it home for me, regardless of the mood the designer was aiming for...
Also...
Sebby19 wrote:Perhaps if I run the next Magl X, there will be some sort of anonymous judging. Basically, instead of having names attached to the score breakdowns, I'll just have Judge 1, 2, 3.
I think this will reduce periods of a bunch of people attacking a judge's opinion.
I think people will still complain, even if that were the case. The only difference is that there's no clear scapegoat at first, which may result in its own issues, if people are uncivilized enough...