[b]Welcome[/b] Welcome to the 3rd annual SMWC Level Design Challenge! (SMWCLDC:2010) For the third year running, I'm your host, FirePhoenix! If you're interested in competing for the shiny golden trophy that is "Best Vanilla Level Designer (SMWC:LDC 2010)" then look below to see the rules of the contest! [b]Rules:[/b] You have until [b]February 28 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time[/b] to make one level that you believe is a showcase of your best efforts. However, as in previous years, this contest is a vanilla one meaning that these levels must be completely made using original SMW resources. Check further below for exceptions to the vanilla rules. You are not allowed to include: -ExGFX that was not a part of the original SMW -Custom Sprites/Blocks -HDMA effects -ASM hacks Inclusion of any of these in your level will result in immediate disqualification of your level. If you feel that we unjustly or accidentally disqualified your level, let us know with your reasoning and we'll review your level to see if we should allow it back into the running or not. EXCEPTIONS: These are exceptions to the rules. (These may be outdated patches, I'm simply carryig these over from the previous year. Classic Piranha Plant Fix Patch Fade Fix Patch "Time Up!" Fix Patch Lightning Generator Custom Sprite (version 1 or 2) SMW Fix Patch (More to potentially come on a case-by-case basis) New this year is that [b]I have decided to allow participants to include custom music in their levels.[/b] However, the music will have no bearing on the level's score and will simply be for hearing pleasure only. Again, you will receive [b]zero[/b] points for having custom music. Another alteration from last year is that we are [b]disallowing multiple exits[/b] (this means 3 or more). Last year we had a number of participants pad artifically increase the lengths of their levels by placing extra exits randomly, often causing judges to have to search in Lunar Magic to find them. This year we will avoid this by disallowing it. If you use a Switch Palace as one of your exits, it counts towards the total of two exits. [b]Judging[/b] Judging remains the same as in previous years, using our tried and true 50 point scale. Each category is worth up to 10 points: Creativity: Did you take the original SMW and bend it to form new, creative puzzles, clever areas, and tricky obstacles Difficulty: Is the difficulty just right? Is it not insanely tough, but at the same time, not insanely easy? Appeal: Does the level look nice? Are there any graphical glitches? Functionality: Does the level work properly? Are there any retarded places that are unfair/can kill the player too easily? FUN: Is your level FUN OVERALL? The following list is a list of things that you can change that will not affect your overall score: -Editing the "Nintendo Presents" logo -Editing the Overworld -Editing the Title Screen -Editing the Intro and its message -Adding and editing a Credits sequence if applicable -Adding custom music (see above explanation) After the submission period closes, judging will begin. Judging will last the entire month of March and winners will hopefully be announced the first week of April. Yes, we had problems sticking to our dates last year, but hopefully we will be able to keep our promises this time. If extenuating circumstances occur once more, please bear with us. We don't need a repeat of last year with users getting angry about judges not being finished. There will be four judges this year, however, they will remain anonymous until the winners have been announced. [b]Tips[/b] Here are some tips from last year's contest to help get you started or perhaps give you an idea or two for your level: -Use Custom palettes: Custom palettes can really make a level look pretty. Having nicely done palettes will definitely gain you a higher score in Appeal. By the same token, they can also hurt you if you have clashing palettes so be careful. -Combining ORIGINAL SMW tilesets: Have you ever wanted a cave level with a line guide challenge? Have you ever done one with an ExGFX set? Well since you can't use external ExGFX this contest, you'll have to make do by combining the original tilesets. This means that you are only allowed to use an external graphics program to combine tileset, nothing more. -Map16 manipulation:The 16x16 editor is a really powerful tool in creating tiles to use. Feel free to use it as much as you want to make your level look better or to avoid tiling errors. -Unique ideas: Again, feel free to make any type of level that you wish. But know that having a really cool idea or gimmick in a level can definitely raise your creativity score. [b]How to submit your level[/b] When you believe that you have the perfect level, make an .ips patch from your level and [b]upload it to your personal File Bin[/b] and then post a link to it in this thread. DO NOT UPLOAD YOUR LEVEL TO THE HACKS SECTION. If you post your level and then find out that you made a small mistake, or want to change something, you have until the deadline for the contest to resubmit your updated version. ANY LEVELS OR UPDATED LEVELS SUBMITTED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Additionally, DO NOT PM ME YOUR SUBMISSIONS. They must be posted somewhere in this thread or they will not be accepted. [b]Other[/b] LASTLY, this thread is to be only for Submissions. Do not use this thread for discussion purposes, only submitting your work. This means DO NOT POST HERE UNLESS YOU ARE SUBMITTING YOUR LEVEL OR AN UPDATE FOR IT. Use the SMWCLDC:2010 Discussion Thread for all contest-related discussion. Also, there was a rule about not discussing submissions other than your own. I'm doing away with it because honestly I cannot remember why it was instigated in the first place. I hope that you have fun with this contest, and I hope to see lots of awesome submissions from you guys! If you have any more questions about the contest, feel free to ask here. Good luck!