you know i was thinking about the switch palaces, and do we really have to make levels for them? i mean i know people have already started them, but really think about how useful the idea is
it made sense in vldc9 because the judges for the contest you were playing made the levels. but why are we outsourcing levels for a contest that happened year(s?) ago to the first people to claim them in a discord chat? the switch palace levels are being made after the contest has ended long ago, have literally no connection to the contest, and are made by users which frankly have no significant connection to the contest. it doesnt make any sense.
it barely made sense to have the switch palaces be actual levels in vldc9 given the staff and judges made levels anyways (could be misremembering), but here it is ridiculous. its the same thing as people asking for some kind of postgame entirely disconnected from the original contest, it just doesnt make ANY sense.
I think the only proper way to handle the switch palaces is either a hub level where they can be activated/deactivated on a whim, or a more fun idea that would require some work would make them activatable from the overworld (walk onto the tile to press it, walk back over it to unpress it). Since all switch palaces connected to the contest itself were designed this way (because surprise surprise, they have nothing to do with the contest!) it's how they should be handled for the collab.
no disrespect to anybody that has been working hard on the switch palaces... for some reason. but unless you were a judge or hold some sort of stake in the contest itself, having 4 levels for the community to "claim" in a collab of over 100 levels is frankly dumb.
ask me if i give a f*ck...