AmperSam and I (Doctor No) are here together, co-hosting this road trip. They’re making sure I don’t steer the bus into kaizo territory, and I’m making sure they don’t fill the gas tank with anything questionable.
With our powers combined, we’re here to issue the following call to action:
Make the best standard level you can, using ONLY the resources on the provided BaseROM
It’s like VLDC, except instead of using only the resources on vanilla SMW, you’re using only the resources on a version of SMW we cooked up in Amper's basement.
Don’t ask us where we bought the ingredients, just know it’s all food-grade.
RULES
Please read these carefully - just because this contest feels like VLDC doesn’t mean the rules are exactly the same:
- You may work either by yourself or in a pair with one (1) partner.
- You must use the provided BaseROM (or any updated version of the baserom that is provided) as-is.
- You are limited to one (1) exit for your entry.
Your exit can use up to 3 sublevels alongside your main level, for a total of 4 levelsWe're lifting this restriction, but still keep it within a reasonable amount lest you get DQed for excess.- All entries should be anonymous and not contain the name of the creator(s) anywhere in the submission.
THINGS YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO:
- You may not add any additional resources to the BaseROM. You can only work with the resources already present.
- The only exception to this is custom music. More on that later.
- Your level may not exceed 600 SMW seconds, from start to end. No exceptions or subversions allowed, and no resetting the timer on switching sublevels.
- You can not modify the first 15 Map16 pages (pages 0x00-0x14) or Map16 pages 0x80-0x8F.
- These pages have the inserted global graphics, foregrounds and backgrounds.
- You can not draw new graphics.
- You can not change sprite graphics.
- The baserom uses the Dynamic Spritesheet System (more on that below) which makes this impossible to accommodate.
- You can not override or change the global ExAnimation.
- You can disable it in your level via the Animation settings if desired.
- You can not draw new graphics.
- You can not recolor tiles in a tile editor to change color transparency.
- You can not recolor tiles in a tile editor to reduce overall colors used.
THINGS YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO:
- You can use one full Map16 page for FG and one for BG, for a total of two full Map16 pages.
- You can use any non-glitch exit type: goal tape, keyhole, orb, switch. You are limited to just the one, but that one is your choice.
- You can do the following with graphics:
- You can use custom palettes.
- You can create and use Level ExAnimation.
- You can mix any of the included tilesets.
- You can use YY-CHR or another tile editor to convert 4BPP graphics (Layer 1/2 tiles) to 2BPP (Layer 3 tiles) by copy-pasting them. You may also do the reverse and convert tiles from 2BPP to 4BPP.
- You can flip, rotate, recolor, and merge tiles, and merge recolored tiles.
- Basically, if you can do it in VLDC, you can do it here.
- You can use Switch Palace Blocks, as long as you include a side level for players to toggle them.
- You can include Yoshi Coins/Moons, but we won’t consider them required for judges.
- You can alter the overworld, but it won’t affect your score (positively or negatively).
A NOTE ON CUSTOM MUSIC:
Custom music is fair game. You can insert up to 4 songs as part of your entry, and you can enable sound effect echoes.
If you want to use custom music, must use AddMusicK 1.0.8, and you must insert the provided AMK files for sound effects. You May NOT use MSU-1.
IMMEDIATE DQS:
- Submitting a level that does not use the provided contest BaseROM
- Posting a ROM as part of your submission
- Posting an .ips patch instead of a .bps patch
- Posting a corrupt patch file
- Submitting a level that is not compatible with bsnes and SNES9x.
- Submitting a level in bad faith, either by being blatantly low-effort or a level that seeks to troll the judges rather than exist on its own merits
- Submitting a level that is not a Standard level (Kaizo, Tool-Assisted, Troll)
- Including content within the level that violates the rules of SMWCentral
THE BASEROM
"So, what's in this thing?" A lot, too much to list here in this post, but the baserom itself comes with detailed lists of things that you can refer to for the gritty details. That said, there are still some headline features we want to highlight:
- The Dynamic Spritesheet System + SA-1
This is the big one, it will enable you all to use any included sprite at any time (still with some limitations) but no longer will you have to deal with sprite ExGraphics.
- UberASM Objects
We don’t give you any tools to apply things to the baserom but we wanted to enable some UberASM features, so we have special custom objects that will toggle a select bunch of features just by inserting an object in your level.
- Retry System + Multi-midways
This is another quality of life feature available to you, but it is off by default. You can use some of the UberASM objects to turn on retry in your levels and configure the style of retry you desire.
- Over 50 Custom sprites
We’ve inserted a bunch of fun custom sprites, including some enhancements to vanilla sprites and custom wrappers (like pipe spawners and stacks) to make enemies more flexible.
- Graphics
We’ve re-included the background and foreground resources from BLDC1 but added more resources from Super Mario Maker and Super Mario All-Stars to give you more visual options to use. Sample levels and Layer 3 ExGraphics are included for your ease.
A lot of returning favourites are in here, but some things have been dropped (like the Power Up pack). Ultimately, we wanted to give people a new and wider array of sprites and blocks and resources to draw from to construct their levels plus the addition of the Dynamic Spritesheet System should give you all a lot of flexibility.
HELP & DOCUMENTATION:
The baserom comes with all sorts of documentation to inform you on what’s in the baserom and give helpful tips. If you need assistance with the baserom or find issues with it, don’t hesitate to reach out on the contest subforum support thread or on the Discord in the contest channels.
There is much more tucked away in the Baserom than we could list here, so consider going on a treasure hunt. You may find something inspiring, or something you didn't expect to find, in a place you weren't expecting.
DOWNLOAD LATEST BASEROM
Follow this thread for baserom updates. Any earlier versions will be still valid for the contest.
JUDGING, SCORING, AND PRIZES
Alex, patcdr, Morsel, Nitrogen, and mason have their spreadsheets and notepad apps at the ready, as they will be the esteemed judging panel for this adventure.
Scoring is out of 100 points and is divided among three categories:
Design: 60 points
- How well-designed is the level? Is it overall fun to play?
- How well does it execute its theme, gimmicks and level setups?
- Is the difficulty consistent or is it frustrating or boring?
- Does the level function properly or are there issues such as unintended slowdown?
Creativity: 30 points
- Does the level present any unique or interesting ideas using the resources that have been provided?
- Does it have any original, nice setups?
- Is the theme/gimmick innovative?
Aesthetics: 10 points
- How does the level look aesthetically? Are the palettes pleasing to the eye? Is it polished?
- Does the music fit? Is the music a nuisance to gameplay?
- Are there any broken sound effects or samples?
The creators of the Top 3 entries will each get a nice, shiny BLDC Trophy, plus their choice of a code from the mythical Games List. The rest of the Top 10 will receive a BLDC Top 10 trophy.
SUBMISSION
You must submit your entry as a .bps file. Submitting an .ips file will result in disqualification! You can put your .bps file in a .zip or 7-zip archive if you want. For ease of submission and judge access, you should upload it to your personal File Bin on the site. The .bps file should be created using a clean Super Mario World rom, using Floating IPS.
Submit your level in this thread. If you're updating your entry, EDIT YOUR POST! Double posts in this thread will be deleted.
You are allowed to make a thread for your level in the contest subforum, but you must post your final level in this thread in order for it to be judged.
SUBMISSIONS MUST BE POSTED BY 21:00:00 (9 p.m.) UTC MONDAY, DECEMBER 12
You can find a converter here to see what the deadline is in your local time zone.
We have a discussion thread here in the forum, as well as contest channels set up in Discord (including judge-free channels) for questions and to share your work in progress.
Bringing this contest back is a real treat, and we can't wait to see what you are able to create with the BaseROM!
Good luck, and happy creating!
I'm not a doctor.