Looking for the entries? They can be gotten from this thread.
a new, big, natural QLDC banner by prettypinkpansy. thank you so much!
Welcome to Questionable Level Design Contest #3!
January is the worst month of the year–the buzz of the holidays is gone, the maw of the upcoming year is open before you, Winter is happening to half the Earth–so it's the best time for questionable decisions!
We have always been tweaking QLDC ever since the first incarnation and this time is no different, we even considered rebranding or renaming the event altogether but "QLDC" has some good staying power and we didn't want people to be confused.
While it retains the "LDC" acronym we really want to encourage people to create whatever you feel is possible within the medium of Super Mario World hacking and submit it to this event–this means anything goes if you can stuff it into an SMW ROM. Creators have already shown us things in past QLDC events that stretched the idea of a "level" and while we still expect most submissions to be levels, it's important to keep the door wide open to any kind of experience that can be thought of.
Like in every contest, this thread should be used for submissions only. If you want to ask questions or discuss the contest in other ways, please use the Discussion and Questions thread for QLDC in this forum, or the appropriate channels on the Discord server.
Rules & Regulations
We've made some big changes when compared to other LDCs, or even past QLDCs, so please take care to go over the following to be aware of what's new in this episode.
Basic Rules
These are the same ol' rules from all LDCs.
This is not a rule but, if not explicitly designing a gimmick around lives, try to include infinite lives or some form of life farm as to reasonably prevent a Game Over or loss of progress. (Apply this tweak for basic infinite lives).
Team Rules
The first major change is that submissions will now be split into two divisions based on team composition: "Solo or Duo" or "Group". This will allow us to accept a wider range of submissions and balance the efforts of group projects with that of solo/partner submissions.
Solo or Duo Submissions:
Group Submissions:
With the event being split into two divisions, that means trophies will also be split into two. See details below.
"What is a Team Member?"
A team member is anyone who contributes significantly to the design, conception and creation of an entry and is listed as co-author on the submission. People are free to contribute resources or help to others but you cannot be an author on more than one submission.
Submission Guidelines
The second major change is we're lifting the one-exit-per-entry limit. This is not an excuse to make an unlimited level submission, but to remove boundaries that may restrict an entry. We do expect that entire entries are reasonably beatable by the judges, and other players, in a single sitting. Keep in mind this is not a HackJam (you only have 3 weeks) so you or your team shouldn't aim to make a mini-hack.
What comes with this limit-removal is that all aspects of entries will be judged, not just the levels. So an effort should be made to change the music, the overworld, titlescreen, etc.
Importantly, at their discretion, the judges can choose to not complete your entry or use tool assistance to help them complete it. If an entry appears to be submitted in bad faith, is exceedingly difficult or unreasonable, or is blatantly low-effort and a deliberate waste of their time, the judges may not play it at all. This may result in disqualification or a poor performance in the contest.
tl;dr
Think of this QLDC as a middle ground between a HackJam and an traditional LDC. You will have 3 weeks to make whatever you want, with whoever you want so long as it's not a full blown hack that takes multiple sessions to beat. Good luck!
Judging & Awards
Our esteemed judge team for this event are several familiar names:
As in the past, several of them have said they will broadcast or record their play throughs of the entries so you can look forward to that.
Trophies
Our beloved top 3 trophies are once again up for grabs this year, and will be split among the two divisions of entries, with a top 3 for each set.
All other entrants will receive a trophy for their participation in the contest and the judges will receive a trophy for their contribution to the event. Disqualified entries will not receive any trophies.
Our usual distinction trophy is also available for entries that impress, delight or shock our judges.
Last QLDC had additional runner up trophies for a "Top 10", given the split division nature of this event we won't commit to handing these out just yet. If there's sufficient entries in both divisions, assume we will.
Submission Requirements
You must submit your entry as an unlocked .bps file created using Floating IPS on a clean Super Mario World ROM. 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 access, we suggest using your personal File Bin here on the site to host your patch or archive file.
Disqualifiers
The following are grounds for immediate disqualification:
To avoid potential disqualifications for patch errors, make sure your .bps is in working order by re-applying it to your copy of Super Mario World before submitting it. We will do our best to check your patch for errors, so try not to make last-minute submissions!
Submitting
Submit your entry in this thread. If you need to update your entry, edit your post instead of creating a new one! Duplicate posts will be ignored/deleted in favour of your oldest post, so keep your entry up-to-date.
All submissions must be in sometime on or before February 03, 2025, which means you have about:
a new, big, natural QLDC banner by prettypinkpansy. thank you so much!
Welcome to Questionable Level Design Contest #3!
January is the worst month of the year–the buzz of the holidays is gone, the maw of the upcoming year is open before you, Winter is happening to half the Earth–so it's the best time for questionable decisions!
We have always been tweaking QLDC ever since the first incarnation and this time is no different, we even considered rebranding or renaming the event altogether but "QLDC" has some good staying power and we didn't want people to be confused.
While it retains the "LDC" acronym we really want to encourage people to create whatever you feel is possible within the medium of Super Mario World hacking and submit it to this event–this means anything goes if you can stuff it into an SMW ROM. Creators have already shown us things in past QLDC events that stretched the idea of a "level" and while we still expect most submissions to be levels, it's important to keep the door wide open to any kind of experience that can be thought of.
Like in every contest, this thread should be used for submissions only. If you want to ask questions or discuss the contest in other ways, please use the Discussion and Questions thread for QLDC in this forum, or the appropriate channels on the Discord server.
Rules & Regulations
We've made some big changes when compared to other LDCs, or even past QLDCs, so please take care to go over the following to be aware of what's new in this episode.
Basic Rules
These are the same ol' rules from all LDCs.
- Original material only, no submissions of pre-existing levels. Submissions must be made within the time frame of the contest.
- Only submissions that are Standard, at any level of any difficulty, are allowed. Do not deliberately submit a Kaizo level, as it is not suited to the contest.
- No more than one (1) entry per individual or group.
- Anonymity is not required. You can say who made what in submissions, joke names or pseudonyms are allowed, if desired.
- No deliberate softlocks, hardlocks or crashes. Entries that do so unintentionally due to technical problems will be potentially disqualified depending when it occurs.
- The use of MSU-1 is not permitted for including unoriginal, copyrighted music or video data. You may use MSU-1 for original audio, external level data, etc. as long as your entry and its additional resources are below 10mb.
This is not a rule but, if not explicitly designing a gimmick around lives, try to include infinite lives or some form of life farm as to reasonably prevent a Game Over or loss of progress. (Apply this tweak for basic infinite lives).
Team Rules
The first major change is that submissions will now be split into two divisions based on team composition: "Solo or Duo" or "Group". This will allow us to accept a wider range of submissions and balance the efforts of group projects with that of solo/partner submissions.
Solo or Duo Submissions:
- You may work with up to one (1) other person for a maximum of two (2) people per submission.
- State in the Submissions thread that this is a Solo or Duo entry when making your submission, and mention your partner's username, if you have one.
Group Submissions:
- Teams of three (3) or more can submit as a group.
- Group submissions have no membership cap. So you and a bunch of friends can submit something to this.
- State in the Submissions thread that this is a Group entry when making your submission, and list your group members
With the event being split into two divisions, that means trophies will also be split into two. See details below.
"What is a Team Member?"
A team member is anyone who contributes significantly to the design, conception and creation of an entry and is listed as co-author on the submission. People are free to contribute resources or help to others but you cannot be an author on more than one submission.
Submission Guidelines
The second major change is we're lifting the one-exit-per-entry limit. This is not an excuse to make an unlimited level submission, but to remove boundaries that may restrict an entry. We do expect that entire entries are reasonably beatable by the judges, and other players, in a single sitting. Keep in mind this is not a HackJam (you only have 3 weeks) so you or your team shouldn't aim to make a mini-hack.
What comes with this limit-removal is that all aspects of entries will be judged, not just the levels. So an effort should be made to change the music, the overworld, titlescreen, etc.
Importantly, at their discretion, the judges can choose to not complete your entry or use tool assistance to help them complete it. If an entry appears to be submitted in bad faith, is exceedingly difficult or unreasonable, or is blatantly low-effort and a deliberate waste of their time, the judges may not play it at all. This may result in disqualification or a poor performance in the contest.
tl;dr
Think of this QLDC as a middle ground between a HackJam and an traditional LDC. You will have 3 weeks to make whatever you want, with whoever you want so long as it's not a full blown hack that takes multiple sessions to beat. Good luck!
Judging & Awards
Our esteemed judge team for this event are several familiar names:
As in the past, several of them have said they will broadcast or record their play throughs of the entries so you can look forward to that.
Trophies
Our beloved top 3 trophies are once again up for grabs this year, and will be split among the two divisions of entries, with a top 3 for each set.
All other entrants will receive a trophy for their participation in the contest and the judges will receive a trophy for their contribution to the event. Disqualified entries will not receive any trophies.
Our usual distinction trophy is also available for entries that impress, delight or shock our judges.
Last QLDC had additional runner up trophies for a "Top 10", given the split division nature of this event we won't commit to handing these out just yet. If there's sufficient entries in both divisions, assume we will.
Submission Requirements
You must submit your entry as an unlocked .bps file created using Floating IPS on a clean Super Mario World ROM. 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 access, we suggest using your personal File Bin here on the site to host your patch or archive file.
Disqualifiers
The following are grounds for immediate disqualification:
- Submitting a patch file that is somehow corrupt or broken. (This does not include patches that are un-openable in Lunar Magic because of technical reasons)
- Posting an .ips patch instead of a .bps patch.
- Submitting an .smc file or any other form of rom file. This will result in not only a disqualification, but file deletion and a site warning!
- Submitting something incompatible with a current, stable version of bsnes (v115) or Snes9x (v1.61).
To avoid potential disqualifications for patch errors, make sure your .bps is in working order by re-applying it to your copy of Super Mario World before submitting it. We will do our best to check your patch for errors, so try not to make last-minute submissions!
Submitting
Submit your entry in this thread. If you need to update your entry, edit your post instead of creating a new one! Duplicate posts will be ignored/deleted in favour of your oldest post, so keep your entry up-to-date.
All submissions must be in sometime on or before February 03, 2025, which means you have about:
