Phew, been a while since I've hosted a Super Mario World Central Hacking Contest!
Let's see, everyone ping, type up rules post.....oh hang on, I'm being informed that it is now mandatory to post this image ahead of time...
Sounds good, less work for me!
For those unfamiliar with this format, the Old-School LDCs have a lot more restrictions on graphical/visual changes, putting all emphasis on design and creativity! Once again, you're allowed to submit either a Standard or Kaizo level. We've made some changes to the rules from last year, so make sure to peruse them before starting your entry!
RULES
Allowed
- Submitting a Standard or Kaizo level 1. You cannot submit one of each type.
- Working with a partner, but only one (1) submission is still permitted for the two of you.
- Using Lunar Magic's "FastROM" in your level to improve performance.
- Applying the remove lives tweak, or using a life farm is encouraged. You can use this baserom if you don't want to bother to apply the tweak or making a lives farm.
- Only one (1) exit is permitted.
- Levels must be completable in under 5 minutes in a theoretical deathless playthrough.
Disallowed
- No custom patches*, music, blocks, sprites, UberASM, etc. This includes enhancement patches like SA-1 or Super FX.
- Using any tool to edit your entry other than Lunar Magic.
- (Re-)inserting GFX or ExGFX into your ROM. Consider the
buttons off-limits. - Graphics bypassing. The
Super GFX Bypass, 
Layer 3 GFX/Tilemap Bypass, or other legacy bypass dialogs are disallowed. Only the original tilesets listed in the 
Graphics Index are allowed. - Editing colors in the global palette or enabling a custom palette for your level in the
Palette Editor. Use the original palette presets only. - Editing or creating any Map16 tiles using the
16x16 Tile Map Editor. You are allowed to use Direct Map16 Access to place individual Map16 tiles into your level, but only original game tiles from the first 2 pages. - Enabling the "Enable advanced bypass settings for Layer 3" setting in the
Change Layer 3 Settings dialog. - Editing the background tilemap manually using the
Background Layer 2 Editor. However, you are allowed to use it to copy a background tilemap from another level used in the original game. - Using custom or editing the original ExAnimation. Both
Level ExAnimation and 
Global ExAnimation are off-limits. - Changing any settings in the
Edit Animation Settings dialog.
*aside from the allowed Infinite lives tweak
Forbidden Lunar Magic 3.0+ Features
- Changing the "Horizontal Level Mode" options in header properties
. This includes the checkbox for viewing the bottom row of tiles. - Editing the "Sprite Vertical Spawn Range" for horizontal levels or enabling Smart Spawning in sprite header properties
. - Using the redirect the Midway Entrance to another level option in entrance properities
. - Enabling the "Use separate settings for layer 2 scroll" feature.
(LM 3.40+) - Any Overworld Actions, including exiting to the Overworld found in the
Modify Secondary Entrances dialog. - Tide Act as feature found in Change Layer 3 Settings dialog.
- Using the placeable Throw block sprite, 53 now in
the Add Sprites window. (LM 3.40+)
Kaizo Level Requirements
- Game Over is not permitted. If you are not using infinite lives, make sure to provide a life farm.
- Range from Kaizo: Beginner to Kaizo: Expert and the levels must be completable without the use of tools.
- Glitches are permitted, as long as they can be reliably executed without the use of tools.
- Do not exceed a reasonable demand of the player. Judges will have the final authority to determine whether an entry is excessive as it relates to difficulty, and possibly up for disqualification. Any such decision regarding disqualification will be made unanimously.
- In general, make sure to follow the hack guidelines for submitting Kaizo (see below).
Do not try to look for loopholes or exploits for your entry. We want people to be working in good faith, and if the judges feel you are exploiting the rules, then that could lead to disqualification!
1 Standard levels range from Easy to Very Hard, while Kaizo levels can go from Beginner to Expert. Regarding kaizo difficulty, we encourage you design a level that is completable without tools, considering we are not allowing the retry patch.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
- Your submission as a BPS file (not IPS); not doing so will disqualify your level. Do not submit a ROM or you will be hit with a site infraction, according to the site rules!
- A text file detailing if your level has Yoshi Coins or 3-UP moons.
- If you are submitting a kaizo entry, provide a link to a clear video in your submission post (not in the ZIP file). For standard entries clear videos are not obligatory.
- Mention in your submission post which type of entry you are submitting (standard or kaizo).
Make sure your submission is anonymized for the judges (i.e. name does not appear anywhere). Pseudonyms are allowed.
JUDGES AND SCORING
Since we are allowing kaizo in this contest, we will have two separate judge line-ups:
- For standard entries the judges will be: BradBrains, Nitrogen, Stucat
- For kaizo entries the judges will be: B2De, HmWhyNot, xoxoGossipGreg
Final scores will be also separated within the two mentioned categories (standard and kaizo), which the rubric for both will be the following:
- Design: 65 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: 35 Points
Does the level present any unique or interesting ideas using SMW’s resources? Does it have any original, nice setups? Is the theme/gimmick innovative?
Total: 100 points
Keep in mind: if a submitted standard level is determined to be kaizo it will be passed over to the other judge team and judged as such. Also, in both categories judges reserve the right to not complete an entry if it is determined to be unreasonable or excessively demanding, in which case it can be put forward for disqualification (which as stated above requires unanimity).
TROPHIES
For the top three there are the gold, silver and bronze OLDC trophies. All other entrants will get the participant trophy and our judges will also get a trophy for their profiles.
SUBMISSIONS
You can ask any questions in the Discord channel (#oldc-discussion) or the Discussion thread. Please keep this thread to submissions only.
That should be everything, have fun with the contest!
