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Ask A Hack Moderator

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A lot of people seem to have questions about how the hacks on this site get moderated by the hack moderators. If they ask a question, and someone who isn't a hack moderator answers, the information they receive might be wrong.

While our Hack Submission Guidelines should cover most issues, there are always going to be some gray areas in the rules. Since our userbase is pretty creative, they might sometimes have ideas for their hacks that they aren't sure would be acceptable in a submitted hack.

This is the place for your questions to be answered. In this thread, you can ask the hack moderators anything you need to ask them in regard to your hack and the moderation process.

What this thread IS:
- A place for people to ask legitimate questions about gray areas of the rules.
- A place for people to ask any questions they might have about the hack moderation process.

What this thread IS NOT:
- A place for people to find hypothetical loopholes in the rules.
- A place for people to argue about the rules if they don't agree with them.
- A place for people to ask random hacking questions. If you have questions about how to do something in a hack, there are far better places to ask.

Last but not least - you should not be answering people's questions in this thread unless you are a hack moderator.
In fact, you shouldn't be answering their questions anywhere.
Instead, redirect them to this thread.

[?] Miscellaneous Helpful Hints
If I moderated your hack, there was apparently a 90 percent chance it was rejected.
First! #w{=P}

If I made a level that one hack mod thought was fun and met all of the requirements, but another hack mod thought otherwise, would my hack get accepted or denied? Seeing as different people have different opinions.
Depends on the person who's moderating it, so I can only speak for myself. If I was the one who thought otherwise, I would respect the other mod's opinion and not remove it. If I was the one who moderated it, I'd ask the one who disagrees with my to respect my opinion as well. I'm pretty sure that if one hack mod thinks a hack is good enough to be accepted, it will be, no matters what one or two others say.

Those situations rarely happen though. Most of the time it's clear if a hack meets the requirements or not, so you don't need to worry about that much.


 
Hypothetically speaking, if I had a great level with really bad palettes (not eye-searing but they just don't look right) would it get removed? And the opposite, if I had a bad level (not Kaizo just things put in bad places, traps ect.) and it had amazing palettes would it get removed?
I will become alive again sometime soon.
A terrible level, even with good palettes, would definitely count as a removal reason. As for your first question: define "really bad but not eye-searing". As long as the palettes are merely odd, I personally wouldn't consider them a removal reason, but if they were completely horrible I would.

Remember, both gameplay and aesthetics are important; you can't ignore either of them.
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There's a question that kept me thinking for a while some time ago: if I had a good hack (great palettes, level design, overworld and stuff) with one only terrible level (some cutoff, bad palettes and bad level design), would it get accepted or would the moderator remove it and tell me to fix that level and send it again?
Now I need to change my old avatar. Or not.
@DrawingYoshi: It's kind of what Magmar asked. Anyways, it would be removed because that level is meeting with the Hack Submission Guidelines and the fact it has cut-off, bad palettes, and all of that they are removal reasons which would get your hack removed.
Originally posted by DrawingYoshi
There's a question that kept me thinking for a while some time ago: if I had a good hack (great palettes, level design, overworld and stuff) with one only terrible level (some cutoff, bad palettes and bad level design), would it get accepted or would the moderator remove it and tell me to fix that level and send it again?

Wait a second though - my guess is that this would be some sort of joke level. If that is the case, I would probably accept it.

In this situation, and with the situation Magmar mentioned, I don't think a single instance of terrible palettes and the like is really enough to reject a hack outright. What really matters most in rejecting a hack is a general terribleness that can't just be fixed in five minutes with the right skill.

A lot of what we do, I think, has to do with the context of the situation. If someone sends us Joke Hack #1,256,317 full of "OVER 9000!" and "CAKE IS A LIE" references, then it's going to get rejected. If someone sends us a hack that is overall good and has one jokey or kaizo level, I would probably accept it as long as that level isn't game-breaking in some way.

To the hack creators - I think a good way of working around this is to make the joke or kaizo-ish level a non-essential bonus or secret level that can be accessed. Like, you can still beat the game without visiting it, but it's there for fun as an easter egg.

I think my comrades here will agree with me, but let's see what they have to say.

[?] Miscellaneous Helpful Hints
If I moderated your hack, there was apparently a 90 percent chance it was rejected.
So, if a hack was otherwise fine but had bad level design would it get rejected?
If my hack had content such as bad language and maybe... well 0_o and I forgot to mention it in the description or warn in the hack would it be removed?
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Originally posted by Error 52
So, if a hack was otherwise fine but had bad level design would it get rejected?


Depends on how bad. If its mostly just flat ground, then yes. If it is any good, I would accept and let the creator know they might want to work on their level design skills for the next release/hack.

Originally posted by marioVSshadow
If my hack had content such as bad language and maybe... well 0_o and I forgot to mention it in the description or warn in the hack would it be removed?


I wouldn't remove it, I would just put in the description myself that it contains foul language, etc. and it is not appropriate for minors.
If a hack were to have some linearity in the title screen, would it be rejected?
Originally posted by mockingod
If a hack were to have some linearity in the title screen, would it be rejected?

Not at all. Title screens (as long as they aren't broken) and overworlds (as long as they aren't broken) are not reasons for rejection on their own, so long as they don't look like a puddle of Blargg's puke.


[?] Miscellaneous Helpful Hints
If I moderated your hack, there was apparently a 90 percent chance it was rejected.
Originally posted by andy_k_250
If someone sends us Joke Hack #1,256,317 full of "OVER 9000!" and "CAKE IS A LIE" references, then it's going to get rejected.

What about a joke hack of a completely different nature that has none of that stuff? I've been considering submitting "drive the desert bus" to the hacks section, but due to it being a joke hack I never did.
There's a difference between a crappy joke hack with lots of cutoff and bad palettes and a joke hack that, while still being decent, doesn't take itself seriously.

As for DtDB, I don't know if that would be something we'd want in hack section since it's like the original DtDB... Boring.


I definitely want a second opinion about DtDB though.

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Given, we host stuff like Xka Shack there.

When a joke hack changes the gameplay mechanics so much that the user is actually left amazed and laughing, then I personally don't see why such a hack couldn't be accepted. If it's just a standard "fill the message boxes with bullshit + smear the palettes all around" hack .. well, Chaos CompleXX put the nail in the coffin with that joke years ago. Come to think of it, one of the best "joke" hacks I've played lately was that hack that totally screwed with the game's physics (forget the name of it - sorry). Had it been a tad more polished, I would have personally accepted it into the hacks section, despite it being a "joke" hack.

In my nutshell opinion: joke hacks are conditional things. It really depends on the "quality" of the joke in the hack, I guess.
BTW, SNN, that hack is called "Phunky phsicics".
If I had a few Kaizo levels in my hack that were not necessary to complete, could be skipped and had a non-kaizo way to complete, would that be a removal reason?
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