Hi everyone,

If you participated in this year's overworld design contest, then thank you so much! We received some really stunning entries this year. We also received more than double the amount of last year, so the competition is going to be tight. Like last time, pictures of all of the overworlds submitted will be displayed and the userbase will be allowed to vote on them. Here are a couple of basic rules:

1. Decide which entry is the all-around best - aesthetics, easiness to navigate, etc. Once you've decided, vote for it in the poll above. You may only vote once, so choose carefully.
2. You may post here and discuss your thoughts as much as you'd like - however, the overworld that will be used in the VLDC will be the one that receives the most votes in the poll itself.
3. Voting ends Thursday night. I haven't decided on an exact time yet, but it'll probably be around 10 PM EST.
4. Like last year, the entries are anonymous, but the authors will be revealed after the contest ends. If you know/have figured out who made an entry, please don't spoil it for others.


Without further ado, here they are. Please vote for your favorite:

NOTE: Entries #10 and #17 include additional features that cannot be shown in the image alone. An IPS has been included so you can "try" the maps yourself and rank them fairly amongst the other entries.


ENTRY 1:



ENTRY 2:



ENTRY 3:



ENTRY 4:



ENTRY 5:



ENTRY 6:



ENTRY 7:



ENTRY 8:



ENTRY 9:



ENTRY 10:

LINK TO ENTRY #10

ENTRY 11:



ENTRY 12:



ENTRY 13:



ENTRY 14:



ENTRY 15:



ENTRY 16:



ENTRY 17:

LINK TO ENTRY #17


Good luck to the participants!

Personal favorites are 17 > 3 > 7

..but man, there are some other really good ones in here too. You guys outdid yourselves, especially compared to last year.

The second i saw 14 and 17, i knew i wouldn't really have much interest in the others. Specifically because those two entrys made a strong effort to represent the levels. It showed that these two OW designers actually paid attention to what the levels were and attempted to have the OW reflect those levels. Some of the other OWs try to do it too but these two do it greatly and the levels designs held a strong influence over the design of the OWs.

17 > 3 > 2 > the rest for me.
Everything about 17 is 10/10 except for the best world.
The moon and especially the star look SO TERRIBLE, if this one wins I'd really hope at least the star gets redrawn, because that thing's REALLY ugly.

6 keeping in touch with last year's winner with the castle world and the water swastika, nice.

--------------------
Your layout has been removed.

While I understand it would make for a messy situation piecing it all together, not to mention none of the maps are designed for piecemeal purposes, once again I wish the main map and submaps could be voted for on an individual basis. It's tough to choose what I think is the best only because my top picks both seem to have an equal number of pros and cons. Ultimately, I think I'm going to have to go with #3 because those submaps are gorgeous although the cave map is a bit too similar to ladida's from last year and Mario is really off putting for some reason in the best map. That worst map, though - brilliant! And steps above all the others who decided to copy ladida's garbled mess from last year.

But I was torn between #3 and #17. #17's main map is hands down the best of the lot, but the submaps feel so meh, especially compared to #3's, whereas #3's main map is pretty damn good in its own right.

On another note, I liked how #14 gave little hints, or spoilers if you will, around each level as far as what you'll be dealing with within.

If I could make individual picks though, they would be as follows:

Main Map: #17 without question.
Ice/Sky: hmm, this one would be tough to pick as none of ice/sky maps have the same amount of pizzazz that a lot of the other submaps have across some of the entries. Could be down to the theme itself. Maybe #16 or #3. Honestly leaning towards #16.
Fire: #3
Cave: #3 despite being heavily reminiscent of ladida's. It's just well done.
Worst World: #3
Best Worst: #7 - and I think this one submap is the reason I'd love to see individual voting more than anything. Although both #8 and #9 have an interesting take on the best theme as well.


That was the first thing I saw on that map!

I thought about individual voting (and I agree with you, I think it would be a better method), but I realized that a few authors have an "all-or-nothing" attitude towards their maps. Ladida in particular said that last year - either the hack was to use all of his maps in their natural form, or none of them at all. I'm pretty sure he isn't the only one who feels that way.

..honestly though, voting a map-by-map basis could be fun. Basically, I'd stick the 17 fire maps in a group, the 17 best maps in a group, etc., and you could vote on the best in each bunch. Our result would be a really strong overall map made by several authors. It's probably too late to incorporate that this year though.

If enough people want that, then I'll close the poll and restart it with allowing people to vote on single maps individually. Otherwise, I'm just going to leave it as-is.

Up to you guys.

Yea, I actually meant to include that in my reasons why it probably wouldn't/couldn't happen since I remember that being the case last year. I completely understand that sentiment since the OW contest in and of itself is an all or nothing sort of deal. Moving forward, if the OW contest continues to parallel the VLDC contest though, I think it should be an idea that gets tossed about since from the collaboration aspect of the contest, it would offer a chance for a few different users to get their name attached to the final piece. Not to mention as you said, it would showcase the best of the best across the entirety of the map.

If contestants knew going into the contest that their maps could be pieced together with those of other contestants, obviously all or nothing wouldn't be possible. Of course, there is a fear that could turn certain people off from the contest. Another issue could be wildly different stylistic approaches such as entry #10 from this year which if votes fell a certain way could end up with some ugly clashing in the end.

This is true. On top of that, certain people have linked their maps together in unique ways (e.g. entry 7's upside down cups for the worst world .. entry 7 also has its fire map link to the main map).

..what a pickle. Might as well just leave things as they are this time, honestly. I had my hopes up for a few minutes there, but I've thought of more potential issues that could make the "mish-mash" route not work out.

Ah well. Carry on I guess.

Though there's some maps on here that are connected to the submaps in some way, that's one problem. ninja'd

Anyways, playing through the 17th and 10th entry,I had a better feeling of it than looking at the entire overworld/submap itself from a screenshot. I wish this was the case for all the entries.

I think to be fair, you should put that to the mapmakers first and let them decide if they would like to move forward with the idea. I'd imagine some could potentially see it as an unfair change in direction if they went into the contest suspecting an all-or-nothing basis.


Edit: Never mind, sounds like a ruling has been made. I think that's probably the best call for this year's contest anyway.

That's true, and frankly, getting in contact with all 17 map makers and getting a reply out of them promptly is going to be more effort than it's worth.

I don't think we'll be at much of a loss this year anyway. Even if the winning set of maps has one or two that aren't as good as the ones on a different entry, I can't really see it being a big deal.

STOP POSTING

I KEEP GETTING NINJA'D

yeah that was my main concern last year - connectivity between maps and stylistic approach. the map is one unit as opposed to all the individual levels (none of them are directly connected like the submaps). plus, the main map would carry more weight since it carries more worlds within it.

if you wanted to have individual maps from different people, it might be better as anything but a contest

My top picks would be 3, 7, and 17. Their submaps are probably the best of the bunch (particularly 17). I'm torn between the Best/Worst worlds of 3 and 7.

I'm against voting for each submap for SNN's same reasons: it could result in maps with clashing styles.

--------------------

There's a surprising amount of entries this time compared to the last contest, and they all look pretty nice. My thoughts on each:

Entry 1: It's very simple compared to the other entries, but that's not a bad thing. It does feel a little underwhelming amidst the others. The best and worst maps, however, look incomplete.

Entry 2: You've achieved the perfect balance of decoration and visual clarity with the usage of completely vanilla assets. I believe that poises it boldly against the entries that used custom resources to achieve great aesthetics. Although, the palette is a bit dry and I'm not exactly swooning over the worst map.

Entry 3: First off, the palette is gorgeous. It's incredibly lively. I really love the added graphical details (particularly Mario and Luigi), although I feel like it was pushed too far in the best and worst worlds to the extent that it makes them feel out of place with the rest of the map. I also find that the cave map feels a bit like a rehash of the one in the last contest.

Entry 4: While I like the cleanliness of the layout, the map doesn't stand out all that much from the crowd. Beyond that, the palette particularly on the main map, isn't without flaws. It doesn't feel refined and fine tuned. The worst map is very unsightly, but I like the appropriation of the palette in the best map to represent bronze, silver, and gold.

Entry 5: The biggest crime this overworld commits is being too standard. Not horrible, but just standard. The space map is a cute idea, but it doesn't feel like you've expanded it to it's fullest potential. I can see you tried to make the most out of your available palettes, and while nice, it feels forced in more than one place, while the palette as a whole is a little bland.

Entry 6: Gorgeous details, gorgeous palettes. It kinda feels bland in the submaps compared to other submissions, but that's easily forgivable for that lush main map.

Entry 7: I really like the cute little graphic stylings on this overworld. They really help bring it to life. But forget all that; That best world map definitely steals the show. I have the suspicion that that's where most of your work went, and it definitely shows. The nega-verse edition for the worst world does seem a little lazy though.

Entry 8: I like the idea behind this palette. Whether or not the execution was the best, it's striking and stands out from the rest. I'm weary about the design of the submaps, though. Beyond the very last one they're not as detailed as they could potentially be.

Entry 9: While this is a very pretty and well detailed overworld, I find that it is too detailed for it's own good. Though I must say, the submaps may be enough to redeem that. I really like the unison worst and best worlds; It adds a charm that others lack.

Entry 10: The Map is very well designed, although the graphics, while pretty, stray too far from what I would call, "The Spirit of this Compilation". One thing I really liked about this entry, is that it avoids using a hub for a more flowing, natural overworld progression. I do feel like it could've been pulled off better. Instead it's a little difficult to navigate. That may be caused the hard-to-read-ness of the signs.

Entry 11: There's some nice landscaping, but there's a real lack of decoration to really make it shine. The smallest details are what separate the great from the good, and while I think it lacks those details, it gets the basics right.

Entry 12: There's a lack of flow in the landscaping that makes this feel a little sterile. There's a daringness to palette choices that I like, but there's a noticeable lack of polish in them.

Entry 13: I can't help but notice this giant partition going through the center of the map. The map design is good, but the split detracts from the overall flow of it.

Entry 14: What I really like about this map are the little details that represent each level. It's incredibly charming and was pulled off nicely (I can already recognize where some of the levels might be). I do, however, think the landmasses feel artificial.

Entry 15: The map is well designed for the most part, although there are two design choices I find questionable: One, the usage of the vanilla tiles to represent the factory world does look messy, I'm not sure why you chose to do that when you've used custom graphics elsewhere on the overworld, and two, that GBC tileset you used in the best(?) map contrasts highly with the rest of the map.

Entry 16: The first thing that popped up into my mind was that this one looks incomplete, and I may be right; Those last three submaps look oddly barren compared to the rest of the world. I feel like there's a lack of polish in places but I feel as if you would've addressed those had you finished.
.
Entry 17: Those submaps are fantastic! Everything from the HDMA to the layout to the palettes. I feel like the main map fails to achieve that same level of astonishment,though. Not to say it is bad, but it just isn't as memorable.

...That was a mouthful. I have no idea which one to vote on, but I think I've narrowed it down to a few contenders.

also I hope this isn't too much of a wall of text, if it is just tell me


I actually didn't even notice that until you pointed it out. I have a feeling it may have been an oversight (though I may be proven horribly wrong).