Official Everybody Edits Forums

Shift

Guest

Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Well, I recently gained the necessary funding, and I noticed how a lot of people have been complaining about the recent influx of art-based contests, and so I've decided to host my own contest; you need to make both art and minis in order to have a chance.

Although I encourage you to focus on art and minis equally, I will automatically decline any map with crappy art. I suggest you blend your minis into the art, and make sure they fit your theme.
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Rules:
1. must have art AND minis
2. must be in a great, massive, or tall world
3. if I get stuck, you lose
4. only one entry per person
5. once submitted, you can't choose to submit a different level
6. if you win, you may choose to give the rewards to anyone willing who DIDN'T enter the contest
7. when submitting your level, you must post a picture of the minimap as well as a link to the actual level
8. you may work in a small group and split the prizes, but I won't spend any extra money (ie, a two person group winning an honorable mention would get each of them 15 gems, not 25)
9. entries must be in by July 20th, 2012
10. if you edit the post that contains the submission after the deadline, the submission is voided
11. VERY IMPORTANT: You must give me the link to the level before you start to make it, so that I can be sure it's not pre-made. Yes, I know there are ways around it, but I'm not going to force you to record the process.
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I will announce the winners no less than a week after the deadline. If it's longer, it will be a lot longer, for I'll be going on vacation. It may take this long because I will try to provide a detailed critique for every entry, unless I get a lot more than I expect. The critiques will be very carping, and so I apologize ahead.

You may be present while I'm testing, but you mustn't be required and you mustn't help.
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Prizes:
1 Grand Prize: 105 gems and chat
2 Honorable Mentions: 50 gems and chat
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Note: I will need access to your account in order to give you your rewards. If you don't trust me, don't enter.

Clause: I reserve the right to retain any prizes, meaning that nobody needs to win.

Clause: I reserve the right to alter the rules as I see fit.

YOU MUST SUBMIT THE BLANK LEVEL TO ME BY PM IN ORDER FOR ME TO INCLUDE IT IN THE JUDGING! NO EXCEPTIONS!!
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Confirmed contestants:
*-Asurch
*-Fdoou
*-thecoolguy, Deadlord
*-deetz
*-Wezza, Phenomenon, Sancti
-Master1
*-killingpepper123
-Bobyy, FailGirl101, Jemhun
-planecool
-D-rock2308
*-Theditor, orangecrix, honeybuckles44
-Mac and Cheese, Dragoon15, Legacy
-Ant123, Curdflapper1
*-P788
-legoking2000
-Pokemonster654

Last edited by Shift (Aug 6 2012 9:29:07 pm)

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Even though only half the contenders actually entered, the submissions were quite pleasing. There were a couple of little hiccups, but all in all this was successful.

Note: I was extremely critical. These are the comments I typed up while playing the level. I praised and I nitpicked; if you can't take criticism, don't read the rest of this post.

Please excuse my terrible editing skills.

GRAND PRIZE
Honeybuckles44, theditor, Orangecrix

The art's amazing! Everything in the sky is beautiful! The only thing I'd change is the shading in the water. There isn't any. Just mix it up with some other background shades and it's perfect.

Starting to play, however, is another matter. I couldn't even figure out how to start for a while! I had to rejoin three times just to get to the playable area. Not good.

The minis were good, and I enjoyed them, but I did catch a few... undesirables. Although none of them were required in order to continue through the level, there were a few tightfits and a hookjump that you would have to complete if you went a certain, unnecessary way. There were one or two in the factory-canon blocks in the land, for instance. I also exploited the first mini in the sky.

Overall, the level was great. I'm writing this review in the early stages of judging, but I will be very surprised if it doesn't win.

You received the Grand Prize for your amazing art and great minis. Yes, there were some issues, but it's just so pretty!

HONORABLE MENTION
Family Falcons

The art looks really nice. You may have gone a little overboard when trolling the ground, but that's just a matter of style. You captured a powerful and imposing essence and showed how nature has had its way with it.

The minis were fairly original and enjoyable; no complaints.

Once I finished, I actually felt accomplished. I hardly ever get that feeling after beating levels nowadays.

There's just one thing: I don't like black blocks, ESPECIALLY when they're so unnecessary. In the large, underground tower (with minis) there were two that you could have easily made any gray or green block. You also outlined the win room with black blocks, and, although it's a tougher fix, you could have just solidified some backgrounds.

Nice job hiding the win sign, by the way. It made me feel even more special. :3

You received an Honorable Mention for your interesting theme, great art and great minis. Your submission is probably the most interesting of them all, but the art was a little too messy for me.

HONORABLE MENTION
AsurcH

First the minis. The first several minis were pretty good, for they were easy yet fun. The last two minis, however, I found a bit laborious; they took me longer than all the others combined, and I had to retry again a few hour hours later in order to complete the second to last. The last was frustrating, but an improvement.

The blue coins, on the other hand,I found laborious and monotonous; they were very easy, but very plain and still required attention. I'm glad you had optional minis at the end, but they barely even count as minis.

Now the art. The idea was nice, and relatively original. I especially like the addition of the island, although it should probably be colored. The light patterns in the ocean, although messy, are pretty realistic.

The sky, on the other hand, is different. At the bottom it's beautiful, but further up is a mess. The green-blue shade doesn't fit at all, and should be substituted with the dark blue cowboy background, or something of the sort (I'm not entirely sure which blocks you used to make those shades). I also believe it gets way too dark; it goes from almost white to the same color as the ocean.

You received an Honorable Mention for your great art and great minis. Although your level was short and the art a bit messy, it was all around a very good level.
______________________________________________________________

I will contact all the winners soon in order to deal out the prizes.
______________________________________________________________

The rest, in no particular order:

Deetz

When I read the title, "Dr3amland", I assumed it would have something to do with Kirby. Upon entering the level, I have no idea what it is. I see and iPod, a tree, a swirly thing, a Christmas tree, and a person dreaming. I guess all the art is part of the dream, but it seems completely disjointed and random. I like how the Zs transform into the dream, different from the usual clouds, but then the dream messes it all up. It makes a sharp corner unlike a dream, but then meshes into complete chaos. While the separate dream-art looks relatively good, the setup reminds me all too much of those nubly levels full of pixel art.

The art is often unsettling in-game as well. While I enjoyed hopping around the trees, bridge, sun, etc, the blue and purple striped background made me feel sick. You should have substituted it with another shade of blue. The several, unnecessary backgrounds you used in the swirly thing did little to change the minimap, but made gameplay much more difficult.

I think the biggest problem with that art is that it just doesn't blend at all. You added slight shading to the clouds, trees, and a few more little things, but not enough. There should be more shading in the sun, house, clouds, Christmas tree, and blue sky. In addition, the disjointedness of the art could be fixed by smoothing out some edges, creating a visible path between them, and perhaps make each part of the dream blend into the next.

The minis were a great improvement over the art. You skillfully used the art as minis, adding only some gravity arrows to help. The only problem I have is the fallback. Some of the minis are so long that if you make one little mistake you lose a lot of progress; if I weren't judging it for the contest, I'm not sure I would have completed it. And sometimes it took a awhile to figure out the mini entirely. Maybe add some decorations as hints?

Once I won, I started to explore the iPod... and fell to the bottom, never to see the win trophy again. Since I already finished I won't count it as if I were trapped, but it still **** me off.

Fdoou

The first time I entered and attempted the first mini, I somehow exploited and got past the 3 coin coindoors before getting a single coin. The second time I entered I again exploited that first mini, but in a way that simply let me bypass it. Now that I think about it, it may have just been an illusion mini.

Throughout the entire level there were so many minis that made me want to ragequit; the only reason I continued was because I didn't want to jip you in the contest. I'll give you credit: your minis were very original. However, some were nearly impossible. The mini with the all the portals stumped me; not only was it hard, but constantly going through the portals made it very frustrating. I ended up giving up at this point.

The art, on the other hand, was great. However, it could have benefitted from a little more shading in the buildings, and blending the shades in the sky. I don't know what you were thinking going from pastels to a darker blue to a dark gray. The pastels look amazing, but then they merge into darker, uglier, not-sky-like colors. The blending of atmosphere into space is very iffy as well. Of course, once you reach space and beyond, it looks very nice again. I have no idea what that thing at the top is, but it looks good.

Overall, the art is great, but I couldn't even finish half of the minis. For that reason this level couldn't possibly win. The art was great, the minis were original, it was very thematic, but I couldn't even play half the level.

Killinpepper123

The art was a bit... lacking. The mountain could have used a lot more shading; the ledges, for instance, didn't blend with it at all. The ground at the bottom went from dark red to light brown- not the best blending technique. Although the larger trees looked nice, the smaller trees weren't shaded at all.

The blocks that you used to make the minis in the sky don't match the background at all. I'll give you credit for trying, but they clearly stick out. I recommend adding some more clouds or making the trees look more wild. You could use backgrounds to make it playable while simultaneously blending the minis into the art.

I'm a big proponent of never using solid secret blocks. Ever. You used them sparingly, so it really doesn't matter, but I caught a few that were entirely useless that you should get rid of.

The minis were pretty good over all. However, I managed to exploit a few. The biggest issue was the last mini in the sky, just prior to returning to the mountain. That mini I not only bypassed entirely, but also missed the coin for. After that, the entire right side of the mountain was very confusing, and only by dumb luck was I able to reach the end.

Team Deadlord

The art's a welcome return to the older style of maps, and I don't mean those "1000 minis to code"s. Whatever the big blue thing is is my favorite. All of the borders to the minis are well shaded and looks great; I have very few complaints. However, where are the backgrounds? I see some here and there, but sparingly on a level that could have really used them. I also dislike the sun and the surrounding water. It looks like little to no effort was put into that area.

Although some of the minis are very tedious, they were very creative. However, once I got the coin, there were five minutes when I just sat there and thought: "This doesn't feel like it's over yet..." Eventually, I decided to find my way back, but I would have liked to know for certain. For some reason I spent two hours on the mini before the tongue on my way to the house, and managed to finish it just before raging. I managed to finish the level, but I wasn't very happy by that time. And finding some nubly minis for blue coins at the end seemed like a cruel joke. Although the art and most of the minis were great, I finished the level in a very bad mood.

Team Bobyylobyy in the Past

The art is good, but it's nothing special. The ground looks pretty good, but I was never a fan of those checkerboard patterns. The volcano itself could do with a more rugged exterior; it looks far to smooth and has too slight a gradation to look as menacing as a volcano should. Although it could have used some lava, the smoke adds a nice effect. The clouds are lacking shade and size, but they were still a good addition. Although the sun looks great itself, it makes the rest of the environment questionable. For instance, such a bright sun wouldn't leave the sky red; rather, an eclipsed sun would.

As I've said in many of these reviews, I HATE SECRET BLOCKS! You can always- ALWAYS- substitute them with other blocks, and they just suck.

The minis are somewhat creative, and I applaud you for finding some real use for the water and using portals for something other than transportation. However, I was able to finish before getting the last coin. I guess there was some error with your coindoors, and it was a very unofrtunate way to end some good minis.

Your failure to submit correctly despite countless reminders is unfortunate, and disqualifies you.

P788

The art in this level is certainly good, but nothing too special. The cliffside looks very nice, but the building is hardly shaded. I would also recommend that you use backgrounds to blend the minis into the art better.

The minis, on the other hand, greatly stand out. They're incredibly intuitive and original. However, some of the minis were a little ragey, like the timed ones- the bane of my existence. Timed doors are cool and all, but I didn't exactly enjoy the wait, and you made it so that I needed to complete several in a row perfectly, and the setup was basically the same as those nubly path minis. The path of the minis got very confusing at some parts, and forced me to replay some. I finished in the end, and I really enjoyed the winners' areas.

Just so you know, your trying to help me technically broke the rules, but I decided to wait for you to undo it so that it didn't matter.

If it's any consolation, you were my next choice.
______________________________________________________________

If any of you would like any more information, although I doubt you will, feel free to speak up. However, these results are FINAL. Unless one of the winners **** me off...

Last edited by Shift (Aug 7 2012 12:19:57 pm)

Buzzerbee

Forum Admin

From: Texas, U.S.A.

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 4,571

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

(deleted first post so shift could have it for news etc...)

Can we get chat on one account and get gems on another?

Now for my second post:

Okay. I'll enter but I need to buy the world so I don't have the link yet.

Last edited by BuzzerBee (Jun 8 2012 5:54:59 pm)

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5lin65h07

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

ill enter. as long if you dont steal my account. BUT on one condition, i have a wide world, so if you can permit the wide world as a required world, i will play the game.

YOU MUST SUBMIT THE BLANK LEVEL TO ME BY PM IN ORDER FOR ME TO INCLUDE IT IN THE JUDGING! NO EXCEPTIONS!!

do i have to submit a blank level before i do anything?

Last edited by 5lin65h07 (Jun 8 2012 5:07:55 pm)

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

ill enter. as long if you dont steal my account. BUT on one condition, i have a wide world, so if you can permit the wide world as a required world, i will play the game.

YOU MUST SUBMIT THE BLANK LEVEL TO ME BY PM IN ORDER FOR ME TO INCLUDE IT IN THE JUDGING! NO EXCEPTIONS!!

do i have to submit a blank level before i do anything?

I'm sorry, but no exceptions. You need to buy either a great, massive, or tall world and start from there. Thing is, there's no deadline to sign up, so just be sure to buy one and finish by July 20th if you want to enter.

And yes.

5lin65h07

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

ill enter. as long if you dont steal my account. BUT on one condition, i have a wide world, so if you can permit the wide world as a required world, i will play the game.

YOU MUST SUBMIT THE BLANK LEVEL TO ME BY PM IN ORDER FOR ME TO INCLUDE IT IN THE JUDGING! NO EXCEPTIONS!!

do i have to submit a blank level before i do anything?

I'm sorry, but no exceptions. You need to buy either a great, massive, or tall world and start from there. Thing is, there's no deadline to sign up, so just be sure to buy one and finish by July 20th if you want to enter.

And yes.

>:(     deadline is june 20! i cant buy a world in time!!!

nice try, but no.

Last edited by 5lin65h07 (Jun 8 2012 5:30:50 pm)

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

^It's July... that's 42 days...

Koto

Member

Joined: 2015-02-18

Posts: 3,269

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Showed you my world.   I'm in, but no guarantees that it'll be ready in time

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________________________________________________________

Muffy

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

I'll make the best art world ever.

kinggun680

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

I'm gonna try like cwazy.

abcdfgt

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

If i get stuck , you lose

How can i submit Minis and art if it is not tested...

D-rock2308

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

I'll enter. I'll show you my level tomorrow. It's been started already but I'm not near done/

Muffy

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

I have to win,so I can get a new account,though my current account is still ok.I'll make a map soon.

XxagentxX

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

can a kongregate user join?

cause i play on kong..

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

can a kongregate user join?

cause i play on kong..

I don't know how the Kongregate system works... Assuming I can give you your reward, of course.

Fdoou

Banned

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

I play on kongregate too. I might even enter, I like them gems.

Deetz

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

So if I make a new account and put it on that, but work on it with my real account, would it be okay to put prizes on new account?

NOTE: new account is deetzbot

EDIT: Better yet, could I do the level on my main account then the rewards go to deetzbot?

Last edited by deetz (Jun 10 2012 7:12:22 am)

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

So if I make a new account and put it on that, but work on it with my real account, would it be okay to put prizes on new account?

NOTE: new account is deetzbot

EDIT: Better yet, could I do the level on my main account then the rewards go to deetzbot?

Yeah, that was basically my whole idea to make it worth it for everyone with chat and beta.

Deetz

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Okay. I'll start now : P

Wezza

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Entry send. Good luck everyone, have fun building. FYI, my small group contains Phenomenon, Sancti and me. Group name: Family Falcons.

Deetz

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

I offically join as a solo in favor of deetzbot.

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Entry send. Good luck everyone, have fun building. FYI, my small group contains Phenomenon, Sancti and me. Group name: Family Falcons.

I'm just going to leave it with your names, unless everyone wants to get all fancy and create their own group names.

Stagecrew

Member

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 289

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Can it be a large world? I can't get on stagecrew to use my worlds, and with my 210-ish energy its going to take a long time and I might not finish in time.
If so, I'm in.

Last edited by Stagecrew (Jun 10 2012 8:03:49 am)

Shift

Guest

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Can it be a large world? I can't get on stagecrew to use my worlds, and with my 210-ish energy its going to take a long time and I might not finish in time.
If so, I'm in.

Sorry, it needs to be one of the worlds listed. you still have 40 days, though, so I think you have plenty of time.

Fdoou

Banned

Re: Equalists UNITE! Art + Minis contest

Tell me when you aprove/disaprove my world so I can work on it some more.