I will be conducting reviews for each of the submitted entries, which will first be sent privately to each contestant, then made public after the winners are announced. Base points will come from the reviews, and after that, additional points may be added by vote from the rest of the forum.
All eligible entries will start with a base score of
5 points. If the final score tallied from there is less than 5, it will be reset to 5 before voting.
The review categories are as follows:
- Size: How big is the level? Base award is 5 points, with larger levels netting up to a total of 15 points. Levels that are smaller will receive a penalty from the base of -1 point per 15 less screens until the score is 0.
- Integrity: How accurately does this level follow its own definitions? Is it marked as Easy when in reality it is Very Hard? Is it a Maze even if it isn't marked as such? 5 points total will be given to levels that are accurate to their descriptions, with penalties following down from there.
- Atmosphere: How does the level look and feel? Does it use unique music and/or ambiance for most of its duration? Do the sound and visuals mesh together well? Is the quality consistent throughout the entire level? Base award is 5 points, with bonuses up to 15 total. Penalty for overuse of standard KS music is -5 points.
- Priority: When was the level started? If started before the competition, will receive a multiplier penalty up to only 25% of the score up to this point for levels started a long time ago (at least 2 years). Levels started after the competition began receive no penalty.
- Craftsmanship: How stable is the level? Are there any technical problems, like voids, wallswims, or graphical and/or collision errors? Some errors are acceptable, and the standard baseline will not affect the total score from other categories. Deeply flawed levels will cut the score in half, and flawless levels will double the score, with gradients in-between those two extremes.
On top of that, all forum users will be able to contribute points to levels by PMing me with their rankings. Users must rank all levels, from first to last, with the following adjustments made for each scoring:
- 1st: review score * 1.5
- 2nd: review score * 1.35
- 3rd: review score * 1.2
- 4th: review score * 1.1
- 5th or lower: no change to review score
Multiple votes are not allowed, and competitors lobbying for support will be disqualified.Also, I will run a re-scoring session after the deadline has passed, and all initial scores have been privately handed out. Entrants will have a month, if they so choose, to fix issues in their levels and re-submit them in this time block to possibly get a better score. If a re-submitted level somehow makes the score worse, the original score will be kept.
After the re-scoring session, the votes will be opened, and will run for another month before closing. Voters are expected to have at least attempted every level that they vote on.
Naturally, the level with the highest score after all the votes are added is the winner, with subsequently lower scores taking the lower spots.