Official Lemmings Forums Level Design Contest #4

[namida]

So, time for another level design contest!



General contest rules. Please note that there have been some changes to this since the previous contests. If you're one of those people who doesn't like reading these kind of lists, the tl;dr version would be "Lix levels are now allowed as long as they're single-player, entries don't close even after the deadline until a while has passed since the last entry was submitted, and you get a couple of chances to update your level during the playing phase".

(Hidden behind a spoiler tag to save space.)

Spoiler

Note that if the rules of the individual contest conflict with these standard rules, the contest-specific rule has priority.

1. Each person may only enter a single level into each contest.
2. All levels entered into a contest must be never-seen-before. This means that they can be completely new levels created for the contest, or not-yet-released levels from a future pack, but you cannot just enter a level from a pack you've already released, even if you modify it slightly.
3. Anyone caught trying to manipulate the voting or otherwise cheat will be disqualified from the contest, and may be disqualified from future contests.
4. Entries must be submitted via private message to the staff member running the contest.
5. The staff member running the contest has the final say on whether or not a level meets the contest's criteria; however, you will be informed within a reasonable timeframe if not, and will be allowed to resubmit an altered version of the level (or an entirely new level) that does meet the criteria.
6. If you are using a graphic set that is not included by default with the engine you're using, you must include a copy of it with your submission.
7. Any Lix levels entered into the contest must be single-player levels.
8. Monetary prizes are payable only via either PayPal or a major cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Litecoin or Dogecoin; and possibly others on request). You may also ask for a purchase to be made on your behalf with the prize money directly from a website that accepts one of those options, or for it to be donated to a charity.
9. All deadline dates/times are in UTC. If you haven't customized your display settings, this is the time displayed in the top-right corner of the forums.
10. Even if a deadline has passed, entries will not close until 72 hours has passed since the last submission was received (or one week since the last submission was received, if there are less than four received entries).
11. If less than three entries have been received when entries close, the contest is cancelled.
12. During the playing phase, you may submit revised versions of your levels (for example, to remove backroutes). These should also be sent via private message to the staff member running the contest. All updated versions will be posted at the same time (if there are any). There will be three "update points" during the playing phase, of which each level may be updated on no more than two of them. Once the last update point has passed, no further updates will be accepted.
13. Any received updates will only be accepted if the updated version still meets the contest criteria.
14. Both first place and second place get a prize; they must choose two different prizes (first place gets first choice), unless a prize is specifically marked that it may be selected by both winners. In the event that only three entries are received, only first place gets a prize.
15. If the staff member organizing the contest enters a level and places first or second, they do not get a prize. The prize is not "passed on", but instead only one prize is awarded for that tournament; however as a special case, if there is only one prize available (due to only three entries being submitted), the prize is passed on to second place.
16. The winning level will be determined by a voteoff after the playing phase has ended.

Contest #4

For this contest, your goal is to design a level that has exactly 5 skills total. This could be five of the same skill, one each of five different skills, or anywhere inbetween. If using NeoLemmix or Lix, using skills outside the original eight skills is permitted, but you still can't have more than five total.

Allowed Engines: Lemmix, NeoLemmix, Lemmini, SuperLemmini, Lix

Engine-Specific Rules:
NeoLemmix: Pickup skills are not allowed. Gimmicks that affect skill counts (such as overflow, reverse skill counts or other skills countdown) are not permitted; other gimmicks are fine.

Timeframe: Entries will close on the 25th of April 28th April at 17:34 (subject to general rule #10).

The prizes available for this contest are:
- US $10 (see general rule #8)
- One month worth of advertising in the forum's news ticker for any project you are creating or involved in, whether Lemmings-related or not and whether free or not (may be reserved for later use)
- A new gimmick of your choice added to NeoLemmix (within reason)
- A new object type of your choice added to NeoLemmix (within reason); this only includes supporting it in the code (and the graphic set editor), not actually adding the object to any graphic set
- Your choice for the next contest's rules (within reason)

BONUS: Everyone who enters a level in this contest (as long as it's within the rules) will receive a Lemmings Plus IV demo, with their choice of extra content out of either (a) an extra level each in the Twisted and Insane ranks, or (b) all four versions of the once-per-rank level. I've already started sending out these demos, so any further entries I'll send the demo as soon as I receive the entry - so let me know which one you'd like when you submit it.



Entries received: 5
Giga
IchoTolot
namida
Nepster
Proxima

[namida]

So, following Nepster's thoughts on why there's no problem with it, as well as to increase the number of entries (even if just by one xD), I've decided to enter a level myself in this contest.

[mobius]

I've been trying to make a level for this one and I admit this is pretty hard! So far I haven't come up with anything that isn't a really stupid easy level. I'll keep trying however.

Was the date changed? I thought I remember it being the 15 but now I see it's the 25. oh well, good for me.

[namida]

Most of the past contests have had the 15th (or something close to that) as the deadline, since they've started around the beginning of a month. This one started a bit later; it hasn't been changed.

[namida]

I've added one extra prize to the list - early access to a demo of Lemmings Plus IV.

Unlike the other prizes, this one is not limited to a single winner choosing it - if both winners want the demo, they can both get it.

It will most likely be mostly the same as the first public demo, but I might throw in an extra level or two to the contest prize demo.

[namida]

There's about one week left to get your entries in (not counting deadline extensions if levels are submitted close to the deadline). So far, three entries have been received. Here's hoping we see some more!

[namida]

We've got four days left to submit entries now. Do note that any time an entry is received, it'll extend the deadline by 72 hours (as per general rule #10), if that would result in a later deadline than the current one. This is partly to give some time to resubmit if a critical error is found, as well as ensure entries don't close while there's still submissions coming in.

[607]

Hm, I feel like joining... I probably won't do that good, though. Is that a problem?

[namida]

Not at all! Give it a go; you might be surprised by what you come up with!

In the first contest, we had one entrant who was more or less completely convinced his level was going to do horribly after encountering a few backroutes during the playing phase (keep in mind that back then, revising them during the playing phase wasn't allowed). His level went on to win the contest.

[namida]

At this point, entries will close once 72 hours without receiving any have passed (currently this will be (UTC) April 25 8:31 PM), since "72 hours since the latest entry" is now longer than "until the 25th of April".

[namida]

LPIV is getting to the point where it's well and truly ready for a demo to be released, and as such, I don't want to have to hold off on the demo for another few weeks to let the playing phase and voting phase finish. As such, I'm removing early demo access from the prize list.

I realise though that some people may have been quite keen on this, so instead of it being a prize - all people who submit a valid entry to this contest before entries close will receive early access to such a demo. Demos will be sent out at whichever point comes later - when a demo is ready, or when entries close. Public release will come a few days later.

Those who get a demo through the contest will get to choose one of these two options for extra content in the demo they receive:
a) One extra level each from the Twisted and Insane ranks
b) All four iterations of the once-per-rank level

[namida]

Apprxoimately 17 hours left until entries close (of course, if any are received before then, the deadline will extend to 72 hours from whenever they're received).

[namida]

Okay, just received another entry, so the 72 hours is reset.

I was somewhat not expecting that, so I've decided to start sending out the demos now. Of course, any further entries submitted still get a copy of the demo (and even if the public demo is released before entries close - it'll be 4 days from now - the contest entries still qualify for extra content).