19-Aug-2014, 2:02 PM
I've said in the past that we don't really know what the future holds when it comes to future CCLPs, community preferences, community makeup, or design preferences, but I think that also needs to be tempered with the notion that deciding what kind of set we as a community want to make now will also help inform what people submit for it in the days to come. To a large extent, it does work both ways.
It's been almost five months since CCLP1's release, and the amount of time most people took to solve it was not nearly as long as what was required for CCLP2 or 3. We're slowly starting to see level design filling up the community's time once again. We're beginning to discuss what kinds of levels we want to see in CCLP4, at least from what we have available. So I don't think it'll hurt to talk about what CCLP4 could be, as long as our expectations aren't terribly set in stone just in case tastes and preferences happen to change along the way.
After serving on two CCLP staffs, I think what should be done in the future should make the process as least time-consuming for the next staff as possible.
My recommendation is to go ahead and hold this discussion and set tentative goals and guidelines for what CCLP4 should be as the next official level set: something generally agreeable that's also fairly flexible. I'm thinking very general guidelines here: ruleset compatibility, whether or not levels should have borders, what spectrum of difficulty is welcome, etc. Then, go ahead and announce here on CCZone that submissions are open. This will [a] encourage designers who haven't yet submitted material to build levels with the guidelines in mind, much like what was done with CCLP1; and start compiling a list of submitted sets. As a community, we've also grown quite adept at locating busts and compatibility issues in levels, so playing / testing them without a staff in place to address these issues before anything else is done shouldn't be difficult. It will also give people who don't have time to be on the CCLP4 staff or who are uncertain about their involvement in the future a chance to participate and contribute. At the very least, those who are very intentional about submitting material with the guidelines in mind can receive support for these problems immediately rather than wait to be contacted by the staff years down the road. It also frees up the staff from having to re-test everything again.
I think whenever the staff is formed should be around the time the community believes there are enough levels in the submission pool from which a voting process or some form of community-backed level selection can take place. Personally, I don't think we should wait too long for this to happen - maybe cap off the submissions at a number like 1500, give or take a bit. CCLP1 had a limited number of levels on which the community voted, which made variety in the set itself much easier to attain. (Variety seems to be growing as a level design trend anyway these days...maybe because designers are finally realizing that less homogeneity within their submissions tends to mean a greater chance of inclusion in the finished product?
) CCLP2 had even fewer levels available when it was created, and despite its flaws that many like to point out, it was far from homogenous. Several factors should be involved in the formation of the staff: at least a few people should have been active community members throughout the submission process, all should be knowledgeable about the game and its rulesets, all should possess some degree of objectivity, maturity, ability to work with others in a team for a few years, etc. By the time the staff is selected, submissions can be closed, and those on the staff who have been around the most, are familiar with the formation of the set-defining guidelines, and have helped with the testing of the levels throughout the submission process can help decide what is included in the voting or selection process that's designed to inform the staff's final choices. Then, the community can get involved again in whatever method the staff has in mind.
Thoughts?
It's been almost five months since CCLP1's release, and the amount of time most people took to solve it was not nearly as long as what was required for CCLP2 or 3. We're slowly starting to see level design filling up the community's time once again. We're beginning to discuss what kinds of levels we want to see in CCLP4, at least from what we have available. So I don't think it'll hurt to talk about what CCLP4 could be, as long as our expectations aren't terribly set in stone just in case tastes and preferences happen to change along the way.
After serving on two CCLP staffs, I think what should be done in the future should make the process as least time-consuming for the next staff as possible.
My recommendation is to go ahead and hold this discussion and set tentative goals and guidelines for what CCLP4 should be as the next official level set: something generally agreeable that's also fairly flexible. I'm thinking very general guidelines here: ruleset compatibility, whether or not levels should have borders, what spectrum of difficulty is welcome, etc. Then, go ahead and announce here on CCZone that submissions are open. This will [a] encourage designers who haven't yet submitted material to build levels with the guidelines in mind, much like what was done with CCLP1; and start compiling a list of submitted sets. As a community, we've also grown quite adept at locating busts and compatibility issues in levels, so playing / testing them without a staff in place to address these issues before anything else is done shouldn't be difficult. It will also give people who don't have time to be on the CCLP4 staff or who are uncertain about their involvement in the future a chance to participate and contribute. At the very least, those who are very intentional about submitting material with the guidelines in mind can receive support for these problems immediately rather than wait to be contacted by the staff years down the road. It also frees up the staff from having to re-test everything again.I think whenever the staff is formed should be around the time the community believes there are enough levels in the submission pool from which a voting process or some form of community-backed level selection can take place. Personally, I don't think we should wait too long for this to happen - maybe cap off the submissions at a number like 1500, give or take a bit. CCLP1 had a limited number of levels on which the community voted, which made variety in the set itself much easier to attain. (Variety seems to be growing as a level design trend anyway these days...maybe because designers are finally realizing that less homogeneity within their submissions tends to mean a greater chance of inclusion in the finished product?
) CCLP2 had even fewer levels available when it was created, and despite its flaws that many like to point out, it was far from homogenous. Several factors should be involved in the formation of the staff: at least a few people should have been active community members throughout the submission process, all should be knowledgeable about the game and its rulesets, all should possess some degree of objectivity, maturity, ability to work with others in a team for a few years, etc. By the time the staff is selected, submissions can be closed, and those on the staff who have been around the most, are familiar with the formation of the set-defining guidelines, and have helped with the testing of the levels throughout the submission process can help decide what is included in the voting or selection process that's designed to inform the staff's final choices. Then, the community can get involved again in whatever method the staff has in mind.Thoughts?