Make a Good Level

Make a Good Level (MaGL, /'mæɡəl/, or retroactively, MaGL I/MaGL1) was a level design contest held on the Talkhaus. Hosted by limepie20, contestants were asked to create and submit a custom Super Mario World level, without any limitations on tools and resources. All entries were judged by limepie20 and Argumentable, based on criteria such as level design, aesthetics, and functionality. Unlike its successor, contestants were not expected to adhere to any kind of gimmick.

Contest submissions were open from March 24, 2012 to April 30, 2012, and the judging process was completed by May 5, 2012. On a daily basis, the placements of the 29 entrants were revealed in reverse order during raocow's LP of the contest levels. The winner of MaGL, Cup, was formally announced on June 1, 2012, and received a red username color as the grand prize.

Rules
The rules for this contest were as follows:


 * Submit an .ips patch (no ROMs allowed)
 * The level must be beatable
 * Only submit one level
 * Working with up to one partner was permitted
 * There were no limitations on tools and resources

Judging rubric
Each entry was scored out of 50 points. The breakdown was as follows:


 * Level Design (30 points)
 * Fun (20 points)
 * Difficulty (5 points)
 * Focus (5 points)
 * Atmosphere (10 points)
 * Visuals (5 points)
 * Music (5 points)
 * Functionality (10 points)

Legacy
MaGL was the first of three "Make a Good" Super Mario World level design contests to be held on the Talkhaus. It would eventually spin off a set of level design contests featuring the Super Mario Bros. X and Super Mario Bros. X2 engines, known as Make a Good Level X. The "Make a Good" label would also eventually be carried over to the Talkhaus-adjacent Make a Good Mega Man Level contests.

raocow's MaGL LP began the tradition of slowly revealing contest placements on daily basis, in order to build up anticipation. This tradition would last until Make a Good Level X3, which was publicly released as a Super Mario Bros. X2 episode the day before its official LP. Although anyone was allowed to play ahead and see the results for themselves, the honor system was invoked to avoid spoiling the placements for others, since the rankings would still be officially revealed during the LP.

Trivia

 * raocow's LP of the MaGL contest entries took place from May 6, 2012 to June 1, 2012. This was during an extended break from his LP of NEW! SMW2 Yoshi's Island, a Yoshi's Island ROM hack which he had been struggling with due to its high difficulty.