Create a Mario Party Board Contest #5

What’s that? Another custom board contest? Finally! Thanks to PartyPlanner64, the Mario Party 1-3 board editor, creating your own Mario Party boards and events is easier than ever. For this contest, we’re going with a Time based theme. That can mean a number of things including different eras of history, time travel and time machines, day/night mechanics, and a focus on characters related to or based on time. There’s a lot of creative ways to approach this theme and we’re excited to see your new ideas!

Each submission will be looked through and graded on a variety of different qualities and the first place winner will be given a $35 eShop card while second and third place will receive a $20 eShop card and $10 eShop card respectively.

UPDATE: We are extending the deadline by two weeks, submissions can be sent in until August 23!

The deadline for this contest is Monday, August 9 August 23, giving you about a month to work on your board.

Before we get into the details, including how to submit your board, here are some quick links to easily find what you’re looking for:

Guidelines

Keep these rules in mind as you make your board. If you don’t follow them, we many not be able to feature your board in the contest!

  • No. White. Backgrounds. All objects must have a transparent background, no white. This is what you shouldn’t have.
  • Do not grab a map from another game and slap on spaces. This is lazy, we want original designs!
  • Spaces – 70 minimum, 128 maximum. At least 1 of each space.
  • Custom Events are required!! Make sure to include events for Happening Spaces and/or other gimmicks. Other users have generously provided events that you can easily implement on your board here. Feel free to modify them or create your own! Check out a guide on creating custom events here. You can also get support at our Discord.
  • Include a detailed description of the board that explains the gimmick and path layout design, along with explanations on any custom events.
  • Test the game in PP64 and make sure it runs! Also include at least two in-game images!
  • Custom music is not required but it would help differentiate your board even more!
  • Please do not submit a board you were previously working on before the contest was announced. We want everyone to start at the same time, keep things equal!
  • You are allowed to submit a board as a team but we will be judging your board with that in mind. Simply put, higher expectations!
  • Follow the contest theme! Remember your board should revolve around the concept of time.

What will we be judging on

Once the deadline has passed and the boards have been submitted, SpiderStaryu and SuperZambezi will grade each board on a variety of different qualities. Your board will be graded on a 50-point scale focusing on three main aspects.

  • Background – The entire background that makes up the artwork of your board. The more custom it is (hand drawn, your own 3D models, etc), the better. Everything should look like it fits in the same board! (Out of 15)
  • Path Layout – The basic board design, especially how it appears in-game. This includes the layout of paths, how everything connects, junctions and options, and balance of spaces and their placement. Arrows are crucial, so is being able to see the paths clearly and where they’re headed. What kind of spaces are used and where? Too much or too little in every area? Make sure everything is fair and balanced! (Out of 15)
  • Custom Events – What makes your board special and unique in terms of gameplay? Is there variety to your Happening Spaces and passing events? Did you create your own custom event or modify an existing event? Do the events make sense with the theme of your board? (Out of 15)
  • Contest Theme – How well you followed the theme of the contest. ? (Out of 5)

 

Tips on making your board

First time making a Mario Party board? Here are some helpful tips on some ways you can create an awesome board:

  • Hand Drawn – Are you an artist? Perfect! Draw up your board, then use one of the following programs to place your spaces.
  • Photoshop/Paint.Net – Image editing program, good for putting together images to form your board. Use it to form path layouts and all that good stuff.
  • Powerpoint – Good for making shapes and placing transparent images over each other.
  • SketchUp/Blender – Create your board using a modelling program. Import 3D models from other games or create them yourself.

As for board design, study up on the boards of Mario Party 1-3 and see how they created their paths and space layouts. We’ll be giving tips and suggestions when we review your board. We also have a great video guide by SpiderStaryu that you can watch below, although please be aware this was made before PP64’s newest changes:

Do you need assets for your boards? Head on over to our Discord and check out the #assets channel for a long list of artwork and documentation that’ll help you create your board. This includes images of passing events (item shops, bank) as well as arrows and other common board images.

Example

Ready to see an example of a submission? Here is Airsola’s board for Mario Party 3, Primal Isles. The board features a completely original background with unique gimmicks and custom events specifically made for this board. If you like what you see, the board is already available for download here.

Full Board

Large Scene Background

Board Logo  /  Board Logo Text  /  Board Select Image

          

How and what to submit

All boards made for the contest need to be submitted to our Custom Board Database on the Forum. After you export the .json file from the PartyPlanner64 Editor, head over to the Forum to submit your board to the database. Make sure to include somewhere in the description that the board is for the contest!

Make sure you only submit a complete board, including all supplementary images with the correct dimensions. Check out PartyPlanner64’s guide on the images to read up more on that.


Don’t be afraid to enter! We’ll take any and all submissions, as long as they meet the requirements. Plus, there is that cool $35 eShop card for whoever takes first place. A $20 eShop card for second place and a $10 eShop Card for third place! The deadline is Monday, August 9 August 23 giving you about a month to work on your board. Good luck!

Reminder to join our Discord! That’s where you’ll get the latest updates on the contest and where you can chat with the judges and other creators. Also a great place if you need help getting your custom events to work!

Previous Contests
Contest #1 | Contest #2 | Contest #3 | Top 10 of 2018 | Contest #4 | Game Jam 2020