Finding success in the Creator Contest Part 2

Extra tools, tips and tricks from previous winners of our creative comps.

---

Some more of our creative legends have provided their insights on competition greatness. Get inspired!

Kicking things off is Carl Fravel from Decentraland University...

“Make the scene highly interactive. Think about lines of sight, so that you gradually discover new things as you move through the scene. Include some puzzles, but make it obvious that there is something to solve. Use sound and motion to provide clues. Include surprises!”

Be ambitious—but not too ambitious

---

Tony Orso, winner of 2019’s first Creator Contest, reckons small steps and constant iterations are key to creative satisfaction:

“Don’t try to build some majestic scene from the start. It will probably make you mad with frustration and drive you away from the entire thing. Take your time to learn and then get on with a major scene. Learning and planning ahead will save you a lot of time, help you avoid major mistakes and redoing entire scenes (like what happened to me during the first Creator Contest). Most of all try to have fun and twist around all the regular rules of design. Finally, when you think you have a top scene, look at it again critically and find ways to make it better. The competition will be really really tough, I promise!"

Stay grounded and prepare for the grind

---

Another Game Jam winner, KJWalker, discussed the need to establish a clear idea and stick to it, particularly when working teams:

“Communication is vital. Use it to create one of the most important parts of the project: the concept board. It will combine thoughts and ideas from your team with reference images to create a unique aesthetic and it will be your compass through the whirlwind competition. Here’s the concept board created for Enchanneled Wood: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/katherinejwalke/channelwood-prime/
Assign more time than you expect to everything. Be prepared to export, iterate and re-export right until the end. And think outside the box to find ways around the obstacles that appear.
Give it everything you have, dig a little deeper, and then give it some more.”

For more info on the Builder, Smart Items and making the most of the Creator Contest experience, be sure to watch our new Builder Tutorial video. You can also reach out to the Decentraland team and community at any time on Discord.