Welcome to the Ultimate Curation Guide™. This is a guide we’ve been carefully putting together for months. There had been some confusion about the curated channels and what they all mean, particularly after the changes in criteria.
We’d like to clear everything up, so we’ve written a guide. This includes an in-depth description of each curated channel, examples of projects on that channel with an explanation of why they’re there, and the criteria we follow when curating. There’s also a new way for yall to get specific, Curation related feedback from us.
Hopefully, this guide will help yall when nominating and voting, as well as better understanding the channels and our decisions.
Channel Descriptions and Examples
We have 3 Channels that are manually curated: Masterpieces, Excellent, and Rising.
Masterpieces
This is the curated channel for game-changing projects. These are projects that are so innovative and well-done that they’ve revolutionized the app. Most of these masterpieces have done something that has never been done before, or have changed the way we do things.
This channel is manually curated, and people that get a project here are given the “Megastar Creator” badge for creating such an amazing project.
Here are some examples of Masterpieces, with a brief explanation of why they were Featured.
Kaleidocosmos by Valgo
Kaleidocosmos is one of the most popular Hopscotch projects of all times, which is really impressive, especially for an art pad. It was one of the first Hopscotch projects with a Mirror Draw feature; something we hadn’t seen before. “Mirror Draw” lets the user draw something and mirrors it to the other three quadrants of the project, creating a kaleidoscopic drawing. Today, you’ll still see tons of remixes and rehops of Kaleidocosmos.
Escape HSHQ by Awesome_E
In addition to winning #HHC2019, E’s project revolutionized the way we code and play Escape Room games. There are stunning 3D visuals, spooktastic music and so many cool features! All of the details pull everything together and make the game even more fun to play. Escape rooms have been created in the past, but none of them have had this much detail. It’s a super unique, complex, and all-around amazing game.
2048 by t1
This is a super impressive game recreation because there’s so much happening in the code. Although the game itself is simple and easy to play, there’s a lot that needs to be accounted for, like the position of other tiles, the transitions and the game mechanics. There is so much complex code involved. Despite the limitations at the time, t1 managed to pull off an amazing, complex game that performs really well. It’s a super fun game that had never been recreated in Hopscotch before.
Excellent
This is the curated channel for the best new projects. These are usually projects that are really amazing, fun, or just stand out. These projects are awesome, but they’re not quite game-changing yet. There’s some things that can be improved, but even still, these are amazing projects that we all feel deserve to be showcased. This channel is also manually curated, and people that get their projects featured here are given the “Star Creator” badge for making such a cool project.
Here are some examples of Excellent projects, with a brief explanation of why they’re being showcased here.
Folie - Jul by Fundardo +
Not only is this a perfectly coded music project with classical, limited notes, it also includes super stunning visualization graphics. The visuals are super stunning, perfectly synced with the music, and add a splash of mesmerizing originality to the project.
Ice Cream Maker! by Decode, co.
This is a super fun ice cream creator game. There’s tons of flavors and toppings to select from, as well as the option to draw on your own! If you’re not sure where to start, that’s ok because there’s a tutorial and a fun challenge option to help you out. The graphics, animations and mechanics are all amazing.
Sage Grouse by TheDeliciousOrange
This is a super complicated shape art that takes immense precision, time and effort to pull off. It looks amazing, polished and is really well designed.
Rising
This is the channel for projects that are really awesome but could use another version or a couple more features. These projects are typically created by newer or less experienced Hopscotchers. While this channel is manually curated (projects are selected and placed here by THT), there is no badge for it, unlike Excellent and Masterpieces. While there may be a lot that can be improved, these projects are awesome, and we like to showcase them here to encourage these Hops.
Here are some examples of Rising projects, with a brief explanation of why they’re here.
Polar Platformer by Ostrich
This is a really fun platformer! The design could be improved and more features could be added, but it’s super fun to play nonetheless. The health aspect provides another challenge and is a unique twist on the platformer. And although the game is unfinished, the graphics have a really cool aesthetic and look pretty polished. Once it’s finished, the project has a really good chance of being curated again on Excellent :))
Pikachu pixel art by Rapterdragon_83🐉
This is a neat little pixel art! Although it’s fairly small and simple, it took a lot of effort and that’s evident in the end result. The pixel art could load faster or be more complicated, but for a beginner pixel art is really awesome! We hope the creator gets some encouragement out of the curation and keeps trying their hand at new things :))
Space Invaders v0.2 by Pi Creations
This is a really fun recreation of a classic game! Although it’s simple and doesn’t have too many features, the basic mechanics are all really smooth. The twinkling stars and other little animations add a ton to the game and it’s aesthetic. The whites and bright neons contract the blackness of space nicely and are reminiscent of the original game. The project just needs a little bit more complexity and some additional features before making it to Excellent :))
Curation Criteria
When we consider projects to curate, this is the criteria we follow.
Complexity: 10 points
How complex is the project? How many different features does it have?
Originality: 10 points
How original is the concept and design? Is it a copy or remix, or original project?
Effort: 10 points
How much visible effort went into the project? Was it carefully crafted, or roughly thrown together?
Performance: 10 points
How well does the project work? Is it finished? Are there a lot of bugs?
Community Support: 5 points
How many people have voted “Excellent” or “Masterpieces” in the poll?
Clarity: 5 points
How easy is it to play? Does it have clear instructions?
Design: 5 points
How well is the project designed? Does the placement of everything make sense?
Fun: 5 points
How much fun is the project?
This totals to 60 points.
All projects start with a 60 out of 60, and we subtract point as we go through and evaluate each of the criteria. At the end, we note down the point values and make a decision based on the following:
- If a project gets less than 37 out of 60 (62%), it usually means that there’s a lot that can be improved, and that the project isn’t quite there yet. This is where we’d recommend another version or two.
- If a project gets between 38 and 45 out of 60 (63% to 75%), there’s usually still a lot that can be improved, but the project is almost at curation level. This is when we’ll consider it for Rising, and would recommend another version or a few improvements to get on Excellent.
- If a project gets over 46 out of 60 (77%), there’s usually still some thing that can be improved, but the project is at curation level and we’ll consider it for Excellent.
- If a project gets a 60/60, completely blows both of our minds, and/or has some game-changing concepts, we’ll consider it for Masterpieces.
The numbers can change depending on various factors, like how many nominations we get, what kind of projects are being nominated, and the relative quality of projects, but we always do our best to be fair when curating.
This includes looking at the manual effort put into the project. While it is also worth 10 points on the 60 point scale mentioned above, there’s a slight distinction between the two categories. The one above examines the visible effort in the project without context. This additional one looks at how the project was created. It’s out of 40 points, weighing almost as much as the entire rubric above. A project gets either 40 points or 0 points, depending on whether it was fully hand-coded in Hopscotch or used an external program to import the code. This is a black and white, all-or-nothing kind of deal. However, the following exceptions will be made:
- For the first time a project was imported using external code that the creator coded themselves, they can get a 40 on this section and have a chance at Excellent and Masterpieces. After this, future imported projects will only be eligible for rising, and will get up to a 10/40 on this section.
- For a project comprised of both manually coded and imported elements, it can get up to a 33/40 in this section, depending on the extent of imported parts. This is the gray area, and Silv and I will be using our judgement here. It’s also where the requested distinct label/disclaimer will be helpful.
Only manually coded projects in Hopscotch, using only Hopscotch, will continue to be curated at high levels, with those above exceptions in mind. More information can be found here, and as always, we’re both here and happy to help.
However, secret blocks are always perfectly fine to use! They’re hopscotch blocks that use the hopscotch coding language, not imported pieces of external code (like a fully automated pixel art from string coder that uses python, for example). Using them will never detract from the extra effort category :))
Do note that “secret blocks” is strictly referring to things like “create a clone times”, “destroy”, any of the unix timestamp ones, or other blocks that similarly optimize the ease at which youre able to code and the project can function well; not ones that code something for you or enhance the project in ways you wouldntve been able to otherwise. So something like bypassing the subscription feature to access multiple instrumental sounds will count against you as you’ve misused JSON editing to serve as a loophole around buying the subscription. It doesn’t support THT in the way that it should --in fact, it does the opposite-- and we wont condone nor encourage that by showcasing projects created in this way.
Anyway, y’all don’t have to follow that rubric, or even consider it when nominating/voting, but we hope that sharing it will help give you an insight into how we do our job and how projects are “sorted”. We’d encourage that you do, however, use some sort of criteria when voting, something that goes beyond personal biases. It’s best to evaluate the projects instead of the people, as always, and it helps keep everything fair. Regardless, I hope the rubric and criteria descriptions will be helpful to know, both when nominating a project and creating a project with the aim to get curated; even if you don’t use it. All you really need to do to create a curation-worthy project is put tons of care into everything you create. Pay attention to the details and do everything to the best of your ability. It’s important to be happy with what you put out there
Project Feedback
Speaking of creating projects, we now have a form you can fill to get feedback from us on a project you’re working on in hopes of getting curated! If you fill out the form below, we’ll review your project using our rubric and will offer specific feedback on how you can improve and better your chances of getting curated. Be sure to tag us when you’re done filling it out.
~ Feedback Form ~
Username on the app:
Project Link:
Brief Project Description:
Specific Area You’d Like Feedback In:
I hope that was helpful for yall. If there’s anything else you’d like to see added to this, let us know.
And as always, feel free to tag us with any questions, comments or concerns y’all have and we’d be happy to help.
~ Fearless n Silv, your resident curators