Battling Mario Ver 1.1

[Furygun81]

Not sure if this belongs in here as it's not an artwork or a story but I'm posting so there. Also, I'm not sure if this is against the rules of ROM distribution, but it's my hacked version with changed levels etc.

This is a thread all about my hack of Super Mario World, entitled Battling Mario. It's in the Ver 1.1 stage right now, and so far I have completed:

Yoshi's Island

Donut Plains

Star World

Other levels are in the works, and the newest version should be posted for distribution soon. Here is the link to download the demo (only contains Yoshi's Island): http://www.box.net/shared/py0glnbeog

You will need:

- An SNES emulator, I would recommend ZSNES or SNESX9

- The ROM. Although having an emulator is good, not having my game to play on it renders it worthless. Although it's illegal to own a ROM without a copy of the original game, my version has changed levels, and you're unable to access the other unedited worlds.

- [Optional] A good controller. Although it is not necessary, using a controller is much better than a keyboard.

Here are some videos:

[Milkyway64]

I see floating munchers, flat terrain, glitched sprites, and an edited Yoshi's House, which will screw up the ending, all cement block flooring.

And that's just from what I saw in the trailer.

If you want your hack to be worth something, you can't skimp out on the detail.

[Furygun81]

The floating munchers sure are an eyesore, but without them it makes the levels lack originality (and they're not as fun, which defeats the purpose of the game). The flat terrain is just there, doesn't mean I didn't decorate it and dress it up nicely. The second level of World 2 goes underground, and there is almost no flat terrain there. The edited Yoshi's House doesn't screw the ending, all the sprites involved in the ending only raise up to 2 or 3 layers, and the blocks start at layer 4 so that Mario/Luigi doesn't hit his head.

And the glitched sprites are only in F-1. KIDNAPPED DINO in which I have replaced the Puntin' Chucks with blue koopas and a shell. Look at the upload date of the video, and you'll see I have made massive revisions.

Also, 4. ILLUSIONAL BRIDGE is different in the final version of the game that I have rather than the demo, as it was all glitchy when you got near the end. I really should post an updated version.

So for your viewing pleasure here is levels 1 and 2 of World 2, with commentary from myself! It's from World 2 onwards that the difficulty starts increasing and the little **** you's begin appearing.

[Milkyway64]

I watched the second video. We can add "Kaizo traps" to the list of deadly hacking sins you've committed.

I still saw flat, boring terrain in 2-1 and some in 2-2 as well. More floating and stacked munchers with wildly varying difficulty as well (coin block/blind jump cheapness in the beginning with an enemy-less, non lethal obstacle coarse right after) and generally the whole thing was just lazy, lazy, lazy. To see what I mean, go look at the excellent Second Reality Project series.

You'll see everything I mean, but I should spell something out right now;

The floating munchers sure are an eyesore, but without them it makes the levels lack originality (and they're not as fun, which defeats the purpose of the game). The flat terrain is just there, doesn't mean I didn't decorate it and dress it up nicely.

These are a bunch of excuses and you know it. If you were aware you could hack SMW, you've certainly played a hack or two and thus know that custom GFX are possible. If you want floating hurt blocks, change the muncher's graphics so it makes more sense. Floating and stacked munchers are a -no.-

About the terrain, no, you didn't decorate it. A single file line of munchers is not decoration nor is an overabundance of pipes. This one you have no excuse for, as all it takes is a quick runthrough of SMW to see that you can make a level not look completely boring even with vanila content.

[Furygun81]

Well the floating chompers make for a challenge. I understand that custom GFX is available, but I talk about that later. Kaizo Traps are another way of having a keyhole and a key for the normal exit, having a key activate is the normal exit is impossible (although I managed it with 3. BOWSER BOO, it glitches out and the Very Secret Area is unlocked first) so instead of carrying a key to the goal, you just carry a P-Switch to the goal. There's always a message block above the P-Switches needed for these traps, which tell you whether you need to keep them or not.

I've played a few hacks, and the ones from smwcentral.net are astonishing: custom GFX, music, overworld, enemies et cetera. With custom GFX however, it seems my old version of Lunar Magic doesn't agree with it. I know, I know I should probably move my project from my old laptop (like really, really, old. It's ancient) to my new one, so I'm actually gonna do that now. Although it probably is possible to add new sprites into my Lunar Magic, I read through the FAQs, sent a few emails and the Banzai Bill launcher is still just sitting on my desktop

Although I did figure out custom music, and now that works, but I've yet to add new graphics.

[Milkyway64]

Well the floating chompers make for a challenge. I understand that custom GFX is available, but I talk about that later.

Then make the floating munchers look like spike balls and it's all good. For the sake of aesthetics and the detail necessary for a quality hack, this is necessary.

Kaizo Traps are another way of having a keyhole and a key for the normal exit, having a key activate is the normal exit is impossible (although I managed it with 3. BOWSER BOO, it glitches out and the Very Secret Area is unlocked first) so instead of carrying a key to the goal, you just carry a P-Switch to the goal. There's always a message block above the P-Switches needed for these traps, which tell you whether you need to keep them or not.

That's not all of what I mean. Coin blocks placed just to kill the player is not only horrible design, but the difficulty is very much fake and serves only to frustrate the player. DON'T DO THAT.

As for the goal thing, no. Never. Don't do it. Don't. Want a keyhole normal exit? Then simply leave out the normal one. If you want a level to have two exits but want the key one to trigger the normal paths, then simply alter what exits trigger what events. Simple, and it doesn't force terrible design choices.

Reiterating; IF THE PLAYER DIES AFTER 'WINNING,' IT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA.

I've played a few hacks, and the ones from smwcentral.net are astonishing: custom GFX, music, overworld, enemies et cetera. With custom GFX however, it seems my old version of Lunar Magic doesn't agree with it. I know, I know I should probably move my project from my old laptop (like really, really, old. It's ancient) to my new one, so I'm actually gonna do that now. Although it probably is possible to add new sprites into my Lunar Magic, I read through the FAQs, sent a few emails and the Banzai Bill launcher is still just sitting on my desktop

Although I did figure out custom music, and now that works, but I've yet to add new graphics.

Then do so. Custom GFX makes ideas like the ones you are going for possible without sacrifice. Also pay attention to how they designed their levels and make note of what made them so astonishing; especially with how many bad hacks there are, you really can't let details go unaddressed because no one will ever play your hack otherwise.