Classic Mario (SMB hack): BETA TESTING!!!

[segwayspeedracer]

Hey guys,

I am nearing completion of a Super Mario Bros hack that I've been working on for quite awhile.

Having played Mario for 19yrs now, to put together my own Mario experience has been a lifelong dream for me. Featuring new levels with great graphics and design, I hope Classic Mario offers a fresh, fun, and rewarding Mario experience.

I would appreciate feedback on this hack. It certainly isn't perfect, and your input is welcome! The download link is below.

Enjoy!




UPDATE: VER: 0.994
a) Worlds 1-1 & 3-3 (6-3) were given much needed aesthetic upgrades at the cost of 7-3's blocks.

The IPS file, VER: 0.994: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57756225/Classic%20Mario.zip

SIDE NOTE: I'm sure you will notice that the reverse red piranha plants do not come out of reverse pipes; I discovered how to insert reverse pipes only after I committed to using the climbing ropes in the game. However, they occur relatively seldom, and they always come out of very distinctive 2x2 to 2x8 standard blocks from SMB3 in order to, hopefully, make their appearance interesting and not gimmicky.

[frantik]

cool.. i played till 4-2.. in 3-2 (i think) you can jump over the flag pole

[segwayspeedracer]

cool.. i played till 4-2.. in 3-2 (i think) you can jump over the flag pole

Thanks, Frantik! I'll tinker with that area tomorrow.

And I do wanna say, if you didn't catch it in the manual, a big thank you for producing SMB Workshop. It made Classic Mario possible. I certainly admire your mad skills! 

[frantik]

I didn't see it until now.. glad u found it useful

[altoiddealer]

This looks awesome!  I'm a fan of SMB1 hacks

I'm looking forward to its release

[frantik]

^ there's a link in the first post..

[segwayspeedracer]

Hmmm.. I should probably make that clearer.

[altoiddealer]

Er well, I redownloaded "Super Mario Bros: Unlimited" about 7 times before I actually got a chance to play it, what with all the bug-fixes.  By the way, that is really awesome!! 

[segwayspeedracer]

lol well usually the betas are pretty good testaments to what the games are about, so don't think you're being robbed by playing it. It helps us know what to work on.

Speaking of which, I had some buddies in my dorm give it a run, and they got their butts whooped in world 6 and world 8, so I might consider toning down the difficulty. No mario game was ever insanely difficult, and I don't see a point in doing it now. That and I reorganized the graphics to fix the hit block glitch.

[Celice]

Now, these are just gorgeous screens. They're so vibrant in their color choice, and so efficient, that they seem to surpass your average NES game I love it.

[segwayspeedracer]

Now, these are just gorgeous screens. They're so vibrant in their color choice, and so efficient, that they seem to surpass your average NES game I love it.

Thanks so much! One of my biggest goals was to make the game believable; Very glad you enjoy it. I definitely encourage everybody to use these graphics in their own hacks (in a while I'll produce a graphics-only patch)! And a good chunk of credit belongs to Flamepanther for nearly all of the enemy sprites and palettes.

[flamepanther]

Thanks so much! One of my biggest goals was to make the game believable; Very glad you enjoy it. I definitely encourage everybody to use these graphics in their own hacks (in a while I'll produce a graphics-only patch)! And a good chunk of credit belongs to Flamepanther for nearly all of the enemy sprites and palettes.

I know this is a giant thread bump, but I have to protest. I deserve credit for almost none of the enemy graphics, since I stole them directly from SMB3. The troopas are partly mine. I copied the SMB3 sprites for them, chopped out 8 rows of pixels, and cleaned up the results. Bowser was a huge undertaking from scratch, but it looks like you haven't used it. The one in the screenshot looks great though.

[keropi]

very nice hack!!!! 
can't wait to see it completed, I am thinking of making a real cart to play on my famicom! 

[macbee]

Pretty cool graphics.
But makes me sad to see people STILL using graphics created by me for "Super Mario MCB" (1998) without asking for permission or crediting me.

[Pikachumanson]

You are still awesome Macbee!

[Zynk]

Pretty cool graphics.
But makes me sad to see people STILL using graphics created by me for "Super Mario MCB" (1998) without asking for permission or crediting me.

I can't find your hack in here. Would you like to submit it?

[M-Tee]

Looks better in screens than in-game.

• Full-grown mario sprite is awkward. In particular, the face is poorly proportioned in regards to the nose
• The use of outlines is inconsistent
• The game splurts Beavis and Butthead-era insults instead of Game Over
• The use of black outlines creates strong contrast on everything in the game... except for the most important part, the player... who is sporting a colored outline with lower contrast. Against the darkened choices of background palette, the player contrast is too little. (Mario 2 got away with this due to the more extreme value contrasts with the sky)
• Utilizes the star motif on "deactivated" item boxes, a poor choice as the star motif has a well-defined pre-existing meaning in the Mario world, and still in this game. It's the type of choice that plagued so many tie-in platformers of using arbitrary symbols and icons...
  
• Title screen screams "I'm a hack" with awkward design choices in regards to text placement and clearly identifiable reuse of tiles
• The use of the x8 range of hues is obviously built with FCEU's palette in mind, as on a real tv, through a more accurate emulator in terms of color, or through NTSC emulation, the grody green hint is the dominant color in terms of design.

Final conclusion: tempting from the screens, but ultimately fails at believably not being a hack.

[snarfblam]

Title screen screams "I'm a hack" with awkward design choices in regards to text placement and clearly identifiable reuse of tiles...Final conclusion: tempting from the screens, but ultimately fails at believably not being a hack.

I guess your point is that the hack has an unpolished or unprofessional feel to it...? Although it sounds more like you're saying that the fact that I can tell that it's a hack is somehow a failing. (Nobody is trying to fool anyone.)

I tried this hack, and the most important metric for me is whether it's fun to play. I found it a little frustrating at a few points (probably because I'm not the biggest fan of SMB1 physics), but on the whole it was pretty fun, with some unexpected creative touches.

I also like the graphic changes. Most of the things M_tee criticized really don't bother me. I do agree that the star on the empty boxes wouldn't have been my first choice, but not a big issue. The MK117 on the title screen looks a bit misplaced, but otherwise I like the title screen.

[M-Tee]

...it sounds more like you're saying that the fact that I can tell that it's a hack is somehow a failing. (Nobody is trying to fool anyone.)

In response to a compliment on the graphics:

...One of my biggest goals was to make the game believable...

From a gameplay aspect, Snarf, I agree with you. The level designs which I played seemed well-thought out and something I would expect from a commercial release. However, my primary interest is from an art-and-design standpoint, and I'm saying that this game falls short of the "believable" goal of the author... but not far. Some more attention to spritework, more logical design and palette choices, and a new title screen designed with the whole screen in mind could get it up there.

[flamepanther]

I just played through World 1-4, and it was rather pleasant. I can tell that a lot of work has gone into balancing the difficulty. Not too tough, but plenty of rewards for those with some extra skill. The layouts and scenery are varied, which is a nice change from the relative monotony of the original. It's fun to play, and that seems to be the consensus. Good work.

Graphically, I would recommend double-checking the colors in Nestopia, which has very accurate color emulation. Some of those color choices should probably be revised. There are also clouds in some areas that I could swear are supposed to be indoors or underground. Other than that though, it looks quite nice. It's a bit nostalgic for me to see some of the graphics I'd retired from SMB DX make a comeback, and I'm pleased with how they've been used.

I also recognize a few graphics from other facelift patches of a similarly ancient vintage. I'm confident I know those Mario sprites from a competing hack by... I can't remember. Toma or Sl1me, or Omniverse, or someone else from way, WAY back. It would probably be good to get some research done on this to make sure every one is cool with it...

Pretty cool graphics.
But makes me sad to see people STILL using graphics created by me for "Super Mario MCB" (1998) without asking for permission or crediting me.

...so that stuff like that doesn't happen.

Macbee, I know how you feel. But with graphics that have been reused numerous times over many years, he may not even have known for sure where they originated or that they weren't just up for grabs. I'm certain Segway would be willing to give credit where credit is due, supposing you don't ask him to remove them altogether. He credited me without any prompting after all.