Mario's Nightmare Quest

[CM30]

It's my upcoming Super Mario World hack, due to be out by about 2015 if you're lucky.  In case you don't know what I've worked on in the past, those were the brutally hard (and rather gimmicky) Mario End Game and the much easier Mario's Christmas Adventure hack, both on the main site here:

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1739/

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1727/

This one however is a bit different.  Why? Because it's kind of in the middle of the two hacks above.  Less gimmicky and ridiculously hard than Mario End Game, less easy/seasonal than Mario's Christmas Adventure.

Some information...

The Story

The story has Mario pulled inside a strange dream world when journeying back through the Mushroom Kingdom one day.  Why does this happen?  It's explained in the game itself.  But the point is, can he somehow survive a bunch of unfamiliar locales and make his way back to his home world?

Graphics

One of the big things about this game are the GBA (and beyond) level graphics.  How are these possible on a SNES?  Well, by a sheer miracle that's how.

Some examples include a level based on Castlevania Symphony of the Night:



Some work in progress maps based on Mario Party Advance:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67216205/MarioPartyAdvanceStyleMap.png

Above is work in progress. Currently ripping the tiles rather than doing much map design.

And in one level, some tiles from The Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67216205/minishcapexgfx.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67216205/fourswordstiles.png

Music

Has been decided, but not added yet.  Some music prepared includes ports of various SNES Zelda songs (sampled to the same quality as the original game's themes), some sampled Donkey Kong Country 2 music and various others.  All songs will be identical to original versions (or as close as possible in case of tunes from post Nintendo 64 era titles).

Gimmicks/ASM/Sprites

Apart from custom enemy sprites, level intros and other such things, I'm currently working with some individuals to make bosses based on characters from more recent Nintendo games (like those in Mario & Luigi Dream Team, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon and various others).

So yeah, it's a game in progress I guess.  It's nowhere near done (only the tutorial level and parts of other levels have been finished, and ripping the other necessary graphics tiles is taking a ridiculously long time given the complexity of the sources chosen).  Thoughts on the technical side of what I have so far?

[Chippy2000]

Are you doing this solo? Cus if you need help ask me. I can do concept art for characters and enemies if you want? I can also look up SNES hacking tools to send too?

I'm really interested and would love to help with ideas!

[CM30]

Are you doing this solo? Cus if you need help ask me. I can do concept art for characters and enemies if you want? I can also look up SNES hacking tools to send too?

I'm really interested and would love to help with ideas!

If you're a good artist (or able to sprite characters from recent games that don't have SNES quality sprites for them), that's something we're definitely interested in.  Cause I'm not an artist, I can only rip sprites from existing games and sources.  So anyone say, interested in trying to draw 16 bit versions of content from games like Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon and Mario & Luigi Dream Team would be accepted immediately.

If course, if anyone's interested in level design, that's fine too.  I don't mind if people contribute levels, and I can even send them the right graphics, music, sprites and asm needed.

[CM30]

It's been a long time since the last update, but hey, I may as well post the ton of graphics and level updates made since then...



Castlevania Symphony of the Night Clock Tower (part 2 of 3, the 3rd part is in the first post of the topic).



Switch Palace



Desert level



Ghost ship based on Rondo of Blood.



Generic Castlevania castle level (all final world levels without specific graphics will use this tileset).



Alchemy lab gfx test



Submap based on Castlevania.  Graphics from one of the GBA games.



Doodle Woods



Hyrule themed level



Zelda dungeon tiles, from Four Swords Adventures.

So yeah, just a few updates.  Not shown are some other levels, some ice levels, some military themed levels or a level based on a creepypasta story I read online.  The latter is called I Hate You, and will be based on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckpp2reRJlM

There are also gonna be a few... interesting enemy sprites.  I won't say what they are here.
July 05, 2014, 03:16:19 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Oh, and some random updates:









The gears in the last pic are animated. Levels finally have sprites and content, to some degree.

[CM30]

Yeah.  I'm not sure if I'm allowed to bump the topic after this time, but I have an absolutely huge amount of updates I should probably have posted earlier...

Final world map (needs gradient):



Pyramid:



Tree Top/Inside:



A cave level:



Arabian Night (Wario Land 4 inspired):



Aftermath (nuclear winter inspired, Jazz Jackrabbit tiles):







Blizzard level:



Note: Will get layer 3 background.

Level 1:





Level 2:





Level 2 bonus room:



Shop:



Chomp Volcano:



Jeez that's a lot of screenshots.  And that doesn't even count stuff like the new underwater levels (not shown), the other Wario Land inspired levels or anything else of the sort.

[Jonesy47]

Great usage of tilesets!
I'm actually using a lot of these in my current Mario World hack myself.

Have you heard of effect tool?

http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=73388

It allows you to make easy hdma effects (gradients, brightness, parallaw scrolling, wave effects, etc.) for easy insertion with uberasm.













You've already got a great look going for this hack and hdma, now that it's so easy, just adds that extra bit of visual flair to your levels.

and if you aren't too hot on using uberasm manually, THIS new addon for lunar magic

http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=73510



With the addons, you can now just copy and paste any uberasm code into your level directly from within lunar magic. The only time you directly have to patch uberasm seperately is if the code effect tool gave you specifies between level main code and level init code.

The addon also has a cool function of making layer 3 MUCH easier to use also.



Just thought I would mention these awesome new tools. It makes little things that add a lot of flavor to your hack very easy to implement.

Last compliment: I also love it when castlevania maps make their way onto the overwold! Keep up the good work!

[CM30]

Don't worry, I'm using effect tool and uber ASM already, the hdma used in aftermath was generated via those tools, as were a few level effects.

The layer 3 one will also be used, mostly for the few levels in which either gimmicks or plain difficult to use tilesets force the useage of layer 1 and 2. Haunted Halloween (using Jazz Jackrabbit haunted graphics) will probably need it, as will the blizzard level.

And thanks for the compliments/other comments, much appreciated!  For that, may as well post these new pictures, from a level called Military Nightmare:











If they look familiar, it's because I was given them by JudgeSpear, the creator of Mushroom Kingdom Fusion and Super Mario Fusion Revival, and said tiles were used in a level in said game called Military Warzone.

[Jonesy47]

All of this looks really promising! How many levels were you planning on making this hack?
Also, the mario party advanced map and custom bosses also? missed those the first time but awesome! Wish I knew people that could make custom bosses, ha ha. oh well. Good luck! I hope you see it out  to completion.

[CM30]

All of this looks really promising! How many levels were you planning on making this hack?

About sixty or so levels.  I don't have an exact number, but going on thirty of those have been shown in some form already.

Also, the mario party advanced map and custom bosses also? missed those the first time but awesome! Wish I knew people that could make custom bosses, ha ha. oh well. Good luck! I hope you see it out  to completion.

Custom bosses are not that difficult a thing to include in SMW hacks.  SMW Central has tons of them:

http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&s=smwsprites#filter

Additionally, I've also got a ton from Japanese sources (like much of Brutal Mario's ASM) and exactly one person who is willing to make bosses and sprites specifically for this game.

So yeah, hope that helps.

[Grimlock]

Nice graphics modifications! Looks like it's going to be a pretty fun hack. 

[CM30]

Nice graphics modifications! Looks like it's going to be a pretty fun hack. 

Thanks, your comments are most appreciated.

There's a lot more cool stuff I haven't shown off yet though.

[NinjaTurtle82]

Wow, even if it's going to be a hard game, I can't deny how awesome those levels look, especially the levels based on the Castlevania games. Those just made my day.

[CM30]

Wow, even if it's going to be a hard game, I can't deny how awesome those levels look, especially the levels based on the Castlevania games. Those just made my day.

You'll be happy to know it probably won't be a ridiculously hard game.  I plan to keep the difficulty at a reasonable level this time around, having learnt from my mistakes in a few past past projects.

And hey, thanks for the positive feedback!

[Grimlock]

You'll be happy to know it probably won't be a ridiculously hard game.  I plan to keep the difficulty at a reasonable level this time around, having learnt from my mistakes in a few past past projects.

And hey, thanks for the positive feedback!

That's good to know, personally I most enjoy nice graphics modifications with mild difficulty in a hack.  Really though it's best to have a variety of difficulty, every now and then throw in a difficult level or area.  The art of level design creating an immersive atmosphere is most important, of course balancing difficulty is part of level design.  BUT the one thing that trumps all is "fun factor", as long as you think it'll provide a fun, interesting, entertaining experience then your good to go.

[CM30]

That's good to know, personally I most enjoy nice graphics modifications with mild difficulty in a hack.  Really though it's best to have a variety of difficulty, every now and then throw in a difficult level or area.  The art of level design creating an immersive atmosphere is most important, of course balancing difficulty is part of level design.  BUT the one thing that trumps all is "fun factor", as long as you think it'll provide a fun, interesting, entertaining experience then your good to go.

Well, I hope you won't be disappointed here.  The difficulty is reasonable (with the odd more difficult level here and there) and the atmosphere is very, very different to anything in any SMW hack ever made.

Some new stuff:

[Jonesy47]

oh wow, that last screenshot! GRAVY!

[CM30]

Nice that you like it!  The tiles are the same as used in a MKF level called Industrial Nightmare.

[Jonesy47]

You seem to be getting a lot of graphics from pc mario engine games. I also saw your list of suggestions on hacking ideas.

The castlevania sotn 16 bit hack could probably work using something like super metroid as a base. That community is great at manipulating the physics in that engine so I assume it could actually be done. Some color compromises would have to be made but, as you've said, shown, and done, it's possible. Some of the bosses might need to be downscaled but who knows when shit like this is possible:

http://youtu.be/Xx-oNUud0Qk?t=7m5
EDIT: for some reason, this link is borked. Go to 7:50 for my example.

I'm more interested in your suggestion of using metal slug assets from mario fusion. Do you really think there's enough room for all the exgfx that would be required to do that in Super Mario World? I honestly don't (shit, I couldn't even get Mario's Wacky Worlds foreground graphics to fit) but there was one level in the unfinished ASMT2 that kinda proves me wrong, seen here:

http://youtu.be/1ViJxBRF3O0?t=6m10s

The other two (Wario Land 4 and Super Mario Country) seem easy to do, with compromises of course but yeah, they could be done. For proper Wario graphics, you will either have to do one of two (maybe three) things though.

Option A (aka, easy option): Use powertool. You can make the character about doubly as big and use independent exgfx for player graphics, but there's a downside. It glitches out the yoshi berries (not the biggest of deals to make new ones though in lunar magic using exanimation) and the upwards walking animation on map. They both still work but they look wrong and, even If you replace the berries, the visual glitch on the map is so annoying that when I use powertool in my hacks, I tend to lean towards not even using an overworld. That may just be an example of how bad my OCD is moreso than how bad the glitch is though.

Option B (HARDEST option): Create custom asm code for how the player graphics are read. I'm not capable of this nor can I give you any helpful suggestions past knowing that that's possible. I know, I suck.

Option C (the big maybe): Wait for dyzen to be finished. It's new and it seems amazing. The patch uses a new method for dynamic sprites which sounds bad (all those dynamic sprites made already are useless with this) but it's more than that. Not only will dyzen allow you to convert those sprites manually, but it will also let you create your own dynamic sprites (or NON-dynamic. That's right. The SMW hacking community may finally get that long sought after sprite creator tool). How does this help you with making a playable Wario? Well, from the creator's last post concerning what will be released in two months (not sure why two months specifically. Is another c3 around the corner, ha?), it may replace power tool also:

"- Support for your own player (only the graphic routine)."

Unless I'm taking that out of context? I hope I'm not though, because as is, power tool is amazing for being able to add new types of Mario gameplay, but it's simply incomplete. Like 85% done and, as far as I can tell, Bio, the creator, said he was going to fix those things but has gone under radio silence on it since then. It's a shame. So far, I've made custom Cat Suit Mario suit, Bunny Suit Mario and a new Frog Suit as well. They all work amazingly well in gameplay but yeah, to get that capability, power tool asks you to scarifice too much, in my opinion.

Anyways, good luck on this, sir! I hope you eventually realize all of your mario world dreams. If you need busy work help ripping graphics, hit me up. I'm actually really good at that, ha.

[CM30]

You seem to be getting a lot of graphics from pc mario engine games. I also saw your list of suggestions on hacking ideas.

The castlevania sotn 16 bit hack could probably work using something like super metroid as a base. That community is great at manipulating the physics in that engine so I assume it could actually be done. Some color compromises would have to be made but, as you've said, shown, and done, it's possible. Some of the bosses might need to be downscaled but who knows when shit like this is possible:

http://youtu.be/Xx-oNUud0Qk?t=7m5
EDIT: for some reason, this link is borked. Go to 7:50 for my example.

I'm more interested in your suggestion of using metal slug assets from mario fusion. Do you really think there's enough room for all the exgfx that would be required to do that in Super Mario World? I honestly don't (shit, I couldn't even get Mario's Wacky Worlds foreground graphics to fit) but there was one level in the unfinished ASMT2 that kinda proves me wrong, seen here:

http://youtu.be/1ViJxBRF3O0?t=6m10s

The other two (Wario Land 4 and Super Mario Country) seem easy to do, with compromises of course but yeah, they could be done. For proper Wario graphics, you will either have to do one of two (maybe three) things though.

Option A (aka, easy option): Use powertool. You can make the character about doubly as big and use independent exgfx for player graphics, but there's a downside. It glitches out the yoshi berries (not the biggest of deals to make new ones though in lunar magic using exanimation) and the upwards walking animation on map. They both still work but they look wrong and, even If you replace the berries, the visual glitch on the map is so annoying that when I use powertool in my hacks, I tend to lean towards not even using an overworld. That may just be an example of how bad my OCD is moreso than how bad the glitch is though.

Option B (HARDEST option): Create custom asm code for how the player graphics are read. I'm not capable of this nor can I give you any helpful suggestions past knowing that that's possible. I know, I suck.

Option C (the big maybe): Wait for dyzen to be finished. It's new and it seems amazing. The patch uses a new method for dynamic sprites which sounds bad (all those dynamic sprites made already are useless with this) but it's more than that. Not only will dyzen allow you to convert those sprites manually, but it will also let you create your own dynamic sprites (or NON-dynamic. That's right. The SMW hacking community may finally get that long sought after sprite creator tool). How does this help you with making a playable Wario? Well, from the creator's last post concerning what will be released in two months (not sure why two months specifically. Is another c3 around the corner, ha?), it may replace power tool also:

"- Support for your own player (only the graphic routine)."

Unless I'm taking that out of context? I hope I'm not though, because as is, power tool is amazing for being able to add new types of Mario gameplay, but it's simply incomplete. Like 85% done and, as far as I can tell, Bio, the creator, said he was going to fix those things but has gone under radio silence on it since then. It's a shame. So far, I've made custom Cat Suit Mario suit, Bunny Suit Mario and a new Frog Suit as well. They all work amazingly well in gameplay but yeah, to get that capability, power tool asks you to scarifice too much, in my opinion.

Anyways, good luck on this, sir! I hope you eventually realize all of your mario world dreams. If you need busy work help ripping graphics, hit me up. I'm actually really good at that, ha.

Thanks for your post!  Unfortunately, most of the stuff I posted in ROM Hacking Ideas were just that... ideas.  Things I think are possible and would be interesting, but which haven't been done yet and which I wouldn't have the time to do.

As for your comments...

Wario graphics have actually been done.  A friend of mine on Youtube made a hack called Wario Land SNES (or similar), which had a 32 x 32 pixel Wario player going through a whole game based on Wario Land 1, complete with the same overworld, graphics, music, enemies and bosses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LalzpPnfDGw

He also ported this Wario Land Shake It theme song. I use in my own hacks as a switch palace song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7af_ukDWK4

As for Wario Land 4 specifically... Well, I ripped just about every background from the game, about 3/4 of which are now on SMW Central.   Whole areas based on the game exist in my past mods, with some being based on...

Crescent Moon Village
Hotel Horror
Toy Block Tower
The Big Board
Domino Row
Doodle Woods
Pinball Zone
The Curious Factory
40 Below Fridge
Arabian Night
Mystic Lake
Entry Passage
Golden Passage

etc

I've also failed to rip tiles from Wildflower Fields and Monsoon Jungle.  The former because I just couldn't get them to look nice/work well in SNES palette/tile limits, the latter because the tiles don't seem to follow a logical 16 x 16 grid. 

As for whether Metal Slug tiles fit... well, yes:



There's also a whole level in Mario's Christmas Adventure with Metal Slug Advance content:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiOR0dlUSCU

For Castlevania Symphony of the Night content, I'll probably use some of it in the final world in this game, but not remake any exact levels.

You seem to be getting a lot of graphics from pc mario engine games.

I don't get this.  Do you mean the Jazz Jackrabbit stuff or the Castlevania Rondo of Blood stuff?

Unless I'm taking that out of context? I hope I'm not though, because as is, power tool is amazing for being able to add new types of Mario gameplay, but it's simply incomplete. Like 85% done and, as far as I can tell, Bio, the creator, said he was going to fix those things but has gone under radio silence on it since then. It's a shame. So far, I've made custom Cat Suit Mario suit, Bunny Suit Mario and a new Frog Suit as well. They all work amazingly well in gameplay but yeah, to get that capability, power tool asks you to scarifice too much, in my opinion.

I plan to use PowerTool, if possible.  Whether AddMusic K will allow it is another question entirely, since it's mostly only been designed with Lunar Magic, BlockTool, SpriteTool and itself in mind, screw anything else.  I really want Hammer Mario and Tanooki Mario and stuff in this game.

Anyways, good luck on this, sir! I hope you eventually realize all of your mario world dreams. If you need busy work help ripping graphics, hit me up. I'm actually really good at that, ha.

Thanks!  Out of curiosity, do you have any examples of graphics you've ripped?  Because if you're up for some really hard stuff to rip, there are those tiles from Jazz Jackrabbits Haunted and Holiday Hare expansion packs I want to use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3VCPNt0A2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD0d3nIvNjI

I've resigned myself to considering the backgrounds impossible to have on a SNES, but the foregrounds seem possible if you can manage the colours.  My Hellfire Haunt and Aftermath tilesets are from this series. 

On the other hand, if you want something more reasonable, well, maybe some stuff from a few more obscure SNES games could help.  I'm using the graphics from the mansion level in Bonkers for a world 6 or so boss level, so those could be nice to see ripped, if only to save me some time. Maybe same with the haunted house tiles from Tiny Toon Adventures:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YOtntm86Ww

But I guess it depends what's possible.

[Jonesy47]

Wow, those metal slug rips...those are amazing.

When i was talking about pc mario engine games, I meant like mushroom kingdom fusion.

As far as examples of my graphics ripping, here's a few:



This one is ripped from Super Princess Peach. I finished it a literal day after I found someone else version on smw central. Youll notice little differences in mine, like the black outline around the trees with definition or that said trees can merge with the foreground.





These are ripped from a Super Mario 3D World tileset on MFGG. It needs palette work but it's ok.




I ripped this background from Super Ghouls n Ghosts.




I ripped this background from Bad Dudes the arcade game for my hack, Super Mario Bros. The Movie: The Game.




I ripped this foreground from Sonic 1.




And this last one, I ripped from Ryu's Stage in Street Fighter II.


Lemme see what I can do with Jazz Jackrabbit 2 and Tiny Toons...