Mario's Nightmare Quest

[CM30]

Quick proof this project isn't as dead as a dodo:







However, another actual demo might be a while off.

[Thirteen 1355]

Wow, sure looks great!
Keep up the hard work

[CM30]

Wow, sure looks great!
Keep up the hard work

Thanks! More screens and footage will be coming throughout the year.

[CM30]

Not as if it matters, but last GFX update for a bit:







Found them on a free sprites archive. You know, one of those meant for indie developers building games to release on Steam or the likes. Surprisingly, they work amazingly in Super Mario World hacks!

[Thirteen 1355]

Wow, these graphics work exceptionally in SMW. They remind me of Mega Man!

[CM30]

Wow, these graphics work exceptionally in SMW. They remind me of Mega Man!

Yeah. The original sprite sheet actually had a lot more than this, but I decided to stick with what I could get looking thematically coherent in one level.

http://opengameart.org/content/space-merc

Either way, definitely sprites I'd recommend if you're making a Metroid or Mega Man hack. Or if you're doing something else with a space theme.

[CM30]

Well, this has been a while!

But hey, may as give some updates none the less. Firstly, I have some bad news.

Put simply, I was storing my latest version of the mod on an SD card which I've seemingly now misplaced. So unless I can find it easily (or my backup is up to date), it seems like some progress made be lost for this game.

However, that doesn't mean the game is cancelled. Oh no, I'm actually planning to release a new demo in the next few months or so, I just need time to finish a few more levels before doing so.

As a result of this, you may be able to find the project at the Nintendo Community Fangame Convention in October 2017:

http://forum.nintendocfc.com/showthread.php?tid=544

So yeah, just letting everyone know the status of this project.

[CM30]

Oh hey, I redid the main overworld map here:



More linear than before (the path going up after the third level is a secret exit path unlocked from the other end), but I think it suits the game's more linear progression a bit better.

I've also replaced some of the music, and will switch the game over to PIXI (a new sprite editor allowing for level specific sprites) soon.

[Thirteen 1355]

Looking good! 

[CM30]

Thanks! Other updates are coming soon.

[para]

This looks really cool!

That's a great idea using open source original sprite work like that.

[CM30]

This looks really cool!

That's a great idea using open source original sprite work like that.

Thanks! I'm trying my hardest to look for more interesting resources to use here, to make this game stand out from the hordes of Super Mario Bros 3 style mods out there.

Well that and because it stops content ID problems. Don't want people who play this for a Let's Play to see their videos get demonetised for 'copyrighted content', so I'm avoiding as many default Nintendo graphics and songs as possible here.

[CM30]

Quick update: Currently learning a bit of ASM to make this game better, since I realised that the chances of me getting all the necessary blocks, sprites and level ASM without it are slim to none. Current progress is average, with about 20 custom blocks taken care of on day 1 or so.

Next update will be to try and code some level ASM and generators, before moving to full custom coded sprites of various kinds.

As far as graphics are concerned, those are progressing too. Now have the perfect background graphics from Actraiser 2 for the forest castle, which is being redone to look more like Stormrook (the gold one) rather than the dark/spotlight focused one I'm currently using.

More layer 3 backgrounds now exist too.

Edit: Update on the update. Have figured out how to make custom blocks, as well as basic sprites and generators/level ASM.

Some stuff that's already done is:

Unfreezing a level by hitting a fireplace with a fireball
Custom On/Off Blocks with special block behaviours based on their status
Doors that only open when all Dragon Coins are collected
Switches that flood/drain the level (this has been done a million times now, but it was easy none the less).
On/Off Switches activated by enemies
Blocks that are either spiky on bottom or on top based on Switch status (ala Yoshi's Island)
Enemies moving Mario by hitting certain blocks
Platforms only usable if Mario/Luigi are on Yoshi
Proper power up filters
Mario teleporting to the screen exit if Yoshi eats all berries on screen
Or jumps on all enemies without touching the floor
Barrel Cannons that explode after using them
A system that kills Mario the second he gets any points in the level
A storm cloud that tracks Mario on screen and tries to blast him with lightning

And a few other minor things of that nature. Currently trying to get proper bosses and more complex enemy sprites working, with multiple attack phases and patterns.

[CM30]

Okay, it's been a really long time since I gave an update on this.  But yeah, here goes:

First, I've been redesigning many of the levels here, hence the delay since the last demo. That's because I've been studying game design a bit more, and have tried to keep to the 4 step level design style mentioned by Mark Brown in his videos on Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze in this game too.

Secondly, I've also gotten a few new testers who'll help make this one of the best SMW mods ever. Who are they? Well, I'll say this much:

They're people with experience in game design, including an ex Nintendo employee turned YouTube game design critic. So now I'll get actual feedback about every aspect of the design, as held to the standards of a professional product released by a real company.

Finally, some new graphics have been added, and can be seen here:











Obviously the level design isn't present in these pictures (they're just graphics test setups), but yeah, that should give you an update to what's going on idea wise.

So what do you think of it now? Are you interested in seeing how this hack could progress from here?

[Sephirous]

This is very appealing. 

This game has been catching my eye now for awhile, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

[Midna]

Man this hack just keeps looking better and better. Styling the Banzai Bill after its appearance in the Super Mario World cartoon is a neat touch. That HUD is impossible to read in a few of your screenshots, though. Hopefully it's just temporary though.

[CM30]

This is very appealing. 

This game has been catching my eye now for awhile, I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Thank you!

Man this hack just keeps looking better and better. Styling the Banzai Bill after its appearance in the Super Mario World cartoon is a neat touch. That HUD is impossible to read in a few of your screenshots, though. Hopefully it's just temporary though.

The HUD is temporary. Still deciding whether it'll look like SMB 3 or NSMB Wii, and will fix the colours when I've decided.

[CM30]

Well, this thing isn't technically dead yet:





(Ignore status bar or level setup, they're just the GFX being used for the new forest and desert stages).

And I'm learning enough ASM for interesting level mechanics, as well as reworking various levels.

However, it's quite a large project, and probably not one that's ideal to handle alone (especially alongside the Gaming Reinvented redesign). So, is anyone here interested in helping out? Someone who can make graphics in the style of Kopejo's tiles and the ones in tools like Mario Unimaker would be great to have on this project, since that's the 'default' here.

And music porting/composing is something I can't do either, so if anyone's good at that, I'd love to have your help too. Quite a few songs from recent games that need to be ported to the SNES for this.

So yeah, any takers?

[CM30]

Few small map updates:

[CM30]

Have now started updating the enemies so each world has unique variants of the default ones (in addition to whatever custom sprites are in use). So the forest world now has forest creatures and mythological beings replacing the default SMW ones:





The desert one has scimitar throwing guys, anubis Koopas and mummies:





And the haunted world now has spooky monsters like Grim Reapers, scarecrows, skeletons, etc:







Obviously there's no level design there yet, so I tested them out in the GFX test levels I'm using to test the map16 setup for each level. Regardless, each world will eventually have unique monsters, based on the following themes:

• World 1/2: Mushroom Kingdom enemies (grass/mountain worlds)
• World 3: Christmas enemies (ice world)
• World 4: Pirate enemies (water/ocean world)
• World 5: City enemies (industrial world)
• World 6: Forest enemies (forest world)
• World 7: Spooky enemies (haunted world)
• World 8: Desert enemies (desert world)
• World 9: Future/Space/Mechanical enemies (space world)
• World 10: Zelda enemies (Hyrule)

And then a mix of everything in the final one.