Ganymede (Super Mario World hack)

[The Man on the Boat]

Hello, and welcome to GANYMEDE.




Currently playable (satisfaction guaranteed or your money back):
CHAPTER ONE - NEW HOME'S COAST
A tour of Ganymede:
Chapter One Sightseeing (spoilers)
YouTube Channel:
Ondore's Lies
Original Trailer:
Back of My Eyelids (2017)





Seven years in the making. Much more still to come. Chapter one is complete and ready for your enjoyment. Download it now!


This is the story of a boy who seeks adventure and fun.



Why do kids seek adventure and fun? Part of it is that kids are just naturally wired to do that. But, another part of it is contrast; the grass is always greener somewhere else. If life appears to suck, it is a natural instinct to dream of a place where it doesn't, and to want to go and find it. Even if it isn't real.

For this boy, life could be better. This is not the first time noises from his parents' bedroom have roused him awake.



It used to be that, at times, weird noises came from their room, but this noise is a lot more familiar and relatable, and his first thought is that he's glad they are shouting at each other, because that meant that, if he stayed out of the way, neither of them would shout at him. That's just how it was these days, and it just kept getting worse and worse. Now, he couldn't even take a nap and get away from it.

So, maybe, the boy thinks, he really ought to get away from it.

Before he has time to stop himself, he's already out and into the pouring rain. He doesn't have anywhere in mind, and it really doesn't matter, does it? He could go wherever he wanted, and no one would miss him. What's more, he wouldn't miss them, either. And so, he wandered, in search of nothing, until finally, the rain ceases and so do his wanderings.



He has made his way to the edge of the sea, and it makes him think of the painting above his bed, with its bad ass sailor holding his own in a hurricane against the worst Mother Nature had to throw at him. The boat docked nearby makes it almost seem like fate and Mother Nature appeared to not be in a fighting mood at the moment. And so, it was in no general direction that the boy sailed.

For a brief time, the clouds clear and reveal a dazzling night sky, full of stars and constellations. Miles from anywhere and going who knows where, such a sight could only be witnessed by an adventurous seafarer such as himself. He enjoys it as long as he can.



And that is not very long. Because, without warning, the storm reignites all around the boy and his boat. Thunder stomps the seas into churning chaos as the squall blows in every direction at once. The boat is tossed, turned, and tumbled before a bolt of lightning strikes, smashing it to a great many smithereens.

When he awakens, many hours have passed, and it is the blinding stare of the sun into which he opens his eyes. He doesn't know where he is, or how, exactly, he survived to ponder the question. Maybe it doesn't matter. What matters is that he's here, apparently to stay.

A silhouette looms in the distance, which he recognizes as a lighthouse. It is tall and old, and looks like it has not been used in a long time. It is there he decides to go first. How cool it would be to live in a lighthouse! It's the adventure he was seeking, in any case.

But the funny thing about adventure is that adventure is dangerous. No going to the fridge for a drink, no stopping in the convenience store for a hot dog. No warm bed to snuggle in at night, no fan to keep you cool. Living like a kid is one way to learn some adult lessons. It seems certain that, by the time he makes it to the lighthouse, he will be relieved to finally find safety and maybe he will be wondering if this wasn't a big mistake after all.









THE ALBUM (which inspired the game)

1. The Departure (1:36)
2. The Storm (2:16)
3. Segue I (0:16)
4: The Island (3:26)
5: Segue II (0:47)
6. To Stay (3:53)
7. Janus (4:01)
8: Further (3:44)
9: Maybe I'll Stay Around (3:28)
10: The Nightmare (1:56)
11: Segue III (0:47)
12: To Leave (4:24)
13: Segue IV (0:49)
14: The Fire (1:43)
15: Realization (2:57)

[Chronosplit]

Holy heck, there are no comments yet?

I have to say, this is definitely going to be one of those where the first question about every chapter is "this is a hack?  I thought it was a new game!"  Very impressive presentation going on here.

[Metalwario64]

...

Wow...

This is such a thorough modification that it's crazy to think this was once Super Mario World...

Very much looking forward to this one!

[nosynose]

Oh my gosh, this is one pure awesomeness!

[Special]

No way is this a Super Mario World hack, no way...

[CM30]

I've probably said this before, but this is one of the most impressive Super Mario Word hacks I've seen in a long time. Like, you genuinely cannot tell this is a ROM hack in a lot of ways, and the graphics are so outstanding that it doesn't even look much like a SNES game either.

So yeah, I'm definitely interested in trying this one out when it's released.

[Supergamerguy]

I'm gonna hop on the bandwagon and say that this game looks absolutely stunning and I cant wait to play it. Keep up the good work!

[Googie]

This looks really amazing, I'm gonna try the demo. Thanks for sharing these pics with us! 

[The Man on the Boat]

I'm overwhelmed by all your positive responses! There is a link at the top to the file (hosted on smwcentral.net), it's not a complete game, and won't be for a while, but anyone who wants to give it a try can do so.

tbh, I had intended to post about it a long time ago, but I ended up deciding to wait until I could come up with something that would properly represent how it will look when it is complete.

I am presently hard at work on Chapter 2, "First Night a Free Man".

[Thirteen 1355]

Holy hell, what is this even? It looks really stylish, the only thing I recognize from SMW is sound effects! Worth following. Keep up the good work!

[8.bit.fan]

This looks absolutely AMAZING! Great work!! 

I'll be looking forward to its completion! Keep it up!!

[ArkthePieKing]

Holy crap this is one impressive overhaul, WOW. Keep it up, this is amazing!

[werewolfslayr925]

Just finished playing through it. This is an incredible use of the SMW engine. I would rank it among the best undergound indie games in general (Yume Nikki, Ib) if it weren't a ROM hack. My only qualm is at the end of the chapter where

Spoiler

the boy dreams of suicide after deciding that God is on vacation if He exists. I'm hoping that the boy comes to faith and redemption and that this doesn't turn into something pessimistic/nihilistic like so many other horror hacks do.

[close]

[The Man on the Boat]

Just finished playing through it. This is an incredible use of the SMW engine. I would rank it among the best undergound indie games in general (Yume Nikki, Ib) if it weren't a ROM hack.

That is really serious praise. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much for playing!

My only qualm is at the end of the chapter where

Spoiler

the boy dreams of suicide after deciding that God is on vacation if He exists. I'm hoping that the boy comes to faith and redemption and that this doesn't turn into something pessimistic/nihilistic like so many other horror hacks do.

[close]

I can't say too much without ruining what will come next, but I can promise that the story has more than one possible conclusion. Diligence may lead to honesty, honesty may lead to understanding, and understanding may lead anywhere.

[slidelljohn]

Wow, this is amazing! You are very talented my friend!

[The Man on the Boat]

Hello, it's been a minute. Which is cool, because that means I have a lot to share.



First of all, the project has never stopped. If anything, 2021 has been the most productive year yet for Ganymede. Changes have been many, and additions extensive. If you have played the demo linked in the OP, the upcoming release of Chapter Two: Land of No Shame in January, 2022, will hopefully feel like a fresh, new experience all the way through. Chapter Two will have about twice as many levels, but huge parts of the game have been either significantly touched up or redrawn completely. Story scenes have been totally renovated, and Chapter One's levels have been polished to a better shine than ever. Large parts of the script have been retooled, edited and re-written. My skills at pixel art and writing have gotten a little better. The narrative superstructure takes shape. Chapter One ends at the top of a lighthouse. What happens next? Only I know... for now.

First, here's some of the intro scenes.
New dev card and title screen:

The boy's bedroom:

The boy's house:

Click on the spoiler to see more intro scenes

Spoiler

[close]

And here is some actual game content (level intros/outros and gameplay):





Click on the spoiler to see a few more gameplay gifs:

Spoiler

[close]

Finally, I've got a big, random assortment of art/assets, some a bit unfinished:

Spoiler

[close]

Whew! That's a lot, right? Well, it actually barely scratches the surface of this hack. So, I made an album which shows every single level in the game which I have changed from the base rom, and it turns out that it's almost all of them. Ganymede currently contains more than 200 levels. The big majority of them are full-size levels which rival anything SMW has. Some are way bigger. Some of them are small, interstitial levels. In any case, I would put Ganymede up against any other SMW romhack out there in terms of sheer size alone. There is, probably, no other hack out there as thoroughly worked over as this one. And, I hope, the end result justifies the almost nine years and tens of thousands of hours it has taken to make, so far.

[Thirteen 1355]

Hoooly shite! The F I completely forgot this existed! I'm at a loss for words, I can't really say much since it's gonna be mostly swearing. So, how did this come to exist again?

[The Man on the Boat]

Thanks, friend!

So, a short origin story of how a romhack took over my life:

When I was a wee young'un, I loved Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World. I used to draw levels on these reams and reams of dot matrix printer paper that my parents would bring home. I'd draw little enemies and cut them out, trace paths through the levels, and so on. Lunar Magic was like a dream come true.

In early 2013, I was working my first, last and only desk job. I was ahead of the game and working from home, at my own desk, and though there was a lot of downtime, the desk and I were almost always together. During some of that downtime, I started editing Super Mario World levels. Before I knew it, I was spending a lot of free time doing this, building level after level. I'd build, I'd play, edit, play, edit, play, and the only goal I had in mind was to make something I had fun playing. The desk job came to an end in 2016, by which point, I'd built over 80 unique levels and called it Thoughtful Mario World. It was mostly vanilla, but once I learned how to insert exGFX, I started drawing my own graphics, and replaced everything. I learn as I go, I practice, and I start building a story. There are incredible story games, I'm challenging myself to see how close I can get to making one myself. To really knock someone dead with a well-told, fun quality game, would be a real triumph. So that's the goal.

[Thirteen 1355]

Wow, that's pretty great. Coming with the idea of making a more story based hack after making so many levels is interesting.

The only more story based SMW hack I know is one called 'the or something. It's a pretty well known horror-themed hack, but only consists of a few rooms and no enemies.