Anyone Interested in Doing "SMB Special" for NES?

[frantik]

And the extra enemies and power ups just make it feel like more of a "true" sequel to SMB1.

At this point I'm pretty sure I've modded the engine way more than the lost levels   

Got that crazy background castle in 8-2 going.. kinda had forgotten about the castles until it was mentioned yesterday

[mahou]

Great cool! It looks good, a pity that the castle of 1- 3 cannot be seen in its entirety(or is it just in the screenshot?)
hahaha that strange castle from 8-2 looks great

[PowerPanda]

At this point I'm pretty sure I've modded the engine way more than the lost levels   

Yeah. I'm wondering if it even qualifies as a romhack at this point, or if it has crossed the line to homebrew.

[Googie]

This is gonna be gangsta when it's done. 

[Superjustinbros]

I am so glad to see this being worked on, I always wanted to see the Special romhack get an upgrade so it more greatly resembles the original versions- I just didn't realize it would be this soon.

I did experiment with mockups a few days ago to sort-of replicate parts of the original PC88/X1 versions to greater detail, and that included altering the "green" palette a bit further on the three rooms that used the underwater tiles.


I also did this to incorporate the "castle brick blocks in non-castle levels" done in 6-3 and 7-1 though in hindsight I think they would look closer to the original's if they had the cloud palette in addition to the brighter pixels.

(the barrels look different here cause they're based on the Sharp X1 version's sprites)

[thanksgoogle]

Super excited about how this is turning out. The original NES version of this didn't really capture a lot of what made this game "special" (lol)

Scroll up!

Small shrubbery and small cloud, by request!

It'd also be cool to include the green hills with the black dots in different locations than normal (like as seen in 1-1), though if it's too difficult to implement for how minor of a difference it makes it's not a big deal.

[frantik]

I also did this to incorporate the "castle brick blocks in non-castle levels" done in 6-3 and 7-1 though in hindsight I think they would look closer to the original's if they had the cloud palette in addition to the brighter pixels.

(the barrels look different here cause they're based on the Sharp X1 version's sprites)

Wow i never noticed those bricks are supposed to be castle colored.  Looking at the pc88 maps those bricks are an orange/brownish color.... which is the same color as in the castles, but out of context it wasn't very obvious. Probably won't implement that

Yeah. I'm wondering if it even qualifies as a romhack at this point, or if it has crossed the line to homebrew.

It's still almost all Nintendo's code.. though working with the source code vs in a hex editor sure makes it feel less like hacking.  But figuring out some stuff like how to get power ups in the enemy slots certainly feels.. "hacky"

It'd also be cool to include the green hills with the black dots in different locations than normal (like as seen in 1-1), though if it's too difficult to implement for how minor of a difference it makes it's not a big deal.

Placing every single bush and hill would take up so much level data.. those small clouds/bush were only added cause I had a few extra bytes to spare late in development.  If you're talking about the dots themselves, I did move the dots shown on the first hill

[Hamtaro126]

Hey frantik bro, I am back from the dead because of your outstanding work!

As for code, Are you gonna include source code of your newer version of the hack as well? or is this gonna be a standalone patch?

I love the new features you added in and am curious to see what you did to Karatorian's code...

Good luck!

[Baggins]

This is awesome work! Will you also get the art assets like seeing coral seen in the overworld water pits, or under bridges showing up? Like in the real game?

Is it possible to make multiple versions of the game for color palletes and game mechanics? Original colors of the two main versions of the game? A version that's full scrolling (like NES mario games), and a version that screen by screen like the original Special? Maybe include multiple modes (background colors, how maps scroll, etc) in the game from the main menu?

How about the other "Special" games in the series Donkey Kong SPecial, Donkey Kong 3 special, Mario Bros Special, and Punch Ball?
https://www.badgamehalloffame.com/super-mario-bros-special/

[Trimint123]

Can't wait to see this turns out! Keep it up, guys!

[thanksgoogle]

I did experiment with mockups a few days ago to sort-of replicate parts of the original PC88/X1 versions to greater detail, and that included altering the "green" palette a bit further on the three rooms that used the underwater tiles.

That looks pretty good! The bushes/trees/pipes being the same color as the sea bricks looks better than vice versa imo, at least in these areas

Wow i never noticed those bricks are supposed to be castle colored.  Looking at the pc88 maps those bricks are an orange/brownish color.... which is the same color as in the castles, but out of context it wasn't very obvious. Probably won't implement that

It's more obvious in the X1 version where they're white. It could use the cloud palette but it would also need a separate brick graphic, might not be worth it to include

This is awesome work! Will you also get the art assets like seeing coral seen in the overworld water pits, or under bridges showing up? Like in the real game?

Is it possible to make multiple versions of the game for color palletes and game mechanics? Original colors of the two main versions of the game? A version that's full scrolling (like NES mario games), and a version that screen by screen like the original Special? Maybe include multiple modes (background colors, how maps scroll, etc) in the game from the main menu?

Yes, some screenshots of the coral were posted a few pages back:

maybe the trees, since some of their placement seems to be "artistic".. the bushes and the rest not gonna worry about as much.

Did get the underground plant tiles and also the other ground tiles looking more like how it looks in the original



getting some of these screens totally accurate is more complicated than adding a few of the power ups!

And there will be multiple color schemes IIRC, but the main one that combines both the NES and Sharp X1 colors looks good to me. There's probably not much of a point to adding a screen-by-screen scrolling option, though.

[powerup_retro]

Checking this thread daily. Hope to have a beta version to play with  

[Baggins]

Oh cool. The coral colors look to be off, but I suppose that's more to do with the color limits on the NES?

And there will be multiple color schemes IIRC, but the main one that combines both the NES and Sharp X1 colors looks good to me. There's probably not much of a point to adding a screen-by-screen scrolling option, though.

Only for a 'classic mode' to maintain the mechanics, and puzzle solving element of the original game. Some of the challenge was not knowing what you'd run into from screen to screen, of course some elements couldn't pass from one screen into the next.

Also I like editions that have multiple versions of the same game... LIke Castlevania Chronicles series or Old & New series on GBA.

[frantik]

Oh cool. The coral colors look to be off, but I suppose that's more to do with the color limits on the NES?

yes, unfortunately the only options for the coral above ground is the cloud/water palette because it needs the blue for the water.  and even if it didn't use the blue for the water, there's no way to get the pink/purple because there's no more room in the palette

Hey frantik bro, I am back from the dead because of your outstanding work!

As for code, Are you gonna include source code of your newer version of the hack as well? or is this gonna be a standalone patch?

hey welcome back! it's unlikely i'll release the source code.. the original source has been obliterated, there's not much left of Karatorian's work besides the set up for the extra power up blocks


Been banging away at all the minor bugs and stuff that I had been putting off till the end.  Real close now.. just keep finding more stuff to fix!  Also decided I would do the inverted bricks in those two spots.

[Baggins]

yes, unfortunately the only options for the coral above ground is the cloud/water palette because it needs the blue for the water.  and even if it didn't use the blue for the water, there's no way to get the pink/purple because there's no more room in the palette

Hmm, can alternative colors be included by inserting 'sprites' into the backgroud layer? So instead of it actually being a tile it being a static sprite, made 'inactive' as in you can't interact with it as an enemy. I think overlaying sprites were used in other games to create 'more color' at times, especially characters that needed to go beyond the limits of sprite colors.

It wouldn't be possible everywhere, as there is a limit to only three sprites of three different colors on screen at a time IIRC.

"three sets of three tile colors and three sets of three sprite colors can be used onscreen at once."

Though special chips might have bypassed some of these limits in some of the later games mappers, or finding exploits to do things system wasn't intended to do, but allow for extra stuff.

Of course there is always possiblity of using emulator only 'overlays' with emulators like Meson... Unfortunately that wouldn't ever work on hardware.

https://www.zeldadungeon.net/check-out-this-fan-made-remaster-of-the-original-legend-of-zelda/

I wonder if once this hack code is finished if any of it is relevant and could be applied into design Super Mario Special for Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES? That could be a very beautiful game!

Or how about SMB Classic: Special, for the GBC (which I think added for more pallete colors, and extra onscreen animations, lava animations)? Not sure that version would be able to be backported to NES?

[mahou]

It looks more and more like the original version

[frantik]

This is what you've all been waiting for 

  Super Mario Bros.  Special - 35th Anniversary Edition v1.0

It's labeled version 1.0 so technically not a beta, but please post any bugs or issues you find and I'll sort them out before posting a full public release to the RHDN database

When reporting bugs/issues, please include screen shots so it's easier to track them down

[TRIFORCE89]

Played it. Loved it. What a thrill.

I thought the intro splash screen fit well. On the other hand, I thought the transition between Peach's message into the staff roll was way too quick and abrupt. Even just an extra loop of the Ending BGM would have helped it breath.

Having not played the origin Hudson games (nor even watched a video), I honestly did not expect to grab the hammer up and not have the famous hammer theme from Donkey Kong (and Super Smash Bros.) make an appearance. I don't know if it is possible to include, and it wouldn't be authentic - but it felt... a little empty to not have it play.

Surprisingly, given my previous comments - I didn't mind the hybrid colours. Like a neon wonderworld.

Now onto actual (maybe) bugs, and my apologies for the lack of screenshots.

• I'm on a Mac. Game wouldn't run on Nestopia, be it standalone or through OpenEmu as a core. Just a black screen, no audio. Had to use FCEU.
• At the start of 3-2, I hit two blocks and had two red mushrooms on the screen at the same time. I was small Mario. Grabbed the first mushroom, became Super Mushroom. Grabbed the second mushroom, became Fire Mario. Not sure if this is really a bug or just part of the core engine as I don't recall ever encountering two mushrooms at once in SMB before.
• At the very end of 7-2 (flagpole/castle screen), the bottom left of the cloud to the right of the top of the castle was cut off. Just a skyblue tile was there.
• After the short Peach message at the end of the game and we start the staff credits, you have the 35th Anniversary message and credits. It reads "Ported to Famicon". I suspect this was intentional as a strict romanization, and not a typo - but it struct me as odd all the same. (on a similar note, would prefer English enemy and item names at the end of the game)

[Googie]

I'm up world 5 now, and so far no bugs, this hack is gangsta. 

[ShadowOne333]

Oh my!
Just tested this, and I had a blast throughout!
All the new enemies and power-ups sure give the game a completely new feel and good replay value!

I can confirm the bugs TRIFORCE89 mentions, I did also come across them.
Outside those, I also noticed some weird flickering in the HUD, but by experience I know this is caused because of too many sprites on-screen at once, as Zelda 2 does the exact same thing, so it's more of a hardware thing than the actual hack, so no biggie there.

All in all, amazing work! Just those slight notes mentioned above and it should be perfect!


PS: Oh btw @frantik, please let me know when (and if) I can still contact you regarding that other thing I messaged you about