Thanks, RetroRain. I'm trying to jazz it up as much as I can while still keeping that Mario 3 feel.

More progress! This time we've got fortress shots:



I'm happy with the way it came out, but I spent a long time on the lava...and I'm not completely satisfied with its animation, so it might change in the near future.

The door in the final shot was added as a suggestion from Quick Curly (Boom-Boom sprite issues could possibly arise, otherwise). Thanks again.

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Posted by Grey Mario

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Other than the black pixel in the upper right corner...

BEST CASTLE BLOCKS EVER.

Also the windows rock.

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Hey, I put the screws back on the damned colored platforms! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!? >:o

...actually, that pixel you're talking about was a mistake. I'm a little surprised I didn't catch it earlier... I'll be fixing that, so thank you for pointing it out.

Thank you. I'm glad you like 'em; both the blocks and the windows. :3 The windows actually had a different and more gothic look to them before, but after I found out that the middle block of the TSA repeats when you stretch the windows vertically, I had to alter it to what you see there. Luckily, they still look presentable.

Posted by zbyte

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Mineyl... it would be really cool to see you do some graphics for me.


That's so awesome. Oh gosh... all those pixels look spaz! You'll have to work for Nintendo. They'll give you a salary so high...

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Well, I can try. I'll have to get back to you on that, though. Art isn't really something that a person just does, you know? It has to come to ya'. The only reason I'm able to churn this stuff out at this rate is because I've had a mental image of what I've wanted to do with many of the graphics for a very long time locked in my head, so it's all flowing forth at once. If I do graphics for you, it'll probably be a few months after I've finished my own (not necessarily the whole hack; just the graphics).

As for working for Nintendo... I'd love nothing more than a complete revival of 2-D Mario titles that aren't rendered in 3-D graphics, but game companies seem to have this thing about using exclusively high-tech crap for their flagship series these days. *rolls eyes* I'd go on a rant about how 2-D > 3-D right now, but I'll spare you that.

The palette in your screenies looks very...freaky, but I like it anyway. It's nice to see pipes in SMB3 that aren't green.

EDIT: Another EDIT update. xD

Fixed castle stuff:



Finally finally FINALLY done underground set (had to break down and use the TSA editor to get this one to look right):



I think this might be my last screenshotty post for a while. I feel like I'm hogging the thread and ruining surprises. What do you think? Should I keep posting these? xD


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Sure thing! I'll give you a general overview of how I do this, as well.

-- Always create the graphics in an external program. Drawing pixel art in YY-CHR and trying to keep everything in order so it appears correctly in the ROM is a nightmare. I use Paint (yes, MS Paint) and iDraw 3 Chara Maker, a very old program that was given out on an RPG Maker website specifically for creating sprites and graphics in a 256 or less color limit.

-- I try to shade everything in a pseudo-oekaki style. You may see this technique in other hacks such as Luigi vs. Mario. It's a very good way to trick people into thinking that there's more than two or three colors making up an object.

-- When converting your graphics into YY-CHR, try to keep the palettes consistent to avoid confusion and make sure that everything pastes cleanly into it. It has a bad habit of replacing colors when you don't want it to...feels kinda' random, really, so I can't very well help you on that. As for actual graphics placement, replace each 8 x 8 line with hex digits (or letters or whatever) and check out what's changed in the game so you can get a feel for how the TSA is put together and so you can make the necessary changes if a certain block is repeating that you don't want to.

-- Be patient! No one paints a masterpiece in a day, and certainly no one begins one on demand alone. Let the art come to you instead of trying to force it, because if you do the latter, odds are you'll be unsatisfied with it unless you're a naturally talented artist (in which case it may be passable to the average person).

-- When in doubt, look at the graphics from other games. Some of this stuff we take for granted as pitiful and inferior NES and GB graphics are actually very well thought out patterns to meet the confines of the technology. You can learn a lot from getting a feel for how the professionals put together their stuff.

Hope that helps!

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Ah, well...though I consider myself an advocate of pixel artistry, I don't hang around other pixel artists personally, so I had no idea. Dithering, huh...

And thanks. I spent a lot more time than I'd like to think about trying to get the underground to look right (if you'll notice, I've been doing these in the order the levels appear in my hack, so I actually skipped over the underground after its first redrawing so I could think of some way to actually make it work).

I think I'll be posting my sky set soon. It's sitting at about 70% completion!

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I've been waiting for this one. I'd rank it right up there with Rockman No Constancy, except I think RnC was better difficulty-wise. Greyzone definitely has the best music and graphics since RnC, though.

I played through a demo version that was complete up to the fifth Wily stage, so I'll be eager to see the game's conclusion. Thanks for posting!

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Posted by "KP9000"

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Ah! Well, someone's showin' me up with a promising hack of their own! Very nice. Looking forward to it.

Maybe I'll have a few more graphics to show as I continue on with my hack. Technical issues are slowing me down, though. I want to get through them for now so I can start my second world.

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I don't think I really want to "show you up," KP. Level design and graphics will probably be the extent of my SMB3 hacking, whereas I love what you did with some of the music samples in yours (particularly the castle clear song; it sounds 3000% better with that different main instrument!). I enjoyed watching the video of your hack and I am very much looking forward to its release.

And hey, you're the one who inspired me to finally start hacking the graphics in my project, so a big kudos to you. Not to mention my hilly stage bushes are inspired by some I saw in your hack (though I went out of my way to design it differently enough that it doesn't look like a blatant copy).

Time for sky set screenshots!



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Posted by "KP9000"

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I know you don't want to show me up. All I'm saying is that I'm glad there's enough SMB3 hacking activity going on that mine, yours, and several SMB3 hacks are being made right now.

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Heheh, thanks. Yes, I'm glad this activity is going on. I was gonna' do a SMW hack, but that's gonna' be on hiatus for a while... I think it'll be a lot harder to pull off a good Mario 3 hack given the little documentation (in comparison to SMW) and the ridiculously awesome editor Lunar Magic is, so I think I'll feel a lot more accomplished if I complete a SMB3 hack over a SMW one.

Posted by "KP9000"

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Level design sometimes is hard for me. When making levels, I sometimes lose creativity and make an incredibly dull level. I often have to retrace myself and rebuild the level.

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Aww, from what I saw, you do pretty well. You just gotta' come up with a process! Everyone's gotta' have a process~

Posted by "KP9000"

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One of these days, I'd like to build a visual map of where SMB3 levels are and what type of levels they are so I can strategically pick which ones I want to overwrite if I need to overwrite any.

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I was actually trying to do something like that myself once, but decided it was just way too much work...

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So what do I win?

PS: This board really needs a dark/black emote!

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Lookin' pretty good, zbyte! I like what you did to the hilly set terrain there; it looks a lot more rugged than before, complemented by that particular palette edit.

A maze-type level, huh? I think my own 2-6 will be one of those, as well. I'm gonna' try hard to make it actually confusing and not just "try every door until you find the right one." *glares over at world 3 Fortress 1*

I've got my ocean graphics done, but I think I'll show them off later. A couple of things still need revised.

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Posted by "zbyte"

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I opened up Mario Improvement 3 and opened up SMAS. Everything in there looked like crash objects, so I did not save anything.

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Actually, the grand majority of objects are the same between SMB3 and its SMAS counterpart. The reason you got all those crash objects is because SMAS SMB3 has a 13-byte level header instead of an 8-byte one (not to mention the offsets for each level are very different from the NES one; MI3 might be looking at the NES pointers). If you want to put levels into SMAS, build them with the NES version first, then copy the object bytes with a hex editor into the appropriate place in SMAS (also using a hex editor, obviously). That's how I got it to work on that one video of mine. :b

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Not to get off topic, but...

Posted by "Keiya633"

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I'm really anxious to see your Duplex stage, now that you've mentioned it. I feel pathetic for waiting for something like that. >__>;

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The only pathetic thing around here is people who kill their emotions and pretend to not be excited over something specifically meant to stir feelings of joy and provide entertainment in the scope of their interests. Be happy!

I thought New Super Mario Bros. was the greatest thing to happen to Mario in eleven years. Every time a new Pokemon game is announced, I get all giddy. I was so excited when I heard Megaman 9 announced that I literally couldn't sleep that night. Shouldn't I feel pathetic for getting so needlessly excited over these things? I tell you friend, the answer is "no" because reliving some of the greatest moments of my childhood in new and never-before-seen ways, to me, is true happiness in a world full of sorrow. If you feel pathetic, then why are you even here?

Errr...yeah. Sorry about that. Awesome sound test, KK. Four hours? Maybe I should learn a bit of ASM, 'cause I can't imagine such a thing taking so long...at least not in my experience.

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In no particular order:

- Coffee
- Tea
- Dr. Pepper (trying to ween myself off of soda permanently, though)

Man, Keiya really makes me want some Moon Language Teas!

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That trailer is...beyond words. It is a true testament to hard work and dedication, and it is a damn shame that the events leading up to its cancellation had to occur.

I wish you well, Infidelity, and I hope that someday, you may be able to resume your hobby. Winds at your back.

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I'm voting "yes" because even though I do agree and share your sentiments about infringement, the majority of his hacks are NOT Rockman 2 (which has been done into the dirt) and the majority are also more extensive than level design alone. I think this compared to not-completely-terrible stage edits make them worth playing...besides, they're great for anyone looking for challenge/frustration.

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Hmm, let's see...

Off the top of my head:

The Klonoa series. Honestly, it could probably contest with Mario and Sonic if it were given proper marketing and the gameplay were tweaked a little. Klonoa 2 was my "best game of all time" for several years, as well.

The SaGa series. It's underrated as hell, but I fell in love with it. This is basically Square's "experimental" series. More often than not, every oddball idea that originated in SaGa (as far as Square's games are concerned, mind you) has ended up in Final Fantasy or one of their other franchises at some point.

Super Mario Sunshine. I know it was popular, but every comment I see on it is negative.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Yes, I know it deviated and killed basically everything that made the original game great, but it is a very solid title when viewed individually instead of on the basis that it is the black sheep of its respective franchise. An optional difficulty adjustment would have been nice, though.

Dragon Warrior II. A lot of people complain that this is the worst of the series (but this has been said about every entry in this franchise), but I love the thrill of an actually challenging (yet many times extremely cheap) RPG like this.

Mischief Makers. It was weird, wonky and abstract, but damn if this isn't a good game. It deserves a damn sequel.

Kirby Air Ride. I have never seen anyone praise it; it was most likely overshadowed greatly by MK: Double Dash, but I am proud to have cleared all 300 challenges and I'll happily do it again someday. My sister and I spent countless hours playing against each other in City Trial.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Another badly received 3-D Castlevania, but I felt it was a lot better than Lament of Innocence. In fact, I think of all the post-SotN Castlevanias, this one comes the closest to matching the greatness of Symphony of the Night. Call me crazy if you want.

Aaaand that's all I can think of. Maybe I'll post more later.

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Posted by GreyMario

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I hate those games.

Mainly because of how hard they are. You wouldn't know it by looking at them, but wow. If you want to achieve 100% completion be prepared to spend several lives doing it.

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Seriously? I find them to be extremely easy. 100% completion is the only true challenge, but even that can be done with a bit of dedication. Shouldn't it be hard, though? At least nothing's permanently missable... *shudders*

Posted by Marzen

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Mischief Makers is so awesome I stole my name from it. 'Nuff said.

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I KNEW IT! Marzen 64! /salute

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I don't identify with any one individual in particular. However, in video games, I always love playing as the unassuming, cute, or feminine characters. It often makes people underestimate me if it's a competitive game, and their playstyles generally just happen to fit into what I like.

Many examples:

Final Fantasy XI: I'm a Tarutaru.
Super Smash Bros: Always Pikachu.
Mario Kart: Toad or Koopa Troopa. Always Toadette in MK Wii.
Rival Schools: Nearly always Hinata and Sakura.
SaGa Frontier You can have five people in your battle party, and I've almost always got five girls.
Tetris Attack: I'm always Flying Wiggler.
Odin Sphere: Take a guess who my favorite character is. C'mon. Guess!

Maybe I'll think of more later...

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Hah, I was so bewildered by all the ARGHNOSTAYBACK symbols that my eyes completely skipped over the Fanta. xD I wonder if the Japanese commercial is anywhere near as annoying as the American one... "Fanta! Fanta! Want a Fanta?" *shudder*

All those teas sound really good right about now.

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All right, time for you guys to try to convert a non-believer.

I've personally always felt that Mario just did not seem right outside of his platforming environment; I turn a blind eye to Mario Party 2983749 and all the other spin-offs coming out, and I'm generally indifferent to all of his 3-D installations. My experience with Mario and RPGs would be Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario. I loved the former, and I'm not gonna' call Paper Mario bad, but it was very...very simple. So, I ask you:

Are these "Mario and Luigi RPG" games a part of the same series as the Paper Mario games? I noticed that there are similarities in gameplay, but the Rodney Greenblatt cardboard cut-out look is missing.

Also, what are the key differences that may evoke interest if they are in fact different? I watched a demo gameplay trailer not too long ago, and I noticed that some of the numbers are at least bigger. Hope I don't have to make ludicrous statements like, "sweet! I just did 3 damage!" or "Holy crap, he's hitting me for 2!"

Help me out here.

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Posted by "Bendario"

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:O You don't like the 3d Mario games? Like 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy!? Blaspheme!

On another note, here's the best way to put the Mario and Luigi games. Just like all the other Mario RPGs (if you haven't tried SMRPG, you've missed out on my favorite game of all time) the enemies still roam around, and depending on how you come in contact with them, you may get an advantage or disadvantage in the fight. The exploration is mostly free roaming, but there are 2d areas, especially in the third game. The unique thing about the games is that each character is controlled entirely by one button devoted to them (usually, Mario is A and Luigi is B). Attacks and Specials are pulled off using timing as usual. The interesting thing is, rather than pressing a button at the right time to decrease damage, you actually dodge, block, and counter instead. If an enemy charges you, press A to make Mario jump over it. If you pressed at the right time, he'll even land on top of the baddy and do damage. HP and damage usually range with 3 or 4 being the lowest, and up to and over 100 for high damage. Your HP is the same.

Another cool thing is the special system. Specials (Bros. Attacks) are pulled off using both the bros (and baby bros in the second game), so timing the correct button is key. In the first game, bros attacks were based on special abilities the Marios get outside of battle to increase exploration (there's plenty of puzzles and platforming in the games), and each attack even has advanced forms later in the game. The second game (the worst of the three, and still pretty good) used items that all four characters participate in using. The third has a nice combination of the two that makes for some seriously cool-ass moves (Casting Meteor and then hammering it back at the enemies a few times).

I won't drag this out too much longer, but as a last praise, you know that trademark comedy the Paper Mario games have? Well M&L games are easily much funnier, and they have some of the most memorable enemies in the Mario universe, like the utterly hilarious and sinister Fawful ("Your lives that I spit on are but a caricature of a cartoon drawn by a kid who is stupid!") Give them a try, and you won't be disappointed.

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Okay, that's about what I wanted to hear. xD Maybe I'll look up Superstar Saga later and give it a whirl, then.

And no, I don't dislike the 3-D Mario titles. Mario 64 simply left me a bit jaded; I really do not think that 3-D and platforming should be mixed...not to mention I was very angered by every franchise suddenly thinking they HAD to go 3-D at the time, which led to many inferior games. Mario 64's gameplay made me do much wailing and gnashing of my teeth. I think it got a lot better in Sunshine and Galaxy, but I still have a bad tendency to fall off of stuff randomly. ; ;

Don't worry; I played Super Mario RPG and I loved it. I'm also glad to see that this series stays funny...that's a definite plus.

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