Posted by Imajin

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That's a fairly ambitious plan; good luck!

Are you planning to keep the stock graphics?

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Posted by zbyte

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It really has been quite a while since I picked up on some ROM Hacking, but since we were out of school all last week because of a really large amount of snow, I was able to use that time to work on Mario's Trials (we are expecting another bit on Monday). There were strange things going on in the ROM after I implemented some data found in the SMB3 thread, so I pasted all levels, graphics, and some map data into a fresh, new ROM. So far, I have done most (if not all) of the levels in the first four Areas and the 7th Area. The screenshots below describe a fortress that will be presented in Area 6:

EDIT2: Not blurry, but the last image was a duplicate. Replaced...

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Posted by zbyte

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Posted by sspp03

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You mean the original GFX, yes, but the palettes will change when I reach World 3 of my two SMB3 ROMs.

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These two hacks look like amazing first levels so far! One thing I will point out though; in Luigi's first map, the North-South road above the START space can be moved on, and Luigi can look garbled if he goes across a road in that direction on that edge of the screen. I advise you to use the fake horizontal road, called "E.W. Road C" in the SMB3 Map Editor. There's no fake vertical road. Also, when using screenshots, I'd advise you to have some pictures side-by-side instead of all vertical. Use the Enter button to separate pictures every two or three pictures.

Keep up the great work on these two hacks man!

I quickly made a website to cover the basics of SMB3 hacking. Please don't laugh! For some reason, all files that I try to upload are "too big" (this has been happening since the host made changes some weeks ago), so I can't make any changes.

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Posted by zbyte

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Actually, we were delayed from school for 2½ hours, so I did get to make some changes... I will be making some changes and additions.

Sounds like a plan! Are you still thinking about some rearrangements? Also, did you take in mind the information in my last post? Just making sure.

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Posted by zbyte

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Well, all you have to do is to double-click the .IPS file and choose Lunar IPS as the program to open it up with, if you haven't already done so. Well, your Worlds' plans look great! You don't even have to start on either side of a map either!

There will be no way (that I know of) that you can enter a level from World 9. It's an ASM thing in which World 9 only allows World Map loading. If you or someone you know has those technical abilities, then good luck! If not, then it has to be put off.

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Posted by Quick Curly

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Looks good so far, sspp03. Just to say though, there is an SMB3 hack called Bowser's Revenge by a user named MR207, supposedly created back in 1999 (at least according to the title screen, anyway). You said that you started hacking back in 2006, so that leads me to believe that this is not a revision of that hack, which in that case, I just wanted to let you know that the name has already been taken/used in the past. (There was actually another person who was using the same name over a year ago for his SMB3 hack who I had to inform as well.) Unless you are/were MR207, in which case I apologize for any inconvenience! In addition, best of luck as you continue to work on this series of SMB3 hacks!

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Posted by Quick Curly

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Posted by sspp03

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What the hell! Are you saying that name was already taken by a ROM hacker who used Mario Improvement 3 which the levels look like SHIT! (There are exceptions though and there was Giga_Bowser_009 when I went to acmlm's previous incarnation archived.) Also, not to make you mad but actually, when I first introduced myself to the board almost a week ago, I didn't really rembered if I started hacking back in late-2006 or 2007. I was gessing since I didn't get the chance to gather my thoughts due to my parents frequently forcing me to go on the road with them! But I just now realized I was self-introduced to ROMs in 2006. But that dosen't matter right now. What does matter is that I'm working on my hack and experimenting with making levels and inserting them in the vein of SMB2K3 by Martin Payne (which the levels are all unrecognized offsets).

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Don't worry, I'm not mad. I also didn't mean to offend you in any way by pointing that out. Yes, I remember that you said you started hacking past that date, but I wasn't around back then either, so how could I confirm any of the supposed "facts" either way? You might have been connected to MR207 somehow and that's why your SMB3 hacks shared the same name. Again, how would I know? You also didn't have to be registered on a ROM hacking forum to ROM hack or be involved with the activity somehow. I didn't want to just downright assume anything either way and offend you that way either by disregarding any possible connection, and I'm not going to spend all my time trying to find out every possible detail about someone on the Internet. The title screen might have said 1999, but it might have been made in 2006 somehow for all I know and the hacker just wanted to have three 9s on there for some unknown reason. You can't assume what one is thinking, so I was simply considering that anything was possible, despite how evidently unlikely that slim possibility was. There have been cases of confusion in determining when certain games have been made/released due to multiple sources stating different dates, so as far as I'm concerned, a date on a title screen and no other verifiable sources wasn't enough to go on for MR207's Bowser's Revenge hack's actual release, again, considering I wasn't around for any previous incarnations of the board.

But anyway, back to the original point. Sure, there's no rule that prevents one from using the same name for their hack as another hack did in the past. However, it's still my opinion that you should use a different name anyway to prevent possible confusion when trying to tell the hacks apart and someone goes to play it. If someone doesn't know your life story, they could assume that you were MR207 too, and that this series of hacks was a revision of the previous Bowser's Revenge SMB3 hack. Considering you obviously don't think much of that hack in the first place, why would you want to risk the chance of people connecting you to it?

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Posted by Superjustinbros

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Posted by sspp03

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Did you use the Primarytrainer patch which expands the ROM size?

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Maybe that will solve the problems I've been having with this hack. Do you happen to know where I can get this patch?

Posted by zbyte

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Actually... I just opened the ROM in Nestopia, and it didn't load! I had been using NesterJ until just now... trying it in FCEUX 2 and FCEUX 2.1.2 still end up with similar results. One thing I remember with NesterJ is that it would load the proper levels of a SMB hack (or ROM, for that matter) that was patched with one of those "bad" SMB ROMs, while other emulators would load the one underwater castle. I don't know... maybe the process needs to be run using bad SMB ROMs? The creator use a bad SMB ROM, perhaps? Maybe it's one of those queer things that can never be explained...

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Well I'm not willing to download a NES emulator to my PSP (just too complex), plus I'm pretty sure they don't have an option to record SFX/BGM, so I can record/rip the game's entire soundtrack in wav/mp3 format. The hack does have some kick-butt music.

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Posted by Quick Curly

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Just to point out, those Ice tiles in the bottom-left corner should be encased by land edges and not just have water around them like that. I'd also adjust the area around the START tile since it doesn't really look right when attempting to graphically "fuse" the land and water as so. Other than that, good work-in-progress so far.

To get you thinking though, do you actually have how many levels you're going to have in each World planned out? Or are you building your World Maps so then you can edit the levels and fit them in according to your World Map designs? Or even a bit of both methods?

The reason I'm throwing this out there so that you can consider it as early as possible is because without some form of organization, most of the time, the more and more you add in, unless following some predetermined format, the more likely things will tend to become unorganized and/or mixed up. For example, you plan to have 8 Worlds, but say after editing all your planned levels, you don't have enough to fill all the level spaces and/or you don't have enough to fit a certain theme, like say, the aforementioned Ice World (Antarctica for Mario). This just results in extra required maintenance.

I don't say this just as a random thought to make another post in your topic. It's just advice from personal experience (that no one says you have to take). I haven't touched my Quick Bros. 2 SMB3 hack for over a year, and looking back at it, it's just a big mess of randomly edited levels now. Obviously I'm planning to start it from scratch again anyway, only taking the actual good level designs so that I can put them in a fresh ROM following the "custom offsets" methodology, but in such a case, it would evidently waste time unnecessarily to track how many levels corresponding to each theme there are to work with and how you are going to properly assign them among the Worlds in your hack. Since you're obviously committed to your hacks right now, it's unlikely that you are going to take a break from them anytime soon and everything that you're planning to do and your current direction is still fresh in your mind, but you never know when you might end up taking a break and for how long, and then once you come back to it, things might not be so fresh in your mind and depending on how things are organized, it might be easy or difficult to resume the project(s).

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Posted by Superjustinbros

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Okay, I tried re-patching the SMB1 ROM that already had the primarytrainer patch on it and as expected, no luck.

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Posted by Superjustinbros

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Good news; I discovered that the ROM is not broken, as I've tested it on the Windows version (not PSP) of NesterJ. So for whatever reason, NEStopia doesn't run the hack, once again probably due to the even-numbered vertical scrolling levels being too complex for the emulator to handle.

I even discovered it can record .WAV files, so I can record the soundtrack, but it appears NesterJ does not support Game Genie, so I can't do the "Jump as high as you want" cheat (AETLTK) to easily bypass most of the levels (or get via them easier).

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Posted by Quick Curly

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Well I played through the initial demo, so I'll leave you my thoughts/feedback and you can go from there.

- First off, you applied the "supposed" 1-player IPS patch that doesn't actually remove 2-player mode from the game. (If you press Select, you can still select a 2-player game.) Instead, do what DahrkDaiz recommends in this post.
- I couldn't help but notice that you still referred to the hack as Bowser's Revenge. I'd get used to calling it Revenge of King Koopa before even more confusion results.
- Did you even test this demo before uploading it? There are multiple points throughout the levels in their current states that suggest that you didn't.

World 1 Map
- Notice how your water tiles at the bottom there don't blend correctly with the land colour? If I were you, I'd use a Water 37 (#a6) tile for the left corner and Water 33 (#a2) tiles across the bottom so that there is definitively visible land.
- Take note that the far-left and far-right tile columns aren't actually visible while playing the game. Your "Help!" sprite isn't visible, so if you want it to be, a redesign is necessary.
- You didn't change the airship retreat points. Upon losing in the ship level, the airship moves into the water underneath the fortress, and thus the player is screwed.

1-1
- I wouldn't put the Para-Goomba with Micro-Goombas up in the sky. The first time you're playing, you aren't expecting it and depending on your timing, it will hit you mid-jump so you have no way to avoid it.
- A reset pipe would be appropriate here in case you don't have Raccoon Mario or a Koopa shell to hit the block with the P-Switch and/or if you fail to use the P-Switch to proceed successfully.
- The groups of background hills at the beginning of the level and after the first pit have instances of the definitive outer black perimeter getting cut off so they don't look right. I'd reposition them accordingly.
- I entered the bonus pipe one time and everything was fine, but another time I did the underground area misaligned the objects graphically. I'd definitely give this another look, or better yet, an overhaul, or just remove it completely so that you can set up a reset pipe instead.
- The most critical issue to point out is that your level exceeds the original object and enemy data sizes for 1-1. You cut into the 1-1 Bonus Area and 7-5 Outside Area for object data (it's really messed up in the hex editor with a lot of "FF"s scattered throughout which tells me that you extended the level size and then removed objects as you were editing at some point, but the data doesn't revert back and this results in useless garbage) and the 7-5 Outside Area and 3-8 Ending for enemy data. You have to remember that hacking a ROM and modifying its data is not like making a game with Game Maker, etc. in the sense that you don't create and set your own space limits; you have to work with the original limits unless you clear everything out and actually do work from scratch. I highly recommend you fix this as soon as possible before you go any further and it ends up being too late to turn back.

1-2
- The pipe entrance upon entering the level is messed up.
- There are numerous corner and side cutoffs. It just honestly looks very messy.
- Like with many other hackers who edit the original 1-5 (no, that's not a typo; 1-2 is actually the original 1-5) many points of your level follow the same exact object layout as the original.
- Your object data exceeds the original limit by 1 byte and you have 7 more enemies than the original.
- You have to be careful with ceiling enemy placements (i.e. Upside-down Spinies and Upside-down Buzzy Beetles). If there are slopes in their paths, they will walk into them. If you're going to have ceiling enemies, don't have slopes in connection with their walking areas so that this doesn't happen.
- Similarly, take out the Surface Cheep-Cheeps. If they jump into the ceiling or slopes, they automatically disappear (i.e. BROKEN). Tip: Just don't put any form of jumping or flying Cheep-Cheeps in Hilly or Underground levels because of how they interact with hilly objects.
- Pipe Ptooie = enemy graphical glitch. (Really?)
- Para-Goombas and Green Koopa Paratroopas float on water, while their main offense is evidently bouncing. Therefore, placing that Para-Goomba at the start where it immediately ends up in the water doesn't really make any sense to me.
- When exiting through the other end of the end pipe, Mario comes out of a pipe that has cutoff background hills behind it. Don't do this. Please...

1-3
- Similar to the previous level, you use the same level flow as the original 1-2 (again, not a typo).
- You didn't set a pointer for the pipe, so if you enter it, you're stuck. The only way to get past this point is to fly over that pipe, so if you're not Raccoon Mario, you're screwed once again.

Dungeon
- Okay, all I can type is - WHAT? Your Dungeon is seriously broken, because it's literally only possible using two methods - either use Raccoon Mario's ability to prevent yourself from falling as fast to get across those wide lava pit gaps, or you have to use the area at the beginning to get a running start that you have to keep up as you run-jump across the gaps. However, your Thwomp placements as well are very questionable, because you require pixel-perfect jumping and landing or getting hit is inevitable, especially since there is barely any room to pass through them (most specifically the first one; the second one isn't as bad and the third one is more reasonable). Again, did you even test this (without save-states or cheats)?
- Having an invisible door was a good idea, but having no reward and just a return door is... pointless.

1-4
- It's good that you at least offered reset pipes in this level.
- However, do not have an upside-down plant in a pipe that Mario comes out from going down. With the screen transition, the plants are outside of their respective pipes by default, and upon appearing, the upside-down plant will hurt Mario. You should never have it so that getting hurt is mandatory (aside from gimmick hacks that establish themselves as so or if you're Binary).
- Similar to the previous levels, your design is pretty much just a knockoff from the original. Try to come up with your own ideas for your level designs.
- Also, once again, you've exceeded the original object and enemy limits.
- You have the scrolling set to advance upwards with Mario's flying. Well let's just say that Mario flies up to the top of the level. What does he see? The tops of cutoff pipes, and the possibility of getting stuck (if Mario brings a Koopa shell or a nearby Venus Fire Trap's fire hurts Mario). Avoid this by simply placing a strip of Blue X-Blocks across the top of the level so that Mario cannot go anywhere that he shouldn't. You have to think ahead for any and all possibilities!
- Hitting the brick to defeat the Hammer Brother following the second main brick barrage automatically defeats the Boomerang Brother. In the case that this ever happens in-game, a redesign is necessary because you definitely don't want this exception to occur.

Hammer Brother Battle
- Pretty much the original minus the bricks. Try to come up with something that is more your own creation.

Ship
- Again, pretty much the original level, and you exceeded the original number of enemies.
- CLEAR YOUR LEVELS OUT BEFORE YOU MAKE THEM! This level has that occurrence in Ship levels that extends wooden ship pillars (that you likely haven't even placed) so that you cannot pass them! Now I know without a doubt that you didn't test this.

Also, I have to point this out...

Posted by sspp03

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After those f**ktards RetroRain and Ice Penguin snubbed me on the screenshot thread

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Don't do this - EVER. The General Screenshot/Video Thread is for everyone, and you already have your own topic (i.e. this one) so posting there makes little sense anyway, not that it's not allowed since it's been done before in the past, but in that case you have to respect the other members because they have just as much right to post their stuff as you do, if not more due to their actual experience and longevity in ROM hacking. If no one posts/comments on your stuff, don't make a big deal about it and move on. Not everyone enjoys the same games, so it would make little sense to comment on something that they're not interested in. To sum it up, if anything, you were in the wrong here. I saw the posts as they happened and neither person did anything to deserve you saying that.

In conclusion, I recommend that you test your stuff more, especially as you're making it to make sure that everything functions properly. Final testing stages before final releases are a given, but that doesn't mean that you don't test anything until then. I test every level progressively as I'm making it, and then once I've completed it, I give it one more thorough play-through. Also remember that you shouldn't use save-states or cheats for any testing, and if your level design gives even you a hard time, you should definitely redesign it. Also remember not to exceed original level limits unless you've removed all of the object and enemy data yourself and you're making everything from scratch! I can only imagine what the current version of poor Luigi's game is like, but just remember to be proactive in what you do for both hacks. If anything, in my opinion, I would actually suggest you sticking to just one hack, because right now I just don't believe that you should be doing two simultaneously.

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Posted by zbyte

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I think that was a good decision to make. If you're constantly using save-states, especially in your first levels, then it won't be fair to others and people could lose interest. Those "good hacks" that you watched were fair to the players; they allowed the players to feel the flow of their levels so that they could adjust when the levels got difficult. I'm glad you're sticking to one hack only because Mario's first level looks all too similar to the screenshots of Luigi's levels.

Hopefully you've understood all the errors pointed out. It looks like it's a good idea to do without clearing everything because the information about Hammer Bros., Coin Ships, White Toad Houses, and other things isn't out there yet. If you happened to watch one of those things appear, then the game may crash upon entering because these particular sprites probably aren't set to point to the new level offsets (correct me if I'm wrong).

Like Quick Curly said, clear everything from the level you're ready to edit - 3-byte objects, 4-byte objects, and enemies. The same thing goes when editing a World Map: choose a reasonable tile and fill the map with it. Put Black Squares (#02) on the extreme left and right sides of your map (that's usually how it should be). Use the smb3strt patch included for more uniqueness. And read through my website again so that you get things right that you didn't get in your recent hack.

To avoid exceeding level and enemy data, simply download Quick Curly's documentation that lists the total number of objects and enemies in each level, as well as the object and enemy data offsets so that you can change the levels that pointers in your current levels point to. Look at an original SMB3 ROM in SMB3 Workshop to see the total number of bytes the objects are taking up by making sure nothing is selected and looking at the bottom-right corner of the program. Nothing is wrong with having less objects and enemies.

I'll provide a bit of information that's not already covered so that you can prevent some things from happening in your next hack.

1-1 Bonus
Simply extend the level of the 1-1 bonus area and extend the Hilly Wall to avoid the misaligning upon exiting the pipe in the bonus room.

Mini-Fortress
You had 144 bytes in your fortress, while the original had 195, but you had two extra enemies; your bonus area had 33 bytes and no enemies, and there were 69 bytes in the original, so I really don't know where you're getting the thought that you can't add many more objects. In fact, you added some extra blocks in your bonus area that weren't needed. The two bottom rows of X-Blocks weren't needed, as you could have just extended the X-Blocks that you created near the vertical halfway-point of the level. Then these blocks could have been stretched to cover the level so that you could put the black background to cover them instead of having those X-Blocks around the door. The door also covers anything else.

Airship
From the level, it looks like you only experimented with one or two Airship pieces before releasing your hack. The autoscrolling enemy is different at every vertical position. Many objects like Screwed Platforms, Pipes, and Wooden Pillars repeat often if the length isn't extended (e.x. A0 = Downward Pipe that isn't extended. A huge vertical pipe will exist every screen or so. ). You had an Airship Pillar under the second Bomb-Omb cannon that had a height of 1 and wasn't extended. Thus, a vertical strip of wood appeared a screen later and blocked further access so that a death was necessary.

Even if you're horrible at drawing (like me at one point), just create a quick sketch of a level. I still have a few levels I drew years ago, and even though my drawing wasn't good, I could still incorporate them into my SMB3 hack. You don't have to base everything off of photographic memory. Best of luck! Keep posting the hack's progress![\b]

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