Happy Hills

Happy Hills

A screenshot of the level I am working on. It's called the Happy Hills. Apparently, it's a level that resembles SMW 2 Yoshi's Island, though the grass tiles is from SPP (Super Princess Peach). This is a fusion of SPP and SMW 2 by any means. I definitely like to mix things up.

By the way, only 1 more level remaining and I will be releasing another demo. It is unfortunate that not so many gave feedback on the first demo though.

Vacations over!

It is unfortunate for me to say that vacation is over and I may not be able to put much time on this project anymore. However, I am not saying that this project is going to be abandoned. It's going to continue, only that progress may slow down and updates may not be frequent. Right now, I am working on a level, which I would be putting a screenshot here in a day or two.

Changed the text background

New Text Box Color

I always find the smbx text box color a lil too bright, so as an extra something to the episode I'm working on, I did a graphic hack on the text box color. Now, the SMBX text box should be red instead of blue. This hacked SMBX will be included in my future SMBX Super Mario Quest demo release.

By the way, I'm trying to learn on ways on how to hack the SMBX. If I have time, I'm thinking about reverse engineering it. I still have to find out what compiler did Redigit, the author of SMBX, use to create the exe though. It's a lot of work, and I'm not really hoping that it would even be possible, but we'll see.

Yoster Safari

Yoster Safari

Yoster Safari is a level in my project SMBX Super Mario Quest. I intended this level to be a replica of Super Mario World Yoshi Island 2 level, with slight modifications. Perhaps, this is my first clash-free level.

I had been using custom NPCs on this one, take the cherries for example. SMBX doesn't have cherries, but thanks to Valerri's Return to Dinosaur Land episode, I manage to grab some graphics and replicate what he did on his levels. The only problem is that the cherries turn into Megamole once killed, so I had to do an extra hack on the effects. There is yet another problem to this. I notice that some NPCs treat the cherries as another NPC so they actually bump on them despite the npcblock=0 attribute on the cherry NPC. There's one more problem, the cherries seem to hide the other NPCs. So I try analyzing the NPC codes and their behavior, and after some time, I manage to resolve the problems. There are some problems I couldn't resolve with the cherries though. They can get killed by Mario's fireball and by the Koopa shells. There's nothing I can do about it.

Encounter with the Chargin' Chuck

Now, this level, like SMW's Yoshi Island 2, has the Chargin' Chuck in it. The Chargin' Chuck isn't like the Chargin' Chuck of SMW however, as this one can't be killed by a stomp or a spin attack nor is it vulnerable to fireball. These things can only be affected by Ice and can be killed by shells or hammer. The new Chargin' Chucks will really pose a threat even to the mighty plumber. Sometimes, the best way to deal with it is to run away from it.

And lastly, I also run with another SMBX problem involving the P switch. It turns Yoshi coins into blocks. It's a normal function but can also be problematic. Take for instance, a scenario where you want it to remain a coin. In my case, I put the last Yoshi coin beyond reach, and the only way to reach it is by turning the gold coins into blocks so Mario could use it as a stepping block. However, since the Yoshi coin also turns to a block, you have to wait for the power of the P switch to expire. This renders the purpose of the stepping block useless. But, with a little event trick, that problem was solved.

Anyway, here's the video:

SMBX Tutorial: How to customize NPCs

I am just reposting this since this tutorial was already featured in the SMBX Editor Help File.

How to customize NPCs in SMBX
By Redigit and Blue

While the feature is implemented in SMBx. It is not part of the actual program's user interface. All custom NPCs are set just like custom graphics and are done manually by the user creating a file in the game folders. In the folder for the level you wish to use a custom NPC in, you will create a file with notepad (a program that comes with your computer) that is named the same exact as the graphic file of the NPC you wish to alter.

For example: If you wish to make a goomba not able to be stomped, you would do the following.

Create a new .txt file in the desired levels folder.
Name the .txt file npc-1
Open that file and then place the following text in it.
playerblock=1
jumphurt=0
and then save the file.
Now in the level in question, the goomba will no longer be able to be stomped.

The following flags can be placed in the .txt file to effect the npc. If you want to set a flag to yes, put =1 and for no =0

NPC Player/World Interactions Flags

grabtop= Can Mario pick it up and carry it?
grabside= Can Mario grab this from the side and carry it?
jumphurt= Will Mario get bounce if he jumps on the top of this NPC?
playerblock= Will the player treat this NPC like a block?
playerblocktop= Can the player stand on this NPC?
npcblock= Will other NPCs treat this NPC as a block?
npcblocktop= Will other NPCs walk on this NPC's head?
noblockcollision= Passes through blocks.
cliffturn= Will it turn around when it comes to an edge, rather than falling off?
nohurt= Will not hurt the player if set to 1.
noyoshi= If yoshi can't eat it, set this to 1.
nofireball= Setting to 1 prevents fire from harming this NPC.
noiceball= Setting to 1 prevents ice from freezing this NPC.
nogravity= Is uneffected by gravity if set to 1.
speed= How fast it moves. (Percentage) 0=0% 1=100% 2=200% 

score= How many points the NPC should give you upon its death/collection. Score can be set to any number from 0-13. Each gives a different amount of points listed below.
0 give 0 points
1 gives 10 points
2 gives 100 points
3 gives 200 points
4 gives 400 points
5 gives 800 points
6 gives 1000 points
7 gives 2000 points
8 gives 4000 points
9 gives 8000 points
10 gives a 1up
11 gives a 2up
12 gives a 3up
13 gives a 5up (anything higher than 13 will produce a 5up as well.)

NPC Appearance Flags

foreground= This will be drawn in front of other sprites if set to 1.
frames= How many frames the sprites animation uses for a single direction.
framespeed= How fast the frames of the sprites animation change. 8 is Normal.
framestyle= 0=No Directional Sprites, 1=Left and Right movement, 2=Left and Right movement and inverted (upsidedown) if Held.
gfxoffsetx= Moves the graphic in a specific direction (X) -1 is up, 1 is down.
gfxoffsety= Moves the graphic in a specific direction (Y) -1 is left, 1 is right.
width= The NPCs hitbox width (in pixels)
height= The NPCs hitbox height (in pixels)
gfxheight= Only set if sprite height is different than Hit box height.
gfxwidth= Only set if sprite width is different than Hit box width.

Yoster Lake

This is apparently the second level of Yoster Isle, the 2nd world in Super Mario Quest. There are simple puzzles here that could earn you a star. I believe any Super Mario World veteran already knows how to solve it. Also, if you listen to the music, you'll realize that I edited the original SMBX music of the underwater level. The music no longer fades out like it use to be.

Yoster Plain Demo Video

A video of Yoster Plain, one of the levels of Yoster Isle. I have preserved the SMB (Super Mario Bros.) blocks for this level and introduced the Donut Blocks since I intended this level to be a transition level from SMB to SMW (Super Mario World) theme.

SMQ Remake of the Hall

Original Princess Castle Hall

New Princess Castle Hall

After two days of rest, I decided to change the design of the hall that leads to the Throne Room in my SMQ project. Observe the screenshots above, you can see that the first hall doesn't look impressive and appears out of place compared to the 2nd picture, which is the new one.

My project will continue to evolve as more and more revisions will happen in the future.

Super Mario Quest v.1.0 Demo

After almost a month of laboring on this project, I'm finally done with World 1, and right now, I am releasing a demo. The demo covers from Mario's house up to the Gloom Dome Sewer. Some parts of Princess Toadstool's Castle and that of Gloom Dome may be missing, and the Yoster Isle levels are not yet been set up properly. Bugs are expected to be present despite my thorough testing. Hopefully they can be found and brought to my attention. The demo is an alpha version since I had already tested it, but now I am opening it for beta testing.

Here are some screenshots:

Inside a Mushroom Hut

Mushroom Kingdom

Princess Toadstool's Castle

Princess Toadstool's Castle

Castle Library

Meeting with the Chancellor

Mushroom Garden

Gloom Dome Sewer

Beta Testing

This demo is open for beta testing. Please report any bugs if you found one. Note that I'm only looking for bugs. Graphic clash issues will be address later so please don't tell me about graphic clashes in this demo because I already know that. Bugs include flawed scripts and loopholes in programming that could result in an unexpected function or gameplay. Also I'm not looking for SMBX bugs, I'm only looking for bugs in my episode. SMBX bugs are Redigit's problem, not mine. If there is an SMBX bug, there is nothing I can do about that.

Download Notes

The file is about 51MB in size. This includes the hacked SMBX and the episode. It is in zip file. To install, just create a new folder and unzipped the zipped file in there. Once unzipped, run the SMBX.exe contained in the zip file to make everything work. Using another SMBX aside from the included SMBX will not render everything properly. You can download the file here.

The making of Gloom Dome Sewer

Gloom Dome Sewer

Here's just a sneak peek on what I'm currently working on right now. This happened to be the final level on the Mushroom Kingdom map. I call it Gloom Dome, from the word gloom because the level happens to be a poorly lit sewer infested with Gloombas and some Koopas. The sewer level design actually came from a level I created a few months ago. That level used to be called Undergreen and it resembles the Super Mario Bros. World 1-2 level (see 2nd picture). What happened here is that I redesigned some parts of the original level. The rocky ground was changed to a flat smooth pavement, the background was changed from a cavern to a sewer background, and the used to be destructible block ceiling was changed to an indestructible ceiling made of stone. The enemies were also switched but some of the blocks position were preserved. And, as you can see on the picture, the new sewer level looks cleaner compared to the second one.

Original Concept of the Sewer. It use to be called
Undergreen Tunnel

Mushroom Garden Video

This is a demo video of Mushroom Garden. One of the levels of Mushroom Kingdom. Enough said, just watch the vid and leave me some comments if you guys can. My hands are freezing right now. :P

Mushroom Garden in the making

Mushroom Garden

I am currently working on the Mushroom Garden level now, and I have to say it's time consuming. From generating a concept to producing the level, it took me hours, but hopefully this is going to be completed today. Well, I am keeping the graphic clash issues in mind, but since my levels follow a certain pattern, and going in for the RPG theme, there are small clashes on this one. Most especially on the HD graphics vs grainy 2D graphics part involving the NPCs and some items. Well, what the heck.

Anyway, I intend the level to contain a small sidequest where Mario has to gather special Mushrooms. Luigi will also be present, thus this level will serve as a prelude to the levels where you are allowed to select characters to use on a level.

Did you know: Earlier I was using the grassland ground tiles, but I found it unrealistic and an unfitting place for Mushrooms to grow, so I reanalyze the idea and change it to a wet or damp kinda ground. And since some Mushrooms prefer to grow on dead wood, I also incorporated a custom graphics of a dead wood where some Mushrooms grow.

Palace Treasure Vault Completed!

Treasure Vault

Finally, Princess Toadstool's Palace is complete! With this completion, I had also saw some of SMBX's. One is with the events (scripts). It appears it can only accommodate a certain number of events, after that you could no longer create new events. I tried hacking the level to see if I can push the engine beyond its limit, but alas, it crashes for going beyond its range. And since, this level I created uses a lot of scripts, I have to create a way so it would be able to load all the 21 sublevels. And after analyzing the data chart, bingo! I manage to get it to work.

SMBX also has a bug when it comes to dialogues. I know some SMBX fans won't admit it, but I had verified it. It happens when you load a level with hidden layers and starts with a dialogue. Right after the dialogue, some events misfire and shows the supposedly hidden layers and hides some supposedly showed ones. It can be patched by pulling a series of events that give the dialogue at least a small refresh rate.

Now, about the Treasure Vault. Here, you will be tutored by a Toadstool, kinda like Super Mario RPG. He will explain about each item contained in the chests. After that, you will have to exit the room and go to another passage that ends up in Mushroom Garden.

Dialogue with the Chancellor completed

Throne Room

Good news, the Princess' castle is almost complete. As of today, I manage to complete the long dialogue with the Chancellor of Mushroom Kingdom, which leaves us with the Treasure Vault as the only remaining room to complete with this level. Would you guys believe, this level actually has 21 rooms in it? Which is why it took me more than a week to complete it. Right now, I am looking for a background for the Treasure Vault. If anybody has any ideas as to where I could find a good background, please let me know. Comments are open... Come on, help me out guys...

Kitchen Fixed plus video of a sneak peek of Princess Toadstool's Castle

Fixed Princess Toadstool's Castle Kitchen

OK, so I have fixed the problem yesterday and I manage to miniaturize the graphics to fit the needs of the tiny Mushroom people. I also encountered some misbehaving AIs and I have them patched as well. Above is the photo of the fixed kitchen and below is a short video of Princess Toadstool's Castle.



Unfortunately, the video has no sound and kind of low quality, thanks to BSR Screen Recorder Trial Version and Youtube for degrading them. Anyway, at least it gets to show some parts of the level. There is also a bug at the end of the Hallway. That Mushroom grandpa was not meant to move, but he did learn to walk somehow. Yeah, even without moving his legs. Now, that kind of makes him look like a chess piece.

Kitchen Flaw

Princess Toadstool's Castle Kitchen

OK, so I did proceed on making the sprites for the castle kitchen and applied it to make the kitchen area on Princess Toadstool's level. But, I realize later that I made them way bigger than the characters. Take a look at the photo to the left. Darn... now it looks like the chef needs a stool to get up there. To add insult to injury, there is a strange aura surrounding the chef. Sadly, I need to reedit the sprites to make it look right.