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UBER MARIO 64 ( and RAM Object Chain Extender )

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This is about both my first hack and a very useful patch that I've made for hackers experiencing ( or that might experience ) game freezes due to too many RAM objects.

As of 06/05/13, I have just released the demo of my first hack which I am VERY proud of. It is called UBER MARIO 64 and the main concept is to exploit the geometry of the existing level in ways most of you haven't though of. For this project, I have established some rules for my hack that I promise I will always try to follow as my only objectives ( this is sort of a trademark I am trying to establish ):

1- I shall never build an act that would REQUIRE finding something invisible. This means for example no fading warps should be necessary to get any star -unless it is attributed a Geo Layout, ( you know, not invisible ).
( I've played way too many hacks in which I must find an invisible warp, just not cool. #smw{>:|})

2- I must only post hack in which I succeeded every single star WITHOUT the use of savestate troughout their act.
( I'm pretty sure Lugmillord can't abide to that one with his SM74 Extreme Edition #smw{B)})

3- I will tend to favor intelligence and SM64 knowledge of the player over his raw skills when possible. ( This means for example, no "you gotta make this long jump ABSOLUTELY prefect with ABSOLUTELY perfect timing or you die" kind of thing, but rather "I bet you can't FIGURE OUT how to get that/there". )

Now you're probably asking yourself whyTF am I telling you this. Well, the answer is simple: I wanna establish a guarantee about my hacks that by playing it...

1- never will you have to step on every square inch of a level looking for something invisible.

2- never will you have to go through something ridiculously hard even by using the easiest method possible. ( There will be no such thing as Toxic Terrace in what I will produce, if you are facing something ridiculously hard as I said, well, the only answer to that is; you haven't figured out the easiest/right way to do it. )

3- never will you have to play something so unoriginal that a brain dead -it's an hyperbole, ok?- person could do. ( I will always try to make my levels require new techniques and stuff. )

And the demo I released abide by these rules, ( plus the one about using only the existing levels ) it is now posted on this site waiting for moderation. Here's some screenshots:


image hosting imgur

BTW, this demo includes 16 stars that are all located in Bob-Omb Battlefield, Whomp's Fortress and the Princess' Secret Slide. Honestly, I didn't though I could make something good out of the slide but I was pretty surprised of the opportunities to make new stars, both stars are interesting and a serious challenge #smw{:TUP:}.

For a walkthrough, ( because I'm pretty sure it's gonna be required one day ) I will not make a video yet because its just a demo for the moment ( and I don't have a YT account yet #smw{^_^;}) but I am more than happy to answer any question about it here or via PM.

I have made this hack also because of all the extra things possible in the official version of SM64 that are not rewarded, reaching the BOB's island in the sky without cannon or cap is one of the many MANY MANY examples that makes me feel like the official SM64 is like a lemon only partly squeezed for the juice... and UBER MARIO 64 is the remaining juice... and there's LOT of it #smw{;)}.

For the RAM Object Chain Extender, it basically allows you to have much more RAM objects at the same time by using the extended memory. Now if you want to change where in the extended memory or how many more RAM Object slots you want, it is all explained in its included "ReadMe".
You should also consider using this if you experience game freezes: Most of the freezes not caused by bad programming/hacking are caused because this RAM object chain runs out of free space... ( I'm talking to you Kaze... I'm pretty sure Desert Hell in SM64 Madness would seriously benefit for it #smw{:TUP:})

BTW I still very much liked SM64 Madness -I mean, once I got used to the Madness #smw{^_^}.
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
I am officially hyped by this hack!
I should mention, you can fix any slowdown caused by lots of objects by enabling the VI hack in importer 1.7 (or upcoming 1.8).
Originally posted by Skelux
I should mention, you can fix any slowdown caused by lots of objects by enabling the VI hack in importer 1.7 (or upcoming 1.8).

Well thanks a lot for this information but does this also solve the game freeze problem and allow us to put more RAM objects?
Because, to be honest, I explicitly tell people in the ReadMe of my hack that they should play it with either Pj64 v2.1 or 1964 Ultrafast v3 because both overclocks massively the MIPS cpu.
( Slowdowns aren't the problem, game freezes ARE. )

Originally posted by Kinopio
I am officially hyped by this hack!


Great! But I would really want to know what you think of it once you've played it, because, to me, what matters the most is interactivity/gameplay/challenge/strategy rather than the way it looks, ( to put this in numbers: # of modified texture = 1, # of modifications in the checksum area or any other hex editing = incaculable, probably in the 100s )

What I mean in other words is screenshots can't do much to describe/advertise what I have done. For example, the Princess's Secret Slide doesn't look much different at all but once you try to get its stars, you realize the whole new challenge it represents.
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Originally posted by Kazeshin
what exactly does the ram object thing make? i've looked into the ppf file and im pretty sure it's not just what's in the readme^^


It modifies ( and compress ) the ASM functions creating the chain of empty RAM object slots. By default, they creat the chain from 0x8033D488 to 0x803610E8 ( *I think* if my memory is really good ) and my modification extend that chain in a specific region in the extended RAM ( that you can change if you want/need, everything is explained in the ReadMe )
To explain it visually, the ASM functions writes all the non zero DWORDs in the picture below:

And what is circled in orange is the pointer to the next object in the chain; the last object have this pointer NULL.

( I've also discovered something about the behavior script )
So what actually happens is when the software wants to create a new object through -for instance- the spawn function, ( @ 0x8029EDCC ) it checks for the first free slot created by the functions I modified ( which is pointed by the value at 0x80361150 *I think its the right address* ). And when the last slot of the chain is filled, the value at offset 0x60 of this object ( the next slot pointer ) is written at 0x80361150, but this value is NULL because it's the last slot. So in that case, if the spawn function is called again and sees that the pointer at 0x80361150 is NULL, it will look in a list of a specific type of object ( another chain passing through some of the same slots ) and overwrite on one of them. This type of object is the "visual effect" type ( like little stars when Mario hits the wall/pounds the ground/breaks a box ), so this type is sacrificed in case of last resort. But if there is already no such object to be sacrificed, the CPU gets stuck in an intentional infinite loop ( opcode 10 00 FF FF, which is a unconditional branch on itself ). You can find it at 0x84C44 in the ROM, somewhat funny the programmers surely did this intentionally ( but at least it makes the outcome predictable ).

And this is exactly where most of the time the game hangs, so I've about tripled that chain and you can make it even larger if you want ( it's all explained in the "ReadMe.txt" included.

BTW about the behavior script thing, the very first 16 bits word of the behavior command script is what tells the software how to treat this object ( 00 0C 00 00 ) indicates it's an unimportant visual effect and the software will sacrifice it if it needs to.

pfffiooooof... I hope it's clear enough #smw{-_-Z}

Originally posted by Kazeshin
ouh, i'm still embarassed for making this hack. i made it with a tutorial from lugmillord, who didn't knew anything about hacking, except how to using tools. so this hack is like the worst thing i've ever created :s


And about SM64 Madness, don't worry, I've seen hell of a lot worse!... Is it also why I can't find the "Let's play SM64 Madness" videos from your YT account?
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel
Is it also why I can't find the "Let's play SM64 Madness" videos from your YT account?


I've never made lets plays. those were made by "JokerGamerOK", i just removed that playlist from my yt acc.

(they still exist, in case you want to see them, which i hardly doubt, because it's just a german guy talking rant xD)
Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel

Great! But I would really want to know what you think of it once you've played it, because, to me, what matters the most is interactivity/gameplay/challenge/strategy rather than the way it looks, ( to put this in numbers: # of modified texture = 1, # of modifications in the checksum area or any other hex editing = incaculable, probably in the 100s )

What I mean in other words is screenshots can't do much to describe/advertise what I have done. For example, the Princess's Secret Slide doesn't look much different at all but once you try to get its stars, you realize the whole new challenge it represents.

Of course I have read the description and this is why I found your hack very interesting. I am looking forward to play it. ;)
Originally posted by Kinopio
Of course I have read the description and this is why I found your hack very interesting. I am looking forward to play it. ;)


If by "it" you mean the demo I released, it's already there in the "waiting" sublist of the SM64 Hacks page, but if you want the full version only, that will take a "little" ( BIG ) while #smw{<_<}.

I am working (almost) full time on an university project for which i'll be paid.
Trust me, having a few million dollars and no need for money, SM64 Hacking might just be what I would do all day, every day #smw{^_^}.
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Hmmm, seems very interesting. As a hardcore skilled SM64 fangamer, it is my duty to play and share my opinion about it. Some of the trials you made has some cool extent, and that's what I care the most.

Expect to see me doing a video gameplay soon #smw{:TUP:}
SUPER CRASH TIME YEAH!
Originally posted by Mariocrash
Hmmm, seems very interesting. As a hardcore skilled SM64 fangamer, it is my duty to play and share my opinion about it. Some of the trials you made has some cool extent, and that's what I care the most.

Expect to see me doing a video gameplay soon #smw{:TUP:}


This is gonna be aaaawe#smw{^_^}-soooome#smw{:D}...

And if you put a download link of my hack in the video description, please only put a link to my hack upload on THIS site; I would like to keep track easily of how many downloads it gets, thank you very much.

And BTW, CONGRATU-F__KING-LATION if you figure out how to get ALL the stars all by yourself. I agree I'm not very well placed to juge how hard it is to figure out because I'm the one who came up with these ideas and already knows all the answers, but I'm pretty sure it must be a superb prowess.

If not, then I am ready to answer your questions about it on this thread ( and mark the answers as spoilers ).
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
I'm really liking Uber Mario 64 so far! The style reminds me of Kaizo Mario 64, only it doesn't involve as much bullsh*t. Instead of blindly going through insane obstacles, the player is actually shown what they have to do in order to get the star. You're then forced to perform the game's exploits that were discovered from the original game, which is excellent design in my book. It may be hard as hell, but damn it I love this hack! Can't wait for the full release #ab{:D}
Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel

This is gonna be aaaawe#smw{^_^}-soooome#smw{:D}...

And if you put a download link of my hack in the video description, please only put a link to my hack upload on THIS site; I would like to keep track easily of how many downloads it gets, thank you very much.

And BTW, CONGRATU-F__KING-LATION if you figure out how to get ALL the stars all by yourself. I agree I'm not very well placed to juge how hard it is to figure out because I'm the one who came up with these ideas and already knows all the answers, but I'm pretty sure it must be a superb prowess.


Well, this is great. I've cleared all 3 stages.

Stage 1 was my favorite of all. The new elements were a big deal, within the shocking traps in the mountain, the twisted king battle, and the other stuff, patched together, to keep you going for practice. It's the only stage I've beaten without savestates. #smw{:peace:}

Stage 2 was an awkward-puzzling mindrape, especially when it begins at star #2. Unlike Stage 1, it somewhat made my head spin. I was also surprised, when I hit the wall from cannon blasting, Mario's HP drops down to 2 (that's incredibly fair).

The slide was okay-ish. Only the time race star was easy by taking shortcuts. Whereas for the other one, goddarn! You have to go backward-climb the slide! This one was almost hard, but good thing I supposedly knew what I'm doing there. #w{:>}
SUPER CRASH TIME YEAH!
Originally posted by Mariocrash
Well, this is great. I've cleared all 3 stages.

Well, sincerely, congratulation!

Originally posted by Mariocrash
Stage 1 was my favorite of all. The new elements were a big deal, within the shocking traps in the mountain, the twisted king battle, and the other stuff, patched together, to keep you going for practice. It's the only stage I've beaten without savestates. #smw{:peace:}


Funny how I expected WF to be the favourite... at least that repelled my worries that there might not be enough "WOW" in that level. #smw{^_^}
Did you find any of the two warp couples?

Originally posted by Mariocrash
Stage 2 was an awkward-puzzling mindrape, especially when it begins at star #2. Unlike Stage 1, it somewhat made my head spin.


Hummmm... do you consider "awkward-puzzling mindrape" a good thing?

Originally posted by Mariocrash
I was also surprised, when I hit the wall from cannon blasting, Mario's HP drops down to 2 (that's incredibly fair).


What! It was supposed to dish out 5 damage! not six! #smw{o_O}
Because, you know, the sixth star must not be doable by "conventional unequipped" way... if you know what I mean...


Originally posted by Mariocrash
The slide was okay-ish. Only the time race star was easy by taking shortcuts. Whereas for the other one, goddarn! You have to go backward-climb the slide! This one was almost hard, but good thing I supposedly knew what I'm doing there. #w{:>}


Yeah <_<, I know the slide modifications were not made to impress, this is what I did closer to the beginning when I started hacking for the first time and didn't know half as much as I know now! ( wait until you see what I'm currently doing to the secret aquarium!!! ) But I can tell you, the slide ( well, the whole hack ) is somewhat more intended to players maybe a little less talented than you ( maybe more like me #smw{^_^;} ). So I though 15 seconds was hard enough, but I already succeeded in doing it in 13.6/.7 seconds after that. The players this was intended for will surely struggle much more on this.

And finally, out of 10, how much would you give to my demo? #smw{:D}
Because the rating system of SM64 Hacks page doesn't work at all and that somewhat bothers me...#smw{>_>}
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel

Funny how I expected WF to be the favourite... at least that repelled my worries that there might not be enough "WOW" in that level. #smw{^_^}
Did you find any of the two warp couples?


Only found the warp in BoB, by
standing upon Chomp's wooden stake
.

Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel

Hummmm... do you consider "awkward-puzzling mindrape" a good thing?

Well, not really.

Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel

What! It was supposed to dish out 5 damage! not six! #smw{o_O}
Because, you know, the sixth star must not be doable by "conventional unequipped" way... if you know what I mean...


Well, it did give a hard damage of 6 HP #w{:s}

Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel

Yeah <_<, I know the slide modifications were not made to impress, this is what I did closer to the beginning when I started hacking for the first time and didn't know half as much as I know now! ( wait until you see what I'm currently doing to the secret aquarium!!! ) But I can tell you, the slide ( well, the whole hack ) is somewhat more intended to players maybe a little less talented than you ( maybe more like me #smw{^_^;} ). So I though 15 seconds was hard enough, but I already succeeded in doing it in 13.6/.7 seconds after that. The players this was intended for will surely struggle much more on this.

And finally, out of 10, how much would you give to my demo? #smw{:D}
Because the rating system of SM64 Hacks page doesn't work at all and that somewhat bothers me...#smw{>_>}


Smacked down your time record, with 12"4 seconds! #w{=P} Otherwise, it didn't give me much trouble to trigger some tricks there, no less for climbing back the slide up.

Overall, I'd say 7/10. Since the game entirely implies the concept of a kaizo, it is meant to give birth to unknown skills and think onto your mind throughout the hard tasks, not only it's very hard yet fun and challenging. #w{=)}
SUPER CRASH TIME YEAH!
Originally posted by Mariocrash
Well, it did give a hard damage of 6 HP #w{:s}


Very weird, in my case it CONSISTENTLY takes out 5 HP not 6.
... Wait, did you lost your cap? LOL no that's stupid, nvm.#smw{^_^;}

Originally posted by Mariocrash
Overall, I'd say 7/10. Since the game entirely implies the concept of a kaizo, it is meant to give birth to unknown skills and think onto your mind throughout the hard tasks, not only it's very hard yet fun and challenging. #w{=)}


Well that's the problem now, even though I came up with this whole idea all by myself, coming so late in the SM64 hacking picture without playing the popular hacks ( if Kazio Mario is, by definition, "popular" ) did cost me on the originality. Thanks to Lugmillord and his SM74 Extreme Edition, I was disinterested in playing other people's hacks EVER SINCE!!

So, yeah, maybe I'll take a look at Kazio Mario...

...Oh wait, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Because if I have the same idea than him on something in particular ( which already occurred so many times for me toward other people, FOR REAL! ), it might be by definition plagiarism and I can't bear that. I want Uber Mario 64 to be exactly as I though it regardless of other people or their hacks.

I hope ( and now I think #smw{:TUP:} ) it will somewhat diverge from Kazio now that I had these new ideas since a few days... let's hope it does, I think for a very first ( and full ) hack, it should be really great!

P.S. When will the video come out?
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel
Well that's the problem now, even though I came up with this whole idea all by myself, coming so late in the SM64 hacking picture without playing the popular hacks ( if Kazio Mario is, by definition, "popular" ) did cost me on the originality. Thanks to Lugmillord and his SM74 Extreme Edition, I was disinterested in playing other people's hacks EVER SINCE!!


sm74 EE was a boring hack, imo.
i would recommend playing following hacks:
Super Mario Star Road
Super Mario star revenge redone (not the original! and dont try to do 100 coins or red coins ~.~)
Super Mario Rainbow Road
and of course, Super Mario Bros 3D :P
they are really worth it; everything else was not that good (maybe i forgot something)^^

Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel
I hope ( and now I think #smw{:TUP:} ) it will somewhat diverge from Kazio now that I had these new ideas since a few days... let's hope it does, I think for a very first ( and full ) hack, it should be really great!

P.S. When will the video come out?


kaizo mario was a hack, that was just done with toads tool.
for example, his BoB was done by just replacing nearly every object with a chain chomp ._____.
i dont think, you will take over any of these ideas, because every single idea in that hack sucks badly and is mostly just placing flame throwers ._.
(as far as i got)
Originally posted by Kazeshin
kaizo mario was a hack, that was just done with toads tool.
for example, his BoB was done by just replacing nearly every object with a chain chomp ._____.
i dont think, you will take over any of these ideas, because every single idea in that hack sucks badly and is mostly just placing flame throwers ._.
(as far as i got)


Wow...#smw{¬_¬} no reason to worry anymore #smw{^_^}, that will be an easy hack to defeat... Now I'm just kind of insulted that MarioCrash compared it to my hack. #smw{<_<}

Don't worry, the following levels will be more impressive, now I know so much more and I can add AND edit all sorts of thing with an hex editor ( collision data, water boxes, water currents, graphical polygons, vertices, etc, and all sorts of thing that bothers me in the checksum area... ).
The secret aquarium will be a really nice underwater "hub".#smw{:TUP:}
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Originally posted by ArchangelGabriel


Wow...#smw{¬_¬} no reason to worry anymore #smw{^_^}, that will be an easy hack to defeat... Now I'm just kind of insulted that MarioCrash compared it to my hack. #smw{<_<}


What kind of senseless bullcrap was that for?? #smw{o_O}

I didn't say even once it was identical to Kaizo Mario 64, I've totally seen much from OmegaEdge, of adding fire, chomps and beginner traps than this. (And yeah, fire is annoying, even though I don't mind for the high amount his hack contains....)

But here, I'm glad that your concept, which is rather non-linear to Kaizo Mario 64, is just brillant. Don't stop, go ahead for some new creavitity and bring up the REAL feeling of a kaizo. You come up with unique tasks, and hey like I said, this is how I care much, whether it's the same or not.

I'm no critic, that's what my eye caught it in my attention. #smw{;)}
SUPER CRASH TIME YEAH!
Originally posted by Mariocrash
What kind of senseless bullcrap was that for?? #smw{o_O}

I didn't say even once it was identical to Kaizo Mario 64, I've totally seen much from OmegaEdge, of adding fire, chomps and beginner traps than this. (And yeah, fire is annoying, even though I don't mind for the high amount his hack contains....)

But here, I'm glad that your concept, which is rather non-linear to Kaizo Mario 64, is just brillant. Don't stop, go ahead for some new creavitity and bring up the REAL feeling of a kaizo. You come up with unique tasks, and hey like I said, this is how I care much, whether it's the same or not.

I'm no critic, that's what my eye caught it in my attention. #smw{;)}


Don't worry!! I am NOT angry at you the slightest #smw{^_^;}, but you must admit that when you say:
"Since the game entirely implies the concept of a kaizo"
and
"The style reminds me of Kaizo Mario 64"
Oh wait, the last one was not from you...#smw{^_^;} ...my mistake #smw{-_-2}...

Anyway it just really much felt like you were using Kazio Mario as a reference or comparison...
don't feel bad, no harm was done...#smw{:peace:}

P.S. When is the video about my demo coming out?
Uber Mario 64 Demo released, 16 awesomely challenging stars awaits YOU!
Ah alright, guess you thought I was at loss on imagining things that was a ripoff -- lame brained guys always shout it out negatively.

As for the video, don't worry. I'm at my boarding school on this weekend, you'd probably wait next time when I'm back home.
SUPER CRASH TIME YEAH!
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