Hello World! o/
Thanks for stopping by!
I've been hacking SM64 for a week now, and I feel confident enough in my progress to announce and show off the level editor I've started working on during that time. Mostly, I wanted to brag ;)
Goal:
To make content-development for Super Mario 64 as fast and easy as that of any modern game.
[That means minimal iteration time; the time it takes for you to change something in your level and see the results in an emulator should be negligible.]
Progress:
-I can already import 0x39 objects, geometry and collision data from Bob-omb Battlefield!
-To demonstrate that I understand the format and can write it out as well, I also wrote a utility that would shrink the y-value of every vertex / position of all of the geometry and most of the objects in BOB, flattening the level:
-When you press "Make and Run," a batch file runs n64split's make and launches Project64 if make succeeds.
Planned Progress Coming Very Soon:
-Parse a level's .s file, allowing any level to be edited
-Implement textures
-Allow editing of level vertices and object positions (way easier than you'd think!)
-This is a big one: Hack SM64 to allow arbitrary level loading! I want to be able to skip the logo, intro, file select, and castle and just jump straight into a level of my choosing. This will really speed things up! (Maybe somebody has already done this or knows something about how to do it?)
Methodology:
-Being developed as a Unity Editor script, may transition to a stand-alone app later in life. I predict I'll get some hate for this decision but it lets me leverage Unity's 3d editor and interface, and that alone saves me SO much time it's not even funny.
-Uses queueRAM's n64split project. At this point, it doesn't need to (it would actually be faster to use an extended ROM) but I'm really excited about this project and the long-term potential using it will offer.
-Will be open source (I'll post the source up soon). I'm normally not a big open-source guy, but for SM64 hacking projects, it really makes sense and I wish more hackers would release the source for their tools. In fact, I was able to better understand some of the level format because xdaniel released the source to his MariOZMAV level viewer.
Motivation:
I looked up the process one has to go through to make custom SM64 levels, and it seems HORRENDOUS. Am I wrong? It seems like for the past 7 years, TT64 has been serving a dual-role as the community's savior and oppressor, since it's the ONLY thing you can use to place objects in levels, and it doesn't even support making new levels. So a bunch of other programs get tacked onto it, making a level designer's workflow slow and tedious. Also, and this is just my humble opinion, its interface really is a turn-off. (I have actually avoided using TT64 for that reason. I haven't even tried it. True story.)
Now don't get that twisted. I'm overflowing with respect for VL-Tone; the information he's shared is CRUCIAL for me and other SM64 hackers, and I really appreciate him! I just want to see an alternative to TT64, so I'm making my own. Also, anyone who can make a decent SM64 level has the patience of a saint, and tons of respect from me as well!
Conclusion:
What do you guys think so far? I guess it's pretty early to comment . I think this project is going to move fast, but we'll just have to see!
What features do you want to see in a SM64 editor? What annoys you about TT64 and what features seem conspicuously absent from it?
Thanks for reading!
-Jedi
Thanks for stopping by!
I've been hacking SM64 for a week now, and I feel confident enough in my progress to announce and show off the level editor I've started working on during that time. Mostly, I wanted to brag ;)
Goal:
To make content-development for Super Mario 64 as fast and easy as that of any modern game.
[That means minimal iteration time; the time it takes for you to change something in your level and see the results in an emulator should be negligible.]
Progress:
-I can already import 0x39 objects, geometry and collision data from Bob-omb Battlefield!
-To demonstrate that I understand the format and can write it out as well, I also wrote a utility that would shrink the y-value of every vertex / position of all of the geometry and most of the objects in BOB, flattening the level:
-When you press "Make and Run," a batch file runs n64split's make and launches Project64 if make succeeds.
Planned Progress Coming Very Soon:
-Parse a level's .s file, allowing any level to be edited
-Implement textures
-Allow editing of level vertices and object positions (way easier than you'd think!)
-This is a big one: Hack SM64 to allow arbitrary level loading! I want to be able to skip the logo, intro, file select, and castle and just jump straight into a level of my choosing. This will really speed things up! (Maybe somebody has already done this or knows something about how to do it?)
Methodology:
-Being developed as a Unity Editor script, may transition to a stand-alone app later in life. I predict I'll get some hate for this decision but it lets me leverage Unity's 3d editor and interface, and that alone saves me SO much time it's not even funny.
-Uses queueRAM's n64split project. At this point, it doesn't need to (it would actually be faster to use an extended ROM) but I'm really excited about this project and the long-term potential using it will offer.
-Will be open source (I'll post the source up soon). I'm normally not a big open-source guy, but for SM64 hacking projects, it really makes sense and I wish more hackers would release the source for their tools. In fact, I was able to better understand some of the level format because xdaniel released the source to his MariOZMAV level viewer.
Motivation:
I looked up the process one has to go through to make custom SM64 levels, and it seems HORRENDOUS. Am I wrong? It seems like for the past 7 years, TT64 has been serving a dual-role as the community's savior and oppressor, since it's the ONLY thing you can use to place objects in levels, and it doesn't even support making new levels. So a bunch of other programs get tacked onto it, making a level designer's workflow slow and tedious. Also, and this is just my humble opinion, its interface really is a turn-off. (I have actually avoided using TT64 for that reason. I haven't even tried it. True story.)
Now don't get that twisted. I'm overflowing with respect for VL-Tone; the information he's shared is CRUCIAL for me and other SM64 hackers, and I really appreciate him! I just want to see an alternative to TT64, so I'm making my own. Also, anyone who can make a decent SM64 level has the patience of a saint, and tons of respect from me as well!
Conclusion:
What do you guys think so far? I guess it's pretty early to comment . I think this project is going to move fast, but we'll just have to see!
What features do you want to see in a SM64 editor? What annoys you about TT64 and what features seem conspicuously absent from it?
Thanks for reading!
-Jedi