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U N O R I G I N A L - Welcome to the world of mediocre!

Super Mario WorldDemoVideo/TrailerScreenshots

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Welcome to the world of mediocre!



It's time to show off what I have on my first real project on SMW Central that I started over a month ago. I've attempted projects before, but they never came close to being finished. This is trying nothing special, but it's supposed to try to match the feelings of the original SMW while still feeling fresh and, most importantly, fun.

This thread is all about showing off the goods. If you want more info on the background of this hack including the proposed story, please click here and follow that thread after C3 ends. As always, feedback is very much appreciated!

Everything still is in the VERY VERY early stages, and all of it is subject to change. You'll find screenshots and videos for levels that are not featured in the demo as they're not in a playable state at the moment!

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The Demo
The demo is the first four levels created for the hack. You will be able to play them in any order you like, and it should be said that the map featured will definitely NOT be in the final product.

The levels fully playable in the demo are:

Simple Enough?
Seeing Some Saws
Glimmering Tundra
Foresta Maestosa

Download the demo!

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Screenshots





World 1 Map
Net Neutrality (Preview)
Nightly Hijinks (Preview)

Videos
Simple Enough? (Old version)
Simple Enough? (Demo version)
Seeing Some Saws (Old version)
Seeing Some Saws (Demo version)
Glimmering Tundra (Demo version)
Foresta Maestosa (Old version)
Foresta Maestosa (Demo version)
Lakeside Conspiracy (Not finished, first attempt)
Lakeside Conspiracy (Not finished, second attempt)
Jogging in Place (Not finished)
Net Neutrality (Not finished)
Nightly Hijinks (Not finished)

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#lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x} #lm{16x}
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
For something very early in dev, it looks really cool!
Even in the later screencaps, you can see the difficulty tense up.

Hope you finish your hack!
Originally posted by Ruberjig
For something very early in dev, it looks really cool!
Even in the later screencaps, you can see the difficulty tense up.

Hope you finish your hack!


Thanks! I'm trying to aim for a normal difficulty, so hopefully I won't ironically have a lot of difficulty in doing that. I already had to tweak one of the first world levels because of that (Lakeside Conspiracy).
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
I've been watching this thread in the WIP Section of the site and I must says its pretty uncanny how much you have made the levels feel like something I would of saw 10 years ago.
I think its mainly due to the usage of Vanilla Assets and Palettes that cements the hacks foundations with its classic aesthetic.

The Custom Tracks fit pretty well as I think we have all gotten sick of hearing them over the many years we have spent hacking.
I'll have to give the Demo a try next week when I free time as these Vanilla Romps are something I take great delight in playing.

Also the Map is looking pretty nice. I like that the cliffs are shorter than those found in the original SMW.
Anyways Nice Work & Good Luck on finishing this project. #smrpg{:D}
Originally posted by 1UPdudes
I've been watching this thread in the WIP Section of the site and I must says its pretty uncanny how much you have made the levels feel like something I would of saw 10 years ago.
I think its mainly due to the usage of Vanilla Assets and Palettes that cements the hacks foundations with its classic aesthetic.

The Custom Tracks fit pretty well as I think we have all gotten sick of hearing them over the many years we have spent hacking.
I'll have to give the Demo a try next week when I free time as these Vanilla Romps are something I take great delight in playing.

Also the Map is looking pretty nice. I like that the cliffs are shorter than those found in the original SMW.
Anyways Nice Work & Good Luck on finishing this project. #smrpg{:D}


Thanks! Really appreciate it! I tried to be simpler with this project. I've been looking at what other hacks are doing and how they excel at some areas while failing at others. It's still far from done, but it's good to know that people are liking what they're seeing. :)
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
So, this hack's not entirely my thing so maybe take my criticism with a grain of salt, but I thought it'd be nice to play through anyways.

The first level's fairly basic and I don't have much to say, but the banzai bill at the end feels like a bit cheap, it didn't get me personally but it's much more difficult to react to than anything else in the level.

The autoscroller in the second level actually didn't feel boring, it definitely felt better than I thought back when I watched a video of the level, my main issue here is actually with the second half, the koopas behind the grass feel more annoying than anything and the bullet bill generator doesn't really add anything of value to the level. Otherwise pretty solid for what it is

Glimmering Tundra had my first death, it's definitely more lategame but honestly it's really nice, the ice physics are... Not my favorite thing honestly, but I liked the skull raft sections and the falling platforms being used like that, the level has a really nice flow and doesn't make you wait. You'd expect me to complain about the shell-kicker after the checkpoint slide but honestly that felt like a continuation of the flow the level has going for it that it felt completely natural. This one's definitely my favorite.

The last level is sadly probably my least favorite, it feels a bit all-over-the-place and unfocused, it's like you tried to cram every forest of illusion gimmick into one level. In the end it makes it feel like the level isn't going anywhere with it's ideas and instead just throwing more of them at the player and it feels generally less cohesive than the other levels in this.

PS: A life farm might've been a good idea, I didn't struggle too much but 5 lives is pretty low
Originally posted by Sancles
So, this hack's not entirely my thing so maybe take my criticism with a grain of salt, but I thought it'd be nice to play through anyways.

The first level's fairly basic and I don't have much to say, but the banzai bill at the end feels like a bit cheap, it didn't get me personally but it's much more difficult to react to than anything else in the level.

The autoscroller in the second level actually didn't feel boring, it definitely felt better than I thought back when I watched a video of the level, my main issue here is actually with the second half, the koopas behind the grass feel more annoying than anything and the bullet bill generator doesn't really add anything of value to the level. Otherwise pretty solid for what it is

Glimmering Tundra had my first death, it's definitely more lategame but honestly it's really nice, the ice physics are... Not my favorite thing honestly, but I liked the skull raft sections and the falling platforms being used like that, the level has a really nice flow and doesn't make you wait. You'd expect me to complain about the shell-kicker after the checkpoint slide but honestly that felt like a continuation of the flow the level has going for it that it felt completely natural. This one's definitely my favorite.

The last level is sadly probably my least favorite, it feels a bit all-over-the-place and unfocused, it's like you tried to cram every forest of illusion gimmick into one level. In the end it makes it feel like the level isn't going anywhere with it's ideas and instead just throwing more of them at the player and it feels generally less cohesive than the other levels in this.

PS: A life farm might've been a good idea, I didn't struggle too much but 5 lives is pretty low


It's all good. Glad you decided to give it a shot.

I do definitely agree with your opinions on the last level. The level was being made when I was sort of confused on where I wanted to go with the project, and so much of the level didn't have the proper focus I wanted in the first place. I wanted it to be an introduction to the forest world, but like you said, it's like I tried to cram every Forest of Illusion gimmick into one level and tried too much.

The tundra level, I honestly thought you were going to be more harsh on. I thought that would have been the worst one because of the raft sections dragging the level down too much. The fact that it's your favorite, that's pretty awesome actually. :)

The second level, again, I do agree with what you said about the second half. Originally, I actually had a diagonal Bullet Bill generator in place, but I realized it actually made it more difficult than it needed to be, hence why the standard one is in place. It's something I've been wanting to revisit once I final the world the level appears in eventually.

As for the first level, no complaints really. I think I just put the Banzai Bill there because I wanted something to throw the player off after an easy level, but since it is the first level, it would definitely be a bit dickish if I did that.

Thanks for giving some feedback. I'll definitely take it into consideration when I, again, finalize the worlds and what not. :)
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
This was a nice fun romp. It is not exactly my style, but there are some similarities to what I do and like. I liked how the levels were not long (as I tend to dislike long levels) and were focused upon some sort of concept, which was performed better than SMW.

A few notes that I had:

Simple Enough?
- I don't like backtracking to get Dragon Coins, and I had to do so. It was nothing major by any means, but just something I disliked.
- The Banzai Bill jumpscared me.

Seeing Some Saws
- This level is pretty good, but is definitely a step up from the first. I would suggest putting this level further on in the game if you haven't already.
- The autoscroll section was a tad boring, but was decent enough.

Glimmering Tundra
- This is an icy cavern, not a tundra. I would suggest changing the name. Maybe just Glimmering Cavern or something of the like?
- This was probably my least favorite level, as it felt repetitive in some spots. I was just on the skull raft, jumping and waiting for the end. It could use some polishing and some "spicing up".

Foresta Maestosa
- This felt like the most unfocused level, but was fun. The "enemies in bubbles" theme I noticed was quite weak and the design was very safe, only increasing the height of the "bubble towers". The bubble enemies were quite easy to avoid and did not add much to the level.

General
- I really like level cohesion, so I think that your world would be quite interesting with seemingly connected areas. However, this is just my preference and omitting the aforementioned suggestion would do little to inhibit the quality of the product.

Much more than mediocre work, Lotica!
Originally posted by Minish Yoshi
This was a nice fun romp. It is not exactly my style, but there are some similarities to what I do and like. I liked how the levels were not long (as I tend to dislike long levels) and were focused upon some sort of concept, which was performed better than SMW.

A few notes that I had:

Simple Enough?
- I don't like backtracking to get Dragon Coins, and I had to do so. It was nothing major by any means, but just something I disliked.
- The Banzai Bill jumpscared me.

Seeing Some Saws
- This level is pretty good, but is definitely a step up from the first. I would suggest putting this level further on in the game if you haven't already.
- The autoscroll section was a tad boring, but was decent enough.

Glimmering Tundra
- This is an icy cavern, not a tundra. I would suggest changing the name. Maybe just Glimmering Cavern or something of the like?
- This was probably my least favorite level, as it felt repetitive in some spots. I was just on the skull raft, jumping and waiting for the end. It could use some polishing and some "spicing up".

Foresta Maestosa
- This felt like the most unfocused level, but was fun. The "enemies in bubbles" theme I noticed was quite weak and the design was very safe, only increasing the height of the "bubble towers". The bubble enemies were quite easy to avoid and did not add much to the level.

General
- I really like level cohesion, so I think that your world would be quite interesting with seemingly connected areas. However, this is just my preference and omitting the aforementioned suggestion would do little to inhibit the quality of the product.

Much more than mediocre work, Lotica!


Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, the mediocre thing is just something to poke fun at is all.

I do agree with bubble gimmick being very safe. It works in some areas, but it's more of a distraction rather than an actual obstacle. You take them out, and you practically have the same level. I'm planning on restructuring that level completely. It was made around the time I decided to rethink my strategy on the hack to avoid being burnt out again, so it's a bit mismanaged in direction.

For the tundra level, it's a mixed level for some I've noticed. It's definitely my least favorite, hence why I only showed it off until C3. The raft parts are the definite culprit. I tried to make it where the raft and ice physics would create a challenge, but it seemed like what you said: "jumping and waiting for the end".

The second level will definitely be saved for a later world. I'm thinking more on the lines of a sky world. The autoscroll section has been the major complaint from a lot of people, so either I'm going to scrap that completely and work off of what I have in the second section, or I'm going to rework it so it doesn't feel so awkward with the autoscroll off.

As for the first level, I don't like backtracking either, but seeing how the Dragon Coin wasn't that far away from the pipe exit, I didn't see it as an issue personally. I would assume players would go to the left because they'll think they've missed something and automatically find the coin there. The Banzai Bill, yeah, that's definitely going to be removed seeing how I've had several complaints about that.

Seriously, thanks for the suggestions. They'll definitely be considered when I start going over the levels in due time. :)
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
I bet in the world of the mediocre, I support your effort in it
Honestly I really like this! It looks pretty standard vanilla but it has a lot of charm. I also love the overworld map you made, its super cute!
The little demo was a really pleasant quick late night playthrough #smrpg{y} And it confirmed my expectations - this is really fun. And the fact you pulled off something I legitimately enjoyed with completely vanilla aesthetics, which I'm pretty tired of at this point, certainly tells something about your level design. Still, nice call with the minimalist status bar - I have to say it helps a lot in making your hack stand out from SMW visually.

The thing I like the most about your design is how packed it is - you don't waste a single bit of any level with filler, vary the setups a lot, and you do that just the right amount to not make your levels feel cluttered, overwhelming or disjointed.

I think you nailed most music choices so far (in the demo, at least), but I thought the cave sublevel in the first stage didn't fit very well at all. For this style, songs with instrumentation closer to vanilla fit best I feel like! (I think those are vanilla samples, but there's something about them that didn't go right with the look of SMW's cavern)

I'll stay in touch with the development of this, you know I will~
It's easily the best thing I've done
So why the empty numb?
They are incredible the best teams that they have chosen to have many good days continue doing many good things and that people enjoy them good night
Originally posted by Koopster
The little demo was a really pleasant quick late night playthrough #smrpg{y} And it confirmed my expectations - this is really fun. And the fact you pulled off something I legitimately enjoyed with completely vanilla aesthetics, which I'm pretty tired of at this point, certainly tells something about your level design. Still, nice call with the minimalist status bar - I have to say it helps a lot in making your hack stand out from SMW visually.

The thing I like the most about your design is how packed it is - you don't waste a single bit of any level with filler, vary the setups a lot, and you do that just the right amount to not make your levels feel cluttered, overwhelming or disjointed.

I think you nailed most music choices so far (in the demo, at least), but I thought the cave sublevel in the first stage didn't fit very well at all. For this style, songs with instrumentation closer to vanilla fit best I feel like! (I think those are vanilla samples, but there's something about them that didn't go right with the look of SMW's cavern)

I'll stay in touch with the development of this, you know I will~


Thanks! Yeah, I've been meaning to change that song for awhile. I think it's mainly due to the fact that it would fit better in a longer room or a different atmosphere. I'll definitely look into it.

I really appreciate all the comments. I'll hopefully be working on another level over the weekend and will be showing that off in screenshot form. It should be the first castle of the game, just ad a clue. :O
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
I really enjoyed this actually, always nice to take a break from super fancy ultra custom asm hacks and play some nice vanilla. Really made me motivated to play more vanilla hacks or make one myself again.
Originally posted by Stivi
I really enjoyed this actually, always nice to take a break from super fancy ultra custom asm hacks and play some nice vanilla. Really made me motivated to play more vanilla hacks or make one myself again.


Very awesome! Glad I motivated you. Can't wait for more on your project! :)
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
I was gonna play this earlier today but never got around to it. Luckily FP just streamed it on the C3 stream so I didn't need to play it to see it fully #tb{^V^}

This is looking great, though! I've been longing that feels like SMW for a good while, and I feel this may just fill that void. I've been lurking following the progress in the WIP too.

I look forward to seeing more. I'll be sure to play the short and sweet demo for myself at some point, too.
Originally posted by Tahixham
I was gonna play this earlier today but never got around to it. Luckily FP just streamed it on the C3 stream so I didn't need to play it to see it fully #tb{^V^}

This is looking great, though! I've been longing that feels like SMW for a good while, and I feel this may just fill that void. I've been lurking following the progress in the WIP too.

I look forward to seeing more. I'll be sure to play the short and sweet demo for myself at some point, too.


Glad you caught it on the stream! Good to know others have the same goal of trying to find that SMW hack that goes back to the basics. I was actually amazed when multiple people told me this same thing.

It's still shocking to me the positive reception this thing is getting. I was personally nervous when I decided to release the demo. I was thinking it was going to be considered generic and what not, but seeing that it's the opposite to many people, that's awesome. Even though this is a project I'm doing for fun, it's still great to see this reception.

Thank you everyone! :)
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
Well, I know it's not much, but I kind of wanted to tease some levels that are being worked on at the moment. These have been started over the weekend and with the holiday, things have been crazy. Still, I'll show off what I have and talk about the plans for these levels.

I should also note, both of these levels are based on old ideas that never panned out properly. Some of you may recognize the level designs somewhat. These images are too big, so they'll just be links. I do apologize.

First, we have Net Neutrality, the first world castle.

Image Preview Here

I always felt that Nintendo missed the potential with the net gimmick in the original Mario World. So, I wanted to experiment with they could be used efficiently. Of course, that's farfetched to say, but hey, put your mind to it, and it can work. The biggest issue is making the encounters not just a simple "move here and avoid the baddies". I'll be continuing to experiment with this one.

Next, we have Nightly Hijinks, a level that will either be meant for the sky world or even a special world. That hasn't been determined.

Image Preview Here

The idea with this level is to utilize the grey rotating platforms in interesting scenarios. This level was just started late last night because I couldn't go to bed, so the details are real fuzzy. I think it started from listening to Tamaki's port of Roller Coaster, and it made me want to make a level utilizing the song. This one will be tough to make, because I want it to be a calm experience, but since it will be a later level, the difficulty will have to ramp up as a result. I'll think closely about where this will need to go difficulty wise down the line.

That's all I have for the moment. Hope you guys have a good one! :)
Click here to enter the world of mediocre!
Hey Lotica! As I have already said to you, I like how this hack is turning out. It seems to have it's own style, gimmick-focused for the most part and setup-based, but I like that unlike kaizo hacks (and a lot of modern hacks) there are a ton of ways to go around the setups.

I would like to give you advise since it seems like you have some doubts regrading level placement and difficulty: I suggest first designing all the levels and after that, deciding regarding world theming and their ordering. It's a lot more natural to adapt the level ordering/world theming to the level's difficulty than the inverse.

Also, beware of the scope of the project. I prefer to make well made, short hacks such as the one I released this C3 rather than going with the biggest hack of all with +100 exits, specially if it's your first release, since you will have a lot less levels to worry about and more time to polish them.
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Super Mario WorldDemoVideo/TrailerScreenshots