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What is a vanilla or chocolate hack?

I've heard about these types of hacks all around SMWC, and I don't know what they are. Is there a difficulty difference in the two, or do vanilla hacks contain a sort of gimmick, whereas chocolate hacks are straightforward "normal" levels?

My YouTube username is DTE225.
Vanilla: uses the original SMW resources, using just some tools and patches. [Music is optional]

Chocolate: uses ExGFX, engine-modfing patches, custom sprites... everything that don't fit well in the vanilla category.
However the exact borders aren't really set and are purely subjective, so going around and yelling "THIS ISN'T VANILLA" at people will make you look like an idiot more than anything else.
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There is also Pure Vanilla which means using only the original SMW graphics, no custom MAP16 and no custom palettes.
Originally posted by MarioFan22
There is also Pure Vanilla which means using only the original SMW graphics, no custom MAP16 and no custom palettes.

And there is strawberry, which is between vanilla and chocolate.
And there is pear, which is between vanilla and strawberry.
And there is lemon, which is between vanilla and pear.
And there are about ten other ice cream flavors that only exist to make fun of the ambiguities.

Pretty much everyone agrees that no ice cream flavors except vanilla, strawberry and chocolate exist (except when we're making fun of the existing ones), and that chocolate contains the most custom resources and vanilla contains the least, but there is no general consensus on whether strawberry exists or not, nor do we have any definite answer for where custom music goes.
<blm> zsnes users are the flatearthers of emulation
I would consider pure vanilla to be an unmodified ROM, and pure chocolate to be where you open the ROM in a hex editor, delete everything, and make your own game from scratch.

In practice though, vanilla usually means you only modify the levels and overworld without changing anything else, and chocolate means you don't, or that you try to change everything. Strawberry, or swirl, means in-between the two extremes.

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Well, there are many levels of vanilla and chocolate. The most basic level of vanilla is when you don't edit palettes, no map16, and no super gfx bypass. The 2nd level of vanilla is when you start editing palettes. The third level of vanilla is when you use super gfx bypass. The 4th level of vanilla is when you use map16. The 5th level of vanilla is when you edit the graphics using Lunar Magic's 8x8 editor (note that if you edit the graphics using an external tool instead, it will no longer be in the vanilla zone).
Chocolate is when you start to use ASM stuff (custom blocks, custom sprites, hex edits, xkas, etc).
But there is also an area in between chocolate and vanilla (can we call it strawberry?). That is when there is no ASM involved, but there is stuff like custom graphics made using an external tool, custom music, and mainly aesthetic changes.
don't click this link...
My definitions:

Vanilla - No custom ANYTHING other than level design (duh).

Chocolate - Little to no graphics/palettes/etc. from the original game.

ChocoNilla (aka Strawberry as I just now learned) - A generic hack with a few custom sprites/graphics/etc, but still some from the original.

Mint Chocolate Chip - Nothing but filler. :D
Re-registered as Roadsguy.
Vanilla: Nothing Extra (aka all original SMW items

Strawberry: Some custom stuff, but still some classic stuff as well

Chocolate: Entirely custom stuff

Of course that these are just generalizations of PURE vanilla/chocolate... however people tend to call something if its close (ex. Chocolate music, but vanilla everything else can be called Vanilla, and reverse)
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To me there's only Vanilla and Chocolate, if that. Why not Donut or Butter hacks? /reference
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The only true vanilla is the original, unmodified SMW.
And this is why we REALLY need to come up with official, sitewide definitions of all of these.
Pretty much, there is no universally agreed upon definition of vanilla or chocolate.

(The only definition of vanilla that matters is the Annual Level Design Contest definition, and it only matters during the contest in regards to your entry if you submit one. Otherwise, it's up to you.)
A vanilla hack uses the original SMW graphics, with Map16 modified or not. Cutoff may or may not be fixed with ExGFX. Custom ASM and sprites/blocks may or may not be used, depending on how game-changing they are. Custom music may or may not be used.

A chocolate hack will fulfill at least two of these:
-Custom graphics
-Custom patches (game-changing)
-Custom sprites/blocks
-Custom music
Thus, it can be chocolate but still have original SMW graphics.

All hacks will either be vanilla or chocolate. Strawberry is chocolate. Choconilla is chocolate. Pure white vanilla is vanilla.

inb4 hurr durr i wont follow the norm my hack will not fall into stereotypical categories there is no clear definition etc. The only thing that doesn't fall into either is the original SMW.
Why not make a 0-15 rating system where 0 is pure vanilla and 15 is as chocolate as something like 'Drive the Desert Bus' or 'Randor's Inside Story.'? It doesn't have to be 0-15. Could be 1-10 or 20.
Legacy custom music
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SMW hacking channel

Originally posted by Ladida

All hacks will either be vanilla or chocolate. Strawberry is chocolate. Choconilla is chocolate.

You realize how incorrect that is?
don't click this link...
Originally posted by Luigi-San
And this is why we REALLY need to come up with official, sitewide definitions of all of these.

It's why we need to stop caring about arbitrary classifications that don't actually mean anything.
Originally posted by mathelete
Originally posted by Ladida

All hacks will either be vanilla or chocolate. Strawberry is chocolate. Choconilla is chocolate.

You realize how incorrect that is?

I don't mean it literally; of course a strawberry isn't chocolate.
Originally posted by Ladida
All hacks will either be vanilla or chocolate. Strawberry is chocolate. Choconilla is chocolate. Pure white vanilla is vanilla.


I have to agree here you can't have a hack in between the two norms it's either modified to a fair degree or not. Even if you just open a hack in Lunar magic move something and save it a lot or ASM hacks get inserted.
Saying some like "my hack is strawberry/choconilla because I didn't use ASM patches I just inserted a few blocks" still makes it chocolate because you are using something outside the original game.
Now using map16 and original SMW graphics is a little border line but I'd still say it falls under the vanilla side because you aren't truely adding anything to the game just moving it around.
Here's a fun fact, the term "vanilla" in this site originates from a slang of the same word that literally means ordinary.
Thus, a vanilla SMW hack is a very normal one, without the extra content and only uses what is given.

Chocolate is ALMOST the opposite, meaning you used downloaded content (presumbly from this site) into the game, not necessary crazy ASM and hi-quality music.
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