Language…
20 users online:  Atari2.0, DanMario24YT, Dennsen86, deported, derv82, drkrdnk, eltiolavara9, Fozymandias, h.carrell, Isikoro, kms415, krizeth, masl, MorrieTheMagpie, Serena, sinseiga, sparksplit-smw, StarWolf3000, steelsburg, trihex - Guests: 287 - Bots: 304
Users: 64,795 (2,375 active)
Latest user: mathew

F.A.Q. Overhaul!

Over the last few months, we've been working behind the scenes to overhaul SMW Central's F.A.Q. section. Overtime, it had become outdated with all of the new updates to the SMW Hacking scene.

So, what's new?
- Everything outdated is now gone. Any references to old tools, dead links etc have been removed and updated.
- Multiple new questions have been added.
- Styling has been added to various text, such as key commands, window labels, level numbers etc. to make everything clearer.
- New section added for UberASM.
- Questions from the old "Common Topics" thread have been moved to appropriate sections under the FAQ. This also resulted in a new Miscellaneous section being created.
- We've added a big Glossary section to the FAQ, too. This defines a huge amount of terms used throughout not just SMW Hacking, but SMW Central too.

There's many more minor changes - but these are the most notable.


Now everything is updated, we hope for the FAQ to be useful again to new and old SMW hackers alike.



Found something wrong?
We've been over the FAQ update many times - but if we missed something, please post it here or let a staff member know.



And as it says right at the top of the FAQ, please contact a staff member if you have any suggestions for the FAQ too.
Oh good, there have been a couple things in particular I've noticed that have been wrong for eons that should probably get fixed. #ab{:)}


In the "Getting Started" section:

Question: Which games are supported by Lunar Magic?
Answer: "...Super Mario All-Stars v1.0 (U) [!] are partially supported, and SMAS is incompatible with Lunar Magic's 4bpp graphics feature."


Not to nitpick, but the Super Mario All-Stars ROM isn't supported by LM at all. LM supports SMAS+W, not SMAS. Those are two different ROMs.

Also 4bpp works just fine for SMAS+W and always has as far as I know, so I'm not sure where that notion even came from. I think the only thing LM doesn't support for that ROM is the fast ROM patch, which LM disables the option for.


In "Overworld Editing" section:

Question: How do I link Star and Pipe Overworld tiles?
Answer: First set the two tiles where you physically want them to be. Then, click the first one and go to #lm{owexstar}. Choose an Exit Index first (it doesn't matter which one), and then make the destination index No Setting. Go to your second tile and go back to #lm{owexstar}. Exit Index is anything but the exit index you just picked for the first tile. Then, for Destination, pick the index you picked as the exit for the first tile. Go back to the first tile and set the Destination as the exit of the second tile.


This is a mishmash of different procedures for different versions of LM, and ends up being wrong for all of them.

The procedure for any version of LM made in the last decade is to use an alt-left click on the first tile, then an alt-left click on the second tile, chose two unused indexes in the dialog that comes up and hit ok. Or you can substitute alt-left clicks with selecting the tile and hitting the #lm{owexstar} button.


In "Level Editing":

Question: How do I remove everything from a level to start fresh?
Answer: Hit Ctrl + Delete, then choose Yes. This clears everything but the background, entrances, and exits. This option can also be found under Edit > Delete All.


Screen exits are cleared too, as are secondary entrances. Just the main/midway entrances aren't, as they can't be removed.


In "Technical Fixes and Helpful Tips":

Question: It takes me way too long to find the ExGFX file I'm looking for in Super GFX Bypass!
Answer: Options > General Options > Program Options and uncheck Standard GFX Bypass Dialogue. You can now type in the ExGFX files instead.


This is just old info, you've been able to type the ExGFX numbers in the regular dialog for a few years now. One of these days I may get around to doing some cleanup and removing the option for the alternate dialog.
Adding to the minor nitpicks, there is a small one i noticed as well:

Originally posted by F.A.Q. - Graphics
Question: What is the size limit of graphics files?
Answer: 4kB for files intended to be used for layer 1/2 and sprites, 6kB for ExAnimation, 2kB for layer 3 graphics, 8kB for layer 3 tilemaps. GFX32.bin and GFX33.bin are for player graphics. GFX32.bin is 23.2kB in size, and GFX33.bin is 12kB in size.

I highlighted in red what's wrong:
- The ExGFX files for ExAnimation have a max file size of 6.5kB, not 6kB.
- Only file GFX32.bin is used for player graphics (as well as a few tiles in GFX00.bin). File GFX33.bin contains the graphics used as the frames for the game's original animations. These include Yoshi, Baby Yoshi, Jumping Podoboos and all animated tiles present in the FG1 and FG2 slots in the 8x8 tile editor.
My Youtube Channel
actually you can use the first part of gfx33 for player gfx (obv the original game doesnt but the tilemapping allows for it)
Thanks for that, FuSoYa. The part on Super GFX Bypass I was actually aware of, but it slipped my mind I'm guessing! I'll amend questions/answers when I can to reflect what you've listed.

Thanks also, ECS.98. I'll verify everything and update answers.
I've updated the FAQ with everything as FuSoYa and ECS.98 noted - thanks again.
Many people refer to GUI information displayed superimposed on the screen as a HUD (heads-up display), but don't refer to “status bar” when new to SMWC. So to refer to layer 3 or or the term “status bar”, mention that.
Give thanks to RPG hacker for working on Asar.