Submission Guidelines

SMW Graphics Submission Guidelines

This page details the guidelines you need to follow when making a graphics submission to SMW Central. Resources submitted to the site are assumed to be ready for final evaluation for section readiness.

Graphics hacks are no longer being accepted to the section and an effort is underway to split them up into individual submissions.

Rejected submissions or removals will be logged here.

Core Valueslink

All submissions should try and adhere to the values below that SMW Central expects for graphics submissions, including Rips. If you are unsure whether your submission meets the section's minimum standards or not, seek feedback in this forum or in our Discord channel, #graphics, before submitting. The Pixel Art and Paletting tips found in this thread may also be of help.

1. Submissions must be reasonably usable in hack projects  §
   Graphics that are submitted to the section should aim to be as flexible as possible for use in hack projects, and not require much additional setup work on the part of users beyond the usual insertion process. A main goal of all graphics should be that they remain usable in Super Mario World levels and fit alongside the base game's graphics and other graphic resources users may want to use. This means avoiding using a high number of (or all) graphic slots, overwriting existing tiles in the base game's graphics, or using excessive palette rows. Background resource submissions should be aware of how they will loop or fit within a Super Mario World level as well.


2. Graphics must be consistent with how they supposed to be interacted with  §
   A mismatch between graphics and the elements they're intended to be used for, especially those the player will interact with, may negatively affect the gameplay and how players will experience those elements. For example: a Spiny reskin must look dangerous from above; a Foreground object that looks solid must be solid (in Map16); background objects, decoration and otherwise passable objects (for being behind the player) must not look solid.


3. Graphics should have consistent style and colors  §
   Do your best to avoid clashing palettes and differing art styles within the submission, so that all elements are consistent with one another. For example: cartoony elements mixed with realistic ones, or detailed elements mixed with more simple ones, or saturated (vivid) colors mixed with desaturated (washed-out) colors.


4. Graphics should follow good pixel art practices  §
   All submissions are technically pixel art and should follow some of the basic principles of that form. You can find info about some of these practices here. Some bad pixel art practices to avoid in your submissions would be: inconsistent lighting directions/multiple light sources, having even shading on all elements (a.k.a "pillow shading"), banding, a lack of anti-aliasing or jagged outlines (due to, for example, using the circle tool in common graphics editors without making any adjustments afterwards), broken gradients (happens often with Rips).


5. Avoid submitting "simple edits"  §
   "Simple edits" are any change to the graphics of the base game that someone could reasonably make themselves. Some are acceptable in the section, but you must be absolutely sure that your simple edit submission: would be useful for everyone; is a general improvement over the original graphics; does not take too little time, effort and thought to be made in any graphics editor; warrants a place in the section, not cluttering it up and not making it costly to browse and filter in the process. This is a good example of an acceptable simple edit.

Submission Requirementslink

Review the table below and be sure to have the appropriate items ready for the type of submission you plan to make.

	.bin ExGFX File	Sample Level	.Map16 File	Palette Files*	Shared Palettes	Sample BPS	Screenshots**
Background							In-game screenshot, Map16 page screenshot.
Foreground
Sprite							In-game screenshot, Tile editor screenshot.
Player
Layer 3
Overworld
Font
Miscellaneous							The relevant images for the type of submission it is most similar to.

- compulsory.
- only if used, hover over the checkmark for more information.
*Palette files include both the main palette .pal file and the masking .palmask file.
**Do not include screenshots in the submitted Zip file.

General Guidelines  §

These guidelines apply to all submissions, failure to follow them will result in your submission being rejected.

• Only include the relevant required files from the table above for the type of submission it is.
• Palette files must not overwrite the vanilla status bar's palettes, if it can be avoided.
  • If overwriting the status bar palettes is unavoidable, mention solutions in the description that can be used to circumvent the issue, such as a patch to hide the status bar.
• The sample level must only use ExGFX files included in the submission, and not use other files that aren't present in the submission that would cause missing ExGraphics errors.
• Palette files (.pal) must come with accompanying mask files (.palmask).
• ExGraphic files (.bin) must be optimized. Optimized files are those that:
  • Do not contain duplicate tiles, which includes those that are flipped/mirrored as Map16 can flip tiles.
  • Have their 8x8 tiles arranged in rows from the top-left to the bottom right with no blank gaps.
  • Are reasonably contained to the minimum number of .bin files for insertion.
• Do not include more ExGraphics files than necessary for the submission.
• For much easier insertion, ExGraphics files should be named as 'ExGFXxx.bin', where xx stands for the number. It's also acceptable to add the graphics slot the file is meant for after the number. Example: ExGFX14C (BG1).bin
• Please optimize your Map16 tiles and make reasonably look organized. Related tiles should be next to each other and backgrounds should use as many neighbouring tiles as possible.

Screenshot Guidelines  §

In addition to following the general Screenshot Guidelines for quality control, keep the following in mind when uploading all of the necessary screenshots to your submission as pointed out in the above table.

• Screenshots of Lunar Magic preview windows should stay at their native window size to keep things consistent with other submissions.
• Map16 page screenshots should be clean from irrelevant and junk tiles.
• In-game screenshots should be attached before any other included images.
• Don't include screenshot files in your submission's Zip file,

Other Guidelines  §

These guidelines are things that the moderation team will also be looking out for, if they aren't reasonably followed then your submission may be rejected.

• Please use the palette space wisely. Do not overwrite colors unused by your submission itself. Avoid overwriting important palettes used by SMW without clear intent and reasoning behind it. Do not copy over SMW's original colors to different indices (indexes) if you can use them in their original ones. This diagram shows which colors are preferred for each kind of submission.
• Mention in the description if your submission requires a third-party patch, for example: a Sprite Status Bar for Layer 3 that covers all the screen, or Separate Status Bar Palettes for Layer 3 that requires overwriting the vanilla status bar palettes. You must also use the patch needed tag in this case.
• Do not submit content generated from automatic ripping tools, such as Ultimate Background Ripping Tool or SnesGFX that has not been optimized and/or fixed for usage. Make sure the output files have been adjusted to follow all submission guidelines.
• Graphics that are ripped from the work of independent artists must be credited to those creator(s) in the "Authors" field, alongside yourself as the ripper. Also, select Original instead of Ripped for the "Type" field.
• Do not bundle multiple differently-themed or otherwise unrelated graphics sets into one submission. For example, don't submit a file that contains both a desert tileset and a forest tileset, or tilesets from two different games. This is to ensure users can easily search for and fetch the necessary graphics they need.

Type-Specific Requirementslink

Each type of submission to the section will have particular requirements, please review the guidelines relevant for your submission below.

Backgrounds and Foregrounds  §

• Do not overwrite the first three foreground Map16 pages (0x00, 0x01, 0x02) and the first two background ones (0x80 and 0x81).
• The Map16 page shouldn't contain any irrelevant tiles.
• All of your Map16 tile acts should work properly.
• If your submission uses animations, they must be included in the sample level.
• For submissions that contain both a foreground and a background, it's better to have a separate pair of .pal and .palmask for each of them, so users can easily insert only one of them if so they wish. In that case, it's also advised to indicate which graphics files belong to the foreground and which belong to the background by placing them in different folders or including a note in a readme file.
• Your background should have the best scrolling settings possible in the sample level.

Sprite Graphics  §

• Do not overwrite the player's palette.
• The sprite the graphics are for must be either a custom sprite in the Sprites section or one in the original game. Link the sprite in the description.
• The .bin file must only overwrite the sprite's graphics and nothing else.
• The graphics tiles must be positioned correctly in the .bin file so the sprite can load them accordingly.

Player Graphics  §

• Make sure your graphics aren't missing any important frames.
• Please only submit a shared palettes file, not multiple .pal files for each state for Mario and Luigi (Players 1 and 2).
• If your submission includes Yoshi riding frames and if your shared palettes file negatively affects Yoshi's colors on the Overworld: remap Yoshi's colors in GFX10.bin and include a (non-shared) palette file and its corresponding palmask containing the remapped colors. Try to make it so all four of Yoshi's color variations (yellow, green, red and blue) look correct. Lastly, mention in the description that the user must import that non-shared palette file via the Green Star + Red Arrow button on every submap if they want to have Yoshi display its correct colors on the Overworld.

Layer 3 Graphics  §

• Files submitted must work with Lunar Magic's Layer 3 feature. TerraStripe is no longer supported.
• You should submit a tilemap file and any files Lunar Magic is required to use for your Layer 3.
• If your submission uses animations, they must be included in the sample level.
• Your Layer 3 should have the best scrolling settings possible in the sample level.

Overworld Graphics  §

• Your overworld graphics do not have to work with the original game overworld.
• Submit a sample BPS so the user can see how the overworld tiles work.
• If your submission uses animations, they must be included in the sample BPS.

Fonts and Text  §

• Please ensure your font has at least A-Z, a-z and 0-9 characters (or 0-7 for message box/level name text), as well as punctuation.
• Fonts can either be a GFX2A replacement or replacements for other text used in the original game. A GFX2A replacement is the most common type of font.

Miscellaneous  §

• Refer to the submission guidelines of the type of submission your submission is the most like.

How to Submit A Graphics Resourcelink

When going to submit your resource to the Graphics section be sure to do all of the following to properly follow the submission process.

Name	The name your submission will have in the section. For consistency with other submissions, please follow the naming conventions detailed below
Type	Select "Ripped" if your graphics come from commercial games or other released media; select "Original" if your graphics were made by SMW Central users or other independent artists around the internet.
Purpose	What your graphics are meant for. Hold Ctrl to select multiple purposes.
Slots Used	Which GFX slots your submission is currently using. Hold Ctrl to select multiple slots. Note that message box fonts use LG3.
Palette Rows Used	Which palette rows your submission uses. Hold Ctrl to select multiple rows. These must be selected even if your graphics use the vanilla palettes, to assist with anyone who may need to remap them.
Description	Describe the submission, pointing out visual aspects and peculiarities. Inform the user of anything important they should know to use the submission properly. Here you should also include links to associated resources (custom blocks, sprites, ASM patches) and/or any information regarding said resources. This is especially important if the submission comes with bundled ASM patches.
Authors	If it's Ripped, who converted the graphics to SMW; if it's Original, put in who drew the graphics plus who converted to SMW.
Tags	Add only the necessary tags to your submission, and follow the Tag Guidelines for Graphics submissions.
Screenshots	In addition to the Screenshot Guidelines, keep screenshots of Lunar Magic preview windows at their native window size to keep things consistent with other submissions and make sure your Map16 page screenshots are clean from clutter and junk tiles.
Submission Notes	Use this field to let the moderators know of anything pertaining to the submission that warrants their attention, such as changes in the submission in case it's an update, or a detail that could be misinterpreted as a mistake, or why you took an unconventional course of action. This field will only be visible to moderators.

Graphic Resource Naming Conventions  §

To make things easily found in the graphics section and consistent for all submissions so people can intuitively search for items, all submissions must follow the conventions below.

• For ripped graphics use the {Game Title}: {Subtitle} - {Item} ({Additional Info}) convention, for example: "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Joke's End (Outside)"
• For graphics styled after another game use the {Game Title}: {Subtitle} - Styled {Item} convention, for example: "Super Mario All-Stars: Super Mario Bros. 3 Styled Fishbone"
  • {Game Title} - the title of the game.
  • {Subtitle} - the subtitle of the game, if it has one.
  • {Item} - is the level name, object, sprite, player, map, font, etc. that is being depicted.
  • {Additional Info} - any other contextual information to the submission, e.g. "Outside", "Stage 1", etc.
• For original graphics, they can be titled however you wish but try to make them easy to understand, related to the submission and findable in a search.

Additionally, don't use abbreviations or other variations of a game's name or include versions in your submission's name. With the exception of Font and Overworld purposes, don't put your name on your submission's name.