When asked about the question which is the best SMB ROM hack, the answer would normally be Extra Mario Bros. Indeed, in playability and design, EMB triumphs over all others by a huge margin... but this fact actually shows the LACK of extremely high quality hacks based on SMB, since besides the final boss, in terms of technical achievements, EMB doesn't have much.
Time for a change.
PROJECT MARIO GAIDEN
This project NEEDS YOUR HELP! Currently I'm almost doing all of the programming work, and I'm already starting to get occupied with real life issues like my job.
Posts wanted:
> Assistant 6502 ASM programmer
> Level designer (work will start much later though)
A demo video is here https://www.bilibili.com/video/av18241594 , though it only demostrates some of the new mechanics in the game and not all of them.
Concept artwork:
Since it's currently only a prototype, it has only one test level available, so let's just name things that it's capable of doing.
> 4-directional scrolling
Yes, you hear this one right. To actually make this, the level loading mechanics have undergone a complete overhaul.
> An ability & equipment system
This is one enhancement that I intend to use to stand out from the others. Because yeah, 4-directional scrolling is hard to make, but SMB3 and SMW have it anyway. However, SMB3 and SMW don't have Metroid-like equipment.
To be honest, this part's coding isn't as complex since most just need some condition judgements to work (an exception is the speed booster), so there can be a great amount of upgrades to come in the future.
There are 4 categories:
Ability-A: Jump related abilities, like slowed descending, double jumps etc. Currently, they consume coins, but in the plan they would consume vitality instead.
Ability-B: Offensive and defensive abilities. They currently consume coins, but in the plan they would consume mana instead.
Equipment: Permanently in effect.
Spell: These are one-shot 'spell cards'.
In the plan, there are also vitality seeds and magic seeds for the player to uncover.
> Powerups
Powerups have second upgrades, and they have charge shots.
Only those already implemented are written here, the plan has more. To see the moves, check the video.
Fiery: Everyone knows what that is. Upgrade: Shot has splash damage. Charge shot: Fires a large wave.
Bat: Can turn into a bat like Alucard in the Castlevania series. Upgrade: Bat form manacost lowered, and the player automatically transforms into a bat if he's about to fall into an abyss.
Gunner: Fires in 10 directions, but only if on the ground.
Ice: Freezes an enemy in place.
Ninja: Slower descending speed when clinging to a wall, and can do wall kicks.
(The plan also involves more complex moves, and powerups like Mage Mario)
> Multi-layered map
See gif.
> Cutscene mechanics
Text description: In cutscene mode, the game is able to arbitrarily control everything at best, but it requires custom programming then. Easier to do stuff in cutscene mode:
-A dialogue box, with choices available
-Fixes some memory addresses for a period of time
-Blackout and switch to another level
etc. These are already programmed.
> Programmed bosses
How complex can these bosses be?
See https://www.bilibili.com/video/av831164 . Note that in actuality the difficulty wouldn't be this high.
> Music
You may think EMB's final boss theme kicks ass, but this game already modded the SMB music engine so that it's capable of defining all sorts of timbre and using the DPCM channel as well.
See the video.
In fact, earlier, this game even used the VRC7 expansion chip which has sound on par with the Sega Genesis, but later I ported the game to MMC5 and have to use that chip instead. Neverless, MMC5 can still be utilised well:
these links prove everything (they are planned BGMs).
> Background: The game has user defined background, but the demo hasn't demostrated it well.
This is an image of an earlier hack I made called Rohrleitung Gate, which demostrates the concept. Note the parallax scrolling in the background.
> Scrolling effects
Using IRQs, we can achieve more interesting scrolling effects, for example this wavy scroll.
Also this is one window of the in-progress editor.
https://cloud.smwcentral.net/s/mo5JKZrf9q84kFR/download
More gifs from the original RHDN thread (these are much older minor mods intended to be in the game):
By the way, https://www.bilibili.com/video/av1229327 is my last released hack. That one is done in a hex editor AND without the SMB disassembly, although it might have already come out by then.
noivernedit: changed some images that stretch the tables to links