Miscellaneous Helpful Hints

Let's see...if you want your hack to be organized, then maybe these would help:
-Use Palette 3 for BG ExGFX, Palette 2 for FG ExGFX, and use the free eight colors in the other palettes if you need extra colors. This leaves a bunch of palettes free to use.
-Have a .txt file with a list of ExGFX files and what you're using them for.
-Work on all the worlds in order, but do the levels within in any order. This ensures that you don't have a ROM filled with randomly placed levels.
-Work on your overworld as you do the levels. This is the big one: instead of thinking "Okay, now I have to do a desert puzzle level with an oasis joining a pyramid and a sand dune", you can think "Okay, what type of level should I make next? I can make anything!" I've had the same problem before (completely finishing the overworld before any levels were done), and any hack where I've done that has been cancelled within two levels.

Sprite D2 should do it, if I'm understanding your problem correctly. It mentions that sprite under Lakitu's description...

If anyone still cares, I found a solution/explanation for this by coincidence. Anyway, it's possible to get rid of it. It's tile 260 out of GFX00.bin, mirrored and loaded into the Title screen for whatever reason. It's usually part of the dust-cloud or Lakitu's cloud. So, easist way to get rid of it would be to load an ExGFX-file in Level C7, in which you replace tile 260 with tile F8 (which would be blank). With that, you wouldn't see anything anymore. I just tried that with my Title screen, which had the same problem, and it worked perfectly.

Jump to 6466, and look for all the 04s. Change all the 04s between 6482 and 648E, including those numbers, but don't change the 12s. Now, when drifting, Mario's cape will stay still. Since I didn't test spin jump, it will probably be the same way - just overwrite all the 04s with 00 until you get to that block that looks like a bunch of different numbers/letters (you'll know what I mean.) As for how I found it... I just looked in the ROM map for cape offsets. It wasn't detailed, so I just changed numbers until I got something that worked. XD

For no fade-out at the goal, go to x3135 and type the following: 4C 91 B0 EA D0 and at x3291 type: AD C6 13 F0 FA A5 13 29 03 4C 39 AF. This is taken straight out of my notes. Someone should add this to the ROM map.

1F6 - Iggy
E5 - Morton
1F2 - Lemmy
D9 - Ludwig
CC - Roy
D3 - Wendy
1EB - Larry
1C7 - Bowser
DF - Reznor (Vanilla Fortress)
D5 - Reznor (Forest Fortress)
E2 - Reznor (Chocolate Fortress)
1DE - Reznor (Valley Fortress)

SP1 = GFX00
SP2 = GFX0D
SP3 = GFX24
SP4 = GFX22
FG/BG = GFX

From the Rom Map:
30338 $06:8138 282 bytes Level data Unused level: Boss Test
Basically all you have to do is to open up your Rom in LM, and enter "30338" in "Enter level address" and you are there.

Thanksfully I decided soon enough to put FG tiles in FG4, BG tiles in FG3 and the BG palette always stays on palette 5 and the basic FG stuff on palette 2. Which that, it was so much easier to work with that stuff.

At the time I started TSRPR one of my main goals in organisation was to try to put certain FG tiles always on the same position in the GFX-file, so even when I used another tileset I could still use the same tiles on the map16. The reason for that was that I totally ran out of free map16-space in TSRP2 and I don't wanted that again.

Use Palette 3 for BG ExGFX, Palette 2 for FG ExGFX, and use the free eight colors in the other palettes if you need extra colors. This leaves a bunch of palettes free to use.

Select the entire background in the editor and hit control + F9. That'll allow you to mass change the values of bg tiles.

All you have to do is use the "replace color" button. In yy-chr 0.98 Beta 2, it's to the right to the "Shift to the Right" button and the left of the "Load emulator's state" button. Basically the second last button when counting from the left. The rest should be explained by itself when you click it.

In gfx00 or at the start of allgfx you will see the 1/2/3/5up tiles. the 5up one is glitched (and is the green one). replace it with a squished goomba tile with yy-chr. Dont replace the whole tile, just the half. you can rip the tile from a smas rom or which rom you like. hope that is helpful >_>

Now, you can bring carryable custom sprites to next level through the pipe. Change one byte at 0x12E18 to "80". This also fixes the glitch of silver P switch, I think. EDIT : Pressed switches also won't return to former state.

The level ender sprite checks all sprites in memory, but it ignores a few key sprites. To ignore them, it checks to make sure a bit is set or not. If you want the sprite to ignore certain sprites (like your generator or koopas), set "item does not turn into a coin at goal" in the cfg editor or tweaker. That's how we got it to ignore the ball and chains for the Morton battle.

You know how to insert sprites, right? First, insert the Donut Lift sprite where it tells you to. Now go into the "blocks" folder that came with SpriteTool, and retrieve the Donut Lift block. It'll tell you where to insert it, but you'll probably have better luck inserting it wherever and just changing the variable in the ASM file for the sprite that specifies what Map16 number to use. If you inserted the sprite and the block in the right spots, your Donut Lifts should work fine. This one took me a while too, don't worry... ^_^

The speed is very simple but it always baffles people who don't know signed arithmetic. Luckily it's very simple in the case of speeds.

The jump height ranges from 80-FF. Lower values jump HIGHER, so 80 is your max and FF is your absolute bottom. The latter byte in that will jump lower than the former.

XSPD has one byte for left and right and they move equally as fast, but they are stored differently for each direction. For the first byte, you would just throw in the x speed value you want. For the second byte though, you take the speed you want, go into MS calculator and set it to hex, byte mode. Start with 00 and subtract the speed you want for it. I chose 04; 00 - 04 = FC which is what you see in the second byte. If you wanted a speed of 12, it would be laid out as XSPD dcb $12 (00 + 12 = 12), $EE (00 - 12 = EE).

Almost every xspeed table works the same.

The Poison Mushroom sprite is weird. It's not really a custom sprite; instead it REPLACES Unused Sprite 85. So what you do is insert it into the game, then go into a Hex Editor and change the Rom Address for one of the ?-blocks that pops out an item, to make it spawn Sprite 85. I used the Green Shell block for this. (This, of course, means I can't use any Green Shell spawning blocks in my hack at ALL-- keep that in mind.)

If you want to use the Poison Mushroom, I suggest overwriting the ?-block with a Shell (you have to change two offsets-- one for Yoshi and one for no Yoshi), but if you'd rather have ?-blocks with shells, I'd change the Wings. Nobody uses the Wings, really, and if you wanted to send Mario to the Wings level you can just use another custom block/sprite. (I recommend the SMB3 Red Note Block custom block someone made in the database.

Don't mess with this block. It's WAAAY too useful to mess with.

When you want a custom block that you hit from below like a ?-block and that turns into a Used Block, your solution is this block. Just set "Acts Like" to that tile, specify everything else in the custom block code, set the Below Offset to 0 and everything else to -1... Bingo, it works PERFECTLY. It's almost too good to be true, since I don't even think that block was used in the original SMW.

You know how to insert sprites, right? First, insert the Donut Lift sprite where it tells you to. Now go into the "blocks" folder that came with SpriteTool, and retrieve the Donut Lift block. It'll tell you where to insert it, but you'll probably have better luck inserting it wherever and just changing the variable in the ASM file for the sprite that specifies what Map16 number to use. If you inserted the sprite and the block in the right spots, your Donut Lifts should work fine. This one took me a while too, don't worry... ^_^

If you want to fix a ROM with already added custom music, open the ROM by hex editor. Next, search "1A 09 20 8D FB 1D 9C DA 0D 6B" and change to "1A 09 20 8D FB 1D 8D DA 0D 6B."

Try to change one byte at 0x2102E to "80." I think this fixes that. I don't know if this causes something else, though...

The YXPPCCCT format is used to store sprite tilemap properites. The information is stored in binary and makes up a single byte.

76543210
YXPPCCCT

X : X flip
Y : Y flip
PP : Priority
CCC: Palette
T : Bit 8 of tile number
To change tilemap properties stored in yxppcct format, one must convert the hex value into binary. This is usually done with the aid of the computer's calculator. For instance, the value 45 in hex becomes 01000101. Broken down, this becomes:

0 | 1 | 00 | 010 | 1
X | Y | PP | CCC | T
The "0" for X means that the tile is not flipped horizontally.

The "1" for Y means that the tile is flipped vertically.

The "00" for PP means that the tile does not take priority. (If two tiles are occupying the same space, this one will appear beneath one that has priority)

The "010" for CCC means that the tile uses yellow palette A. The values for palettes are as follows:

•000 - Palette 8 (Mario)
•001 - Palette 9 (Grey)
•010 - Palette A (Yellow)
•011 - Palette B (Blue)
•100 - Palette C (Red)
•101 - Palette D (Green)
•110 - Palette E
•111 - Palette F
The "1" for T means that the tile is on the second graphics page (While 0 would put it on the first graphics page)

Once changes are made to the binary bits, they must be converted back into a single hex byte for SMW to be able to read it.

A GOOD THING TO KNOW WHEN MAKING LAYER 2 LEVELS:
The Layer 2 sprite commands have limits. Know them!

NOTICE: The following was found using half-assed research. Please correct me if I screwed up something.
All Layer 2 Smash and Scroll commands can be used when Layer 2 is a background. In fact, the original game used a Layer 2 Scroll 1 Range=5 command in room 4 of Bowser's Castle.If you put a Midway Gate or pipe exit, or if you have a Ghost House with multiple entrances, make sure to have a Layer 2 command at every possible entrance. Otherwise, Layer 2 will do nothing!!!
Layer 2 Smash 1: Objects on screens 0 and 0x1 smash down every 5 seconds after they reset. Objects on screens 0x2-0x4 do nothing. Objects on screens 0x5-0x7 smash down immediately after they reset and get shifted down about a row from where you place them in Lunar Magic. Objects on screen 0x8 do nothing. Objects on screens 0x9 to the end smash very quickly and get shifted down about five rows from where you place them in Lunar Magic. This is why I don't make many levels that use the Smash 1 setting. X(
Layer 2 Smash 2: No shifting, thank God, but that says nothing about what you DO have to put up with. Objects on screens 0 through 0x3 hesitate a little, smash, reset, wait 5 seconds, then repeat. Objects on screen 0x4 do nothing. Objects on screens 0x5-0x8 hesitate, smash, reset, and repeat immediately. Screens 0x9 and 0xA are rest zones, and then objects on screens 0xB to the end hesitate and smash very quickly.
Layer 2 Smash 3: The easiest to use, but also the most boring. Objects on all screens hesitate, move very slowly, then smash.
Layer 2 Scroll (all of them): The position you put the objects in in Lunar Magic represents the peak of their scroll. Also, the "Range" number on the sprite command represents how many rows they move.
Layer 2 Scroll 1: If the range is 12, you must click on the door with the 1 on it, go to Layer 1,2 initial position, and select "BG=00". Otherwise, you'll get garbage. Also, everything shifts down 1 row from where you put it.
Layer 2 Scroll 4: If you use "Smash Range=11", then all you're getting is a glorified Layer 2 Smash 1 command that works for the whole level and doesn't shift anything.
Layer 2 Falls: Layer 2 horizontal AND vertical scrolling must both be on "none". This command will cause you to get stuck on the first screen, and layer 2 will just fall a bit. I really don't know what use this command would have.
Layer 2 Scroll Sideways: Can only be used on vertical levels. The level won't scroll horizontally. The Sideways Short command will only scroll things the length of your emulator, but the Sideways Long command will scroll things the entire horizontal length of the level.
Layer 2 On/Off: Make sure to put an On/Off Switch when you use this!!! Especially if spikes are involved...!
Layer 2 Sink/Rise (all of them): Will not do anything on Screen 0. There is also a limit to how far everything sinks/rises. The range for Layer 2 Sink Short is about two screens, then a one-screen break, then another four screens, and then they stay sunk. Needless to say, don't expect many Layer 2 Sink levels in my hack. The range for Layer 2 Sink Long is the whole entire length of the level! When you use Layer 2 Rise Up, the place you put objects in with Lunar Magic represents the highest point that they'll rise. They'll be set about 12 rows lower than that when you encounter them in the game. The range for Layer 2 Rise Up is the same as Layer 2 Sink Short. And finally, Layer 2 Give Some is completely useless. It just causes Layer 2 to hesitate a little when you step on it, then reset when you step off.
And there you have it. That's all I know on Layer 2 stuff. Hope you learned something. Now I have to go remake my test level, as it was a normal Layer 1 level that was longer than the 0x10 screen limit that Layer 2 levels have! >_>

EDIT on December 5, 2007: Scroll down, and you'll see that user hebesphenomegacorona has found a use for "Layer 2 Falls". Thanks! ^^

Layer 2 Falls: Layer 2 horizontal AND vertical scrolling must both be on "none". This command will cause you to get stuck on the first screen, and layer 2 will just fall a bit. I really don't know what use this command would have. There was a level in Kaizo World II that used this command. You had to run through spaces in rows of cement blocks before they crushed you. It was a pretty unique area. So there's one use...

Make it a Layer 2 level and use the Layer 2 Fall and Rise Up commands.

What 2731yugeip said is partially correct, you do need to use the layer 2 rise up command to make scrolling going down, and the layer 2 falls command to make scrolling go up (as strange as it is, that's the truth there). Both require the vertical layer 1 scroling to be set to "No Vertical or Horizontal Scroll" to work right.

To make the screen scroll down, first set the amount of screens to just one (only way this works), then you need to set the starting position on the top screen (I used E for the X coordinate, and 9 for the Y coordinate in one of the rooms in a level of mine). From here, build the floor on layer 1 (if you want to make things a little tougher, you can put in a spiked ceiling), then put everything else on layer 2, such as floor spikes, if you want to make it hard enough. You also have to put a layer 2 floor directly underneath the startkng position in order for this to work. Lastly, put the FG and BG settings (under the Main Entrance menu) to 00 and 60 respectively.

To make the screen scroll up, make the starting position on the screen second from the bottom (it should be C), this time, you need to put the level itself on layer 2. If you want to make the area more of a chase, you can put something hazardous on layer 1 that follows you, such as a bed of spikes or lava. Note, that when using this properly, the screen shakes a bit before it starts to scroll up, but that's okay.

Oh, a couple more things, one, if you plan to use enemies with either kind of scrolling, it's best to use a generator (I made a generator for Eeries in wave motion for one area, and I used the appearing/disappearing Boo Buddies in another), as sprites won't work too well with the layer 2 areas in either, two, for the exit, you need to place it on the same screen you start on, in both cases.

If you need more help with either, I'll be here.

Alright...

Step One:
I created the start of the long tunnel where the level begins.

Step Two:
I designed the wave where the player would start on layer 2, also setting BG horizontal and vertical scrolling to "None". With doing this, I made the wave stay on the screen at all times.

Step Three:
I placed an auto-scrolling sprite set at the slowest speed into the level. (Although I might change it to go faster.)

Step Four:
I modeled the stage, keeping note to the bone/surfboard's height so there wouldn't be any flaws that would keep the player from finishing.

Finished!
The player starts on the wave and the auto-scrolling sprite does it's work. At the same time, the wave follows the screen because layer 2 is still "the background", which lets me edit how fast it scrolls. In this case, I set it to "none" so it keeps up with the screen at all times.

Flaws:
For some reason, the player constantly slips off the layer 2 surfboard. I don't know how to fix it.