Language…
17 users online:  AmperSam, asterkafton, ClaireChan, DanMario24YT, Everest, Gamet2004, h4shcat, Hayashi Neru, LightAligns, MorrieTheMagpie, PaceTheAce, Rhubarb44230,  Segment1Zone2, ShadowMistressYuko, signature_steve, simon.caio,  zuccha - Guests: 261 - Bots: 343
Users: 64,795 (2,378 active)
Latest user: mathew

Super Mario World: Bowser's Kaizo Conspiracy - World 4 is done!

Standard

  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2




This is something I've been working on for the past couple of weeks or so, but the ideas started forming around the time I finished, or was close to finishing, my entry for the Overworld Design Contest. More often than not, my design contest entries get integrated into hacks. Why should my OWDC Overworld be any different. Still, the hack needed a plot. What would it be though?

I'm not opposed do doing the standard "Bowser kidnapped Peach for the 9001st time" plot. I am, after all, a traditionalist hacker, and that plot is as traditional as it gets for a Mario platformer. I then thought about SMWC itself. More specifically, I thought about the Hacks section, and its abundance of Kaizo hacks. I have nothing against the people who make these hacks or play and/or livestream them, but I'm personally not a fan of the Kaizo genre. With that in mind, I decided that Bowser's evil scheme for this hack would be trying to turn the Mushroom Kingdom into a Kaizo world. In other words, Bowser is involved in a Kaizo Conspiracy.

As if that weren't meta enough, I also decided that, in order to carry this plan out, Bowser would steal the magic wands from 7 Guardians, each of whom is based on a long-time member of SMWC. With the exception of one, I haven't yet decided if they'll actually appear in the game. Some candidates could be:

Jim Yoshi (Jimmy) - Guardian of Sound
He would likely be a Yoshi with headphones on. I seem to remember Jimmy once having a profile pic matching that description. He always struck me as a Yoshi fan, what with his Bowser Strikes Back OST making heavy use of Yoshi's Island samples and gravitation toward the Yoshi's Island hacking scene.

King Essenenn (SNN) - Guardian of Order
Whether or not he's actually royalty is debatable in-universe, but his inspiration is often drawn wearing royal garb, and he was an admin here for a while. He'll be donning a cape and crown here, but I haven't decided whether to give him a beer gut or have him permanently holding a bottle of booze.

Al Caro (Alcaro) - Guardian of Reason
I'd likely depict him as a robotic Shaymin. Beep.

Peter A. C. (Pac) - Guardian of Artifacts
Pac is probably best known, at least to me, for ripping a lot of graphics from Super Mario All-Stars and using them to try to recreate past Mario games in SMW with the limitations of early-to-mid-2000s SMW hacking. I'd likely have him be a Pac-Man with one of those rainbow afro clown wigs.

Azure Dee (Devazure - Guardian of Landmasses
He'd likely be a pink Bandanna Waddle Dee with a rainbow bandanna to represent Gay Pride since he's gay. He's Guardian of Landmasses because his specialty is Overworlds.

Blueberry Danish (Kieran Menor) - Grand Guardian
I gave him the name Blueberry Danish because he's from Denmark, seems to like the color blue, and is known for being a Brony. I wanted the name to sound like a My Little Pony name to reference that. He'll likely be visually manifested as a Pony if he and his fellows show up in a cutscene.

That's 6 of the 7 Guardians. Keep reading to find out about the seventh!

Before we meet her, though, lets look at a level or two.

1-1 - Here We Go Again!

It's the typical happy, inviting first level. I made a video, but I should probably hold off a bit on showing it because it contains bits of my Overworld.

1-2 Into the Wild Green Yonder

It's not "officially" going by that name yet, but will as soon as I apply the extended level names patch.

Gemma T's Pitstop

Here's that seventh Guardian! Meet Gemma T, Guardian of Creation. The others were likely taken by the Koopalings along with their wands, but she managed to get away and now serves as this hack's Toad Expy as well as an Author Avatar. She allows me to be a bit self-indulgent in this hack.

1-3 - Earthy Caverns

This is your typical World 1 cave level, but you might find something here that's more than meets the eye!

Gemma T's Back Room

This is what's behind that door in Gemma T's Pitstop. Those shelves look pretty barren, at least at the moment. That brings me to the most self-indulgent, and ambitious, gimmick in this hack. There are 16 collectible Transformers scattered throughout the game (2 per World), When you find one and collect it, it will appear on the shelves, like the one already present. There's a little bit of interactivity to these little bots though.


Pressing UP in front of one brings up a bio screen for the character it represents. I currently have 7 of these done.

1-S - Yellow Switch


Once again, Switch Palaces are contained in otherwise normal levels.

1-4 - Goom-Bounce Garden


This level is centered on Pea Bouncers, which, in this game, can bounce sprites as well as the player. Not all of them are the Pea Bouncer sprite, though. Some are blocks. and some of those only bounce enemies. This was mostly done to avoid the usual issues associated with having a lot of sprites on the screen in a non-SA-1 ROM.

1-F - Giga-Goomba's Fort

Goomba Towers, Giant Goombas, and Goomba-Generating Pipes can all be found here. It makes sense considering the boss is a Goomba. I had to dig the guy out of a legacy sprite archive and Trashkas him because he didn't survive the last sprite remoderation. SMWC! I NEEDED THAT!

1-5 - Donut Walk Away


1-C - Iggy's Castle

It's a typical end-of-world castle. It's not too tough, considering that it's only World 1. Iggy's a pushover if you have fire power. Gotta love Swag Kills!
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
I like the title name and the cool levels from world one!



List Soundtrack - List Hacks

Mega Man X3 OSTs
Well, well, well! Looks like we now have a non-C3 thread for this upcoming hack. I'm proud you finally nailed it for naming all the guardians after the members of SMW Central (including you!). Also, if you're planning to include them, tell the users who are interested in character design, as well as pixel artists. Either way, brilliant screenies, m'lady!
The Hacking of PuyoPuyo. Come join the fun, friends. 『いけいけ団長、頑張れ頑張れ団長!』
Help us raise funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. #ДопомагаємоРазом / #HelpTogether
“Even if you personally are so dissatisfied with life that you want the world to end, surely the cruel reality is that it will continue on, unchanging. All the better for someone perfectly content, like me.”
Aya Shameimaru, Touhou Suzunaan ~ Forbidden Scrollery
I gotta say, I really like the vibe of "Goom-Bounce Garden". Quite amazing how you find the energy to constantly work on new projects for so many years already. Also, the title is somewhat teasing. Don´t you want to try and make kaizo-hack, just for once? #tb{TwT}
C3 stuff: http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=67626 HDMA-Codes and Custom Music included!

1 Island Of Vanilla Feeling: http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=5988

MaSeHiHa World 1: http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=6055

DINGS Demo: https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=12147

neidoodle I will NEVER side with the Kaizocons!

On a more serious note, I've finally started work on World 2. I also reorganized my hack folder based on the system AmperSam showed off during C3. It makes setting up for levels so much less tedious than having to move my ROM back and forth between as many as 4 different folders to get everything inserted.

2-1 - Door Into Summer



This level introduces Spinies, Cheep-Cheeps, and Yoshi. Yoshi can't be carried from level to level because you can't trigger the flagpole while riding him.
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
I got a couple more World 2 levels done.

2-2 - Don't Get Crabby!


Yep, crabs.

2-H - Spooks' Summer Home


The puzzles in here all revolve around using the ON/OFF switch to manipulate water levels.
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
The most beautiful level is world 2-2 #smrpg{<3}



List Soundtrack - List Hacks

Mega Man X3 OSTs
Looks pretty cool!
I've done quite a bit of work on this since the last post. Now World 2 is almost done, and there might be a demo depending on the state of judging the OWDC.

2-3 Can't You Sea?


2-! - O'Switch's Seaside Shrine



2-F - Boom-Boom's Fortress



2-4 - Kick Your Game
It's another level named after a song.



2-5 - Ship Shape!




2-6 - Bombshell Beach


I also got all the bio screens done for my Transformers.

"Ultra Gear!"


"Me Grimlock KING!"


"Comin' through!"


"Well, I'm prepared...to knock those Decepti-Bums all the way back to Cybertron!"


"Soundwave: Superior. ZSNES: Inferior."


"I find this bio screen to be...logical."


"I'm not only an automobile, I'm an automobile enthusiast!"


"Who's the baddest shark around? Who's the smartest shark in town?"


"No more back-talk, or I'll short your mouth circuit!"
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
Nice screenshots. I really like the palettes in the fortress and the purple underground area, and the switch palace looks pretty neat (but then, I tend to like watery ruins and such anyway). The HDMA gradients look very nice as well. Also, I'm certainly learning more about Transformers, heh.

----------------

I'm working on a hack! Check it out here. Progress: 64/95 levels.
 imameliaOne of these days, you'll go from being a Martian Geek to a Cybertronian Geek I'm sure.

In the meantime, I have more screenshots and videos to show off.

World 2-Castle
Wendy O. Koopa's Castle


Dolphins? In the castle? Why not?


Not everything here is as friendly as the dolphins.


Taking the lower route lets you avoid one of the Thwomps here.


In the second half, the dolphins are replaced with sharks, and they aren't friendly.

Gemma T's Pitstop #2


Each Pitstop will be different, and each one will have some object that the player can interact with upon reaching certain exit milestones. In this one, the figure on the shelf will display a bio screen after you've found all the exits in the first two Worlds.



I've submitted a demo, which is currently undergoing moderation. In the process, I nearly wrecked my hack when I discovered a game crash in the end of demo level. I ported my ROM twice trying to implement workarounds, only to discover that the crash was caused by having the Layer 3 vertical scroll set to Variable 2. Apparently, that setting is not compatible with the Sprite Message Box.

While waiting for the hack to pass moderation, I decided to go ahead and start World 3.

World 3-1
Underground Antics


Get it?
This level was a bit of a challenge, but not because of designer's block or anything. It was a challenge to design the level with a sore left arm from my second COVID-19 shot. Thankfully, that awful Vaccine Arm is going away now.



World 3-2
Slimestone Grotto


This is slightly based on a level from Super Mario Outbreak's ill-fated third World with the same name and theme.


The large green slimes are slightly tweaked reskins of Von Fahrenheit's Sunshine-style Blooper.
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
Now I'm almost done with World 3. I just have to do Lemmy's Castle. In the meantime, here's the rest of it.

3-3 - Crystal Waters

The last level had some water, but this one is completely flooded.




3-4 - Meet the Beetles

Buzzy Beetles, Buster Beetles, and Spike Tops


3-5 - Kaboom Cavern

It's full of exploding blocks, which are graphic swaps of the TNT and Nitro Crate sprites.





3-F - Notorious B.O.O.'s Fortress

Here, I continue the trend of naming Big Boo Bosses after dead rappers. It all started with Heavy B in Starlight Island Adventure. Maybe I'll name my next one Boopac Shakur. After that, I'm out of good Boo puns on dead rappers' names.




3-6 - Crushing Crystals

This was a hard level to design. It revolves around crystals on Layer 2 that can crush you.


Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
Nice screenshots, man. But what if the next level (The castle) contains sparks that cling into nets.

Mod edit: please don't quote lengthy posts in their entirety, especially if they're the most recent post in the thread anyway. It unnecessarily stretches the thread vertically.
I haven't yet fully decided on the theme for the third castle, but the tileset I'm using does contain graphics for Amps. Maybe I'll use those. I could probably even have them on nets with a variant of the block that's only solid on one side of the net.
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
gohkenytp8 I thought about your suggestion, and ended up doing something along those lines for the third castle.

3-Castle
Lemmy Koopa's Castle



Just as I was getting ready to set up Lemmy's boss room, Lunar Magic started crashing whenever I tried to open the ROM. It turned out that either my computer's SD Card reader or the SD Card on which my SMW stuff was stored was starting to fail. That would've pretty much killed this hack if I didn't manage to get the files copied over to my hard drive before the card/reader failed completely. I'd rather not have to cancel this because of hardware problems.

With my files now safe, it's time to move on to World 4.

4-1
Deserted



The first level of World 4 has some fairly typical desert enemies, like Boomerang Bros and Piledriver Micro-Goombas.

4-2
Hokey Pokeys



Naturally, this stage is full of Pokeys. Some move faster, some don't move at all, and some have heads that bounce at random heights. Yoshi makes this level much easier.
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
These levels with the desert world in the beginning is awesome!



List Soundtrack - List Hacks

Mega Man X3 OSTs
Originally posted by Gamma V
gohkenytp8
4-1
Deserted



The first level of World 4 has some fairly typical desert enemies, like Boomerang Bros and Piledriver Micro-Goombas.

This level looks amazing.

But I've got an enemy idea for World 4-3. Blue Venus Fire Traps that spit 3 fireballs instead of one.
Just got a windows computer and am finally able to play rom hacks. Woo=hoo! lol I downloaded your hack last night and made it up to 1-5 Donut Walk Away. I have to say that it's been a very enjoyable experience playing through it so far...those bouncing goombas though really pissed me off! 🤣 Wonderful job with everything my friend! 👍
Thanks, Swiv.

Anyway, it's been a while since I last posted here. I have been working on this though. I've finished 3 more levels (4 if you count the Gemma T Pitstop).

World 4-A
Panser Pandemonium!


This level was originally going to be called "Sandstorm!" and have a sandstorm gimmick, but I decided to go with Pansers instead. "Panser Pandemonium" was originally going to be a regular level later in World 4, but, after looking at the bone-themed setpieces in the desert foreground I'm using, I decided I wanted to do a level with Dry Bones and the like called "Bone-Dry Badlands" instead.




World 4-B
Burning Sand-Sation!


Just like Gemma's drone said, this level revolves around avoiding pits of hot sand that hurt you if you step in them. There are also sand geysers that spring up all over the place. These are just as dangerous to touch from the sides, but are safe (and even necessary) to stand on top of. As if that, the Fire Snakes, and Fire Bros weren't enough, the Angry Sun shows up after the midpoint to heat things up even more....just like he seems to be doing here in Oklahoma right now.




Gemma T's Pitstop #3

Yes, she has a Blitty. I might even give her 3 more in future Pitstops. This one's behaving itself and just sleeping on the couch. That huge figure on the shelf was thankfully too big for the Koopas to steal. It's another one that only displays its bio screen if you've reached a certain number of exits.



Yeah, I made it display a message when you try to activate it without enough exits. I just need to figure out how to make it stop displaying that once you have.

World 4-Switch
Li'l Switch's Red-Hot Ruins


I guess this is the kind of level inspiration I get during a heat wave.



Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
Update time again!

4-3
Something Kinda Sphynx


Originally, this level was going to be called "COBRAT!!" and feature, well, Cobrats. I couldn't come up with a good design for that gimmick though, so I went with the Gau enemy from Super Mario Land.



4-4
Can You Dig It?


This was always intended to have heavy SMB2 influence, but the Birdo fight at the end was something that popped into my head while working on the level.





4-Pyramid
Pyramid Scheme


Haunted Pyramid? Why not? This is the desert world!




Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2

Standard