
Hey. I don't normally leave Forum Games, and haven't been on this site for a few years now, but I figure I should potentially inundate the discord community of the thing I've been doing most often with more people. So. Archipelago Multiworld. What is it?
In short, it's a Python framework for getting different randomizers to play nicely together in a multiworld setting. Those are a bunch of words that might not be instantly recognizable. What's a randomizer?
A randomizer is something that changes parts of an existing game in a random way, most often level order or item locations. The Super Mario World implementation in Archipelago restricts a bunch of Mario's actions and powerups, and you have to find them throughout the game(s) to be able to do those things like normal. To be specific, you're not allowed to climb, carry things, make Yoshi eat things, create adult Yoshis in the first place, use P-Balloons, use P-Switches, use Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, or Capes, use Stars, gain altitude while swimming, or even run at full speed. You will gain those abilities as you play through the game by clearing levels or obtaining the 1-up from dragon coins in a level, if the dragon coin option has been enabled.
A multiworld is when two different "worlds" (also known as "seeds", with the "seed" being the input given to the randomizer - if you play Minecraft, you might be familiar with the term already) can interact with each other. Say I'm playing Super Mario World, and a second person is playing A Link to the Past. I clear Yoshi's Island 1, sending an item over, and it happens to be the other player's hookshot - that is multiworlds in a nutshell.
The next question that would arise is thus: What games does Archipelago support? That link has the specifics, but at the time of writing, there are 55 games in Archipelago. Some of them were made specifically for AP, some of them aren't even proper games (for example, Clique is literally just a button you click to win your game, and Sudoku and ChecksFinder (a Minesweeper clone) only exist to give people more hint opportunities) but all of them can be part of the same multiworld, at the same time. So how do you start playing?
I've already linked the website earlier in this post, but archipelago.gg is where you want to go to get everything set up. They've got a Github which you can download an installer from, and they have a Discord server which you can bring all your gripes and questions to. It's a fun time.
One more thing regarding Super Mario World in AP. They've implemented a hijack into the level headers to force every level to allow vertical scrolling all the time. I got massively fed up with that, and asked for help with reversing it in our very own Discord server, which Donut made a patch to fix. I can't thank them enough for it. I compiled it, the Wacky World palettes, and the per-level MSU-1 patch into my own IPS patch, and patch that on top of the randomized file. Works like a charm.
Anyways, I just want more eyes on this. I've got nothing to do with the development or administration team, personally. Feel free to hit me up on Discord if you want to try this out, but don't have anyone to ask to join you, or you just want help setting everything up. I'm on both the SMWC server and the AP one, and I don't mind getting pinged.
In short, it's a Python framework for getting different randomizers to play nicely together in a multiworld setting. Those are a bunch of words that might not be instantly recognizable. What's a randomizer?
A randomizer is something that changes parts of an existing game in a random way, most often level order or item locations. The Super Mario World implementation in Archipelago restricts a bunch of Mario's actions and powerups, and you have to find them throughout the game(s) to be able to do those things like normal. To be specific, you're not allowed to climb, carry things, make Yoshi eat things, create adult Yoshis in the first place, use P-Balloons, use P-Switches, use Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, or Capes, use Stars, gain altitude while swimming, or even run at full speed. You will gain those abilities as you play through the game by clearing levels or obtaining the 1-up from dragon coins in a level, if the dragon coin option has been enabled.
A multiworld is when two different "worlds" (also known as "seeds", with the "seed" being the input given to the randomizer - if you play Minecraft, you might be familiar with the term already) can interact with each other. Say I'm playing Super Mario World, and a second person is playing A Link to the Past. I clear Yoshi's Island 1, sending an item over, and it happens to be the other player's hookshot - that is multiworlds in a nutshell.
The next question that would arise is thus: What games does Archipelago support? That link has the specifics, but at the time of writing, there are 55 games in Archipelago. Some of them were made specifically for AP, some of them aren't even proper games (for example, Clique is literally just a button you click to win your game, and Sudoku and ChecksFinder (a Minesweeper clone) only exist to give people more hint opportunities) but all of them can be part of the same multiworld, at the same time. So how do you start playing?
I've already linked the website earlier in this post, but archipelago.gg is where you want to go to get everything set up. They've got a Github which you can download an installer from, and they have a Discord server which you can bring all your gripes and questions to. It's a fun time.
One more thing regarding Super Mario World in AP. They've implemented a hijack into the level headers to force every level to allow vertical scrolling all the time. I got massively fed up with that, and asked for help with reversing it in our very own Discord server, which Donut made a patch to fix. I can't thank them enough for it. I compiled it, the Wacky World palettes, and the per-level MSU-1 patch into my own IPS patch, and patch that on top of the randomized file. Works like a charm.
Anyways, I just want more eyes on this. I've got nothing to do with the development or administration team, personally. Feel free to hit me up on Discord if you want to try this out, but don't have anyone to ask to join you, or you just want help setting everything up. I'm on both the SMWC server and the AP one, and I don't mind getting pinged.


This is a thing that's happening, now. Achievements in old video games.
Thank you for the layout, Erik557.
Man, I wish this would've worked. Oh well.
If not for respect, but dramatic effect, take on the face of Guy Fawkes.