4/25/2015 2:02 PM

Hey everybody, UP B here.

I've put SMW : Star King's Wrath on hiatus in favor of another hack I've been working on, while this started out as a level entry for the next VLDC it skyrocketed into it's own thing and became a full length hack. Vanilla levels are probably one of the most interesting and even charming (if thats what you want to call it) things I've ever made regarding Super Mario World hacking, the limited choice of tiles, if you even want to say limited, I'd personally say unlimited, force you to be creative with your level design and scenery, now put all that and stuff it into a full length hack, not that i'm saying i'm the first one that's done this, i'm just saying if you haven't played a vanilla hack, go play one.

Most of these levels are heavily inspired by levels from VLDC 7 or Super Mario World, as such, it features some of the original tracks from Super Mario World while mixing it with some nice custom music, I will show you two examples of this.



This level, Woodplank Way, is based off the many forest levels in VLDC 7, combining the Grassland, Forest, Ghost House and even some of the Athletic tiles, there's so many options for scenery.



This level, Bullet Bill Blast, was built off of and based off of Vanilla Dome 4, one of my personal favorite levels in the original Super Mario World, it adds several twist however, like the appearance of Banzai Bills and vice versa.

At that, I think we're done with levels for today and should move on to the map.



This is the first map design, as you can see, I still haven't learned events because i'm a scrublord, but I've got the tiles down and pact, so I have a fetish for making the second world Water/Ice and I don't know why, so you'll just have to deal with that but the first world is of course, a Grassland.

Now while it looks like a simple Grassland, do not be fooled, the level diversity is off the charts, you got your forests, your caves, your athletics and even your ghost houses and then of course the castle.

The second world is still in progress so I can't say much about it at the moment, so you'll just have to sit tight and wait for answers. ( if you even want answers.. ) So yeah, A Vanilla Adventure should be a fun experience when I finally release it! Expect updates soon!

Looks like you've got a pretty neat vanilla hack here, UpBForVictory.

Regarding the levels, the palettes are very good and both screenshots look really interesting. It is nice that you're incorporating a variety of levels into the hack without worrying too much about whether the level theme matches that of the overworld. Some hackers seem to focus to much on that and it's a bit refreshing to see you incorporate that kind of variety.

The overworld is okay, although most users frown upon blocky landmasses. Look at the maps for either VLDC or even most vanilla/choconilla hacks and you'll see that they generally try to avoid having large squarish sections of land, but try to mix things up. I also noticed that in the lower-left corner of the map, Mario appears to just walk into the water even though the island is clearly much higher than the water level. I suggest you either lower the elevation of the land or alter the path so Mario is actually seen climbing into the water.

Overall, this looks very good! I'm interested in seeing what you come up with in the future.

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