Electra - C3 2016 Demo Release! - Summer 2016

Surprise, surprise. You may have read the most recent posts in my hack Electra's progress thread. Indeed, the Great and Fearsome Beast Called Life sent an ill-timed and ill-appreciated Series of Unfortunate Events, all in an attempt to stop me from releasing an Electra demo this C3. But, much like this hippo...

...I was not going to be deterred by what life dished out at me. I made a promise, and I was going to keep it.

Finally, after power outages and patch issues and crack-squads of killer bunnies sent after my neck by angered Scottish petrol companies, Life himself decided to smile upon me instead:

And, by hook and by crook, I got this damn thing released.

So come one, come all, and download it here!

IMPORTANT INFO:
This demo features two whole worlds, two switch palaces to find, two top-secret levels to find within other levels with the help of said switches, a whole side-quest to find and play, and God's phone number (no, really, it's hidden in the hack somewhere. Can you find it and have every question you ever wanted answered... answered?)

You'll also notice much of the music in this hack is part of an original soundtrack. Yep, ol' Ben the Hacker learnded to port, behind everybody's backs. They're simple, since my skills could use some polishing, but I hope you'll enjoy all the custom songs. The soundtrack will be available ~~from IRS Records on CD, vinyl, cassette, and 8-track this November~~ in SPC format sometime after the whole hack comes out, but as for now, you might find some arranged versions on my YouTube channel (weegeeben) that sound better anyway.

There are a few issues that are unfixable as of now. For instance, during cutscenes, while the status bar disappears, a held item will not, and it will block the picture part of the cutscene. I'm looking hard for a way to hide it, but as for now, just use your emulator to turn off the sprite layer during cutscenes if there's an item in the way.

Be sure to read Henree the Ree's included notes for more info, too!

Aaaaand that's about it. Enjoy it, folks. Enjoy it or the Scottish rabbits will find you too and make you enjoy it.

DID SOMEONE SAY SCREENSHOTS?!

I mean, come on. You know you want to play it just because of that death-hamster, don't you?

tired: 'JOYCON BOYZ'
wired: 'The Fellowship of the Switch'

Well that was unexpected!

I'll be playing it asap! Glad you could make it in time ^^

That's, for sure, one of the biggest promises I've seen after a very long time in terms of originality. Lots of brand new graphics and custom compositions as well? That's outstanding, and I look forward to see more.

Once I'm able to play this demo, I shall write a review. May take some time as I promised lots of other reviews. But by the stuff provided, surely, this is looking damn great.

Well, it sure has been a while since the last demo and by God, this hack has come a long way. I just finished playing the main course and I'm on my way to finding secrets, and everything so far is incredible. Improved levels, great new music, new sprite graphics (practically no SMW ones anymore) and of course, the whole new world to check out. I like the cutscenes. They have your quality humor stamped throughout them. All the villains make me laugh one way or another, they're like a wacky colorful cast of some great kids' TV show.

It definitely gets the runninriiz stamp of approval. Loving what you've done with this. It's criminal how little true appreciation it's STILL getting from regular old SMW fans, so if you're reading this- try it! You'll really like it! It's like TSRP2R mixed with K-16 Story of Steel, for a comparison.

"Discipline is always a means to an end, never an end in itself."

I've seen this hack around for sooo long, it's a classic at this point. I'm adding this demo to my "C3 demos that I should totally play" list

This looks amazing!! I'll definitely be playing this.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the appreciation! A little reminder: when C3 ends, don't forget to check out the hack's Works in Progress thread for new updates and announcements. Demo 3 is already under way, and there's a very good chance it could be out by this year's winter C3.

If you have any feedback, even if it's just to say you liked the hack, then feel free to tell me. I'm always interested in improving my work, so don't be a stranger and let me know if you think something needs work.

And if you loved this demo, be sure to vote for it, too!

tired: 'JOYCON BOYZ'
wired: 'The Fellowship of the Switch'

I did saw this thread, and maybe is a bit too late, but I really liked what I saw.

So this time Elektra will be in the battle for best hack. It won't be that easy given how strong the competition is, but hey, it has all the rights to be in that category. Is am amazing job you have done Ben.

Congrats, keep it up.

Read my posted story here!!.

The Best Hack EVAR!!:

This layout good as my stories is made by Kagami

Finished playing your demo. I have to say it's a good attempt on making a unique looking hack. Has an overall decent design aside from some minor details, decent music, as well as beautiful, fitting graphics - the strongest aspect of the game - and a pretty engaging story. However, I found various things that demand some revision.

Eh... Mario? Luigi? Either deactivate lives exchanger or edit the texts here.

More 2-player issues. GFX is not reloaded when players are changed and they're in different submaps. I believe this can be fixed but I dunno how.

Skye? But I'm playing with Joan... er, I'm starting to believe that Joan shouldn't be a playable character from the beginning... I mean, disallowing 2-player game is an idea.

I can exit a level with the kangaroo either by beating or using Start+Select. Result: a black Yoshi appears in the map. So what? Either use Counter Break Y patch or draw some GFX to replace Yoshi's.

Too early unfair enemy placement for a first world level. I have little to no reaction time to avoid this kicked shell.

Swimming below levels is fun. A fix is optional.

Wrong bouncing block tile. It's originally glitched in SMW, but with ExGFX this can be easily fixed.

Not really an issue, but easy 1up farming is possible here.

The reserve powerups are covering the cutscene. Use blank GFX on cutscene levels to avoid this issue.

Cutoff above. Also, reentering the door makes the thing respawn. Make sure you place this through Extended Objects instead of Direct Map16 as well.

Another point for unfair hits. Either remove the Chuck or the invisible blocks. Revise this level as this kind of design is pretty recurrent.

Entering the "teleporter" from below is possible here. Place some solid blocks below it to avoid this.

I am screwed. I missed the platform and can't go back. This is frustrating.

Wrong ON/OFF block bounce animation here and here. I haven't pictured an other level with the same problem, but yeah, be sure to revise your tilesets.

Yes, I lost my time doing this. Switching sublevels 256 times in a level leads to weird results. That's why I'm here now. Apply this patch to fix this.

What? Well, I believe there is supposed to be a moving pipe sprite, but there were too many sprites on screen to render. Place a pipe cap in there so if the sprite doesn't show up it can temporarily avoid cutoff.

Another point, not pictured, is regarding midpoint objects. They always respawn because you've probably not inserted them via Extended Objects. A fix is optional but would be nice.

The hack has potential to become even better than it is. Make sure you make countless tests in your hack so you don't overlook things like the ones I pointed. Getting some really good testers may help with the task as well.

That's it for now. Keep up the nice work!