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SMC: EfPI! (Demo 1 coming really soon!)

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This hack was Originally Known as Super Mario Chronicle: The Black Abyss, but I changed it to match the new story.

The last thread was too cluttered :/, and I don't want to bump it again (In other words, I don't want to Quintuple post, or post five times in a row in the same thread).

The full title is Super Mario Chronicle: Escape from Prison Island! I'm planning to have it be a half-action, half-story based hack, kind of like SMI2. The levels will mostly be Action-Packed, but there will be some story elements too, like cutscenes, and (An Original Idea by Yours Truly) playable Flashbacks to earlier times. Such "Flashbacks" will have a foggy HDMA effect like this:

That's right, this hack will have HDMA. I won't overuse cutscenes, flashbacks or HDMA too much, but when the situation calls for it, they will be used. I might also use HDMA to make a blue sky or sunset, but still, I don't want to overuse it.

Anyways, our story goes like this:

One day, Bowser invaded the Mushroom Kingdom and turned it into the Koopa Kingdom. He captured Princess Peach and Threw The Mushroom Kingdom's Residents into Prisons on Prison Island. Mario got thrown into one of said prisons, Bellingham Prison. So Mario Must Escape and Rescue toads from Prisons, to Build up an Army so he can Overthrow Bowser, Rescue Peach, and Regain Control of the Mushroom Kingdom once and for all.

And now, the Part you've all been waiting for, the Screenies! (Keep in mind, some of them, like the last one of Bellingham Prison, are Very Dated)

Bellingham Prison:





This is the Prison Mario gets Locked in at the Start of the Game. Suprisingly, it is still under construction (Not in a "Work in Progress" kind of way, it's actually under construction, look at the screenshot.), and has many security flaws.

Bellingham Ridge:




A Bunch of Cliffs on Bellingham Isle. This area, in particular, has a very secure secret.

???:



Meh, Just some tilesets I ripped from spritesheets... (BTW, Many of the GFX are Ripped or Drawn By Me.)

All Screenshots are Under development and are Subject to Change.

Go ahead, start giving feedback. I love feedback.

And a very special thanks to Player 1, who helped me out with HDMA, gave me a few ideas, and is Beta-Testing the hack.

EDIT: Title has been changed since there's now only one island.

EDIT2: All of the above screens are extremely dated. Check the end of the page for the most recent updates.
The hack looks great! I'm glad to know that your hack is going to have cutscenes, an action feeling and a RPG feeling, stuff that are also going to be in my hack and I think they give the hack a more "serious" design. Damn, I'm glad to know that your hack is also going to have HDMA, that's clever. And this also remembers me that I still need to know how to use HDMA. >_>

Anyway, the screenshots are nice. I don't have too much to say about them since I already saw them before.
Glad You Like it, Broozer, here's a Support Userbar:

(Yeah, I know it's "The Prison Islands", and not Prison Island. It's just that I couldn't fit the whole title in the userbar.)
If anyone could make a better userbar, that would be fabulous.
wow thats pretty good SunnySunnySuns... so when do you plan on relising it?
- ignore the watermarks, working on a fix for those
Not very soon, unfortunately. With the amount of time it takes to make a single level, Real-life troubles, and lazyness, this is going to take a LONG time. I can send you a WIP dump (NOT a demo, more like a beta) if you like. I haven't inserted cutscenes or HDMA yet, Since I'm working on getting the levels done first. I can assure you that HDMA will be in the hack, and Cutscenes are Planned to be in the hack.

By My Estimation... if I work hard on this everyday... you can expect a 1-world demo by Mid-August. It's just an estimation, though. I can't make any guarantees it will be released in Mid-August.

I see you, Mario!

Credit goes to Player 1 for the idea!

(BTW, that red light blinks)
Really nice idea, I really like it. :)

Is this a cutscene or something RPG-ish?
It's just a decoration, to add flavor to that otherwise boring area. It's supposed to be some kind of security camera.
This looks... quite nice, actually. The OW is too scrunched in the bottom-left corner, and the lab graphics don't match in style with the other graphics, but aside from that I see no major errors.

You should have a level where at the start it shows a cutscene of Mario's movements in the previous level through that camera, and Mario has to evade the guards that they send after him. xD
Your layout has been removed.
I have this idea...

For this one prison level, you have to rescue toads... but from a very well-guarded fortress. Mario somehow makes his way to the staff room of the prison, where all security cameras are checked and where the power generator is located. Mario must constantly check the Security Monitor in the area (The Prison guards and staff are on break) to see if the toads are all right, in a cutscene. And then, he has to make the right decisions (Like, say, turning off all power in the prison cells.) to let the toads escape, because if he enters the Area with them, he will be thrown in a jail cell, if that happens, he must escape and make his way back to the staff room. Eventually, once he makes the right decisons, the toads will be free, but Mario has to fight a boss.

I am a genius!
Hmm.... This looks good. I'll make sure to play it when this comes out.
Originally posted by Bombette
This looks... quite nice, actually. The OW is too scrunched in the bottom-left corner, and the lab graphics don't match in style with the other graphics, but aside from that I see no major errors.

You should have a level where at the start it shows a cutscene of Mario's movements in the previous level through that camera, and Mario has to evade the guards that they send after him. xD


Actually the blending in is really a bad thing. I understand that it's style-clashing, but since when did machines not clash with living, breathing organisms? Also, as he said before, he is working on the Overworld last. The above idea isn't possible if it requires the cutscene. That would involve extra saving.
The style clash I speak of is caused by the fact that those graphics look 8-bitish... D=
Your layout has been removed.
Well personally I think this hack looks great, and one I will definately play. It's refreshing that despite using many default graphics, it still looks extremely fun to play and original at the same time.

A Hand-Drawn BG by yours truly, with HDMA effects to spice it up.

This hack is looking great and im going to play it for sure. (BTW could I beta test?)
Talking about the HDMA you got in the last picture, it looks good, the colors match the BG
Hey that's freakin' sweet! I really like the prison level idea, and I agree with earlier comments you should do something with prisoner rescue.

Out of curiosity, where did you get the factory gfx? They're awesome.
Originally posted by Draconis Kenjishiya
Hey that's freakin' sweet! I really like the prison level idea, and I agree with earlier comments you should do something with prisoner rescue.

Out of curiosity, where did you get the factory gfx? They're awesome.

I ripped them from a Megaman 1 Tilesheet.

EDIT:


Just a Small Update
Here is a video of Bellingham Prison. I'd like some replies. >_>
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kOIao_up3rs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kOIao_up3rs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I really like the "under construction" parts. However, I'm not really with you on cutting the goal tape from the right. Mario always walks to the right afterward, so it's like he's going back to from-whence-he-came land. You could reverse the outdoor part.

My favorite was the On/Off puzzle moment. Admittedly, it's not too hard of a puzzle, but I think it's good for level one. Just out of curiosity, where do the other doors go? You went in the center one for the POW. What about the outer doors? Are those just dead ends, or do they make you do serious backtracking?
I think it's a bit too short, should you know the correct path. I do agree with Mission_316 when it comes to the goal tape. Also, I would recommend the used blocks to be gates instead. The water seemed to... open. Perhaps, you could at least make it seem like leaks instead. The cells don't seem right. You could at least show that the gates are there. Also, you might want to have diffent inmates. Perhaps you could have one that's gotten free and Chargin' Chucks escorting him back to his cell, or do you know enough to do that, even if it's in a different layer? Perhaps, for the next level, you should have a Chargin' Chuck generator at the front, so it acts like they're guards chasing after you.

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