Description

WHAT IS THIS?
Super RMN World 2 is a collaborative effort to make a solid Mario game in SMBX. It's the latest in the RMN Bros. series that has run on this site over the years. Unlike previous events, this project is more organized to produce a cohesive result. Even so, all users of RMN are welcome to participate! No past experience necessary! I'm your gracious host, halibabica, and I'll be overseeing the whole thing.



THE STORY
The Mario Bros. are on vacation with Peach in Yoshi's Archipelago, a group of exotic islands far from the Mushroom Kingdom. Of course, wherever they go, trouble quickly follows. Bowser and his Koopa army crash the party and kidnap the princess! The brothers' mission is clear, but something seems off about Bowser'whatever may be, there's work to do! Mario and Luigi hop right to it with the help of the princess' devoted bodyguard, Agent Toad!



WHAT YOU NEED
To participate, you need only make stages in SMBX and submit them. There are some rules, though. Please read the following before diving in.

  • You need Super Mario Bros. X to make your levels.
  • You need to save your levels in this folder. Put it in SMBX's 'worlds' folder and save your levels inside. It contains resources that will be standard for the project.
  • Levels must be created for this event. Don't submit preexisting work!
  • You may use custom graphics and music, but be sure to put them in a folder with the same name as your level. This graphics pack may be useful.


Once you have the engine and the standard resources, you're ready to start! However, for your stages to be accepted, the following must be adhered to.



SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
As this game is intended to feel like a legit Mario title, there must be some consistency in the levels. For this project, you will need:

  • 1 middle ring; the checkpoint for your stage. It's the sparkly ring in the SMW NPC tab. You can't use more than one due to engine limitations, so place it wisely!
  • 5 smiley flowers; these replace dragon coins. They're also on the SMW NPC tab and your stage needs exactly five of them. They must all be obtainable in one go through the level. The debugger can tell you how many you used. For technical reasons, they must all be on the Default layer.
  • 1 end goal roulette; this gate marks the end of the stage. It's on the SMB3 NPC tab, and jumping through it ends the level. The player automatically walks to the right and off-screen when they touch it, so every level must end going to the right.


These objects will only appear if you save your level in the Super RMN World 2 folder. Include them in your stage, and beyond that, the sky's the limit! Or is it?



ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES
This game is themed around Yoshi, and SMBX has a wide variety of them. Each island has its own theme, too. Your stages need to match the themes of the islands they're being made for. The difficulty should be relative to the island's order in the game. Each island also has its own color of Yoshi, so any you include should match, and you're encouraged to use them!

  • You may only submit one stage to each island.
  • You must be able to complete each level while riding Yoshi. This means no ladders required for progress or jumps where you must ditch Yoshi. This includes boss stages (more on this later).



WIsland NameThemesYoshi
1Green Grass Islandgrass/woodGreen
2Deathly Desert Islandsand/ghostsYellow
3Giga Growth Islandplants/giantsPink
4Molten Mine Islandcave/lavaPurple
5Slip Drip Islandwater/iceLight Blue
6Sky High Islandcliffs/cloudsDark Blue
7Pyre Fire Islandfire/wastelandRed
8Brain Drain Islandpipes/factoryBlack

About boss stages, you're allowed to make them, but their rules differ slightly. Each island can only have one boss and one mini-boss. Boss stages should end with the boss room instead of the end goal roulette. Due to post-production event handling, you don't need to include an exit; the stage will end when the fight is over. Boss stages still need to be thematically appropriate and have 1 middle ring and 5 smiley flowers. The player should be able to beat the boss while riding Yoshi. The boss stages of islands 7 and 8 are reserved for story purposes.




GENERAL GUIDELINES
I know, I know, we're almost there. In addition to all of the above, please keep the following in mind:

  • Try to stick with one art style for your level. Don't mix SMB3 and SMW koopas/coins/etc.
  • Don't let mushrooms from blocks escape off nearby screen edges.
  • Since stages must end with the end goal roulette, all other exit types are banned.
  • The SMW Bowser statue and SMB3 Lakitu are banned for their quirkiness. Use the SMB3 Bowser statue and SMW Lakitu instead!
  • No swimmable waterfalls. These should be for aesthetic use only.
  • Stages must be two-player compatible. Include both player start positions and ensure the stage is passable more than once. Basically, avoid scenarios that could trap the 2nd player.
  • Prevent no-win situations. If the player isn't dead, they should still be able to complete the stage.
  • Avoid single-tile gaps. The player wall-zips if they stand up in a short passage. This can break the game sometimes, so use caution!





LEVEL FEEDBACK
'HALI THERE ARE TOO MANY RULES I HATE THIS'
I know the rules are extensive, but we're aiming to make this the best episode yet. Don't fret if you can't remember it all. As you submit your stages, I'll be reviewing them and providing feedback. You will be expected to use it to make revisions. Failure to do so may result in your levels being altered post-production, or denied completely! Users are encouraged to test each other's levels. Every bit of feedback helps!



TIMELINE
Submissions will be open for all of July. Afterward, there will be a two-week period where revisions can still be made (but no new submissions). Then the gates will shut and the rest of the game will be processed by yours truly. It will take time, but it will get done.

If you have any questions, please ask! I hope we can build a fantastic new RMN World together!

Details

  • 07/01/2016 12:00 AM
  • 08/15/2016 11:59 PM

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Super RMN World 2: Yoshi's Archipelago.

Participants Entries
kentona
Davenport
Jparker1984
Solitayre
Ratty524
outcry312
nin8halos
Bart_Sol
pyrodoom
Seiromem
jackalotrun
Blobofgoo
Animebryan
lonestarluigi
Jalex
TungerManU
NeverSilent
Illy
Frozen
Fflo
El_WaKa
Frogge
Punkitt
Thunder176
Kloe
KuraiYukiChan
eric00051
Entry Status Key
  • - Pending
  • - Validating
  • - Accepted
  • - Rejected

Posts

Gonna try making a level, for the Giant Island.. Don't know how it will work out, but i try to make it look good..
Sinister Crypt by Jalex

- Solid level, if a little easy

Twilight Desert by Davenport

- The piranha plants don't come directly out of the pipe anymore, why did that change?
- The Venus Fire Traps are still headbanging
- You have SMW Dry Bones heads but NSMB Dry Bones (which turn into SMW Dry bones if you kill them with a key/yoshi stomp) I would just stick with SMW dry bones
- I could not, for the life of me, find a way out of that pit with the red coin and Undead Lava Lotus
- The P-Switch for the pipe area never appears
- Come to think of it, I didn't find very many power-ups on this stage

Serenade Forest by Davenport

- Killing a Pumpkin Goomba reveals a dead frog... I have no idea if this is intentional or not given the latter stages focus on frogs... but I assume it isn't
- That first paratroopa is a god-damn homing troopa, which is harsh
- I can't reach the first yoshi, he is too high
- Killing the stationary piranha plant near the start (who shows up once, makes him feel a bit wasted) reveals a dead spiny
-

I'm thinking of mushrooms...
...in blocks...
...that makes me...
...angry
In all seriousness, what is your obsession with putting mushrooms in blocks?
- That section with the black nippon plants is considerably more difficult than the rest of the level. Nerf it. Nerf it with fire.
- There's a slope somewhere in this level that any mario player is going to slide down with a Kamikaze shell on it, which is insane

Awesome Ice by Davenport

- May I recommend "Icy Antics" as a better name
- Oh fuck me sideways, 10 mB? That's insane
- I see, Dave - there is no way in hell you need every block, background and NPC to have a custom graphic, downsize
- In fact, the bush and fences actually used in the stage have the wrong "m files", you needs to sort this
- The same goes for the ducks "shell" stage

Volcano Lotus Valley by Davenport

- This level is a pretty good level. Looks great and plays great.

Perilous Pipe Warehouse by Illy

- The outside areas are kinda ugly and somewhat pointless
- The level's background is... layered? The layers don't seem to match up.

Giga Growth Gulf by Ratty524

- This level works better now

Tokotoko Desert by Frozen

- This level is good

Chemical Compound by Ratty524

- Mmm... level is fucking gorgeous
- Just one thing, a whole three paragraphs for that sign?

Doom Dunes by Outcry312

- The level isn't the most aesthetically pleasing and that mushroom outside it's block is a little awkward, but it works.

Slip'n Snow by Outcry312

- This level is very aesthetically pleasing, and - while I think it overuses it's slipperyness, doesn't outright murder you with it

Fiery Flumes by Seiromem

- Everything is awesome... bar that bloody lava wall and those rediculous looking clouds

Target Practice by Jalex

- My name suggestion would be "Red Rain"
- See's background, has an eyegasm
- I don't know what to think of that floating door, so I won't

Tempest Valley by Pyrodoom

- This level is awesome, so yay

Jungle Rumble by Flo Rida Fflo

- This level is gorgeous and all the secrets feel well hidden and with great ways to get them
- You're a little lenient with the fire flowers on that boat, maybe tone it down a bit?
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
from pyrodoom
because the person seemed pretty disappointed I butchered it, I replaced the life with a tanooki suit).

Of course Bryan was upset you took away his W1 easy-access hammer suit. ;P
Fflo
Be careful ! I'm French
3650
Jungle Rumble by Flo Rida Fflo

- This level is gorgeous and all the secrets feel well hidden and with great ways to get them
- You're a little lenient with the fire flowers on that boat, maybe tone it down a bit?

Flowers spawn every 10 seconds. It may be helpful if you have trouble with homing Koopas, they're such hard to avoid or/and jump on !
Message in the bonus pipe is inspired by one of Captain Olimar's writings (Pikmin). Btw, music comes from this game.
I somehow, feeled like doing a level for World 7 actually..

Here is the progress of it so far



btw thanks for all the feedback so far also.
Seiromem
I would have more makerscore If I did things.
6375
@Frozen's W7 pic:

Well, the aesthetics look amazing, that's for sure!

-You have a 1-tile gap right in the beginning: you should raise the ceiling a tile.

-The pipe jumping bit looks a little bland bar the jumping P-Plant, definently put in some podobos and maybe a bat

-wth is that spider thing
how are we doing for world counts?

I thought I'd be able to make another level, but it seems less likely now. But if I do I'd target a world that is lacking.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
At a glance, world 5 and 6 need the most help right now.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
I was going to post another stage count in a couple days, but WHY NOT RIGHT NOW!

World 1 has six stages.
World 2 has eight (jesus christ).
World 3 has seven.
World 4 has two.
World 5 has three.
World 6 has two.
World 7 has four.
World 8 has four.

I have no idea who still has levels in-progress. As it stands with what's submitted, worlds 4, 5, and 6 need the most help. Worlds 7 and 8 could use a couple more. 1, 2, and 3 are looking good. There are still about two weeks left to make stages, so let's keep it rolling!
NeverSilent
Got any Dexreth amulets?
6299
I am working on a stage for world 5, and I would really like to make one for world 4 as well. But unfortunately I'm not sure you should rely on me for that, as I'm currently not that confident in my ability to actually design something fun and functional in time.

Again, it's not immediately obvious to me why you set this event up to only last one month, considering how many levels need to be made. You probably have your good reasons, but at least from my perspective I can say that when working with SMBX it takes me a long time to get anything done.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
I think I started the setup of a World 4 level, So I'll work on that.

I'll see what I could come up with for W5 as well.

EDIT: I also kind of agree with what NS stated. For a community game that aims to have a certain amount of levels per world, I don't think a deadline like this really does it justice.

I also think you should maybe have a "quota" system of some sort. Like, what is the minimum amount of levels you want per world?
Maybe i can see, what i can do for the ice world.. We all know that, not almost anyone really likes them. Maybe i can do 1 for it.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
I can extend the deadline if we really need to, but I'd rather not resort to that. This project will take long enough to complete as it is. We also don't need this exploding like RMN Bros. 3 did.

As for a level quota, I think 5 is just barely enough for one world (though I'd like to see 6 or 7). Remember, I need to make my own stages after the event ends, so it's safe to expect each island has at least one more level coming.
I just updated my world 6 level, now named Lakitu Rampage. Aside from the new name, all I did was rework a portion in the second room to make it easier.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
Seiromem's Abandoned Factory:

Holy shit, this stage got rude in a huuuuuuuuuuge hurry. There weren't even any owls in it. This would be too hard even if we had ten worlds and this were the final level!

- I like the look of your conveyor belts, but their hit box is deceptive. They're still full-height even though they look half a tile thick. The stage is actually a LOT more doable if they're the height they look they are, so add a text document for the NPC that sets height=16. You'll need to take out the gaps on the sprite sheet as well.

- Some of your generators are just way too fast, bro. The one making red bots at the start is first. Spend too long with that on-screen and you have a nightmare on your hands. Slow it down!

- It's a blind drop to the ground floor of the shaft with the P-switch. Leave some coins to indicate it's safe to fall.

- The 'P' made of coins in the bonus room makes it a real chore to reach the black Yoshi egg because the P-switch turns the whole thing into blocks. It's a good clue, but maybe put the coins on a layer that vanishes when the P-switch is pressed.

- The part after the checkpoint is stupidly hard. I can't believe you made a section that's still challenging for a Yoshi that can fly. The conveyor belt hit box is a huge part of it, but the generators are the main issue here. The poison shrooms are a constant barrage, and it's horribly tedious to dodge the amp bars and bots when they just keep coming at you. The generators need slowed down, at the very least.

- The passage leading to the hammer suit is cleverly hidden. I have only one complaint: the block on the edge of the ceiling doesn't look like it can be passed over. It's already a good enough secret, so you can use a regular end brick there instead.

- Although they don't spawn in very fast, the three bot generators make a mess of things very quickly because they produce three at a time. They should be slowed a little.

- This 5-long amp bar is daunting enough without the jump being so difficult to make. The momentum needed is just enough to be a huge pain, so lower the destination blocks by one tile.

- It really sucks that you aren't safe anywhere from the 6-long amp bar. Knock one off the end, would ya?

- I figure you would've hidden a 1-up above the boss door considering you need to jump off Yoshi to get up there.

I like this stage's angle and it definitely fits in the end-game, but that post-checkpoint section is just horrendous. Fix the conveyor belt hit box, slow the generators, and call me in the morning.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
Ratty524's Caustic Chemical Compounds:

- Agent Toad's antics are quite amusing, but that signpost is rather long-winded.

- Those green falling platforms look like individual donuts; I was taken by surprise a few times when the whole thing gave way. Alter the sprite so they're more obviously connected.

- That 2nd flower requires some extremely precise timing to get. Given that they're not too valuable on their own and the player needs all 5 to get their star, it shouldn't be so risky to obtain. If you moved it closer to the short pipe on the right, it'd be so much more doable.

- I like the big secret with the tanooki suit 'n stuff, but there's one problem with it: it skips the flower on the rail line. Move the flower to the first saw and move the pipe somewhere after, and it'll be fine.

Good stuff, otherwise. This is what Brain Drain Island's all about.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
Solitayre's Future Shock:

TOO EASY I really like the feel of this level. You've set the mood for this atypical island well, and it's decently hard to boot. Of course, I still have problems with it!

- It was a bloody miracle I wasn't hit by the first wave of fish. They should probably be introduced less surprisingly.

- I know you hate invisible blocks, but there should definitely be a hidden 1-up above the mushroom near the first fish (yes, I got up there).

- The flower after the checkpoint is super easy to get. If you put it above the metal mushroom and shorten its width by two tiles, the player can reach it by bouncing off a cannonball or doing a precise jump with momentum. If it's not shortened, they can jump to it normally...

- Like Bryan mentioned previously, you can wall-zip to death under that one cannon.

- I dunno what feat of physics is letting such big cannonballs fire out of such small holes. Maybe the ones firing downward should be normal size, too?

- The mobile cannon is the toughest thing this stage has to offer, but it kinda feels like a spike in difficulty, and there's no way around it, either. If you want to keep its current rate of fire, I'd make a path over it so it's optional. If you choose to slow it down, you should move the flower so it's not on the main path anymore. It could go above the mobile cannon and be reachable via cannonball/Yoshi jump.

This stage is cool. These fixes shouldn't be too complicated.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
Illy's Perilous Pipe Warehouse:

Although not as high-tech as the other W8 stages I've tried, this still fits in with Brain Drain pretty well. I like how, in spite of pipes going everywhere, the secrets are still logically hidden and don't require you to check every single pipe.

- I think 'Depot' flows better than 'Warehouse'.

- The entire stage can be skipped by jumping over the wooden wall at the start.

- Something seems to be up with the bottom of your backdrop there. It also looks to have been saved as a nasty gif. You should use a different filename so it replaces a backdrop that works the same way, and see if you can get a non-grainy version of it.

- The timing needed to clear the 4th flower's roto-disc and piranha plant is just ridiculous. Take the plant out; the disc is enough to deal with.

- Ascending past the bill blasters is much easier than it looks. Try making the passage more narrow so both walls are on-screen.

And that's all. This is a really solid level.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
author=halibabica
Ratty524's Caustic Chemical Compounds:- Agent Toad's antics are quite amusing, but that signpost is rather long-winded.

- Those green falling platforms look like individual donuts; I was taken by surprise a few times when the whole thing gave way. Alter the sprite so they're more obviously connected.

- That 2nd flower requires some extremely precise timing to get. Given that they're not too valuable on their own and the player needs all 5 to get their star, it shouldn't be so risky to obtain. If you moved it closer to the short pipe on the right, it'd be so much more doable.

- I like the big secret with the tanooki suit 'n stuff, but there's one problem with it: it skips the flower on the rail line. Move the flower to the first saw and move the pipe somewhere after, and it'll be fine.

Good stuff, otherwise. This is what Brain Drain Island's all about.

> Any advice on how to condense the information given in the sign?

> I can see how that would be confusing, I'll fix it.

> For the last two points, I know I've been butting heads with you quite a lot on this so far, but it would help to clarify just how valuable these flowers, and the stars they give are suppose to be? If they lead to end-game content or "all the power-ups in the world" then I honestly don't see why having some flowers require some precision or being possible to skip is that big of a deal. The very existence of them also encourages players to replay the same level in order to get them all, anyway, so it's not like missing them in a level will hurt that much, or what are your thoughts on this?
Would a change for the second half of the Ghost Coast level be warranted? I was thinking like a brief underwater segment with ghosts inside a sunken ship a la SMW...

Thoughts?