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

Thanks for the feedback guys!

@Animebryan - Yeah, several people have mentioned the ? sign - in all honesty, I had no idea they had messages attached to them before! I'll probably just remove it, that platform with the hidden 1-up is out-of-place enough to raise suspicion. As for the three blocks next to the goomba that kicks the green shell you cant get to, like every time I tested this map I got there while the P block was still active from right before, so I put an interesting spot where if you got there with enough time left on the P block the goomba would kick the shell in enough to trigger all three. I'll have to test it again to make sure this is the case, though!
I guess, i take part on this let me see what i can throw together. This actually could get me back into finishing something, instead of making one and then throw it away.

Also, i guess since you ride on Yoshi, this has a similiar formular like Yoshi's Island right? Just with Big Mario and Big Luigi, instead of the baby form.

halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
from Frozen
since you ride on Yoshi, this has a similiar formular like Yoshi's Island right?

Only in the strictest sense, really. It's pretty much a "normal" SMBX game with more emphasis on Yoshi than usual.
Sounds kinda cool tho. Also i did try my good (saying my best wouldn't be okay with myself, i ain't that great at designing tbh) with the first level, i submitted to this.. any feedback, to fix stuff up and make it better is greatly appreciated.

Might submit more levels into this also, just gonna see which theme i do next.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
author=kentona
and rate my lvl plz

Ghost Coast is another level with a great idea (ghostly armada). I think the level would be improved if you nixed the traditional enemies went all the way with the ghost theme.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
RockinRoll Ridge Hey a SML level! Awesome. This levle really needs some Batadons and tokotokos to complete the experience. Also I feel like some of the places where rocks are falling down towards you need more warning, especially the part right before the end.
Tokotoko's Road
Just out of curiosity, what's with this name? When I saw the level name I was REALLY interested in the level. It's just so fun to say, but based on what I played, I really don't get it. Who is Tokotoko, and how is this a "road"?
In the meantime, I also want to mention my keyboard is a LITTLE messed up. I set my jump to Z, and sometimes Z doesn't work. Sometimes I'll jump and the jump is gimped(or in Peach's case, sometimes I'll jump and then IMMEDIATELY start hovering. I don't play Peach anymore) I will be changing my control soon, that's my personal problem, it just screwed me over when it came to the quicksand pits.

Pros
  • Really interesting level design, I liked just rushing through it. It was pretty fun.
  • The music choice was nice. Though I never did play much of Banjo Kazooie(got to the first stage, then got bored), I do like the music when I do hear it.
  • Once again, that name is really fun to say.


Cons
  • Never put an enemy that can kill you without you moving on the first screen. Generally, no matter what the difficulty of your level is, that is bad design. Give your player the time to react to what is about to happen, instead of "LOL u die becuz enemie next 2 u at start"
  • This is more of a nitpick, but I don't know many people who like quicksand. Quicksand in SMBX is very, very annoying.
  • Don't just put a mushroom in a block. As said before, that is not true to the games, and it's generally kind of annoying. You did put a fire-flower in a later block, so why not the first block when most people will need it?
  • I found two points where I fell into a no-win situation. Once around some moving blocks, I was on a Yoshi and fell down, and despite the fact that the platforms do move down, they didn't move far enough for me to jump on them without ditching my yoshi. Also, there's a part before the first moving block segment near some pirahna plants. I was LUIGI at the time, and I still couldn't get back up from the quicksand. I could blame that on my messed up Z key, but I was skimming the top of the surface and making full jumps before my gimped jump began sucking me down the quicksand(does spinjump not work as well in quicksand, because there's been times when I've done spinjumps to try save myself and it didn't work)
  • You shouldn't put pirahna plants in warp pipes. I'm not sure if it only applies to the fire spitting ones or not, but if you go into the pipe at the same time as they do, the game will crash. Just to be safe, don't put any pirahnas in pipes meant to be used to send you elsewhere. It's a general rule of thumb for most players that if a pipe has an enemy in it, like a plant ready to bite your ankles, you probably can't go in that pipe.
  • The end of the stage has two of what I would call, "dick moves" there. First, the lesser of two evils, is putting a Yoshi Coin behind the exit. Because of how Yoshi Coins(or flowers, in this game's case) will work, getting you a star at the end of the stage if you collect all of them, it feels rather odd to have one at the very end of the stage to begin with. But generally, it feels wrong, because when I ran through the stage I was searching for the Yoshi Coins and secrets(couldn't find either through my three playthroughs of your level, without just looking over the level map), and I was about to jump for the exit when I finally saw the Yoshi coin there. I would have missed it if I didn't stop. Second problem? What's with the invisible question blocks? There's four surrounding the goal, and only one of them seems to serve any purpose - to be a Kaizo Trap. It didn't happen to me, but you did put an enemy there behind it at the end of the level. I can imagine someone who just lost all of their power-ups getting to the very end of the level, seeing the enemy and trying to jump over to it, and hitting the invisible block and running into the enemy instead, dying. That player would be very upset with you.
  • Also, where are the last two coins? According to the debugger, they're there. They DO exist. Thing is, looking over the level map, I could only find one in the air near a pipe where you'd have to do a Yoshi jump, one in the secret area that has a high chance of crashing SMBX, and one behind the exit. That's 3 out of the 5 existence coins. Where are they? If you put them in the quicksand, please, move them elsewhere. Not only can we not see them in the quicksand for some reason... but honestly, just don't hide stuff in quicksand.


General Things I'd Change
  • I feel like the checkpoint is a little too far back. I got to the checkpoint pretty early, and there was a lot of level left. I wouldn't say this is a big problem, because the stage isn't that hard, but I almost considered this to be a problem with the level because of the kaizo trap stuff at the end of said level.
  • You don't really need the black background since the SMB3 Roulette will be changed into the star circle, and it'll look kind of weird as a result. Just a minor thing, though.


Generally, I kind of liked the level, though it does need a bit of work. Good job for your first level in this event, though. :3
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
Soli PSA

Power-ups and how to use them!

-Don't put Mushrooms in ? blocks. Use fire/ice flowers or leaves instead. A box with a leaf or flower in it will give you a mushroom instead automatically if you're small.

- Make sure the power-up you're giving is appropriate for the level. Don't put fire flowers in levels where enemies are immune to fire. Put leaves in levels with tricky platforming or lots of open spaces. Put ice flowers in places where they can be used to create blocks in interesting ways.

-Leaves let you fly! Remember to include places to fly! If there's something up in the sky, clue it some how, such as by using coins.

-The ice flower has a lot of applications as a power-up besides just killing enemies. It lets you use enemies as stepping stones or throw them. Think of interesting ways to use it!

-Tanooki and hammer suits are generally rare items that shouldn't just be sitting in the middle of your level. Hide these in hard to find places. Use big question blocks to put them in!
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
Soli PSA's are the best posts in this thread.

SO, we're about a third of the way through the month and I'm finally able to help you guys like I was supposed to (my life sucks sometimes). Before I start dropping feedback on ya, here are the standings of the stages we have so far:

World 1 has six stages.
World 2 has five.
World 3 has four.
World 4 has two.
World 5 has one.
World 6 has one.
World 7 has four.
World 8 has one.

Granted, none of these stages is fully approved yet, and I'm sure others are still in production. I'll start getting feedback out later today, so keep your eyes peeled! And keep up the good work, too. :3
Kloe
I lost my arms in a tragic chibi accident
2236
I'm still working on mine, as I have been all month... haha...
It's a world 4 btw, if you wanted to add that to the count :D
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18995
I'll probably make a world 2 and world 7 level and call it a day an event? This has actually inspired me to go make an episode myself >.<
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
I also owe hali an apology, I didn't think there was enough interest left in the community to do another full sized community game but you're all proving me wrong!
author=pyrodoom
Feedback

Thank you sir,

I immediatly moved on to fix the things you encountered.

- I removed the Venus Piranha at the left of the start
- I tested out new times for the second layers for the moving parts, so you don't have to leave Yoshi behind. You can also get again on ground after falling into the quicksand at the first part and the latter part with Mario.
- Removed the Plants from the warp pipes to make sure no errors do happen if possible
- Removed le dick moves also and moved the Flower a bit before the exit
- Made sure that all 5 are collectible on legit ways
- Again removed the Kaizo thing also so the checkpoint is legit to have there
- Also removed the smb3 exit bgo stuff and so

About the quicksand, i did put that in since i wanted the level to be kind of like an smb3 desert level. I normally don't really use one but i also haven't saw one of the World 2 entries using it yet.

Having it there without the boxes, would result into insta-death which i wanted to prevent.

Uploaded the new version of this level feedback appreciated.

author=Solitayre
I also owe hali an apology, I didn't think there was enough interest left in the community to do another full sized community game but you're all proving me wrong!

Tbh, if i wouldn't have looked at here from time to time i wouldn't had notice this event. Also since i did leave the other forum which used to host contests also i didn't really do much levels with smbx. So, i saw this as a chance to get back into it and do something productive.
author=Solitayre
I also owe hali an apology, I didn't think there was enough interest left in the community to do another full sized community game but you're all proving me wrong!

Yeah, I wanted to participate in the first one, little did I know making levels wouldn't be as hard as I thought they would be.


Edit - On another note, I updated Tall Tops Forest - took out the ? sign, moved the Yoshi before the pipe where you need him, replaced the fire flowers with leaf powerups, and spread out the blocks next to the shell kicking goomba. It should be ready to go now! I'll probably wait for more feedback on Grumbly Goomba Causeway before I update it, cuz I'm getting mixed signals back and forth XD
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
OMG I'M DOING THE THING I SAID I WOULD

Frogge's Colorful Playground:

- I dunno what's up with your custom song, but it seems it's some type of mp3 that SMBX can't handle. I ran it through Audacity and it works now.

- As Soli mentioned recently, the special suits are unique power-ups and shouldn't be left in ordinary blocks. As such is the case, you ought to change the ones you have into leaves.

- I don't know why you have a mushroom in an invisible block, but that's a lame reward for finding a secret. Make it a 1-up or ice flower or something.

- It'd be nice if there were a way to climb up from the 1st flower without riding the rail lift back.

- Some of your invisible blocks are really yucky. The ones near the 3rd flower are close enough to the cliff to be dangerous (just make them visible). In the chasm with the 4th flower, the one on the left ledge should be a tile higher, and I'd put a 1-up in there instead of coins. The one on the right chasm wall should just be visible, but still serve the same purpose.

- The final two butterflies are hostile Demon Butterflies that need to be shown the light.

- A bonus room in a pipe somewhere could be nice.

- It feels like it ends a little abruptly. A bit more space between the end roulette and the screen side would help.

Apart from those specifics, it's a fantastic stage. The atmosphere is beautiful and it explores the space you used without ever feeling overdone. I think the difficulty is just right for World 1. It's really good stuff!

More to come.
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18995
Woah this is very many feedback thank you hali

author=halibabica
- I dunno what's up with your custom song, but it seems it's some type of mp3 that SMBX can't handle. I ran it through Audacity and it works now.


Oh, so you got that handled? Great! Thanks a lot :D

author=halibabica
- As Soli mentioned recently, the special suits are unique power-ups and shouldn't be left in ordinary blocks. As such is the case, you ought to change the ones you have into leaves.


Sure! I'll fix it on the next update.

author=halibabica
- I don't know why you have a mushroom in an invisible block, but that's a lame reward for finding a secret. Make it a 1-up or ice flower or something.


Mainly because it was pretty easy to guess that an invisible block is there >.< I'll probably remove it entirely(I don't believe in easy 1-ups >:P)

author=halibabica
- It'd be nice if there were a way to climb up from the 1st flower without riding the rail lift back.


Good idea! I'll do that :3

author=halibabica
- Some of your invisible blocks are really yucky. The ones near the 3rd flower are close enough to the cliff to be dangerous (just make them visible). In the chasm with the 4th flower, the one on the left ledge should be a tile higher, and I'd put a 1-up in there instead of coins. The one on the right chasm wall should just be visible, but still serve the same purpose.


I think a 1-up would be terrible right next to a cliff, so I think I'll keep it as a coin >.< I hope that's ok. I'll raise the height and change those yucky blocks at the third flower.

author=halibabica
- The final two butterflies are hostile Demon Butterflies that need to be shown the light.


Yup. Forgot to set them to friendly after the update >.< I'll fix those too.

author=halibabica
- A bonus room in a pipe somewhere could be nice.


I don't exactly know where I could add one, or if I wanna. I find pipe bonuses to be a little strange in stages like these :<

author=halibabica
Apart from those specifics, it's a fantastic stage. The atmosphere is beautiful and it explores the space you used without ever feeling overdone. I think the difficulty is just right for World 1. It's really good stuff!


Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
Blobofgoo's Fungal Forest:

- Two Yoshis at the start? I know we're aiming for two-player compatibility, but there's no need to double-up on stuff like that. One at the start is fine.

- Although the method for obtaining the 1st flower is legit...this is W1. I'd have the player bounce high off the koopa to get it instead of waiting for it to fly low.

- Yikes, a chasing koopa? Again, this is W1. While there are ways of dealing with such foes, they're a bit much for this early in the game. Nuke it!

- The 2nd flower is also a bit much to get. I'd stick it down in the bonus room instead of under the bridge after. Remember, these flowers aren't worth much individually, so they shouldn't be so tricky. Maybe have the bonus room exit to where the flower was so the player can brave the piranha plants back up to the bridge.

- The big chasm before the 4th flower is really nerve-wracking. Yet again, this is W1. I think the platforming is too much in that section, but it's easy to fix. Just widen up some of the mushrooms so there's more stable ground, especially near the screen's bottom.

- I think the two duos of koopas in the final section ought to just be singles. It's a small difference, but it would make it feel more...W1.

So, yeah, most of my criticism stems from this stage feeling un-world 1. Just the slightest nerf and everything will fall into place. The aesthetics are used well and it feels like a fun SMW forest. It only needs less of an edge.

from Frogge
I think a 1-up would be terrible right next to a cliff, so I think I'll keep it as a coin >.< I hope that's ok.
About this, it's a risk and reward thing. It's obvious enough that there's a secret block hidden there, but the precarious placement makes that handful of coins not worth it. Hitting the block and catching the 1-up before it falls is more rewarding to the player.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16948
El_WaKa's Hillside Streams:

I'm diggin' this SMB3 stage. Most of my feedback is related to flowers and secrets.

- Some of your invisible blocks caught me off guard, but only one of them is in a dangerous spot: the one containing a 1-up near the 5th flower. It's unlikely, but if the player were backtracking and bumped their head on it, they may well fall right in the hole there. I'd just remove it if I were you; it feels arbitrary anyway.

Four out of five of your flowers are kissing the top of the screen. You should mix it up a bit, and I have a few ideas...

- Not flower-related, but if you want to put that 1-up I complained about somewhere else, the right-side brick over the first pit would be a good place. I kicked a shell there just to see, and I'm sure others would try as well.

- I feel as though a bonus room would do this stage some good, but there are no pipes. However, a sky secret could be nice. I'd put a vine in the invisible block under the 2nd flower and move the flower to the bonus room (and clue it with a coin or something). Maybe have it drop you on the midpoint after.

- The 3rd flower is a little blah, what with being just more koopa stomping. What I was expecting was the 3-tile wood block to fall since there's an identical NPC like it. The block floats in water, so it'd be an interesting reflex test with the flower as the reward. I'd take out the paratroopas and move the flower closer.

- The underwater 1-up looks well-guarded, but really the cheep cheeps just swim away, and even blooper is more interested in swimming above you. If you set the fish AI to bob up and down instead, they'd guard it better and make it feel less arbitrary. I'd ditch the middle fish if you do that, though.

- The 5th flower is, meh, kinda just there. Further along, I thought the underground water pocket was a nice touch, but the one above felt out of place. However, I think that upper pocket would make a good secret. If you stuffed the 5th flower in there and removed the off-screen terrain on the left, the player could jump up from the blocks nearby. You may need to adjust the terrain so the player could escape that pocket afterward.

I know these are just suggestions, but I think they'd really breathe some life into this unassuming level. It's a good stage, don't get me wrong, but I think it'd be a great stage with a little more for the player to wrap their brain around.
Blobofgoo
Legs are a burden. Return to snek.
2751
Jackalotrun apparently likes much harder levels then the rest of you. I'll nerf Fungal Forest as suggested.
author=Blobofgoo
Jackalotrun apparently likes much harder levels then the rest of you. I'll nerf Fungal Forest as suggested.
This is true.
Boom Boom Bastille v1 is what I consider the perfect mid-game difficulty (World 4/5)
And you guys wanted the nerf it as it was world 7... *chuckles