Ends 04/01/2012 12:00 AM

Judges
halibabica

It's finally here! The much-anticipated third installment of the RMN community series! And this time, halibabica's in charge!

WHAT IS THIS

Super RMN Bros. is a community collaborative game where everyone uses the Super Mario Bros. X engine to create Mario levels! The stages are made and submitted by members of RMN, then compiled into one big game at the end of the event. Huzzah!

WHAT YOU NEED TO PARTICIPATE

Super Mario Bros. X v1.3, available at the Download link. This is the latest version of SMBX. It has everything you need to get started from the player, the editor, and a sample world.

You can also download the SMBX Graphics Pack by Red Yoshi here. It has a ton of Mario Brothers graphics that you can use in your level with a simple copy+paste!

JUST WHAT IS SUPER MARIO BROTHERS X?

Super Mario Bros X is a freeware game engine by Redigit geared towards having the gameplay features and physics of Mario 3 and Super Mario World while adding a ton of cool features and not having to deal with the restrictions of the old (S)NES hardware. If you want to see what SMBX can do, check out the games here on RMN or watch these videos showcasing SMBX's capabilities!

Games are distributed as a world with levels package they can add to Super Mario Bros X and play from the main game. There is no way to make a self contained game so all players will need to download SMBX in order to even play the game. The game does come with a large set of graphics and sounds like the RPG Maker RTPs so everybody at least has a large number of platformer resources to work with (and it'll keep the download of the actual game itself small).

You can view the RMN engine page for SMBX here.

HELP!

The editor can be tricky to use, especially for beginners. You can ask questions on our SMBX Help thread on our forums! If you have any questions go there for some tips or helpful links.

We also have a tutorials section on RMN for SMBX.

SUBMISSION RULES

  • Levels must be made in SMBX v1.3 .
  • I don't know if you've ever made Mario levels before. There are dozens of hacks and roms out there, so it's possible you've played custom levels or created your own. However, this project is being made specifically in the SMBX engine, so if you want to contribute, you have to use that. You can download it here.

  • Levels must be made FOR THIS PROJECT
  • So, you've used SMBX before, huh? Hey, you can just submit levels you already made! Right? WRONG. If you didn't make the level specifically for RMN Bros. 3, you're not allowed to submit it. Do not just zip up the levels of your personal project and dump them in here (Davenport, I'm looking at you). Everyone has to start from scratch. And if I catch you trying to submit a pre-made level, ooh, I'll, I'LL- ...deny it. Simple as that, really.

  • Levels must end in ONE SMB3 STAR
  • Starman doesn't work in SMBX like it does in the Mario games of yore. Each one you collect instead adds to your star count. There are two kinds of stars in the engine: SMB3 stars and SMW stars. The latter adds to your star count, but doesn't end the level. The former concludes the stage when collected. Each level must have ONE and ONLY ONE level-ending star. However, you can have any number of SMW stars (covered later).

  • There is no limit to the number of levels you can submit.
  • Beyond these four rules, the sky's just about the limit. There are a few other criteria your levels must meet for them to be accepted, but they're nothing huge, and are as follows.

LEVEL CRITERIA

  1. Checkpoints
  2. Theoretically, every level should have one of these. It's the SMW checkpoint object that lets you continue from partway through the level. Unless your level is extremely short, it should have one. If it can't have one for specific reasons (auto-scrolling, switch block/character shenanigans, etc.), it's recommended you not make the stage too long. Also, SMBX can only support one checkpoint per level, so placing multiples doesn't work.

  3. Power-Ups
  4. Your stage should have a good balance of items that are helpful to the player. ? Blocks should never contain lone Mushrooms; don't be afraid to give the player a Fire Flower or Leaf. On the other hand, exceptional items like the Tanooki and Hammer Suits should not be easily obtained. Use discretion with where you place items. One at the start and one after the checkpoint would be the least you could do. Also, pick items that the player can put to good use. A Fire Flower in an area with monsters immune to fire does the player no good; maybe an Ice Flower or Yoshi might be better instead. On the subject of Yoshi, he's a power-up like any other, and no restrictions are being placed on his use. Similarly, all styles of Kuribo's Shoe are allowed. Just remember, these things are very helpful, so choose carefully where you make them available.

  5. Banned Objects
  6. Your level must not contain any of the following items. If it does, you will be required to remove them.

    • SMB2 Crystal Ball, SMB3 Roulette, SMB3 ? Ball, SMW Keyhole, SMW Exit Gate
    • All banned for the same reason; they end the level. All levels must end with an SMB3 Star. No other exit type is allowed.

    • SMW Bowser Statue
    • Banned due to its glitchy hit box. You can still be hit by its fireballs while standing on top of it. Use the SMB3 Bowser Statue instead!

    • SMW Dry Bones
    • Banned for its stupid hit box. You may place Dry Bones in your level, but all Dry Bones in the project will use the SMB3 sprites instead.

  7. Unbanned Objects
  8. These are objects that were disallowed in the past. I'm permitting them for the reasons stated.

    • SMB3 Lakitu
    • This was banned in RMN Bros. 2 because it behaves erratically. You may use them in your levels, but be very careful when you do. They aren't impossible to deal with, but they can make situations extremely difficult. You'll definitely hear from me if it's a problem.

    • SMW Star
    • These were formerly banned because they didn't end the level. You may now use them as bonus secret stars in your stages. The player can collect them on alternate paths, but must be able to return to the rest of the level after grabbing them. More on these later.

  9. Different Characters
  10. This is, first and foremost, a Mario game. Mario will be the only character available to play as, but that doesn't mean you can't use the other characters. If you want to make a stage involving Luigi, Toad, Peach, and/or Link, you must specify so. Include the appropriate character block at the start. If you don't, I'll assume the stage was meant to be played as Mario. You don't have to switch back to Mario at the end of the stage, though. I will manage character swapping in the hub area.

  11. Player 2 Start
  12. SMBX has the option to play with a friend by sharing a keyboard and crowding around a monitor. There is no way to disallow a multiplayer game, so be sure to include both P1 and P2's start positions in your levels. HOWEVER, this is all you need to do to accommodate the second player. Making a balanced one-player game is difficult enough, so don't sweat it if something doesn't quite work for multi-mode. I'm not checking two player compatibility; you don't have to either.

  13. Secret Stars
  14. Each stage must have only one SMB3 level-ending star, but you can have (almost) as many SMW stars you want. Before you go throwing secret stars everywhere, though, you should understand how they work. The most important thing to know is that you can only have one star per section of a level. That's not my rule; that's a quirk of SMBX. It can only register one star per stage section, as it flags all stars in that section as 'collected' if one of them is found. Because this is the case, any secret stars you place must be in different sections than the star that ends the level. Incidentally, this also means the most stars any level can have is 21. Don't worry; if you mess it up, I'll tell you about it!

  15. Water Must be SWIMMABLE

    You can set waterfalls to either be swimmable or not, but ordinary water must always be. Don't fill your pits with water if they're supposed to be bottomless.

  16. Misc. Stuff
    • Pipes, Doors, and Carry Items
    • By default, all entrances in SMBX are set to disallow the player from carrying an item with them through the portal. If your level has objects the player may want to bring with them, be sure to set your entrances properly.

    • One-Tile Passages
    • Avoid making paths that are only one tile high. If Mario stands up in one, he zips through the wall in the opposite direction he's facing. In some places, this isn't a problem, but in others it can break the game. Spare my telling you to fix it and avoid creating such circumstances.

    • Ceilings
    • If you're making a water level or Mario is able to fly, you may want to block the area off the top of the screen so the player can't soar over everything. In aquatic stages, one could swim past everything from up there, so it's extremely important to include (same goes for underwater pits, actually). Of helpful note: one block placed above or below a level's boundary will create an impassable wall.

STORY AND TUTORIALS

Nothing too complicated here. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach, and Link have fallen into RMN's Pit of Challenges, where they must collect the stars from our levels if they ever hope to escape. The main villain is not Bowser, Wart, Kamek, Aristocrab, or anyone seen yet in the world of Mario. I will be making the final level myself, and the final boss is...me! Because by the time this is over, you will all want to kill me.

I will also be making a tutorial level that explains the mechanics of SMBX, covering both the basics and the advanced stuff. So don't bother explaining to the player how to break blocks with their tail or spin jump on Thwomps. I've got it covered!

TESTING AND FEEDBACK

This iteration of RMN Bros. is going to put greater emphasis on play testing and providing feedback for levels. I will be playing each level personally and leaving feedback the developers can use to improve their stages. My feedback will be divided into three categories:

  • Deal Breakers
  • These are things you MUST CHANGE or your level WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. These include all variety of game breaking errors and poor balance/design. I will provide thoughts and ideas on how to fix these, depending on the complexity of the problem.

  • If-You-Don'ts
  • These are things that, if you don't change them, I will. These include things like levels without checkpoints, blocks containing only mushrooms, or levels with unfitting power-ups. If you don't make these corrections, I'll see to them in the end.

  • Nitpicks
  • These are small complaints of low importance. Things that would make the level look or feel nicer, but aren't really a problem on their own. These will most likely be aesthetic in nature, and they don't have to be changed for the level to be accepted.

    Although I will be testing each level thoroughly myself, I strongly encourage others to do the same. You don't have to follow the same methods of providing feedback I am (in fact, you don't really have the authority to!), but every bit of criticism helps.

ADDITIONAL STAFFERS

This is a big project, and it's very bold of me to be managing it alone. That's why I'm leaving open two spots for other users to join me in running the show. But you can't just sign up and say "Hey hali I'll be your game management bro." You have to PROVE YOUR WORTH. How, you might ask? By playing levels and leaving feedback! The more in-depth, the better. Show me you have what it takes to contribute to this project, and I'll let you in. If you can't handle the work, I have no reason to hire you.

Duties of these staffers would include testing others levels and leaving feedback, as well as helping refine my own stages, tutorial, hubs, and so forth. I'm a tough critic, but even I can't face my own work alone!

PROJECT TIMELINE

Signups begin NOW, and EVERYONE is free to join! The project will run for one month (thirty days), and levels may be submitted for testing during this time. When the month is up, no more levels will be accepted. Existing levels may still be updated based on feedback. I will do my best to have the whole thing compiled just one week after the event ends. Then we can download and enjoy!

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Super RMN Bros. 3.

Posts

Kentona's "Mairo Bors" levels (2nd set of lvl.s)

Mairo Bors Boswerscastl

Pros:
Mairo Bors Quality
Enjoyable but hard level design
Boswer reminds me of Bowser from Super Mario Bros

Cons:
Could use a extra power-up somewhere (just 1)
The fires that come at the very end of the gauntlet of fire pillars are hard to avoid 1st time.
(I'd recommend to remove either of those not both(just a recommendation though))

My thoughts:
Pretty fun level. I like the level's a bit SMB2 (JPN) type of difficulty level.
Escpecially in the outdoors few last jumps.
I do not know why, but the checkpoint doesn't work for me ANYMORE.
It worked the 1st time I tried it just fine.
Maybe my SMBX is getting tired of me?
I also think it would have been fun to see diffrent entries in to the castle go through a bit diffrent paths,
but thats such a radical design aspect I didn't put it in the cons.
Afterall this is your level...

Mairo Bors 2 dessert

Pros:
Mairo Bors Quality Again
Underground section and Above ground section compliment eachother.
Neat Char. Select screen
Remenisant to the original SMB2 USA.

Cons:
Tedious Sand diving for a Star. (My fingers will never forgive me)
No char. select after Checkpoint
I can't think of a 3rd one... Tedious Sand Diving?

My thoughts:
Another great level.
I just happen to suck at this level.
I really like that you have to go through those small detours to get the
power-ups, but you can also choose to skip em and try to get to the goal faster.
(Which proved quite fatal for me)
I also like that you never actually have to touch the quick sand if you're good enough. Except for that star.
Overall I like them they are good levels.

Halibabica's "tutorial" level. Ver.2

Updates for the better:
Pretty much everything you changed.

New Issues:
..Not much..
-Increase the water in the 1st pit a bit. At it's current height you can escape it.
(By just jumping and holding the fly)
-Delete the 1st green clock.
(with it you can activate time stop while the triggers and whatnot are offscreen.
This causes you the possibility of getting stuck. It happened to me... why not someone else?)

Thats all I can think of right now...
I like it now much better, alot of the issues are fixed and there is alot more room this time around.
author=AncientNoob
Aesthetics: 4/5 (rather nice but water section is lame and there are rough edges)

What rough edges are you referring to? I'm attempting to make everything smooth. I created all those diagonal pieces with the specific purpose of not having any rough edges. It is unfinished so maybe it's something I haven't completed yet, still..I'm curious what you mean.

Exploring - there is a lot to look at in this level!
mountains to climb (although I wish there was a reward up there...)

The yoshi coin is there, it will be resprited to be a Zelda coin or something, but those will prove to be rather important. I was thinking of making the 3rd triforce appear when you collect them all. The way they are placed you need to figure out the exact path in order to collect them all.

Good for secret stars - this is the type of level you want alternate exits in and the like. I normally hate the idea of playing a level twice or three times to get all the stars, but here it works.

Glad you like the replay aspect. The whole level is built on that idea, so I try to make each path have something fun/interesting to do.

Puzzles!
The forest maze was a little annoying but not enough to be bad.

Annoying?? It's the classic Lost Woods dealy. I made it only 3 screens so that even if you pick every wrong way it won't take TOO long to finish. No enemies or distractions so as not to prolong your time in there. Well, ok, 1 NPC just for fun.

Secrets!
Again, exploring and finding secrets is fun, very true to the Zelda feel

There will be many more :D

SEVERITY 6 - Lots of lag. I'm suspecting it is caused by the grass. I don't think the level would hurt if you took the grass out.

I highly doubt it's the grass, but there is no real reason it should lag. The grass is just a background tile so it sounds illogical that it would cause lag.

Where exactly does it lag? Since I get no lag, try deleting all the grass to see if that really is the culprit. I spent a good while making those damn grass tiles and I like the effect of it. If it keeps lagging the most I'd want to do is not have enemies in that section.

SEVERITY 7 - No one playing Zelda 2 ever once thought to themselves "hmm... this game needs a water section!"
Link swimming in the water is laggy, weird, and no fun. Maybe keep this part very short and have it turn into a cave or something.

haha I'm sure everyone playing Zelda 2 thought to themselves "dammit, why can't this pansy swim". I did keep the water section short because Link can't "run" in water. I didn't add anything to do besides enemies because I know it's hard to move around and most people just want to get through there right away. It does serve one purpose though...

It's not laggy, everybody has that kind of floaty movement underwater. It's hardly weird, just different and more of a challenge. And "no fun"? No way!

SEVERITY 2 - This is not a Zelda game. This is a Mario game.

The moment the creator of SMBX put Link as a character it became a Zelda game :3 He's there I'm gonna use him, dammit!

Also, you can run through the level as any character. It doesn't have to be Link. You have to be Link to get all the secrets though.

SEVERITY 80000 - not finished?

Not finished u.u I already spent many hours making this much of the level, I wanted some opinions before I spent many more.

Also thinking about how to fit link levels into a mario game. Are we just going to plop them down randomly again? Maybe some kind of Link Zone... I don't know

Considering the nature of the "story" it seems like it will fit in just fine. Especially in a colab Mario game, one should expect level distribution to be all over the place. Unless the event leader lays down worlds and assigns out level types it will always be uneven. That doesn't sound quite as fun anyways. I want to be able to create whatever comes to mind.
Goomba Caves Attempt #2

Fixed pretty much everything halibabica suggested... probably... hopefully.
Pits marked
Re-arrenged/re-located/added power-ups
Some minor layout tweaks
BGMs changed to SMB3cave
Chime (Zelda-Fairy) sound added when all 8 RedCoins collected.

Hopefully everything is fine now, be feel to try again.
Oh, and I also tried to eliminate some of the shell blocks,
where you can
launch a shell into a place where it's constantly in your way and impossible to destroy without a flower.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
@Link_2112: I'm pretty sure your water section lags because you puts Sparks in it. For some reason, they're hell on SMBX, and any more than one or two at a time lags it to shit on weaker computers.

I'll take a second look at the new and improved Goomba Caves. Glad to hear my tutorial is working better!
I see. Can you confirm that AncientNoob? Is it lagging in the water section and if so, try removing the sparks to see if it's better. If it's lagging somewhere else please try and remove stuff to find the cause. I don't get lag so I can't fix it without your input(or someone else with lag).
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
I'm sure that's what it is. Back in the first RMN Bros., Max Magee had a castle with a section that had about five or six Sparks all going at once. My computer couldn't even run the game in any playable way at that point. I had to nuke the Sparks to make it work.
He mentioned the grass, though. The water section doesn't have much grass. The first section is almost entirely covered in grass, so I'm thinking he's talking about that area.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
I've never known backgrounds to cause lag. I think it was just a suspicion of his.

Goomba Caves by apa649

Deal Breakers

-

If You Don’ts

-

Nitpicks

- Power-up placement for the first part is better now, but I think it could still use just one more streamlined power-up. I counted three on my browse in the editor, but one of them is off the ‘path’, and the player’s likely to miss it because they’re lured in the opposite direction by the locked door they see when they exit the pipe.

- the black background for the pits is perfect, if placed just a tad high in places. Showing just a tile or two above the lowest point the player can see works best for that sort of thing. Also, your secret door is now a super-secret door, so you may want to put a coin almost completely out of view down there (or maybe a paratroopa) to tip them off.

- level wrap (aka the pac-man effect) in the secret cave would be nice.

- I don’t think the saw is necessary for the rocket board bit. It’s already pretty tough to reach it in time, even if you can try again. Also, please raise the floor of the puzzle’s reward platform up one square and add a back wall. This makes the rocket board drive through solid ground, but this way it can’t crush the player. The back wall is so the 1-up can’t escape off-screen (like it did for me ;_;).

- the fairy sound for all coins collected works, but it’s a little subtle. ‘Defeat Boss’ or ‘New Path’ might be better suited for it.

Otherwise, I’m glad with the changes you made! I took a look at the updated Sand Tombs as well. Nothing to complain about there now!
Link_2112, let's make babbies a game together.
author=halibabica
I've never known backgrounds to cause lag. I think it was just a suspicion of his.


I agree.

However, I'm using a bit of deduction in my conclusion. The fact that he mentioned grass means that he experienced lag on a section with lots of grass. The water section doesn't have a lot of grass, the first section has over 60% of it's ground covered with grass. If he lagged in the water section, why even suggest that it's the grass? I'm not saying that you are wrong and that I am right, I'm just playing detective.

Based on what he said the most likely area of lag seems to be the first section.
Based on facts of what we know about lag, it's most likely the NPC's(Sparks).
Based on his PCs performance, he should upgrade ^.^;

Either way, we won't know for sure until he responds. Loser buys a round of ale.

author=kentona
Link_2112, let's make babbies a game together.


HAHA let's share a few drinks and see what happens(Hali's buying xD)
hmm...
I'll try to make alot of those changes, but it's gonna take a bit time.
The secret cave is not designed for level wrap so in order it for work well I must completely re-designe the area. It's a small area however so it's not that bad.
I'll move the ? block with the fireflower into the new cavey thing I made. (which is meant to hint you of that red coin way high above the checkpoint.)
I could lower the black background a bit, but I might also need to lower the level boundaries so the pit(s) that were formerly only 3-4 tiles high can be adjusted like the others.
I'll try the through the wall thing. The first time I tried it got stuck on the wall but maybe it was the wrong kind of wall?
And I'll check the rest of them too, but the level is up probably in 9 hours or so, since I have school in the middle.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Rats... I need to stop playing League of Legends and make a Mario level. D:
arcan
Having a signature is too mainstream. I'm not part of your system!
1866
That deadline is pretty far off. I might have to join this.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Ratty524
Rats... I need to stop playing League of Legends and make a Mario level. D:

Do it!

from arcan
That deadline is pretty far off. I might have to join this.

DO EET!

@apa649: You don't HAVE to make the secret room level wrap if you don't want to. It just seemed like it'd be a nice touch, especially since the first part of the empty wall appears to meet up with the opposite side. The other solution to this would be to simply add walls!

Also, you don't need to lower or raise your level bottom boundaries to fix the pits. Just move the background tiles to the lowest points the player can see when they encounter those pits. No need to over-complicate things. Also, if the rocket board gets stuck on the wall, then...maybe just rig up the 1-up's block so it can't escape to the right. Tweak the ceiling just right, and it'll always reach the player underneath it.
author=arcan
I might have to join this.

I say go for it, it's always nice to get more creators in on a project!
Escpecially since the team so far is pretty small here.
No promises about making any levels, but I do have a bit of wisdom to share:

Super RMN Bros. 2 was better than it's predecessor for one main reason: The critiquing process that BARELY existed in the first game was extremely present in the sequel.
This same process which worked so wonderfully last time is still being used here, but remember: Super RMN Bros. 2 was better than SRMNB 1, but IT STILL SUCKED.
My main problem with both the games was not the individual level quality as much as it was the compilation of the levels. They all looked hodge-podgey, and they didn't fit together. I know some of this is inevitable with a community game, but I think it still can be done a little better in SRMNB3 than it was in the last game.
In short, you guys should not only focus on the specific quality of the levels, but also how they fit together. :)
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Ben_Random
In short, you guys should not only focus on the specific quality of the levels, but also how they fit together. :)

Nope, sorry. Not enforcing any kind of themes for worlds or anything. I don't think the past iterations sucked because they were hodgepodges. I think they sucked because the levels were designed poorly.

I'd call out an individual level if it was too much of a hodgepodge in and of itself, but overall game coherency is the least of my concerns. If that makes the game bad, well...then I should've listened to kentona and turned this into Moon Base Mario 2.
Over complicate things?
Good Idea...
But in all seriousness I want things to be consistent.
The pits at first were 2 or 3 tiles below the pit's edge. So if I'm gonna lower
them I also WANT to lower the level boundaries aswell so they look nicer I quess...
I got the rocket thing made out okay I think. You can still get trapped and kill yourself
if you really try to do so but otherwise you shouldnt be able to.

As a last note: Can anyone tell me how do you use in warps the "warp to location" thing?
I tried to input the coordinates and it just said "level overflow"(error 6 I believe) and crashed.

Sorry nevermind I was not paying attention. It's level exit warp to MAP location. FAIL!
(What level? I'm not gonna tell you)
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
author=Ben_Random
This same process which worked so wonderfully last time is still being used here, but remember: Super RMN Bros. 2 was better than SRMNB 1, but IT STILL SUCKED.
My main problem with both the games was not the individual level quality as much as it was the compilation of the levels. They all looked hodge-podgey, and they didn't fit together. I know some of this is inevitable with a community game, but I think it still can be done a little better in SRMNB3 than it was in the last game.
In short, you guys should not only focus on the specific quality of the levels, but also how they fit together. :)

I kind of find this more of a nitpick than it is a devastating flaw with the game itself. Honestly, the purpose of this event is to bring the community together to make some quality levels and have fun. I don't think anyone should be confined to make a specific type of level for a certain area within the game.

Besides, most of the levels that were submitted were grouped in categories in the final product anyway. I don't think it's as big of a deal as you are making it out to be.
author=Ratty524
author=Ben_Random
This same process which worked so wonderfully last time is still being used here, but remember: Super RMN Bros. 2 was better than SRMNB 1, but IT STILL SUCKED.
My main problem with both the games was not the individual level quality as much as it was the compilation of the levels. They all looked hodge-podgey, and they didn't fit together. I know some of this is inevitable with a community game, but I think it still can be done a little better in SRMNB3 than it was in the last game.
In short, you guys should not only focus on the specific quality of the levels, but also how they fit together. :)
I kind of find this more of a nitpick than it is a devastating flaw with the game itself. Honestly, the purpose of this event is to bring the community together to make some quality levels and have fun. I don't think anyone should be confined to make a specific type of level for a certain area within the game.

Besides, most of the levels that were submitted were grouped in categories in the final product anyway. I don't think it's as big of a deal as you are making it out to be.


That is a good point.