MAKING A SIMPLE AUTOSCROLLING LEVEL

or "How the interface makes no damn sense"

If there's anything Super RMN Bros 1 showed, it was how to do autoscrolling levels completely wrong. Three different levels by three different developers tried to make an autoscrolling level with Super Mario Brothers X (SMBX) 1.2 B4. This version of the editor had no proper support for autscrolling levels like they were done in Super Mario Brothers 3 or Super Mario World. Want evidence? The three levels in question (Skyjinx by Anaryu, Kentsnowna by Kentona, and Break Bowser's Blockade by yours truly) both tried to create an autoscrolling level three different ways. All three levels have major issues largely due to how they fought with the engine to make the autoscrolling work. Thankfully redigit, the creator of SMBX added a proper autoscrolling feature in the next version of SMBX. Unfortunately the new issue becomes how do you do it? It's a tale of Google, trying to interpret various ways others have done, and fighting with the engine itself trying to get it to work. Even now my efforts come down to "It works unless you look at it funny then it'll just flip you off and go home". This is a reproducible method of creating a simple autoscrolling level. No frills or gimmicks. Mostly because I couldn't figure out how to go any farther than that.



The first thing to do is to make your autoscrolling level sans any autoscrolling. Make the level first with the autoscrolling segment in Section 1. Not too difficult, right? Set a place to start and an exit and a few things in between.




Done? Now open up the events window (View->Events, or Ctrl+E) and select the "Level - Start" event. There's a handy "Autoscroll" section to the right where you set the horizontal and vertical speed of the autoscrolling. The "Section" scroll bar goes from 1-21 (or zero for older versions), one for each section of a level. For now just leave it at 1; I can't get the damn thing to work for any other section.




Now for the extra confusion part! See that "Positon" under "Section Settings"? We need to set that to the area Mario can move in during the autoscrolling segment and where the area the autoscrolling starts. Shrink your level boundaries so it is a single screen big around the starting position of the level. Once the boundaries are shrunk, click on "Use Current" under "Position" which will change the box text to "Set".


Restore your level boundaries so the game knows when the autoscrolling ends. Save, test, and you should have a basic autoscrolling level on your hands! Experiment with this and hopefully you can do something cooler than what I've managed to do so far.




Here's a quick level I made messing around with autoscrolling. I'm not sure if it'll do much good though due to the nature of how you set it all up.

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This is the most convoluted and unintuitive way to implement autoscrolling in SMBX, but it is also the best way! I tried this out and it works! Thanks GRS!
This is the most convoluted and unintuitive way to implement autoscrolling in SMBX, but it is also the best way! I tried this out and it works! Thanks GRS!
I really hope the interface gets an overhaul in SMBX. Something to make it cleaner, easier to know what's going on, and a way to really play around with autoscrolling levels. I tried to have a second section to my test level where it would start autoscrolling up but I couldn't get it going for the life of me and I don't know if there's a bug or I'm not telling the engine what I want properly.
One note: Mid-points do NOT work in autoscrolling levels
Unfortunately, SMBX only allows for section ONE to autoscroll at this time, A future release may change this.
Also, if you are in need of more help with anything in the program, check the HELP file included with SMBX, (written by me). I am also creating a more intuitive, more in depth help file for SMBX's next release as well.
can you put your own characters in this system this is the only side scrolling system i can find
For SMBX? No, it only supports its hard coded five characters but you can change their graphics. Check out the graphics pack for ready to use SMBX graphics. Somewhere in there are reskins of the playable characters and you can copy and paste those graphics into the folder that contains your level (or a subfolder with the same name as the level file) and SMBX will use those graphics in place of the default ones for Mario/etc.

e: I'd recommend posting future questions in our help forum where more users can see it and hopefully help out with any future questions.
I have an issue with the scrolling levels.
I have red coins to collect in my level and I want to make a star come up when you collect them all.

So I made a Red coin and Red Coin Star layer.
Make the event for the red coins to show the Red Coin star layer when all Coins in layer were collected.

The issue is on a scrolling may the Red Coins count as being collected when the screen goes past them. I want to stop that. Any suggestions?
Unfortunately not, I would've done it the same way you did and I didn't know SMBX would remove said items after it panned past them. I can't think of another way to do red coins off the top of my head (but I also haven't used SMBX for ages now, hopefully somebody else has a solution).
I figured out a work around. I will have to put a link to the level in here.
It was fairly complex. I Make a wall that would move the same as the screen.
Than changed the img of the axe to a red coin.
Put a real coin under the same layer as the red coins.
So it would hit the wall and fall in a space bellow.

map1-4
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