Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
hardcore_gamer

Mario Builder: Did you know this thing existed? Because it looks fucking awesome.

Recommended Posts

I was looking for ways to create ROM hacks for Super Mario bros when I stumbled across this:



http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/39115#

Perhaps the most impressive part however is that all of the graphics appear to be user created and merely based on similar graphics from the mario games, but aren't actually ripped straight from the actual Mario games. This means you don't need to own any mario games in order to use this and I also think (unless I am wrong) it means no copyright is violated. Plus it also means that are probably lots of new graphics and items as well.

I haven't gotten around using this program yet, but now I know what my weekend will be spent on :)

Anyone else planning to spend some time with this thing?

Thoughts?

Share this post


Link to post

I don't own Game Maker Pro, so I can't comment on that.

As for the Hello Engine, I think this video speaks for itself.

EDIT: Wait, my bad. Judging from Ting_Thing's description, Mario Builder is, needless to say, based on a heavily modified Hello Engine.

Share this post


Link to post

I believe a large portion of the sprites and such are actually from Super Mario All Stars for SNES, a compilation of updated versions of Super Mario Brothers 1-3. Specifically, they come from SMB3.

Anyways, if you're looking for ROM hacking rather than entirely different engines, Lunar Magic is probably your best bet. The only thing like it for Mario games that I know of, anyways.

Share this post


Link to post
Akira_98 said:

I believe a large portion of the sprites and such are actually from Super Mario All Stars for SNES, a compilation of updated versions of Super Mario Brothers 1-3. Specifically, they come from SMB3.

Anyways, if you're looking for ROM hacking rather than entirely different engines, Lunar Magic is probably your best bet. The only thing like it for Mario games that I know of, anyways.


I don't need ROM hacking if this works as well. I just wanted some way to create super mario levels.

Also, are you sure the graphics are ripped from Super Mario all-stars? I know they look very similar, but perhaps that is the point?

Share this post


Link to post

I prefer ROM hacking because you can run what you make on a real SNES/Genesis/NES/Whatever. That, and it feels more authentic than a fanmade recreation of an engine, which usually don't get things 100% right.

Share this post


Link to post
Sodaholic said:

I prefer ROM hacking because

Do Super Famicom (Super Nintendo) cartridges with erasable ROM exist?

Share this post


Link to post
printz said:

Do Super Famicom (Super Nintendo) cartridges with erasable ROM exist?


I don't know if SNES carts also have those fucked up mappers of the 8-bit NES (for which you'd need erasable ROM + a programmable microcontroller, to replicate mappers), but there sort of is a Genesis/Mega Drive with erasable cartridges: any FireCore-based Genesis clone with an SD card slot can be treated as having a big erasable ROM with hundreds of games, and simply copying a file over from your PC is all you need to do to "reprogram" it.

Of course, how close the FireCore hardware is to the real thing is debatable, but it's close enough to be running even PD ROMs.

Share this post


Link to post

I don't get how roms are created. Say street fighter 2 turbo on genesis, its proprietary/closed source probably right? So does someone tediously guess to re-create/reverse engineer the game (doubt it)?

Its a freakin shame that you can't easily see source for so many classics (i assume). Then again I suck at programming so wouldn't understand what I read.. But construction insight from key classics would be really helpful to me (example someone on this forum mentioned street fighter is only based on hit/throw/attack boxes per fighter per frame which lead me to some info on 'yoga hyper book' (actually never found/bought book, just some webpage that briefly talked about it).
http://lowfierce.blogspot.com/2006/07/design-is-all-about-details.html

Share this post


Link to post
gggmork said:

I don't get how roms are created. Say street fighter 2 turbo on genesis, its proprietary/closed source probably right? So does someone tediously guess to re-create/reverse engineer the game (doubt it)?


That's exactly what they do, actually. SNES-era games are a lot lets complex than you'd think.

I prefer ROM hacking because you can run what you make on a real SNES/Genesis/NES/Whatever. That, and it feels more authentic than a fanmade recreation of an engine, which usually don't get things 100% right.


There's also the fact that if you know anything about ASM, you can program entirely new enemies and mechanics. The workings of the SMW ROM are well documented so you don't have to do as much hunting.

Share this post


Link to post
Marcaek said:

That's exactly what they do, actually. SNES-era games are a lot lets complex than you'd think.


Yowza, amazing that so many geniuses have cloned probably pretty much all old console games whereas it'd take me a decade to recreate just one of them.. Do you think they typically use vanilla ANSI C and the SDL library to do it or something? How the hell does someone look at street fighter then go, 'oh, gee wiz, its just throw/hit/block/whatever boxes, that's obvious, yep, I guess I'll code that up before breakfast then clone a couple more games after lunch, yawn'. My guess is there's probably some sort of tool to at least pull image data from a genesis etc game, otherwise merely re-creating all the pixel graphics would take forever.
I havn't used roms for like a decade but the rom source is readable usually? What language usually? Heck, maybe the original game creators release a lot of the roms and just don't tell anybody or something.

Share this post


Link to post
printz said:

Do Super Famicom (Super Nintendo) cartridges with erasable ROM exist?

One can get flash carts, which are cartridges that load ROMs off of an SD card.

gggmork said:

My guess is there's probably some sort of tool to at least pull image data from a genesis etc game, otherwise merely re-creating all the pixel graphics would take forever.
I havn't used roms for like a decade but the rom source is readable usually? What language usually?

Games from that era used 8x8 tiles for their graphics, and usually used a palette line of 16 colors (one being transparency). One can just rip the tile graphics and palettes right out of the ROM.

ROM "source codes" are usually disassemblies in ASM. I've dabbled around in it some, and am currently working on a project with Sonic 2 that I totally am not working with someone else to sell it or something. :P

Share this post


Link to post
Marcaek said:

That's exactly what they do, actually.


Come on dude. They do not recreate the entire game at all. Tech savvy people build a piece of hardware to connect a game cartridge(Mega Drive, SNES, arcade board, etc.) to a PC. They then write software to control this interface and read the information out of the aformentioned media, and then save it to their computer as a ROM. This practice is also known as ROM dumping.

Share this post


Link to post
Vordakk said:

Come on dude. They do not recreate the entire game at all. Tech savvy people build a piece of hardware to connect a game cartridge(Mega Drive, SNES, arcade board, etc.) to a PC. They then write software to control this interface and read the information out of the aformentioned media, and then save it to their computer as a ROM. This practice is also known as ROM dumping.


I misread, I thought he was asking how rom HACKS are made.

Rom hackers reverse-engineer the game using disassemblers and hex editors to understand the inner workings of the game, then insert their own code using free space provided in empty blocks or by expanding the ROM image file.

Share this post


Link to post
Vordakk said:

Tech savvy people build ... also known as ROM dumping.


It seems like a human brain would be incapable of understanding so much complexity to do all this crap; some people's brains are better at modeling things in a computer-like way I guess. My attempt at such a thing would be better described as just plain 'dumping'. There, I did it! Wait, was I supposed to use this hardware thingy to do something game related, or take a dump on it, I forget. Hold on, one of my neurons is telling me I'm hungry, the rest of you guys keep concentrating on basic body functions like breathing and swallowing, derp.

Share this post


Link to post
Sodaholic said:

I prefer ROM hacking because you can run what you make on a real SNES/Genesis/NES/Whatever. That, and it feels more authentic than a fanmade recreation of an engine, which usually don't get things 100% right.

Except if you're not careful, it's quite easy to make ROM hacks that only operate on inaccurate emulators and never on the real hardware. Plenty of Super Mario World hacks will never run on a real SNES, or BSNES :P

Share this post


Link to post
hardcore_gamer said:

Also, are you sure the graphics are ripped from Super Mario all-stars? I know they look very similar, but perhaps that is the point?


While there are definitely some original graphics but...well, look:
http://everygame.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/supermariobros3.jpg

It's hard to say just looking at that and watching the video, you'd have to compare sprites side-by-side, but some of these definitely seem to be more than "inspired by." It doesn't make it any less impressive, just pointing it out. =P

Share this post


Link to post
chungy said:

Except if you're not careful, it's quite easy to make ROM hacks that only operate on inaccurate emulators and never on the real hardware. Plenty of Super Mario World hacks will never run on a real SNES, or BSNES :P


I don't think most ROM hackers care if it can be run on the action SNES.

Share this post


Link to post

If you like that, you might want to look up "Batari Basic". It's a Python-like language that can be used to program games for the Atari 2600. Games made with it will run on an actual 2600 (provided you have a flash cart). Someone even made a fully-featured IDE for it.

Share this post


Link to post
Marcaek said:

As if anything runs on BSNES. It's incredibly slow.


BSNES will maybe run on an i3 but even then it feels like a horse with a cramp in a foreleg. I still can't get the thing to run smooth and I have an i7 beast.

Cycle-perfect emulators can be really shitty on some games too, and as I've said in a previous post, can make "runnable" hacks completly break and legit homebrews tank.

Share this post


Link to post

Try using the performance or compatibility (old accuracy) core... they're much faster. Hell, the performance core is good enough to play games full-speed on my Pentium Dual Core from 2006.

Share this post


Link to post
chungy said:

Try using the performance or compatibility (old accuracy) core... they're much faster. Hell, the performance core is good enough to play games full-speed on my Pentium Dual Core from 2006.


The games I play require the co-processor chip (not the SuperFX chip) and they still suck on it. I've gone back to snes9x (shudder) to play KDL3.

Share this post


Link to post

ZSNES is very flexible but also showing it's age. It's riddled with bugs and annoying quirks.

Share this post


Link to post

I've seen this kind of thing many years ago. Make it easy to develop for Super Mario 64 and then I'll get excited.

Share this post


Link to post
AndrewB said:

Make it easy to develop for Super Mario 64 and then I'll get excited.

Toad's Tool 64?



Preview isn't as "fancy" as the others here, and it's probably still not perfect, but it's a lot more than I was expecting.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×