smw
56
12.5mb
Custom Levels or Rom Hacks for the Game Super Mario World. Do not submit roms, submit patch files instead!
::|CONTENTS
- Tools
- Expansion Chips
- Extra Info + General Help
- General Rules for the format
- Restrictions on submit
- Playback (for voting)
- See also
Super Mario World (SMW) is Nintendo's Jump'n'Run-Classic from 1990, released as one of the launch titles for the SNES (Super Famicom). It is the best selling game for the SNES, and is often regarded as one of the greatest Mario games of all time. Along with this, SMW is one of, if not, THE most extensively romhacked video game of all time, which is what this format is all about.
SMW ROMs will not be linked on this article as that would be copyright infringement, you can "get a legally dumped ROM" (aka. look up a ROM on your search engine of choice) yourself.
Tools
SMW has many tools that serve many different purposes, heres a shortened list of some common ones:
Essential Tools
Lunar Magic
Lunar Magic is a closed-source romhacking tool developed by FuSoYa for Microsoft Windows, which lets you create your own SMW levels, overworlds, and more. It is the most popular, THE main tool for SMW hacking, and the only one that (easily) allows you to edit levels and the overworld. Note that for those on non-Windows systems, Lunar Magic should work through
Wine.
Asset Insert-ers
Asar
Asar is a SNES assembler, mostly used in SMW hacking for patching ASM into your hack. It's command interface is very simple, with an input for a patch and an input for a ROM. Make sure you keep track of your patches in case anything goes wrong!!
UberASM Tool
UberASM is a SMW specific ASM tool for inserting code with specific timing (in levels, on the titlescreen, in the overworld, etc.), and is useful for having level gimmicks.
UberASM is not an Asar alternative, and you often use them both together.
GPS
GPS is the tool for custom block insertion, it has a list.txt file where you have to choose the map16 tile to get custom block functionality.
see
this SMWC tutorial thread for a more detailed explaination on how to use the program
PIXI
PIXI is the tool for custom sprite insertion. PIXI, similarly to GPS, also has a list.txt file. There are different types of sprites you can insert and are seperated in the list.txt file.
see
this SMWC tutorial thread for a more detailed explaination on how to use the program
Asset Editors
AddMusicK (and KFF)
AddMusic is a porting and inserting tool for SMW, it uses
MML files for its music system.
read the manual or look at these (
porting and
insertion) SMWC tutorial threads for info on how to get your music into SMW, and write Addmusic MML.
YY-CHR
YY-CHR is a Microsoft Windows binary graphics editor made by a Japanese Mario hacker named YY. Set the mode to 4bpp SNES/PCE(CG) for editing 4bpp graphics, and set the mode to 2bpp GB for 2bpp graphics.
Any Text Editor
You will definitely need a text editor for editing ASM and writing MML, any will do but it's nice to have a specific code or MML editor with formatting.
ROM Patchers
FLIPS
Creates and applies patches, very simple to use.
Online BPS Patcher
Applies patches, similar to FLIPS, but can't create patches. Very simple to use.
Lunar Magic
You can create and apply IPS patches in Lunar Magic by going to File>Restore
Emulators
bsnes
bsnes is an emulator originally developed by the late Near and originally from higan, It is compatible with all of the SNES library and should be more than enough to run all SMW hacks. It also has a bunch of forks for stuff like widescreen and hd mode 7 (
bsnes-hd), or just general improvements (
bsnes-mt, windows only)
Snes9x
Snes9x is a more lightweight SNES emulator, with a bit less accuracy. It's development started in the 90s when Gary Henderson's Snes96 and Jerremy Koot's Snes97 emulators merged, its development still is ongoing and it can accurately run 99% of SNES games. It should be able to run most, if not, all SMW hacks.
ares
ares is a multi-system emulator originally developed by Near, It is actively developed (unlike bsnes), fully cycle accurate and is generally one of the best emulators out there. Unfortunately, being cycle accurate is very taxing on lower end computers, so only use this if you have a powerful computer.
Other Emulators
ZSNES - The emulator your dad used to use, old and inaccurate and doesn't support expansion chips.
ZMZ - Emulator that looks like ZSNES, but can use Snes9x and bsnes cores.
higan - Multi-system emulator by Near, use ares or bsnes instead.
LMSW - Allows you to use the internal Lunar Magic emulator.
Other Tools
ROMClean - Makes sure your ROM is an headered (U) [!] SMW rom.
spcplay - For playing SPC files when porting.
Expansion Chips
Through special patches, you can enable use of a couple expansion chips that expand the capabilities of what your hack can do.
SA-1
The SA-1 expansion chip gives the SNES a second CPU, and was originally used in games like Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Super Mario RPG and is probably the most useful and easy to use expansion for most people on here. In SMW hacking, the SA-1 patch allows 20 sprites on screen, faster loading times, and a larger ROM size. Consider using if you are running into sprite limits and the battle allows it.
SuperFX
There was actually a patch that adds SuperFX support to SMW, unfortunately it is quite old and isn't supported.
A backup of the patch is available here if you still wanna use it for your hack.
MSU-1
The MSU-1 is a custom expansion chip developed by Near, it allows for a 4 GB ROM size and CD quality audio + video on the SNES. Aside from the obvious file size limitations, this expansion is not allowed on BotB for not being supported in any flash cart and requiring an extra file alongside a patch.
Here is a thread on how to get it working in case you want to use it for an entry outside of BotB.
If you encounter a problem or need help with something hacking related, a good place to look is
SMWCentral! The tutorials subforum will help you with learning specific tools, and you can easily search at the top of the site if you need to figure out a specific problem.
IPS vs BPS
BPS = Better IPS
IPS files cannot tell the difference between headered and unheadered roms, which can be really confusing. BPS doesn't have worry about this, and has more features plus smaller patch sizes. Please try to use BPS files whenever possible!! If you are having trouble with IPS files, make sure your ROM is headered.
What is a header??
The header is a couple hundred bytes before the start of game code, .sfc files usually come unheadered, and .smc files come headered. You can check the ROM with ROMClean or look at the filesize
An unheadered file will show up as exactly 524288 bytes, while one with a header will show up as 524800 bytes.
What is vanilla?
Vanilla is a spice made from vanilla orchids and... Just kidding
Vanilla is when you do not use any custom assets, and only use Lunar Magic. while chocolate is the opposite, you have to use ALL TEH ASSETS!!!!
BaseROM is special, it is where the battle host provides a base patch with custom resources, and you must design a level with them. Despite the name, you are NOT provided with a ROM!!
General Rules for the format
Custom elements like new music and new graphics etc. should be made by you, preferably within the batol time, ESPECIALLY for XHBs.
The reason you can't use music/audio resources off of, SMWC for example, is because a lot of the graphics and music on there are from pre-existing media. Using custom ASM resources though is fine IF you credit the author. You can do this in the hack itself with a message box or credits edit, or just in the entry description.
Restrictions on submit
IMPORTANT: DON'T UPLOAD YOUR .smc OR .sfc FILE (AKA: THE ROMFILE OF THE GAME!) THIS IS ILLEGAL! You MUST submit a .bps or .ips patch!!
Patches can be created by using one of the patching tools listed above, BPS files are preferred over IPS files. (see: IPS vs BPS)
Playback (for voting)
For playing back submitted entries, use one of the patching tools to apply a patch to your ROM, and run the resulting file either in an emulator of your choice or on real hardware. If playing on real hardware, make sure your flash cart supports any expansion chips that an entry might have. (ex. SA-1 or Super FX)
See also
Battle
Format
Mappist (class)
MML (format)
SPC (format)
