So, Thoughts on VIP 6?

[CM30]

It's not so making them as the custom ASM needed to completely replace the overworld graphics in the strange way Brutal Mario and VIP 5 did it. Not sure exactly what the people behind those hacks did, but they look all kinds of messed up in Lunar Magic, and break whenever you try and edit them.

Can whoever is working on this project do all that fancy graphics replacement and VRAM editing stuff?

[lolyoshi]

the penis level is the best

[KobaBeach]

the penis level is the best

tell me about it lmao

[KobaBeach]

I'll translate this. Tell me when it's available and I'll make it ready for raocow as quickly as I can (give me about a month).

Gotcha~♪

So far they have all level slots up to 122 filled.

15 (001-00F) + 16 (010-01F) + 5 (020-024) + 15 (101-10F) + 16 (110-11F) + 3 (120-122) = 70 slots filled out of 95.
Level insertion is ~74% complete, basically. The past VIPs didn't really use all level slots, just the majority, so...

They haven't started on the overworld, the final bosses, the title screen and the credits yet, so it should still take a while.
Maybe it'll be done by the next summer or spring or so?

[worldpeace125]

After realizing the function of the

black switch palace

, I really become eager to see their plot(and play the hack of course ^-^). I suppose there are various uses of it. The way to access secrets must be amazing.

[KobaBeach]

New level added! TSCむげんじょう (TSC Dream Castle).

If my memory serves me right, TSC is a tripf*g (pardon the slur) on 2ch who made levels for the previous VIPs.
This stage is basically a marathon level made of parts of his previous levels.

Levels featured in this greatest hits compilation of sorts (spoilered because yeah):

• とげとげしいフルーティアなフフフ (world 3 castle from VIP4, mistranslated as "The Sharp Tear Giggle")
• イギーのしろだけど… (world 1 castle from VIP2, layer 2 tofu)
• My Stage (from VIP5, goal orb stage)
• Yoshi's House (from VIP1)
• This much stress? YOU MUST BE JOKING! (world 4 castle from VIP1)
• SACRIFICE (world 4 ghost house from VIP3)
• some castle level from VIP3 or VIP4? (not sure)
• おまえはくるくるくるくるくる～！！ (world 6 castle from VIP3),
• an underwater stream level?
• Super Malice World (from VIP5, blue switch palace)
• ENDURANCE (world 2 ghost house from VIP5)
• くるおしいほどルナティック (world 4 castle from VIP3)
• The Laboratory!!!!! (world 7 castle from VIP1, last level before Bowser's Castle)
• 14どめのださく (really gaudy world 1 level from VIP3)
• Sky-Pier vol.4 (sky stage with all the Flurries from VIP1)
• すいほうのあるどうくつ (bubble stage from VIP2)
• せんろはつづくよどこまでも (traintracks stage from VIP2)
• Missingno. (true last stage from VIP1)
• さて、そろそろほんきをだしてみようか (true last stage from VIP3)

[CM30]

Think I played that level, but I'd need some screenshots to jog my memory.

Still, I can't wait to see an actual map screen sometime. Anyone else?

[KobaBeach]

Looking at the previous uploader, it seems that the only levels left to insert from there are VIPマリオスタッフもアッタリ コース ("VIP Mario Staff's Completion Level"(?)), and バブイルのどかん ("The Pipe of Babil").

The former is probably going to be inserted last, considering the name.
It's a simple grassland level.

The latter is a vertical pipe stage (not a pipe maze though). Uses a lot of SMB3 resources.
Name may be an FFIV reference?

They may add more levels later on, however.
There's also Bowser's Castle and the secret stage, which haven't been worked on yet.

If those four are all that's left, it'd still be of an okayish length in terms of level quantity (75).
Larger than VIP1 (62), but a bit smaller than VIP2 (78) and VIP3 (79).

Still, I can't wait to see an actual map screen sometime. Anyone else?

Pretty sure that'll only be worked on after they finish inserting all levels.

[KobaBeach]

Okay, so according to a post in the current SMW hacking thread, 81 stages are planned for VIP6.

70 have been inserted (they're not counting Yoshi's House, obviously);
3 haven't been inserted yet;
And there seem to be 8 free spots left.

[Heraga]

So can we exspect a release date for VIP6 in 2/3 mounths? Only 11 levels are left (I think)

[KobaBeach]

So can we exspect a release date for VIP6 in 2/3 mounths? Only 11 levels are left (I think)

Maybe??????
Potentially??????

I'm not participating in the collab
I'm just an innocent bystander

[CM30]

So can we exspect a release date for VIP6 in 2/3 mounths? Only 11 levels are left (I think)

Depends how long the final levels and boss take. Remember:

1. The final level usually takes submissions from multiple people, some of which make very technically advanced stages.

2. The final boss (usually two) needs coding. These could be difficult to program and take a while before they're complete, especially with carol out of the picture.

3. The overworld needs completing. I assume it'll be simpler than in the last game (since carol said he isn't contributing here), but it still means a lot of overworld tile arranging and stuff.

2 or 3 months is generous. And that's not even taking into account what some of the last few levels could be like. They could be mega ASM showcases of the type we've never seen before, or they could be the simplest vanilla levels possible.

[KobaBeach]

New level added: こうきしんもてきとなる (Curiosity Becomes the Enemy).

Average grassland level.

[KobaBeach]

VIPマリオスタッフもマッタリ　コース ("The VIP Mario Staff Are Chill Too" Course) was added to the baserom.

[Slit08]

Does anyone of you have a link to the base rom?

[CM30]

In here somewhere:

http://mario4.boldfin.net/up/

Probably one of the zip files.

[KobaBeach]

Nope, the baserom uploader is this one

http://mario4.boldfin.net/16x_up/

The one CM30 linked is probably for the levels (hope there's no issue with me linking to it here)

Also, I think another way to translate the level name is "Another Laidback Stage from the VIP Mario Staff"?? but my Japanese is shit so eh

[Slit08]

Thanks. I'll test this later. Question: Do they have more levels with custom, non-vanilla tilesets this time around?

[KobaBeach]

Question: Do they have more levels with custom, non-vanilla tilesets this time around?

I guess so?????

[CM30]

Thanks. I'll test this later. Question: Do they have more levels with custom, non-vanilla tilesets this time around?

Yes they do. The amount of chocolate levels is much, much higher this time around, at least from what I can remember.

This is probably because only the semi 'skilled' Japanese hackers remain, with the newbies having moved onto newer pastures.

[Slit08]

kinda getting hyped!!

You should be, VIP 6 is going to be awesome.

You should also be absolutely terrified, because some of the levels in this are extremely hard, even for the VIP series. Some of the castle levels are gonna give you a break down or something...

On another note, anyone think the recent pipe level was one of the best ones yet? Cause I loved all the cool sprites and effects in it. Fast platforms and Piranha Plants, endlessly repeating level generator, sparky style wall following Grinders... Can't wait for it to be added to the baserom.

That they are CM30.
But tell me which level were you talking about here CM30? I don't remember any level esembling the one you described there? Where can I find it on the map in the ROM?

Okay I quickly tested a few levels.
There are indeed quite a few chocolate levels this time around. And a lot of these look pretty bautifull. To name a few:
- The Cherry Blossom Level
- The Forest level with the living Mushrooms
- The Ice Cream level
- The Purple Cave containing all these crystals
- The Space level with the Magi Koopa shooting three fireballs
- The abstract/ high tech castle which starts in a room where solid tiles you can walk on flash every few seconds
- This awesome level that almost seems semi 3D
- The sky level with the appearing and disappearing clouds
- The Wario Land themed castle
- The Castle of the Ocean
- The Castle with Zelda (?) music
- The GnG level
- The Ghost House level with Illusionary walls
- A level taking space among the stars with beautifull, multi coloured tiles

But what makes these levels epic beyond their visuals is the design. Yes, these VIP levels are really well designed and that's not something I saw a whole lot in earlier VIP games (levels tended to become better design wise in VIP 4). Usually levels with custom graphics only relied on their visual aspect and thus had bland, boring or outright bad design. This time however, it's not the case. They are usually pretty challenging and the way the level is built is pretty clever.
One example would be the above mentioned purple cave:
Insead of making a boring cave level that only relies on its visuals (COD syndrome ) it adds good level design: BIG slopes, lots of enemies, moving platforms etc.
Then there's the Ghost House with fake/ illusionary walls and moving staircases. Another example for very good level design in a visually beautifull level.
Or the GnG level which not only looks epic but also uses the new homing enemy in interesting places (for example near pipes with Piranha Plants).
I hope you'r egoing to do the same with your hack CM30! ;)

And so on and so on.

Sure, there are a few levels here and there that suffer the typical VIP syndrome we know from its predecessors (esp. some Vanilla levels or the Castle of the Ocean, which looks nice but is a bit boring design wise).

Lots of Vanilla stages are pretty awesome as well though.
Levels are usually pretty hard in this game, harder than a lot of the previous VIP games.
Do you guys also think that the Switch Palaces are VERY hard this time around? Honestly, I think the one with the water current is totally terrible design wise as the mechanic glitches out on me. When I hit a wall I die.

Also there's another TMC stage just like in VIP 4. Maybe this marathon level will once again be placed right before the secret final stage.

Can someone tell me what the purpose of the Black Switch Palace is? I cannot access any of the doors (mainly because I didn't finish any of these super hard Switch Palaces).

[CM30]

So, in response to some of your points:

1. The Black Switch Palace... I assume is meant to be a final bonus level. Maybe they'll ASM in some sort of extra switch/block functionality with it, since I think object tool or something lets you do that.

2. The pipe level I mentioned was submitted to VIP 6 at one point. Not sure if they added it yet, but I assume they did.

3. Yeah, I know that the new chocolate levels are a lot more well designed. Maybe it's cause carol isn't developing anything for this game. I mean, the level design in Brutal Mario and any of his VIP works is very poor... No carol means the quality of the level design goes up considerably.

It could also be due to good quality designers being the only people left. A lot of the old 'fancy but very linear and dull' levels probably came from people who cared more about their programming skills than their level design. That's not the case here.

4. Mario's Nightmare Quest... well, I'm hoping to make its level design interesting with lots of enemies, secrets, slopes, moving platforms, etc. But you do have to keep one thing in mind.

It's not meant to be a hard game. Okay, it's not Yoshi's Story level easy, but I'm hoping to make a game with level design that's doable for non save state using casual Mario fans as well as hardcore gamers/nerds. Cause that's the drawback with a lot of Japanese hacks with fancier levels... they make them far too hard for their own good. The Mario LDs, Hyper Marios and VIPs of the world are very cool, but they're near impossible for anyone who isn't an ultra hardcore platformer fan, and often virtually impossible without save states.

My game won't be like that. It'll be 100% doable toolless, and at least somewhat forgiving to people who aren't expert gamers. But hopefully the level design will be good regardless.

5. Yeah, the levels are harder this time around. Probably cause all the less experienced hackers have left... and the experienced ones want to make levels that are challenging for them.

[Slit08]

Yeah, These Levels sure are harder than in VIP 5, though I guess VIP 4 was ahrder from what I remember. Of the Levels I have played yet there were only a couple really, really tough ones, like the one taking place in space with the Magi Koopa and the super fast autoscroll Segment.
Or that underwater Level (what is up with all the water Levels in VIP 6?! ) with the air in between.

Most of the Levels are very, very well designed. As I mentioned the purple cave and also the Level with the appearing and disappearing clouds were two of the best designed stages and man I loved that slippery Castle with the pipes or the high tech Castle (but why does it have a C on the timer? It is not even cloese as Long).

Some Levels are rather bland though. Sadly that Wario Ware Castle is one of those as the rooms aren't really well designed in my oppinion.

[KobaBeach]

バブイルのどかん (The Pipe of Babil) has been added to the baserom.

They're starting to plan the overworld now.

[GenesisJames]

I have to say, I haven't been following the project that closely, but having a new VIP to watch raocow play (hell, just having a new VIP in general) is gonna be pretty awesome. From the nonsense you guys are spouting, it seems be turning into a rather ambitious and refined product, so I'm excited!


... and that's not just because I want to see Boon's lovely, smiling face again...