MaGL 3 results: moral of the story: laziness always prevails

[nothobz]

Oh and the new graphics were really really great

thaaaaaats our kixune :D :D :D :) ;)

[StrikeForcer]

Playing through my level on my phone. Want to post a picture of how far I got... Anyway, I keep dying to the last jump in the entire level. Is that a good sign I can make it their (both with all fivw dragon coins, and with none of them) or bad because I can not beat it on my phone?

I do not think SMW hacking have their hackers design levels for their ROM-hacks to be played on a mobile device (smartphones/tablets in this case lest you have a usb device to play it). Not only the lack of sizeable qwerty keyboards (and of this year none at all because its all touchscreen) but because of the radical difference of genre playstyles mobile phones are limited to.

And on the related note, I will talk to Kixune on the graphics to see if they can be released (provided on the predication of .bin file adjustments to be more space-conservative).

[Diggertron]

Wow the one day I'm away my level gets played.
Yay!

[SAJewers]

Show me how to play smw levels on a PHONE, and then let's talk

download retroarch (you'll need to jailbreak on ios), assuming you're not trying to play a ZSNES-only hack.

EDIT: also, whenever you get to my level raocow, make sure you enter the level on the right to net some lives, so you won't need to use savestates.

[Mandew]

For every rotato platforms, the game kinda has to do like 4 sets of math operations involving multiplications and the sine/cosine value table.
The SNES isn't a very powerful computer, and math operations take quite a few "cycles" of the processor to complete. It can be not so bad since you could technically make the SNES do something else while the math is being operated, but knowing how SMW is generally programmed that would surprise me if that were the case. I haven't looked into it yet, but I'd think the game is made in a way where master cycles would be wasted a whole lot.

Maybe I could go and try to make an optimized version of those platforms.

But either way, I think what pushes the SNES over to slowdown town is
1) The fact that there are two layers (and at the very least, Mario has to process interactions with the both of them, kind of making it a thing that happens twice)
2) The fact that, if it's based on Valley Fortress, Sprite Byouancy is most certainly enabled - and that makes interactions with each layer take a hell of a lot longer.

I'm hoping that the rotatos probably don't need to interact with layers, but what do I know - this is this game, after all.

[Money]

Man i really dug mechdragon's level. It was very "nintendo designed" if that makes sense, taking only a couple different objects and making as many interesting challenges from them as it could, gradually ramping up the complexity. It was nice.

[FPzero]

But either way, I think what pushes the SNES over to slowdown town is
1) The fact that there are two layers (and at the very least, Mario has to process interactions with the both of them, kind of making it a thing that happens twice)
2) The fact that, if it's based on Valley Fortress, Sprite Byouancy is most certainly enabled - and that makes interactions with each layer take a hell of a lot longer.

I'm hoping that the rotatos probably don't need to interact with layers, but what do I know - this is this game, after all.

Don't forget the layer transparency. I assume additional processing power has to go into that, more so than for regular layers.

[Mandew]

But either way, I think what pushes the SNES over to slowdown town is
1) The fact that there are two layers (and at the very least, Mario has to process interactions with the both of them, kind of making it a thing that happens twice)
2) The fact that, if it's based on Valley Fortress, Sprite Byouancy is most certainly enabled - and that makes interactions with each layer take a hell of a lot longer.

I'm hoping that the rotatos probably don't need to interact with layers, but what do I know - this is this game, after all.

Don't forget the layer transparency. I assume additional processing power has to go into that, more so than for regular layers.

I believe that Layer Transparency is mostly a PPU thing, which is seperate from the CPU.

[Voltgloss]

Man i really dug mechdragon's level. It was very "nintendo designed" if that makes sense, taking only a couple different objects and making as many interesting challenges from them as it could, gradually ramping up the complexity. It was nice.

Agreed. I also feel like it struck a good length/difficulty balance.

[Sugar]

Don't forget the layer transparency. I assume additional processing power has to go into that, more so than for regular layers.

Color addition (CGADSUB) is implemented by PPU, not CPU, which means that whatever cost there is, it shouldn't cause slowdown.

Out of curiosity, I checked rotating platform code, and wow.

Code: Select all

LDA #$FF
STA $78

This is dumb... why is there code to make Mario invisible???

That said, other than that, the code seems fairly reasonable. SNES multiplication is relatively cheap (8 cycles or so, although that's just multiplication process, in practice it's larger because the operands have to be stored and loaded), circle calculations come from a table in a ROM.

It can be optimized, sure, it has some silly stuff, such as waiting for multiplication for more than needed, doing data processing that is going to be ignored, using the same sprite code for Banzai Bill of all things (there is a branch in rotating platform code to test if this is Banzai Bill actually, I don't know why they did it that way), and debugging code (not sure what else this code I posted is). But those are minor issues, even SNES CPU considered.

Hey, the game was rushed, as it was one of first SNES games, so it's only fair that the code is not that great, but the issues with it shouldn't affect performance all that much. Compared, to say, Layer 2 in a level (Layer 2 pretty much forces everything to process interaction with both Layer 1 AND Layer 2 which is costly).

Also, rotating platform doesn't check for interaction with other sprites or ground, so most of sprite cost is ignored as far rotating platforms are considered.

[MECHDRAGON777]

These are screens from my phone playthrough. I still need to record this level.

[Grounder]

why would you torture yourself by playing a console game on a mobile emulator

[MECHDRAGON777]

why would you torture yourself by playing a console game on a mobile emulator

Considering that I almost beat it, that proofs it is not as hard as I usually make ^_^

Edit: I wish raocow was able to finish a No-Dragon coin run, but still nice to see my own level being played.

[Ometeotl]

why would you torture yourself by playing a console game on a mobile emulator

So that he can brag about it as if people give a crap.

[Ivy]

mobile game emulators are nasty, idk how people can deal with those on-screen buttons ):

[Ivy]

I'd like to see a raocow animated short depicting the "Everything's a ghost" segment of today's video

[ztarwuff]

Mechdragon77's level didn't look very illusory to me. Not that it's a bad level. In fact, it's really interesting.

and for once I recognised a Touhou music! Helped that Jonny Atma did a rocking metal version of it.

[Alice]

mobile game emulators are nasty, idk how people can deal with those on-screen buttons ):

If it weren't for the on-screen button deal it'd be pretty good though. On-screen buttons are the worst thing. No tactile sensation of any sort is an issue when you can't even tell whether your finger is on a given button or not.

[MECHDRAGON777]

mobile game emulators are nasty, idk how people can deal with those on-screen buttons ):

If it weren't for the on-screen button deal it'd be pretty good though. On-screen buttons are the worst thing. No tactile sensation of any sort is an issue when you can't even tell whether your finger is on a given button or not.

It is the main reason I could not beat it my self on my phone. (I did get to the final jump at least.)

[S.N.N.]

JUDGES' SCORES AND COMMENTS FOR 31st AND 30th PLACE:

31st: Skulldug13

-FROZENQUILLS-
FUN: 12/30
DIFFICULTY: 4/5
CREATIVITY: 5/10
AESTHETICS: 7/10 (4/5 GFX + 3/5 MUS)
FUNCTIONALITY: 5/5

TOTAL: 33/60

COMMENTS:
Pretty okay ghost house.

I liked some of the eerie and moving hole setups here and there,
though some of the boo placements could have been a bit better.
It also felt kind of repetitive, but it wasn't too bad since
the enemies were pretty varied. There could've been a midpoint
in that second sublevel but that wasn't too detracting.

The colors were really nice too and it conveys a toxic manor
environment well.

So yeah, this was an alright ghost house with some pretty
typical ghost house enemy arrangements with a nice theme.

TLDR:
+ Good ghost enemy arrangements
- A bit repetitive and could vary it up more

OTHER:
the colors actually look eerily similar to the palette of
my vldc9 level


-PYRO-
Fun: 16/30
Difficulty: 4/5
Creativity: 5/10
Aesthetics: 8/10
Functionality: 3/5
Total: 36/60
Comment: First of all, you accidentally set the "Midway point obtained" flag, so rip :c. Also I think at the end you accidentally placed the big boo BOSS instead of the enemy, which caused me to burst out laughing ;p. Besides that, nice level! The shades of purple used in the level were really nice, and there were some nice setups. It's really a level that makes itself memorable via aesthetics though.
Possible Baserom Notes: completely vanilla i think?


-KOOPSTER-
FUN: 17/30
DIFFICULTY: 4/5
CREATIVITY: 5/10
AESTHETICS: 8/10
FUNCTIONALITY: 5/5

TOTAL SCORE: 39/60

I find it a bit goofy that you can swim in the purple bubbles at the start. Not a score changer but I thought I'd point it out lol. I kinda like the aesthetic of this level, and it's fun, but it feels a bit like it's just throwing enemies and pits at me as I go, it doesn't innovate much y'know?


-S.N.N,-
FUN: 20/30
DIFFICULTY: 3/5
CREATIVITY: 6/10
AESTHETICS: 6/10
FUNCTIONALITY: 3/5 (level started at the midpoint and not the main entrance - had to manually correct)

TOTAL: 38/60

COMMENTS: This was a rather interesting level. You had some fairly clever design ideas, such as running up the triangle and having to quickly dodge one of the moving pits. Part of my problem with this level is that it felt a bit too long, and by the last section with the Big Boos, I was ready for it to end. I'm also not sure why you included the Big Boo boss partway through with no way to kill it - was this done as an error? Also, there was a jump right after the three water circles at the midway that was fairly hard to pull off, as you had to know right away to spin jump on the Eerie (else you'll have to respawn it). Overall, an above average level that was marred by a few key design flaws.

30th: MECHDRAGON777

-FROZENQUILLS-
FUN: 15/30
DIFFICULTY: 5/5
CREATIVITY: 7/10
AESTHETICS: 7/10 (3/5 GFX + 4/5 MUS)
FUNCTIONALITY: 3/5

TOTAL: 37/60

COMMENTS:
Nice concept, but it really needs a patch to allow for
more sprites and less lag.

I wasn't sure what was happening at the beginning, but I
enjoyed what was in the castle. It starts off with really simple
layer 2 obstacles, and then it adds rotating platforms.

It gets more and more complex beyond the midpoint, where you
constantly have to deal with both the platforms and layer 2 in
tighter spaces, which was pretty fun. The lowered time limit in
the last section was a nice touch.

However, what's really unfortunate is that this level
desparately needs the SA-1 patch (the patch that allows for
many sprites on the screen without lag), since there were so
many platform sprites at times that it lagged the level and made
some of the sprite tiles disappear, which made the level kind
of awkward to play.

But still, I really like the concept you got here. If this had
the SA-1 patch I think I would have liked it a lot more though.

TLDR:
+ Great layer 2 + platforms idea and setups
- Needs a patch to allow for more sprites and less lag

OTHER:
this was the first entry i played that actually used vanilla
switch palace blocks and it feels bizarre that so few levels
actually used them


-PYRO-
Fun: 18/30
Difficulty: 5/5
Creativity: 4/10
Aesthetics: 6/10
Functionality: 4/5
Total: 37/60
Comment: Wow, this was super nice! The platform sprite memory issues were kinda annoying, but honestly the huge amounts of slowdown in the latter half made the level better? It helped rise the tension and made dealing with the super cramped spaces a LOT easier. But yeah. I LOVE how the level uses the trio platforms and skewers, there's a ton of neat stuff where you have to fight against the spinning platforms and dodge skewers and it's overall just a lot of fun, if a bit stressful. Nice job with this one!


-KOOPSTER-
FUN: 16/30
DIFFICULTY: 2/5
CREATIVITY: 6/10
AESTHETICS: 6/10
FUNCTIONALITY: 4/5

TOTAL SCORE: 34/60

Not a bad first level! I like the general idea but this has a lot of glaring issues unfortunately. Super loopsided midpoint, extreeeeme slowdown (could've used SA-1!) and a particular jump near the end that's heavily based on lucky timing. The level design is also not the most interesting, the main level doesn't even use any enemies.


-S.N.N.-
FUN: 20/30
DIFFICULTY: 3/5
CREATIVITY: 6/10
AESTHETICS: 6/10
FUNCTIONALITY: 4/5 (sprite memory issues)

TOTAL: 39/60

COMMENTS: Not bad at all for a first level. I like how you mixed the three grey platforms with the layer 2 spikes - however, I have a couple of complaints about the overall design. First, I think the whole outside area at the start is unnecessary, and it would have felt more cohesive had you started right inside of the castle. Secondly, your power-up placement is very awkward - you have a whole bunch of feathers at the start (with the green switch pressed), and then basically nothing in the second half. I also feel that the second half was extremely repetitive compared to the first half in that there was no real variation in the set-ups at all. Overall, a nice first attempt that could use some tweaking.

[Arctangent]

This is dumb... why is there code to make Mario invisible???

... I mean it doesn't explain why, but it's a good reason why you don't use completely ridiculous hacks for stuff like this.

[Divemissile]

glad we got a cameo of the touhou classic: ghost spikes

the spiky level was very nice actually! the slowdown is a huge shame though, i guess being a smbx guy they weren't used to it happening. oh well!

[Ashan]

The rankings for this contest makes no sense.
It's not like illusionary castle was a BAD level, but it was basically just a bunch of smashers and rotating platforms (not to mention the sprite overload that slowed it down and made parts of platforms disappear)
Some of the levels like even 20 places below this were WAY better and more memorable than it.

[leod]

That's great that you think so, but all 4 judges are very much in agreement about the scoring of that level so that's probably just you :)

[nothobz]

i agree :\