ラクガキ (Rakugaki) Mario - the last VIP we will ever see...

[Lord Ruby]

So, was it originally supposed to

trigger an "unintended" event if the secret exit was taken after all

? That would have been funny.

Anyway, it definitely looked like a classic item babysitting secret exit to me when I first saw the keyhole and key. I guess some people might have grown to hate that concept so much that even the mildest, most harmless instance of it is unimaginable to them.

[KobaBeach]

raks redemption arc

So the way raocow did the secret exit was completely new to me. The apparent intended way was to abuse a quirk of JonWil's blocks that would have the fireballs clip and bounce through the ice on the top left corner, which would continue bouncing towards over the brown blocks and thus would be able to collect the key that way. Your strategy actually seems much more sane.

How is it new to you this makes so much sense to do it this way lmao

[KobaBeach]

star platinum/blue megamole stage (Evil)

funny ass stage i love it. my ex, bless his pingas, had an anal evacuation over cackling carnival

[Heraga]

Following the Chuck Is Easy!

Level By---

Atomic_Citrus

This level originally had a few tighter sections that were extended to give the chuck more leeway, specifically towards the end with the two tile hole (thanks Morsel). This level also was originally titled "Babysitting", but it was changed due to being a bit on the nose I felt.

Crackling Carnival

Level By---

OnineVideoSurfer

I consider this to be the second hardest level in the whole hack. This level changed a tiny bit during development, specifically the last section was completely changed on account for being initially total sprite spam (Hammer Bros, Boo Ring, Bullet Bill generator), and I felt like a genuine player who'd get that far would just be unhappy if they died right there. A few parts of the level were also rebalanced too a bit (specifically two jumps in both sections).

For raocow-- if you play the left level tomorrow, I'd recommend giving the normal exit a fair shot RTA (it's not too terrible all things considered), as if you savestate through you'll miss the level's really unique gimmick.

[KobaBeach]

can i just add that it's really funny that somehow raks has been rak-ing up the most views of the three current lps and it's not my fault somehow??



be glad my youtube is in english unlike most of my shitty web 2.0 conteant [sic] which is in like. brazilian (web3 is for doofuses)

[7TC7]

can i just add that it's really funny that somehow raks has been rak-ing up the most views of the three current lps and it's not my fault somehow??

I mean, it's still a Mario hack on raocow's channel, which is likely the thing the majority of people subscribed to him for originally.
And no matter how many people might complain about or appreciate this hack in the comment section, there is surely a silent majority just enjoying the show that is watching raocow in his element.

[raocow]

yeah what 7 said. not only does it not surprise me one bit, it's entirely one hundred percent what I expected.

[KobaBeach]

I mean, it's still a Mario hack on raocow's channel, which is likely the thing the majority of people subscribed to him for originally.
And no matter how many people might complain about or appreciate this hack in the comment section, there is surely a silent majority just enjoying the show that is watching raocow in his element.

yeah what 7 said. not only does it not surprise me one bit, it's entirely one hundred percent what I expected.

yeah i just. i just miss the frequent romhakes... but i understand that you tend to record most things you play so, it's good to diversify. also almost always constant standard mario hacks like you did a decade ago would likely result in burn out.

need to post less on here, fourth post on this page...

play jumping flash

[Ashan]

Is there actually a way to reliably manipulate the chucks to like, jump over a tile and then stop immediately so he doesn't run off a ledge? That level required you do that a few times and I always assumed that was like RNG

[Heraga]

While I don't consider this the worst level in the hack, I'm pretty sure everyone else does.

Running In Circles

Level By---

Heraga

This level was made in tribute to "Infinite Loops sure are Scary, Huh?" from VIP2, because the author was fascinated with the fact that the level's gimmick randomized level exits with no indication and the fact that looking in Lunar Magic wouldn't even give the player any Hint on what to do. Of course, the latter part is unneeded and doesn't particularly make the level more playable. As a result, a lot of hints were added, both in the Ghost House and in the Load of Blather storehouse to try and give players a bit of a leg up. Regardless, the exit still tends to be rather cryptic and I think I've only seen three people actually get it the way it's been intended.

Small Hint-- Of the rooms in the level, which room doesn't have a hint, or at least one not seen blatantly.
Full Hint (aka look here for the solution)--

Enter the very first door of the level at 380 seconds on the clock exactly, and beat the level as normal. The Coins spell out "3 8 0", with the yellow as the number and the blue as negative space. The clock is meant to be a...clock, for the time. The first room is the one with no hint (as well as no banister right at the start of the level), which is meant to indicate to use that door.

I would've given this hint yesterday but I figured for some reason that the left Ghost House would be played first, my apologies.

[Grounder]

*looks at solution* i'll be shocked if rao finds it on his own

[raocow]

no yeah I just immediately looked

that is...
I honestly don't expect anyone ever to naturally solve that puzzle

[raocow]

never mind I actually read someone

make the abacus analogy with the coins, well then

[Heraga]

Yeah,

that's what you're supposed to do.

However, I guess not many people even know what that is anymore.

[LethalBrownies]

I'm concluding that cow would probably genuinely enjoy this game if the levels were like 1/3 the length.
Keep the difficulty where it's at, but make them gauntlet levels, not marathon/gauntlet levels.

[TiKi]

I'm concluding that cow would probably genuinely enjoy this game if the levels were like 1/3 the length.
Keep the difficulty where it's at, but make them gauntlet levels, not marathon/gauntlet levels.

i saw someone say i wanna be the guy was easier than soldexus (not ragging on it, just got it on the brain) due to the more-frequent continue locations. this is a huge enjoyability factor for games, especially when dying undoes all your progress as opposed to some games like Zelda that at least let you keep obtained keys and items you got between the checkpoint and dying.

[strongbadman]

I'm concluding that cow would probably genuinely enjoy this game if the levels were like 1/3 the length.
Keep the difficulty where it's at, but make them gauntlet levels, not marathon/gauntlet levels.

So would I

[KobaBeach]

[Heraga]

GREEN SMOOCH ( • з • )

Level By---

Jolpe

This creator was one of the authors I was really hoping to get for a project like this, as I felt like it wouldn't have been a complete experience with out them. Originally, they were going to create the Red Switch, but decided to make the Green after feeling as though they had made too many Red Switches already. Apparently this level was made in around two hours.

So tomorrow's secret leads to the "Postgame" of sorts, so it's probably more thematic to keep that for after Bowser. The rest of World 7 though I think is a really fun time at the least.

[PSI Ninja]

Is there actually a way to reliably manipulate the chucks to like, jump over a tile and then stop immediately so he doesn't run off a ledge? That level required you do that a few times and I always assumed that was like RNG

Yes - if you jump straight up at the last second in front of the tile, then the Chucks will stop short after leaping over it. I don't know if rao noticed this while playing the level. You can also stomp on the Chucks to stop them short, but of course you can only do this twice before killing them.

I'm concluding that cow would probably genuinely enjoy this game if the levels were like 1/3 the length.
Keep the difficulty where it's at, but make them gauntlet levels, not marathon/gauntlet levels.

Having the experience of playing along with the LP (has anyone else made it this far?), my opinion is that the levels just need more checkpoints. I consider myself to be pretty good at SMW hacks, but even I have limits. If I can't reach some sort of checkpoint after ~30 minutes, then I give myself one via a savestate spacetime warp. It's not that I can't beat these marathon levels legit, it's just that my free time is precious, so I no longer have the luxury to do the grind in real-time. That being said, I was able to beat Following the Chuck Is Easy! on a clean run, but I had to route it out first and practice the harder bits.

Given that individual level sections in the endgame are hard enough already, I don't really understand this hack's emphasis on eschewing checkpoints for added difficulty. Were the early VIPs this stingy with checkpoints? Adding a checkpoint or two to some of the difficult marathon levels would've instantly made this hack more accessible, and the precedent for 1-Up checkpoints has already been set with "Cold Castle". I don't remember if 1-Up checkpoint technology was known back in the late 2000s, so I don't know if its use in this hack would be considered anachronistic. However, ASMT didn't use them, and that was a 2009-2010 hack.

So tomorrow's secret leads to the "Postgame" of sorts, so it's probably more thematic to keep that for after Bowser. The rest of World 7 though I think is a really fun time at the least.

The upcoming World 7 castle is one of my favorite stages in the game. rao's ability to beat GREEN SMOOCH ( • з • ) legit is giving me hope that he won't savescum the castle level too much. But

too bad about the bonus room trap and that the boss filters you to Small Mario, though.

[Heraga]

Dream Gallery

Level By---

MST

This author is typically known for their more unique ASM-oriented levels. While their first level was a more typical tribute to a previous level, I had asked if they could make their second in a style more similar to their known works, which they delivered here. The elaborate pipe filter at the start of the stage was made because the creator wasn't aware that the normal filter blocks were in the rom.

[LethalBrownies]

That secret exit though. Completely doable with tools and fun as well! But that whole cape section would give me nightmares if I didn't have rewinds. And it would have been a nightmare to watch also.

It feels bizarre to me that they would be so generous with the keys in that switch/net room. It's almost as if they assume someone who made it to this point in the game isn't capable of holding onto a key on nets any distance.

So these random room levels are neat technically, but playing them out just feels annoying. It doesn't give you much opportunities to learn the level you're playing because you're going into something random every time. Again, it's super neat, but it's not really conducive to a learning environment.

[LethalBrownies]

I also must appreciate raocow for giving that level an honest shot without tools. Well done, sir. It makes the moments reaching the midpoint and end goal that much more "Hey! Hooray!" haha~

[LethalBrownies]

Compared to the levels around it that level felt weirdly easy. I expected more from the level before Bowser castle. Most of the difficulty came from figuring out what to do with the p-switch. Which is fine I suppose, but it just didn't feel like an endgame level.

[Heraga]

Up and Down

Level By---

Anikiti

Most of this level originate from a hack this Author was working on that was sadly cancelled, though reworked a little for this project. I'm pretty sure that the Bonus Room isn't meant to be a troll, though that combined with the Yoshi Coin placement could be seen as one. The boss room did originally not filter powerups, but had to be added to fix a bug previously mentioned in Underwater Armada. The port was slightly modified from the old one many people know of by the Author themselves.

Next time, a bunch of rooms.