Super Mario 63 Talkhaus Potluck
rao played Super Mario 63 recently and enjoyed its control and physics quite a bit, and it just so happens to have a level editor built into the game. Since a couple of people said they'd be interested in a group project, I've decided to throw down the gauntlet and host a level potluck! Create your best levels (store-bought is forbidden) and send them in, and by the end we'll hopefully have a buffet of delicious Flash goodness.
How To Make
As the slow heat death of Adobe Flash draws nearer, it's best if one uses Flashpoint to play the game. Download the Infinity version here (unless you really want to throw down 150+GB on this sucker), then search the game by name and it'll pop up. However, not everything is unlocked in the game by default, so there's an extra set of steps you'll need to take to unlock the editor and all its features.
- At the Main Menu, type cheat. A new menu should pop up. Turn on "Unlock Everything" and "Toggle Shine Sprites on Star Map".
- Create a new file and play until you reach the Shine Sprite orb
- Open the menu (P) and click Star Map, then click on the Star Coin on the right
- Toggle every single Star Coin on except for the first one under "Castle Star Coins"
- Go to the room with the Bob-Omb Battlefield portrait (first star door on the left of the main entrance), then get the Star Coin in the secret passage on the right. Save the game, which will save the file's Star Coin count at 64.
This level creator isn't too complicated, but here's a quick rundown.
- Move the screen with the arrow keys, place items with the mouse. Right click does nothing.
- File>Course Info lets you name your course, set its music and background, and change the size of the playable area.
- File>Test Course is obvious. To quit while testing, hit Backspace.
- File>Save/Load Course is done through text strings. Hit Save, then paste the text it gives you into a text doc. Loading is the same but backwards. Don't load an empty text box, the game does NOT like that.
- I have no idea what View>Movement Settings does.
- View>Toggle Layering toggles if Tiles or Items show up in front of each other.
- View>Re-center Camera should center the camera on Mario's spawn point.
- Tiles and Items are pretty self-explanatory. The erasers in each menu only work for each type.
- After placing an Item, use the Select mode to click on it and set properties like angle, speed, fine-tuned position (for some items), pipe destination, water size, etc. This also works with the spawn point, so you can fling Mario into the level however you want.
- Use the Horizontal Transition item (bottom of the first Items tab) to create a screen boundary. There is no vertical transition in the level editor.
- Silver Stars and Red Coins will turn ALL Shine Sprites on the same screen inactive until all of one set are collected.
- We all know the Wing Cap kinda blows. Be mindful of how you use it.
- Make sure your level looks good in windowed mode at the normal resolution. Fullscreening the game can show extra space on the sides that won't be visible at standard resolution.
- You can play custom levels as Luigi by loading a file, switching to him using the second door to the right of the level editor area, and jumping into a painting. Luigi jumps higher and moves faster, but has no weakness because what do you mean """game balance"""
- This project has no gimmicks or themes. Feel free to create whatever you can turn into a fun level!
- Do not place more than two Shine Sprites in a level.
- There are no checkpoints in the level editor! Please do not make your levels overly long or ridiculously difficult, for the players' sake. Unless you really wanna.
- If you find any wacky glitches in the engine (impossible, i know), please do not make them required to collect a Shine Sprite.
- This is not a contest. There will be no judging involved, and the only testers will be me and anyone else who wants to try your level before the submission period is over. There is also no need to sign up, but announcing your intent in this thread would be convenient for me.
- SM63 doesn't support level packs or anything similar, so the end result of this potluck will be a .txt file containing the codes for each level. Level order will be based on rules that have not been decided yet, but which will likely be a fusion between "what seems like a good place for this thematically" and "who submitted first".
- Please submit your level codes to my PM box by November 1st, 2019, at 1:00 AM EST (so, by the end of October). Late entries won't be accepted, since this is plenty of time to cobble something together.
- If you intend for your level to be played as Luigi, make note of this in your message.
- You are free and encouraged to post your level codes in the thread to garner feedback and opinions. Posting your code in the thread does not count as submitting it; only PM submissions will be compiled in the final product.
- The finalized potluck will be released on November 6th barring any setbacks.