[SMBX2] MIDNIGHT MUSEUM MANIA: Luigi VS. Michi Mochievee (NEW SONG!!)

[FutureNyanCat]

by Team Starshroom & FNC2002/Cyon of Gaia

Well then, the cat's finally out of the bag everyone. I'm pleased to announce that Team Starshroom and I are working on a brand new Super Mario & indie VTuber/Michi Mochievee crossover episode, mainly focused on Michi Mochievee, one of my VTuber oshis that I've been following since 2024! This is a Mario vs. Donkey Kong-inspired puzzle-platformer episode that is designed to follow up on the original mechanics and puzzles from the game, while keeping the experience fresh for SMBX players and those who are familiar with the gameplay style of Mario vs. DK prior to March of the Minis.

It's been in the works since August 2024, so keep an eye out for new updates! This episode is set in the same continuity as Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest, which you can also check out here.

STORYLINE
LUIGI'S STORY
The Mushroom Kingdom National Museum is set to have its grand opening on Princess Peach's birthday week. As the security system is still in the works, Toadsworth has assigned Mario and Luigi to head on to the museum and guard it from dastardly thieves in the middle of the night. The problem is that Mario's on vacation (and so is Peach), so Luigi has to fly solo for this one instead, which only makes him quake in fear of doing this alone AND without his brother. A teenage Toad student named Ingenui T. has volunteered to help and train Luigi to solve various obstacle courses and puzzles in preparation for his midnight shift at the museum.

Now that Luigi's ready, he heads to the Mushroom Kingdom National Museum with Ingenui T. on his side, only to find that he's too late and there's already two thieves breaking into the museum. As it turns out, renowned thief and scam artist Michi Mochievee is on the loose with Shy Shadow (the "fastest Shy Guy thief" in the Mushroom Kingdom), and the thieves are after the shiny, valuable Star Gems! It's up to Luigi and Ingenui T. to save the night, and stop the thieves from getting away with the Star Gems before the museum's grand opening!

But little do they know, that the museum's security system's not as simple as they thought, for a security robot's also on watch for anyone hanging around the museum at late night, and he takes no favorites either...

MICHI'S STORY
After a scoffed thieving attempt in Spotcap City some weeks ago, the Shy Shadow was imprisoned. But his job as a thief ain't over - his intent to escape heightens when he learns about the existence of the Star Gems in the Mushroom Kingdom National Museum, from a glance at a nearby TV in his prison cell. After successfully escaping prison with a few other delinquents, the Shy Shadow is almost ready to take on the museum and steal the Star Gems before its grand opening...

BUT, he can't do this alone as he notes the highly-sophisticated potential of its upcoming security system (which is designed after several puzzles), so he seeks the help of renowned thief and scam artist from another world, Michi Mochievee. It seems that she is also interested in the Star Gems as well, so she teams up with the Shy Shadow to cooperate and break through the museum's security systems, while also giving Luigi and Ingenui T. various diversions and detours from their quest to defend the Mushroom Kingdom National Museum!

FEATURES

• Crossover with Michi Mochievee, related VTubers and related characters!
• Sonic Adventure 2-styled progression: play as Luigi and save the museum and its precious Star Gems in Luigi's Story, or turn to the dark side and play as Michi and the Shy Shadow in Michi's Story
• Regular worlds (Luigi) and Plus Worlds (Michi)
• Lots of small puzzles inspired by the Mario vs. Donkey Kong game, featuring new and returning gimmicks and enemies!
• Featuring puzzles made by a joint effort from Team Starshroom
• A few original songs composed by Cyon of Gaia
• Modern take on the SMW art style, as previously seen in Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest
• Same continuity as PSQ, featuring at least one character from the episode that has been expanded with a new role
• A sentient security robot
• There's a new Luigi voice to check out! (alongside Kevin Afghani)
• Custom cutscenes made with cutscenePal.lua by MrDoubleA!
• Maybe some cameo appearances...
• And so much more!

SCREENSHOTS
Not final and may be subject to change
August 2024

Spoiler: show

September 2024

Spoiler: show

October 2024

Spoiler: show

VIDEOS
PREVIEWS:

Spoiler: show

SOUNDTRACK:

Spoiler: show

DISCORD
Looking forward to updates on this episode? Check out the Team Starshroom Discord server! This is also where updates for other projects (eg. Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest) will be posted.
TEAM STARSHROOM Discord Server

Signature Images
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Other Projects

• Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest (OUT NOW!!)
• Captain Toad Goes to Outer Space (Hiatus)

[FutureNyanCat]

Hey everybody! I added new screenshots from September 2024 to the project page. Please feel free to check them out!

[Cat king]

I really like the idea of being able to play both the good guy's view of it and the bad guy's view of it. It sort of reminds me of the old Warcraft games, where you could play two separate campaigns showing the orcs and humans' side of the story.

[FutureNyanCat]

I really like the idea of being able to play both the good guy's view of it and the bad guy's view of it. It sort of reminds me of the old Warcraft games, where you could play two separate campaigns showing the orcs and humans' side of the story.

Thanks! It was pretty much a cool way to help integrate Mario vs. DK's Plus Worlds into the project while also expanding on the main story, so there's a lot to piece together for everyone.

[FutureNyanCat]

New October screenshots are here! Check them out!

[FutureNyanCat]

NEW SONG Release! This boss theme will appear in the episode itself, composed by yours truly. Check it out!

[FutureNyanCat]

New song released for the project! I'll be including more images of episode progress this January, so stay tuned!

[Alagirez]

You really love puzzles, don't you? :p

Anyway, your dedication on working at multiple ambitious projects is just insane, and I really appreciate the effort. Good luck finishing them!
The song itself is pretty neat.

[FutureNyanCat]

I've composed a NEW song for the episode, this also confirms a future boss fight to be added to the episode. Check them out! I also overhauled the videos section in the OP to include all the OST and progress update videos so far. Enjoy!

[FutureNyanCat]

With the release of Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest, we can now focus on brainstorming and making more levels for Midnight Museum Mania: Luigi VS. Michi Mochievee. I'd like to address some possible questions in spite of recent developments happening around the clock:

Spoiler: show

What's gonna happen with Midnight Museum Mania?
- We're back on track after focusing on finishing Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest for the past few months! For those who are wondering, we're working on World 3 for Luigi's Story AND for Michi's Story as well.
- We won't be focusing much on boss battles, yet, as they require lots of coding, cutscenes, etc. Easier part is making levels, as the base assets can be placed in the level from the get-go.

With all the recent news about various VShojo members leaving, will it impact the episode's development?
- TL;DR - No, the development on this episode is not affected. However, its initial branding as a VShojo fangame may be distanced further for the sake of future-proofing.
- I am aware of the news that various members & talents of VShojo (including Zentreya, Matara Kan and GEEGA) have already parted ways with the talent group itself, and have become indie VTubers while keeping their IP. However, this also raised a concern among Team Starshroom members (including myself) due to the uncertain future of the group itself, which would mean various aspects of the episode may become outdated. I had to resort to a plan of future-proofing the episode, just in case. The details are below.

What would future-proofing be like?
- The episode will be LESS advertised or branded as a VShojo fangame going forward, although it will still retain the fact it is a Michi Mochievee crossover fangame of sorts. It may still be promoted with VShojo's corresponding hashtags on social media to further the reach, if the episode is finished WHILE Michi is still in VShojo.
- The VTuber talents that are featured in Midnight Museum Mania are now the main focus, and will still be retained.
- The story is not going to be changed much. However, in the timeline placement for Super Mario RE:MIX, both Midnight Museum Mania and Captain Toad: Prism Star Quest now take place in September 2024. This corresponds with Ironmouse's 2024 subathon AND the release date of Super Mario Bros. (September 13, 1985) which I often headcanon as Princess Peach's birthday. 2024 is also the year when Michi debuted (and also when I first conceived Midnight Museum Mania).

Will any QoL features from Midnight Museum Mania be backported to Prism Star Quest at some point?
Most likely, yes. As long as it doesn't break any part of the episode. A feature I guaranteed porting to PSQ at some point is fastClimb.lua, which is also a script I publicly released on the SMBX forums.

Will Midnight Museum Mania be also compatible with the upcoming SMBX2 Beta 5 Patch 4?
Yes. This will also be the same case for PSQ as well, which I allowed MegaDood to use for testing Patch 4 (for reference he's both an X2 dev/repo owner and a member of Team Starshroom).

[FutureNyanCat]

Important Announcement
Effective immediately, all VShojo-related branding will be removed from Midnight Museum Mania: Luigi VS. Michi Mochievee. For clarification, the episode is NOT cancelled and is still in progress. However, all crossovers with various VTubers (especially Michi herself) have been kept and will still be geared to be a Michi Mochievee fangame to some extent.

Loading screen tips, graphics, and other content will be altered to reflect these changes. Always support your favorite VTubers first and foremost, especially for those who are in the VTuber community right now.

[Shaktool]

Important Announcement
Effective immediately, all VShojo-related branding will be removed from Midnight Museum Mania: Luigi VS. Michi Mochievee. For clarification, the episode is NOT cancelled and is still in progress. However, all crossovers with various VTubers (especially Michi herself) have been kept and will still be geared to be a Michi Mochievee fangame to some extent.

Loading screen tips, graphics, and other content will be altered to reflect these changes. Always support your favorite VTubers first and foremost, especially for those who are in the VTuber community right now.

is this related about ironmouse leaving Vshojo like some hours ago?

yeah its kind of sad news but still, a good episode can be one without branding or advertisments.

[FutureNyanCat]

Pretty much correct, yes. I'm glad I chose the decision to remove all the cameos related to VShojo. With that said, I support the talents first, and especially as this episode is gearing up to be advertised as a Michi Mochievee crossover fangame.

[FutureNyanCat]

A new song has been released for the episode!!

Spoiler: show