A 3-Step Guide to Releasing Your First Project/Level/Episode

[zioy]

Hey newbies, I'm here to help you guys out by giving you a nice little guide to posting your first episode, level, or project since alot of people don't really pay attention to the forum rules or something. Anyway, here goes:

Step 1: Design and Test Your Level(s)
This is the step that most everybody remembers because you can't have levels without, well, levels. As for testing, please thoroughly test each of your levels with all the playable characters available in context (an episode, for example). Test it WITHOUT cheats or godmode, and make sure to try and find little stuff you may have missed the first time through. This helps you get an idea on how hard/easy the level(s) is. Most people get this one, so don't pay too much attention to it .

Step 2: Take Screenshot(s)
This is the one most newbies miss. Always make sure to take a screenshot(s) of your project/level/episode, and never, ever take screenshots in fullscreen. There are three main ways to take a screenshot:
The Easiest Way

Spoiler: show

Create a folder in your SMBX directory called "screenshots." After that, press F12 while editing or playing and the screenshot will appear in the folder. After that, just upload it to image hosting site like http://imgur.com and post it using the [IMG] BBCode on the forums. Make sure to spoiler large images. This method is the most simple and has the most limitations.

The Other Easiest Way

Spoiler: show

If you are on a Windows computer (7+ if I recall correctly), there is an application called the Snipping Tool. Open it up and take a screenshot with it. Then follow the image hosting steps from the first method, and you're good to go! This method is most useful for taking smaller screenshots which can be used to spoiler hidden things in the level.

The Take-An-Hour-To-Download-A-New-SMBX-Editor Way

Spoiler: show

OK, well PGE is worth it though This method is the hardest but most rewarding. You can use it to take a screenshot of entire sections at a time and even the whole level! First off, head over to this thread to download PlatGenWohl/Platformer Game Engine/PGE/PGW/Wohlstand's editor, plus any configuration pack you want. After that, open the level in the aforementioned editor and do File > Export to Image. After that, crop as needed. Finally, upload to an image hosting site and follow the steps from there on in the first method. This method is most complex but also the most rewarding. Note that the Export to Image feature is only good for one section at a time.

Step 3: Uploading Your Level/Episode/Project
OK, so you have your screenshots and testing and stuff done, now what? Well, you have to put it up for download, of course! First off, extract the contents of your level/episode/project and everything needed for it into a .zip file, and then upload it to any upload sharing site, such as Sendspace, Mediafire, Dropbox, or whatever. If it fits as an attachment that's OK too. Then post the URL for the .zip download in your topic and Ka-Bam! You have successfully uploaded your first level, episode, project, etc!

[Shidomaru]

Can the extension of the file be .rar too? Or it MUST be .zip?

[Superiorstar]

Can the extension of the file be .rar too? Or it MUST be .zip?

You can use both.

[Veudekato]

PlatGenwohl is most cool....lol read my signature...

[Ignoritus]

PlatGenwohl is most cool....lol read my signature...

Can you please explain t me how this post is at all relevant to the topic? This isn't your first instance of making irrelevant spammy posts.

[zioy]

Can the extension of the file be .rar too? Or it MUST be .zip?

.zips are preferred since anyone can open them, but .rars are fine too

[Veudekato]

ignoritus.
'The Take-An-Hour-To-Download-A-New-SMBX-Editor Way'
i about that. ist my opinion

[HeroLinik]

This is a very good guide, KoolKat, and it will probably reduce the number of bad levels from newbies and also reduce the number of thread-locks due to a lack of screenshots. The problem is that newbies may miss this out as they often rush to release their first level/project/episode. I would say that this thread should be stickied in the Levels, Projects and Episodes section and then newbies will easily catch sight of it.

[Flying Brick]

Guide unclear, got my **** caught in the ceiling fan.

ACTUAL POST: Great guide, this ought to help a lot of people out!

[FireyPaperMario]

What if I'm using Camstudio, and the game just doesn't respond & crash? Happens to me a lot when I tried to record myself playing SMBX using Camstudio! :0

[bossedit8]

What if I'm using Camstudio, and the game just doesn't respond & crash? Happens to me a lot when I tried to record myself playing SMBX using Camstudio! :0

You can use a different recording software like bandicam what I use all the time. There are different amount of desktop recorders you can try.

[zioy]

What if I'm using Camstudio, and the game just doesn't respond & crash? Happens to me a lot when I tried to record myself playing SMBX using Camstudio! :0

I'd use Bandicam or Screencast-O-Matic for recording SMBX, both are free and super easy-to-use. Also it may be a hardware problem.

[FireyPaperMario]

What if I'm using Camstudio, and the game just doesn't respond & crash? Happens to me a lot when I tried to record myself playing SMBX using Camstudio! :0

I'd use Bandicam or Screencast-O-Matic for recording SMBX, both are free and super easy-to-use. Also it may be a hardware problem.

Thanks for the help koolkat

[Shidomaru]

Hello! It's me again... I was wondering what's the size limit of an attachment? I already created an account in Imgur for my screenshots, but I want to know whether it's really necessary for me to create an account on MediaFire or not to upload the episode itself.

[Imaynotbehere4long]

I want to know whether it's really necessary for me to create an account on MediaFire or not to upload the episode itself.

You'll need to upload it to some file-sharing website like MediaFire, meaning you'll need an account somewhere. However, MediaFire lets you make an account for free, so it's preferable (I think the size limit for the free account is 200 MB, but I've never needed to reduce file size for my uploads).

[y479021776]

Can I use .7z package to share?
It can make a small size package,high quality compression

[Julia Pseudo]

Yeah, 7z should work. Any commonly used compression format is OK, rar and zip are just the most popular.

By the way, good guide krazykat.

[Wohlstand]

The Take-An-Hour-To-Download-A-New-SMBX-Editor Way

After some updates, I reduced size of required to download to take able use editor (a lot of included data is optional like additional tools (18MB of .zip) and guide (13 MB of .zip) now I put separately), and editor's package now is 14 MB. You can save a lot of time if you will download "SMBX Integration" config pack, but you need put editor's directory together with SMBX directory (and rename them into 'SMBX'), and editor will directly use SMBX's data. Total you will get 14 Mb from GitHub hosting and 200 KB from my server via slow for USA though ocean channel.

For A2MBXT I made special package which you can unpack into devkit's directory and do use it now
http://talkhaus.raocow.com/viewtopic.ph ... 33#p248333

If you want, I can make similar package but for SMBX, which you need simply download&unpack into your SMBX directory to get editor ready to use.

[zioy]

Ah, thanks for the file size reduction!
Either way the config is worth it.