Two heads are better than one!
(I won't talk about any greater numbers because it sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.)
(With credit to bossedit8.)
What Online CAN do:
==Allow you to cover for your partner's drawbacks and mistakes.
==GET THINGS DONE. If you don't have an idea for what's next, your partner might. You have a guy right here to brainstorm with.
==Put the level together faster. Two hands fill in all the technical details faster than one.
So editing with friends is the best way to get levels done, right? ...Well,
What Online CAN'T do:
==Share custom graphics with the people connecting to your server. They'll show up on the host's end, but not on your partners'. At least, to my knowledge this is not possible; no one has extensively tested this AS FAR AS I KNOW. (You MAY have everyone insert custom graphics directly into your their respective folders to bypass this, but back up the graphics folder first, because what you are doing is OVERWRITING THE DEFAULT GRAPHICS OF SMBX.) (What you can do that is much better is have a folder called your level's name where your level is located, dump all the graphics in there, and then give that to the people connecting to you. There's a couple of ways to bypass this problem, there's just no magic way to do it.)
==Test levels as you make them. Trying anyway will crash the editor tends to kill the editor faster than a speeding marios. If you wanna test it, you're going to have to save the level, disconnect, and test it offline.
==Be stable. There are some kinks and hiccups lying around in it, so it shouldn't be terribly surprising to have it break apart.
To me at least, the pros outweigh the cons, IF you know what you're doing. That's why this thread is here.
How to get Started!
Part 1:Copy mswinsck.ocx and miswinsck.oca to your C:\Windows\System32 directory. Online functions won't work properly without doing this. Damn it Joey. Having these in your SMBX folder should work. If, for any reason it doesn't, do this step and it'll work fine.Part 2: You need to connect to each other. In case you're both dumb and you don't know how hosting a server works, you can always use Hamachi. If you are also too dumb to figure out how to work Hamachi, open up the following spoiler to get a 1 minute instruction manual:
-For the host, all he has to do is open up the online menu in SMBX, set the mode to server, and then hit connect.
-For his partners, get the IP of your host, set the mode to server, and input his IP into the Remote IP Address box of the Client Settings.
Make sure to set a nickname and a glove color before connecting! If all goes well, you should now see 2 gloves on the level editor.
-Open up the chat window in the Online menu to communicate with eachother. Or use whatever you want.
With all that done, you're ready to do whatever. But wait, there's more!
Trainer Tips!
-Work together! Talk about what to put! The two of you will grow not just as friends, but as level designers if you share your notes with eachother.-DO NOT MAKE A RANDOM POST IN A PUBLIC THREAD ADVERTISING YOUR HAMACHI NETWORK OR IP ADDRESS. If you are not using Hamachi to simulate a local network, your IP address is THE ADDRESS OF YOUR COMPUTER ON THE INTERNET. I REPEAT, DO NOT SHARE YOUR NETWORK INFORMATION IN PUBLIC.
-I think fill is disabled? If it isn't, I'd advise against using it online.
-It's probably better to fill out the base makeup of the level first. If you get stuck, you can always just go back and put in details while your partners figure it out for you.
In closing,
If you know any details you know of about online, let me know. I know there's some things I'm missing and I need to add them to this post.And that's it. Hope this guide helps!