The Potion Plight (New screens for 1-5!)

[HeroLinik]

(logo made by Natsu)

Story

Spoiler: show

Mario had eventually become fed up of having to walk loads just to get to Bowser's Castle. He elected to set up a hub that allowed him to access different environments, like a snow world, a desert, or even a volcanic world. He was exploring the volcanic world with Peach and the other Toads...until they made a step wrong. They were walking the wrong way...and Bowser was there...on the other side. Spotting Peach and the Toads, he lunged straight at them, grabbed them, and physically threw them in the direction of Bowser's castle. Mario pursued him to his castle to confront him once and for all - until Mario realises the next thing - Bowser had also stolen the power of the stars! That was the only thing that could stop the "Icarus Potion" - more resembling a fused bomb. Bowser had also locked his room with the power of the stars, and the potion's fuse is about to run low. What's worse, Bowser also used the power of the stars to hide his castle from view. Mario has to collect the stars in order to gain access to Bowser's Castle, and there is only one item that can enable him to reach Bowser's Castle...the Rainbow Wand. When the wand was picked up and directed at Bowser's Castle, it summons forth a beam of rainbow light that breaks a seal on the castle and makes it visible to everyone. However, this is also sealed away by the stars, and time is running out. Mario must accumulate all the stars and get the Rainbow Wand before the fuse runs out and wipes out the entire Mario universe...forever.

The Gameplay
One of the main reasons why the original version of The Potion Plight fell through was a result of a badly-designed world map. In order to keep this project going good and strong, I am going to follow in Chad's footsteps, and model the project on Super Mario Star Expedition, that is, the world map is a system of multiple hubs. That way, I have greater control over the "world map" and I can decorate it as much as I want, with as much CGFX as possible, without the risk of an error. I also gave Chad special credit for the original idea in order to stop it getting really overused, and it is only possible to save in the main hub, which is why I didn't go full-on and try to make "cutscenes" at the start of the episode, otherwise it's impossible to save in the main hub, as this is where auto-start is set to. Like in TGCQ, there is going to be no difficulty curve, so I have freedom over how I can make the levels, but it doesn't necessarily mean there will be some brutally difficult levels in world 1, or super-easy levels in world 6. The level difficulty curve only differs slightly for every world, not for the whole episode. Restart Last Level on Death will also be on, just like in TGCQ, but there are warps in every level that can take the player back to the hub. In order to allow saving, there are warps from every hub to the main hub, and just like Chad's project, there are no real exits. The exits work differently from their traditional sense, and they will only create warps to the hub, not to actually "complete" the level. Stars are needed, obviously, to progress, and all of the stars will be SMW stars. However, I'll just let Chad's project explain the rest, and I also have to mention that this thread will be updated for every level that is completed. Let's get to the screenshots.

Screenshots

Spoiler: show

This will be updated.

Worlds
World 1 - Grassy Plains - grassland (73% complete)
World 2 - Daring Dunes - desert (0% complete)
World 3 - Canopy Forest - jungle (0% complete)
World 4 - Frigid Fields - ice/snow (6% complete)
World 5 - Serene Skies - sky (0% complete)
World 6 - Wetwater Island - water (0% complete)
World 7a - Superheated Sierra - volcano/underground (0% complete)
World 7b - Bowser's Castle - volcano/airship/castle (2% complete)
World S1 - Clash City - joke levels (0% complete)
World S2 - Special Hill - special world (0% complete)

Progress

Team Leader
castlewars

Level Designers
castlewars
bossedit8/bosseditor
<still looking for more>

[Mudkip]

Looks like you're revamping the levels. Nice, but I liked the old ones :P

[HeroLinik]

OK, so this project is definitely not dead at all, and I can prove it.

sezixor was supposed to be working on 1-3, but he was strangely taking a long time, so I discussed this matter with him in PM at Knux's, and I found that he'd dropped work on it, so I had to start myself. However, I've got a screen for you guys of the new 1-3 that I'm doing:

[Mudkip]

This one looks pretty nice. A bit much of these items in the clouds but who actually cares?

[MECHDRAGON777]

This is looking nice! What are the requirements for designer?

[luizmiguel418]

I really want to know how to make that grass background with other blocks...

Really good. I'm waiting the download!

[HeroLinik]

I really want to know how to make that grass background with other blocks...

You need to take the grass tiles and then rename them as "background-X" where X could represent any background, as long as it is 32x32 and has a mask.

[Bryan]

I really want to know how to make that grass background with other blocks...

You need to take the grass tiles and then rename them as "background-X" where X could represent any background, as long as it is 32x32 and has a mask.

You can also use "Layers" but I guess that might be a bit more complex. Works kind of the same way. Simply demonstrating another way you can accomplish this. If your not as familiar with SMBX just stick with castlewars' method.

[luizmiguel418]

But in the screenshots, the background is darkier/darker than the blocks. That's what i want to know...

[Bryan]

But in the screenshots, the background is darkier/darker than the blocks. That's what i want to know...

You mean the items in black & white? Is that what you are trying to say?

[HeroLinik]

But in the screenshots, the background is darkier/darker than the blocks. That's what i want to know...

You mean the items in black & white? Is that what you are trying to say?

I think he means the items in black and white. What I did with the mushroom for example was to take the NPC version, fill the spots with black, and with the red bits, fill them white. That's what I did to get the other items.

[LM280]

Actually, I think luizmiguel wanted to know about the darker grass tiles in the background of screens 3 and 4.
Luizmiguel, those tiles are in the ultimate gfx pack, under background objects.

[HeroLinik]

OK, despite the silence, I have been still working on this project, in particular the main hub. Here's a screenshot to prove it (it's incomplete because it's still a WIP):


And for those of you that weren't on the IRC last night, I'm organising a mini-contest to see who can design the best SMB3-styled cave level for my project. The best level will be used as level 1-4. bossedit8 and Aeon have already started designing the levels, but anyone is welcome to join.

[HeroLinik]

Guys, new update coming right at ya! I got my 1-4 level which I won't show you as it's a surprise, but I can show you screens of my 1-5 level, Cheepy Rapids:

[FutureNyanCat]

to luizmiguel:
If you mean the darker block BGOs, they were taken from the SMBX CGFX Pack. Some of them were edited in Paint.NET (simple brightness change), and changed to BGO form.

Also who places Paragoombas underwater? They can't swim at all, and I haven't seen one placed in an underwater level.

[FanofSMBX]

How did you make the water rush? I haven't seen any rapids in SMBX before.

[HeroLinik]

How did you make the water rush? I haven't seen any rapids in SMBX before.

I didn't use any rapids in the level, although I think it's possible using moving layers and complicated events.

[silent_]

I admire the new screen, most users don't have the patience to make a water level simply because they're underrated in the Mario series. The blue pipes in the tileset is a cool feature, but I don't know why there are Goombas since they would be so difficult to get hit by in the water it wouldn't even be funny.

A suggest if you ever plan to make another aquatic level of sorts, perhaps make a cascade. That would be unique, though technically not new since it was my original idea in my episode, but since I shared the recommendation it's not copying I guess.

[zlaker]

I'm a guy who is a huge fan of water levels and this loos pretty good, but the Goombas doesn't fit to the level though. You should replace it with something else. And you should put some of the coins inside bubbles. Otherwise good job CASTLEWARS!!

[HeroLinik]

I'm a guy who is a huge fan of water levels and this loos pretty good, but the Goombas doesn't fit to the level though. You should replace it with something else. And you should put some of the coins inside bubbles. Otherwise good job CASTLEWARS!!

After reading those comments, I think I'm gonna remove them because they kinda make the level harder. Also, the coins are actually set on a moving layer to give the idea of floating currency like I've seen in other levels.