Bumps, Boings and Boundless Blocks

Hey all! How’s it going?

One thing we value while making new content for SMBX2 is to create new ways for designers to build their levels and new ways for players to play these levels. Having things that interact with the environment in the same way the player does is something we always wanted more of in SMBX, so let’s take a look at some that are coming in SMBX2 Beta 4!


BUMPERS

Of course, front and center in this post are the bumpers from Super Mario Maker. Though we’ve added some of our own flavour! The blue variant also bounces NPCs around, while the little ones have less power in their bump.


MUTANT VINES

For the Bramble Blast lovers out there we now have complex vines which even come with a thorned variant! The purple heads use a redirector BGO that’s only visible in the editor for steering, while the orange one is controlled through player movement. Another BGO toggles the thorned state, though the thorned and regular vine pieces can also be placed directly in the editor. And don’t be mistaken! Mario can still hold onto the thorned vines! If he survives, that is…


SPRINGS

I’ve already shown these a bit but figured I’d showcase them here again due to how much utility they provide when coming up with obstacles. Watching stuff bounce back and forth is incredibly satisfying and I’m excited to see what crazy contraptions people come up with once the update is ready.


CLEAR PIPES

These really need no introduction. I’ve already had a ton of gifs on them in an earlier blog post:

https://codehaus.wohlsoft.ru/blog/2017/08/02/%f0%9f%8e%b8-extreme-plumbing-%f0%9f%8e%b8/

But I wanted to draw more attention to some elements which have been added since: The one-way pipes and cannons! Also, yes. The fact that these are featured again means they’re definitely coming as a basegame feature, since we’ve now breached the block limit.


SWITCH PALACES

Another thing previously showcased that benefits from having new block slots. We felt it would make sense to seperate level-specific and global switch blocks from one another, since level-specific ones are regularly used for challenges within levels and having a second set for global switch blocks would allow these challenges to coexist with switch palace blocks.


THWOMPS

Speaking of switches, you might’ve seen a small blue one in the video above. That’s only the beginning of the madness that is Thwomps pressing various switches! I should mention that POW blocks are sturdy enough to only be hit by Thwomps that destroy turn blocks.


LAST,  BUT NOT LEAST

We have added a pretty peculiar red square NPC. This NPC acts exactly like the SMB1 axe NPC, but is only visible in the editor and is not affected by gravity by default! This should make event-triggering contraptions a lot more accessible and less prone to someone forgetting the custom graphics and NPC code for the invisible axes.


That’s all for today! I hope you are excited for all these new features. We’re doing our best to get them delivered to you as soon as possible.

Aesthetics 2.0

Howdy!

Last week marked the introduction of a long-awaited feature, which people on the team were hoping for ever since we got access to more NPC IDs. Namely: The same for background objects! Yes, in SMBX2b4 you will not only be able to resize and change the frame count of background objects at will, but also add as many as you like! Just like with NPCs we are reserving the range of IDs from 751 to 1000 for personal use, meaning that all 250 of these IDs can be used on a per-level or per-episode basis. That’s far more than the amount of BGOs currently in the game!

As you can see in the video above, we quickly started filling up some of the slots we got access to. In addition to the big topic of lineguides, made by Sambo, I have added the arrows from Mario Maker and Monty Moles as a new NPC, as well as their dirt as a BGO.

The new lineguide set comes with 22.5°, 45° and 67.5° slopes, small and big quarter circles and the usual horizontal and vertical straight line. And unlike with the old lineguide system, here NPCs aren’t going to fall off once they meet a sharp turn! Various NPCs come in three different speeds per default for extra variety and you can even attach non-standard IDs to lineguides with just a bit of lua (we will probably be able to remove the need for coding in the future).

Another thing showcased in the video is the breaking turn block, which is a breaking bridge in Beta 3. In Beta 3, this block didn’t account for its contents. However, with the new update you will be able to hide any NPC in it for a little surprise, or just a friendly set of coins.

The last thing worth mentioning are the red springboards which, after a recent overhaul, work well with a wide range of NPCs, both old and new! Ever wanted to make the player face a horde of bouncing goombas? When this update lands, you will be able to!

Okay I lied. There’s one more thing I want to touch on. It’s also noticable in the gif, but still work in progress: Progress has been made towards making effect.txt files a thing. More about this in a future post, though.


Apologies for the sparse amount of images this time. I hope the video made up for it. Before I sign off, here’s some breakfast:

Hoeloe’s Full English Breakfast