Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
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Sep 24, 2019
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So I tuned into one of my go-to streamers this afternoon and I saw that he's playing Super Mario World, and I thought maybe he was working in Lunar Magic on his new game. Color me surprised when I saw that he's playing a ROM Hack from the creator of Celeste. As covered early in the video below, the game is not uploaded to https://www.smwcentral.net/ but rather distributed via Shareware which adds another layer of intrigue to the project. Either way, if you like Super Mario ROM Hacks and Celeste, you'll probably like the video below. If you've never explored the world of Super Mario ROM Hacks, maybe this can be a gateway into that world for you?

Maddy made a Super Mario ROM Hack. It's pretty damn cool if you ask me.

 

RadzPrower

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 19, 2018
6,150
Can someone share the ware here?
That kind of defeats the spirit. IF it were to be shared via Era, it would be better to distribute via DM.

That said, I've seen it and it's definitely a game I'm happy watching over playing. It's great to watch, but it's clearly too difficult for my skill level.
 

flyinj

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,097
Have any of these thumbnail jackasses ever actually hurt themselves trying to make the ultimate cynical thumbnail
 

Jamesac68

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,496
Amazing how the preview screen ensures I'll never watch the video and a bit of hate spills over into the thing it's talking about, no matter the quality or that it's got nothing to do with the Youtuber inflicting himself all over the poor game.
 
OP
OP
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
Member
Sep 24, 2019
35,023
Have any of these thumbnail jackasses ever actually hurt themselves trying to make the ultimate cynical thumbnail
GPB is a really cool guy, and he understands that his revenue is directly affected by those thumbnails. I'm sure he wouldn't do it if it didn't affect his views and everyone else's.
 

RadzPrower

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 19, 2018
6,150
Have any of these thumbnail jackasses ever actually hurt themselves trying to make the ultimate cynical thumbnail
Poo's YouTube channel is VODs for his Twitch streams. Odds are it wasn't a fake reaction but a frame pulled by the editor. It may have not even been a reaction but just a goofy-looking facial expression for something else entirely. It's certainly not from THIS stream because the clothes are different.
 

Kouriozan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,499
I'm going to watch a different playthrough or wait for one because not 3 mins in the guy is already overreacting, no offense.

Edit : I just saw who it was and I remember him from the Mario Maker 2 streams, haha.
 

Conkerkid11

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
14,086
Gotta love people trying to derail a thread because they don't like the thumbnail of a nearly 40-minute video.

Not surprised at the difficulty seen in this rom hack. The vanilla content for Celeste was difficult on its own, but the Farewell chapter is insanely brutal. I had to put Celeste down for a bit, but I'm sure that if I pick it back up again, I'm probably gonna have to start from the beginning of the Farewell chapter, because I don't think I remember any of the complex platforming mechanics it introduced.
 

Gr8one

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,894
Just going to post the Sonic Saves the World license info here just cause the OP wasn't super clear about it. Seems like a very unique way to distribute.

This work is ShareONLYware

This means that the author wishes for it to spread exclusively through individual-to-individual sharing
You are encouraged to share these files with your friends and your enemies
Please include the full archive when sharing this work, including this text file
Feel free to stream this work, make videos of it, or write articles about it - all of that stuff is cool

But please, do NOT post download links for in any one-to-many fashion (for example: in an article, a torrent, a large discord server, or a tweet)
If someone can download this work without one of you starting a conversation with the other, then that method of sharing is probably not allowed
I recognize that this instruction may be somewhat vague - use your judgement and try your best to respect the spirit of the request
Examples of good ways to share this game include:
-> messaging your friend,
-> mailing it to your nemesis on a USB stick,
-> dropping it in the group DM for your besties,
-> or passing it along to an acquaintance who got in touch when they heard that you have it

To be clear: the author is asking you NOT to upload this work to any public-facing download repositories such as SMWCentral.net or ROMhacking.net
To the administrators of such communities: the author humbly requests that you delete all traces of this work if it is ever found within your databases

The author's wish is that this work spreads solely in an organic, intimate fashion
If a friend, acquaintance, or stranger requests it from you, judge for yourself whether it is appropriate to share
If you know someone who would enjoy it, reach out to them!
And when it eventually vanishes from the internet due to carelessness, a lack of interest, or some other preventable calamity...
so be it

...

Additionally, anyone who claims to be the author of this hack is a liar
The true author will never publicly acknowledge their creation of this work
 
OP
OP
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
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Sep 24, 2019
35,023
I'm going to watch a different playthrough or wait for one because not 3 mins in the guy is already overreacting, no offense.

Edit : I just saw who it was and I remember him from the Mario Maker 2 streams, haha.
Poo is very enthusiastic when he plays something he loves. He's done live events as well and he's just very expressive.
 

Ragaar31

Member
Oct 25, 2017
199
If anyone happens to have a ware to share I'd love a DM. I've been semi-searching for it since I heard about this to no avail. It looks really amazing and I'd love to give it a shot.
 

Conkerkid11

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
14,086
Just going to post the Sonic Saves the World license info here just cause the OP wasn't super clear about it. Seems like a very unique way to distribute.
From what I'm reading, this was in a file named "dontreadme.txt" or something like that. As neat as the idea of something like this only having a limited lifespan sounds, that's not going to happen. Once something's on the internet, it's never leaving.

Also, I'm confused about the ending of the file. The title screen of the game says who the author is (allegedly), but they'll never confirm whether or not they're the author... So... What?

It just seems to me like you'd understand there's a huge audience for Celeste and therefore basically anything else you make, and making it a pain in the ass to find and potentially leading to people downloading malicious software in the process kinda sucks?
 

DealWithIt

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,852
Damn, a lot of salty people in this thread.

Allegedly Maddy chose to distribute the game this way, probably because it was a passion project rather than a money maker.

Poo seems extremely genuine to me. It's a difficult hack and he plays it well. Recommend his videos. Clickbait reaction shots are in virtually every video these days. Even veritasium, a hard science channel, tries to design its thumbnails for maximum engagement. That's the way of the world. Don't blame the creators for trying to get fed, blame YouTube and human nature.
 

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
45,256
Looks well done. My hands are telling me to stay away from Celeste length platforming challenge rooms though.
 

RadzPrower

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 19, 2018
6,150
Even veritasium, a hard science channel, tries to design its thumbnails for maximum engagement.
Was it him or somebody else that recently actually did a video on video engagement where they talked about how they have to change their video titles and thumbnails in the first few hours to gauge viewer engagement?
 
OP
OP
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
Member
Sep 24, 2019
35,023
Damn, a lot of salty people in this thread.

Allegedly Maddy chose to distribute the game this way, probably because it was a passion project rather than a money maker.

Poo seems extremely genuine to me. It's a difficult hack and he plays it well. Recommend his videos. Clickbait reaction shots are in virtually every video these days. Even veritasium, a hard science channel, tries to design its thumbnails for maximum engagement. That's the way of the world. Don't blame the creators for trying to get fed, blame YouTube and human nature.
Yup. Also I'm sure every single person in this thread would take an extra $500 per month from their employer if all they had to do was upload a silly photo to the company's intranet every few weeks.
 

Tendo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
10,549
Gpb is awesome. Love his stream and gdq runs. Some of y'all choose the stupidest shit to cry over.

love anything Maddy makes. Winners don't miss.
 

Gr8one

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,894
From what I'm reading, this was in a file named "dontreadme.txt" or something like that. As neat as the idea of something like this only having a limited lifespan sounds, that's not going to happen. Once something's on the internet, it's never leaving.

Also, I'm confused about the ending of the file. The title screen of the game says who the author is (allegedly), but they'll never confirm whether or not they're the author... So... What?

It just seems to me like you'd understand there's a huge audience for Celeste and therefore basically anything else you make, and making it a pain in the ass to find and potentially leading to people downloading malicious software in the process kinda sucks?
Yeah, it does sound shady downloading random files off of mega upload. I personally wouldn't want to do it and potentially get my files encrypted from some virus.

The idea is quite interesting and a cool way to have a rom hack go viral, pardon the pun, but it'll be shared as a direct download all over the interwebs soon, if it hasn't already.
 

anaa

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Jun 30, 2019
1,577
hey everybody.. if anyone wants to try it shoot me a dm!

be warned its really tough, i am decent at kaizo lite hacks (akogare, QW1/2) this one is kicking my butt.
 
OP
OP
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
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Sep 24, 2019
35,023
First impression: holy hell this Sonic sprite is adorable

Second impression: holy hell this is brutal
Super Mario / Kaizo ROM Hacks are a very specific type of difficult that almost nobody plays. Like Celeste is difficult, but Kaizo Mario is its own weird, specific beast that few can handle.
 

anaa

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Jun 30, 2019
1,577
Super Mario / Kaizo ROM Hacks are a very specific type of difficult that almost nobody plays. Like Celeste is difficult, but Kaizo Mario is its own weird, specific beast that few can handle.
There's also a pretty wide range in difficulty in "Kaizo Hacks", everything from beginner where someone coming off of vanilla can handle it with only a bit or resistance, to basically TAS only (designed to be beaten only with save states/frame advance).

I'm 6 exits into this one (not including the prologue/intro), and I'd say there's been some easier ones, and some that I've really struggled with. I definitely wouldn't recommend this for someone's 'first hack'. I'm scared of how difficult some of the later stages will be.
 
Oct 28, 2017
607
if the thing itself says that the author will never be confirmed, how do people know maddy thorson made it?

i kinda like this distribution model though... will take notes for later
 

Platy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
28,140
Brazil
Part 2

www.youtube.com

This Secret Hack is INSANE. (Sonic Saves The World - Zone 2)

Super "Sonic Saves The World" World continues with Chapter 2. As you can see, the writing and personality of this hack continues to be insane. By the way... ...

Part 3

www.youtube.com

What if Mario and Celeste had a baby?... (Sonic Saves The World - Chapter 3)

Super "Sonic Saves The World" World continues with Chapter 3! Watch me LIVE on Twitch! ► https://twitch.tv/GrandPOOBearFollow me on Twitter ► https://twitter...

Part 4

www.youtube.com

FUNNIEST GAME EVER (Sonic Saves The World - Act IV Part 1)

Super "Sonic Saves The World" World continues with Act IV. This hack continues to absolutely crush with surprise and humor! By the way... there's a merch lin...

Part 5

www.youtube.com

I CAN'T Figure This Out (Sonic Saves The World A Mario World Romhack - Act IV Part 2)

In this episode we have some crazy levels. They are hard to figure out and there is NO hand holding.Looking for MERCH? ► https://gpb.merchforall.com/Watch me...
 

anaa

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Jun 30, 2019
1,577
if the thing itself says that the author will never be confirmed, how do people know maddy thorson made it?

i kinda like this distribution model though... will take notes for later

Id say you can definitely feel both the 'hand of the artist' here, in both the level design, and the 'story' content (some of which feels somewhat personal/emotional). it's not ''confirmed'' but like, the hack is wildly creative and an extreme measure to take to give the credit to someone else.

Also I'm sure the 'speculation' is maybe part of the fun of releasing something like this?

anyways I cleared my eighth exit today. Anyone else playing this, making progress?
 

Chrixter

Member
Oct 29, 2017
117
Maddy released a fun SMW ROM hack titled Super Mario World Remix (which is on SMW Central - link) around 2015 for those interested in something more vanilla and less difficult.
 

transience

Found the ultimate water hazard
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,292
If anyone ever played Jumper back in the day, that's also Maddy. I bought Celeste sight unseen based on that alone. I loved those games.
 

Solid SOAP

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 27, 2017
8,421
your mom's house
Plenty of great Youtubers unfortunately make shit thumbnails in order to garner views. It happens!

Anyway, this shit looks good. How TF do I play it!?