(04/30/2000)
19:29: Strange Mario Bros 2 updated! - 
Well, I finished 1-2 today. So I made a new release ... now you'll get to see the new Character Select screen and the few new graphics I made since the first release. You'll get many new surprises in 1-2 ...
Anyway, get it on the SMB2 page!
(04/29/2000)
23:39: SMB2 Level Discombobulator 0.86 released! -
Yes, another new version ... and here's what's new this time:
- Special objects (except Type 5, pointers) are moved to the bottom of the page when saving. This can prevent them to be moved to previous pages and screw up things.
- Fixed a bug that could cause the first byte of the enemy pointer table to be overwritten.
- Level loading time improved, it's cut down by about 30%! However, the editor takes longer to load when opened.
- Type 6 special objects (ground change) are now implemented correctly (there was a minor bug with the affected part of the level).
- Fixed a small bug with Type 0 and 1 special objects (ground type) in vertical levels, now you'll always see them affect the right page in the level.
- In vertical levels, press S and you'll see blue separator lines at 9-square intervals. In the game, vertical scrolling (on screen) goes by 9 squares, there in the editor you can see where the scrolling goes (which part will show up on screen).
- Now you can change how many levels each world have!
I made a few bugfixes, and added a new feature ...
By the way, about half of 1-2 is done in Strange Mario Bros 2. It's progressing really slowly, but the levels take a very long time to do.
04:51: SMB2 Level Discombobulator 0.83 released! -
I didn't work on it last week, but now I got back working on it, and after 4 hours of work, here's another new version.
Here's what's new:
- Now you can change character properties (in both SMB2 (NES), Mario All-Stars, and Doki Doki Panic!)
- Level palettes can be edited (NES only), without needing a hex editor ...
- Title screen display time can be changed (just in case you'd like to mess around with this, eh) (NES only)
- You can delete all objects and enemies (in one area) at once
- Fixed a bug that (when saving an area) caused objects and things to appear after the end of the level and screw it up, if the last object was a Type 5 special object. (this was happening in several areas, especially the "ways to the bosses")
As you can see, I mostly just added new features, and fixed one bug. For the next version, I'll concentrate a little more on the bug fixing, as there are a few bugs that I might know how to fix.
(04/28/2000)
18:46: Whoo hoo! 10000 visitors! -
Well, I got the 10000th visitor just a few moments ago. Who was it? The counter tracking stats say ... "200.135.254.186". That's just an IP address, how can I know who it is? And when I look at the referring URL, it's a site completly unrelated to emulation and ROM hacking. Oh well ...
The 9999th was somebody from AOL, the 10001st has yet to come.
Wow, when I started this site I barely even thought I'd get at 10000 one day. And here I am now! Let's see if this site can get to 100000 ... or better yet, 1 million ...
It was sort of odd to see the counter at 09999 just a while before, and to see it at 10000 presently ...
(04/27/2000)
20:12: New counters installed ... -
Well, it doesn't look like it, but I put new counters here. Ok, so they're the same as the old ones (from TheCounter.com), but on another server, which is more reliable. You'll probably see the difference before long ... I already notice the improvement in response times ...
For comparison, the old counter is still there, at the bottom of the page. I started the new one at 9885, like the old one was. I did the same with the "Total visits" counter (I started it at 26543) but I didn't install it on all pages yet, only the most important ones (mostly index pages).
(04/24/2000)
04:59: Mario 3 Improvement 0.75 released -
No, not by me, but by LincolnSoft. This is good news for Strange Mario Bros 3, for when I'll get back working on it (in a few months, maybe?) ...
Here's, briefly, what's new in that new version :
- You can edit map pointers, which means that levels on the map can be moved, or removed, or added!
- Levels can be loaded from any offset, which allows to edit levels that can't be selected in the "Load level" dialog box.
- Some support for Mario All-Stars.
- Press Ctrl to scroll faster in levels.
- You can change a level's object set.
There may be more, but I said most of it ...
Get the new version at LincolnSoft.com.
03:17: Strange Mario Bros 2 progress -
Some of 1-2 is done, and I made new graphics (now, 30% of the tiles are changed). Also, I changed the character select screen, and I made big changes to it, it's changed even more than the title screen!
Here's new screenshots:
- New Character Select screen
- Throw blocks on trees and clouds ...
- 5 mushroom boxes ... hmm ... what are they for?
- Once again, I'm surrounded by Phantos!
- Many doors to underworld ...
02:57: 2 new SMB2 hacks added -
2 new SMB2 hacks have been added. Both are unnamed and don't have any new graphics, but they're still worth playing.
- Jacob Hebert's SMB2 hack, 1-1 is changed
- Recovery1's SMB2 hack, World 1 is changed
00:00: New record! -
The hits continued to come fast, and it lasted the whole day, so I got 684 hits today. It will probably slow back down during the next days, though ...
(04/23/2000)
00:02: 498 hits today ... -
Well, it came close to the record ...
The first release of Strange Mario Bros 2 got announced at Zophar's Domain, and that brought me most of the hits (at least 300 of them). Hey, I should do more releases so I get more hits ... that wouldn't be bad!
At the same time, the new counter got to 4000 ... and I was the 4000th visitor!
(04/22/2000)
04:24: Here it is. First release of Strange Mario Bros 2! -
1-1 is completed, and I made a few more new graphics. It took me a long time making the level (and that's only one level), I hope you'll have fun playing it! Anyway, it's there, with more screenshots, and a NSM of me playing the new 1-1.
(04/21/2000)
20:12: More screenshots ... -
Get amazed ... until the first release comes out ...
- Title screen
- Story (part 1)
- Story (part 2)
- Beginning of 1-1 ...
- 1-1, main part
- 1-1, main part (farther)
- Explosion & new enemy gfx
- Take that key ...
- Help, I'm surrounded!!
19:29: Strange Mario Bros 2 progressing ... -
Half of 1-1 is done now, and a lot of new graphics have been done (23% of the tiles are changed). It's coming out really great, I think. I love it already! I'll release it for the first time when I'll have completed 1-1. I could post a few new screenshots soon ...
02:50: Progress on Strange Mario Bros 2 ... -
I've been working on Strange Mario Bros 2 tonight. Not on levels, but on graphics and other things like that. It's turning out pretty well, and about 7% of the graphic tiles are changed.
You can see a few screenshots here:
- Title screen
- Some of 1-1 (main part)
- Some of 1-1 (main part, farther)
It's still nowhere near its first release, though, 1-1 is still far from being finished.
(04/20/2000)
19:14: 8000th visitor ... -
The old counter got at 8000 recently ... although the real number of visitors would be somewhere around 9500. But ... um ... anyway, I got the official 8000th visitor, which unfortunately I don't know who he is. By the way, the old counter got back working a lot better, now it counts almost all the hits (although it still has a slow response). I won't have to install the tracker I was talking about last week.
By the way, I'm free for 4 days! So I'll have time to work on my things ... Strange Mario Bros 2 and the SMB2 Level Discombobulator.
(04/17/2000)
20:40: Wow, over 200 visits today! -
I got about 250 hits during the last 24 hours, maybe even a little more. No, that didn't break the record (which is 518, the day after I got hosted by OverClocked), but it comes second.
Those hits seem to come from sites (such as Zophar's Domain) that announced version 0.79 of my SMB2 Level Discombobulator and the fact that I was starting Strange mario Bros 2. By the way, I started making 1-1, not much is done yet but it looks good.
(04/15/2000)
04:31: I'll be out for a while. -
I'm leaving next morning and I won't be back before Sunday (well probably) so don't expect anything new tomorrow ...
By the way, I have figured out some of the music data in SMB2. It seems to be a lot similar to the format used in SMB3 ... I also found a way to slightly change how the instruments sound, although I have no idea how it works.
02:27: SMB2 Level Discombobulator 0.79 released -
That's not a big update, but here's what's new ...
-- v0.79 --
- World 7 levels appear a lot better now
- Fixed a small bug with pointer changing that caused $100 to be added if the last pointer byte was lower than $10
Also, I'll start Strange Mario Bros 2 pretty soon! I think I'm ready for this now that my editor is advanced enough (although it still has several bugs). Actually, only the title screen and story is done, but as soon as I get a few levels done, I'll do a first release. And let me say, my levels will be totally different from the original, since I'll start with nothing instead of the original SMB2 levels.
(04/13/2000)
20:36: 3 new NSMs added, once again! -
Here's 3 more. First of all, Spoony Bard playing Hario again, this time getting to 2-1 (and unfortunately, it messes up once again in 1-2 at the exact same place). Then me, playing Hario and getting stuck in 2-1 (crushed between 2 platforms, with no way out); and me again, playing Super Carrots (a new harvest) and going through the first 2 worlds (finally!).
I found out that the Hario NSM I made yesterday (Hario3.nsm) screws up in 1-3 for no reason ... but every other of my NSMs should play fine.
(04/12/2000)
20:03: 2 more NSMs added -
It looks like there are a lot of NSMs going on here ... 2 more have been put up, and they're both from Hario. One of them is me, getting to the 1-3 boss room (I would have gotten farther if it wasn't of my mistake of choosing Toad in 1-2), and the other is Spoony Bard, playing his own hack and getting to 2-2 (from what he say, but the NSM screws up in the 1-2 boss area when I view it).
(04/11/2000)
20:12: 3 more NSMs added. -
Here's 3 new NSMs for SMB2 hacks!
One of them is me, trying SMB2 Challenge once again and getting past World 1 (World 2 isn't done yet). The two others are DarKnight13 and X-4000, each playing their own hack (Super Carrots then SMB2 Challenge) and each getting stuck in their 1-3 boss room (hehe, but you'll have to see it). I played Hario too but didn't get farther than in my latest NSM so I didn't put it up.
(04/10/2000)
20:03: New NSMs added ... -
I played the 3 level hacks once again and got a little farther (1-3 in each) ... and I put up the new NSMs (now there's a page for them).
All the NSMs there are from me actually, but I have one more to add. Too bad I don't have time for it tonight (thanks to a connection problem I got that lasted over an hour until I decided to restart my computer). You'll see this one tomorrow.
12:23: Old counter is dying again -
Well, I looked at the counter stats and it tells me that the last hit was about 24 hours ago (April 9, 12:09 AM). And the new counter counted about 100 hits during that time! I'm getting 100-150 hits a day, and the old counter tells me there's about 30-50. It is getting pretty inaccurate ...
I'm getting tempted to install another tracker, I don't mean another new counter (one's enough), just another tracker, I know about one of them and I'll probably try it out soon, it'd better be good.
I won't get rid of the old counter, just in case the problem gets fixed after some time (which may be months, or years) but it's mostly because it doesn't slow down the page loading.
(04/09/2000)
17:53: NSMs added ... -
I have recorded a NSM for each SMB2 hack here (SMB2 Challenge, Hario, Super Carrots a new harvest) and my 2 test patches. For each hack, I played until I got Game Over. I didn't get through all the new levels in any of them but I did get at least to 1-2 in every hack (and 1-3 in Hario).
17:51: Special Reports Network -
As you may have noticed, there's a new link to the left of this page, and it goes to Special Reports Network. Ok so what is that? Something I just heard about, a while ago, from Challenge Games. It's like a banner exchange but with no banners or any other crappy thing. They say it can bring a lot more hits to my site if you sign up there for me, while also advertising your own site. I just thought I'd give it a try, there's nothing I can lose. If you have a website, you might as well try this!
13:41: 2nd test IPS patch uploaded ... -
When I did the update yesterday night, I had put up a new test IPS patch (the one from which the news screenshots came from) but forgot to upload it! Now it's there so you can finally download and play it.
Thanks to WhooHooD'oh for telling me he was getting a "File Not Found" error ...
04:25: Update completed! -
Ok, after a few hours, I'm finally done with the update. SMB2 Level Discombobulator 0.75 is there, the new screenshots are up, as well as the new patch for Super Carrots 2, a new harvest.
02:33: Ok ... version 0.75 released ... -
The update is taking quite a while, so I just thought I'd release version 0.75 right now then finish updating the site after.
So ... here's what's new:
- Fixed a bug that caused a "Type mismatch" error when the INI file isn't there
- Now you can add and remove objects and enemies! Now it's also possible to move level and enemy data, or change level and enemy pointers, or copy level data to different addresses. Which means that now you can use the free space without needing a hex editor! The pointer-changing, level moving, etc. feature is only available with the NES SMB2, though, but the add/remove objects/enemies can be used in Mario-Allstars and Doki Doki Panic.
- Nothing much else but that's still something great!
You can get it now, but I have to update the screenshots page and put up the new version of Super Carrots, a new harvest (which is a really great hack by the way).
01:49: Get ready to see the update ... -
Version 0.75 of the SMB2 level editor is done, and I'm updating the site right now, so expect the things to come out pretty soon.
I have a new hack to update, as well ...
(04/08/2000)
02:14: Updated hacks from other people -
I have updated most of the hacks I had to update. Here's what got updated here:
- SMB1c, updated from 4.0 to 5.0
- SMB2c, updated from 0.2.11 to 2.0.18
- SMB3c, updated from 7.8 to 9.0 (Final)
- SMB3: The New Quest, updated from Release 10 to Release 12
- Hario, updated from 1.12 to 2.28
- The Mouser Pack, 4th Mouser challenge added
Also, a new SMB1 hack has been added. It's a complete level hack. The hack is unnamed, and there's no new graphics, but the levels are really well done!
(04/07/2000)
23:26: SMB2 Level Discombobulator 0.67 released! -
Here's what's new ...
- Options are now saved to a INI file (in the Windows directory)
- Fixed several bugs and problems with the ground objects, several levels that had small problems now look better
- Partially fixed the "objects pass through ground" problem, 3-2 is now much better
- Partial support for Doki Doki Panic! However, since the level data format is a little different, and I couldn't find the data pointers, many levels won't display correctly (or at all).
So that's it, go get it!
I still haven't updated the hacks actually, maybe I'll do this later tonight.
21:24: Whoohoo! -
Finally, the old counter got to 7000, it seemed like forever (and the 7000th visitor is somebody I don't even know). The total visits got to 20000 today (around 4:00 PM EST), as well, although the real number may be somewhere around 22000-23000.
I've been working on a new version of the SMB2 Level Discombobulator, expect version 0.67 to come really soon. I have other things to update (like, a lot of hacks), so it may take a while before everything gets done.
Just be patient and you'll see all of this coming up ...
By the way, I'm not leaving tomorrow (as I had said last week), it will be next week-end instead.
(04/03/2000)
19:52: Oh well, almost forgot ... -
I have gotten new hacks to update. Hario (by SpoonyBard) now has World 2 completed, the Mouser Pack (by WhooHooD'oh) got a new Mouser challenge, Zombie Bros (a new SMB2 hack by Chickencha) has World 1 done, and someone (Frank Maggiore) sent me a complete level hack of Super Mario Bros 1 (with nothing else than levels though). They're not updated here right now, but I might do it later when I'll have time. And there's a few SMB3 hacks to update, too (like SMB3 Challenge and SMB3: The New Quest).
19:04: SMB2 Level Discombobulator finally updated -- version 0.61 released! -
Well, I had about just enough time today to work on a new version, and here's v0.61 ...
Here's what's new:
- Special object 6 (ground type change) is now implemented!
- Worlds 3, 4 and 6 now have the right graphics, at least for grounds and most objects (only worlds 5 and 7 still have some wrong graphics for grounds and walls)
- Level and enemy data locations are now read from the ROM (with the level end enemy data pointers), which means that you can move (or add) data into the unused space in the ROM and the editor will still read it!
- Fixed a small bug that was causing some enemies to appear at the wrong place
- Updated a few object and enemy descriptions
(04/02/2000)
19:50: Ok, time for new counter comparison (if anyone cares ...) -
Well, after 8 days, here's the results:
Old counter: 621 hits
New counter: 1050 hits
Oh well, it looks like the difference grew up a lot ... that's about 40%! So I have already gotten the "real" 7000th visitor since a few days but the counter says 06692. How can I have any real stats, then? When the counter will get at 10000, I'll have gotten about 15000 visitors already!
19:45: I'm back ... -
Well, I'm back at home but it's Sunday evening, so I still can't work on the SMB2 level editor. I'll probably leave again next week-end, but I might have time Friday night to do a new version. Looks like I missed a few interesting things during my absence. Super Mario Bros 3 Challenge is now completed (get it at Challenge Games) and a few other interesting things came out, I just can't remember them all like this.
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