Author Topic: Mario Bros. Online (Read 9778 times)

CashCrazed · « **Reply #30 on:** August 07, 2005, 02:34:16 AM »

Found the problem. Dang router! Sorry, but I can't host any more matches till I figure out what's actually causing the problem. Until then, however, I'm working on the next version...with custom skin support! With this, you can play as whoever you want in multiplayer! Right now I'm only using it to make the four Marios different colors, but I'll expand it so that you can use custom ones. Even on the internet! If whoever you're playing doesn't have the skin, they'll download it before the match starts. Now then, since the format's already figured out, you could go ahead and design a skin now.

This is the template for a skin. It's 144x112, enlarged here so you can see it. It's separated into 16x16 blocks, so it would be a good idea to use a grid in your paint program so you don't overwrite the boundaries. Other than that, just write your own graphics frames over Mario's matching frames in the template. Pure black(RGB 0,0,0) is considered transparent in the image reader, so if you do need black to show up, do as I've done with Mario's outline there and make it very very dark, but not completely black.

Keep in mind that no matter what you design the skin to be, it will still handle exactly like Mario. That means you can pretty much play as anyone or anything you want. Also, it has to be in BMP format for it to work in the game. Not the PNG format that Imageshack converted this to.

Edited by - CashCrazed on 8/7/2005 1:49:13 AM

CashCrazed · « **Reply #31 on:** August 13, 2005, 10:50:42 PM »

Alright, I'm reviving this because I updated it, and there's some guys to try it out with. The new version is out(download page, go get it) with multiplayer skin support, adventure mode boss tweaks(made them harder, mostly), and the usual bug fixes.

Some people here are holding a tournament, so you can try out the game with them. Unfortunately, I'm leaving until Thursday to my grandparents, so I won't be able to join you. Have fun, and don't hesitate to report any new bugs!

Ultima Shadow · « **Reply #32 on:** August 15, 2005, 01:12:49 AM »

CashCrazed, where did you get the music for the final normal boss? I think that's the best music in the whoe game- it rocks!

Suffix · « **Reply #33 on:** August 15, 2005, 10:03:40 AM »

Rats, I missed this whole thing! This has got to be one of the most impressive works of DarkBASIC I've ever seen. DarkBASIC... I remember seeing that program somewhere...

CashCrazed · « **Reply #34 on:** August 18, 2005, 05:17:33 PM »

The final normal boss music is the final Smithy battle from SMRPG.

Anyway, this isn't working. The people holding that tournament couldn't connect, and you need special ports open to even host a game! Not to mention the severe lag we got while playing the game online for the first time. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make a dedicated server program. And then, once I get my second computer back, I'll reopen the ports and run it on that full-time. This means no more server-side connection problems, hopefully. The host will no longer have a special advantage because his game runs perfectly while the rest lag, since the host will not be playing. Finally, I'll try out a special measure that should reduce lag a little.

Also, if anyone has designed any working skins by the time I get the next version, I can include them in the package.

Kuroneko · « **Reply #35 on:** August 18, 2005, 09:43:50 PM »

Uhh... I made a 8bit Luigi based off of your 8bit Mario... XD

I plan on doing a Super Mario World skin sometime, though.

CashCrazed · « **Reply #36 on:** August 18, 2005, 10:40:56 PM »

I think I can handle the recolors, thanks. That's what practically all my skins are.

The problem with using the SMW Mario is that small Mario is taller than 16x16 pixels. That seems to be a limitation for a lot of skins, and it's a pretty bad one. So now, the skin template is reformed. Add an extra row of 16 pixels to the top of my current template. You can draw small Mario to be up to 32x32 pixels now.

I'll be doing an SMA Mario skin now, with the new template. I'll also try to squash the last major bug; one that's been plaguing the game since the very first version, and that is the strange throwing behavior. If you throw a guy in the right spot, he'll go up half the screen. It doesn't work right in some other areas too.

kurtvegita · « **Reply #37 on:** August 19, 2005, 08:20:47 AM »

I made some funny skins, I made an MJ one, very funny. Want me to e-mail it to you?

Kuroneko · « **Reply #38 on:** August 19, 2005, 10:41:33 AM »

There is an error in your 8-bit Mario skin. In the Hammer Mario row, you placed the holding-item sprite too far to the left. Also, don't you mean that little Mario can be 16x32, not 32x32?

BTW I am working on SMW Mario right now :)

CashCrazed · « **Reply #39 on:** August 20, 2005, 10:38:24 PM »

Uhh, yeah, 16x32, that's what I meant. The sideways Mario(used for the backflip) also takes up 32x16 now(baseline at the bottom of his feet, as always). And lastly, at the very last 16x32 space on the small Mario row, put a death frame. I may be needing it.

EDIT: Well, enemies can be thrown different ways after a hit from below now, like the original. This modification coincidentally fixed a bug that caused the Fighterflies to get stuck in "up" mode after being flipped over right before taking off again.

Edited by - CashCrazed on 8/20/2005 10:27:29 PM

MEGAß¥TE · « **Reply #40 on:** August 20, 2005, 10:47:49 PM »

If you can make the server program compile on Linux, I can host it on KTN.

CashCrazed · « **Reply #41 on:** August 20, 2005, 11:30:57 PM »

Dang, your server runs Linux? Dark Basic programs run exclusively under Windows, and I checked their site, and they explicitly said they'll never do a Linux compiler, even though lots of people have asked. Also, my network code uses DirectPlay, and I think that's exclusive to Windows too, so I don't think that would run if they tried.

EDIT: Yep, it's impossible. Took me 30 seconds to find an article that said:

"The other major stumbling block for Linux porting is networking. Microsoft has done a good job making DirectPlay very easy fro the Windows developers, and utterly useless on Linux. As a closed API that uses encrypted data streams, there is little or no chance that Windows games ported to Linux will ever be network compatible with their Windows counterparts."

Edited by - CashCrazed on 8/20/2005 11:29:08 PM

kurtvegita · « **Reply #42 on:** August 22, 2005, 01:52:31 PM »

This is getting big, I'm gonna make a forums for it

Ultimate Mario Brothers Forums

Edited by - kurtvegita on 8/22/2005 12:59:43 PM

CashCrazed · « **Reply #43 on:** September 20, 2005, 02:22:47 PM »

I'm back on this now, and about to release V1.50! I'm still working a few bugs out of multiplayer classic, but I'll have it done by the time I get my server running. I need to do a little test first though, to see if my router's back up. Click this link:

http://216.74.210.242:8080/

That page is hosted directly on my machine, and if you can see it, then that means you can connect directly to me, and you should be able to access a DirectPlay game server as well after I unblock the corresponding ports.