I made an engine? Oh boy, this could be dangerous.


(As you can see, I stole Bibby's screenshot layout.)


Simple Mario engine is a platform engine that tries to simplify the difficulty of making a Mario engine into basic D&D (drag-and-drop) to help newcomers to Game Maker. It probably doesn't do this, and a Mario game might be made much easier using D&D, but whatever. I'm happy with where it's at.


Includes:

Walking and Running


Ducking


Jumping


Swimming

Download (exe):
http://www.host-a.net/u/BlueGuy/simple_mario_engine_bt.exe
(Exe of open file)
http://www.host-a.net/u/BlueGuy/simple_mario_engine_enemies.exe
(Exe of example file [contains enemies])

The music isn't final, by the way. I wish I could get WAV files of Super Mario 64's music.


Anyway, I hope you guys like it.
This is a BIG step compared to my previous work.

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Edited by: Blue Gazelle, Apr 25th, 2011 @ 2:39 pm

I'll give it a try. I like the graphical style a lot, although I wouldn't really encourage beginners to learn how to use GM by relying on Drag & Drop. Also, it makes little sense to use big .WAV files for music in an engine - it's best to keep engine file sizes small, especially since people should change the music anyway (or, better yet, just use engines as a reference tool).

And no, I'm not the first person on this planet to put four screenshots in a square like that.

What else can GM read? I don't know my music files very well.

And yes, I know you aren't the first.

GM can easily handle WAV, MP3, or MIDI. MIDIs make the best sense for an engine, since they're relatively small and compress well. Of course, they're more restrictive than MP3s or WAVs and often don't sound very good. GM can also use other formats, like Ogg Vorbis or MODs, if you have the Pro version and the necessary extensions.

I like your engine quite a bit. It's one of the nicest simple engines I've seen - and this is coming from someone who's played innumerable engines of this type. The swimming mechanics aren't quite right, though - Mario needs to be able to ascend a bit more quickly when you're pushing SHIFT. I'd love to see you tweak this a bit, and I'd also love to see someone make a game - whether a Mario game or any other kind of platformer - with this.

GM won't take Ogg files when I try to upload them.

The swimming mechanics are easy for anyone to to fix, so I figured I'd keep it like SM64.
I figured I'd release sme as is, and let other programmers edit the engine here and there.

To use Ogg files in GM, you have to use a special extension to load them externally. I'm pretty sure you can find tutorials for that on YoYoGames or MFGG, although there can be complications if you don't know what you're doing.

Again, I'd rather get beginners into the habit of using GML, but I'd be happy to take a look at the .GMK file if you'd like.

One more thing: This is a really little thing, but the water sound effects are too loud.

I'll release the .gmk file on MFGG, and eventually here.

Also, the sound effects were just so it wasn't silent. The silent version will also be on MFGG.

Oh, I'm already making a game with the engine, which I will post about in a week or so. Maybe sooner, I don't know.
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Edited by: Blue Gazelle, Apr 22nd, 2011 @ 9:21 pm

I wouldn't get rid of the sound effects - I was just suggesting that you turn some of them down, because the splashdown sound feels out of place at that volume (the same sound people complained about with Midas Machine).

I'd definitely like to see the game you're working on with this engine - I like the feel of it so far.

Looks nice! Maybe add some backgrounds?

As for the music:
http://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/super-mario-64-soundtrack

All of SM64's OST in MP3 format.
SPBW uses .OGG, by loading them externally.

Plays a lot better than E.N.D., huh? I used every trick I've learned thus far to make this.


I added a gradient on the top. The reason there isn't a Background is because I wanted it to look like SMB1. Also, Project Everything doesn't have backgrounds made. Someone should continue that project.
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Edited by: Blue Gazelle, Apr 24th, 2011 @ 10:31 am