The All Mario Engine, Version 3.3 online since 04-07-2006

I thought about programming a Mario Engine for me and certain persons I trust with the following qualities:
It will be (nearly) glitchless and absolutely errorless.
It will have Mario-like physics.
It will be very smooth.
It will have running, jumping, swimming, ducking, growing, shrinking, special jumps (backflip, side-salto, ground-pound, ...), perhaps Yoshi, pipes, flying, picking up shells, etc.etc.etc
It will be like a real Mario Game in the end.
It will beat djrellik's SMB3 clone, which I know is a challenge!

I will use SMB3 graphics for the beginning, but it works with any graphics you want. (from SMB1 to SMW)
I will use Game Maker 6.1 which might not appeal to some guys, but I need GM6.1's features.
And I will make it one of G WorX's "16:9 Games".

This project will take a long time and to make it a special expierience for you guys, I will post here everything I do.

If I'm finished, I will use this engine in my game Mario Bros. DX.

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Controls:
Left/Right with the Arrow keys
Jump with Shift
Dash with Control
Duck with Down
Read signs with Control
Enter pipes by pressing in the appropriate direction (up, down, left, right)
Slide with Down on a slope
Pick up a shell with Control
Let go of a shell with letting go of Control
NUM6 and NUM4 to scroll the view
Specials:
Backflip with Down+Jump
Ground Pound with Jump+Down
Wall Kick with Jump while facing wall
Object Description:
Brick Block:
Small Mario: destroy with ground pound
Big Mario: destroy with jump or destroy all with ground pound and pressing down
Red Brick Block:
Super Mario: destroy with ground pound
Metal Mario: destroy with jump or destroy all with ground pound and pressing down?-block:
Get items.
Rock Block:
Destroyed with bombs
Power-Ups:
Mushroom:
Makes Mario big
Fire Shroom:
Makes Mario Fire Mario
Fire Mario can shoot fireballs with <control>
Metal Shroom:
Makes Mario Metal Mario
Metal Mario is heavier than the others, doesn't have a P-Meter and can't jump high.
But he can destroy special blocks and create an earth shake with a ground pound.
In the final game he can also walk on ground of water and other stuff.
Ninja Shroom:
Makes Mario Ninja Mario
Ninja Mario can cling to walls by having right/left pressed when touching it.
You can then use up and down do climb up and down.
On top of a wall Mario will automatically jump up there.
You can also jump off a wall by pressing <shift>.
Ninja Mario has also the power to shoot shurikens with control.
Bomb Shroom:
Makes Mario Bomb Mario.
Bomb Mario can through Shroom Bombs, which can destroy certain blocks and enemies.
They can also hurt Mario.

Debug Controls (will be removed in final version):
Press 1 to simulate Mario hurt by an enemy
Press 2 to simulate a Mushroom
Press 3 to simulate a Fire Shroom
Press 4 to simulate a Metal Shroom
Press 5 to simulate a Ninja Shroom
Press 8 to simulate a Bomb Shroom

6 and 7 are Giant and Ghost Mario.
9 is a secret power-up. They are deactivated in the demo =P

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Download the latest version here:
All Mario Engine 3.3
If download doesn't work, right-click and "Save As".

This post has been edited by Guinea on Apr 7 2006, 07:25 AM

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Programmer's Log, Guinea -- 8-30-2005
First Entry

The project started.

WHY I do this
-I saw djrellik's, Solemnity's and RII's engine and felt like making my own. All these MiniGame Competition entries I made in the meantime didn't really satisfie me. So I decided to create an engine with which I would have no problems making a game later when it is finished (of course I won't use it in MGC's! I think it's against the rules.)

Collision - The Beginning
First of all I tried to make my engine compatible with any Mario sprites which there are from SMB1 to SMW. I did this by using a dummy and a seperate Mario Sprite which will be drawn.
Then I tried to make collisions like in real Mario games so that it would be impossible to get stuck in walls. Works by now. The concept of such walls also allowed for walls which can be jumped from below (the blue-ish ones)
I included running, ducking and friction.
Tomorrow I will try to perfectionize the ducking. You might have seen that Mario speeds up too much when you try to jump ducked through that hole on the right.
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This post has been edited by Guinea on Aug 31 2005, 12:27 PM

404'd. Sounds interesting though.

Sry. I misspelled the link.
It works now.

Eh, you know pretty much everyone wants to and has tried to do this, right? :O

*downloads*

It's not perfectly in tune with the original Mario games, but it's still pretty cool. Good job!

I believe I already found a mistake but I may be wrong

Mario should not jump higher when he is walking. Only when he is running.

I know. I tried a lot too. But this time it could work.

I know. I have a lot to improve on physics and jump height and stuff

I'll check that in the game and change it if neccessary.



Thank you for your comments

me? My engine isnt impressive. the other guy's was.. I barely worked on mine XP...

I think it'd be better to provide tutorials on how to make your engine rather than giving the whole thing open source to people so that they can be lazy if that's what you're planning on doing (which is what I gather from the title).

some competition huh? good luck, heheheh :P

nah I'm kidding, I'm sure you'll get something great from it. Trust me that it really take a while to get something as perfect than the original. Considering the days I worked on it, it maybe took me around 5-6 months(mostly including the night) to make what I currently have. But I started it at march 2003 but I wasn't on GM everyday as well than I had other projects at the same time.

bwt thanks a lot for the special effects you sent me by pm. They'll be very usefull.

No fear.
I don't plan to give you guys the engine to make your own games.
It's just for myself and to show off ^^

But I could make tutorials.

thanks ^^
I know it'll be hard work to top your almost perfect engine.

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Programmer's Log, Guinea -- 8-31-2005
Second Entry

About Jump Heights and Accelleration
Today I checked the exact jump heights from SMB3.
And I found out that the height increases proportionally to the speed.
I also checked the accelleration. Mario does accellerate 1/4 pixel per step. The same is for decelleration. But if Mario changes direction while running, he decellerates at double speed.
About maximum speeds: Walking = 3px/stp, Running = 4px/stp, With full P-Bar = 8px/stp.

Next thing I'm going to do is to check the exact sprite masks.
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By writing this post, I thought about Nintendwarf's comment about tutorials.
If you read my entries carefully, you will find out the exact physics and stuff from real Mario games.
I won't give you any how-to's or pieces of code, because I want you guys to find out yourself how to do it.
But things like the exact jump heights and such things is interesting enough, I think.


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Programmer's Log, Guinea -- 8-31-2005
Second Entry, Part II

Exact Size of the Sprite Masks - Height
I found out that the small Mario's collision mask is 14px high.
Big Mario's mask meassures 25px.

Stay tuned for the exact width of the sprites.
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This post has been edited by Guinea on Aug 31 2005, 12:31 PM

Sorry, I don't think that's possible in a fan game... But good luck on it though. ^^;

needs more mario 64

and the download link dosen't work ^_^

1) If you mean special jumps, ground pound etc., I am going to do this.
If you mean 3D you are making fun of me.
2) How about "Right-Click and Save As"?

This post has been edited by Guinea on Sep 1 2005, 01:53 AM

Thinking about your sentence, I found out that not even official Mario games are glitchless.
So I changed my mind. I'll make it (nearly) glitchless.

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Programmer's Log, Guinea -- 9-1-2005
Second Entry, Part III

Exact Size of the Sprite Masks - Width
Mario's sprite masks are 12px wide.
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Programmer's Log, Guinea -- 9-1-2005
Third Entry

Walking Up and Down
I ran across my first real problem during the progress of making the perfect engine:
Going up and down on sloping platforms.
The problem is because I don't use solid platforms, but non-solid ones to have full control over the collisions. Therefore I can't use the move_contact function because if I used it, I would also move towards enemies.

Well, I'm currently working on how to get rid of this problem and additionally make Mario slow down while going up and accellerate while going down.
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This post has been edited by Guinea on Sep 1 2005, 02:25 AM

For slopes, I had asked RII about this earlier and here is Slope Logic. I made up that name just now. It goes like this:if (mario runs into a "wall") { move mario 1 pixel up if (mario is no longer overlapping the wall) { No problem } else { move mario 1 pixel up if (mario is no longer overlapping the wall) { No problem } else { move mario 1 pixel up if (mario is no longer overlapping the wall) { No problem } else { move mario back down and stop his movement } } } }

EDIT: Fixed an error at the cost of a more confusing layout

For slopes of a higher incline (or if this doesn't work) copy the bold part into the underlined part

This post has been edited by Draco Icebane on Sep 1 2005, 04:33 PM

Hey. Thank you. But I'm sorry, you're too late
But i like the idea. My version isn't finished yet, so if it doesn't work, I can try yours.
But yours only features walking up. Down is not supported.

And here goes my next entry in my log book:

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Programmer's Log, Guinea -- 9-1-2005
Fourth Entry

I figured out how to make non-solid slopes.
Walking up works perfectly, walking down has it's problems.
I'll work on my other PC which is not connected to the internet for the next hour.
I am going to show you my progress tomorrow.
With updated version 1.2!
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