I'm only talking about the music.

Since I'm using level design assets from NSMB of course this hack is going to be very NSMB-like. But it's little changes like the style of the music, and the shift from linear levels to open world, that are intended to make the game my own.

I acknowledge that using the NSMB game engine to build this hack wasn't the brightest idea, but this has been a personal goal of mine for years so I'm not going to let it go.

Pic of the Week - Week 35



Well, this looks difficult! I actually thought of this idea as a joke to begin with, "hey, I should make people run around with spiky ? blocks as the only platform", but than I started liking the idea. To get through this segment, perfect timing is the key. You gotta ground pound the blocks while they're still face down and get as far as you can before they spin back the right way around!

Pic of the Week - Week 36



Today we have a bulk-load of screens of the edited user interface. Obviously, the dark blue is the main color, but I also have used darker shades of grey when it seemed appropriate. Make what you will of the little changes here and there.

I couldn't remove the World Maps, so I just re-purposed them. They do act as a mission select screen now. You touch the mission number on the touch screen, stand on the level icon and away you go. When you complete a mission, Mario warps straight to the next "world", ready for the next mission.

I'm not quite ready to start showing off what the World Maps themselves look like at the moment. I wanted to import my own models but I'm still a noob at heart so i had struggles.

Pic of the Week -Week 37



Mario scales this mountainous terrain in the attempt to make his way to the very peak of the Endless Earth. Wait, that doesn't even make sense? If the Endless Earth is endless, how do you reach the top?

I'm looking to replace this background with something a bit more realistic- but so far no luck. If you've got any good suggestions they will be welcomed.

Also, regarding Power Stars I have some information to share.

It was my original intention to implement Power Stars as a form of reward for your exploration around the Endless Earth. There were once planned to be three obtainable Power Stars per mission, total 24 for the whole game. I've been looking for a way to expand that count to have enough to purchase all the Bottom Screen backgrounds, but there's no way.

But some new information has come to light. The process I use to 'complete' a mission doesn't save the Power Star collection record. I can collect three Power Stars, but as soon as I move on to the next mission it's as if I never collected them.

This is a bad thing, but also a good thing. The downside is that as a game mechanic Power Stars are useless. All they serve to do is recognize that you managed to reach a notable location, and unfortunately you won't be able to spend them on Backgrounds. The plus side to this is, because Power Stars effectively serve no purpose anymore, I can put in as many as I want into the overworld as a small reward for your efforts.

I could have just removed them, but it's better to have a useless reward for exploration than no reward for explanation.

I was having too much fun last night to remember Pic of the Week, so have it now.

Pic of the Week - Week 38



One of the first beach areas I've made since I finished the top-left corner of the overworld. I don't recall having used Jumping Cheep Cheeps before.

Pic of the Week - Week 39



With the change to one, large world comes changes in how I design levels. I can now make areas that are more open and have less focus on heading in a specific direction. But I found that when it came to designing underwater levels, it's a bit more complicated. If I have an open area with little ground parts around, you won't know where you are. That's where I found out that the wooden legs of the beach piers come in handy as space markers. You can use them as a reference for where you are in larger underwater areas. Not that I intend to leave the player blind through areas, this area is only two screens in height.

Pic of the Week - Week 40



I've had a bit of inactivity over the last month or so, but worry not because I'm working on some new design ideas. This area here is actually part of a "special" area within the overworld, where there is some kind of event going on. You'll know you're in this "special place" when the underwater music changes to something a little more recognizable.

Pic of the Week - Week 41



I only did this just today, but I liked it so I put this one before my scheduled Pics. I changed the Mountain Background to something that looks much more pleasing. It fits the tileset much better than the previous background.

Also, why not?

07 - The Second Mission.mp3

This music takes me back to the old N64 glory days. For those of you who are too young, or never played Mario Party 2, this was the music for Western Land- the first board and Mario's "home board".

It's also interesting to note that so far, the amount of content I've already produced for Super Mario Endless Earth is equivalent to just over half of the total amount of content that was in New Super Mario Bros. 5: Clone Tag Team 2. I dare say that this hack will have more than double the content of Clone Tag Team 2 by the time it's finished.

So if you're wondering if there's stuff that you haven't seen yet, count on it.