Blog Info: Looking at my blog’s statistics, I get the most hits for Hyrule Magic articles. RPG Maker & Eternal Lands are next, and nobody seems to read my REV series on interesting hacks. Which leads us to the back-story…
Back-story: I was hard at work on my next Hyrule Magic blog entry, which was a lot easier thanks to all your excellent & intelligent comments. (Thanks readers!) But then, I stumbled across this post in byuu’s forum. I’ll explain it as we go along, since the linked post only contains half the story.
Super Mario Odyssey 2 — Now with MSU1 !
Summary: Years ago, BMF54123 suddenly stopped working on Super Mario Odyssey. This made me sad. Then, just last week, I found a post stating that he’d re-started it, and had utilized byuu’s amazing new MSU1 chip to put near-CD-quality audio into the hack.
Wait, that audio’s real!?!?
Technology: Yes, the sound on that video is exactly what you would hear if you plugged the Super Mario Odyssey cart into a SNES and turned it on. There are some caveats; for example, the MSU1 is only emulated by bsnes at the moment. Also, actually making a “Super Mario Odyssey cart” is not possible –although byuu is making a hardware implementation of the MSU1, so it will be possible in the future. That said, most gamers only play hacks on emulators anyway, so the fact remains: if you play SMW Odyssey on bsnes, expect awesome music!
Other notes: I really like the short “intro” story, showing how Bowser might have ended up with all the crazy time-travel technology that caused the Odyssey in the first place. Also, I like how the game starts with a simple “intro” level (like Yoshi’s island), and I like the “File Select” menu. BMF54123 certainly fine-tuned his ASM skills in the intervening years. (According to the SMW Central forums, he decided to rewrite from scratch because his original code was an undocumented mess.)
What this means: I’d like to think that this hack will usher in a new era of good hacks with rich environments backed up by nice ambient music. However, it’s equally likely to generate hacks of poor quality that are now multi-megabyte patches due to useless MP3 from popular bands.
Why I’m Excited: I haven’t been this excited for a hack in a while –it rivals my Quest for Calatia obsession! In fact, the MSU1 has nothing to do with this –I’m really just excited that Super Mario Odyssey’s excellent level design and intriguing world design will carry over into a new hack. I’ve always felt that BMF54123 understands what makes a good hack more than most people, and his inclusion of high-quality audio is just icing on the cake.
Your Homework: Watch the video again, and try to pay attention to the level design of the intro level. Even though this is likely just a demo level, it’s very balanced, and far above some hacks’ release-quality levels.
My Homework: Work on a blog post!
Everything okay?
Now its November, and theres still no new post.
I would like to see the 4th post for Hyrule Magic.
Yes, I know that i have to be patient, but i just want to know, if you are ok, and keep this blog up?
It would be too bad, if you close this blog.
Anyway, have a nice day.
Hi, thanks for your support!
Yes, things are good. I’ve been quite busy, unfortunately.
In addition, there’s been two 900 page books that just came out which I’ve been reading through (Way of Kings & Towers of Midnight). So it’s a mix of work + leisure.
Fear not! I really enjoy working on this blog, and have no desire to give it up. The fourth post will be out when it’s ready.
Phew, Happy New Year!