Littlest Pet Kart

[Sarger]

I never done something quite on this scale before. I've been involved with the rom hacking community for a while, and I have recently released a hack of Super Mario Kart for the SNES. However, I want to do something a lot more creative.

I saw a forum topic, possible LPS rom hacks which made me wonder, what if I put all of my rom hacking skills into a hack of Super Mario Kart and include LPS stuff?
Like courses.
Characters.
Items.
Artwork.

I've already started work, and I want to make sure that this isn't just my project.
I want this to be OUR project.
There's proof of that that exists.


The proof is there.

So if any of you have experience with SNES hacking, or want to try your hand at something new, you can just give ideas on the thread! I'll upload weekly builds of the patch every week to Google Drive, and maybe sometimes more frequent so you can patch it onto your own PAL Super Mario Kart and edit it!

I'll also be posting updates onto this thread.
Ciao!

[Methid Man]

I love the sound of this~ Some ideas to consider:

What could be used to substitute the various items in the game? What could be used to replace the ghost or the banana peel? What would replace the shells?

I'll see if I can watch the series for some ideas and get back to you.

[Sarger]

SQUEAKY TOYS FOR SHELLS CONFIRMED!
Ah, for the Boo I'll probably use Ollie Arms because it makes sense.

[Methid Man]

Ollie Arms was my first thought TBH, I just want to consider other things. Keep in mind, the boo weapon not only makes you invisible, it also takes away the opponent's item. So something that either camouflages or snatches. Or both.

....Ollie Arms it is.

Squeaky toys sounds cool, I like it~ And to avoid confusion amongst veteran Mario Kart gamers, make them red and green respectively (as opposed to how Spongebob Kart did it by using green and purple shells)

[Sarger]

Yeah, sounds good.
I drafted down some ideas earlier and this is what I came up with.
1. Donut Plains is replaced with Downtown Park
2. Thwomps replaced with the Martians from 'Standup Stinker' (Maybe?)
3. Bowsers Castle replaced with LEPS (Because it's the most fitting.)
4. Mushroom item replaced with Mr. Von Fuzzlebutt
5. Mario Circuit to be some major Stadium in Downtown City or something similar to that.
6. ROGER AIRPORT STAGE PLZ.
7. And replace Lakitu with him too.

[Dr. Rockyl]

I love Mario Brothers
For what it's worth, I do traditional art so maybe, if it pleases you, I can give you some designs - or I could just stick to fan-art for PROMOTION of the game XD Either way, I can tell it's gonna be awesome. Best of luck and if I have any good ideas I'll give them to you

[Methid Man]

Those all sound like good ideas, though I think there might be something better to replace the mushroom. I can understand Mr. Von Fuzzlebutt since he's hyper (when awake) but I think a piece of candy is another idea (it gives a sugar high).

Love the idea of promoting this game too~

[Sarger]

Jun 26, 2014 15:33:57 GMT -5 Dr. Rockyl said:

I love Mario Brothers
For what it's worth, I do traditional art so maybe, if it pleases you, I can give you some designs - or I could just stick to fan-art for PROMOTION of the game XD Either way, I can tell it's gonna be awesome. Best of luck and if I have any good ideas I'll give them to you

Super Mario Kart is restricted to different palettes on the cart, but of course these can be edited so you do have a limit of colours on the actual rom.
Probably the best tile editors to use are TileMolester or Tile Layer Pro, both have their advantages and disadvantages. You do have to work within the limits of the SNES which is a small issue, but creativity>all.

Anyway, once the build comes out, feel free to patch the rom and experiment! All you need is a small amount of computer knowledge to get certain things out of the rom.  There's a decompress tool that helps along the way so it's not toooooo difficult to do.
I'll include a tutorial in the OP once we get around to actually needing to edit graphics.

Also, yeah, Super Mario Kart 8 did well. It'll be interesting to see how well this does.

[Methid Man]

My niece just thought of an idea of using one of Mrs. Twombly's doorknobs as a replacement for the banana peel. I actually like that idea, what do you think?

I've also been thinking of using one of Russell's quills as a possible item idea, but could it be used for anything?

[Sarger]

Wow, never thought about that. I was thinking Russel's quills could be the Piranha Plants on the track, but the more I think about it it makes less sense.

The balloons around your kart in Battle mode could be pet food? It makes sense XD
Anyway, I'm going to get around to track designing. It's the first stage in SMK hacking and really isn't the hardest thing to do.

If anyone can come up with creative ideas, that would be great. Remember that it has to work with SMK's limits.

[Methid Man]

I don't think it's necessary to change the battle mode balloons since they could very well just be balls that the pets play with or something, but eh, feel free to do whatever you want with those.

Anyway, I thought up of a couple other things.

First, the music. Would it be possible to change the music for each character's victory tune? For instance, what if Blythe's theme was a SNES rendition of that same track you often hear at the very beginning of most LPS episodes? The one with the bassy guitar riff?

Second, and this is something that I wish was in Super Mario Kart in general, romhack or not: is it at all possible to add an extra control, like reverse? One thing that's always bothered me about SMK for the SNES is that you can only brake, not reverse. There's two buttons that switch to rear view and two that allow you to hop, so if it is possible, there's plenty of spare buttons to use. Or maybe the values on the brake button can be modified to where it not only stops the racer, but also moves him the other direction or something.

I'm not really experienced with hacking so I thought I'd ask about these things.

[Sarger]

If we can get in some people that know enough about music hacking for the SNES. Every game is different, for some strange reason. Not like that nowadays.
You theoretically COULD reverse, but it depends how much I could add in at the end.

Besides, you can turn on the spot which kinda eliminates the need to reverse.

[Methid Man]

How's this coming along? I'd help if I could in any way but I know next to nothing about romhacking. I also haven't come up with any new ideas lately.

[Dr. Rockyl]

Jun 26, 2014 15:54:13 GMT -5 Sarger said:

Super Mario Kart is restricted to different palettes on the cart, but of course these can be edited so you do have a limit of colours on the actual rom.
Probably the best tile editors to use are TileMolester or Tile Layer Pro, both have their advantages and disadvantages. You do have to work within the limits of the SNES which is a small issue, but creativity>all.

Anyway, once the build comes out, feel free to patch the rom and experiment! All you need is a small amount of computer knowledge to get certain things out of the rom.  There's a decompress tool that helps along the way so it's not toooooo difficult to do.
I'll include a tutorial in the OP once we get around to actually needing to edit graphics.

Also, yeah, Super Mario Kart 8 did well. It'll be interesting to see how well this does.

Huh. Well I'll check it out myself and I'll see what I can do. I do pretty well with basic computer stuff so I don't expect it be that hard - thanks for the tip :)
It'd be cool to have something small easter eggs inside the game. I love the idea of each character having a victory theme.

[Methid Man]

I wonder if we can find someone who specializes in music editing for SNES games. I think it would be worth having some LPS tunes in this game if we really want it to be LPS-themed.