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Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

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Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#11

Post by raldi »

baisq wrote: post #4
raldi wrote: post #2

For those who can't watch the video or just want a text summary: The underground 1-2 level is supposed to stop scrolling as soon as the mundane return-to-surface pipe comes onto the right edge of the screen. (Unless you're walking on the ceiling.) But because of a programming error, it keeps scrolling, revealing that the warp zone room is there. It was originally intended to be a much more hidden secret than it turne…

Thank you, I'm so tired of 15 minute videos for something that can explained in text and images that can be read in one minute.

My summary barely scratches the surface; the video gets deep into the code and the ones and zeroes. I don't think there's a wasted sentence in the entire piece.

Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#12

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

tablespoon wrote: post #7

I wonder if this kind of obsessive analysis of popular NES-era games will end in a couple decades, as the people who grew up in the console's heyday grow too old; or if they'll continue because interest in these particular games transcended a particular generation (and they're simple enough for people to really take them apart).

The day people stop studying ancient religious texts is the day people stop studying Mario ROMs.

Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#14

Post by Pxtl »

raldi wrote: post #2

For those who can't watch the video or just want a text summary: The underground 1-2 level is supposed to stop scrolling as soon as the mundane return-to-surface pipe comes onto the right edge of the screen. (Unless you're walking on the ceiling.) But because of a programming error, it keeps scrolling, revealing that the warp zone room is there. It was originally intended to be a much more hidden secret than it turne…

I think you've glossed over the most significant bug, which is that for no apparent reason at all the Scroll Unlocker increments the Warp Zone Control value, which configures the 2,3,4 warpzone to instead function as the World 5 Warpzone. If you don't get properly into the warpzone (which triggers the proper warpzone object), this is what causes it to function as a World 5 Warpzone, whereas the other bug is the one that allows you to scroll into it through unorthodox ways.

Also, the video has a lot of info about how levels are constructed in Mario in general, which I found very informative.

Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#15

Post by TrackerFF »

It's funny to think about it - but the game is almost 37 years old, and how many billion hours of play has it gone through? Yet people are analyzing and discovering things.

Now compare that to the sheer size and complexity of modern games / software. Crazy to think how many bugs there are that will practically never be discovered.

Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#16

Post by michaelhoffman »

baisq wrote: post #4
raldi wrote: post #2

For those who can't watch the video or just want a text summary: The underground 1-2 level is supposed to stop scrolling as soon as the mundane return-to-surface pipe comes onto the right edge of the screen. (Unless you're walking on the ceiling.) But because of a programming error, it keeps scrolling, revealing that the warp zone room is there. It was originally intended to be a much more hidden secret than it turne…

Thank you, I'm so tired of 15 minute videos for something that can explained in text and images that can be read in one minute.

While I agree with you in general, this is actually a really well-edited video full of lots of interesting stuff about how Super Mario Bros works beyond the conclusion.

Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#19

Post by coldpie »

Pxtl wrote: post #14
raldi wrote: post #2

For those who can't watch the video or just want a text summary: The underground 1-2 level is supposed to stop scrolling as soon as the mundane return-to-surface pipe comes onto the right edge of the screen. (Unless you're walking on the ceiling.) But because of a programming error, it keeps scrolling, revealing that the warp zone room is there. It was originally intended to be a much more hidden secret than it turne…

I think you've glossed over the most significant bug, which is that for no apparent reason at all the Scroll Unlocker increments the Warp Zone Control value, which configures the 2,3,4 warpzone to instead function as the World 5 Warpzone. If you don't get properly into the warpzone (which triggers the proper warpzone object), this is what causes it to function as a World 5 Warpzone, whereas the other bug is the one t…

> Also, the video has a lot of info about how levels are constructed in Mario in general, which I found very informative.

If you'd like a lot more on this kind of topic, check out the book "I Am Error" by Nathan Altice (published by MIT Press; don't buy from Amazon). It goes into a bunch of detail about how the NES hardware worked and how specific games used it.

Re: Super Mario Bros warp zones were intended to work slightly differently [video]

#20

Post by coldpie »

seanwilson wrote: post #17

Is there any disincentivize to using the warp zones so that people don't always skip levels when they know how to?

No. My philosophy has always been, if you want to play less of the game, why are you even playing it to begin with? :) So I just don't use them.
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