ASMT

ASMT, short for A Super Mario Thing: Demo's Journey, is the first collab hack created by raocow's talkhaus. Containing 94 exits, it's basically a collab made by roughly 75% beginners. Still turned out better than expected. Download can be found here.

Story

Somewhere in space, an Armless Bipedal Cycloptic Demon known as Demo, is asked by her master to get vegetables for his lunch. While boarding the teleporter, it malfunctions and dumps her in a ruined Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Charlies. Teaming up with the rebel Yoshi army, she sets out to recover her teleporter, which was stolen by the Charlies and get back to her master.

Development

In the thread Anyone out there making a game hack?, started by inactive user AwesomeJ, amongst a few legit replies of people working on their own SMW hacks and whatnot, FPzero working on his own Super Metroid hack for instance, it was shitposted a bit that joke levels could be made with some humorous edits (i.e. riding a Charlie, replacing footballs with baby Yoshies) and raocow could play them. This was followed up by Dealth0072 suggesting "We should do a raocow.com collab hack" [sic]. With some warm reception from users such as RedMageSusie, Dagron and Argumentable, and support from non-hackers such as Thissa, former webmaster, raocow replied with the following.

If you guys are serious about it, make a seperate thread about it, and I promise never to look at it.

HOWEVER - I expect quality. I expect polish.

Consider you guys warned.

Thus, a new era began. Opening with a new thread by Argumentable and the previous thread winding down with a few more posts, including a post by Dae which, is ironic now considering the sequel.

(...)

I think we need some kind of standard for the levels. Most of the people that has replied here said that "Lunar Magic is kinda too hard to use for me".

Remember:

This hack is NOT going to be your first hack!

(...)

Guidelines, possibly instated by an edit by Argu in July, included:

• Don't be unfair. Harder levels are good, but there's a difference between hard and unfair. If the player doesn't know something is coming, and they need to, its unfair. Using coins to guide players to off-screen platforms helps
• Gimmicks are good. You don't need to be extreme (though if you can it would be interesting,) but things like swapped graphics, or a level based around an entire enemy or concept is good. Use your imagination
• Don't create a level just for you-know-who. Create your levels so that everyone, even people who don't visit here, can. In-joke stuff is fine, just try not to take it too far

Added shortly after the first post in June though were:

• Don't get discouraged - I doubt every level will be used, and there might be some that aren't great, but work with people and they can probably turn out great
• Hard, not asshole - Hard levels would be ok, but jerk moves like death at the start, blind jumps and the like should be shyed away from.
• Criticize constructively - If you have an opinion on a level you're testing, you should give it, but if you don't like something give some suggestions on how it could be better. "This level is too hard" doesn't really help. "I think there are too many bullet bill shooters in this level, if you took out some of them I think it would be better" is probably better.
• Take criticism well - it probably goes with the first and previous thing, but if someone disagrees with what you did, take it into consideration. They're only trying to help.
• I thought I had more - Oops

A large amount of users poured out in support, as stated earlier, with a list of 22 people being created by Kristian to try and account for the interested parties, from RedMageSusie to Wareng to Daarkbuu to yoshicookiezeus. The first stage created, Red Switch of Puzzle entered an early stage of development in the second page of the thread. 9 hours after the list, the ideas for the overworld themes were created, also by Kristian, with the Beach submap entering an alpha state later in the evening (Germany time, I think Kris is German?), followed by the pre-alpha of And So It Began (named after Detteiu Rescue Play? from VIP4, then mistranslated as And Then There Was A Play About A Rescue). Lastly, the game was christened A Super Mario Thing, by TwilightArts.

Come July 12th, Dealth appears in the thread relaying a message from raocow.

Hey guys, raocow here using the POWERS OF AN EMMISSIONARY OOOOOHHHHHHH yeah.

So, anyway, looks like this is going super! At the time I write this there's like 14 deep and that's just awesome. I don't know what you guys are planning, but AIM BIG. AIM to be, like, the english version of VIP. I MEAN IT - put as much

injokes as you want, but make a solid, awesome hack that everyone will want to play.

Sure, that may be a lot, but it's by aiming high that we create great stuff! (Also remember that vip1 had very soso begining so that gives some leway to TalkHaus Production, yo)

So yeah. Good luck!!

A small crisis of management ensued soon after, with Kristian giving the reigns to Daarkbuu, who rejected it. The idea of recruiting a SMWC hacker was thrown around before yoshicookiezeus ended up following up Kristian's suggestion for them to lead soon after. Dispari Scuro of SMTKO fame also offered to help, and a subforum was created on the 14th, with submission and signup threads being created three days afterward.

First level submitted was prsnth1111's Water Water Everywhere, which would become the second stage of the game, same day as the submission thread's opening. Plot also began to be worked on starting in the 22nd, starting from "I did have a plot idea featuring Bowser cloning a Yoshi army from pieces of egg shell leftover from a hatching Yoshi". Riveting :)

July, namely the 30th was also the birth of the forums' favorite cyclops, Demo, at the time unnamed and with rather scratchy graphics due to raocow being unskilled at pixel art, after he showcased her in his own personal thread. August 3rd is when her name would be decided with a poll. Popular names included Iris, Pily, Pandamona, Michigan aka Mishi, all of which were used for her sisters in later entries. Also, Wanda and "a traditional 'normal' name like 'Susan' or something".

Testing submissions also started the day after. Development continued steadily over the next few months with the decision to create King Charles' Castle and an extended trial of iron coming in the Fall, the idea for the Megaman teleporter room coming from chdata in October 13th. Castle and trial signups started November 9th, with the game releasing exclusively for raocow in March 10th of the next year, released two months later after the end of the LP in May 8th.