Also check out the FAQ!
| Note: This Page was created so others may add items that seem necessary to the manual! Like adding in your own tilesets for use in Reggie! |
Fear not! You need not ask anyone, all your stupid, pathetic, worthless questions can be answered within this document. Continue to read and navigate down the page by scrolling down it with the mouse wheel. If this proves too difficult, try operating Reggie! with your Mom.
Contents
Getting Started
Extracting an ISO
To run Reggie, you'll need files from the game disc. We use the extracted files to display the level graphics, and for access to the game's original levels (giving you some starting examples).
The recommended method for obtaining the files is to use Reggie Dumper. Other methods are available, but left to the user as an exercise.
Starting Reggie!
If you have a precompiled executable, simply double click. Precompiled executables should be available as a Windows exe, a Mac app, or a Linux application via cx_Freeze (built on Ubuntu 9.04).
For those who cannot run one of the available executable files, or who simply desire not to do so, there is a source distribution available. The source distribution requires the following packages:
- Python 2.6 or higher (but lower than Python 3.0)
- Qt 4.5.3 or higher
- SIP 4.9 or higher
- PyQt 4.6 or higher
Windows users can get away with downloading the Windows binary installer for Python and the binary Installer for PyQt (first and last links), which will hold your hand and install Qt and SIP for you.
Mac OS X Snow Leopard users will need to build SIP and PyQt for both architectures (i386 and x86_64). PyQt will also require a change to the configure.py file - the i386 line should specify x86_64 as well. If you have an older version of Qt, you will need to upgrade to the newest one, and it is strongly recommended you build with the development versions of SIP and PyQt.
Linux users should note that at this time, some distributions may not have up-to-date packages for PyQt - Reggie! requires version 4.6 (it may run with 4.5 but has been untested). We have tested the editor on Ubuntu - but note that the packages for Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) and lower will not be up to date. Try using 9.10 (Karmic) instead.
If you're on an older version of Ubuntu (or a distribution which doesn't provide the required PyQt) and you have the patience, you can build Qt, SIP and PyQt yourself. It's fairly straightforward - the normal configure/make/make install process will work for all three.
On all three systems, you can install the optional included NSMBLib package to speed up level loading. Extract the package, go into the directory and run python setup.py install - you will need an appropriate build setup (Visual Studio 2008 on Windows) in order for it to work.
Creating New Levels
Reggie! begins by opening Level 1-1 for you. To create a new level, simply select "New" from the file menu, or press the corresponding tab in the menu bar. A level must have at least one zone and one entrance (usually ID 0), otherwise the level will not work.
Opening Existing Files
Reggie! has two options for opening files.
"Open Level by Name" produces a list of all levels in NSMB Wii, and allows you to choose from the list. This option is useful for getting a feel as to how to design your levels, and for looking up references.
"Open Level by File" allows you to select a file from your hard drive and open it. This option will be used to select your works in progress, or to check out the creations of others.
Editor Window
The editor window is the mainstay of Reggie!, and what you'll probably be seeing for hours and hours and hours as you mindlessly create levels no one wants to play.
The editor window consists of a main window, called the canvas, a toolbar containing many handy shiny buttons, a minimap window, and a palette. Each of these interface elements is integral to you being very confused as to why you couldn't figure them out on your own - until you look up your grade two report card.
The Canvas
The big large blue window is called the canvas. The canvas contains all the level elements that you'll see while playing a regular level in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The elements you will see include a teal wire box frame, which represent a zone, graphical elements (a fancy word for pictures) that represent environment tiles (called objects or terrain), and small boxes with numbers or pictures that represent sprites and entrances. What are all these things? Click on a tab above to find out more about them, or just try it out.
The canvas allows quite a few types of interactions. Select an item by clicking on it. Zones can not be selected. Select a group of items by clicking and dragging across an area. Click and hold any selected items to drag them around the screen. Shift drag to drag them without snapping to the grid. Right click on the canvas to paint any selected item from palette. You may cut, copy, or paste any selected items - however the clipboard does not carry over between levels.
Passing over any spot on the canvas will show information about the mouse position and other present items in the status bar below. It will display X/Y tile, X/Y position, and object, sprite or entrance data.
The Minimap
The small blue box in the upper right of the editor window is the minimap. The minimap always reflects your current level, and will automatically update itself to always be the best possible size for whatever you have in your level, and will zoom to fit any size you decide to make the window. In other words, it's fully automatic.
The minimap begins docked, but can be undocked by dragging the title bar. It can also be closed. And of course, it can be resized freely. It can also be redocked in various places, and even placed as a tab with the palette. Clicking on the minimap in any location will speed the canvas to that location. Press Ctrl/Cmd-M to hide or show the minimap.
The Toolbar
The toolbar is an essential collection of things you can fiddle with without understanding properly. Every item in the toolbar has a keyboard shortcut, and a descriptive tooltip.
The first four items are New File, Open by Name, Save, and Screenshot. These are covered in other sections, and do what you think they might as long as you've used a computer before - and if you haven't, how are you reading this? The next three icons are Cut, Copy, and Paste shortcuts.
Now we're getting into useful features. The next three items in the toolbar change the zoom modes. You can zoom in on the canvas, zoom out, and reset it to the original zoom level. This is incredibly handy for getting a better perspective on large chunks of your level, or on adjusting sprites very delicately with alt-drag. After the zoom controls is the very, very handy grid feature. Clicking this will enable or disable the grid on the canvas. Go on, try it out.
The next three controls, labelled Layer 0, Layer 1, and Layer 2, control visibility. An explanation may be in order. NSMB Wii has three layers. Layer 0 is the foreground, and Mario's behaviour behind layer 0 will follow the behaviour specified in the zone camera mode. Specifically you may know it as the part which disappears when you walk behind it with a flashlight-like effect. Layer 1 is the collision layer. Objects on layer 1 can be walked upon, hit against, face planted into. Layer 2 is the background layer, though a special sprite can switch the collisions to this layer instead of layer 1. Selecting or deselecting these options will control which layers you can see on your canvas.
The last few toolbar options open the area dialog, the zone dialogue, the background dialog, and finally, allow you to switch between different areas of the level. These options are covered in their respective help sections - avail yourself of the snazzy tabs up top.
Objects
Objects are essentially tiles used to create the level environments. Each object is a repeating tile from a specific tileset, which can be stretched to any size. Objects have no special options other than which layer they are placed on. See Editor Window for a further discussion on layers, under the toolbar section.
Object Palette
Objects can be selected for adding to the stage from the object palette, which is docked on the right by default. Selecting any of the tabs numbered 1 to 4 will open a specific tileset. Tileset 1 contains pipes, blocks, and common objects. Tileset 2 contains themed environments. Tileset 3 contains themed backgrounds. Tileset 4 contains odds and ends, and most importantly, rail objects which certain sprites can follow across the screen. You can change the tilesets you use by swapping them in the Areas dialogue.
After selecting an object that takes your fancy, you can paint this object on the canvas by right-clicking. Holding an object will allow you to drag it to any size. You can also select objects or any number of objects and move or delete them as normal. Objects have the special feature of being able to be resized by using small box in the lower right - just click, hold, and drag. Give it a try. Why aren't you trying yet?
Objects can be painted on different layers by selecting the layer just on top of the palette. Be careful - you can't change the layer of a painted object, and Mario can only interact with objects on layer 1. Layer 0 is the topmost, and layer 2 the bottommost layer.
Some sprites and settings can change the "active layer" which Mario can interact with - but this option is very glitchy and not recommended unless you know what you're doing.
Sprites
All enemies, dongles, moving things, and interactible things in the game are known as sprites. Sprites are unique to themselves, and contain several special properties for themselves alone. Sprites can generally not be resized or tiled in particular ways, but you can use them in much more flexible and neat ways than you can with objects.
Sprite Palette
The sprite palette allows you to select sprites for painting. Once a sprite is selected, some data fields will appear on the bottom of the palette. This allows you to set the initial data for a sprite. Paint a sprite selected in the palette by right clicking. Sprites can not be resized, so dragging does nothing. Sprites will be painted with the properties selected below. You can have any number of sprites in a level - having too many on screen can cause slowdown in game.
You can also change the properties of a sprite at any time by selecting a sprite. This will cause the sprite properties window to pop-up, allowing you to change the data as you see fit. Using sprite properties wisely is the key to making fun and enjoyable levels.
Sprite Properties Box
This box will pop up whenever you select a sprite. Feel free to resize, move, or dock this window. It will use a variety of combo boxes, check boxes, and spin boxes to get user input from you as to how exactly you want a sprite to be.
There is also a raw data modifier, which will allow advanced users to attempt to determine if there are any unknown options available. All sprite data is kept within the spritedata.xml file inside the reggiedata folder. These same mysterious advanced users can edit it to add new features to the sprite property box. Advanced users can also create stars from lead, and pull fireflowers out of their sleeves.
Sprite Locations
In some levels, you will see purple rectangles with a number at the corner which can be dragged and resized - these are locations for specific sprites. Some sprites (like Porcu-Puffer) allow you to create a location and use it to specify where the sprite will operate in. Others (like lava, water, quicksand and clouds) will appear inside the area occupied by the location.
To edit them, you can just select one and move it, or resize it using the grabber at the bottom right. A number will show at the top left of each location; this number can be used in the properties for associated sprites.
To create a new location, click on the Sprite Picker and select the "Paint New Sprite Area/Location" option. You can then right click and drag on the canvas in order to paint one - an ID will automatically be assigned to it.
Entrances
Entrances allow you to set entry/exit points for your level, allowing Mario to move in and out of different areas and zones. At least one entry point is required per level, for Mario to appear when the level starts. This should be entrance ID 0, unless specified otherwise in the Areas dialog. Midpoints also require an entrance - the entrance need not be next to the midpoint, but it should be in the same Area, and we recommend the same zone. Good design would put them in the same location, but we both know you're evil, don't we? Remember that one entrance must be created per level, minimum, and its ID must correspond to the ID set in the Area Settings dialog.
Entrance Palette
The entrance palette contains a list of entry/exit points available within a level, as well as some important data. You can paint a new entrance any time the palette is active by simply right-clicking on the canvas - no need to select anything. Entrances on the canvas act just like sprites - they can be selected, moved, and deleted. They cannot, however, be pasted from the clipboard.
Selecting an entry/exit point will pop up the properties dialogue box. This will allow you to set the destination for that entrance, as well as the type of entrance it is, and some other settings. The entrance MUST overlap a pipe or door in order to use those methods, otherwise they will not work.
Zones
Zones are integral to playing your level. When Mario finds himself outside a zone, he dies. Thus, it is important that all entry and exit points are within a zone. Mario can not leave a zone from the sides or top. The bottom is far game - we call it a pit. The zones also determine the boundaries of the camera, the camera modes, the background music, the background graphics, the speed of background scrolling, and a few other knicknacks. You can have up to nine zones at any time within a level.
Creating and Modifying Zones
Open the zone dialog by choosing it from the toolbar or the menu, or by enterring the proper keyboard shortcut. All items in the zone dialog have tooltips, so hold you mouse over something for more information.
Create and delete zones by clicking New and Delete. Each zone will occupy a tab. Everything is either self explanatory or needlessly complicated, but I'll run over them all anyway so that you can be in turn bored or confused.
Dimensions controls it's position in the level and on the canvas. Note that you MUST put the zone further than X: 16 and Y: 16, or there will be glitches. Camera controls offer a variety of options - many, many camera options are unused and glitchy. The best way to learn is to experiment. The bottom few options in the camera section control the way you see the levels below layer 0 - layer 0 can be static, have a spotlight effect, or be filled entirely with black. Bounding options control the point at which the screen begins to scroll. Music and sound effect modulation can be controlled from here as well.
Changing Backgrounds
Backgrounds are also zone specific, but didn't fit in the already huge zone dialog so have been moved to their own dialogue. Try and guess and see if you can figure out what it's called.
Backgrounds can be not be deleted or added, as every zone requires a background. However, it's easy enough to change the zoom, position, scroll rate, and type of bakground you have for each zone. I even made you previews. Some of them are very spiffy. Some of them are so amateurish as to make you wonder how they made it into a professional game.
Alignment can be set to screen, or zone. I strongly suggest aligning them to the screen, because it seems to flow smoother. However, try them out for yourself - you probably won't notice any difference unless you've got a significantly vertical level.
Areas
Each level in NSMB Wii can be split into both zones and areas. The advantage to having different areas is mostly that of tilesets - each area allows you to load in unique tilesets, while all the zones in an area must have the same tilesets. Areas also allow you to have significantly larger levels without extending the loading times enormously. You can change the tilesets easily in the tileset tab, add or remove areas, or change the timer length or the entrance to load into from the world map. You can also add wrap to an area, but wrap is rather glitchy, and depends on certain zone sizes and camera modes. Please experiment to find the best way to set up your levels if you would like to use a wrapped stage.
To add/delete areas within a level, go to Area Settings and click the Add/Remove tab. Keep in mind that you can only have up to four areas in each level.
Screenshots
Using the icon in the toolbar or the menu item or the keyboard shortcut or an oujii board, you can take screenshots of your level or certain parts of it. The outputted files can be named anything, saved anywhere, and are web-optimized png files with transparency.
Options
You can take screenshots of various different areas. The entire canvas area is not available due to the enormous and prohibitively large filesize of the images produced.
Current screen saves an image exactly as the canvas appears in your editor window. This includes the zoom mode, all zones, sprites, entrances, objects, and etc. However, your mouse will not appear on the window, nor will any other windows that are floating on top of your screen.
All zones will save a compilation image of all available zones plus a buffer area. This allows the most complete overview of your level, but also produces the largest files, unless of course you have a 60" screen at 8000x6000 pixel resolution. This is ideal for sharing levels with many zones.
The last few options let you select a few specific zones for display. This option fits the image directly to the size of a zone, displaying only what the camera would itself display in-game. This can be used to share individual zones from a level, but probably won't be used much unless you have many zones spaced far apart.
Saving your levels
Sadly, Reggie! does not support saving levels. Sorry, oh well, it was fun anyway right?
Saving. Really.
Clicking the save option saves the currently open file to the same location. Clicking the Save as... option saves the level to a specified arc file. Note that when you save original level files, they may increase in file size, due to the fact that we emphasized organisation over optimized file sizes.
The editor will keep tracking of whether or not you have changed the file since your last save, and will not let you navigate away from the level without prompting you to save. BSOD's are still a danger for Windows users. Ha ha, suckers.
User Created Content
Sometimes you will see a fan made content, such as a tileset, and what to put it into the level you are making like how I wanted to add in this section to the manual. It may go against the manual's vibe of. You sick of us treating you like a twat yet? huh? huh? but I feel that it is necessary
Tilesets
To add a Tileset to Reggie you can pray to the Reggie! Gods or...
- Find one you like and download it
- Close Reggie
- Backup your stage folder to another location. e.g. Stage_backup
- Extract contents to Stage/Texture select yes to replacing
- Open up Reggie to a New Level, volia! You have text tiles!
Reading this you may be wondering why I wanted to add something so simple but I have seen enough people wonder how to do simple things... Imagine if all of them forgot to breathe?