DIY

Let me make this clear first: to do any of this, you're gonna need a Windows PC. You can't do this on a phone, tablet, or a Mac.

OK, now that we've clarified that, you're gonna need the following:

• an app called Lunar Magic

• a clean smw ROM

• an emulator that plays Super Nintendo games.

How to Get Lunar Magic

Lunar Magic is the actual level editor. Visit the developer's website here to get it.

How to Get a SMW ROM

A ROM is the actual game file. In case you didn't know, downloading or distributing roms is basically piracy. In other words, it's illegal. So the most I'll tell you is, try looking for one on Google. Or find a YouTube video that tells you how to do it. Try not to download a virus.

How to Get an Emulator

An emulator is an app that lets you play console games on your computer. SNES9x is a good Super Nintendo emulator. You can download that here.

Using Lunar Magic

If your ROM came in a .zip file, unzip it first. Using Lunar Magic is pretty straightforward. You'll be dragging and clicking on a bunch of stuff most of the time. So before you start going crazy, take your time to explore what all the buttons do. If you have questions on how to use it, read the help file that comes with it. YouTube's got tons of tutorials, too. Or visit the SMWCentral forums and ask a question there. Don't ask me for help, though. Heh.

Using the Emulator

Also straightforward. Just go to File and select Load Game to open your ROM. Now, if it's your first time using SNES9x and you get an error message like this:

...Then you'll need to download a plug-in called Direct-X here. Direct-X is a driver that lets your computer display the game properly. Just keep in mind during the Direct-X setup to uncheck any annoying "extra" downloads. You definitely don't need those.

If you're gonna use your keyboard as a controller, be sure to click on Input from the menu bar, and then Input Configuration. It'll walk you through setting up the keyboard buttons to act as a Super Nintendo controller.

Using Lunar Magic's Internal Emulator

If you want to play-test your levels without leaving Lunar Magic, you can download the internal emulator for Lunar Magic here. Unzip the contents in the same folder as Lunar Magic. Like you did with SNES9x, the keyconf.exe file will help you set up your keyboard to act as a controller.

Once that's all set, you can now press Ctrl+F4 on your keyboard to play the level you're working on instantly.

Linking SNES9x to Lunar Magic

You can also tell Lunar Magic where you have SNES9x so that you can launch the game into the full emulator with just the press of a button. Just go to File, Emulator, Setup Emulator, and then Browse to locate SNES9x on your hard drive. When done, click OK to save. You can now press F4 to launch your rom using SNES9x.

Lunar Magic also lets you swap what the F4 and Ctrl+F4 buttons do from that same menu in case you prefer that instead.

Sharing Your Projects or Playing Others'

Can't forget this step. If you wanna share your hack with other people, you gotta create a patch of your game (since uploading ROMs to the Internet is illegal). To do that, you'll need a tool called Floating IPS. Download that here.

Using this tool is easy. It lets you make a patch of your game or apply someone else's patch to a clean SMW ROM to play. Just remember to always keep a clean copy of SMW somewhere safe on your computer so that you can use it whenever you want to patch a game.

...And That's Pretty Much It

Have fun making your own levels! If you want to publish your projects or find more resources, you can visit SMWCentral.net. They've got a whole community of people doing this kind of stuff.

My SMW Central Profile

Just in case you wanted to go there. Don't see why you would, though. That's the whole reason I made my own site. For my own stuff, lol.