It's Time For A Report On Something Nobody Asked About But Maybe Someone Kind Of Wondered: Playing Mari0

It's time for a report on something nobody asked about but maybe someone kind of wondered: playing Mari0 with the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons! (insert ® and ™ as needed)

For the unaware, the new controllers for the Switch are PC-compatible out of the box, no need for drivers. You just connect them via Bluetooth and they're good to go without any other setup. They interface through DirectInput, which is an older standard, so they don't work with every game. However, Löve2D recognizes DirectInput, so they work in Mari0!

Mostly. …Kind of.

The first setup I thought to try was to put the Joy-Cons together as one standard controller, and play with two sticks. Even though they're technically recognized as two separate controllers, there's nothing stopping one player from using two controller inputs. Curiously, though, the control sticks are recognized as "hats" (like a d-pad) rather than axes, and Mari0 only recognizes axes for aiming the portal gun.

This screenshot was unfortunately not taken with the new capture button.

In other words, this idea was pretty short-lived. You can play like this if you have a platforming-centric mappack (read: doesn't use the portal gun at all), but it's not exactly the best experience out there - especially since, in my testing, the right Joy-Con often had input lag of up to half a second. It was pretty excruciating to say the least, although that's probably just my Bluetooth driver not playing nice. (It's kinda amusing, though, since everyone else is having problems with their left Joy-Con.) If you're just going to platform, using just one on its side is your best bet. This still leaves us with one other option, however: one Joy-Con in one hand, and the mouse in the other.

This picture, on the other hand, was taken with the capture button. The one on my phone.

The problem with playing like this, however, is the button layout. There's not really a comfortable way to map even just run and jump. You could use SL and SR (the side shoulder buttons), but those are hard to press when holding it like this. You could use L and ZL (the back shoulder buttons), which works pretty decently; however, you have to hold the controller in a claw grip, which I can't imagine doing for more than five minutes - and I have small hands! You could press the stick for one of them, but that's hard to do when you're constantly moving it. Any other buttons require removing your thumb from the control stick, which is no bueno for platforming controls. And just imagine a left-hander trying to play with the right Joy-Con! In sum, it works, but with plenty of caveats. Final verdict: 2/10, just wait until Super Mario Maker: We Finally Added Slopes Edition comes out.

More, more, more Mario! Because level design is my life, or something.

4-2 Remix (SMBS) - A level from the little-known Super Mario Bros. Special, complete with hidden secrets! 471A-0000-0086-00B9

Grape Garden 3 Remix - The blimp level from Kirby’s Adventure, adapted for Super Mario Maker! 69C1-0000-0086-2050

Stonefall - No enemies, just rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. A9DE-0000-006A-8FB9

The Time Machine - An autoscrolling level that you “rewind” with doors to solve puzzles. 5CC1-0000-0088-4A13

Quick update

Hey! Here’s a quick update on my current state of affairs.

You may have noticed I haven’t been saying much over the past few - well, I guess it’s months at this point. (Or you may have forgotten I exist...) It’s not just the blog, I’ve been pretty quiet on all fronts. Unfortunately, it’s not because I have some announcement up my sleeve, or something I’ve been doing that takes up all my time.

I just haven’t been saying much... to anyone. Or doing much of anything. At all.

College has been totally kicking my butt lately. (You know it’s serious because I pretty much NEVER say that.) I’ve lacked the energy to anything but the most important of my itinerary, and even that gets neglected more often than I care to admit. Now add to that a few big projects that I want to tackle, and it all feels like a crushing mountain of failure. I don’t have much that’s important on my plate, so I have the time to do any of these things, it’s just that I’ve been too drained to start.

To be quite honest, I have no idea when I’ll get better. My situation isn’t directly caused by college. It’s the length of every day, the lack of replenishment in my down time. Undersleeping during the week, and then oversleeping on the weekend. A lack of energy to care for myself. It’s a vicious, self-defeating cycle that’s really hard to break out of.

Mind, I’m not totally hopeless. I’ve been doing a few things here and there - I still read my dash, tweet occasionally, and hang with my friends sometimes. I’ve even drawn a little for the first time in five years. But all of the big projects that I want to accomplish are on the backburner right now until I figure this stuff out. It may take forever, but I’m determined to fix this.

Expect to hear from me again in the future, perhaps with big news. In the meantime, just know that I’m working towards getting better.

me: *makes thing*

me: I hope people like this thing

people: Wow your thing is really great!

me: No, you're wrong, it's terrible, I'm awful at this

2015 Year in Review

For some reason my brain keeps telling me that 2015 sucked. There were some not-so-great things about it, sure, but it wasn’t totally awful. Thus, I’m writing this list to focus on the positive aspects of the past year. If it sounds like I’m bragging, I’m really not - I’m trying to feel better about what I’ve accomplished. A lot’s been happening!

Got my first job! Because of it, I enjoyed a lovely summer of working in the morning, then getting home and chilling for the rest of the day.

Super Mario Maker came out and I made a bunch of levels for it. Some were even promoted by big names like GameXplain and Nintendo UK!

At college, I’m now senior-level by hours, even though I’m in my third year.

Learned my way around Photoshop - enough to make a new avatar! I’m not 100% done with it yet, but this is pretty close at least.

Speaking of Photoshop, I digitized a bunch of mazes. Wait, actually, that was Illustrator.

Broke 50 followers on Twitter, and 200 followers on Tumblr (most of the latter is just bots, though). Also, 1000 video views on Youtube?? But why???

Got a new phone that I absolutely love. It’s been a big help in keeping me up to speed with everything.

I’m realizing as I go back through my social feeds that I posted a LOT more than I thought I did this year. Like, wow.

Worked up the courage to start drawing again after about five years. It’s been a slow start, but I've drawn more complex stuff than ever (like humans).

In any case, I’m looking forward to 2016! New year, fresh start, lots of big plans and opportunities. Can’t wait to get started!

Tagged by @renattheend

Rules: Tag 20 followers you want to know better!!!

Name: William Star Sign: Taurus Gender: Male Height: 5′9″ Sexual orientation: Ace of Hearts Favorite color: Any shade of blue Time Right Now: 20:53 Current Location: My bed in my room Average Hours of Sleep: 7, but it varies wildly from 5 to 12 Lucky Number: 15 Last Thing I Googled: “XAMPP”, for a project for class Number of Blankets I Sleep Under: 2, a sheet and a comforter. Why would anyone need to know this? Are you trying to stalk me? Do you enjoy watching people sleep?

Favorite Fictional Characters: Kirby

Favorite Book: The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon), although it’s been a long time since I’ve really read anything. Dream Job: Youtube What I’m Wearing: Blue jeans with light blue graphic tee with unzipped blue/gray jacket. Did I mention my favorite color is blue Random Fact: aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa When Did You Create Your Blog: Q4 2012 Do You Have Other Blogs: @radioww, but I haven’t posted there in months. I don’t know if I’ll ever revive it. Who Is Your Most Active Follower: @thejonymyster, who would reply to literally every post I made while replies were still a thing. What Made You Get A Tumblr: I needed a place to write/vent/blog/subtweet/slash/post stuff. Do You Get Asks On A Daily Basis: I get asks on a yearly basis. Why Did You Choose Your Url: Because it’s my username.

Tagging YOU. Yeah, you, person reading this. (I don’t think 20 people will read this anyway, and anyone I can think to tag has done it already.)