Super Smash Ponies Update #2

Super Smash Ponies Tumblr

You guys, this project is being developed so fast it's blowing my mind. The new update video features a booming announcer voice, a selection interface, and 3 playable stages with 7 characters. Zilven's also started a development Tumblr, which you can access via the link above, and he's looking for feedback on the game. You can expect an open beta soon!

Lunar Defense Force

Lunar Defense Force

Man, what's up with you guys and best princess blasting aliens recently? It seems the Shroobs do have a use beyond comprising the low point in Nintendo's excellent series of Mario RPGs, anyway. FearlessPie over on DeviantArt's come out with another flash, this one dedicated to purging mycological aliens from the surface of Woona's moon. It's not very complex, but it has a nice degree of challenge, and it's a nice way to cap off a Saturday evening.

Speaking of Woona, I'm off to go mash f5 on the Moonstuck homepage - good night!

Super Smash Ponies

Everyone loves Fighting Is Magic - however, not everyone was raised by the Street Fighter series. For some of us, our first and fondest memories of side-scrolling brawlers will always belong to Super Smash Bros. Fortunately, we at Equestria Gaming only feed our armada of caged game developers when they're hard at work. At their current rate, we're on track to ponify every major game release since Pong by 2018.

For his latest project, Fluttershy77 (Zilven Sparkle) is hard at work on a ponified, pixelated version of the classic. We're still waiting for a playable release, but he's recorded several more trailers on his channel. The project looks promising - so far, we've seen final smashes and some basic bot fighting - so go check it out!

Ponymon Dawn/Dusk 0.3 Alpha Release

Download it Here!

At long last, my favorite fan project returns! Yesterday, Flutteryay's team released the 0.3 alpha update of Ponymon Dawn/Dusk, allowing you to catch more of your favorite ponies than ever before! Here's a refresher on the project, for those of you who missed the last post:

Ponymon Dawn/Dusk is a fan project dedicated to producing ROM hacks of Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green. Battle, train, and evolve 151 ponies with custom move sets and their own type trump chart. More information can be found on their handy wiki, which also contains an faq for those unfamiliar with using emulators or concerned with updating their save files to the new version. The new version includes a ton of new ponies and new areas, and I really can't recommend it highly enough to Pokemon fans. Happy hunting!

Pony Textures for Super Mario 64

Download the Texture Pack Here

Play Super Mario 64 on an emulator? Never fear, we've got ponies for that.

The Super Mario 64 Texture Pack is at it's best inside Peach's castle. The walls are painted with a bright Equestrian landscape, the floor bears Celestia's seal, and stained glass Nightmare Moon and Celestia replace the original circular window. In-level, apple trees are visible and the ground textures have changed somewhat, but the feel of the game has changed little. Still, it's entirely worth a try!

Trailer and installation instructions after the break!

The thing that would really complete this mod is to sub out Mario for Twilight Sparkle (admittedly, a trickier task than textures.) Then, someone should get on making me a ponified Luigi's Mansion starring Fluttershy. Pretty please?

The description of the trailer above links to a video with full instructions for adding texture packs to Nintendo 64 ROMs. In case you wanted an abbreviated version, I've copied the gist of it below:

1. Make sure you have a working Super Mario 64 ROM running on the Project 64 emulator. If you've never used an emulator to play games before, make sure you have this working first.

2. Download and install Rice's Video Plugin. When it asks you to choose install location, make sure to give it the directory in which you've put Project64.exe. (Something like C:\foo\stuff\Project 64).

3. Open Project 64, go to Options>Settings>Plugins and select "Mudlord's Rice Video Build 6.1.4" as your Video plugin.

4. In Project 64, go to Options>Configure Graphics Plugins>Texture Enhancement and make sure "load hi-res textures if available" is checked.

5. Download the Texture pack and copy the folder "hires_texture" into "Project 64/Plugin."

Review: Ponymon Dawn/Dusk 0.2 Alpha

Download it Here!

One bright, optimistic morning, you awake to find that someone’s stored a potion in your computer. Hazily, you withdraw the useful item, recalling last night’s dream: A professor, although slightly confused by the complexities of gender, had welcomed you to a new world. On this morning, after ten long years of isolation, you’re finally ready to conquer the dangerous grass outside your front stoop and see the world. And, just when you think today couldn’t get any better: you crack open your first red-and-white ball and a wide-eyed filly stares back at you.

If at this point, you’re not yet overcome by nostalgia and anticipation, you’ll want to go read another review, or grow a childhood and come back later.

All on the same page? Good. Well, is Ponymon Dawn/Dusk worth your time, or is raising and battling your own team of Equestrians just another pipe dream? Perhaps you should find out after the break.

Honestly, there’s no way you can really go wrong hacking Pokémon ROMs and ponifying them. That’s exactly what the lead developer, Flutteryay, has done with Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green. However, the degree of modification is certainly very impressive. Each one of the mane 6 is available as a starter (Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle in Ponymon Dawn, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack in Dusk.) The old type-trump system has been scrapped, replaced by more Equestrian elements such as chaos, honesty, and passion. Much of the NPC dialogue is tailored, with varying degrees of neatness, to fit the new storyline.

Additionally, the game boasts an impressive, though far from finished, 151-slot Ponydex, complete with filly, gala, and nightmare night versions of most Ponymon. Each has its own custom set of moves, strengths, and weaknesses. As in Pokémon, as you progress through the game, you’ll come across varying ponies in their filly forms hiding in the tall grass. Some are relatively rare, meaning that after you complete the demo you’ll still need to go back and hunt for them (Filly Derpy, I’m looking at you.)

Finally! Ok, play it cool... *SAVE STATE SAVE STATE SAVE STATE*

This project has enormous potential—although it’s still in its early stages. The Ponydex is currently woefully devoid of detail, and most Ponymon have yet to be added. Many ponies’ moves and statistics are unbalanced, making it less useful to train a varied team and limiting possible battle strategies. Unfortunately, the demo only currently reaches Mount Moon, making it difficult to train your charges past level 20.

However, potential Ponymon champions need not despair! The game is still in alpha 0.2, and the developers are working hard to fix bugs, increase play time, and give it the polish that it deserves. Their progress can be monitored from the game’s budding wiki. Even its early stages, Ponymon Dawn/Dusk is definitely a must-play for fans of the series.

Author's note: Guest-authored by Arctic Lux – I’m a first-timer here at EQG, but you might see some more of me in the coming months. If you’ve somehow got a strong opinion on me already, I’m sure Enigma would love to hear it.

Starpony 64 (Ponified Lines)

Man, Star Fox 64 was a great game. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of pony space shooters. Have some ponified silliness in video form!

Pony Portal Advance

Pony Portal Advance

As you all know Portal was a revolutionary game, and one of the few that brought a truly unique mechanic to the table. Sadly however, it's not exactly quite as unique anymore, as indie developers have utilized the power of portals, resulting in interesting experiences such as Mari0, Portal: The Flash Version, and others. Is Pony Portal Advance on the same level? Nope, but it's still a somewhat worthwhile game, provided that you don't find it too difficult and can tolerate some of it's annoyances such as the lack of a remove portals button, which can make some puzzles nigh impossible without superhuman dexterity. Also, since it's a GameBoy Advance homebrew game you'll need either an original console or an emulator (the preferable option for most of us).

Hope you like it!

Ponies Live Now Presents: The Elements of Charity

Our friends over at Ponies Live Now! are having an event on Sunday which they have called the "Elements of Charity". It's a 24 hour NES/SNES marathon to benefit the Humble Brony Bundle, and they have over $300 dollars in giveaway prizes for random viewers! They will also have various Brony celebrities attending the event (I was invited, but unfortunately won't be able to attend), and if you donate enough to them during the livestream, you will be able to request a game for them to play.

If you want more detailed information about the event, please go here. The livestream will take place over at http://www.twitch.tv/ponyslivenow, and on March 11-12, starting at 12pm PST.

Nintendo 3DS Pony Mii Codes

Two of the Negation Squared team members (the fellows who are making MLP:Rise of Vics and Friendship is Fragging) made a couple humanized MLP Miis. If you're interested in them you can click on the image above to view the large version and scan the included QR codes with your 3DS.

Enjoy!