Super Meat Boy Message Board older than one year ago

Though Super Meat Boy is a rather beefy downloadable title by every conceivable definition of the word, there were actually a few more features which didn't make it into the final cut. Team Meat recently posted a cornucopia of these deleted scraps on its blog, including a handful of unimplemented characters, a few deadly traps and a cheeky intro cutscene for Braid's borrowed protagonist, Tim. (Man, what a creepy guy.)

Check out all the features on Team Meat's blog, and lament the fact that Cave Story's Quote wasn't added to the final game's roster. Man, that game would have been so much easier with a jetpack and a machine gun.

There's nothing random about Super Meat Boy's highly regimented gauntlet of intricate murder machines and carefully measured series of gaps. However, the challenging platformer's latest Steam update has thrown a bit of chance into the mix: Players can now "Enter the Unknown" via the game's main menu, which creates a full 20-level chapter for them to play through using a random selection of levels picked from the Super Meat World portal.

The update also adds a chapter recommendation feature, as well as a new navigation option that lets you rank levels based on their fun or difficulty -- two metrics which players can vote on after playing through a chapter. We think these two features will dovetail quite nicely considering our auspicious lack of skill at Super Meat Boy, as we've always wanted recommendations for the title's least soul-crushing levels.

"running hell"

because why not

Though you might expect the Super Meat Boy level editor to be a complete breeze -- put some blocks there, fifty saws there, and done! -- it's actually a pretty intricate authoring tool. Check out the six videos after the jump for an hour-long tutorial on how to make your very own deathtraps.

"We always wanted to release a basic level editor" for Super Meat Boy, Team Meat's Edmund McMillen writes in an emailed announcement, "but the idea started to balloon when we decided to buy servers and program a fully automated level portal (Super Meat World) to support these levels as a bonus chapter for the PC version." Needless to say, it's taken a while for the two-man team to complete the free add-on. But ...

The level editor is "FINALLY out on Steam!" McMillen rejoiced.

Technically, the editor is in beta release -- "and probably will be for a very long time," McMillen notes in a blog post -- so users may encounter "minor issues." Still, with the exception of boss battles and warp zones, the editor can be used to create "anything you see in game," and even package such torturous levels into a complete chapter of pain.

"So think of this as a thank you to all the awesome fans who sent us cool shit, nice emails and created amazing levels with devmode," the ever-irreverent McMillen concludes in his post, "if you bitched us out because the free level editor was delayed, you should probably not update your game and burn in hell."

McMillen added in his email that Super Meat World would be updated next week to add a few "missing" features and fix some bugs with the editor. "After that we will be closing the book on the PC version, porting SMB to Mac and swiftly moving on to game #2."

The long-awaited level editor for Super Meat Boy is now available on Steam (sorry, Xbox Live Arcade players). Two-man developer Team Meat has been through many trials and tribulations building the "Super" version of the free Flash game Meat Boy over the past two years, including platform changes and publisher problems. Now, Team Meat seems ready to wash its hands of the gory platformer...

A quick confession before getting onto this news: I never quite finished Super Meat Boy. As completely awesome as it is--one of my top ten from last year, in fact!--at a point, the game just became too hard for my namby-pamby sensibilities. The pure, unadulterated anger this game inspired in me too often made my eyes go green with pre- Hulk rage, to the point where at least one controller of mine is guaranteed to never work quite right again. Eventually, I just had to stop for the sake of everyone and everything around me. I never wanted to hurt anyone, I swear.

 What unholy brand of Hell will you design? Maybe I can find some catharsis for my still bubbling bitterness by inflicting pain on others via the newly released level editor on Steam for PC players. It's been long-talked about, and now Super Meat Boy players can design and construct their very own bite-sized chunks of hellish platforming acrimony by accessing it via the "Tools" option in your Steam library.

The editor is replete with all sorts of nifty features. You can use any element you've seen in-game in one of your created levels (short of bosses and warp zones--those are off-limits), and you can use all 20 characters to play through them, regardless as to whether you've unlocked them in the main game or not. You can even create your own chapter selections (five levels minimum) with your own par times, titles, and music.

Finished levels are uploaded to the Super Meat World community zone, which players can access via an in-game pad once they have collected 20 bandages. Community members can vote on their favorite  levels, and the best stuff will be highlighted by Team Meat as "recommended levels." And by the best, we're sure they mean the most hateful, skin-peelingly torturous levels, of course.

The best part of all of this is that it's free. As the Team Meat blog entry regarding the editor so succinctly puts it:

"It was a labor of Love/Hate but something we did because we knew the fans wanted it and were already creating so many awesome levels using our devmode. So think of this as a thank you to all the awesome fans who sent us cool shit, nice emails and created amazing levels with devmode, if you bitched us out because the free level editor was delayed, you should probably not update your game and burn in hell."

Nicely put. Again, this is currently only available via the PC version of the game. The Mac editor is apparently forthcoming, but regrettably, Xbox Live Arcade players won't ever be able to access it. Apparently there's just no good way to do an unregulated level editor via Xbox Live, but Team Meat assured players that they hope to keep releasing new chapters for that version of the game.

As a final sign-off, the game-developing Cenobites at Team Meat made it abundantly clear that they are not planning on a Super Meat Boy sequel. It's a bittersweet notion, one that seems likely to inspire equal amounts of sadness and solace among players. We'll just have to wait and see what dastardly horrors the Team Meat crew are plotting next. I'm already cowering in fear just thinking about the possibilities...

#pc Super hard, super gibby platformer Super Meat Boy gets its own level editor on Steam today. More »

A recent press release published by video game distributor Lace Mamba Global is ... well, it's the best thing we've ever read. Imagine you've never heard of Super Meat Boy before, okay? It would seem like a pretty cut-and-dry announcement: "Lace Mamba Global is proud to announce that it is bringing the Ultra Edition of the independently developed gaming blockbuster Super Meat Boy to retail shelves in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries."

Pretty normal stuff, right? The presser reveals a Q3 2011 release window, and mentions that the company will announce pricing details in the near future. Okay, makes sense so far. Then, with no preface, it drops this: "In the platforming game Super Meat Boy, people play a boy without skin. His girlfriend, who is made of bandages, gets kidnapped by a fetus in a tuxedo wearing a top hat and a monocle." Hey, press release? Don't try to sneak that in there like it's not the craziest sentence anyone's ever written, okay?

Etsy user Voxelous has revealed a set of four two-inch Super Meat Boy figurines, crafted using a 3D printer, super glue and love. You can grab one for $12 (plus shipping), though be careful -- Team Meat reports that upon receiving the toys in the mail, "we both crapped our pants."

#supermeattoy The official - and tiny - Super Meat Boy figurines from Voxelous and Team Meat have been revealed. Just two inches high, they're $12 each (plus $3.49 shipping for one, $3.99 for two or more). The first set includes Meat Boy, Bandage Girl, Brownie and the pathetic Tofu Boy. More »

There are now over 500 levels in bastard-hard platform gem Super Meat Boy. Over 500. This absurd milestone has been reached as a result of a dramatic new update, known in continually Nintendo-prodding fashion as Super Meat World. It’s free, it was added to the game on Saturday, and it consists of a slew of new official levels and even more of a slew of approved third-party levels for the blood-smearing jumpy-runny game. (more…)

If you own the Steam version of Super Meat Boy, you're about to be in a user-generated world of pain. According to die-hard developer Team Meat, the free "Super Meat World" level portal is open and serving eight custom-made chapters (comprising about 140 levels) from various players and developers. The entrance will be to the left of Chapter 1 on the menu and will open once you've collected at least 20 bandages.

The next step -- due "in a few days" -- will be a wide release of the Super Meat Boy level editor, initially in the form of a public beta. "The editor will allow people to basically create anything they have seen in game and upload it to Super Meat World with the click of a button," said Edmund McMillen via email. "Users will also eventually gain the ability to create full chapters that can be uploaded and rated by other users."

Here's the best part: Once the editor is deemed "stable," Team Meat will enable "The Unknown," a free feature that automatically stitches user-created levels into an unpredictable, sadistic gauntlet of meat-mincing grinders. Do try to curb that public display of excitement (your Stockholm syndrome is showing).

Rather than go the "make up a fake game/product/service" route that so much of the game industry takes on April Fool's Day, Valve instead put together an indie bundle and heavily discounted it, making those who didn't buy it fools in the process. It's what we like to call "the old switcheroo."

Including Joystiq Game of the Year awardee Super Meat Boy, terror simulation Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and Gaijin Games' synesthetic masterpiece Bit.Trip Beat, "The Potato Sack" drops all 13 games by 75 percent off their normal asking prices (or 50 percent when purchased a la carte). Considering that all of those games would normally cost around $160 if you bought them individually, you're looking at a savings of approximately $120. Also, you'll do untold wonders for your invaluable indie cred. And hey, if none of that does it for you, there's a potato hat for Team Fortress 2 included.

Also of note, each of the bundle's games have been modified with a potato-theme updated -- head past the break for a look at Super Meat Boy and Bit.Trip Beat's starchy updates.

[Thanks Joseph Leakey!]

In addition to the game's forthcoming level editor, Super Meat Boy devs Team Meat are planning a hub for user-created content: Super Meat World. The hub's launch is set for "very soon, days away even," according to tweets from Team Meat. Aside from allowing Steam players to share and download individual levels, Super Meat World will support sharing of full chapters -- at least those that Team Meat chooses to feature.

And once Super Meat World is complete, the team says it'll get to work on the Mac iteration of Super Meat Boy, with a Linux version following that (seriously). As previously noted, Steam users who already purchased SMB won't have to repurchase to play on OS X, as the game features SteamPlay functionality.

Remember Gary Bigham, the (professional) live-action role-player who took on a real-life version of Minecraft? Well, he's back, this time tackling the evil Dr. Fetus in an all too real version of Super Meat Boy. If you absolutely must try this at home, remember to watch out for warp zones.

#wii When last we heard from Super Meat Boy's plans for the Wii, the game simply couldn't be squeezed into the size limitations imposed on WiiWare titles. The game's creators tried to line up a publisher for a retail release, but have now given up, finding none. More »

Team Meat today finally laid to rest the troubled Wii version of Super Meat Boy. "We really tried hard to make this happen but not one publisher we talked to thought a retail budget title for the Wii would be profitable at this point in the Wii's life cycle," reads a missive on the Team Meat Blog, "and we totally understand that."

Initially planned as a WiiWare title, the Wii version of SMB grew beyond the size constraints of Nintendo's digital platform, and so Team Meat began to look into a box-copy release. Perhaps its spirit will live on in the "Ultra Edition" of SMB for PC.

Crunch time is just part of game development. When the deadline is looming, it's not uncommon for developers to pull 12-hour shifts (or longer). For Team Meat, crunch time nearly killed half of the duo.

Tommy Refenes (pictured left) told GDC attendees that he would "be dead if we put Meat Boy on everything," explaining one of the reasons why Super Meat Boy has only been released for Xbox Live Arcade and PC thus far.

In the two months leading up to SMB's XBLA debut, neither took a single day off, let alone slept for more than five hours a day. Refenes recounted feverish "development dreams" -- a sort of Groundhog Day scenario where he was squashing bugs only to wake and discover more.

"We were like, 'WTF?!"

Last night at GDC, Team Meat took the stage to let out some of the frustrations that accompanied releasing Super Meat Boy. And those frustrations were Microsoft. Seemingly screwed over on a number of occasions, the independent dev team did not receive the promotion they were promised in return for the month-long XBLA exclusivity. Eurogamer have all the details about this screwery here. But there’s another aspect to this story. During the talk they also revealed that the game had the majority of its sales on the PC, despite the 360′s month-long head start.

(more…)

At a GDC panel in San Francisco, Team Meat showed of a special version of Super Meat Boy in a box, a so-called “Ultra Edition” of the PC retail release that’s poised to hit stores across North America. Shortly after, Team Meat used its Twitter account to show off the box art for this edition, which helped to shed more light on what makes it so “ultra.”

In a nutshell, Ultra Edition is a collector’s edition that includes the standard variety of special items: an art book, a soundtrack, and so on. The catch here is that this version of the game will only cost 20 dollars when it hits later this April.  
 

Here’s what you’ll get via Joystiq, who touched base with Team Meat after seeing the content teases on the front of the game's box art:

• A 40-page art booklet that incorporates SMB information and also Team Meat’s comics.  
• The game’s soundtrack and some other audio files  
• A poster of the PC box art 

Not a bad collection for 20 bucks, eh? Joystiq reports that this will see a release in stores beyond just Wal-Mart and Amazon, so keep your eyes peeled later this April.  Here's  what the front of the Ultra Edition will look like, by the way:  
 

During a postmortem on Super Meat Boy, Edmund McMillen, the hairier half of Team Meat, gave GDC attendees a lengthy peek at the box art for a special "ultra edition" of the PC game. "Here's the Walmart box," he told attendees as he gave a Skype video call tour of the North American retail package -- it will be available in other retail stores, not just Walmart, as well as on Amazon.

Later, the @SuperMeatBoy Twitter account provided an image of the boxart (hop over the chainsaws and past the break to see it in full), a much more crisp and higher-res version of the boxart than seen in McMillen's video call. In following up with McMillen, we were able to secure additional details: it'll launch in April for $20; it includes a 40-page booklet including never-before-seen art, behind-the-scenes info and an extended version of Team Meat's comics, with new pages; the soundtrack and additional audio samples; and a mini-poster of that disturbing Super Meat Boy fan art seen last year. You know, in case you have a room that you need to make sure nobody ever sleeps in. Ever.

Hop past the break (mind the chainsaws!) to check out the "Ultra Edition" boxart.

During a postmortem on Super Meat Boy here at GDC 2011, Team Meat's Tommy Refenes spoke at great length about the plight of developing the most punishing game of 2010 -- a long stretch of development Hell that has since seen nearly 400,000 copies sold across Xbox Live Arcade and Steam, he revealed. As part of Microsoft's Game Feast program, as well as several impressive Steam sales, Super Meat Boy was afforded a lot of time in the spotlight, though Refenes also attributed its high Metacritic rating as another catalyst for the rise in popularity.

Later, Edmund McMillen, who participated in the postmortem through a Skype video call, confirmed that Team Meat has procured 3DS development kits and is currently working on something for the platform. "We dont know if that'll be Meat Boy or something else, but who knows?" McMillen concluded coyly.

Two new chapters available to download now on XBLA.

The XBLA version of Super Meat Boy continues to ride the free DLC train, as Team Meat is planning to release another batch of levels. In fact, two sets of levels are expected. The first is a set of "expert remix" levels from the original game. Yes, Team Meat done gone and made twenty of the game's levels even harder -- including the first level of "The Kid." The team is also planning to release the first user-created level pack.

While no solid release date has been set, the team hopes to have them up sometime "next week." You can see a list of all the expert remix levels right here. We suggest you take a few deep, calming breaths first.

In case you didn't know, it's the 25th anniversary of the Game Developers Conference this year, and that means a load of extra special presentations. Beyond the head of Nintendo keynoting, the laundry list of legendary developers giving "classic" postmortems, and various announcements, it was revealed today that Super Meat Boy devs Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes ("Team Meat") will be giving a postmortem of their own. And hey, we think they're pretty extra special.

Additionally, Zynga VP of product development Mark Skaggs will be discussing his company's evolution, framed around the release of FarmVille and the push towards CityVille over the last year -- we'd suggest fledgling Facebook millionaires not to be late. And finally, rounding out today's announcement is news of an Angry Birds talk from Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka (self-claimed "Head Eagle" at the studio). We'll be on hand at GDC bringing you all the meaty, free-to-play, bird-flinging news as it breaks.

The indefatigable Danny Baranowsky -- soundtrack composer for both Canabalt and Super Meat Boy, among others -- confirmed to us this morning that three tracks from Super Meat Boy are headed to the Rock Band Network. "The Battle of Lil' Slugger" and "Can o' Salt" will be released as remixed, extended versions, while "Betus Blues" is getting a retro remix for the RBN release.

"I wanted to have some stuff in there for the people who delight in 100-percenting expert Dragonforce," Baranowsky told us of the remixes. From what we heard this morning of the extended, retro-ized "Betus Blues," we expect those folks to be handily challenged (as well as thoroughly entertained). No release date or price has been applied to the tracks yet, but the pack's author has them pegged as arriving "soon" -- it also labels them as coming to RBN 2.0, so we'd expect the tracks to arrive some time after February 15.

If you envision Microsoft's nebulous certification process as a sadistic Super Meat Boy level -- some lava pits here, a few saw blades everywhere -- you may understand why a tiny weakling of a file, less than 1MB in size, spent over 3 months attempting to survive the gauntlet unscathed. Yes, the Super Meat Boy patch, which should cover up all of the squishy protagonist's oozing faults (including that auto-save glitch), is now available on Xbox Live Arcade. Just launch the game to download it automatically.

With the XBLA version corrected, Team Meat can continue pushing new content to "Teh Internets," the in-game hub that hosts free, downloadable levels. Indie developer Gaijin Games is constructing a level pack for Commander Video, and Michael "Kayin" O'Reilly -- indefensibly evil creator of I Wanna Be The Guy -- is making some Kid-unfriendly levels. Team Meat's Edmund McMillen says that a pack remixing Super Meat Boy's best bits is also on the way. "We also have a few other devs lined up but we want to space level updates out a bit," he tells us.

The game's level editor and level portal will be live on Steam "as soon as possible," he adds, and "we will also have a few cool bits of info about the future of SMB around that time as well." So ... that's a lot of incoming levels. When you've conquered all of them, it'll be time to concern yourself with a different kind of certification -- that of your inevitable insanity.

#clips Super Meat Boy is a 2D game with relatively simple graphics. That's what it looks like, at least. This action-packed fan film by Joseph Manalaysay captures what beating one of the game's brutal levels feels like. More »